Families of 2 journalists kidnapped in gang-controlled area of Haiti plead for details

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The families of two Haitian journalists who were reported kidnapped last week pleaded Monday for information about them, with many fearing that gangs had killed them.

Junior Célestin of Radio Television Megastar and Osnel Espérance of Radio Uni FM were reporting in downtown Port-au-Prince on Friday when they were taken, according to Radio Uni FM.

The area is largely controlled by a powerful gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm, which the United States has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Gangs control an estimated 90% of Haiti’s capital as well as swaths of land in the country’s central region.

Rosemanie Erneste, Espérance’s wife, told reporters she hasn’t heard from him since Friday.

“I am asking, if he is dead, don’t hide it from me,” she said, and began to cry. “If he is alive, let me know.”

She called on the government to act.

“There are a lot of victims,” she said of gang violence. “It’s time for this to end.”

She also had a message for Viv Ansanm: “I am asking for grace. Let him go, please.”

Jocelyn Perez, the executive director of Radio Uni FM, joined the families in requesting information about the journalists in a broadcast Monday.

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“We need to know if you are alive,” she said. “If they are alive, what are the steps we should be taking?”

Perez also called on international human rights organizations to help, adding: “Journalists are not actors in the conflict, but messengers serving the population.”

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 human rights, journalists’ groups and others are trying to get information about the two journalists who were kidnapped.

At least nine journalists in Haiti were killed in 2022, the deadliest year for Haitian journalism in recent history.

Associated Press reporter Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.