• Urgent Action

Urgent Action: JUSTICE FOR ACTIVISTS, PROTECT RELATIVES (Haiti: UA 90.21)

August 4, 2021

On June 30, 2021 reporter Diego Charles and activist Antoinette Duclaire were shot dead by unknown armed persons outside Diego Charles’ home in Port au Prince. Both had been previously threatened and intimidated. A day after the killings, armed individuals fired gunshots outside the homes of the two victims to intimidate relatives and potential witnesses. Anonymous callers threatened relatives and told them, “the worst is yet to come”. We demand that authorities hold an immediate, independent, and impartial investigation to find and prosecute those responsible for Diego and Antoinette’s killings and for acts of intimidation against them, their families, and witnesses.

TAKE ACTION:
  1. Please take action as-soon-as possible. This Urgent Action expires on September 29, 2021.
  2. Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
  3. Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 90.21. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Mr. Ariel Henry Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti 33, Boulevard Harry Truman Port-au-Prince, Haiti Email: [email protected]
Ambassador Bocchit Edmond Embassy of the Republic of Haiti 2311 Massachusetts Ave. NW,
Washington DC 20008 Phone: 202 332 4090 I Fax: 202 745 7215 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @EmbassyOfHaiti ; @BocchitEdmond Facebook: @EmbassyofHaiti Salutation: Dear Ambassador
SAMPLE LETTER Dear Prime Minister, I write to you to express my condemnation for the killing of Diego Charles, a reporter for Radio Vision 2000 and Antoinette Duclaire, an anti-corruption activist, spokesperson for the opposition movement Matris Liberasyon and co-founder of the news website Larepiblik Magazine in Port-Au-Prince around the early hours of June 30, 2021 outside Diego Charles’ home. They had been harassed and threatened for their work exposing corruption and demanding accountability for human rights abuses. After the killings, their relatives reported several threats and acts of intimidation against them and potential witnesses. Justice in your country cannot afford to replicate the same path of impunity seen in its recent past. For instance, the investigation into the killings of three journalists since 2018 are still subject to undue delays. I therefore demand you order an immediate, effective, independent, and impartial investigation to find and prosecute those responsible for the killings of Diego Charles and Antoinette Duclaire, for the threats against them prior to their killing, and subsequent acts of intimidation against their families and potential witnesses. You have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right to life, including an obligation to ensure accountability for its violation by bringing alleged perpetrators to justice, through fair trials. You also have the important duty to guarantee that human rights defenders can carry out their work without fear of reprisals, as established in the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Sincerely, [YOUR NAME] ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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