IOM Haiti announces with great regret the murder of one of its
valued national staff, 42-year-old engineer Pierre-Richard Denis on
Friday 1 October.

The shocking incident occurred as Mr. Denis was returning to
work in the afternoon, near Corail-Cesselesse camp for internally
displaced persons on the outskirts of the capital
Port-au-Prince.

An investigation by the Haitian National Police Force confirmed
that Mr. Denis was shot. His body was later recovered on the
highway near his place of work on Friday evening.

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing reached out to the
deceased’s family and to all IOM Haiti colleagues, to express
the organization’s deep distress and condolences at the
tragedy.

"It was a despicable act against a talented and hard-working IOM
staff member totally dedicated to helping the earthquake victims
and their families," Mr. Swing said.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with his wife, Georges Marie Anna
Jérôme Denis and their two young children in their
hour of sorrow. We extend to them and our colleagues in IOM Haiti
our deepest sympathies."

"It is terribly distressing to have lost one of our finest
colleagues in such a meaningless and frightening way while he was
bringing humanitarian relief to the Haitian people," said Luca
Dall’Oglio, Chief of Mission for IOM, Haiti.

Mr. Denis, a civil engineer, was born in Grand-Goâve in
1968.He leaves his wife and two children aged 8 and 11 years. Mrs.
Denis was supported by family members, close colleagues and friends
from IOM as well as UN security staff as she identified her
husband’s remains at the central hospital of Port-au-Prince
on Saturday. IOM counseling services were on hand to assist the
family as arrangements were made for the funeral.

As a mark of respect, all work has been suspended for the time
being at the Corail-Cesselesse IOM site where he was supervising
the construction of Transitional Shelters for families displaced by
the 12 January earthquake.

Despite great lengths taken by the Haiti National Police and the
MINUSTAH peacekeeping mission over recent months, armed criminal
elements have shown no compunction about resorting to kidnap and
murder to achieve their aims.

For further information contact:

Leonard Doyle

IOM Media and Communications Haiti

Tel +509 3702 5066

E-mail: "mailto:ldoyle@iom.int">ldoyle@iom.int

Jean-Philippe Chauzy

Head, IOM Media and Communication Department

Tel +41 22 717 93 61; + 41 79 285 4366

E-mail: "mailto:jpchauzy@iom.int">jpchauzy@iom.int