Wednesday, Brian Shukan, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of the United States, in the presence of several senior figures including Camille Edouard Jr., Minister of Justice, Michel-Ange Gédéon, the Director General of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), Jean Gardy Muscadin, the Head of the Penitentiary System in Haiti, the Mayor of Fort-Liberté, Louis Jacques Etienne, other representatives of the US Embassy, of the Haitian Government, the Minustah proceeded to the inauguration of the new Fort-Liberté prison.

The US government, through the Bureau of International Narcotics Affairs and Enforcement (INL), in partnership with the Haitian government, worked for the realization of this prison that can accommodate between 500 and 600 detainees, which extends over an area of 2,852 m2.

This building meets international safety standards. It is equipped with a solar electrification system and an autonomous supply device in drinking water. This modern penitentiary center, is more than just a detention space for prisoners, it provides an environment for rehabilitation and reintegration, including spaces for vocational training, areas of land to practice agriculture and land for sport.

The construction of the new Fort-Liberté detention center cost about 8 million US dollars and were executed by the DFS Construction firm, a US company based in Maryland.

In his speech for the occasion, Brian Shukan welcomed the collaboration that led to the realization of this prison, while taking up the words of Nelson Mandela to emphasize the importance of the commitment of the US government to support the construction of modern prisons through Haiti "no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones."

The new prison is part of US government's program to strengthen the PNH, to support the judicial system in Haiti, particularly in the fight against preventive detention and to support efforts to ensure the rights of all the citizens.

Recall that this prison is the second built by INL, January 28, 2016, the US government had inaugurated the new prison for women of Cabaret https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16453-haiti-justice-inauguration-of-the-new-civil-prison-for-women-in-cabaret.html . Two other prisons are being completed in Hinche and Petit-Goâve.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16453-haiti-justice-inauguration-of-the-new-civil-prison-for-women-in-cabaret.html

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre