(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Jacques Edouard Alexis, RSF protested the ransacking of the offices of the radio station Voix des paysans du Sud (Radyo Vwa peyizan Sid, in Creole) and expressed its concern over the rapid degradation of the press situation in Haiti after four media […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Jacques Edouard Alexis, RSF protested the ransacking of the offices of the radio station Voix des paysans du Sud (Radyo Vwa peyizan Sid, in Creole) and expressed its concern over the rapid degradation of the press situation in Haiti after four media outlets were attacked in recent weeks. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general, urged that a “thorough
inquiry be launched into the ransacking of the offices of the Voix des paysans du Sud.” RSF also asked the Haitian prime minister to take “all the necessary measures to guarantee the safety of journalists and media offices.”
According to information obtained by RSF, the offices of the community radio station Voix des paysans du Sud, located in Cavaillon/Pliché (south of the country), were ransacked on 3 May 2000 by unknown people who also stole materials, including the station’s transmitter, with an estimated value of US$15,000 (about 15,000 euros). Father Yves Edmond, an official in charge of the radio station, declared that he was not in a position to identify the assaillants, but denounced “those who want to deprive the peasants of their ability to be heard.”
Voix des paysans du Sud radio is the fourth media outlet attacked in the last month in Haiti. During the night of 3 to 4 April, the offices of Radio Unité, a community radio station in the city of Saint-Michel de l’Attalaye, in the province of Artibonite, were sacked by unknown people. This attack took place only a few hours after the 3 April assassination of Jean Dominique, director of “Radio Haiti Inter” and a political commentator famous for his constant commitment to democracy. On 8 April, after the journalist’s funeral, demonstrators claiming to be supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide threw rocks at the offices of the private opposition station Radio Vision 2000 (see IFEX alerts of 28, 18, 7, 5 and 4 April 2000).
