H.E. Joseph Kabila
President
Office of the President
Palais de la Nation
Kinshasa
Democratic Republic of Congo
Fax: (011.243.81) 02120
Your Excellency:
Members of the Overseas Press Club of America, which has defended freedom of the press for seventy years, were shocked to learn that Congo’s national police assaulted Trésor Nduaya, a cameraman for privately-owned, Canal Congo Television (CCTV), while he was attempting to interview residents of a local housing project that was being demolished. CCTV is owned by Jean Pierre Bemba, who is the leader of the opposition Movement for the Liberation of Congo.
The assaulted cameraman had gone to the Maluku port area in Kinshasa to cover the demolition, which had been ordered by the town’s mayor. He received authorization to interview area residents by a police officer posted on the site. However, a group of police officers appeared and began to threaten Nduaya, claiming that he was “working for the opposition television” and planned to use the images to discredit the country’s authorities.
For four hours, the police officers punched and hit Nduaya, eventually stripping him of his clothes, taking the money he carried (about US $16) and damaging his camera. When he was finally released eleven hours later, Nduaya was put into a taxi whose driver was told to drop him in downtown Kinshasa.
We urge Your Excellency to have this incident investigated so the perpetrators can face criminal charges. Ensuring the safety of journalists to do their work is a critical responsibility for a democratic government.
Respectfully yours,
Norman A. Schorr
Kevin McDermott
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee
cc:
H.E. Faida Maramuke Mitifu
Ambassador of the D.R. of Congo to the U.S.A.
Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo
1800 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Fax: (202) 234.2609
Ambassador Atoki Ileka
Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the United Nations
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 511
New York, NY 10017
Fax: (212) 319.8232
H.E. William Garvelink
U. S. Ambassador to the D. R. of Congo
Embassy of the United States of America
310 Avenue des Aviateurs
Comune de la Gombe
Kinshasa
Democratic Republic of Congo
Fax: (011.243.81) 39.02.12
Journaliste en danger
B.P. 633 – Kinshasa 1
374, Avenue Col. Mondjiba
Complexe Utexafrica, Galerie St. Pierre
1er niveau, Local 18
Kinshasa/Ngaliema
Democratic Republic of Congo
Fax: (011.44.207) 90034