Haiti / Americas

Miami, November 26, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on CONATEL, Haiti’s telecommunications authority, to end its suspension of a popular evening show on Radio Mega, one of the country’s largest broadcast outlets, amid concerns the penalty was imposed without due process.  “Haitian authorities should reverse their suspension of the Radio Mega show ‘Boukante Lapawòl’ (Exchange of Words)…

Miami, November 20, 2024—Gang members shot at journalist Wandy Charles and his family outside his home in a suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince, on November 11, shortly before the local gang overran the area. Gang violence has again surged through sections of Haiti’s capital after Prime Minister Garry Conille was ousted on November 11, six…

Miami, September 30, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by threats made against journalist Widlore Mérancourt by Haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier over his article about a Reuters journalist giving Cherizier gifts of balaclavas, alcohol, and cigarettes. “We are very concerned about the threats made against AyiboPost’s editor-in-chief Widlore Mérancourt by the Haitian…

Le Nouvelliste, Haiti’s oldest independent daily newspaper, has been around for 126 years, and the outlet’s owners are proud to have maintained its operations through the country’s intensifying challenges — from foreign occupation and devastating earthquakes to coups. But now Le Nouvelliste’s survival — and that of more independent media outlets in the country —…

New York, July 1, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the Thursday decision by Carlos Hercule, Haiti’s Minister of Justice and Public Security, to place Ronald Richemond, the federal prosecutor of the city of Les Cayes, on leave until further notice. CPJ has reported on allegations linking Richemond to the murder of Haitian radio journalist…

Miami, June 3, 2024– The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Haiti’s Superior Council of the Judiciary, the country’s judiciary oversight body, to provide judge Jean Michelet Séide with the necessary resources and protections to conclude his investigation into the October 2022 murder of radio journalist Garry Tesse.  Last month, the council appointed Séide to take over the case…

Local journalist Sean Roubens was kidnapped on March 14, 2024, by a gang in Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince and held for 17 days before being released unharmed on March 30. Roubens, 42, is a veteran fixer, assisting foreign journalists and social media personalities seeking to report on Haiti’s gang violence. At the time of…

Haitian journalist Garry Tesse was on his way to work at a local radio station in the southern city of Les Cayes when he disappeared shortly after exiting a taxi. His naked and disfigured corpse was found six days later face down on the seashore close to downtown. One of his eyes was gouged out,…

Editor’s note: Since the publication of this report, Lucien Jura was released by kidnappers, his brother Erick Jura told CPJ on Thursday. Miami, March 20, 2024—The kidnappers of journalist Lucien Jura should release him immediately and not hold journalists as pawns, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Jura was abducted from his home in…

Miami, February 9, 2024—Haitian authorities should investigate the recent injuries of at least five journalists who were covering anti-government protests and ensure that the media can cover matters of public interest without fear of injury, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday. On Thursday, freelance journalist Jean Marc Jean was struck in the face…