Haiti journalists’ families plead for information on abducted reporters

Families plead for information as fears grow

The families of two Haitian journalists reported kidnapped last week pleaded Monday for information about their whereabouts, fearing that gangs may have killed them, according to a report by The Associated Press.

The journalists, Junior Célestin of Radio Télévision Megastar and Osnel Espérance of Radio Uni FM, were reporting in downtown Port-au-Prince on Friday when they were taken, Radio Uni FM said.

Wife asks not to be kept in the dark

Erneste, Espérance’s wife, told reporters that she has not heard from him since Friday. She said she was pleading for clarity depending on whether he is alive or dead, and she called for the government to act.

“I am asking, if he is dead, don’t hide it from me,” she said. “If he is alive, let me know.” Erneste began to cry as she spoke, the report said. She also said gang violence includes “a lot of victims,” and “It’s time for this to end.”

She added a direct message for Viv Ansanm, the gang coalition that controls much of the area where the journalists were taken. “I am asking for grace. Let him go, please,” she said.

Radio Uni FM calls on international groups and the public record

Jocelyn Perez, the executive director of Radio Uni FM, joined the families in a broadcast Monday requesting information about the two journalists. Perez said the priority is knowing whether they are alive.

“We need to know if you are alive,” Perez said. “If they are alive, what are the steps we should be taking?” The report said Perez also called on international human rights organizations for help, describing journalists as noncombatants. “Journalists are not actors in the conflict, but messengers serving the population.”

UN expert says journalists face ‘great risk’

William O’Neill, the U.N. expert on human rights in Haiti, told reporters Monday that journalists and human rights defenders “are under great risk.” O’Neill, who visited Haiti earlier this month, said that human rights groups, journalists’ organizations and others are trying to get information about the two abducted journalists.

Armed group control and a deadly recent record

The report said the area where the journalists were taken is largely controlled by Viv Ansanm. It said the United States has designated Viv Ansanm as a foreign terrorist organization and that gangs control an estimated 90% of Haiti’s capital, along with swaths of land in the country’s central region.

The report also noted that at least nine journalists in Haiti were killed in 2022, describing it as the deadliest year for Haitian journalism in recent history.