Prison Life

Here is a picture showing the status overcrowding at Haitian prisons.

As per MINUSTAH and the Institute for Criminal Policy Research statistics of December 2015, considering an estimated Haitian population of 10.78 million, prison population rate per 100,000 in the country is 102. Haiti has an official capacity of 2,431 inmates in its 17 prison systems; however, the number of 11,046 detainees translates the occupancy rate to 454.4%. The country boasts the worst overcrowding in the world. The prisoners rarely get any recreational time. They sleep, eat and live in about the space of one-quarter of a twin bed (0.4 square meter space) whereas the international recommended standard is 5.4 square meters of space. Some of the major reasons of overcrowding might be due to the snail-paced legal system, prolonged pre-trial detention (share of pre-trial detainees is 70.9% of the prison population), lack of qualified health personnel and insufficient budgetary allocations. Large numbers of the prison inmates spend more time in prison than the jail term they receive after trial.

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Here is a set of pictures of alleged kidnapper Clifford Brandt who was recaptured by the Dominican Police

On January 28, 2016, during the trial of Chris Brandt Jr, the Judge Me Jean Wilner Morin, after the identification process of the accused and his five other accomplices in the court room [Sawadienne Jean (30), Carlo St-Fort (30), Carline Richemard (30), Pierreval Ricot (39), Saint-Fort Carlo Bendel and Evens Larieux (45)], ordered the suspension of the hearing and announced the resumption of the trial on 15 February, 2016. A dozen of lawyers were present in the courtroom to defend Clifford Brandt, who has been arrested on charges of Kidnapping, illegal restraint against ransom, conspiracy, usurpation of title, death threats, forgery and use of forgeries, illegal possession of firearms and money laundering. The trial was again postponed on February 15, because the accused Chris Brandt was absent in the courtroom.

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Haitian prisons are among the worst world-wide. Inmates are afflicted with lack of nutrition, mental disorders, and heart-related conditions.

Health and Human Rights in Prisons Project is an advocacy group, seeking to change conditions in the prison system. They provide healthcare services and legal aid to assure prisoners' cases are being properly handled by the Haitian justice system.

They insure medical treatment is consistent with good-care standards, and prison officials are informed about any transgressions of inmates' human rights.

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Prisons in Haiti possess some of the worst living conditions. Inmates are packed closely into a single room, where they huddle together on a cement floor. With no room to stretch out, they are forced to sleep in shifts. Their diets consist of gruel and little else.

They suffer from poor nutrition, mental ailments, and the possibility of heart attacks. They live in filth, occasionally hosed down. Their human rights are ignored and they are left to perish.

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Nearly 5000 Haitian criminals are being held in a building originally built in the 1930's and meant for only 1,500 inmates. The situation at Haiti's National Penitentiary is much the same in the country's other prisons. The overcrowding makes preserving order an uphill battle. A system of rotation allows officials to stop gangs from reforming within the walls, but the problem is exacerbated by delays in the judicial system. Many of the inmates are being held pending trials that may take many months to come.

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Here is a photo of Amiot Metayer Gang Broke Prison In Gonaives.
was at one point in jail for for arson. However a mass protest emerged following his condemnation. He was so loved among his supporters that gang broke him out in August 2002. His divorce with the Aristide government began at that point

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Here is a picture of the Florestal brothers who have been released from prison by Cour d'Appel of Port-au-Prince. They were considered as political prisoners

Enold Florestal and his brother Josue, who were arrested and imprisoned 17 months ago on the charge of murdering a student named Frantzy Duverseau at his Port-au-Prince home on October 18, 2010, have been released from prison on December 19, 2014, three days after an Appellate Court ruled. On August 27, 2013, Haitian investigative judge Lamarre Bélizaire (he is said to be close to Martelly's government) ordered the arrests of four people--two brothers, Enold and Josué Florestal, their attorney André Michel and a police agent named Jeanco Honorat. The two brothers were plaintiffs in a suit accusing First Lady Sophia Martelly, and his son, Olivier Martelly, of corruption. On October 18, 2010, following an altercation between Mr. Enold and his in-laws, Enold reportedly assaulted his wife Fabienne Duverseau. When her brother Frantzy intervened, Enold was injured. He went to call the police and came back to the spot with his brother Josué, their attorney, André Michel and a police agent named Honorat. When Frantzy resisted arrest, Honorat shot him dead. In a September 2 report, Haitian independent National Human Rights Defense Network concluded the failure to identify which of the accused was a material author and which one acted as accomplice and issuing arrest warrant in such a state "constitutes a vast joke."

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Here is a picture of Clifford Brandt in Prison in Croix des Bouquets. Here is a vivid example of what prison life in Haiti can do to you. In this picture, Clifford Brandt looks very different than before he started serving time.

On August 10, 2014, Clifford Brandt managed to escape from prison in Croix des Bouquets as it was reported that an unknown number of prisoners would have escaped with him as well

According to the authorities, this new civil prison of Croix-des-Bouquets was funded by Canada. It is considered as a highly secureprison meeting the most stringent prison standards

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lawyer André Michel was arrested on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 on the road of Martissant by the National Police. this will likely cause revolt and demonstration from many sectors of the Haitian population, in particular members of the opposition. André Michel is a Human Rights Lawyer, who filed the corruption complaint against First Lady Sophia Martelly and her son Olivier

According to the report, the Human Rights Lawyer, police struggled to take Andre Michel from his car. André Michel requested the presence of his attorney which was not accorded. Many supporters were present during the arrest and started protesting by chanting against the Martelly administration.

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Fort Dimanche began as a prison when the French occupied the island before Haitian independence in 1804. Once the U.S. began occupying the island from 1915 to 1934, its military turned Fort Dimanche into a military compound.

During the 1950s Duvalier dictatorship, he used death squads and the prison became a detention center, where dissidents were jailed, tormented, and killed. Any political opponents caught trying to leave the country ended up at Fort Dimanche.

Fort Dimanche today has been designated a monument.

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