NGO REPORT ON DRC PRESS FREEDOM SAYS VIOLATIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 001127 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR INR, RRU, IIP/G/AF, IIP/T/GIC, AF/C, AF/PDPA E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPAO OIIP PREL PHUM CG SUBJECT: NGO REPORT ON DRC PRESS FREEDOM SAYS VIOLATIONS ARE DOWN BUT REPRESSION AND HARRASSMENT REMAIN REF: (A) Kinshasa 448; (B) Kinshasa 969; (C) Kinshasa 1090; (D) Kinshasa 1097 KINSHASA 00001127 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The 2009 annual report on press freedom in Central Africa by NGO "Journalistes en Danger" (Journalists In Danger - JED) notes a significant decrease in recorded violations of press freedom in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from the previous year. However, the report also describes a repressive atmosphere due to pressure exerted on journalists and press organs by government officials, ranking from cabinet ministers to agents of the national intelligence service and local police officers. The chilling effects of these pressures, along with economic difficulties, often push journalists to engage in self-censorship and/or corruption. While the GDRC touts the decrease in recorded incidents as indication that it supports a free press, JED argues that the situation has by no means improved, and rather that repression has become "softer," but no less effective. End summary. Actual violations are down -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The state of freedom of the press in the DRC dominates JED's 2009 report on the subject in Central Africa, titled "Freedom of the Press: Living between Fear and Survival." According to the report, published on December 10 to commemorate International Human Rights Day, there were 31.8 percent fewer violations against press freedom in the DRC during 2009 than the previous year (in the report, documented violations include murders, assaults, arrests, detentions, threats, and illegal sanctions or censorship against journalists or press organs). While JED recorded 110 violations in 2008, the group found only 75 in 2009. But soft repression remains -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Despite the significant decrease in documented violations, JED did not find a measurable improvement in either the overall state of press freedom or the content of press reports. The NGO also argues that forces working to restrict press freedom have become both more subtle and more effective. In his introduction to the report, JED President Donat M'Baya writes that "methods of repression have become softer," and journalists are increasingly resorting to self-censorship. M'Baya argues that following a series of murders of journalists beginning in 2005, and the government's inability (or unwillingness) to prosecute those responsible, "journalists have become afraid to address, in a professional manner, certain difficult subjects like the war in the East, corruption and embezzlement." ¶3. (SBU) JED singles out for criticism Minister of Media and Communications Lambert Mende, some of whose public statements were "barely veiled threats" against the press, while his official actions like the cutting of Radio France International's signal throughout the DRC (Ref A) and insistence that international journalists be subject to military penal code (Ref B) were clear violations of press freedom. However, in a December 11 letter to selected ambassadors from Europe and the U.S., Mende used the same report that criticizes him to bolster his claims that efforts by the GDRC to improve human rights in general and liberty of the press in particular have worked. JED also highlights the role of the Qparticular have worked. JED also highlights the role of the domestic intelligence service (ANR),which it claims was responsible for 26 of the 75 documented incidents of attacks against the press. The ANR, particularly in the provinces, is called "the most repressive agency against freedom of the press." Buying of consciences -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Economic and political pressures severely restrict press freedom, according to the JED report, which comments: "Yesterday's repression has been replaced by the buying of consciences." The widespread custom of buying off journalists to report favorable stories (Ref C) has become institutionalized by the hiring of journalists by government officials. The JED report criticizes Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito for having "hired journalists from all the principal media organs in Kinshasa." These journalists spend their days working for the prime minister, "and at night are in their respective newsrooms, making sure there is no bad news." According to JED, this practice is not restricted to the Prime Minister. "Every ministry has its own journalists who work as press KINSHASA 00001127 002.2 OF 003 agents or communication advisors." This leads to a situation where "the borders between communication, propaganda, and news no longer exist," particularly in television news broadcasts. As a consequence, the public increasingly turns off news programs, preferring camera-on-the-street shows like "Le Journal en Lingala Facile (The News in Simple Lingala)," which they find more accurately portrays life in the DRC. Murder and Death Threats -------------- ¶5. (SBU) One murder and 17 cases of threats or harassment against journalists were recorded in 2009. South Kivu remains the most dangerous province for journalists, with one journalist murdered and several receiving death threats (Ref D). During the night of August 22-3, Bruno Koko Chirambiza, a journalist at Radio Star, was murdered in Bukavu, South Kivu. On September 9 in Bukavu, two female journalists for Radio Okapi, Delphine Namuto and Kadi Adzouba, received death threats by SMS, while Jolly Kamuntu, a journalist for Radio Maendeleo, was also named as a target. ¶6. (SBU) Gilbert