Haiti

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Violence against the press and the lack of access to public information continue to be the greatest obstacles to press freedom. A report by the Center for Law and Global Justice of the University of San Francisco (USF) School of Law and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) identifies an atmosphere of fear and an inhibiting effect on freedom of expression that is manifested through intimidation, threats, imprisonment, destruction of multimedia equipment and reprisals coming from President Michel Martelly’s administration against journalists critical of his government. The journalists critical of the government said that evasions and obstructionism is another trend that is affecting them. They complained that they are continually being denied interviews with government officials, their access to public information is limited, their access official authorities has been blocked, and they are the ones that have faced threats to their lives; they have also been the target of libel suits and in some cases have had their working licenses revoked. On repeated occasions they have denounced mistreatment by government officials and have complained of the poor salaries they receive and the lack of opportunity for training, the report that was released at the end of September noted. However, the journalists were in agreement that President Martelly – compared to his predecessors – had improved access to public information through the holding of more press conferences and participation in social media. In September, Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and Florida businessman Patrice Baker filed in Miami a lawsuit against Leo Joseph and the weekly Haiti Observateur for which he works, alleging libel. The suit has its origin in a series of articles published between August and September, which suggested that Lamothe and Baker benefitted from the purchase of a telecommunications company by the Haitian government, according to the Associated Press. Haiti Observateur is published in Haiti, New York, Montreal and Florida. For his part, Gotson Pierre, founder of the news agency Alterpresse in Haiti, said in an interview with the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas that Haitian journalists are facing serious threats to freedom of expression. According to Pierre, the situation of the press has deteriorated in this past year and a hostile environment for journalists has been created. He also felt that self-censorship is a serious problem for the Haitian press and that impunity has worsened the delicate situation that the country’s media are facing. He added that the government is considering pursuing making libel a criminal offense and a press law to restrict and control the media and journalists.

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