“No, it was not a random shooting. There was a group of three police officers. One officer took aim and shot Fabienne in the head.”
Fabienne’s father, Osama Cherisma, March 2010
Michael Winiarski and Paul Hansen recently returned to Port-au-Prince with the specific intention of following up on the fortunes of the Cherisma family.
Fabienne's family (left to right): Father, Osama Cherisma, brother Jeff, 18 years, his sister Amanda, 13 years, and mother Amante Kelcy. Photo: Paul Hansen
Following my interview with Winiarski, I had asked rhetorically what the Cherismas may feel about the international coverage of their daughter’s death. I was raising the issue of media and journalists’ responsibilities toward the subjects of their stories, and more specifically I was wondering if the Cherismas would ever be interviewed at length to elaborate on their experiences since that terrible day.
Well, a part answer can be provided in the actions and article of Winiarski and Hansen who published this story on the 13th March. (Swedish original / English translation):
- Osama says he knows the identity of the killer – a high ranking police officer from their own neighbourhood.
- The family have not filed a police report because they are too scared. They say the police are watching them daily.
- They have not talked to local media and only talk to Winiarski and Hansen of Dagens Nyheter because they are foreign journalists.
- Osama dealt with the body directly because he didn’t trust he’d see his daughter again if he handed her corpse over the police and authorities.
- Although their house still stands, it is so destabilised they live in a tent city.
- The schools of Jeff and Amanda, Fabienne’s brother and sister, were both destroyed during the earthquake.
- Jeff, Amanda and their mother Amante all – understandably – still feel extreme pain and emotion. Osama cannot sleep.
- Fabienne is buried in Zorange, north of Port-au-Prince. It is the village of Fabienne’s grandmother.
- – -
ALSO IN THE ‘PHOTOGRAPHING FABIENNE’ SERIES
Part One: Fabienne Cherisma (Initial inquiries, Jan Grarup, Olivier Laban Mattei)
Part Two: More on Fabienne Cherisma (Carlos Garcia Rawlins)
Part Three: Furthermore on Fabienne Cherisma (Michael Mullady)
Part Four: Yet more on Fabienne Cherisma (Linsmier, Nathan Weber)
Part Five: Interview with Edward Linsmier
Part Six: Interview with Jan Grarup
Part Seven: Interview with Paul Hansen
Part Eight: Interview with Michael Winiarski
Part Nine: Interview with Nathan Weber
Part Ten: Interview with James Oatway
Part Eleven: Interview with Nick Kozak
Reporter Rory Carroll Clarifies Some Details
Part Fourteen: Interview with Alon Skuy
Part Fifteen: Conclusions
5 comments
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March 19, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Tom White
Essential series. Thanks for bringing all these reports together.
March 24, 2010 at 5:07 am
hughes Leglise-bataille
Great reporting. It’s terrible to see the level of impunity and to know that the family knows the killer, just revolting
By the way, another photographer present at the scene was Frédéric Sautereau, whose series you can see here:
http://www.fredericsautereau.com/reportage_1_85_1_0_Haiti.-Janvier-2010.
March 29, 2010 at 12:08 am
the story of fabienne « // Flow Media //
[...] a full account on Fabienne’s story with interviews with many of the eyewitnesses. Read it here to get the full picture. share this [...]
March 31, 2010 at 8:13 am
POSI+TIVE MAGAZINE > Reportage > Prison Photography
[...] completed a twelve-part analysis of the photographers’ behaviour and reactions to the death of Fabienne Cherisma in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. This is the twelfth and final part with links – at [...]
March 23, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Brouhaha in Sweden following Award to Paul Hansen for his Image of Fabienne Cherisma « Prison Photography
[...] I was particularly impressed with his transparency and commitment to the story. He and Hansen followed up two months after the killing and met with Fabienne’s [...]