(JED/IFEX) – The following is an abridged version of JED’s 18 February 2003 letter to Vital Kamhere, commissioner-general in charge of the peace process in the Great Lakes region: Kinshasa, 18 February 2003 Mr. Vital Kamhere Commissioner-General in charge of the peace process in the Great Lakes region KINSHASA/GOMBE Mr. Commissioner-General, Regarding: Ban on journalists’ […]
(JED/IFEX) – The following is an abridged version of JED’s 18 February 2003 letter to Vital Kamhere, commissioner-general in charge of the peace process in the Great Lakes region:
Kinshasa, 18 February 2003
Mr. Vital Kamhere
Commissioner-General in
charge of the peace process
in the Great Lakes region
KINSHASA/GOMBE
Mr. Commissioner-General,
Regarding: Ban on journalists’ travel to Gbadolite
Journaliste en danger (JED), a Kinshasa-based non-governmental organisation dedicated to the defence and promotion of press freedom, has learned that you personally intervened to prevent four journalists from travelling to Gbadolite. The MLC (Mouvement de libération du Congo) rebel movement had invited the journalists to visit the city.
According to information published in Kinshasa-based newspapers on 18 February, journalists Lolo Luasu, of the newspaper “Le Révélateur”, Rombaut Kasongo, of “Mosaïque”, Elali Ikoko, of “La Tempête des tropiques”, and Vicky Kazumba, of “Canal Kin”, had expected to travel to Gbadolite on a United Nations aircraft in order to cover the trial of 27 MLC officers who are accused of carrying out acts of cannibalism and war crimes in Ituri.
Five minutes before takeoff, an otherwise unidentified ANR (National Intelligence Agency) agent prohibited the journalists from travelling on the flight to Gbadolite. He said he was acting on your orders.
The Congolese people and the international community must be informed of the terrible events that took place in Ituri. We feel it is most unfortunate that you would seek to prevent journalists from obtaining information at the source, in order to inform the national and international communities of events taking place in this corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The controversy surrounding the legal status of judicial bodies set up in Gbadolite to examine the serious events that reportedly took place in Ituri may be legitimate, but in no way should it prevent journalists from carrying out their duties. Regardless of its flaws, the Gbadolite trial is an event that should be covered and assessed by journalists.
JED recalls that the DRC has ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, each of which guarantees freedom of opinion and freedom of expression.
The tendency to equate journalists with politicians has had harmful effects on coverage of the five-year-old conflict in the DRC. Congolese journalists have been unable to cover a conflict that is taking place in their own backyard, and have instead been limited to passing on information from foreign media about events that are taking place a mere stone’s throw away from their newsrooms.
JED believes that it is not the government’s role to carefully select the news that will be made available to the public or to decide on which events can be covered by the press. Such actions constitute a denial of the right to inform and to be informed.
JED urges you to allow journalists to cover these events without obstruction.
Best regards,
Tshivis Tshivuadi
Secrétaire général
D. M’Baya Tshimanga
Président
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to:Mr. Vital Kamhere
Commissioner-general in charge of the
peace process in the Great Lakes region
Kinshasa/GombePlease copy appeals to the source if possible.
