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Patrol police in the streets of Port-au-Prince, theater demonstrations for nearly a week (illustration). HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP

In Haiti, the 78 prisoners of the prison of the city of Aquin, in the south of the country, escaped this Tuesday, February 12 at midday, announced the spokesman of the national police.

An investigation was opened to determine the precise circumstances of the escape of the 78 prisoners from Aquin Prison. According to witnesses, a demonstration against Haitian President Jovenel Moïse took place in front of the police station next to the penitentiary. For almost a week, several thousand people have been demonstrating, sometimes violently, in the capital Port-au-Prince and in the provinces to demand the resignation of the head of state.

Prison conditions in Haiti are considered among the most inhumane in the world by human rights organizations. They point to extreme overcrowding, lack of hygiene, nutrition and care. The slowness of justice is partly responsible for this situation. In October 2018, the investigation report of a Haitian association revealed that three quarters of the 11,839 people imprisoned in Haiti were still awaiting trial, some for more than a decade.

(With AFP)