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New cultural magazine on Radio France Internationale, RFI, Koze Kilti

New cultural magazine on Radio France Internationale, RFI, Koze Kilti

New cultural magazine on RFI, Koze Kilti

On Sunday, March 27, 2016, the Radio France Internationale (RFI) has introduced a new program in Haitian Creole and French which would be broadcast exclusively on its Haitian antennas. The program named "Koze Kilti" (Talk about culture, in Creole) is a 27 minute program under presentation of the Haitian journalist Dangelo Néard which would be broadcasted every Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and rebroadcast at 8:30 p.m. (Haiti time). It is a program produced in partnership with the French Institute in Port-au -Prince and recorded in the Institute's Port-au-Prince studio. The program will include local and international cultural news of the week from areas like literature, film, music and visual arts. Radio France Internationale (RFI) is available via the satellite bouquet Canal Sat Caraïbes. In Haiti, the program will be available on the following FM channels: Port-au-Prince (89.3 FM), Cap Haïtien (100.5 FM), Gonaïves (90.5 FM), Jacmel (96.6 FM) Jeremiah (92.7 FM) and Les Cayes (106.9 FM).

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Armed attack against the location of Radio Télé Kiskeya

Armed attack against the location of Radio Télé Kiskeya

Here is a picture resulting from Armed attack against the location of Radio Télé Kiskeya.

On Tuesday morning, December 1, 2015, around 1:00 AM, some unidentified gunmen shot on the premises of Haiti's popular Radio Television Kiskeya. Kiskeya is a live radio station broadcasting from Port Au Prince, which is dedicated to News Caribbean Pop. Over the years, the Kiskeya has remained the subject of numerous threats. On September 26, 2002, Radio Kiskeya was forced off the air amid a flurry of threats and warning after SWAT team arrested Rosemond Jean, a leader of the victims of a pyramid cooperative investment scandal. Jean was tortured by the CIMO and the Palace security officials at the National Palace. In its response, the airwaves of Radio Kiskeya did not remain silent; it was live in denouncing the move and about the mysterious disappearance of Felix Bien-Aime, a political activist and one time associate of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

On that occasion, they received a threat that the station would be burned down on September 26th. Thus, as a consequence, the management of the radio service Kiskeya run by veteran journalists Marvel Dandin and Lilianne Pierre-Paul, was obliged to cease operations, evacuate the office and went off the air.
The attack on Tuesday morning was the first armed attack on the radio station. Fortunately, no casualties were reported. Few bullets hit the building's main front, gate and a front door window. The National Police has opened an investigation. A forensic team visited the spot few hours later and has collected evidence for the investigation. The gun attack came at a time when the country is passing through a tensed electoral crisis. As per Senator Simon Desras, who had served two terms as president of Haiti's Senate before his dismissal on January 2015, the plan to attack Radio Télé Kiskeya was hatched at the Prime Minister's office to silence certain media.

It is learnt that Radio Television, Zenith has also been receiving similar threats. Some people running for the mayoral contest in Croix-des-Bouquets came with gasoline canisters with plan to burn down the Radio station. The Radio and news agencies are being pressurized not to air or circulate news as they wish to publicize. Neither the office of the outgoing President Martelly nor the "Core Group" in Haiti has commented on these threats and attacks. 'Core Group' consists a group of Ambassadors from Brazil, Canada, United States, France, Spain, and the European Union, However, the Ministry of Communications has communicated its strong condemnation of the intolerable act and expressed sympathy to Mr. Marvel Dandin, the Director General of Radio Kiskeya.

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Massacre of April 26, 1986 by Francois Duvalier

Massacre of April 26, 1986 by Francois Duvalier

Here is a picture on Le Nouveliste about the Massacre of April 26, 1986 by Francois Duvalier.

Massacre of April 26, 1986 by Francois Duvalier is also known by the name of "massacre of Fort-Dimanche" or Fort Death. On that date, the soldiers opened fire on a peaceful procession that started from the Sacre Coeur church for Fort Dimanche in commemoration of the events of April 26, 1963. Twenty years before, on the same day, Tontons Macoutes, carried out a series of assassination of the families who were alleged opponents to Papa Doc Duvalier, after a failed attempt to kidnap his son Jean-Claude (Baby Doc). On April 26, 1963, over a hundred people were killed and several dozens of people were taken to the Fort-Dimanche prison and later they all disappeared, never came back. Twenty years later, when the crowd assembled in front of Fort Dimanche, the army fired upon them. As per collective memory, number of victims was 'fifteen' and according to Human Rights Watch Report, the number was 'eight'.

