12554: This Week in Haiti 20:18 7/17/2002 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

"This Week in Haiti" is the English section of HAITI PROGRES
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                           HAITI PROGRES
              "Le journal qui offre une alternative"

                      * THIS WEEK IN HAITI *

                        July 17 - 23, 2002
                          Vol. 20, No. 18

RADIO JOURNALIST KIDNAPPED AND BEATEN IN PORT-AU-PRINCE

Israel Jacky Cantave, 28, a news director at Radio Caraïbes FM,
was abducted on the night of Mon., Jul. 15. He disappeared along
with his cousin, Frantz Ambroise, after the two left the station
following the broadcast of Cantave's evening program "Last
Chance," which airs from 9 to 10 pm.

As we go to press, Cantave and Ambroise were found gagged and
badly beaten in Petite Place Cazeau, a neighborhood in the
capital suburb of La Plaine, on the evening of Jul. 16. The
people who found them called the police, who took them first to a
police station and then to the General Hospital for treatment.
Witnesses who saw the men say they were "in bad shape."

The journalist's car and cell phone were found at dawn on Tue.,
Jul. 16, near his home in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of
Delmas 19. The driver-side door of the vehicle was smashed.

Jean Elie Moléus, Radio Caraïbes' remaining news director, told
Haïti Progrès that Cantave had received several death threats
during the previous week, the most recent on the day of his
disappearance. According to Moléus,  the caller had told Cantave
"to no longer address the question of Dec. 17, 2001," on which
date a failed assassination attempt against President Jean-
Bertrand Aristide prompted pro-government crowds to burn down the
homes and headquarters of several opposition leaders. Several
radio stations were also attacked by the crowds that day,
including Radio Caraïbes.

Many journalists fled into exile following the attacks, including
Radio Caraïbes previous news director, Carlo Sainristil.

Following the announcement of Cantave's disappearance, the
station halted its news broadcast as a gesture of solidarity with
the journalist.

Cantave, who was married in April, joined the staff of Radio
Caraïbes in 1998. Since January, he has hosted the very popular
Sunday program, "Review of the week," which treats political
developments.

He received the "Best reporter" prize from the Association of
Haitian Journalists (AJH) in 2001 for his coverage of events in
Cité Soleil. At the time of his abduction, he was following
several stories, including the negotiations between the Haitian
government and the Democratic Convergence, a Republican-backed
opposition front.

"His entire family is upset," said Guyler C Delva, the AJH
secretary-general, while the journalist and his cousin were still
missing. "Everybody is in shock. One does not usually find a
journalist who is so adept at covering such hot stories... He is
a very valuable reporter."

The police have launched an investigation into the abduction,
said Haitian National Police spokesman, Jean Dady Siméon. They
are presently searching his vehicle for clues. "The members of
the special unit SWAT team are ready to intervene where
necessary," Siméon said.

Meanwhile,  Mario Dupuy, Secretary of State of Communications,
said that the government "will not tolerate threats against
journalists, no matter where they come from." He invited
journalists to report it to authorities when they receive
threats.

However, Dupuy recently cast aspersions on a Haïti Progrès
photographer and another radio journalist after a big-landowner's
henchmen beat them up while they were covering a demonstration
for land rights on May 27 (see Haïti Progrès, Vol. 20, No. 11,
5/29/2002). Authorities then jailed the two journalists without
charges for two weeks and denied them medical attention. The
photographer has still not regained sight in his right eye, where
he was struck with a machete. (Nine unionist remain uncharged in
jail.)

Cantave's kidnapping and beating comes after a string of such
violent attacks on journalists. Government passivity, if not
complicity, in the face of growing attacks against journalists
has provoked sharp criticism from press defense organizations in
Haiti and internationally. Recently, for example, members of the
St. Marc-based organization "Bale Wouze" publicly and virulently
threatened the AJH's Delva, provoking no government response. A
journalist in Petit Goâve, Brignol Lindor, was murdered last Dec.
3 by a mob after similar threats.

Journalists are also alarmed at the government's apparent
attempts to stonewall the investigation of the Apr. 3, 2000
murder of radio journalist Jean Dominique.


HAITIANS DEMAND JUSTICE FOR GEORGY LOUISGÈNE

On Jul. 15, the Georgy Louisgène Justice Committee rallied
outside Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes' offices at 350
Jay Street to protest his decision to not file charges against
two cops who fatally shot Georgy Louisgène, 23, in Brooklyn on
Jan. 16 (see Haïti Progrès, Vol. 19, No. 45, 1/23/02).

An autopsy report obtained by the family reveals that Louisgène
was shot in the side and back, according to Abby Louis Jeune, the
victim's sister. "They weren't shooting to stop him," she said.
"They were shooting to kill."

"The shooting by New York City Police Officers James Muirhead and
Joseph Thompson was a justified use of force," Hynes said in a
statement on Jun. 28.

"Every killing that the NYPD does in Brooklyn, Charles Hynes just
let's these officers go free," Louis Jeune replied. "They know
that Hynes will cover up for them so they just keep on killing."

The Louisgène family and their lawyers now intend to take the
case to the Federal courts.

All articles copyrighted Haiti Progres, Inc. REPRINTS ENCOURAGED.
Please credit Haiti Progres.

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