Reporters
Without Borders (RSF) calls on the authorities in the Democratic Republic of
Congo to do everything possible to find Hassan
Murhabazi, a journalist in Bukavu, the capital of the eastern province of
Sud-Kivu. A reporter and presenter for Radio
Svein, a local community radio, Murhabazi has been missing for the past two
days.
Neither his
family nor his colleagues have heard from him since he left home without taking
his phone with him on the morning of 11 September, after receiving a phone call
from an unidentified person, according to the Radio Svein’s manager, who has issued a statement
voicing his concern.
The host of a
Sunday programme called “Mkate” that covers general news and politics,
Murhabazi often gets threatening texts. RSF has seen some of these texts, in
which he is called a “devil” and “little journalist” and is told that ruling
party presidential candidate Emmanuel
Ramazani Shadary should be “left alone.”
Murhabazi was
asked to stop talking about Shadary after dedicating last Sunday’s programme to
him, one of Murhabazi’s colleagues told RSF.
“We ask the Congolese authorities to do everything
possible to locate Hassan Murhabazi,” said Arnaud Froger,
the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “The
threats received by this journalist in connection with his coverage of
political developments must be taken seriously. The authorities have a duty to
protect journalists, who are especially exposed with just three months to go to
a presidential election.”
After trying
without success to reach Sud-Kivu’s governor by telephone, RSF sent him a
message asking him to notify the police and get them to open an investigation
into Murhabazi’s disappearance.
The presidential
election is scheduled for 23 December in the DRC, which usually sees an
increase in press freedom violations in the run-up to elections.
According to
RSF’s tally, journalists were the victims of a total of 22 attacks and 35
arrests during the first eight months of 2018, with most of these arrests being
carried out in a completely illegal manner. Two
Bukavu journalists had to flee their homes in July after receiving death
threats in connection with their documentary about villagers being evicted from
land claimed by President Joseph Kabila.
The DRC is
ranked 154th out of 180 countries in RSF's
2018 World Press Freedom Index.
