Final week, the Congolese authorities’s Communication and Broadcasting Board (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel et de la communication, CSAC) suspended journalist Jessy Kabasele for an indefinite interval, following his interview with one of many nation’s most well-known singers, Koffi Olomide, on Le Panier The Morning Present. In the course of the interview, aired by the state-run broadcasting firm, Olomide criticized the military’s response to M23 rebels’ assault as too weak.
Congolese authorities have been combating the Rwanda-backed M23 insurgent group since hostilities renewed in 2022 within the North Kivu province.
The CSAC accused Kabasele of failing to reframe Olomide’s speech which, it argued, “undermines the large efforts and sacrifices made by the federal government.” The media regulator summoned each Kabasele and Olomide final week, whereas Olomide’s attorneys are stated to have met with a prosecutor on July 15.
Congo’s media regulator has been stifling reporting on the battle. In February, the CSAC issued a directive requesting the media to not broadcast debates on Congolese military operations with out the presence of a minimum of one “skilled on the matter.” It additionally requested journalists keep away from radio phone-ins discussing the subject and interviewing “destructive forces,” a obscure and unclear time period that leaves the door open to arbitrary prohibitions.
In April, the CSAC recommended that media retailers ought to not “broadcast info referring to the revolt in japanese DRC with out referring to official [government] sources.”
Whereas worldwide human rights regulation permits governments throughout states of emergency to derogate from some obligations to respect freedom of expression, there are strict standards on what governments can do and the way. These requirements, which embody restrictions having a transparent authorized foundation, being vital, and proportionate, be certain that the essence of freedom of expression, together with freedom to hunt, obtain, and impart concepts and data, is safeguarded. CSAC’s inference with freedom of expression and freedom of the press fails to satisfy the standards.
The circumstances of Olomide and Kabassele are harking back to different journalists and public figures who’ve been focused by the authorities.
The work of Congolese journalists working in japanese provinces has been fraught with danger and their dedication and dedication needs to be recommended. As an alternative of punishing journalists and personal residents for expressing views on a disaster that’s devastating the nation, the authorities ought to shield journalists’ rights to function safely and freely.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).