A drastic increase in violent crimes has recently taken jails of Haiti way beyond their capacity. According to Clarens Renois from the caribbeannetnews.com, inmates live in inhuman conditions. “Amid increasing arrests of drug traffickers, kidnappers and the arrival of numerous Haitian criminals extradited from Canada and the United States… inmates often lack water, medical care or enough room to sleep lying down.” Haiti’s Penitentiary Administration Director, Jean-Roland Célestin, admits, “Conditions inside are awful. The facilities are overwhelmed and no longer meet international standards, but we cannot do any better.”
International Action is helping! In November, we contacted Mr. Célestin and offered free chlorinators installations in the jails of Port-au-Prince in order to improve conditions. Our offer was warmly welcomed by the Penitentiary Administration; Dalebrun Esther will meet with Mr. Célestin soon to allocate chlorinators.