Over the course of 2010, JED registered 87 attacks on press freedom, including one assassination of a journalist and 44 arrests.
(JED/IFEX) – On 10 December 2010, Journaliste en danger (JED) published its annual report revealing the disturbing state of press freedom in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the plight of journalists working in the country.
The report, released on International Human Rights Day, records in minute detail every attack on the right to be informed and to inform the public throughout the year – 87 cases in 2010 compared to 75 in 2009. The state of press freedom has deteriorated and journalists are working in a climate of fear following the murder of a cameraman in the east of the country and the killing in the capital, Kinshasa, of prominent human rights activist, Floribert Chebeya, director of La Voix des Sans Voix (Voice of the Voiceless).
Concluding its annual report, JED recommends that:
1. the president of the Republic:
– give concrete form, by sending strong signals, to his expressed desire to protect and ensure the safety of journalists and human rights defenders with the aim of discouraging any act likely to put their lives in danger.
– swiftly enact the fundamental law on the organisation and functioning of the superior broadcast and communications council (CSAC), already adopted by parliament several months ago.
2. the government:
– while awaiting the adoption of a law decriminalising press offences, examine the request for a moratorium on imprisonment of journalists facing proceedings for defamation or for injurious accusations.
3. Parliament:
– instigate and adopt a law on access to public information to allow journalists access to official sources of information.
