Israel Jacky Cantave, 28, a news director at Radio Caraïbes FM, was abducted on the night of Mon., Jul. 15. He disappeared along with his cousin, Frantz Ambroise, after the two left the station following the broadcast of Cantave’s evening program "Last Chance," which airs from 9 to 10 pm.
As we go to press, Cantave and Ambroise were found badly beaten in Petite Place Cazeau, a neighborhood in the capital suburb of La Plaine, on the evening of Jul. 16. The people who found them called the police, who took them first to a police station and then to the General Hospital for treatment. Witnesses who saw the men say they were "in bad shape."
The journalist’s car and cell phone were found at dawn on Tue., Jul. 16, near his home in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Delmas 19. The driver-side door of the vehicle was smashed.
Jean Elie Moléus, Radio Caraïbes’ remaining news director, told Haïti Progrès that Cantave had received several death threats during the previous week, the most recent on the day of his disappearance. According to Moléus, the caller had told Cantave "to no longer address the question of Dec. 17, 2001," on which date a failed assassination attempt against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide prompted pro-government crowds to burn down the homes and headquarters of several opposition leaders. Several radio stations were also attacked by the crowds that day, including Radio Caraïbes.
Many journalists fled into exile following the attacks, including Radio Caraïbes previous news director, Carlo Sainristil.
Following the announcement of Cantave’s disappearance, the station halted its news broadcast as a gesture of solidarity with the journalist.
Cantave, who was married in April, joined the staff of Radio Caraïbes in 1998. Since January, he has hosted the very popular Sunday program, "Review of the week," which treats the week’s political developments.
He received the "Best reporter" prize from the Association of Haitian Journalists (AJH) in 2001 for his coverage of events in Cité Soleil. At the time of his abduction, he was following several stories, including the negotiations between the Haitian government and the Democratic Convergence, a Republican-backed opposition front.
"His entire family is upset," said Guyler C Delva, the AJH secretary-general, while the journalist and his cousin were still missing. "Everybody is in shock. One does not usually find a journalist who is so adept at covering such hot stories... He is a very valuable reporter."
The police have launched an investigation into the abduction, said Haitian National Police spokesman, Jean Dady Siméon. They are presently searching his vehicle for clues. "The members of the special unit SWAT team are ready to intervene where necessary," Siméon said.
Meanwhile, Mario Dupuy, Secretary of State of Communications, said that the government "will not tolerate threats against journalists, no matter where they come from." He invited journalists to report it to authorities when they receive threats.
However, Dupuy recently cast aspersions on a Haïti Progrès photographer and another radio journalist after a big-landowner’s henchmen beat them up while they were covering a demonstration for land rights on May 27 (see Haïti Progrès, Vol. 20, No. 11, 5/29/2002). Authorities then jailed the two journalists without charges for two weeks and denied them medical attention. The photographer has still not regained sight in his right eye, where he was struck with a machete. (Nine unionist remain uncharged in jail.)
Cantave’s kidnapping and beating comes after a string of such violent attacks on journalists. Government passivity, if not complicity, in the face of growing attacks against journalists has provoked sharp criticism from press defense organizations in Haiti and internationally. Recently, for example, members of the St. Marc-based organization "Bale Wouze" publicly and virulently threatened the AJH’s Delva, provoking no government response. A journalist in Petit Goâve, Brignol Lindor, was murdered last Dec. 3 by a mob after similar threats.
Journalists are also alarmed at the government’s apparent attempts to stonewall the investigation of the Apr. 3, 2000 murder of radio journalist Jean Dominique.
Haitians Demand Justice for Georgy Louisgène
On Jul. 15, the Georgy Louisgène Justice Committee rallied outside Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ offices at 350 Jay Street to protest his decision to not file charges against two cops who fatally shot Georgy Louisgène, 23, in Brooklyn on Jan. 16 (see Haïti Progrès, Vol. 19, No. 45, 1/23/02).
An autopsy report obtained by the family reveals that Louisgène was shot in the side and back, according to Abby Louis Jeune, the victim’s sister. "They weren’t shooting to stop him," she said. "They were shooting to kill."
"The shooting by New York City Police Officers James Muirhead and Joseph Thompson was a justified use of force," Hynes said in a statement on Jun. 28.
"Every killing that the NYPD does in Brooklyn, Charles Hynes just let’s these officers go free," Louis Jeune replied. "They know that Hynes will cover up for them so they just keep on killing."
The Louisgène family and their lawyers now intend to take the case to the Federal courts
