Prisons in Haiti seem to be eating out for prisoners

Because of the street blockades during the protests in Haiti, some prisons appear to be eating out for the inmates. "There is a risk of prisoners starving," said Marie Rosy Auguste Ducena of the National Human Rights Network. There are already no food in the prisons of Jérémie and Mirebalais.

Because the traffic on the Caribbean island has largely come to a standstill, relatives can also bring the prisoners no food more, as is usual. Anyway, a temporary ban on visitors was imposed for security reasons.

The dramatic situation is further intensifying: The prisons in Haiti are considered the most overcrowded in the world. The number of inmates exceeds the actual capacity by 400 percent.

In the impoverished Caribbean state, protesters have been calling for the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse for months. The government is accused of numerous corruption scandals, including the misappropriation of public funds, while much of the population has barely enough to survive. Bottlenecks in the supply of gas caused further anger. Haiti is considered the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

"Excessive force applied"

Amnesty International accuses security forces in the eleven-million-nation state of human rights violations against demonstrators. In protests against the government of the Caribbean state at least 35 people were killed between 16 September and 17 October and more than 200 were injured, said the human rights organization. National police are involved in many of the deaths. That resulted in the evaluation of videos.

Policemen had used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons indiscriminately and at close range against demonstrators and beaten them, it said. They also fired live ammunition and used weapons of war.

"The security forces under the command of President Jovenel Moşen have used excessive force," Amnesty International head of the Americas, Erika Guevara-Rosas, said, "Such incidents must be investigated promptly, thoroughly and effectively."