Haiti’s Largest Prison and Coronavirus--May 2020

 

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Photo by John Carroll)

Haiti has some of the most inhumane prisons in the world. Words and photos do little justice for the severity of the problem.

As of today, there are approximately 750 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Haiti. But very few people per capita are being tested.

From MSN.com (May 21, 2020)–

“Nearly a dozen detainees in Haiti’s largest prison have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, an administrator told AFP Thursday, as fears mounted that the disease could spread like wildfire through the country’s dirty and overcrowded correctional system.

“Last week, approximately 50 prisoners in the Port-au-Prince penitentiary reported having a fever, prompting health officials to test 12 inmates as a sample.

“Results indicated that 11 were positive for COVID-19.

“I can confirm that COVID-19 entered the prison,” Charles Nazaire Noel, director of the national prison system, told AFP.

“We fought a tough battle to avoid that, but unfortunately, it happened. We are not going to give up, we will continue to strengthen the prison sanitation system,” he said, adding that he has asked the Ministry of Health to screen all of the penitentiary’s inmates.

“Haiti has more than 11,000 people behind bars — most of them waiting to go on trial, sometimes for years — in such deplorable conditions that human rights activists liken it to torture.

“The Port-au-Prince facility, built to house a maximum of 778 inmates, holds more than 3,600 prisoners, more than three-quarters of whom have been waiting for a trial for months or even years.

“Now that the virus has entered the prison, located in the heart of the capital, officials fear the death toll could quickly mount.”

 

John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org