On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, UNESCO recalls the alarming situation of journalists in Haiti.
Since the start of the deterioration of the security situation in January 2022, 11 media workers have been killed on the ground and others kidnapped or injured, making Haiti one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, deplores UNESCO.
Today, journalists are fleeing the country, reducing their media coverage or leaving the profession permanently. Media outlets are vandalized, their premises ransacked by bandits, as was recently the case for the daily “Le Nouvelliste” notes the UN agency. According to a survey conducted by UNESCO among 86 Haitian journalists.
:76% have faced threats related to their profession; 62% have faced verbal and online harassment; 30% have been victims of physical threats; 54% indicated that these threats had an impact on their work journalistic.
These attacks threaten press freedom and seriously hamper the ability of journalists to carry out their profession and provide vital information. Haiti increasingly risks becoming a “zone of silence”, with serious consequences on access to information for the local population and the entire world.
Journalists must be able to exercise their essential role in guaranteeing the population’s right to information in a context of crisis, says UNESCO, which reiterates its condemnation for the death of journalist Ricot Jean and calls for an end to the violence as well as the protection of journalists in Haiti.
