Journaliste en Danger (JED) is deeply shocked by the murder, on Sunday 9 May 2021 at around 11 p.m., of a journalist by two unidentified armed men in the locality of Kitshanga, Masisi territory, in the province of North Kivu (eastern DR Congo).

According to various testimonies collected by JED, Barthelemy Kubanabandu Changamuka, a journalist and host of a programme entitled “Food Security” broadcast on the Kitshanga Community Radio (CORAKI FM), was attacked in the compound of his home by two armed men in civilian clothes. The assailant shot him at point-blank range, eight times. After committing their crime, the assailants only took the journalist’s mobile phone before fleeing.

Barthelemy Kubanabandu Changamuka, 23, had just presented his programme on food obesity at 7 p.m. As soon as he finished his programme, the journalist was accompanied home by one of his friends. Just as they were about to separate, two armed men appeared from the journalist’s plot. His companion managed to run into the house, while Barthélémy Kubanabandu was curtailed. After being shot eight times, the journalist immediately succumbed to his injuries.

Contacted by JED, his companion and witness to the killing said: “I have the impression that Barthelemy Kubanabandu was being followed by these armed men. So, he was targeted. In the morning, he didn’t want to go to his office. He was hesitating about going to present his programme. He went there anyway. He never told me that he was receiving threats or that he had a problem with people here in Kitshanga. We were surprised to see two armed men in his house in the darkness. They didn’t say anything when they arrived. And when I saw a gun, I ran into the house leaving my friend outside. After killing him with eight bullets in his legs, chest, hands and thighs, these gunmen did not say anything. They just took his mobile phone.”      

For JED, a serious investigation must be immediately launched to clarify the circumstances of this murder and to punish the perpetrators.

JED believes that this urgent investigation by the new political and security authorities of the province would be a strong signal in the fight against insecurity that prevails in this province where a state of siege has just been decreed by the President of the Republic in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, which have been plagued by unprecedented violence for several years due to the presence of multiple armed groups.

Members of AFEX:

ADISI-Cameroon
Africa Freedom of Information Centre
Association for Media Development in South Sudan
Center for Media Studies and Peace Building
Collaboration on International ICT Policy in Eastern and Southern Africa (CIPESA)
Freedom of Expression Institute
Gambia Press Union (GPU)
Human Rights Network for Journalists – Uganda
Institute for Media and Society
International Press Centre
Journaliste en danger
Media Foundation for West Africa
Media Institute of Southern Africa
Media Rights Agenda
West African Journalists Association

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Illegally incarcerated for the past three months, an editor has been sentenced to spend three more months in prison for simple defamation. Reporters Without Borders condemns this unjust action, which is an affront to all Congolese journalists.

The sentence handed down to Raymond Malonga shows the level of respect for law and press freedom in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Editor of a satirical magazine, Sel-Piment, Malonga was sentenced to six months in prison and a 30 million franc (45,000 euros) fine. The alleged defamation centres on Georgette Okemba. Accused of embezzlement in an article that Malonga published, she is  the wife of Jean-Dominique Okemba, known as “JDO”,” head of the country’s National Security Council and a nephew of Pesident Denis Sassou Nguesso. Plainclothes intelligence officials arrested the journalist on his hospital bed on 2 February, after he was charged with a press offence.

“After months of fighting for this journalist to be freed, so that he can answer to the charges from outside of prison, the court decided, on a day when the whole world is celebrating a day dedicated to journalists and the news media, to sentence him to a prison term, disregarding laws that provide a framework for practicing journalism,” said Arnaud Froger, head of the RSF Africa Desk. “This sentence is completely unfair. It is an affront to all Congolese journalists. We call for respect for the rule of law, which requires this journalist to be freed.”

Malonga’s lawyer, contacted by RSF, said he is concerned by the sentence. He said his client would appeal.

Congolese press law does not authorize gaol or prison for defamation, unless it concerns nationality, ethnicity, race, or religious affiliation. None of these is relevant to the Malonga case.

Congo is ranked 118th out of 180 countries in RSF’s newly published World Press Freedom Index.

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and 12 other human rights and civil society organisations have issued a joint call for the release of Raymond Malonga, an ailing journalist held arbitrarily for nearly three months in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo’s capital. His detention is “illegal and inhuman,” their statement says.

After winning last week’s presidential election with more than 88% of the votes, according to the provisional results, Denis Sassou Nguesso is about to begin his fourth consecutive term with a journalist in prison. The 77-year-old president has ruled his country for nearly 37 of the past 41 years.

