BY NANGAYI GUYSON IN KAMPALA UGANDA – Kinshasa -At least over 70 people on boat have been reported after a riverboat capsized in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the weekend, an official said. The Sunday , the Equateur Province spokesperson Ebale Engumba said a boat carrying more than 100 estimated passengers hit a rock early on Saturday in northwest DRC and only 15 people survived. On the another side , a boat also in Kasai Occidental Province left 200 people feared dead after the overloaded boat caught fire on Saturday evening. The boats are often in poor repair... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Monday, September 6th 2010 |
By Shout-Africa Correspondent – Some 240 women, girls and babies may have been raped after rebels recently seized a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN says. Officials had previously said they had received reports of 150 rapes in and around the town of Luvungi. The UN mission has been heavily criticised for not doing more to protect the local population as it had peacekeepers based nearby. But it says it was only told of the rapes after the rebels had left. The incident prompted an emergency session of the UN Security Council, and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Saturday, September 4th 2010 |
Open Letter to His Excellency President Joseph Kabila Chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Copy to: His Excellency, Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of Republic of Namibia, Host country SADC Human Rights Commission Windhoek, 16 August 2010 Your Excellency, Subject: Call for an Independent Commission of Inquiry into the death of Floribert Chebeya Bahizire We are writing to reiterate the demand from both Congolese and international civil society for a credible, impartial and independent commission of inquiry to investigate the death of Floribert Chebeya Bahizire and the disappearance of... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Friday, August 13th 2010 |
KINSHASA – Authorities arrested a journalist this wek on criminal defamation charges in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hours earlier, in an unrelated incident, armed men briefly forced the city’s three main opposition broadcasters off the air, according to local journalists and news reports. Pascal Mulunda, editor of weekly Le Monitor, has been held in Kinshasa’s Penitentiary and Reeducation Center since police officers picked him on Tuesday with an arrest warrant, defense lawyer Joel Awnze Kaloume told CPJ. No date had been set for trial and the defense was requesting Mulunda’s release on bail, Kaloume said. The arrest... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Thursday, July 29th 2010 |
By Shout-Africa – KINSHASA, Dem. Rep. of Congo – Reporters Without Borders and Journalist in Danger (JED), its partner organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said they are alarmed about the situation of press freedom in this country on the eve of the 50th anniversary of its independence. As many foreign leaders arrive in Kinshasa for tomorrow’s celebrations, the two organisations have called on the Congolese authorities and the international community to work together to improve the climate for journalists. In particular, they call on Belgium – which will be represented by King Albert at the celebrations and which... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Wednesday, June 30th 2010 |
