CONGO-DEM.REPUBLIC 22/6/2004 15:23 CRY FOR HELP FROM INDEPENDENT PRESS IN BUKAVU Peace/Justice, Standard âInformation is an instrument of war: misdeeds are covered up by falsehood, allowing for violent undertakings to take place. Free information is the biggest non-violent weapon for countering these projectsâ: so reads the appeal by the independent journalists of Bukavu (capital of the eastern province of South Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo) to the international community and associations working to promote freedom of information. The document, passed on to MISNA by civil society sources, warns that press freedom is at risk in the city, as is the life of independent journalists. âCommunity broadcasters in Bukavu, Radio Maendeleo (secular), Radio Rehema (Protestant) and in particular Radio Maria Malkia wa Amani (Catholic) had been the target of threats and intimidation from the local authorities of the former ex rebel Rwandan-backed RCD-Goma (Congolese Rally for Democracy) for some time. But since the outbreak of violence at the end of May and the fall of Bukavu to the ârenegadeâ soldiers of General Laurent Nkunda and Colonel Jules Mutebusi (both linked to RCD-Goma, ed.) on 2 June, there has been a real settling of scores,â reads the statement. âJournalistsâ families have been threatened by the soldiers. Two people have been killed because they were thought to work for these radio stations. The editors have been accused of fomenting the genocide of the Banyamulenge (Rwandan Tutsis who have lived in Congo for years). Though General Nkunda was eventually forced to acknowledge that there was no threat of genocide, acts of intimidation against the independent radios in Bukavu have continued.â MONUC (UN Mission in DR-Congo) has investigated the threats and has transferred the editors of the three stations considered most at risk to the capital Kinshasa: Mushizi Kizito of Radio Maendeleo, Ben Kabamba of Radio Maria, and Joseph Nkinzo of Radio Rehema. âThe journalists Omba Kamengele of Radio Maendeleo, and Solange Lusiku, Sifa Maguru and Fammy Mikindo of Radio Maria are still in the city and exposed to threats. Though the situation in Bukavu appears calm, these people continue to receive direct threats,â stresses the statement. [LC] N¬±êï‰Ç²,µçhžØ^"wèr‰§zÜ(®Hm¶Ÿÿà "ú ¢g(º
