Two journalists killed, bodies set on fire while reporting in Haiti

Two Haitian reporters were killed and their bodies were set on fire while reporting on the country’s gang violence in a slum of Port-au-Prince, according to a journalist’s association. 

The two men were part of a group of seven journalists who were attacked by gang members on Sunday in the Cite Soleil district of the capital while they were investigating the killing of a 17-year-old girl, according to Haiti’s Association of Independent Journalists. 

The journalists were allegedly ambushed by two rival gangs, said fellow reporter Deidonne St-Cyr. While five of the journalists were able to flee unharmed, the two victims were not able to get away. 

The journalists were identified as Tayson Latigue, who worked for the digital publication Ti Jenn Journalists, and Frantzen Charles, a reporter with FS News Haiti. Their bodies have not yet been recovered, added St-Cyr. 

The Association of Independent Journalists called the incident a “villainous and odious act,” demanding that the government deal with the growing insecurity in the country. 

“The journalists were just doing their job,” the group said. “They didn’t commit any crime.”

The killing of the two journalists is “further proof of the inability of the state to protect lives and property, which is nothing other than a violation of human rights,” the organization added. 

Haiti has been plagued with gang violence since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated last year, leaving a political vacuum and non-ending turf wars by gangs seeking to gain control of more territory. As a result, hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed and many others displaced. 

Prime Minister Ariel Henry also condemned the killings of the journalists, saying he was “shocked” at their deaths. 

“We strongly condemn this barbaric act, while sending our heartfelt thoughts to the families of the victims and their colleagues,” he said in a tweet. 

Two other journalists were killed by gang members in Haiti in January while reporting in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Laboule. Additionally, freelance photographer Vladjimir Lagagneur disappeared while reporting in the city in 2018. His whereabouts are still unknown.