Michele Montas

Former dictator Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier is facing some blowback after breezing into Haiti last Sunday following a 25-year absence. On Wednesday, prominent Haitian journalist and former UN spokesperson Michele Montas joined three others in filing criminal complaints against the former dictator who returned to the country Sunday, just days after the anniversary of last year's devastating earthquake. 

Michele Montas, the Haitian journalist and former spokeswoman for U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, has experienced a harrowing time in aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. “Haiti appears to be on doomsday,” said Montas, who said she has been shaken by the number of dead and wounded on the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Her own home suffered only minor damage, Montas said, adding that that she intends to stay in Haiti for a prolonged period to help her country through the crisis.

May 2007

News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, April 27, 2007—Meeting today with a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced his admiration and pledged his support for journalists working in dangerous situations around the world.

“Tell them we will be behind them,” the secretary-general said. “I have big admiration and respect for their courage.” Ban also told the delegation that he would do his best to ensure implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1738, which was adopted in December 2006 and affirms the rights of journalists in conflict zones.

Dozens of Latin American writers join CPJ in urging Castro to release jailed colleagues

Port-au-Prince, August 15, 2003—Top officials of the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have agreed to report to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on the status of judicial investigations into press freedom abuses documented by CPJ.

The agreement came during a five-day visit to Haiti by members of a CPJ delegation, who met with journalists from state and private media, as well as with government officials, to discuss press freedom concerns in Haiti.

HAITIAN JOURNALISM RECEIVED A TERRIBLE BLOW in the April assassination of Jean Léopold Dominique, the country's most prominent journalist and a veteran advocate of free speech. On April 3, an unidentified gunman shot Dominique seven times as he entered Radio Haïti Inter's courtyard for his morning broadcast. Security guard Jean-Claude Louissaint was also shot dead in the attack.

The 69-year-old Dominique was a close friend and political advisor to President René Préval, and virtually the only reporter in Haiti who dared to do serious investigative work. In an April 4 letter to Préval, CPJ called for a full investigation and insisted that the perpetrators be brought to justice. In July, the government appointed the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux to provide legal support for the investigation. (The same legal team worked on a trial that resulted in the November convictions of more than 50 former high-ranking paramilitary and army soldiers for involvement in a 1994 slum massacre.) And in September, the justice minister appointed a new judge because of delays in the investigation.

After the murder of a radio journalist, Haiti's press pulls back in fear.

April 4, 2000


René Préval
President of Haiti
National Palace
Port-au-Prince, Haiti


Your Excellency,

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its deep sorrow over the recent assassination of Jean Léopold Dominique, owner and director of the independent station Radio Ha•ti Inter, and of the station's security guard, Jean Claude Louissaint. We call on Your Excellency to ensure that this heinous crime is investigated and its authors brought to justice.