From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 17 Nov 92 11:03 PST
Subject: HAITI: JOURNALISTS FEAR INCREASED R
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700808:000:4884
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Nov 17 11:03:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: HAITI: JOURNALISTS FEAR INCREASED R

/* Written 12:15 am  Nov 16, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: HAITI: JOURNALISTS FEAR INCREASED REPRESSION


port-au-prince, nov 13 (ips/ives-marie chanel) -- haitian
journalists friday expressed fears that the arrest of a number of
pressmen on thursday might mark the beginning of a new army
crackdown on the media.

''press freedom does not exist in haiti. we have to expect the
worst, that they might soon assassinate a journalist,'' liliane
pierre-paul, awarded the 1990 ''courage in journalism'' prize by
the u.s.-based 'international women's media foundation, told ips
friday.

on thursday the military surrounded for about three hours a
building at the university's faculty of sciences, where some 200
students and 15 journalists were commemorating the first
anniversary of an army intervention at the faculty in which
almost 150 students had been arrested.

the military arrested four students and two journalists,
clarens renois, news director at the privately-owned radio
metropole, and voice of america correspondent jean max blanc.

renois told ips that he and blanc were taken to the
headquarters of the police anti-gang service, where they were
insulted and roughed up by policemen, who accused them of
organizing the commemoration so as to have something to report
on.

(haiti's police are a branch of the military).

the two journalists were detained for half an hour, before
being released on the order of the head of the service, captain
jackson joannis, who gave them no explanation for their
detention.

the four students were released three hours after their
arrest.

renois told ips that ''these arrests mean, in my opinion, that
there is no guarantee for journalists in this country. i think
the authorities should say officially that the press is not
free.''

the arrests led to fears within the haitian media community
that the authorities might be planning a crackdown on journalists
similar to the repression which followed the sep. 30, 1991 coup
against president jean-bertrand aristide.

the fears were also fuelled by attacks against the private
media and the international press on state television thursday
night.

reporting on thursday's incidents, the state tv accused the
journalists of being ''lavalas'' (supporters of aristide). (more)
----


it also claimed that they were ''making deformed
interpretations of the news with a view to creating a climate of
panic in the country and provoking the forces of law and order.''

in an interview with radio metropole thursday, information
minister andre calixte said he had no exact information on the
reasons of the arrests.

he played down the incident, saying it was nothing new and
something which was not imputable only to the haitian
authorities.

international human rights groups have repeatedly accused the
haitian military of human rights violations, with the main
victims including political opponents and journalists.

in the aftermath of the sep. 1991 coup, some media houses were
destroyed, others were closed down and journalists were detained
and tortured, while one media director disappeared.

the repression led some journalists to flee haiti, while all
but a handful of media houses stopped reporting on domestic
issues and most of the others severely censored their news.

but, said the director of the private haitian news agency
(ahp), georges venel, ''the putschists do not spare anyone. not
even those who adopt a complaisant attitude towards them.''

he told ips friday that the arrests were related to ''a
climate of excitement'' in the country,'' which creates among the
military the fear that certain popular media ... might resume
their operations.''

''the election of bill clinton to the presidency of the united
states has led to a renewed hope, whether justified or not, in
some sectors'' in haiti, venel explained.

''they feel that bill clinton is going to back an action in
favour of a return to democratic order,'' he added.

meanwhile, in a communique issued on thursday night, the army
high command announced that it had seized weapons and arrested a
number of people during arms searches in residential
neighbourhoods in the capital.

earlier thursday buses and other vehicles carrying hundreds of
heavily armed soldiers in combat gear had driven through the
streets of port-au-prince. however, it is not known whether this
was linked to the arms searches.

the communique said the army was looking for other people who
had managed to escape during the searches, but it gave no details
of the number of people arrested or the nature and quantity of
the weapons seized. (end/ips/ic-kb/92)
----