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26-12-2024
PORT-AU-PRINCE: At least two journalists and a police officer were killed Tuesday after armed gangs opened fire on them inside an old military hospital in Haiti’s capital. The attack also left at least seven journalists and two police officers injured with gunshot wounds.
The injured were being treated at La Paix Hospital after a specialized unit of the Haiti National Police went inside the facility that is part of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, better known as the General Hospital, to rescue the wounded.
Police officers told a Miami Herald freelancer and other waiting journalists that they had left four bodies on the ground. After three ambulances arrived at the hospital, journalists identified two of the bodies inside one of the ambulances as online journalists Mackendy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean. A Haitian police spokesman could not be reached for comment.
The tragedy unfolded while the press was awaiting the arrival of Health Minister Duckenson Lorthe Blema to cover the reopening of the General Hospital, which had been closed for months because of gang attacks. As reporters waited inside for the arrival of Blema, they could hear gunfire out in the streets, where two armored police vehicles were patrolling.
Inside, final arrangements were being made for the minister’s visit. That’s when several armed men stormed the area outside and opened fire.
In a video shared online, long volleys of gunfire could be heard as bullets flew through the green iron gates of the General Hospital.
Other photos and videos shared online by some of the reporters trapped inside showed journalists lying on the floor covered in blood, with gunshots wounds to the head, chest and mouths. In one video, a journalist showed where a bullet had pierced his tongue.
“We haven’t found a nurse or anyone to give us first aid, anything,” a journalist who was not injured said as she pleaded for help. “Those who are the most vulnerable, we want to get them out of here” but getting out of the area proved difficult as police exchanged gunfire with gang members.
“The whole area is under siege,” Guyler Delva, head of the press freedom group SOS journalists, said before police moved in to rescue the trapped reporters. “Bandits are shooting all around. If the journalists go out into the street, they will be killed and no one is helping them. The situation is very worrisome. They are stranded.” Delva blamed the Haitian government for the incident, saying the attack is part of a larger problem in which journalists are being targeted by the police as well as gangs. Reporters have reported being harassed by police while on assignment. Earlier this year Haitian authorities issued a list of journalists they were seeking to arrest, claiming they were working with gangs.
Last month the country’s telecommunications authority, CONATEL, shut down a popular program, Boukante la Pawol, hosted by Guerrier Henri, on Port-au-Prince’s Radio Mega after Henri allowed gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier to speak. Delva said the move infringed on press freedoms and was a throwback to the days Haiti was ruled by dictators.
“Journalists have been working with a lot of fear,” he said. “They realize that the government doesn’t care. They not only try to block them but they openly show they won’t intervene to help them.”
The Association of Haitian journalists also condemned the attack and called on authorities to avoid exposing journalists to danger. The group also asked on the authorities take immediate measures to provide all the necessary assistance to injured journalists and to the parents of those murdered in the exercise of their duties. (Int’l News Desk)
