Haitian officials also say that the rise in crime is due to convicted criminals who have been repatriated from other countries, particularly the United States. Turf wars between rival drug gangs have resulted in the killing of scores of people, including several policemen. Private security forces that carry out extralegal search and seizures are flourishing. A number of independent newspapers and radio stations exist. Outlets critical of the government remain targets of official intimidation, including mob attacks.
Television is state-run and strongly biased toward the government.
In October 1998, a former Haitian judge was arrested in connection with the 1982 murder of a well-known journalist. Labor rights, as with all other legally sanctioned guarantees, are essentially unenforced. Unions are generally too weak to engage in collective bargaining, and their organizing efforts are undermined by the high unemployment rate.