The publisher of the satirical magazine Sel-Piment, Raymond Malonga has been detained since 2 February, when plainclothes intelligence officials snatched him from his bed in the Brazzaville hospital where he was being treated for malaria. He is accused of defamation for printing a story from a website about alleged embezzlement by the wife of the head of the National Security Council, who is also Nguesso’s nephew.

“This is a case in which the law and applicable procedures have been circumvented to settle scores with a journalist who was hospitalised and who had committed no offence punishable by imprisonment,” said Arnaud Froger. “The image transmitted by a sick man’s arrest and by such a flagrant violation of the rule of law is simply appalling. The pressure will not let up. Raymond Malonga must be freed.”

The joint statement by RSF and 12 other NGOs points out that, in the Republic of Congo, press offences are only punishable by imprisonment in exceptional circumstances that do not apply to this case. And when the maximum sentence is less than a year in prison, an accused person resident in the Republic of Congo cannot be held provisionally for more than 15 days after their first court appearance.

Malonga’s case has been referred to a criminal court but he has yet to appear in court. Meanwhile, the news about his health is not reassuring. RSF has learned that he was suffering from poorly-treated malaria, with a 40-degree fever, headaches, stomach problems and anorexia, at the time of his arrest. Subsequent tests suggest that he may also have caught typhoid. His family say they are very worried by his “feverish state,” which has not been improved by imprisonment.

Also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo is ranked 118th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

The joint press release (see below) is signed by:

• • Agir ensemble pour les droits humains
  • ACAT Congo
  • ACAT France
  • Cinema For Peace and Democracy
  • FIACAT
  • International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), as part of the Observatory for the
    Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  • Congolese Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH)
  • World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), as part of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  • Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
  • Collectif Sassoufit
  • Survie
  • Mouvement Ras Le Bol Congo
  • Tournons La Page

Related documents
cp_20210329_liberer_et_proteger_journalistes_et_defenseurs_des_droits_humains_en_republique_du_congo_vf2.pdfPDF

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its call for the release of a magazine publisher in Republic of Congo who is ill and has been held for more than a month on a defamation charge in violation of media legislation, although a presidential election campaign is now under way. This journalist should not be in prison, RSF said, urging the authorities to apply the law fairly.

The publisher of Sel-Piment, a satirical magazine that is very critical of the government, Raymond Malonga has been detained in Brazzaville since 2 February and his family are now very concerned for his physical well-being. “My father is ill and had been on a drip-feed at the hospital for several days when he was arrested,” his son told RSF, adding: “His health has not improved in prison.” The family regrets that attempts to mediate with the plaintiff have been unsuccessful. RSF first drew attention to the illegal nature of his detention three days after his arrest.

Malonga was arrested for printing a story from a website about embezzlement accusations against Georgette Okemba, the wife of Jean-Dominique “JDO” Okemba, who is the nephew of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. JDO heads the National Security Council, which oversees all of the Republic of Congo’s military and police services. The country’s president for 36 of the past 41 years, Nguesso is currently seeking yet another term in an election on 21 March.

Although accused solely of a press offence, Malonga was taken from his hospital bed to prison by intelligence officials.

“It is outrageous that a journalist accused of nothing more than defamation should have been snatched from his hospital bed, placed under arrest and jailed for more than a month regardless of the law and his health,” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “This journalist’s arbitrary and prolonged detention in the middle of an election campaign sends a disastrous political signal. The law and institutions should prevail over the law of the strongest.”

Malonga’s lawyer told RSF that he hoped that a hearing would be held next week at which his client might finally be released. Under the Republic of Congo’s law on freedom of information and communication, journalists can only be given a prison sentence for defamation if they have a previous conviction, which is not the case with Malonga.

The country’s media regulator, the Higher Council for Freedom of Communication (CSLC), initially ordered Sel-Piment’s suspension, but the order has been lifted, the CSLC’s president told RSF.

Arrests of journalists are relatively infrequent in the Republic of Congo but, if they are singled out by authorities or by influential people close to the government, journalists are sometimes detained for a long time. The circumstances of Malonga’s arrest recall that of Ghys Fortuné Bemba, the publisher of the independent weekly Talassa, who was arrested by the intelligence services in January 2017, shortly after publishing an op-ed by a former rebel leader. Held for 18 months, he was finally released following an energetic campaign on his behalf in which RSF played a leading role. He then left the country for security reasons. In his book De l’enfer à la liberté (From hell to freedom), published in 2019, he described the appalling conditions in which he was held, which included solitary confinement without even being able to talk to guards, the lack of a toilet, water and electricity in his cell, and being denied adequate food.

The Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, is ranked 118th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate release of Raymond Malonga, a well-known Congolese cartoonist and satirical magazine publisher, who has been held in a completely illegal manner over an article ever since plainclothesmen snatched him from his bed in a Brazzaville hospital on 2 February.

It is hard to see Malonga’s detention as anything other than a targeted reprisal. According to the information obtained by RSF, he was hospitalized with a malaria attack in a clinic near his home when agents from the Central Intelligence and Documentation Department (CID) arrived and took him to Brazzaville’s main prison, where he is now held in a quarantine area for detainees with Covid-19. His arrest reportedly follows summonses to which he did not respond.

He was arrested for an article published in the 18 January issue of his satirical newspaper Sel-Piment, which is very critical of the authorities. A cartoon in the article came from the Sacer Infos Congo website, where it accompanied a story about embezzlement accusations against Georgette Okemba, the wife of Jean-Dominique “JDO” Okemba, who is the nephew of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and heads the National Security Council, which oversees all of the Republic of Congo’s military and police services.

The country’s president for 36 of the past 41 years, Nguesso is currently seeking yet another term in the presidential election scheduled for 21 March.

“Having the intelligence services arrest a journalist on his hospital bed as if he were a dangerous terrorist for nothing more than an alleged case of defamation speaks to clearly to the political and punitive nature of this measure,” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk.

“The Republic of Congo’s laws are very clear. They do not allow a journalist to be detained in a defamation case unless and until he has been definitively convicted. With just weeks to go to the presidential election, this arrest sends a very negative signal and confirms the fragility of the environment for Congolese journalists. We call for this journalist’s release in accordance with the laws in effect.”

Several sources told RSF that the Congolese media regulator, the Higher Council for Freedom of Communication (CSLC), has ordered Sel-Piment’s suspension. The CSLC did not respond to RSF’s repeated requests for information about this decision and about Malonga’s arrest.

Although relatively infrequent, arrests of journalists in the Republic of Congo sometimes assume a very political dimension and reflect the government’s intense hostility towards the most outspoken journalists.

The circumstances of Malonga’s arrest recall that of newspaper publisher Ghys Fortuné Bemba, whose independent weekly Talassa was suspended on the eve of his arrest by the intelligence services in January 2017. After being held for 18 months, he was released following an energetic campaign on his behalf in which RSF played a leading role.

Thereafter, he left the country for security reasons. In his book De l’enfer à la liberté (From hell to freedom), published in 2019, he described the appalling conditions in which he was held, which included solitary confinement without even being able to talk to guards, the lack of a toilet, water and electricity in his cell, and being denied adequate food.

The Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, is ranked 118th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

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By Thomas Fessy, Senior Researcher, Democratic Republic of Congo

On Wednesday, a military court in Beni territory, Democratic Republic of Congo, acquitted eight members of the citizens’ movement Lutte pour le Changement (Struggle for Change, or Lucha). The youth activists had spent a month in detention. While news of their acquittal is a relief, they should never have been arrested in the first place.

Eze Kasereka, Clovis Mutsuva, Consolée Mukirania, Elie Mbusa, Patrick Nzila, Délivrance Mumbere, Aziz Muhindovegheni, and Lwanzo Kasereka faced 10 years in prison. Their crime? On December 19, 2020, they marched to call for peace and to criticize the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo. Armed groups and state security forces have killed at least 670 civilians during attacks in Beni territory in the past year alone.

The activists’ trial sparked a public outcry in Congo. They had been brought before the military court on fabricated charges of “sabotage and violence against state security guards.” Among other falsehoods, the group was accused of breaking a flagpole at a police station in Beni. Instead, Lucha activists told my colleagues police beat them while in custody and used teargas on some of them.

The government’s request for 10-year prison sentences turned the proceedings into a grotesque parody of justice. Thankfully, the judges put an end to the farce and concluded the charges were baseless. But the arrests highlight the risks involved for those peacefully demonstrating in Congo.

The use of military courts to try civilians also violates international law, including the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Congo ratified in 1987. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has stated that civilians should never face military trial.

People’s rights have been increasingly threatened over the last year in Congo. When state agents or officials use their position to crack down on peaceful critics, impartial judges remain the ultimate hope for justice. Like those who acquitted the eight Lucha activists in Beni, Congolese judges should be uncompromising in their respect of human rights.

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Like the Republic of Congo’s media regulator, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on state TV broadcaster Télé Congo to reinstate Rocil Otouna, who was discreetly sidelined as news anchor after putting some difficult questions about the coronavirus crisis to the justice minister in an interview two weeks ago.

