14937: Blanchet: Fw: Haitian Coalition Decries the Silencing of a Powerful Voice for Democracy in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>
From: "Martine Caze" <MCaze@nchr.org>

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>
> Contact:  Dina Paul Parks
>
> 212-337-0005
>
> Haitian Coalition Decries the Silencing of a Powerful Voice for Democracy
in
> Haiti
>
> New York, February 25, 2003 -- The announcement this past Friday, February
> 21, of Michele Montas, head of Radio Haiti Inter (RHI) in Port-au-Prince
and
> widow of the late Jean Dominique, that she will close the radio station
> indefinitely due to continued threats has saddened and dismayed the
National
> Coalition for Haiti Rights (NCHR) which has long supported and encouraged
> free press in Haiti.  At this time, NCHR once again lifts its voice in
> solidarity with the team of journalists and staff of RHI in this difficult
> hour.
>
> In her announcement, Ms. Montas revealed the sinister and duplicitous
nature
> of the threats and intimidation that continue to plague RHI and prevent it
> from fulfilling its mission of providing reliable, objective and credible
> information on developments in Haiti.  Particularly since the funeral of
her
> bodyguard, Maxime Seide, slain in an attempt against her life on December
> 25, 2002, she cites anonymous phone calls threatening the staff with the
> same fate as Seide and verbal aggression directed toward journalists going
> about their daily routine.  She and her staff have also been under clear
and
> constant surveillance, with the repeated presence of two cars without
> license plates around the station in the evenings and reliable information
> warning staff of an attack planned during the upcoming "carnaval".
Coupled
> with the lack of will to investigate the killing of Seide in a timely and
> transparent manner and the new blockage of the Jean Dominique dossier
within
> the judicial system in which the final findings were to have been issued,
> this intimidation and harassment are symptomatic of the climate currently
> reigning in Haiti in which freedoms of expression and of the press are
> routinely and flagrantly violated and impunity is the order of the day.
>
> NCHR will continue and intensify its efforts to advocate for the
> establishment of the rule of law in Haiti and is calling on the Government
> of Haiti to quickly restore basic security to RHI and to the many other
> members of the press who continue to live under the danger of similar
> intimidation.  President Aristide's administration must take bold steps to
> bring an end to this censure by threat and to guarantee the publication
and
> circulation of independent news and information in Haiti without fear.  It
> must also ensure that the Jean Dominique/Jean Claude Louissaint
> investigation continues unimpeded, that the investigation of Maxime
Seide's
> death and the attempt against Ms. Montas' life be given priority, and that
> each and every threat reported by journalists, human rights defenders and
> other active citizens be treated with the seriousness and aggressiveness
> they deserve.
>