Democratic Republic of the Congo / Africa

  
Riot police prepare ahead of civilian protests in Kinshasa. Journalists covering unrest in the DRC risk being detained, attacked, or harassed. (Reuters/Kenny Katombe)

Journalists covering unrest in the DRC face arrests, assault, and internet shutdowns

On New Year’s Eve, as the world prepared to ring in 2018, Congolese journalist Edmon Izula was being repeatedly hit with a rifle and threatened at gunpoint by a member of the state security forces. Iluza was one of at least three journalists harassed by authorities that day, in a scenario that has become common…

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As elections approach, fear of more attacks on Congolese press

Map by Rachael Levy. Sources: Congolese organizations, news reports, and CPJ research. Not all data has been independently verified by CPJ. Tensions are rising in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a government official announced recently he would support a change in the constitution to allow President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power…

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CPJ
A journalist talks on his satellite phone outside the Rixos Hotel in Libya in August 2011. (AFP/Filippo Monteforte)

Safer mobile use is key issue for journalists

As the Internet and mobile communications become more integrated into reporters’ work, the digital threats to journalists’ work and safety have increased as well. While many press reports have documented Internet surveillance and censorship–and the efforts to combat them–mobile communications are the new frontline for journalist security.

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Police officers indicted for the murder of prominent human rights figure Floribert Chebeya attend their trial. (AFP)

Belgian journalist Thierry Michel takes on impunity in DRC

Who killed Floribert Chebeya, the president of the leading DRC human rights group La Voix des Sans Voix, and his driver, Fidèle Bazana, in June 2010 in Kinshasa? A few runaway police officers, according to the military tribunal that judged the case and issued its sentences one year later. A few bad apples, who acted on…

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Solange Lusiku Nsimire is honored by the Université catholique de Louvain for her courage as a journalist and women's rights defender. (Anne-Marie Impe)

DRC journalist Solange Lusiku honored for fortitude

Seated near the fireplace in a historical home in Tournai, a medieval town 70 miles from Brussels and a stone’s throw from the French border, while snow fell outside, Solange Lusiku Nsimire was enjoying not only the company of friends, but the chance to live for a few days without fearing suspicious noises in the…

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Marchers urge ruling party to end abuse. (John Bompengo)

DRC journalists urge ruling party to halt abuse

An estimated 200 Congolese journalists marched to the National Assembly in Kinshasa on Friday to show their outrage over reports that supporters of incumbent President Joseph Kabila have physically and verbally abused members of the press. 

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Killer of DRC technician said to wear police uniform

Hardy Kazadi Ilunga was just 21. A technician with the private station Radio-Télévision Mosaïque in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Likasi, he was murdered late Saturday by a gunman apparently wearing a police uniform, according to the Congolese press freedom group OLPA and local journalists. 

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Jineth Bedoya takes notes in December 2000 under the watch of a bodyguard in Bogotá in an armored car after she was kidnapped, beaten, and raped in April that year. (AP/Ariana Cubillos)

Documenting sexual violence against journalists

The news of the sexual assault against CPJ board member and CBS correspondent Lara Logan hit us hard on Tuesday. At CPJ, we work daily to advocate on behalf of journalists under attack in all kinds of horrific situations around the world. Because of Lara’s untiring work with our Journalist Assistance program, she’s well known…

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Marrion P'udongo, known as Pastor, is a widely respected African fixer who has fallen ill and needs a kidney transplant. (Bryan Mealer)

Pastor Marrion, a Congolese fixer, needs your help

A group of international journalists is seeking donations to pay the costs of a kidney transplant for Marrion P’udongo, a Congolese fixer who has worked tirelessly with reporters from around the world to make sure his country’s story is told.

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Obama's Young African Leaders Forum in Washington touched on press freedom. (America.gov)

Obama tells Africa forum ‘no reason’ for press restriction

One out of 10 delegates participating this week in U.S. President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Forum was a journalist. The forum, a U.S. initiative meant to spark discussions on the future of Africa in a year when 17 countries on the continent are celebrating 50 years of nationhood, did not overlook freedom of the press, as I witnessed in…

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