Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abuja, Nigeria, May 23, 2013--Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should identify the motive behind the murder of a radio presenter who was found on Friday after being missing for 12 days, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, February 15, 2013--Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should release pending appeal a journalist who was sentenced to six months in prison in December on defamation charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The journalist was taken into custody on Tuesday.

Police arrested Joachim Diana Gikupa, editor of the private daily La Colombe in Kinshasa, and held him at a local court before transferring him to Malaka central prison, according to local news reports. Gikupa's lawyers filed an appeal, saying the journalist was in poor health and should be released on bail, according to the U.N.-backed broadcaster Radio Okapi. Gikupa was also ordered to pay US$20,000 in damages, local press freedom groups reported. 

The rise of extremist groups who target journalists is a potent risk. By Mohamed Keita

Journalists reporting on renewed conflict in the east were repeatedly censored and intimidated by local officials, the national government, and rebel forces. Fighting resumed in the east after President Joseph Kabila said his government would try to arrest Bosco Ntaganda, a former warlord wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crime charges. In response, Ntaganda joined with army mutineers to form a rebel group that took control of key towns in North Kivu province. The state-run media regulatory agency barred all broadcasters from airing programs discussing the conflict; several radio stations were suspended indefinitely after interviewing the mutineers. At least three journalists fled into hiding after being threatened in reprisal for their reporting on the conflict. Tensions between DRC and neighboring Rwanda also grew after the publication in June of a leaked U.N. report that blamed Kigali for providing military assistance to the rebels. The same month, Communications Minister Lambert Mende accused a Kinshasa newspaper of tribalism and indefinitely suspended the publication in connection with an editorial critical of Congolese of Rwandan ancestry. Although danger was severe in the east, CPJ also documented numerous instances in which officials in Bas Congo detained and intimidated critical journalists.

New York, January 9, 2013--Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should bring to account soldiers involved in a raid on a radio station in the eastern town of Kabambare, and the arbitrary detention and beating of two of the station's journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, December 4, 2012--All sides of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo should halt attacks on journalists and media outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today after a radio station was attacked and taken off the air.

New York, December 3, 2012--Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should lift the suspension imposed on Saturday on the United Nations-sponsored broadcaster Radio Okapi in the capital, Kinshasa, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, November 27, 2012--Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should investigate threats against at least four journalists in the eastern city of Bukavu and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

Security forces arrived at the offices of Radio Télévision Autonome du Sud Kasaï (RTAS), in the south central town of Miabi, on August 15, 2012, and forced the station off the air, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). The agents also confiscated the station's transmitter, JED said.

At least three journalists working in the restive, mineral-rich province of North Kivu have fled into hiding in August and September 2012 after saying they were threatened in reprisal for their reporting, CPJ has learned.