(JED/IFEX) – On 24 April 2005, six Congolese journalists were abducted by a group of Mai Mai militiamen operating under the command of one “Chinja Chinja” (“Cut-Throat”). The journalists are being held in the port of Kilumbe, Upper Lomami district, some 400 km from Lubumbashi. They had gone to the area to cover the disarmament […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 24 April 2005, six Congolese journalists were abducted by a group of Mai Mai militiamen operating under the command of one “Chinja Chinja” (“Cut-Throat”). The journalists are being held in the port of Kilumbe, Upper Lomami district, some 400 km from Lubumbashi. They had gone to the area to cover the disarmament of armed militias in Katanga province, southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
News of the hostage-taking came from one of the abductees, Adam Shemisi, a journalist with the privately-owned station Tropicana, who managed to escape. He identified the other detainees as Jean-Marie Mususa, of the Congolese News Agency (Agence congolaise de presse, Kinshasa), Pierrot Nsenga and Léon Kabasele, of RTNC/Lubumbashi, Freddy Mwanza, a cameraman with Raga TV, and Scott Mayemba, of the Kinshasa-based newspaper “Uhuru”.
The abducted journalists had accompanied a clergyman to the area. Minister Ngoy Mulunda is one of the persons in charge of the militia disarmament programme. No official reason was given for the hostage-taking, but it is believed that it may have come in retaliation for the 8 April arrest of Mai Mai militia commander “Chinja Chinja” in Kinshasa. The commander has been charged with human rights abuses against local citizens in the Upper Lomami district. His arrest was confirmed by the United Nations’ Mission in the DRC (MONUC) on 27 April.
According to JED sources, negotiations got underway between Minister Mulunda and Mai Mai militiamen on 26 April, aimed at ensuring the journalists’ prompt release.
