(JED/IFEX) – Franklin Moliba-Sese, Gbadolité (north-west DRC) correspondent for Radio Okapi, which belongs to the United Nations mission (Mission d’observation des Nations Unies, MONUC), has been imprisoned since 13 September 2002 by the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (Mouvement de Libération du Congo, MLC), an armed rebel group led by Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo. According […]
(JED/IFEX) – Franklin Moliba-Sese, Gbadolité (north-west DRC) correspondent for Radio Okapi, which belongs to the United Nations mission (Mission d’observation des Nations Unies, MONUC), has been imprisoned since 13 September 2002 by the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (Mouvement de Libération du Congo, MLC), an armed rebel group led by Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo.
According to a 16 September Radio Okapi communiqué, the MLC’s interim secretary-general, Pascal Lipemba, and his chief of staff, General Amouli, are criticising the journalist for broadcasting a report on the difficult living conditions of thousands of child-soldiers in the Army for the Liberation of Congo (Armée de Libération du Congo, ALC). “These children, who find themselves in military camps with adults, are already living, so to speak, in hell,” stated Moliba in his report. The journalist was first taken to the Bureau of Internal Security (Bureau de la sécurité intérieure) before being transferred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office where he is waiting to appear before the public prosecutor.
JED considers this arrest to be a flagrant violation of press freedom, which gives a journalist the right to freely seek and distribute information and to report the facts as he has experienced them. In this case, Moliba did nothing more than carry out his profession. Therefore, JED asks Bemba to immediately and unconditionally release the journalist, as a sign of his ability to respect human rights if he comes to power.
