THREE TV STATIONS SUSPENDED AFTER BROADCASTS RAISE TENSIONS

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001302 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPAO CG SUBJECT: THREE TV STATIONS SUSPENDED AFTER BROADCASTS RAISE TENSIONS OVER JULY 27 PILLAGING IN KINSHASA Ref: A. Kinshasa 1995 ¶B. Kinshasa 240 Sensitive But Unclassified. Not for Internet distribution. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Three television stations were suspended from broadcasting August 17 by order of the High Media Authority (HAM). The three are state-owned RTNC1, the MLC-affiliated CCTV, and the religious station RTAE, all of which have been showing violent scenes, notably from the pillaging which took place in Kinshasa on July 27. Tensions, already high on the eve of the announcement of provisional election results, have been exacerbated by these broadcasts, which were thankfully interrupted by the HAM. End Summary. The HAM Order to Suspend -------------- ¶2. (U) Issued on August 16, the High Media Authority's order accuses RTNC1 and RTAE of repeatedly showing shocking scenes filmed in Kinshasa on July 27 during the pillaging which took place on the margins of a large political rally for presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba (ref A). The most revolting scenes, according to the HAM decision, are the deaths, after torture, of police officers at the hands of the pillagers. CCTV, owned by VP Bemba, is fingered for showing video footage on August 14 and 15 of supposed recent police excesses and the bombing of Equateur province in 1998. Leading up to the HAM Decision -------------- ¶3. (U) The pillaging on July 27 destroyed the offices of the High Media Authority and the National Human Rights Observatory (ONDH), which shared a building near the Tata Raphael Stadium where VP Bemba held his rally. Also targeted for pillage that day was the nearby Church of the Eternal Army of Pastor Sony "Rockman" Kafuta, which owns the RTAE television station, considered to be pro-Kabila. ¶4. (SBU) Not mentioned in the HAM decision, but observed during the RTNC1 broadcasts, was Interior Minister Theophile Mbemba's eulogy at the funeral of the police officers killed on July 27. During his speech, Mbemba blamed the murders on the MLC party of Jean-Pierre Bemba. The minister is a member of the pro-Kabila PPRD party. ¶5. (SBU) On August 9, the HAM suspended live call-in shows of a political nature, since potentially inflammatory comments by callers could not be filtered. It also suspended live reports from political rallies and demonstrations for essentially the same reason. Most of the representatives of the DRC's various professional journalistic organizations, including Journalists in Danger (JED),expressed their opposition to this form of censorship. During an August 17 meeting of the International Committee to Accompany the Transition (CIAT),members generally agreed that while caution must be exercised in any action that restricts press freedom, the HAM suspension of the three stations was fully justified. ¶6. (U) In February, the HAM suspended all political reporting by RTNC for 48 hours, because the state-owned television station gave wall-to-wall, uninterrupted coverage of the pro-Kabila PPRD party convention (ref B). Comment -------------- ¶7. (SBU) There should be little opposition to the HAM decision to suspend the showing of what are truly revolting images of torture and murder - the main purpose of which is to incite retribution and revenge. All eyes are on the announcement, scheduled for August 20, of the Electoral Commission's preliminary results, particularly on the national percentages garnered by the two leading contenders, Kabila and Bemba. Tensions are already high enough without such war-like images on television screens. The HAM has done the right thing, but the damage may already have been done. MEECE