CROIX-DES-BOUQUETS, Haiti, May 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Haitian Football Federation today released the following statement after the British outlet The Guardian published its second attack piece on President Yves Jean-Bart.
The Guardian has once again demonstrated its total lack of credibility by choosing to publish a false piece filled with lies and baseless salacious accusations from strictly anonymous sources.
The first piece by Ed Aarons, blogger Romain Molina and Alex Cizmic made the false and outrageous claim that “forced abortions” were the result of sexual assaults at a youth training center in Croix-des-Bouquets, while their latest story asserted that the President fathered multiple children with “several” underage girls from the center. Which is it? If there were abortions, then where is the evidence of these medical procedures, which are illegal in Haiti? And where are all of these children who were supposedly born?
This is just one glaring example of poor practices by The Guardian’s so-called reporters, which make a mockery of journalistic ethics. It is worth noting that one of the article’s co-authors has already been sued for making defamatory statements in writings and social media posts.
Both articles are remarkable case studies in how to level the most serious claims while relying strictly on anonymous quotes with readers totally unable to verify either the existence of these so-called sources or one shred of evidence to support their claims.
While The Guardian asserts that investigations are underway, it completely fails to note that the Haitian Football Federation itself actually requested that these inquiries be undertaken in order to prove that the claims are false. In addition to requesting investigation by the authorities in Haiti, the Federation asked FIFA to send experts from the FIFA Guardians/ Child Safeguarding Programme to verify the conditions at its national youth training facility and to do its own investigations.
The Federation also requested that the internationally respected human rights organization Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH), do its own investigations into the allegations.
These are hardly the actions you would expect from an organization seeking to cover up nefarious activities. Instead, they show transparency and good intentions and showcase a desire to disprove false charges.
The Guardian article is replete with calls for Jean-Bart to be suspended, which is precisely what his political enemies has sought by waging a misinformation war in the media designed to undermine the Federation President, smear the Haitian Football Federation and in the process degrade and demean Haiti.
Molina and The Guardian have made clear that their focus is not journalism, but advocacy designed to attack the character and destroy the career of the head of Haitian football.