(JED/IFEX) – On 5 July 2004, at around 3:00 p.m. (local time), Cesar Balume Wetemwami, a photojournalist and president of the North Kivu Photographers Association (Association des photographes du Nord Kivu, APHONOKI) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, was arrested by Rwandan military security agents in the Rwandan city of Gisenyi, which lies on the […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 5 July 2004, at around 3:00 p.m. (local time), Cesar Balume Wetemwami, a photojournalist and president of the North Kivu Photographers Association (Association des photographes du Nord Kivu, APHONOKI) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, was arrested by Rwandan military security agents in the Rwandan city of Gisenyi, which lies on the border with the Congolese city of Goma.
According to JED’s information, Balume was first detained by customs officers as he was crossing into Gisenyi. According to witnesses contacted by JED, the photojournalist was questioned for over two hours at the border station. Following his interrogation, he was handed over to Rwandan soldiers. Balume is being held by military personnel at a secret location.
The official motive for the photojournalist’s arrest is unknown, but witnesses who were arrested at the same time as Balume told JED that he was questioned about his “ethnic origins” and his “relations with the Kinshasa authorities.” Customs officers also told JED that he is suspected of being “a spy in the service of Kinshasa and the [Rwandan militia group] Interahamwe.”
