Composition of CIAPEAJ revealed

The personnel of the Commission indépendante d'appui aux enquêtes relatives aux assassinats des journalistes haïtiens (CIAPEAJ) - charged with looking into the slayings of journalists Jean Dominique, Brignol Lindor, Jacques Roche and others - will be as follows:

• Joseph Guyler C. Delva (SOS Journalistes, Reuters, Mélodie FM)
• Valéry Numa (Radio Vision 2000)
• Marie Nic Marcelin (Radio Ibo)
• Louis Gary Cyprien (Le Nouvelliste)
• Euvrard St-Amand (Caraïbes FM)
• Dieudonne Cency (Radio Métropole)
• Anne Marguerite Auguste (Radio Solidarité)
• Idson Saint-Fleur (Radio Signal FM)
• Jean Wilner Morin (Tropic FM/TELEMAX)

The forming of the commission is, in my view, a brave and bold move by Hait's President René Préval, and the composition of the body looks well balanced to hopefully keep any competing political agendas in check.

Given how terribly Haiti's press corps has suffered over the last several years, it is good that there will be a group of this nature to keep the process of seeking justice for its members before the public eye. If the commission works effectively intandem with Secretary of State for Public Security Luc Eucher Joseph, Port-au-Prince chief prosecutor Claudy Gassant and Police Nationale d’Haïti chief Mario Andrésol, we may finally see the beginning of the end of impunity for crimes against journalists in Haiti.