(JED/IFEX) – On Friday 6 October 2000 at around 7:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), a dozen soldiers burst into the headquarters of the pro-government daily “L’Avenir” in Kinshasa/Gombe. The soldiers, who had a warrant signed by General Nawej Yav, commander of the Seventh Military Region of the Congolese Armed Forces (FAC), arrested thirteen of […]
(JED/IFEX) – On Friday 6 October 2000 at around 7:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), a dozen soldiers burst into the headquarters of the pro-government daily “L’Avenir” in Kinshasa/Gombe. The soldiers, who had a warrant signed by General Nawej Yav, commander of the Seventh Military Region of the Congolese Armed Forces (FAC), arrested thirteen of the newspaper’s employees who were present, including Financial Administrative Director Brigitte Mwabilu Musumba, Adjunct Director-General Joseph Mutambule, members of the editorial staff and interns.
The soldiers, who broke the newspaper publisher’s door before entering the premises, seized all of “L’Avenir”‘s computer equipment, communications equipment, passports and money. The arrested individuals and the equipment were taken to the Kokolo Military Base, headquarters of the FAC Seventh Military Region in Kinshasa/Bandalungwa. The soldiers used Mwabilu’s vehicle in the operation.
Marcel Ngoy-Ngoy Kyenge, the secretary-general of “L’Avenir”, told JED that aside from Mwabilu, everyone else was beaten. Mwabilu’s bodyguard, a police officer with the Congolese National Police (PNC) named Mwenze, received forty-two lashes, had his gun confiscated and was accused of protecting “persons who are spies for the rebellion which is at war against the government of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila”.
Told of these events, Léonard She Okitundu, the minister of human rights, came to the headquarters of the newspaper “L’Avenir” while the soldiers were in the middle of their operation, but left after they demonstrated to him that they were on a “regular mission”.
After their interrogation at the Kokolo Military Base, the arrested persons were released. The soldiers returned to the newspaper’s headquarters at around 3:00 p.m. GMT and returned the computer equipment and other items which they had earlier seized.
According to information received by JED, Sosthène Baniwesize, a computer technician with “L’Avenir”, has been detained at the Kokolo Base since Tuesday 3 October. This has not been confirmed, however, and as such, “L’Avenir” published a notice of his disappearance in its Friday 6 October edition.
The secretary-general of “L’Avenir” was told, to his great surprise, that Baniwesize is an agent of the military security branch offices (Détection militaire des activités anti-patrie, DEMIAP, military intelligence). Baniwesize was allegedly found with computer disks containing e-mail messages which were deemed “subversive” by the FAC Seventh Military Region command.
These incidents occurred one week after the attack on the Kinshasa/Limete residence of Pius Mwabilu Mbayu Mukala, “L’Avenir”‘s publisher, by masked men armed with guns with silencers. Mwabilu’s residence was defended by guards who retaliated, firing shots into the air.
Mwabilu, who was recently appointed member of parliament in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by President Kabila, lives in Lubumbashi (capital of Katanga province and seat of the parliament, in the DRC’s south-east).
“L’Avenir” is the only newspaper in the DRC which has an independent website, based in Kinshasa (http://www.groupelavenir.com/).
