PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – United Nations Police (UNPOL) serving in Haiti have arrested two men who escaped from jail and suspected of being responsible for several rapes in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) set up after the January 12 earthquake.

The men were arrested late on Wednesday night in the capital in a joint operation involving UNPOL’s operations office, its tactical intervention group and the Haitian National Police (HNP).

UNPOL said that Jean Batiste William, also known as ‘Ti Blanc’, was arrested in the St Bernadette camp, after camp residents called an emergency police number to report his presence.

The other person, whose name was not given, was arrested after his apartment in the Croix Deprez district was searched by police.

The UN peacekeeping operation in Haiti (MINUSTAH) said in a statement that it would continue to support the HNP in operations “such as those carried out this week as part of efforts to boost security and stability” in the impoverished Caribbean country.

UNPOL communications officer André Leclerc urged Haitians to keep supporting the police in their efforts to locate and arrest criminals.   

“The acts of rape are unacceptable and cruel. Thanks to the joint efforts of the police and the public, we can reduce the number of these sexual crimes,” he said.

Many inmates escaped from prison in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people and levelled large swathes of Port-au-Prince.