DRC: CPJ disturbed by journalists prison sentences
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by the prison sentences handed down to Raymond Kabala and Delly Bonsange, publication director and publisher, respectively, of the independent Kinshasa daily Alerte Plus. On September 6, a Kinshasa court convicted Kabala and Bonsange of “harmful accusations” and “falsification of a public document.” Kabala was sentenced to 12 months in prison and a fine of US$200,000. Bonsange was sentenced to six months and fine of US$100,000.
Arrests of two journalists are latest in series of press attacks
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the imprisonment of Raymond Kabala and Delly Bonsange, publication director and publisher, respectively, of the independent Kinshasa daily, Alerte Plus. Both journalists have now been in prison for more than a week.
Attacks on the Press 2001: Africa Analysis
Silence reigned supreme in Eritrea, where the entire independent press was under a government ban and 11 journalists languished in jail at year’s end. Clamorous, deadly power struggles raged in Zimbabwe over land and access to information, and in Burundi over ethnicity and control of state resources. South Africa, Senegal, and Benin remained relatively liberal…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Democratic Republic of the Congo
During the four years that he ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila compiled one of Africa’s worst press freedom records. On January 4, 2001, the last three journalists jailed by Kabila were released on the president’s personal orders. Two weeks later, Kabila was assassinated.
Attacks on the Press 2001: Journalists in Prison
There were 118 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2001 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is up significantly from the previous year, when 81 journalists were in jail, and represents a return to the level of 1998, when 118 were also imprisoned.
Press Freedom Abuses Continue Under New Kabila
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about your government’s continued persecution of independent journalists and news outlets. We first protested your administration’s heavy-handed treatment of our colleagues in an April 10 letter. Since then, conditions for Congolese journalists have only worsened.
Attacks on the Press 2000: Africa Analysis
PRESS COVERAGE OF ARMED CONFLICTS CONTINUED TO STIR THE HOSTILITY of governments and rebel factions alike and claim reporters’ lives, but the prominent role of the press in the often-volatile process of democratization also brought unprecedented challenges to journalists working in Africa. CPJ confirmed that in 2000, five journalists were killed specifically because of their…
Attacks on the Press 2000: Democratic Republic of Congo
PRESS FREEDOM HAS BEEN ONE OF MANY CASUALTIES OF THE CIVIL WAR that began as a rebel insurgency in August 1998 and has continued to destabilize the entire region, with Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia supporting President Laurent-Désiré Kabila, and Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi fighting on the side of Congolese rebel forces (although Kabila’s army includes…