Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoHAITI / PRISON
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: HAITI / PRISON
TRT: 2:13
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29-28 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI / FILE
28 JANURY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
1. Wide shot, exterior of main prison in Port-au-Prince
2. Wide shot, damaged police car in front of prison
3. Close-up, melted light on the police car
4. Wide shot, damaged SWAT (CIMO) police car
5. Wide shot, interior of the prison which was burned
6. Wide shot, main area of the prison (interior)
7. Med shot, handcuff and chain in a cell
8. Close up, a handcuff
9. Med shot, a charred police vest pan to empty shelf where prison files were kept
10. Wide shot, personal photos in charred office
11. Med shot, photos in charred office
12. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eder Philippe, Resident of downtown Port-au-Prince:
"Those prisoners are people too. If the roof falls down on them, they have to escape. It's up to the authorities to figure out what to do now. And anyway, most of the people in there were wrongly judged anyway. They need justice. I would have done the same as them."
29 JANURY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
13. Wide shot, MINUSTAH log-base
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Danielle Boisvert, Acting Chief, MINUSTAH Corrections Unit:
“There were over 80 percent of the prisoners who have not yet had their day in court and so we can’t establish that they were in fact criminals. What we can say is that amongst them, there were a number of criminals who had been convicted and were serving their sentences.”
FILE - 15 SEPTEMBER 2008, GONAIVES, HAITI
15. Med shot, men in a cramped cell
16. Wide shot, men in a cramped cell
17. Med shot, sick inmates standing
18. Tilt down, face of an ill inmate, older man suffering from malnutrition
29 JANURY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Danielle Boisvert, Acting Chief, MINUSTAH Corrections Unit:
“Whether or not they are rejoining gangs, there were obviously gang members that were in prison so it is quite possible that they are finding themselves in the same neighborhoods at this point but I can’t speak to whether it’s a fact or not.”
FILE - 20 FEBRUARY 2009, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
20. Wide shot, group of inmates in a semi-circle
21. Close up, lesson book
22. Med shot, inmate's hands a pen
23. Wide shot, prisoner answering a teacher's question
Thousands of inmates fled after the collapse of Haiti’s main prison following the earthquake.
Officials say Prison Civile de Port-au-Prince had been burned down by the prisoners after the earthquake in an attempt to destroy prison records.
With the capital in such a vulnerable state, there was some concern that escapees may return to areas like Cite Soleil and try and form gangs.
But locals like Eder Philippe said the prisoners had no choice but to escape as the prison came crashing down on them.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eder Philippe, Resident of downtown Port-au-Prince:
"Those prisoners are people too. If the roof falls down on them, they have to escape. It's up to the authorities to figure out what to do now. And anyway, most of the people in there were wrongly judged anyway. They need justice. I would have done the same as them."
Prisons in Haiti, function as a "preventive detention" for men accused of crimes and waiting for trial. Inmates have to endure dire conditions in overcrowded cells where diseases like tuberculosis and chronic malnutrition are rampant.
The UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) worked with the Haitian government to promote a better justice system and to improve human rights for prisoners.
Danielle Boisvert, the Acting Chief of MINUSTAH’s Corrections Unit, said that more then 80 percent of the inmates that escaped had never been convicted.
Danielle Boisvert, Acting Chief, MINUSTAH Corrections Unit:
“There were over 80 percent of the prisoners who have not yet had their day in court and so we can’t establish that they were in fact criminals. What we can say is that amongst them, there were a number of criminals who had been convicted and were serving their sentences.”
According to MINUSTAH, some 5,100 prisoners escaped and so far 36 have been captured in La Cayes and Jacmel. They were not among escapees that had been sentenced. But the mission does not believe that dismantled gangs will regroup.
.Danielle Boisvert, Acting Chief, MINUSTAH Corrections Unit:
“Whether or not they are rejoining gangs, there were obviously gang members that were in prison so it is quite possible that they are finding themselves in the same neighborhoods at this point.”
United States and UN officials plan on building areas to house the recaptured inmates, most likely outside the capital.
