(JED/IFEX) – The following is a JED press release: Kinshasa, 8 March 2005 Minister implicated in land dispute orders cameraman assaulted On 8 March 2005, Aditien Basabose, a cameraman for the Canal Congo television station (CCTV), owned by Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, was assaulted by soldiers under the authority of Environment Minister Anselme Enerunga, as the […]
(JED/IFEX) – The following is a JED press release:
Kinshasa, 8 March 2005
Minister implicated in land dispute orders cameraman assaulted
On 8 March 2005, Aditien Basabose, a cameraman for the Canal Congo television station (CCTV), owned by Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, was assaulted by soldiers under the authority of Environment Minister Anselme Enerunga, as the minister stood by and watched. The so-called “Maï-Maï” soldiers who attacked Basabose belong to an armed movement that is a signatory to the Global and Inclusive Accord (Accord Global et Inclusif), signed to end the Congolese civil war.
Basabose and another journalist, Ginette Nzosa, had gone to the Brikin neighbourhood in Kinshasa/Ngaliema to report on a dispute between the environment minister and occupants of a parcel of land. The minister had taken over the land and, in the process, evicted at least 10 families who lived there.
When they arrived on the scene, the cameraman began filming and questioning the occupants about the dispute. Soldiers guarding the property intervened and attempted to grab Basabose’s camera and chase the journalists away. At that moment, Enerunga arrived with a group of soldiers who proceeded to beat Basabose and break his camera. Nzosa was able to escape.
JED observes that, increasingly, those who hold positions of power in the country have been using the security forces assigned to them for their personal safety to carry out abusive actions. JED also notes that a land dispute is clearly of interest to journalists, particularly when it involves a minister and entire families who claim to be victims of an abuse of power.
JED calls for a full investigation into this incident to identify and punish those responsible for the assault on Basabose, whatever their rank. JED also calls for the minister to pay for the CCTV camera, which was destroyed by armed men under his control and in his presence.
