Kinshasa, January 29, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to immediately release Thomson Unji Batangalwa, who was detained on January 22 in the eastern city of Baraka, the latest journalist to be harassed for reporting on the fluid security situation.
“Information about the war in eastern DRC should not be used as a pretext or excuse for detaining journalists. Congolese authorities must free Thomson Unji Batangalwa unconditionally and guarantee safety to all journalists,” said CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal. “The media have a right to gather and report news about the war, which is critical for the security of local people who often have to flee fighting.”
The DRC’s mineral-rich, eastern region has been unstable since the end of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, when ethnic conflict, combatants, and refugees spilled over into the DRC. In the last year, CPJ has documented an increase in threats and violence against journalists, as the rebel M23 and its River Congo Alliance (AFC) coalition have made unprecedented gains against the government and its allied Wazalendo militia.
On January 22, police arrested Unji as he was preparing to travel to Uvira, South Kivu province’s second largest city, according to the Kivu Times and CPJ’s interview with Jonas Seba, coordinator of the Réseau des Journalistes de Fizi (REJFI), a local journalists’ network, who visited Unji in detention.
Seba told CPJ that Unji said he was detained on the orders of a Wazalendo leader, General Amuri Yakutumba, who accused him of collaborating with the M23 by interviewing their members shortly after the rebels captured Uvira on December 10. The city was retaken by the army on January 19.
Unji reports for several privately owned outlets, including Uvira-based Radio Le Messager du Peuple, online Iyamba Lyetu TV, and South Africa’s Channel Africa radio station.
On December 13, Unji interviewed local leaders on Radio Le Messager du Peuple who reassured people that it was safe to attend church following the rebel takeover of Uvira. Two of these men have been publicly associated with the M23: Joelle Namunene and Muhivwa Godefroy.
The Congolese online outlet Africa Monde also reported that Unji was arrested on Yakutumba’s orders, although CPJ was unable to find contacts for Yakutumba.
Two people with knowledge of Unji’s journalism told CPJ, on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals, that the reporter was not allied with the rebels but maintained editorial independence, citing his interviews with army and Wazalendo leaders.
Separately, on December 13, 2025, Faraja Mulumba Famuré, a journalist with the Baraka-based community station Radio Umoja, was held for 24 hours in the government’s intelligence and military operations premises for filming, without authorization, a military helicopter landing at the city’s Maendeleo Stadium, the station’s general director, Exaucé Ilangyi Lumenge, and Faraja, told CPJ.
CPJ did not receive any response to its requests for comment via phone to interim army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mak Hazukay Mongba and via messaging app to Baraka’s interim mayor, Marie Mukandja.