The incidents highlight the extreme level of risk journalists face in an environment dominated by gangs.
Miami (March 17, 2026) — The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) strongly condemns the kidnapping in Haiti of journalists Junior Célestin, of Radio Television Megastar, and Osnel Espérance, of Radio Uni FM, which occurred last Friday in downtown Port-au-Prince while they were carrying out reporting duties.
According to press reports, both journalists were intercepted and taken against their will in an area widely controlled by armed groups, in a context where gangs dominate vast parts of the Haitian capital and keep the population—including members of the press—in a state of extreme vulnerability.
The kidnappings occurred one day after another attack against journalist Marvel Dandin, director of Radio Kiskeya. On the night of March 12, at least seven-armed men attempted to break into his home in the Soisson neighborhood of Thomassin, in Pétion-Ville, according to local media.
IAPA President Pierre Manigault called for “the immediate and safe release of both journalists, as well as urgent guarantees for their safety.” Manigault, of Evening Post Publishing Inc. in Charleston, South Carolina, added that the IAPA joins the families’ appeal to the Haitian government to “act with the utmost urgency to locate the journalists, secure their release, and bring those responsible to justice.”
For her part, Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information Chair Martha Ramos warned that “these incidents show that journalists operate under constant threats in an environment dominated by gang violence, where they are targeted in attacks aimed at silencing them, which constitutes a serious violation of press freedom and the public’s right to be informed.” Ramos, editorial director of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), stressed the need to “urgently strengthen security conditions for the practice of journalism in the country.”
Haiti, included for the first time in the 2025 Chapultepec Index of Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression, ranks in the High Restriction category. The report concludes that “the severe political, economic, and security crisis gripping the country, coupled with a state powerless to combat crime, highlights impunity for crimes against the population and the press as a major aggravating factor… While the authorities are not the primary aggressors against the media, they are the ones who have failed to establish limits on organized crime.”
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.