Haiti’s inmates are thirsty and starving in severely overcrowded jails, many forced to sleep standing up. The U.N. says 185 inmates died in Haiti last year — many of malnutrition-related diseases — and more than 20 have passed away so far this year.
People gather outside the National Penitentiary for their turn to deliver food to their jailed relatives in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, June 1, 2023. In December 2022, the University of Florida published a study that found that men in Haiti’s prisons were on a starvation-level diet, consuming fewer than 500 calories a day.
More than 80% of Haiti’s more than 11,400 inmates are being held in pre-trial detention. It could be years before they see a judge, if at all, according to human rights experts. Haitian law allows people to be held legally without charge for 48 hours but in Haiti, the law often isn’t followed. “No one brings me food,” said François Gausly, 50, adding that he has been in prison for four years after being accused of stealing a motorcycle, but has yet to see a judge. “I eat only once a day. Sometimes it’s rice. Sometimes, it’s grits.”
One woman who brought rice scooped some of it up with her hand and ate it as a corrections officer observed her: Anyone bringing food or drink is forced to taste it to avoid attempts to poison someone inside.
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