Haiti Rights Group Decries 'Inhumane' Conditions in Police Jails

06/06/2023

Detainees in overcrowded cells in Haitian police stations are living in "inhumane, degrading conditions," the human rights group Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH) said Thursday, with police relying on makeshift prisons amid insecurity and a crippled judicial system. 

In the Port-au-Prince police commissariat, RNDDH said 92 prisoners were being kept in two "filthy" cells, intended for just 10 people each for a maximum of 48 hours ahead of court hearings—though many detainees had been held for months. 

Between January and April last year, the United Nations documented 54 deaths due to malnutrition in Haitian prisons. 

Haiti has seen an escalation in violence by armed gangs, driving a humanitarian crisis that has displaced tens of thousands of people. 

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