Kinshasa — The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the leaders of the new rebel movement, the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), to ensure the safety of journalist Guillaume Munguakonkwa, stop censoring Kamole FM, and allow media outlets to cover news freely and independently.

On October 16, six FRN rebels, accompanied by Colbert Jean-Baptiste Karume Kajabika, the Walungu Territory administrator's representative in the town of Nyangezi, in the eastern DRC province of South Kivu, burst into community radio station Kamole FM searching for its news presenter Munguakonkwa, station director Floribert Bayongwa, told CPJ. The group wanted to tell Munguakonkwa to broadcast their announcement inviting residents to an FRN meeting in Nyangezi that day, said Bayongwa, who witnessed the event.

(Photo: Courtesy of Guillaume Munguakonkwa)

At 10 a.m. that day and on October 15, Munguakonkwa had broadcast Karume's announcements, reviewed by CPJ, calling on locals to take part in cleanup activities and attend an FRN meeting. But the October 16 meeting was disrupted when government-aligned Wazalendo militia started shooting, so the rebels wanted to announce another one, Munguakonkwa told CPJ.

The journalist said he went into hiding for five days after Bayongwa warned him that the rebels were looking for him.

"The director quickly alerted me by phone, advising me to go into hiding and switch my phone to airplane mode," Munguakonkwa said. "At the same time, I received a message from an unknown number warning me to take cover, as armed individuals were reportedly looking for me."

"Since then, I have been living in constant fear, not knowing what steps to take to ensure my safety," he told CPJ. "I fear that I may face military reprisals from one side or the other, simply for having carried out my professional duties."

"Nothing can justify the threats made against journalist Guillaume Munguakonkwa or the directives imposed by FRN rebels on Kamole FM," said CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal. "Throughout the conflict in the eastern DRC, journalists have faced physical and psychological threats, arrests, and death. All warring parties must recognize that access to information is of critical importance in situations of conflict."

On October 29, Karume summoned Bayongwa to his office and criticized the station for not covering the FRN meeting. Karume ordered him to submit all news intended for broadcast to his office for approval or else he would be imprisoned, the journalist told CPJ.

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On October 12, former DRC President Joseph Kabila announced the formation of the FRN, which includes the M23 and Congo River Alliance (AFC) rebel movements that control much of eastern DRC.

On July 27, Munguakonkwa was detained for three days in an M23/AFC intelligence unit cell for reporting on the Ebola virus. His voice recorder, cell phone, and notebook were confiscated.

When contacted by phone, Karume ended the call immediately after hearing CPJ's question about the actions taken against the station.

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