DR CONGO'S POST-TRANSITION MEDIA SCENE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000314 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO PGOV PHUM KDEM CG SUBJECT: DR CONGO'S POST-TRANSITION MEDIA SCENE Sensitive but Unclassified. Not for Internet Distribution. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In an open letter to President Joseph Kabila, media watchdog Journaliste En Danger (JED) frames the debate on the DRC's post-election media scene. JED argues that freedom of expression continues to be violated, and it recommends specific legislation to protect the media, notably decriminalizing libel and imposing sunshine laws on government operations. Preceding any such legislation, however, will be a law establishing the next iteration of the High Media Authority (HAM) and continued regulation of the media. The momentum of free expression in the DRC's vibrant media scene is now such, however, that emphasis is probably better placed on raising the level of journalist professionalism than attempting, by law and regulation, to re-bottle this genie. That said, the new Minister of Information and Press reportedly sees his job as "bringing order" to the media. JED lists (para 7 below) recent violations of press freedom. End Summary. Transparency is the Antidote to Secrecy and Corruption -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Journaliste En Danger president Donat MBaya Tshimanga and Secretary General Tshivis Tshivaudi addressed their March 5 letter SIPDIS to President Joseph Kabila, Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga, and National Assembly Speaker Vital Kamerhe. Arguing that good governance depends on transparency, they exhort the GDRC leadership to see a vigorous press as the best guarantor of both. Unfortunately, according to the JED leaders, the current media law, enacted in 1996, criminalizes press transgressions and does nothing for access to what should be public information. The result, they say, is secrecy and concomitant corruption. New legislation, too -------------- 3 (U) The JED officials advocate laws which would: - Strengthen the commercial vocation of the media (presumably so that journalists would be properly paid and less tempted to sell editorial slants); - Remove from the penal code cases of alleged libel, defamation, publication of false information and insults to public figures and institutions. In the case of alleged defamation, for example, the penal code requires a judge to consider only the offense felt by the plaintiff, and not the veracity of the journalist's assertions. JED contends that journalists want to, and should, police their own profession. - Limit the scope of the next iteration of the High Media Authority (HAM) to monitoring media offenses, not sanctioning them. - Be the equivalent of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), promoting transparency (and giving journalists real facts to report, rather than groundless, troublesome speculation). ¶4. (U) In addition to legislation, JED also proposes that there be a national debate about transforming government-owned and operated media into "public" media. (Note: JED has, in fact, asked us and other donors for funding for such a formal debate, which it would organize.) The JED letter notes that the (pro-Kabila) bias of state-owned RTNC during the electoral campaigns prompted other candidates to create their own dedicated media, a development which encouraged heated, even extremist, one-sided broadcasts. In effect, JED also proposes that the national discussion extend to the question of political party-owned media. Whither the HAM -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The High Media Authority is to morph into the High Council for Audiovisual Media and Communications (CSAC),according to article 212 of the new constitution. Framework legislation creating the CSAC is reportedly to be on the agenda for the March 15 session of the National Assembly, and there is a race to draft the CSAC bill. According to those who were there, the new Minister of Information and Press, Tshilombe Send, said at a dinner February 28, hosted by the Wallonie/Brussels delegation, that the HAM is dead, and that there was no point entertaining the HAM's bill over his ministry's forthcoming draft. (Note: According to the constitution, transitional institutions remain until replaced. Therefore, the HAM is not dead. The HAM has certainly been weakened, however, by the departure of its respected president, Modeste Mutinga, recently elected to the Senate. End Note) ¶6. (SBU) Whichever version of the CSAC law prevails on the floor of the National Assembly, the constitution already provides some guidance; namey, that the CSAC protect freedom of the media, mnitor journalistic ethics, and assure equitable acess to official KINSHASA 00000314 002 OF 002 media. JED and many journalists hope for a limited scope of action for the CSAC. Drafting a second law on press freedom, which would hopefully decriminalize defamation, will follow, and similarly be cause for tussles between the CSAC, the Ministry, and members of the media. Recent Violations of Press Freedom -------------- ¶7. (U) The long JED letter reviews several recent abuses of press freedom to make its case for more liberal legislation governing alleged press offenses: - On February 27, Popol Ntula Vita, a reporter working for the weekly 'La Cite Africaine,' was sentenced to three months for defamation and "harmful suppositions" in Bas-Congo province after accusing four General Tax Office officials of embezzling license plate fees in Boma. - Elsewhere in Bas-Congo, on February 2 (a day after clashes between Bundu dia Kongo and police),reporter Nelson Thamba of Community Radio Moanda was beaten by a local police chief after asking questions about the fighting. The police chief has ignored a court summons, according to JED. - Rigobert Kwakala Kash, another Bas-Congo journalist, had similarly been arrested and sentenced to 11 months in January 2007 for accusations leveled against the provincial governor. Kwakala was released February 16 after 35 days in jail. - Journalist Bonsange Mbaka of the bi-weekly 'Mambenga'was arrested November 21, 2006, following the torching that day of the Supreme Court in Kinshasa. Bonsange has yet to appear before a court. - On December 1, 2006, journalist Papy Tombe of Canal Congo Television (CCTV) was jailed on unstated charges. He also has not appeared before a court. ¶8. (SBU) Comment: An expected post-election culling in the media may not happen, due largely to politicians' desire to maintain this kind of public platform. Kinshasa alone has, by one reputable count, 49 television stations, not counting international satellite television. There are more than 200 radio stations in the DRC. UN-supported Radio Okapi operates an independent radio network with national coverage. JED plans to act on its long-held conviction -- that transforming state media into public media would reduce the number of narrowly based political media -- by organizing a conference on this subject in May. OMEC, another Congolese media watchdog group, is planning several provincial conferences later this month to preach objectivity and credibility in journalism, fearful that the alternative will engender political instability. Into this dynamic scene steps a new Minister of Information and Press who, according to his Walloon interlocutors, promised to "bring order," even if it makes him the "most unpopular" minister. We will meet with him soon. ¶9. (SBU) Comment continued: Media can indeed throw salt where scars of strife -- and the new democratic institutions meant to mend them -- are tender. In such an environment, media self-reflection should be encouraged. The momentum of free expression in a vibrant media environment is such in the DRC that the onus should be on laws and regulatory bodies - and journalistic ethics - to catch up. End comment. MEECE