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Le Petit Samedi Soir, Haitian newspaper

Le Petit Samedi Soir, Haitian newspaper

Le Petit Samedi Soir newspaper say its glory days during the reign of Jean Claude Duvalier.

Le Petit Samedi Soir (Small Saturday Night) is a weekly newspaper in French language published from Port-au-Prince that began in 1975 during the reign of Baby Doc. The journal came in to light following the relaxation of press censorship in a policy popularly known as 'Jeanclaudisme'. 'Jeanclaudisme' was developed in Haiti as a result of external pressure from the U.S President Jimmy Carter's administration. When Ady Jean-Gardy joined the company as its Cultural Affairs Director, he along with a team of twenty-year-old dynamic, courageous and curious journalists, transformed the weekly journal into one of the important intellectual, cultural and political Haitian newspaper. During the rule of papa Duvalier, the printing shops of four major Haitian newspapers-- Haiti Miroir, Le Patriote, Le Matin and Independence were bombed and destroyed. Another conservative newspaper la Phalange, controlled by the Roman Catholic Church was closed down in 1961. The press was muzzled. For hard news, Haitians had to rely on the radio stations like Voice of America and Radio Havana or a New York based paper Haiti- Observateur. However, since 1972, the U.S President Jimmy Carter's human right policy, to some extent, made the Haitian government's repression policy restrained.

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Caraibes by Night, Ladouceur Mejuste

Caraibes by Night, Ladouceur Mejuste

Here is a picture of Ladouceur Mejuste, Caraibes by Night.

Radio Haiti (later renamed to Radio Haiti-Inter) was the first independent radio station (1935) in Haiti. With the emergence of broadcasting media during the 1930s, many other radio stations which are still well known today were also created. Some of their names include: Radio Haiti (1935), Radio Caraïbes (1949), Radio Voix du Nord (1945), Radio Citadelle (1950), Radio Indépendance and Voix Évangélique. On October 12, 1977, by a decree issued during the regime of Jean Claude Duvalier, a controlling and regulatory body (National Council of Telecommunications or CONATEL) was created. Radios are a major part of Haitian Culture, about 97% of the population own a radio set and at least there are over 300 radio stations are believed to be operational. Attacks and threats are nothing new to the Haitian radio stations. In recent past, two journalists of Radio Haiti Inter (Jean Dominique, Jean-Claude Louissaint) were killed at the radio station on April 3, 2000. They were well known for their political commentary and investigative reporting. Maxime Seide, Dominique's bodyguard was killed on the previous Christmas day. Radio Haiti is one of the first stations to broadcast in Creole language rather than in French. Recently, Radio Télé Kiskeya was a target of gun attack and its two senior reporters, Liliane Pierre-Paul and Monard Metellus earned ire of the former President Martelly.

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The Miami Herald

The Miami Herald

It is an open fact that Haitian people have paid too dearly for the autocratic ruler Michel Martelly's inept administration. For last one year, he has ruled the country by Presidential decree. He never tried to understand the importance of compromise or the necessity of a national political consensus. Jude Celestin, the most popular presidential candidate, described the last election under his rule as a 'total farce' which does not reflect the desire of the common people. Ultimately, he has announced his scheduled departure on February 7. However, on February 6, before leaving his office, he installed Me Jules Cantave, the President of the Court of Cassation and the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSPJ), as the new Provisional President of Haiti through an agreement. However, as per G8, this agreement attempts to validate the 2015 election disregarding the general consensus and protests of the common people. It seeks to postpone a crisis that needs an immediate solution.

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Liliane Pierre Paul getting emotional during Homage, February 2016

Liliane Pierre Paul getting emotional during Homage, February 2016

Here is a picture of Radio personality Liliane Pierre Paul as she was very emotional during a ceremony organized on her behalf in February, 2016.

