By Joseph Guyler C. Delva

Friday, Sept 9, 2023

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (HCNN)- Dozens of foreign nationals have been rotting in Haiti's jails on drug trafficking and murder charges, many of  whom ignoring when they would be allowed to appear before a judge, likely to pronounce a jugement on their cases, in the impoverished Caribbean country, where prison is often said to be worse than hell.

52 foreigners - including 17 Colombians, 13 Jamaicans and 10 from the neighboring Dominican Republic - have been detained in several detention centers in Haiti, where at least 142 inmates were killed last year, many by cholera and other infectious diseases.

"Even though the list is not exhaustive, we can count at least 52 foreign nationals in our jails in Haiti, most of whom have been detained on drug and murder charges",  police Inspector general, Pierre René François, told the Haitian-Caribbean News Network in an interview on Thursday.

"A number of colombian detainees were accused of involvement in the assassination of Haitian president Moise," the police Inspector told HCNN.

Haitian president Jovenel Moise

was assassinated in his private residence - on the night of July 6 to 7, 2021- by a commando mainly composed of former Colombian soldiers.

Some of the Colombians have denied the crime, saying they had been misled by the masterminds behind the killing. They said they were invited to Haiti to help enforce an arrest warrant against then sitting president, an action that would never have been possible, for lack of legal provisions.

The judge, who issued the controversial warrant, has, for some time now, taken refuge in Canada.

Among prisoners of foreign nationality, imprisoned in Haiti, are 17 Colombians, 13 Jamaicans, 10 Dominicans, 2 from the Bahamas.

5 other foreign citizens - one from each of the five following countries: Uruguay, Bolivia, the USA,

Cameroon, Nigeria - and five other ones with undisclosed nationalities.

Penitenciary officials said relatives of several of the detainees have contacted them through their respective embassies or consulates to learn more about their conditions.