UN and Haiti to investigate prison riot deaths in the wake of earthquake

The United Nations and Haiti will look into a deadly prison riot in the southern city of Les Cayes shortly after January’s deadly earthquake, it was announced today, amid allegations that unarmed inmates were shot by local police officers.

The independent commission will be a joint UN-Haiti effort, a UN spokesperson told reporters. The commission is being set up under an agreement reached between Haitian President René Préval and Edmund Mulet, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and the head of the UN peacekeeping mission, which is known as MINUSTAH.

Media reports say that more than one dozen people were killed and dozens of others were wounded during an attempted prison escape in Les Cayes on 19 January, with questions raised about the role played by the Haitian National Police (HNP).