Promouvoir la communication pour le changement social
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Radio Okapi journalist gunned down |
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By Philip Lee, Deputy Director of Programmes, WACC  | WACC joins the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) in expressing its outrage and sadness at the murder of 34-year-old Radio Okapi journalist Didace Namujimbo on 21 November 2008.
“Shock Waves” – winner of the best Canadian documentary on international development (2008) and of the WACC-SIGNIS human rights film award (2008) – was widely praised after its screening during WACC’s Congress 2008.
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The documentary highlights the work of Radio Okapi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the importance of objective and courageous journalism in a country torn apart by a long civil war.
Threats, pressure and bullying from authorities had not stopped Radio Okapi’s coverage of corruption and extortion by Congolese security forces. “We never yielded to pressure,” said the radio station’s chief editor. “Journalists know the risks involved and that their press credentials are not bullet-proof. Yet they feel the urge to continue because Congolese people have overcome their fear.”
According to reports received by IFEX, Namujimbo, who was on his way home from the radio station, was killed by a bullet to the neck fired at point-blank range shortly after he was dropped off by a MONUC (UN Mission in the Congo) vehicle in the neighbourhood. His body was found the next morning by passers-by. A member of the journalist's family said that his two cell phones had been taken but that money and other personal items were still on him at the time, including a Walkie Talkie he used for his work.
Namujimbo is the second Radio Okapi journalist to be gunned down in Bukavu in just over a year. Serge Maheshe, also a reporter with the radio station, was shot dead in June 2007. He is the sixth media worker to be killed in the country in the past three years, under much the same circumstances.
The three trials that took place for these six murders left a number of unanswered questions around the motives and identities of both the perpetrators and contractors of the murders, largely because preliminary investigations were deliberately botched. The cycle of violence that continues to target journalists is fuelled by a culture of impunity.
WACC condemns these attacks on journalists and freedom of expression in the DRC and everywhere else in the world.
Source: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/98781/ |
La WACC encourage la communication pour favoriser le changement social. Elle est convaincue que la communication est un droit humain fondamental qui définit l’humanité commune des peuples, renforce les cultures, favorise la participation, crée une communauté et défit la tyrannie et l'oppression.
The World Association for Christian Communication is a UK Registered Charity (number 296073) and a Company registered in England and Wales (number 2082273) with its Registered Office at 36 Causton Street, London SW1P 4ST. It is an incorporated Charitable Organisation in Canada (number 83970 9524 RR0001) with its head office at 308 Main Street, Toronto ON, M4C 4X7.
