(IPI/IFEX) – In a 20 December 2000 letter to Haitian President René Préval, IPI strongly condemned the killing of a journalist in Haiti. According to information before IPI, Gerard Denoze, who covered sports for Radio Plus, was shot dead with a 9 mm handgun by two men as he got out of a taxi in […]
(IPI/IFEX) – In a 20 December 2000 letter to Haitian President René Préval, IPI strongly condemned the killing of a journalist in Haiti.
According to information before IPI, Gerard Denoze, who covered sports for Radio Plus, was shot dead with a 9 mm handgun by two men as he got out of a taxi in the Carrefour area of the capital, Port-au-Prince, on 15 December.
IPI understands that Denoze, 34, had received death threats over the phone, but that the motive for his murder remains unknown. His slaying is the second killing of a journalist in Haiti this year. On 3 April, Jean Léopold Dominique, owner and director of the independent Radio Haïti Inter, was shot dead by two unidentified assailants as he was about to enter his radio station in Port-au-Prince. One of the station’s security guards, Jean Claude Louissaint, was also killed in the incident. Dominique was Haiti’s most prominent political journalist and had often criticised politicians and businessmen in his programme, “Inter Actualités.” He, too, had received death threats (see IFEX alerts of 18, 7, 5 and 4 April 2000).
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– urging His Excellency to ensure that there is a thorough investigation into Denoze’s death and that those responsible for this heinous crime are brought to justice
– further urging that all possible steps are taken to ensure the safety of journalists working in Haiti
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:H.E. René Préval
President of the Republic of Haiti
Palais National
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Fax: +509 23 0241Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
