Haitian journalists accused of links to criminal gangs

The Association of Haitian Journalists has formally requested a meeting with Inspector General Pierre René François of the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ) following allegations that some journalists in Haiti have ties to the country’s criminal gangs.

In a letter to the DCPJ, the association praised the efforts of the police in combating crime and acknowledged that the criminal gangs “have plunged the country into an unprecedented security and humanitarian crisis.”

The letter highlighted concerns about the recent arrests of press workers and the identification of others in a document dated July 15, 2024, attributed to the DCPJ Criminal Affairs Bureau. Secretary General Jacques Desrosiers, who signed the letter, stressed that the association’s mission is to uphold press freedom and ensure compliance with ethical standards for journalism.

Desrosiers clarified that the association’s request for a meeting is not intended to disrupt the work of the DCPJ, but rather to “collect elements for an objective assessment of the situation of these press workers.”

The request comes as Haiti continues to grapple with a serious security crisis. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021, left the country without an elected head of state. Since then, gang violence has displaced more than 578,000 Haitians, while nearly five million people, almost half the population, face acute hunger, with 1.6 million at risk of starvation, according to the United Nations.

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In response to the escalating violence, police officers from Kenya have been deployed as part of a United Nations-sanctioned mission to combat the powerful armed gangs destabilizing the country.

Meanwhile, Edgard Leblanc Fils, head of the Haitian Transitional Presidential Council (TPC), has expressed hope that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held by the end of 2025.