AP Exclusive" Malnutrition killing inmates in Haiti jails

[Judi Lynn]

AP Exclusive" Malnutrition killing inmates in Haiti jails
David Mcfadden, Associated Press Updated 10:56 am, Monday, February 20, 2017



PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Dozens of emaciated men with sunken cheeks and protruding ribs lie silently in an infirmary at Haiti's largest prison, most too weak to stand. The corpse of an inmate who died miserably of malnutrition is shrouded beneath a plastic tarp.

Elsewhere, prisoners are crammed shoulder-to-shoulder in cellblocks so overcrowded they have to sleep in makeshift hammocks suspended from the ceiling or squeeze four to a bunk. New arrivals at Haiti's National Penitentiary jostle for space on filthy floors where inmates on lockdown 22 hours a day are forced to defecate into plastic bags in the absence of latrines.

"Straight up: This is hell. Getting locked up in Haiti will drive you crazy if it doesn't kill you first," said Vangeliste Bazile, a homicide suspect who is among the about 80 percent of those incarcerated who have not been convicted of a crime but are held in prolonged pretrial detention waiting for their chance to see a judge.

Overcrowding, malnutrition and infectious diseases that flourish in jammed quarters have led to an upsurge of inmate deaths, including 21 at the Port-au-Prince penitentiary just last month. Those who monitor the country's lockups are sounding an alarm about collapsing conditions.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Prosecutors-say-malnutrition-killing-inmates-in-10944840.php

Editorials and other articles:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016178760

[Judi Lynn]

1. Mass funeral held for 20 Haitians who died in dismal prison

Mass funeral held for 20 Haitians who died in dismal prison
Updated 11:13 am, Tuesday, February 21, 2017



PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian prosecutors are holding a mass funeral for 20 inmates who have died in Haiti's largest prison.

Relatives wailed in grief or stared stoically as the coffins arrived on Tuesday.

Shortages of food and medicine as well as diseases that flourish in packed Haitian lockups have led to an upsurge in malnutrition-related illnesses and other preventable diseases.


Marie Lumane Laurore broke into piercing screams as she collapsed before her son's coffin, crying: "This is a country without justice!"

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Mass-funeral-held-for-20-Haitians-who-died-in-10948017.php