8th January, 2022
By Cecilia Ologunagba/New York
The UN has condemned the burning alive of two Haitian journalists by a gang in the country’s capital on Thursday.
“We…we…we can…you know, sometimes you run out of words; but I think we clearly condemn this horrific murder.
“It is very important that the national authorities do whatever they can to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice,’’ UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Friday.
According to reports, the Ti Makak gang carried out the killings in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.
The reporters were on location to interview the leader of a rival gang. A third journalist managed to escape the brutal attack.
Police identified the victims as local reporter Wilguens Louissaint and Amady John Wesley, who worked with Canadian radio station Écoute FM.
The killings come amid a worsening security situation in Haiti six months after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse
Haitian media outlet Radio Écoute FM confirmed that its journalist, John Wesley Amady, was killed in the attack while he was on assignment documenting the lack of security in the area.
Dujarric recalled that UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) flagged a report on the death of journalists on Thursday.
“This is just one more example that journalists the world over face. And sadly, as we may expect, and the impunity with which they are murdered for just trying to tell the truth,’’ he said.
UNESCO on Thursday said 55 journalists and media professionals were killed in 2021, noting that impunity against journalists is alarmingly widespread.
“Once again in 2021, far too many journalists paid the ultimate price to bring truth to light,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said.
“Right now, the world needs independent, factual information more than ever. We must do more to ensure that those who work tirelessly to provide this can do so without fear.