31 January 2007
PHOTOGRAPHER KILLED
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have called on Haitian authorities to thoroughly investigate the murder of photographer Jean-Rémy Badio, who was killed on 19 January 2007 in the capital Port-au-Prince.
Badio was reportedly shot to death by members of a gang in Martissant, a slum that has seen heavy fighting between rival gangs in recent years. Badio was a freelancer who sold his pictures to local newspapers. His family said he had received death threats from gang members prior to his murder.
Badio had photographed gang confrontations in Martissant, where he lived. Colleagues interviewed by CPJ said some local gang members suspected him of being a police informant.
Amidst a volatile and often violent political environment, journalists in Haiti are frequently targeted by combatants, says Freedom House. Since January 2005, three journalists have lost their lives as a direct consequence of politically motivated violence.
Impunity is a serious problem in Haiti, with murders of journalists going unsolved for years. The highest profile case, involving Jean Dominique, has failed to result in justice more than six years after the Radio Inter journalist was gunned down.
Visit these links:
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20586
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2007/americas/haiti25jan07na.html
- Freedom House: http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2006
- Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/haiti14862.htm
- Amnesty International:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR360012007?open&of=ENG-2AM
- Haiti Analysis: http://tinyurl.com/2d2kte
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