Jean Léopold Dominique

Attacks on Haiti’s press dropped significantly, even as its streets were ravaged by violence—but journalists said the decline was attributable to widespread self-censorship. Haiti’s media continued to operate in a polarized environment, which both skewed and limited coverage of the government and street gangs.

René Préval, an agronomist who served as president of Haiti between 1996 and 2001, became the first democratically elected leader since Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in February 2004. Despite Préval’s appeals for peace, scores of people were kidnapped at gunpoint on the streets of Port-au-Prince. More than 100 abductions were reported in the first six months of the year alone, The Miami Herald reported.

New York, August 11, 2004—More than seven months after escaping from the Port-au-Prince National Penitentiary, two of the men charged in the April 2000 killing of prominent journalist Jean Léopold Dominique have been recaptured.

Dymsley Millien was arrested August 1 in Port-au-Prince, and Jeudi-Jean Daniel was captured August 8 in the southern city of Jacmel, the Haitian press reported. Philippe Markington, who is also charged in the murder, is still on the run after escaping from the penitentiary January 1 by breaking through a wall with a group of prisoners that included his co-defendants.

New York, April 2, 2004—Marking the fourth anniversary of the murder of Jean Léopold Dominique, one of Haiti’s most renowned journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls on the new Haitian authorities to revive the stalled investigation into his killing and put an end to impunity in this case.

"After years of delays and inaction, a strong push for a full and impartial investigation into the murder of Jean Léopold Dominique by the transitional authorities would help restore faith in the Haitian judicial system, affirming a commitment to press freedom," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper.

Nearly a decade after the United States restored Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power in an attempt to encourage democracy there, Haitian journalists continued to face routine threats, harassment, and physical violence, while perpetrators of these attacks were rarely punished.

Jean Léopold Dominique, Radio Haïti Inter
KILLED
April 3, 2000

Dominique, 69, the outspoken owner and director of the independent station Radio Haïti Inter, was shot dead by an unknown gunman who also killed the station's security guard, Jean Claude Louissaint.

Economic and political turmoil throughout Latin America in 2002 had profound implications for the region's press. Sharp decreases in advertising revenue bankrupted many media outlets, while the failure to consolidate democratic reforms left the media vulnerable to legal and physical assault. Five journalists were killed in Latin America in 2002 for their work.

With President Jean-Bertrand Aristide under pressure qrom the international community and Haitian opposition groups to expedite political and economic reforms and to resolve a two-year-old electoral impasse that has stalled the flow of millions of dollars in aid, Haiti's embattled press corps vigilantly reported the news despite political unrest and a deteriorating economy.

Your Excellency:

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply troubled by a recent attack against Radio Métropole political reporter Jean-Numa Goudou, the latest in a series of attacks against Haitian journalists that remain unpunished.

On February 14, a group of people went to Goudou's house in Carrefour, a southwestern suburb of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, and asked to see him, but the political reporter, who also works for the news agency Haiti Press Network, was not there. The group returned late at night and tried to set fire to the reporter's house by burning a vehicle parked in his garage. According to CPJ sources, neighbors managed to put the fire out. No one was injured. In previous attacks against journalists, several sources have identified groups such as these as government supporters.

New York, December 2, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about growing threats against Haitian journalists in the wake of anti-government protests in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien that began on November 17 and continue to rattle the country.

On November 21, seven journalists from four private media outlets—including the director and three reporters from the privately owned Radio Etincelle—in Gonaïves, a seaside town northwest of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, went into hiding after receiving menacing telephone calls and verbal threats on the street for covering the Cap-Haïtien protests, said CPJ sources.

New York, December 2, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about growing threats against Haitian journalists in the wake of anti-government protests in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien that began on November 17 and continue to rattle the country.

On November 21, seven journalists from four private media outlets—including the director and three reporters from the privately owned Radio Etincelle—in Gonaïves, a seaside town northwest of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, went into hiding after receiving menacing telephone calls and verbal threats on the street for covering the Cap-Haïtien protests, said CPJ sources.