H.E. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Office of the President
Palais National
Champ de Mars
Port-au-Prince
Haiti

Vienna, 26 July 2002

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute, the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, is gravely concerned about the safety of Haitian radio journalist Israel Jacky Cantave, who has reportedly gone into hiding.

On 15 July, Cantave was kidnapped at gunpoint by masked men while driving home with his cousin Frantz Ambroise after finishing his 10 p.m. (local time) broadcast on Radio Caraďbes. The assailants took the two men to a house, where they were held for about 24 hours and beaten repeatedly. They were later released and found blindfolded on the side of a road in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petite Place Cazeau.

Cantave said he believed his reports on a variety of sensitive issues were the reason for his abduction, although there remains much speculation as to the exact identity of those behind the kidnapping. Because of repeated threats against him, Cantave had been spending each night in a different location. Since his release, Cantave’s family and friends have continued to be harassed and IPI has been informed that the journalist has now gone into hiding.

According to the secretary general of the Association of Haitian Journalists (AJH), Guyler Delva, working as a journalist in Haiti is becoming increasingly dangerous. Journalists are confronted with death threats, harassment, physical attacks and assassination, which are largely carried out with impunity. As a result, self-censorship is widespread, and several journalists have been forced into hiding or exile.

IPI therefore urges Your Excellency to ensure that there is a thorough investigation into the assault on Cantave and his cousin and that those responsible are brought to justice. We further urge the Haitian authorities to send a clear signal of their determination to protect journalists from harassment and intimidation.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director