Democratic Republic of the Congo

2017

  
DRC journalist Benjamin Mutiya, left, pictured under police guard on December 18, is detained on defamation accusations. (Fortunat Maronga/CJDH)

DRC radio journalist detained over defamation claim

New York, December 21, 2017–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should immediately release broadcast journalist Benjamin Mutiya, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The national security service (ANR) arrested Mutiya, a reporter at the community station Radio Télévision Communautaire de Walikale (RTCWA), in Walikale, on December 14, according to local press freedom groups.

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Journalists and protesters hold placards outside an Istanbul court on October 31, 2017, calling for the release of jailed colleagues, including Turkish reporter Ahmet Şık. Turkey is the worst jailer of journalists in 2017. (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Record number of journalists jailed as Turkey, China, Egypt pay scant price for repression

For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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DRC journalist faces defamation charge over report on minister

New York City, September 1, 2017–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo should drop all charges against Jeef Mwingamb, editor-in-chief of the weekly Le Fédéral, and release him immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Congolese authorities question radio journalist over broadcast on new tax

National intelligence services and police issued summonses to Israel Ntumba, a reporter for the Congolese broadcaster, Kasai Horizontal Radio et Television (KHRT), over an August 5, 2017 broadcast on a new motorcycle tax in Kananga, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the station’s program director, Honi Tshibola and Ntumba, told CPJ.

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Protesters call for elections to be held at a rally in April 2016. Congolese authorities imprisoned a journalist who covered more recent demonstrations in Lubumbashi demanding that the president call elections. (AFP/Junior Kannah)

Congolese radio journalist arrested at protest is beaten in custody

New York, August 25, 2017–Congolese authorities should immediately drop all charges against Jean Pierre Tshibitshabu, a reporter for the independent broadcaster Radio Television KADEKAS, and investigate claims that the journalist was assaulted in custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Congolese men listen to the radio in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, December 11, 2011. (AFP/Simon Maina)

Police raid Congolese radio station for report on new tax

New York, August 10, 2017–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo should thoroughly and credibly investigate an August 5 police raid on Radio Télévision Chrétienne (RTC), return all seized equipment, ensure the protection of journalist José Mbuyi, and hold all those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police raided the…

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Security forces detain protesters in Kinshasa, July 31, 2017. (Reuters/Kenny Katombe)

Journalists detained, harassed, beaten covering Congo protests

New York, August 3, 2017–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should cease harassing and detaining journalists and should allow them to cover protests and other events of public interest without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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2017