Jean-Rémy Badio

Press conditions improved slightly during a year of relative political stability. A decline in gang violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, allowed reporters to make a cautious return to the city's streets. And, with the strong support of President René Préval, an independent committee was created in August to monitor stalled investigations into a series of journalist murders this decade.

New York, May 18, 2007—Haitian authorities must conduct a prompt and thorough investigation into the murder of radio journalist Alix Joseph, who was gunned down on Wednesday night in the northern city of Gonaïves, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ is investigating possible links between Joseph’s murder and his professional work.

At 9:30 p.m., two unidentified men approached Joseph, station manager and host of a cultural show on local Radio-Télé Provinciale, as he was sitting in a car outside his wife’s house in Gonaïves, 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Port-au-Prince, according to press reports and CPJ interviews. The station’s director, Frantz Justin Altidor, told CPJ that Joseph’s wife ran for help when she saw the two men pull out their weapons. Moments later, neighbors found the journalist’s body lying outside his car, Altidor said. He had been shot at least 11 times, according to Haitian and international press reports.

New York, January 25, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Haitian authorities today to fully investigate the murder of photographer Jean-Rémy Badio, who was gunned down outside his home in Port-au-Prince on Friday after receiving several death threats from local gang members. CPJ is investigating whether Badio’s murder is linked to his professional work.

Badio, a freelancer, was shot to death at 4 p.m. in Port-au-Prince’s southern Martissant slum, Haitian press freedom advocate Guyler Delva told CPJ. Fred Blaise, a U.N. spokesman, said gang members were suspected of the shooting, The Associated Press reported. Badio had been threatened with death by local gang members since October 2006, according to colleagues interviewed by CPJ.