12 Jan 12 | Africa, Index Index, minipost
Two privately owned
Congolese newspapers were
suspended on 5 January. The order for suspension came from the director of the provincial media authority of Orientale, on the grounds that the Kisangani based Journal de la paix and Kisangani News violated a 1996 law establishing the “conditions for the operation of a free press in the DRC.” According to reports, a week prior to the suspension, Kisangani News editor-in-chief Sébastien Mulumba was called to the home of provincial governor Médard Autsai Asenga after the paper criticised the provincial government. Editor-in-chief of Journal de la paix Grégoire Ngubu claimed that he was threatened by the Asenga’s supporters. The recently created Congolese media regulation body, Higher Council for Broadcasting and Communications (CSAC) has already come
under fire from local rights groups, who called for the council to be disbanded, on the grounds that it has proven to be “incapable of assuming its independence” following “numerous cases of interference by politicians and security services in the affairs of the media.”
05 Jan 12 | Africa, Index Index, minipost
A French government-funded radio station has been shut down by authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Council of Ministers had ordered the “temporary” measure of switching off the six frequencies of Radio France Internationale, following its coverage of the violent aftermath of the November 2011 presidential elections. The frequencies will be suspended until the Congolese Broadcasting and Communications Superior Council, the new state-run media regulatory agency, has issued a decision on its reinstatement.
04 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
The provincial minister responsible for information and media in Nord-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, has suspended a Mishapi Voice TV radio host until further notice. In a 30 July letter to the station’s CEO, Naason Kubuya Ndoole accused Jacques “Djasadjasa” Nyamugenda of “defamatory and insulting comments about the local authorities.” He claimed that, during broadcasts on the evening of 29 July, Nyamugenda insulted a provincial minister “whose conduct is irreproachable.” Ndoole did not, however, give details of the offending comments or name the minister he believed had been defamed. In the same letter, he asked Mishapi Voice TV’s chief to “initiate disciplinary action against this programme host as soon as you receive this letter”, adding that Nyamugenda “is not permitted to work for any other broadcaster in this province until further notice.”
08 Jun 10 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Two policemen have been arrested, and the country’s most senior policeman suspended from duty, after the death of a human rights activist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Voice of the Voiceless” campaigner Floribert Chebeya, whose body was discovered last week in a Kinshasa suburb, was last heard from shortly before attending a meeting ordered by the inspector general of the national police force, John Numbi. Following the arrest of two policemen suspected of killing Chebeya, Numbi was suspended on Sunday by the attorney general, to allow an internal investigation to take place. Chebeya’s death has prompted widespread international attention. Criticisms have also been raised over increased police harassment of human rights activists. Four DRC-based human rights campaigners have been murdered in the last four years.
