Following the mutiny at the Gonaïves prison on November 7th https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29215-haiti-news-zapping.html where several prisoners took advantage of the circumstances to invest the prison area reserved to women and indulging in wild gang rape on 13 defenseless prisoners, Avocats Sans Frontières Canada (CBSA) has expressed its deep concern over the recurrence and escalation of violence against women in Haiti.

For CBSA "[...] when States deprive individuals of their liberty, they are responsible for ensuring their integrity and protecting them from acts of violence. The State has an obligation to guarantee the rights of women prisoners, to prevent any form of violence against women and to take the necessary measures to investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of these crimes," says CBSA's Chef de Mission in Haiti, Me Appolinaire Fotso.

Moreover, Guerlyne Residor, General Coordinator of "Kri Fanm Ayiti" (KRIFA) condemns with the utmost rigor this gang rape "[...] This odious incident which is the proof of the irresponsibility of the Haitian State in the assumption of responsibility people placed under the hand of justice should raise the indignation and anger of all, because it is the consequence of non-compliance with State obligations in the protection of human rights. The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners require that detainees be separated. If detained prisoners were divided into separate prison centers on the basis of their sex, such a tragedy would never have occurred."

Following this serious incident, KRIFA recommends to the authorities concerned :

• Medical and psychological care of these women over a long period;

• The increase in the number of guards in prisons;

• Arrangements to place detainees in separate prisons according to their gender;

• Conduct an independent inquiry to clarify the circumstances of the commission of this odious act and to set out the responsibilities in order to punish the guilty.

In this sense, KRIFA invites the parents of the victims to lodge a complaint in order to engage the responsibility of the State and urges the Government Commissioner at the Court of First Instance of Gonaives, to put public action in motion against the accomplices, authors and co-authors of this barbaric act.

HL/ HaitiLibre