04/16/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/17/2024 06:22
More than 90 Haitian journalists and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) call on the international community and Haiti's new Transitional Presidential Council to give the right to information a central place in the search for a solution to the crisis that has been intensifying in Haiti in recent months.
As the right to information is an essential resource, Haiti's journalists and news media must be protected so that the country does not become an information desert, RSF and Haitian journalists say in a joint appeal issued on 16 April.
Media personnel have been directly impacted by both an unprecedented wave of gang violence and a social, economic and political crisis that has been growingsince last December.
Six Haitian journalists have been killedin connection with their work since 2022. Reporters are constantly exposed to threats, attacks or abduction. The mounting violence is carried out with complete impunity in the absence of the rule of law. As criminal gangs extend their control over the capital, Port-au-Prince, journalists are restricted to a few neighbourhoods where they can still work, albeit not without risks. Many have fled the country.
Most of the journalists who have signed the appeal to the international community and the Transitional Presidential Council are based in Port-au-Prince or adjoining municipalities. Some work for national media outlets such as Le Nouvelliste, Haïti24and AlterPresse. Others are freelancers. They work for print media, online media, TV and radio. Many of them belong to the Association of Haitian Journalists (AJH). Together, and with RSF, they are sounding the alarm.
It is hard to imagine a more complex environment for journalism than the one we know in Haiti today. The historic challenges that the media face in this country have been compounded by the impact of violence that has reached an unprecedented level in recent months, with journalists attacked, kidnapped and prevented from moving about by gang activity, while exposed to a generally precatious economic situation. Haiti's entire news media ecosystem is in danger, even though reporting is more essential than ever for the world to know what is happening in Haiti. Journalism should occupy a central place in discussions on ending the crisis and should be high on the international cooperation agenda
Haiti is experiencing an unprecedented crisis. Since President Jovenel Moïse's assassination in July 2021, the country has been wracked by extreme political instability and widespread gang violence. On 12 April, one month after Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was ready to resign, the creation of a Transitional Presidential Council was officially announced with the mission of restoring security and holding elections by February 2026. The council, whose members have not yet been appointed, is supposed to name a prime minister who will then form a government.
Read the letter signed by RSF and 90Haitian journalists
The world needs to know what is happening in Haiti. For this, Haiti needs independent, reliable and diverse journalism, and an environment in which media professionals can work in complete safety.
But journalism in Haiti is now in a critical state. While the challenges to journalism are not new, rarely in our country's recent history have we seen such a decline in working and living conditions.
We, Haitian journalists, live in constant fear of being attacked, kidnapped or murdered. Since 2022, at least six of our colleagues have been killed in connection with their work. Others have been attacked, injured, or taken hostage while covering protests, amid frequent armed clashes between the various gangs and the police. We, journalists, are subjected to these abuses with complete impunity, in the absence of the rule of law.
We, Haitian journalists, point out that entire neighbourhoods of the capital, Port-au-Prince, have become inaccessible. These districts, which are forbidden due to their control by armed groups, are becoming more and more numerous.
We, journalists, also sound the alarm about the organisational consequences of the rampant criminal violence - infrastructural decline, the unavailability of training, the financial fragility of media outlets and the precarious nature of the material conditions needed for journalists to work.
Doing our job has become so dangerous that a daily act of heroism is needed to keep going. In view of the huge risks, censoring ourselves, abandoning journalism or fleeing the country increasingly present themselves as our only survival strategies.
In this multidimensional crisis afflicting our country, journalism and the right to information are nonetheless essential. This is why we appeal to the international community, aid agencies, international organisations and the Transitional Presidential Council to give support for journalists and the media ecosystem a central place in the discussions on a solution to the crisis. The world needs to know what is happening in Haiti and Haiti needs journalism more than ever.
Signed by: