‘I have never seen Haiti in such a place’
Journalist fuelled by kindness, resilience of embattled nation’s people, despite death threats from ‘Barbecue’
Published:Monday | October 7, 2024 | 12:07 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
Pristina, Kosovo:
Days before attending the Connecting Media Communities 2024 event in Pristina, Kosovo, Widlore Mérancourt, editor in chief of Haiti’s premier investigative news outlet, Ayibo Post, received a death threat from Haitian gang leader, Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier.
The death threat was because of an article he wrote exposing the ethical breaches of two international journalists who gave the notorious gang leader presents which included balaclavas, alcohol, and cigarettes.
His report detailed the controversy of their actions which furthered accusations of collusion between Haitian gangs and local and international media, and exacerbated the difficulties of Haitian journalists reporting from the conflict affected country.
This was not the first time Mérancourt, a journalist for more than a decade, had faced threats because of his work. But it was the first time that the threat had been so direct.
Cherizier, a former police officer who now heads a federation of Haitian gangs, had initially bragged about the gifts he received from the foreign journalists via video. After the report and the outrage that followed, he released another video, naming Mérancourt, and his news outlet.
“I’m coming for you. Mark my words: there are people you don’t want to mess with. You could be in your bathroom and a car could come crashing into you,” the gang leader said in the video.
“My family living in Haiti is very concerned for my safety,” Mérancourt told The Gleaner.
He shared that the Connecting Media Communities seminar, which was held on October 3-4, came at an opportune time for him to leave Haiti.
It was organised by the European External Action Service, European Union’s diplomatic service, to foster an understanding of the multi-faceted phenomenon of foreign information manipulation and interference, and to enhance skills and capacities to respond to the threat through strengthened and interconnected networks of media communities globally.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) names Haiti as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for media. It ranks third on the CPJ’s 2023 Global Impunity Index, which highlights countries where the killers of journalists are more likely to go free.
According to the organisation, six journalists have been killed in direct reprisal for their work in Haiti since 2019. It has also condemned the death threat against Mérancourt.
“When you do the kind of work that we do in a country like Haiti you face multiple threats; you face threats from folks you report on, and regularly get threats via phone, text messages, you face threats on social media, you face legal threats too because people will try to instrumentalise the justice system to sow doubt into your reporting,” Mérancourt said.
What makes Chérizier’s death threat more concerning, Mérancourt explained, was the fact that he made it publicly.
“We don’t have a police force that can protect anyone- Haiti’s president was killed in the intimacy of his bed and you are left by yourself in situations like this to protect your physical,” he said.
Nonetheless, spurred by the importance of his work in a country facing humanitarian and national security crises, Mérancourt vows to not be intimidated.
“Journalism is necessary today in Haiti. I have to find a way. We as an organisation have to find a way to continue the necessary work we are doing while trying to protect the physical integrity of our teams,” he said.
Reporting their own stories
Over the past year, about 12 members of his staff had to be relocated because of gang activities in their neighbourhoods.
Their dedication to their jobs in Haiti’s dangerous environment is also seen in instances where they are directly impacted by the stories they are highlighting.
“The main challenge for journalists today, living in Haiti, is the fact that the story you are reporting is also your story. When you are writing about displacement and rape and gangs coming to communities burning everything down, these houses are yours too, they are the houses of your friends and family,” he said.
“In my entire life, I have never seen Haiti be in such a place practically to the collapse of the key institutions that guide civic life,” he added.
Thousands of Haitians, fleeing this collapse of their society, have taken to the sea to seek refuge in other countries, with some ending up in nearby Caribbean territories.
More than 120 Haitians have arrived in Jamaica via boat since July last year, but approximately 80 have been forcibly returned to Haiti without being allowed to access an asylum procedure or communicate with legal counsel, according to humanitarian activists.
The latest boat with Haitians arrived in Kensington, Portland on Saturday. The number of people on board has not yet been determined.
However, this treacherous journey embarked on by these Haitians, is often a desperate attempt to save their lives, Mérancourt said.
“I am not talking about people kindly leaving their houses, tens and thousands of those people actually, had to flee bullets, had to while their houses are being burned down, had to flee because they see with their own eyes sexual violence, sometimes against family members, had to flee while the little business they built all their lives was burned down under their own eyes,” he said.
“All countries have a duty in this situation to welcome them at least waiting for that situation in Haiti to get better, so when you send them back, obviously for many of them, it’s a death sentence,” he added.
As he continues to document the crises facing Haitian people, Mérancourt told The Gleaner that he is fuelled by the kindness and resilience displayed by his fellow citizens.
“I am amazed every day by the strange generosity of neighbours, sharing crops, the little they have to help kids and folks in their neighbourhood. You have teachers, many professionals ... they choose to stay in this country and they help. So I think the strength and resilience and persistence is going to, in my opinion, make sure Haiti still has a future.”