The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed concern over apparent efforts by officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to intimidate media and block the flow of information. These efforts come on the back of a brief rebel takeover of Goma city that demonstrated the government’s political weakness and its failure to secure a monopoly of force.
On Friday, the Congo’s media regulator issued an order suspending the United Nations-mandated Radio Okapi and began jamming the station’s signal in Kinshasa and some parts of eastern Congo, reports said. Jean-Marie Etter, CEO of the Lausanne-based Fondation Hirondelle, which co-founded Radio Okapi in 2002 with the United Nations Mission in DRC, told IPI that service was restored on Dec. 4 although negotiations between the United Nations and the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication (CSAC) continue.
CSAC argued that Radio Okapi had failed to submit a program listing, although such listings are publicly available online. A MONUSCO spokesperson also noted that the station’s special status exempts it from this requirement, according to a report from the local press freedom group Journalist en Danger (JED) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The report also noted that Radio France Internationale had received a warning two days earlier, after broadcasting interviews with rebels in eastern Congo.
Press freedom violations were reportedly carried out by opposition as well as government forces, with journalists receiving threats as a result of their work. In Goma, three stations that were jammed by the M23 rebels have been back on the air since Sunday, JED and RSF reported. The groups said that Congolese National Radio and Television (TRNC) and Digital Television and Radio Congo Groupe l’Avenir (RTG) had their signals cut on Nov. 20 on the orders of M23 spokesperson Vianney Kazarama.
IPI Press Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi said: “It is unacceptable that the Congolese authorities or opposition forces interfere with the transmission of news, in violation of press freedom and peoples’ right to be informed. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of government to ensure journalist safety, and we call on President Joseph Kabila to fulfil this duty and end all efforts to disrupt the work of Radio Okapi or any other news outlet.”
Radio Okapi, which reportedly reaches some 22 million listeners, was named an IPI Free Media Pioneer in 2010 for its contributions to news reporting in the DRC. The station is run by MONUSCO (UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) and Fondation Hirondelle in Switzerland. This is the first time since the station’s 2002 launch that is was jammed, according to a report from the Hirondelle News Agency.
