(MISA/IFEX) – On 14 December 1998, the Namibian minister of defence, Erikki Nghimtina, instructed his ministry to withhold any news and information about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from the “Namibian” newspaper. Several hundred Namibian troops are currently stationed in the DRC and are involved in the conflict in support of […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 14 December 1998, the Namibian minister of defence, Erikki
Nghimtina, instructed his ministry to withhold any news and information
about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from the
“Namibian” newspaper. Several hundred Namibian troops are currently
stationed in the DRC and are involved in the conflict in support of the
government of President Laurent Kabila. Several Namibian troops have also
been killed.
The “Namibian” reports that journalists from the paper who had called the
ministry this week for comment on a report emanating from the DRC conflict
were informed by the ministry’s public relations officers that Nghimtina had
left instructions that no information should be given to the “Namibian”
under any circumstances. The apparent reason for the news blackout from the
ministry is what was termed the “distortions” published by the “Namibian”
with regard to events in the DRC. The ministry has also claimed that because
the news published in the newspaper is also published on the
Internet, the information is being accessed by the so-called rebels in the
DRC.
The “Namibian” reports in an editorial that it had made several attempts
this week to discuss the matter with the Nghimtina, other ministry officials
and other high-ranking government officials but to no avail. The editorial
goes on to say: “…we are of the strong opinion that in as much as we are
able to, it is our duty to inform our readers of the deaths and/or injuries
of fellow Namibians in the DRC war, an approach which is not necessarily
shared by the Ministry which has not been pro-active in making such news
public for perhaps obvious reasons. Neither do we feel that, in order to get
co-operation and/or comment from the Ministry, we have to adopt a pro-DRC
policy and/or agree to censorship of news about Namibian soldiers fighting
there.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Defence Minister:
the “Namibian”
official comment from the ministry on information emanating from the DRC
since Namibian troops are involved in the conflict
the DRC are open to rumour and speculation which could ultimately lead to
gross instances of disinformation
newspaper to gain official comment from the ministry with respect to
information about and from the DRC.
Appeals To
The Honourable Mr. Erikki Nghimtina
Minister of Defence
Windhoek, Namibia
Fax: +264 61 232518
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
