New York, July 16, 2002—Haitian broadcast journalist Israel Jacky Cantave has been missing since last night, and colleagues said that they fear he has been kidnapped in reprisal for his reporting. Guyler C. Delva, head of the Haitian Journalists Association told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that Cantave, who covers a range of sensitive…
New York, June 20, 2002—In a letter sent today to Mario Dupuy, Haiti’s Secretary of State for Communications, the Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concerns about the government’s plan to develop a legally enforceable code of ethics for the press. In the letter, CPJ asked for more details about the proposed legislation and suggested opening…
Port-au-Prince, June 13, 2002—After a three-day fact-finding mission, a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found that journalists in Haiti face a troubling atmosphere of intimidation and fear. Haitian journalists have told CPJ of violent attacks and threats that largely remain unpunished. Some have felt obliged to censor themselves, go into hiding,…
AGAINST A BACKDROP OF TROUBLED ECONOMIES AND DEMOCRACIES, the Americas saw an increase in violent and verbal attacks against journalists during 2001. The number of journalists murdered in the region has grown, with 11 killed for their work in 2001, compared to seven in 2000 and six in 1999. The violence is also occurring in…
Haiti’s press suffered a crackdown this year that coincided with the February inauguration of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and continued after an apparent December coup attempt that sought to oust him. On December 17, about two dozen gunmen stormed the National Palace at dawn. At least 13 people were killed in the attack and ensuing mob…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is profoundly concerned about recent threats against Roosevelt Benjamin, director of information of the radio station Signal FM, based in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Pétion-Ville. We urge Your Excellency to guarantee the safety of our colleague.
BY EXPOSING CORRUPTION, POLITICAL INTRIGUE, and massive abuse of power, journalists in Peru helped bring down the regime of President Alberto K. Fujimori last year. Fujimori’s dramatic fall demonstrated that the Latin American press remains a key bulwark against leaders who continue to use subtle and not-so subtle means to control the flow of information.…
HAITIAN JOURNALISM RECEIVED A TERRIBLE BLOW in the April assassination of Jean Léopold Dominique, the country’s most prominent journalist and a veteran advocate of free speech. On April 3, an unidentified gunman shot Dominique seven times as he entered Radio Haïti Inter’s courtyard for his morning broadcast. Security guard Jean-Claude Louissaint was also shot dead…
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its deep sorrow over the recent assassination of Jean Léopold Dominique, owner and director of the independent station Radio Ha•ti Inter, and of the station’s security guard, Jean Claude Louissaint. We call on Your Excellency to ensure that this heinous crime is investigated and its authors brought to justice.