Committee to Protect Journalists
Democratic Republic of the Congo
2008
Pages: 1 2 or All
NOVEMBER 24, 2008
Mutombo Kayeba, Africa TV
Jean-Claude Bode, Tropicana TV
Jose Ngalamulume, Global TV
Olivier Mongilu, Congoweb TV
Yves Songila, Horizon 33 TV
ATTACKED
New York, November 7, 2008--The Committee to Protect
Journalists welcomes today's release of a Belgian journalist, his interpreter,
and his driver, who were kidnapped on Tuesday while reporting on the war in
eastern Democratic Republic of
Congo. CPJ remains concerned about the safety of journalists in the rebel-held
town of
The BBC reported this week
that a minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered a jail
in the capital,
The goats, it seems, were about to appear in court--they
faced charges of "being sold illegally by the roadside."
June 20, 2008
His Excellency Symphorien Mutombo Bakafua Nsenda
Minister of Justice and Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of Congo
c/o Embassy of the DRC to the United States
1800 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20009
Via facsimile: (202) 234-2609
Dear Mr. Nsenda,
We are deeply alarmed by the ongoing imprisonment of newspaper editor Nsimba Ponte and his assistant Davin Tondo. A government prosecutor said this week that their months-long pre-trial detention was illegal, and yet the two have been denied bail and were not charged until June 6, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). In addition, Ponte is in poor health.
New York, May 22, 2008--Three men accused of killing Congolese journalist Serge Maheshe in 2007 were convicted and sentenced to death, while two others were acquitted in a retrial that ended Wednesday. The trial failed to establish a clear motive for the crime, according to news reports and local journalists.
New York, April 21, 2008—A broadcast journalist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo pressed charges today against an Angolan diplomat, alleging he was beaten unconscious by the diplomat and his aides on Saturday, according to local journalists.
Journalists familiar with their colleague’s station, Radio Télévision Mwangaza, told CPJ that the attack was in reprisal for coverage of a voter registration scandal in 2006 involving Angolan expatriates in the run-up to the country’s elections.
Reports
| Algeria, Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mexico, Missing, Nepal, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Uganda, Ukraine
CPJ research indicates that the following journalists have disappeared while doing their work. Although some of them are feared dead, no bodies have been found, and they are therefore not classified as "Killed." If a journalist disappeared after being held in government custody, CPJ classifies him or her as "Imprisoned" as a way to hold the government accountable for the journalist's fate.
Attacks on the Press
| Burma, China, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iraq, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam
By Joel Simon
In August 2008, when the Olympic torch is lit in Beijing, more than 20,000 journalists will be on hand to cover the competition between the world's greatest athletes. Behind the scenes, another competition will be taking place. If the Chinese government has its way, this one will remain hidden. It will be a battle over information, and it will have far greater implications for the world than the medal count.
Attacks on the Press
| China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo
When Press Freedom
and Democracy Are Out of Step
By Tom Rhodes
Ballots may have replaced bullets in much of Africa since the dawn of this new century, but one of the great political ironies for at least part of the continent has been a loss of press freedom following the voting. Leaders in a large swath of sub-Saharan Africa have drawn approving nods from Western politicians for holding sometimes unprecedented elections. Three such countries are the Gambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Ethiopia. All have democratically elected presidents and Western support. Yet between them they hold the unenviable record of placing at or near the top of CPJ's 2007 list of the world's worst backsliders on press freedom.
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