This was organized in response to the degrading Carnival song produced by President Michel Martelly about Liliane

As per Dandin's statement the threats of these two friends of the President (Jojo and Roro), are not only against Liliane Pierre-Paul and Monard Metellus-- it challenges everyone. Liliane Pierre-Paul is a star reporter and the President of the Association of Haitian Media and women's organizations. She is a pride of the Haitian society. Joseph (Jojo) Lorquet was arrested earlier for mafia related shady deals related to arms license, and others. Ronald (Roro) Nelson is well known in Haiti for his close association with Martelly and he uses that relation as a protective shield for his rowdy behavior and violent activities mostly on innocent people with beating and threatening with guns. In the early morning of December 1, 2015, the office of Radio Télé Kiskeya was a target of gun attack.
The brawl between Martelly and Liliane Paul actually started almost three years ago on May 16, 2013 when Martelly visited Radio, Television Caraibes for a program and commented if Lilianne Pierre Paul terms 'Michel Martelly' as 'Sweet Micky', there would be nothing wrong for him to call her as "Ti Lili. As per Haitian proverb, if you add "Ti" before someone's name, you infer that, the person is a thief. Liliane said, Sweet Micky is the name that brought fame to Martelly's musical career and his position as the Head of the State, whereas 'Lily' is a name that was affectionately given by her brother. It is quite obvious for Martelly to have a personal grudge against Liliane because, she has always remained vocal against all irregularities and election frauds, especially targeting Martelly's PHTK platform. Recently, the President Martelly has released his carnival meringue for 2016 targeting journalist Liliane Pierre-Paul.

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Salary of Stanley Lucas for propaganda job for Martelly government

Salary of Stanley Lucas for propaganda job for Martelly government

Here is the copy of a check issued to Stanley Lucas by the Haitian Embassy in New York for his ongoing propaganda work for the government of Michel Martelly. This check that was discovered by Radio host and news investigator Valery Numa was issued to Stanley Lucas on December 30, 2015 by the Haitian Embassy in New York City.

According to Valery Numa, initially Stanley Lucas was receiving his regular salary for doing his propaganda work for the Martelly government directly from the Haitian embassy in Washington. this was later changed to have the checks coming instead from the Haitian embassy in New York City.

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Evans Paul Press Release for creation of electoral commission

Evans Paul Press Release for creation of electoral commission

Here is a copy of the press release issued by Evans Paul for the creation of the electoral commission

On Thursday, December 17, President Martelly ordered to create a special commission to assess the condition of the country's upcoming electoral process scheduled on December 27, 2015. A 'Commission of Electoral Evaluation' has been created under section 136 of the Constitution and the Decree of 17 May 2005. He has named five members of the commission who will evaluate the election process over the next 72 hours and will be accountable to report and make necessary recommendations to the CEP and his government. Prime Minister Evans Paul has released a Press Note in this regard. The election process will be observed by the experts and representatives of the European Union and Organization of American States (OAS). However, the G8 and other opposition parties have said this Commission on Electoral Evaluation does not meet their main demand of a Commission, empowered for independent verification. However, the process of selecting its members and their scopes were not disclosed.

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New York Times has spoken on Haiti Election

New York Times has spoken on Haiti Election

Finally a major American Newspaper has called for legitimate election in Haiti, following the October 2015 election in Haiti. New York Times has spoken on Haiti Election, calling it a failure and that Haitians deserve better.

The New York Times (NYT), the New York City based U.S newspaper is of opinion that the October election in Haiti, to choose a successor to President Michel Martelly, has been marred by so much ballot tampering, illegal voting and other abuses that it could be denounced as 'illegitimate'. The sentiments of the 53 of the 54 contesting candidates together with the reactions of the independent election observers, human-rights groups, ordinary citizens, Haitian diaspora organizations and the religious leaders were demonstrated through the continued angry, often violent protests on the Haitian streets. As per the report, the second place winner Jude Celestin has said, the October election and its consequential results were "ridiculous farce". The country is again scheduled to go for a final runoff election on December 27th, 2015.

A credible election, as per internationally agreed normative base is an election, which would give every citizen an equal opportunity to vote, compete and be elected , without any discrimination with the participation of all qualified political parties. It must reflect the will of the people. The entire process should be transparent and each step should be open to security and trusted by the citizens. The principle of transparency is linked to the fundamental right of citizens.

As per the NYT news report, the Provisional Electoral Council, issued 900,000 accreditation cards to the representatives of political parties to oversee and ensure transparency in the electoral process, but in reality, those cards gave access to enter the polling centers and cast false votes.

On December 17, 2015, a signed petition of over 100,000 protesters has been posted on the website of the White House requesting President Obama to stop supporting Martelly and issue a statement in support of the petitioners demanding the formation of an inquiry committee to inquire about the alleged frauds affecting the integrity of the October 25, 2015 election.

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