On July 29, 2026, journalist Godefroid Ametumwa Byamungu, was arbitrarily detained on allegations that he reported in favor of rebels who control swathes of the country’s war-torn east.
Four military intelligence agents detained Ametumwa, director of Sauti ya Amani community radio station, at his home in South Kivu province’s Luberizi village and took him to a nearby military intelligence cell, CPJ was told by Ametumwa’s wife, Nowela Gunael, and another journalist who visited Ametumwa in detention and spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals.
The military accused Ametumwa of reporting in favor of M23/AFC rebels during their December occupation of Uvira, they said. On August 5, the journalist was transferred to another military intelligence cell in the city of Uvira, about 45 kilometers south.
Ametumwa denied the accusations, asserting that he broadcast nothing positive about the rebels and his station was not operating during the rebel occupation of the city, his wife and the journalist said.
Article 18 of the DRC’s constitution mandates that any person arrested be immediately informed of the reasons for their arrest and the charges against them. But journalists covering the decades-old war have been increasingly exposed to arbitrary arrests, intimidation, and censorship — by both state authorities and rebel groups — since the rebels made major territorial gains in late 2024.
“The Uvira military intelligence director has provided no evidence to support his accusations against Ametumwa, claiming instead to be acting on a tip-off received months after rebels captured Uvira,” the journalist told CPJ on August 10.
The M23 withdrew from Uvira in January and maintains positions to the north, in the Ruzizi Plain, and the southwest, in the Hauts Plateaux.
“The journalist [Ametumwa] was in the wrong,” Uvira’s military intelligence chief, Major Junior Mukadi, told CPJ on August 11, via messaging app. “We will make statements only after the investigation is complete.”On August 12, Ametumwa was released without charge after posting US$500 bail, Patient Debaba, local president of the National Union of the Press of the Congo (UNPC), told CPJ.