(JED/IFEX) – The following is a JED press release: JED welcomes decision to close illegal detention centres Journaliste en danger (JED), a Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) based non-governmental organisation for the defence and promotion of press freedom, welcomes President Joseph Kabila’s 8 March 2001 decision to close “all detention centres that are not answerable […]
(JED/IFEX) – The following is a JED press release:
JED welcomes decision to close illegal detention centres
Journaliste en danger (JED), a Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) based non-governmental organisation for the defence and promotion of press freedom, welcomes President Joseph Kabila’s 8 March 2001 decision to close “all detention centres that are not answerable to the republic’s public prosecutor’s offices”, particularly the sinister detention centre in Kinshasa commonly known as GLM (Litho Moboti Group).
JED recalls that, in recent years, several journalists have been detained and mistreated in illegal detention centres, where visits by family members, magistrates and lawyers were often forbidden, in defiance of the law and international legal instruments ratified by the DRC. As an example, according to information received by JED, journalist Guy Kasongo Kilembwe, editor-in-chief of the satirical weekly Pot-Pourri, has been detained since 6 March 2001 in a cell at the National Information Agency (Agence nationale de renseignements, ANR), which is not answerable to the republic’s public prosecutor’s offices.
JED hopes that the head of state’s decision will translate into action, and takes this opportunity to demand journalist Guy Kasongo Kilembwe’s immediate and unconditional release.
