(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Information and Tourism Didier Mumengi, RSF requested the release of Nyembo Kimuni, a journalist with the Lubumbashi private weekly “La Tribune”. RSF recalled that in a document dated 14 July 1992, the United Nations Human Rights Commission stressed that “detention as punishment for the expression of an […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Information and Tourism Didier Mumengi, RSF requested the release of Nyembo Kimuni, a journalist with the Lubumbashi private weekly “La Tribune”. RSF recalled that in a document dated 14 July 1992, the United Nations Human Rights Commission stressed that “detention as punishment for the expression of an opinion is one of the most reprehensible means to enjoin silence, and as such constitutes a serious violation of human rights”. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard added: “This explains why nowadays no democratic state passes prison sentences in cases involving the media.”
According to information collected by the local organisation “Médias libres, médias pour tous”, Kimuni was arrested at his residence on 13 March 2000 by agents of the National Information Agency (Agence nationale de renseignements, ANR). He was taken to the ANR’s Lubumbashi offices. The journalist is allegedly accused of publishing an article in the last issue of “La Tribune” which dealt with security issues in Katanga. In the article, Kimuni allegedly stated that “We do not retain only fond memories of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila’s young brother (former ANR/Katanga boss who recently died in Brussels),” and that “the ANR/Katanga is a lair of terror, extortion and reprisals.”