Otouna has not been seen on the air since 30 April, when he asked the minister about the lack of information about coronavirus victims, including those currently ill and those who have recovered, and about contradictions between the government’s figures and those given by the president on both the caseload and the lockdown’s economic and social consequences.

The communication ministry issued a statement denying reports in several media outlets, including privately-owned Vox TV, that Otouna was suspended as a result of the interview. But several sources confirmed to RSF that he was indeed suspended although the decision was given to him verbally, presumably in order to leave no written trace. On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, a Télé Congo presenter asked Philippe Mvouo, the president of the Higher Council for Freedom of Communication (CSLC), the Republic of Congo’s media regulator, about Otouna’s reported suspension. Mvouo replied that the council would look into the case. After conducting an investigation and holding hearings, the CSLC confirmed that Otouna had indeed been suspended as a news anchor. The council recommended his immediate rehabilitation and accused the state TV oversight body of “interventionism,” “arbitrary measures” and “aggravated censorship.”

“The information gathered by RSF supports the media regulator’s conclusions,” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “This journalist was undeniably the subject of a sanction as a result of an interview with the justice minister about the Congolese government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.” Froger added: “The battle against the coronavirus will not be won by sidelining a journalist who voiced legitimate concerns. There are no bad questions. This journalist was not guilty of any misconduct and his suspension is completely unjustified. He must be rehabilitated and must resume his position without delay.”

In its conclusions, the CSLC also called for an end to threats and intimidation against other journalists and said there was “no evidence that Vox TV participated in a campaign to smear or defame the communication ministry or undermine the government’s effort to combat Covid-19.” The communication ministry’s statement about the Otouna affair had criticized the campaign waged by Vox TV, one of the country’s most popular TV channels, in support of Otouna and had described its coverage of the case as “fantasy.”

The Republic of Congo (also known as Congo-Brazzaville) is ranked 118th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is very worried about newspaper editor Ghys Fortuné Bemba, whose health has worsened steadily during the past 13 months of arbitrary detention in Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo. RSF calls for his immediate release and holds the authorities responsible for his state of health.

According to the information obtained by RSF, Bemba’s health had deteriorated in his cell in Brazzaville’s main prison to the point that he was taken in a critical condition to an intensive care unit in Brazzaville’s Cogemo clinic on 22 January 2018. Although he did not really recover, he was forcibly returned to prison on 16 February in the absence of his lawyer and doctor.

The editor of the independent weekly Talassa, Bemba has been held arbitrarily since his arrest on 11 January 2017 for publishing a statement by Frédéric Bintsamou, a former rebel leader accused of terrorist acts in the southeastern department of Pool since April 2016. Bemba is supposedly charged with “violating internal state security in complicity with a former rebel chief” but has yet to appear in court.

“Prolonging Ghys Fortuné Bemba’s arbitrary detention while his health is critical is a cruel, shocking and illegal punishment,” RSF said. “We fear for his life. Bemba must be returned to a hospital intensive care unit without delay. Continuing to deny him medical care is tantamount to a death sentence. We hold the Congolese authorities responsible for his fate.”

Several Congolese human rights organizations had already identified the serious ailments Bemba has developed in prison in the statement they issued in early November calling for his release.

RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists wrote a joint letter to President Denis Sassou Nguesso on 18 September 2017 calling for his immediate release. Bemba was previously arrested in October 2015 in connection with an article criticizing the president. His newspaper, Talassa, has been banned since 12 January 2017.

Also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo is ranked 115th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2017 World Press Freedom Index.

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the decision by the Republic of Congo’s government to impose a telecommunications blackout that began the day before the 21 March presidential election and is still continuing.

By depriving citizens of access to information and obstructing the work of journalists, the blackout has prevented the election from being transparent.

After interior minister Raymond Mboulou issued an order on 19 March for all telecommunications to be cut for 48 hours, Internet, SMS and telephone connections ceased to function at 1 a.m. on 20 March. Internet and mobile phone services were still not functioning today, although the 48 hours were over.

The blackout was interpreted as a government manoeuvre designed to keep control of the dissemination of information, especially the elections results.

“This suspension of telecommunications is a grave violation of the Congolese public’s right to information and has badly undermined the legitimacy of the presidential election,” RSF said. “We urge the authorities to restore Internet and mobile phone services at once.”

RSF has previously condemned government abuses during the election campaign, violence against journalists who cover the opposition, and the suspension of Internet and phone services during a referendum on 25 October.

The opposition accuses Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the country’s president for the past 32 years, of orchestrating elections that completely lack transparency.

The European Union did not send observers on the grounds that the conditions for a democratic election were not met.

The Republic of Congo is ranked 107th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2015 World Press Freedom Index.

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