Freedom of the Press in Haiti: The Chilling Effect on Journalists Critical of the Government

This report analyzes press freedom in Haiti during the first fifteen months of President Michel Martelly's administration, drawing on in-person interviews conducted in Port-au-Prince in June 2012 with nine Haitian and international journalists from conservative, centrist, and left-wing outlets. It identifies two trends: intimidation, threats, equipment destruction, and retaliation against journalists critical of the government, and stonewalling, in which critical journalists were denied interviews and access to public information.

Documented cases include the arrest of Petit-Goave radio hosts, the firing of five state television journalists, retaliatory defamation lawsuits by the Prime Minister and First Lady, the shooting of correspondent Wendy Phele, and the murder of Radio Boukman director Jean Liphete Nelson. The report situates these events against Haitian constitutional guarantees, the American Convention on Human Rights, and Inter-American Commission standards, notes that conditions remain better than under prior coup governments and the Duvalier dictatorship, and offers nine recommendations covering investigation of attacks, decriminalization of defamation, access to information, and journalist training and working conditions.