Nawezi, journalist with Radio du Plein Evangile (Full Gospel Radio),a religious radio station in Likasi, Katanga Province, received a death threat from an agent of the ANR on February 27, in reaction to a broadcast where Nawezi commented on the state of local roads. Joel Buabua Nuamona, journalist with Business Radio Television and Radio Television Kintwadi in Kinshasa, received a death threat by SMS on March 26. Jeef Saile, editor of the Kinshasa weekly Le Barometre, received an SMS on September 17 threatening him and his family with death, shortly after having published an article on alleged embezzlement in the Ministry of Finance. On October 18, Alain Bakajika, reporter with the government radio-television network RTNC, received two phone calls from the same unidentified person threatening him with death if he wasn't careful what he said on the air. (Note: While the previous murders of journalists give cause for all these threats to be taken very seriously, some might just be acts of crude intimidation or even pranks. End note.) Acts of violence -------------- ¶6. (SBU) JED documented 17 cases of assault against journalists in ¶2009. Pierre Komba, journaist with Radio Television Amani, a religious rado station owned by the Catholic Church in Kisangani, was assaulted by national police officers on January 23, while he covered a march of local students protesting against the reinstatement of a school principal suspended for corruption. Jomming Kasiama, cameraman with Canal Kin TV, a private television station associated with the political opposition, was assaulted by national police officers on January 19 while filming damage to a Kinshasa street. Kathy Katayi, reporter with Radio Okapi in Kananga, Kasai Orientale, was assaulted on March 3 by a dozen officers of the national police. Tresor Nduaya, cameraman with Canal Congo Television, a private television station in Kinshasa associated with the political opposition, was assaulted by officers of the national police while trying to film the demolition of private homes. Paulin Munanga, reporter for Radio Okapi in Lubumbashi, was assaulted on August 7 by agents of the ANR while covering a demonstration by human rights activists. Pepe Lisungi, Qcovering a demonstration by human rights activists. Pepe Lisungi, journalist with OPED FM, a private radio station in Kisangani, was assaulted by the governor of Orientale Province and his bodyguards, while covering a strike by unpaid workers. Arrests and detentions -------------- ¶7. (SBU) JED documented 23 cases of journalists being arrested or detained during the course of their work. Coco Tanda, cameraman for Canal Numerique Television, a private station in Kinshasa, was arrested on March 15 and held for two days, along with three representatives of local NGOs, for having organized a march and sit-in to protest the eviction of National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe. Guillaume Mudibu, assistant director of Maendeleo de Salamabila radio station in Maniema Province, was arrested on charges of abetting high treason for having aired an interview with a local traditional chief whose declarations were seen to have "discouraged" Congolese military forces operating in the region. Patrick Mukengeshay, director of Radio Television Amazone in Kananga, Kasai Orientale, was detained by agents of the ANR on June KINSHASA 00001127 003.2 OF 003 3 for having broadcast a press statement by a human rights NGO alleging abuse of power by the ANR. On April 4, Jean-Pierre Katende, journalist with RTEELDA religious radio in Mbuji-Mayi, Kasai Orientale, was held for 19 hours by ANR agents for having broadcast a statement by local political figure criticizing corruption in the provincial assembly. Rochereau Kighoma, director of Radio Liberte Butembo in North Kivu, was called in by agents of the ANR on June 11 and held overnight, during which time he was questioned concerning a broadcast critical of the governor of North Kivu. The next day, ANR agents visited the radio station and confiscated a cassette recording of the broadcast. Legal sanctions and censorship -------------- ¶8. (SBU) JED documented 16 cases of sanctions and 12 incidents of censorship in 2009. (Note: While DRC law and social custom support certain acts of sanction and censorship, JED has previously argued for decriminalization of contraventions of press laws, and some of the cases reported as violations of press freedom reflect that opinion. End note.) Some of these acts had clear political motives: A controversy concerning Vital Kamerhe, President of the National Assembly, in mid-to late-March, provoked the temporary interruption of broadcasts by Antenna A, Tele 7, Canal-Kin TV, as well as the harassment of newspaper street vendors by police officers. A provincial minister ordered the signals of Radio Communitaire du Katanga and Radio Television Likasi 4, private stations in Katanga Province, to be cut from March 11 to May 4 because of their coverage of a local railway workers' union strike. ¶9. (SBU) Comment: While the decrease in reported incidents is good news, some high-ranking GDRC officials continue to maintain an aggressive posture toward the news media, as evidenced by the violations documented in JED's 2009 report. Many seeking to stifle the press have found that a subtler mix of political pressures and economic incentives is not only more effective, but also provokes fewer repercussions from NGOs and the international community. This demonstrates that the GDRC is sensitive to criticism, and some progress is being made. Further efforts to enhance press freedom should not only address political repression, but also acknowledge economic challenges faced by journalists and media organizations in the DRC. The fact that the GDRC publicly acknowledges the importance of a free press is a welcome development, and also establishes a standard to which it can be held in the future. End comment. GARVELINK