‘Criminal and barbaric’: Two Haitian journalists killed by a group | Press Freedom News

Teammates Wilguens Louissaint and Amady John Wesley were killed Thursday outside Port-au-Prince.

Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. the rise of violence.

Wilguens Louissaint and Amady John Wesley were killed in a shooting on Thursday, Radio Ecoute FM told AFP news agency. A third journalist who was with them at the time escaped.

In one statement On the Facebook page of the radio station published on Thursday night, CEO Francky Attis said Wesley had been beaten and burned alive by “armed bandits” in the Boule 12 district, who was reporting security status in the area.

“This criminal and barbaric act is a serious attack on the right to life in general, and we strongly condemn this criminal and brutal act, which is a serious attack on the right to freedom of expression in the country in particular,” Attis said.

Group violence from Haiti has been on the rise July murder President Jovenel Moise takes control of the entire suburbs and main roads of the capital and surrounding areas by armed groups.

Laboule 12, where three journalists were reporting on Thursday, is the scene of fierce fighting between armed groups seeking to secure its control.

The route through the area is the only alternative to getting to the south of the country apart from the main road, which has been controlled by one of Haiti’s most powerful groups since June.

The country has also seen it increase in kidnappings for rescuing him last year, Haiti reported at least 950 kidnappings in 2021, according to the Center for Human Rights Study and Research in Port-au-Prince.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has vowed to crack down on gangs. saying in October “There is no real solution to the country’s problems if we do not have the courage to fight and eradicate this scourge.”

But the violence has continued, along Henry forced her to flee A shooting in the northern city of Gonaives last weekend.

It demands justice

Band impunity highlights the weaknesses of Haiti’s criminal justice system, in which investigations are rarely successful.

The assassination of Haitian journalist Jean Dominique in April 2000, the nation’s most famous journalist at the time, remains unsolved.

In June, Diego Charles became a Haitian journalist hil Along with opposition activist Antoinette Duclair and 13 other people from Port-au-Prince. The perpetrators of the shooting have not been identified by police.

On Friday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) this week condemned the killing of two journalists on Laboule 12 and called on the Haitian authorities to “clarify this attack and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

“The working conditions of the Haitian press have deteriorated in recent years,” said the press release he said On Twitter.

This was echoed by Attis, CEO of Radio Ecoute FM, the headquarters of a large Haitian community in Montreal, Canada.

“In the face of growing security, crime and impunity,” he wrote in a statement on Thursday, “we urge the relevant authorities to take responsibility for creating the right security conditions for all.”