Prison - Haiti Observer Blog

With a total of 329 inmates out of prison in Haiti, the Haitian government has 329 mouths to feed in prison. There is only one problem with these crowd just released. They are not the types of people who will be complaining about poverty and misery in Haiti. Some of them are the go getters. They will take whatever they need from the population to function. They will likely kill you if necessary or some time just for the fun of it.

The new prison escapes will not have any problem to earn a living or to prosper in an environment such as Haiti. As a matter of fact, Haiti seems to be the ideal country for them to prosper, and not an organized country such the US, Canada, etc..

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We have learned with certainty that there was a major prison break at the Prison Civil of Croix-des-Bouquets where Clifford Brandt and Sonson La Familia have been spending time for kidnapping.

We also learned that there was an attack today (Sunday, August 10, 2014) coming from the inside of the prison and Clifford Brandt among many others escaped from Prison.

Woodly Etheart, aka Sonson La Familia who was also a prisoner was not able to escape the prison. As of now, there has been a reward of One Million gourdes posted by the Haitian government for anyone with information on the whereabouts of Prison Fugitive Clifford Brandt.

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Haiti has been ranked 12th in the most corrupt countries across the world based on Transparency International, in part because, for many prisoners, the opportunity of getting their cases heard before the courts actually means waiting for several years. The end result of arrest, trail, conviction or release all boils down to money.

There are multiple reasons why cases often do not get processed according to Brian Concannon, director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy. One of the biggest problems is insufficient resources. Another is because of an outdated system. However, the biggest problem is the high rate of pre-trial detention which fuels the market for bribes.

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Is this a way of getting back at us for the issues about the eggs ban or the attempt of the Haitian government to rally the world against the recent decision of the Dominican court to...

Whatever it is, I smell a "Rat" in these latest finding coming from the Dominican Republic.

According to Dominican Police sources, at least one Haitian or a group of Haitians is involved in four of every five crimes committed in the Dominican Republic.

The report stated that the Police is actively seeking more than 1,000 Haitian fugitives who escaped from prison in Haiti following prison collapse during the January, 2010 earthquake. It was further reported that most of them are very dangerous criminals who have been convicted of murder, aggravated assault, and the kidnapping in Haiti.

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Haiti's prison system has been reported as among the worst on the globe. Prisoners are crammed into holding cells shoulder-to-shoulder. They huddle on the cement floor because no beds exist, and they have to sleep in shifts. Often no running water is available, and the men are afflicted with scabies, chronic hunger, mental disturbances, and high blood pressure.

The U.S., in order to alleviate the conditions of too many inmates and too little space, is planning to erect two new prisons in Haiti. They will be located in Petit Goâve and Cabaret. Cost estimates for the project are expected to be from five to ten million USD.

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The inmates of Haiti's prisons are receiving what has been described as badly needed aid. The distribution of hygiene kits, clothes and shoes began as the initiative of the (DAP) Directorate of Prison Administration which requested the assistance, funded by the Treasury, of Minister Delegate in charge of Human Rights and the Fight against Poverty Extreme, Rose Anne Auguste.

1000 hygiene kits, which include detergent, toilet paper, soap, deodorant and toothpaste, were delivered along with an equal amount of bowls, spoons and cups. Also given to the 810 prisoners (26 women and 784 men) held in Cap-Haitien's prison were the gifts of jerseys, sandals and shorts. The presentation took place with Zéphirin Ardouin, Departmental Delegate, the prison director, Divisional Inspector Romage Marlon and Government Commissioner Lesly Jules as witness.

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It is always thought wiser to teach a man to fish than to hand him one. This is a sentiment that Jean Dominique shaped his career around upon returning to Haiti from private school in France. Working with the poor, he took his training in agronomy to teach the peasantry how to sustain themselves through skillful use of the land.

Because of his efforts, which included showing peasant farmers how to avoid being in debt to wealthy landowners, Dominique was imprisoned for six months due to the connivance of the landowners who convinced the authorities to jail him so they could hold on to their control over the peasants. Upon his release from jail, he became a fierce detractor of François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier and his militant regime.

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At the age of 22, Robert 'Boby' Duval, a popular soccer player sat as Haiti's political prisoner in a jail cell. He knew one thing and that was, his country required a change soon. He was imprisoned for one and half years for playing a major role in the Democratic Movement which could affect Haiti positively.

He Paid a Price for Standing Up To His Belief
For standing up for whatever he believed, he had to pay the price of an illustrious career in soccer. He tried a lot to end the Haitian struggle and remained dedicated to athletics and his lifelong love for the soccer game. By providing a career in soccer he has plans to bring in a positive change in Haiti.

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Jean Rene Duperval a former Haitian telecom director was recently sentenced to a 9 year jail term for bribery charges. Duperval was the director of international relations for Haiti Telecom, the sole provider of land line telephone service in Haiti a company which was allowed to transact with foreign telephone companies to provide various telephone services across the countries. He was arrested with charges of having engaged in various questionable activities between the years 2003 and 2006 where evidence shows that he was actually engaging in money laundering schemes and hiding the fact with various ways developed to evade the long arm of law.

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Antoine's testimony, as a government witness, has aided an extensive probe into the dealings between the Florida telecoms and high-level Haitian functionaries, which has implicated former Haitian president Jean-Bertand Aristide.

Asked about how the Court viewed Antoine's assistance up until now, Kainen said, "My client and his family have been reassured that the government is taking into account Mr. Antoine's generous assistance and cooperation, well before he pled guilty to money laundering. We are confident that the Court will reduce his sentence, since without his help the investigation would have faltered badly."

Eight defendants have been tried and sentenced, as an outcome of the investigation, most notably former telecom CEO Joel Esquenazi, who secured the longest-running prison term, in U.S. jurisprudence, in defiance of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

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