Over the past few weeks, two local journalists have died in Haiti as gang violence has engulfed the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and the surrounding areas.
Radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was shot and killed in mid-April, according to a recently released statement by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Journalist Ricot Jean was discovered dead.
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Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, “The security crisis in the country is putting journalists at a constant risk of extreme violence. It is the authorities’ responsibility to make sure reporters can do their jobs without fear of violence.”
The National Association of Haitian Media also denounced the deaths, stating that Kersaint’s passing was caused by the “climate of tolerated and fueled violence.” According to sources in the local media, he worked as an internet journalist for Radio Tele INUREP.
Le Nouvelliste, a Haitian daily, said that Jean was abducted on Monday and his body was found on Tuesday. It said that Jean was employed by Radio-Tele Evolution Inter.
According to UNESCO, last year was the bloodiest year in recent memory for Haitian media with at least nine journalists slain.
The organization noted, at least 21 journalists were slain in Haiti between 2000 and 2022.
