16413: Bellegarde-Smith: Haiti a danger for reporters/journalists (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: P D Bellegarde-Smith <pbs@csd.uwm.edu>


      Haiti No. 2 on danger list for media
      BY JANE REGAN
      Special to The Herald

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- The Committee to Protect Journalists Friday put Haiti on a par with Cuba by saying the two are tied as the hemisphere's second-most dangerous nations for the media.

''We know there's a lot of violence here,'' said Ann K. Cooper, executive director of New York-based CPJ. She led a five-person delegation to Haiti to investigate reports of continued threats and violence against journalists.

Haiti celebrated the end of its 29-year-long Duvalier dictatorship in 1986 with shouts of ''The muzzle is off!'' On Friday, Cooper and other members of the CPJ delegation said it appears that the muzzle is back in place.

''The record is clear,'' said Chicago Tribune syndicated columnist Clarence Page, a member of the CPJ board. ``At this point in the year 2003, Haiti ranks with Cuba and Colombia as one of the most dangerous in which to work.''

COLOMBIA NO. 1

The organization has called Colombia the hemisphere's most dangerous nation for journalists, with Cuba and Haiti tied for second place.

In less than three years, two journalists -- Jean Dominique and Brignol Lindor -- have been murdered and nearly 30 others have fled into exile, the delegation noted.

Mario Dupuy, Haiti's secretary of state for communication and director of the state-owned L'Union newspaper, said the CPJ accusation was ''unfair'' and exaggerated, and blamed journalists for a lack of professionalism.

''We are in a democratic transition. All sectors are learning what that means, including the media,'' he said.

One of the journalists who was covering the news conference offered himself as an example of the organization's concerns.

Radio Peredo Inter owner Johnson Joseph showed a scar on his forehead, which he said came from the butt of a policeman's shotgun.

Joseph, 30, said he was arrested with two of his reporters in Jacmel by Haitian National Police Inspector Jacques Pierre.

When he tried to defend his co-workers, Joseph said, ``suddenly I was hit with a shotgun. Blood was streaming down my face.''

The three men were released without being charged. Police on Friday said they are investigating the case.

MET WITH ARISTIDE

The delegation met with journalists, media owners and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and other officials. Cooper said she was encouraged that Prime Minister Yvon Neptune promised he would review a list of cases that have been documented and ``respond within 30 days.''

''This is not a fast process,'' Cooper admitted, but she expressed hope that a dialogue could be initiated.

However, Cooper also noted that last year Aristide made a similar promise and that she was ``disappointed in the lack of progress.''