AHP News - English Translation

SOS Journalists Haiti issued a statement Tuesday condemning the murder on Friday, January 19, of photojournalist Jean Rémy Badiau in Cité Jean 23 (Martissant, south of the capital).

The freelance journalist was shot dead at approximately 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

According to his family, he was the object of death threats from members of the criminal gang known as "Lame Timanchèt" (the army of small machetes).

Jean-Rémy Badiau, age 45, was particularly targeted after he took photographs of members of gangs clashing in the Martissant area. He was killed in front of his home in that same district.

SOS Journalists appealed to the appropriate authorities, especially the Justice Minister, the chief of police and the government prosecutor to take the necessary steps to determine the circumstances of this killing and prosecute the perpetrators.

Young people in the populist district of Martissant on Monday again denounced the climate of terror that has set in here since August 2004 when more than 10 people were killed as they watched a soccer game "sponsored" by USAID.

These youths said that between December 3, 2006 and today at least 30 people have been killed and another 50 injured.

Residents of Martissant accused "Lame Timanchèt" of responsibility for almost all of the crimes committed in this area.

According to sources close to the former interior government, Lame Ti Manchèt was formed in 2004 to eliminate individuals believed to be hostile to the de facto authorities in populist districts of Port-au-Prince such as Bel-Air, Fort National, Martissant and others.

Members of this gang, including police officers and "attachés" (armed auxiliaries to the police) , arrested following the massacre of August 2004 were set free before the new government took office.

Youths in Martissant said they are ready to collaborate with the police if the force truly demonstrates that its goal is to re-establish peace in this area.

"The national police and MINUSTAH should know the bandits because most of them are individuals who were incarcerated in connection with the massacre of Grand-ravine",said the youths, denouncing what they saw as a lax attitude and tolerance shown toward the bandits of Lame Ti Manchèt.

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