Democratic Republic of the Congo / Africa

  
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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Congolese television journalist detained for four days

Police in Bunia, near the Democratic Republic of Congo’s border with Uganda, on December 1, 2016, detained Adèle Uvon, a television journalist for the privately owned broadcaster Radio-TV Lobiko (RTVL), at an opposition movement press conference launching a campaign to encourage Congolese President Joseph Kabila to stand down at the end of his term on…

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Two Congolese journalists held by police for critical reporting on military

New York, July 15, 2016 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arbitrary detention of two radio journalists in the Ituri district of Oriental Province in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and calls on Congolese officials to release them both immediately.

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Fighting Words

“When I cried, he slapped me hard and put his hand over my mouth.” That is how a 12-year-old girl in the Central African Republic described an episode in which a man found her hiding in the bathroom of her home in the wee hours of August 2, 2015, dragged her outside, and raped her,…

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CPJ Newsletter: March edition

Landmark conviction in 2000 attack on Colombian journalist A Colombian court on February 26 convicted a former paramilitary fighter in the kidnapping and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. The fighter, Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco, was also ordered to pay a fine of around US$17,500.

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Court convicts suspect in murder of DRC journalist Soleil Balanga

New York, February 23, 2016–A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday convicted a suspect of murdering journalist Soleil Balanga in April 2015, in Équateur province, according to a press release issued today by Journaliste en Danger, a Congolese press freedom organization. The High Court of Boende found Moussa Tendenle guilty of having…

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Two TV stations ordered off the air in DRC

New York, February 5, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government to close two privately owned news channels, and urges officials to allow the channels to resume broadcasting immediately.

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CPJ calls on Democratic Republic of Congo to not extradite Burundian journalist

New York, December 31, 2015­–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo not to extradite Egide Mwemero, an exiled Burundian radio journalist who has been in custody since October 13, according to reports. Bob Rugurika, director of independent Burundian station Radio Publique Africaine where Mwemero also worked, told CPJ…

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