Attacks and threats against Radio Cap-Haitien journalists; Radio Voix de l'Ave Maria offices ransacked

International Freedom of Expression eXchange Clearing House, 16 November 1995

On 15 November 1995, Evelyne Toussaint, head of the Radio Cap-Haitien radio station, disappeared after being attacked by demonstrators. She was aboard her vehicle with her two children when demonstrators charged. They forced her and her children out of the car before setting fire to it.

On 14 November, protesters kept Radio Cap-Haitien from reopening. The station had ceased broadcasting news programs earlier that day, because of threats against its journalists. On 14 November, the station decided to indefinitely suspend broadcasting. Carry Celestin, a chief editor with Radio Cap-Haitien, and reporter Gerard Martineau went into hiding after being threatened with necklacing (execution or torture carried out with a gasoline-soaked tire put around the victim's neck and set alight).

Since 13 November, Jean Robert Lalanne, a chief editor with Radio Cap-Haitien, has been repeatedly harassed at his home by protesters who threatened him with necklacing and accused him of being a macoute (a supporter of the Duvalier dictatorship).

The threats against the station are reportedly in connection with questions Lalanne asked Prime Minister Claudette Werleigh on the participation of government supporters in the violence racking Cap-Haitien since 8 November.

In a separate incident, on 13 November, approximately fifty protesters vandalized the antenna of the Catholic radio station Radio Voix de l'Ave Maria (Voice of Ave Maria), a regional station which broadcasts out of the offices of the Cap-Haitien archdiocese. The protesters claimed they were looking for firearms. They destroyed some of the station's equipment before they were stopped by police.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to Haitian authorities:

• expressing concern for the safety of the Radio Cap-Haitien journalists
• expressing the belief that these acts of violence constitute serious attacks on freedom of expression and on the right of journalists to practice their profession unhindered
• seeking guarantees for the safety of the journalists
• asking that they conduct an investigation into the incidents, in order that those responsible be brought to justice

APPEALS TO:

His Excellency Jean-Bertrand Aristide
President
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

(in Canada)
care of the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti
112 Kent St., suite 212
Place de Ville
Tower B
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5P2 Canada
Fax: +1 613 238 2986

Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.
For further information, contact RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel:+33 1 44 83 84 84, fax:+33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: rsf@globenet.gn.apc.org

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of its originator.