The Association of Haitian Journalists has formally requested a meeting with Inspector General Pierre René François of the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ) following allegations that some journalists in Haiti may have links to the country’s criminal gangs.
In a letter to the DCPJ, the association praised the police’s efforts in combating crime, acknowledging that the criminal gangs have “plunged the country into an unprecedented security and humanitarian crisis.”
The letter highlighted concerns about the recent arrests of press workers and the identification of others in a document dated July 15, 2024, attributed to the DCPJ’s Criminal Affairs Bureau. Secretary General Jacques Desrosiers, who signed the letter, emphasized that the association’s mission is to uphold press freedom and ensure adherence to the ethical standards governing journalism.
Desrosiers clarified that the association’s request for a meeting is not intended to interfere with the DCPJ’s operations but rather to “gather elements for an objective assessment of the situation of these press workers.”
The request comes as Haiti continues to grapple with a severe security crisis. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021, left the country without an elected head of state. Since then, gang violence has displaced more than 578,000 Haitians, while nearly five million people, almost half of the population, are facing acute hunger, with 1.6 million at risk of starvation, according to the United Nations.
In response to the escalating violence, police officers from Kenya have been deployed under a United Nations-sanctioned mission to combat the powerful armed gangs that have destabilized the nation.
Meanwhile, Edgard Leblanc Fils, head of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC), has expressed hopes that presidential and legislative elections will be held by the end of 2025.
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