Haiti’s government declared a state of emergency following violent clashes in the capital that have damaged communications and led to prison breaks. In response to recent events, the government has imposed a curfew throughout the West Territory for a renewable period of seventy-two hours. The curfew will apply “Between six in the evening and five in the morning on Monday, March 4, Tuesday, March 5, Wednesday, March 6, and this Sunday, March 3, 2024.”

According to Haitian lawyer Arnel Remy, head of the Collective of Lawyers for the Defense of Human Rights in Haiti (C.A.D.D.H.O.), “a total of 3,597 prisoners escaped from the National Penitentiary.” Remy said his team was at the prison and told CNN the remaining inmates were being transferred to other facilities and that the penitentiary was now empty and surrounded by police vehicles. In a statement, the Haitian Ministry of Communication announced that the police confronted “heavily armed criminals seeking at any cost to free people from custody” and were “not able to stop the criminals from freeing a large number of prisoners.” The U.S. embassy urged American citizens to leave the country due to violence and added that it would be on limited operations.

Haiti became the first independent state of the colonial era in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the first Black-led republic, after overcoming French rule in the 19th century. Violence in Haiti has been overwhelming as the country has been gripped by a wave of unrest and gang violence in recent years. For instance, Former President Jovenel Moïse, a banana exporter-turned-politician, was shot dead after gunmen opened fire with assault rifles in his private residence on July 7, 2021. In addition, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck western Haiti on August 14, 2021, causing widespread casualties and devastation.

As reported by Reuters, one voluntary prison worker said that 99 prisoners had opted to remain in their cells for fear of being killed in the crossfire. “Please, please help us,” one of the men, Francisco Uribe, said in the message widely shared on social media. “They are massacring people indiscriminately inside the cells.” The violence appeared to be widespread, with several neighborhoods reporting gunfire.

The situation in Haiti serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact that persistent violence can have on society. The need for international attention, humanitarian aid, and collaborative efforts to address the root causes of the violence has never been more pressing.