By IPS Correspondents
KINSHASA, Dec 10 2008 (IPS)

Since the November 2004 murder of Frank Kangundu, journalist with the Congolese daily ‘La Référence Plus’, and his wife, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has entered a sad cycle of killings of media professionals.

The most recent target was Didace Namujimbo, a journalist with Radio Okapi, who was shot in the head by unidentified assailants near his home in Ndendere, in South Kivu’s Ibanda county (eastern DRC) on Nov. 22, 2008.

He was the fifth journalist to die in similar circumstances over the last four years. Bapua Mwamba was the third journalist killed, in 2006, and Kayilu Mutombo was stabbed in March 2006. Despite the view of Communications and Media Minister Lambert Mende, that these murders were random crimes, it seems more likely that these were targeted assassinations.

Mutombo, an antenna maintenance technician for national telecommunications network Renatelsat, was stabbed on Mar. 29, 2006 in Kisanga, a village south of Lubumbashi in Katanga province – all the others were killed by gunfire at point blank range.

According to certain analysts, Mutombo was a victim of the March 2006 political crisis – when the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) party led by Jean-Pierre Bemba challenged the results of presidential elections won by Joseph Kabila. Armed clashes between the candidates’ security forces followed. Mutombo was killed on the same day that Bemba’s private television station, Canal Congo, had its antennae sabotaged.

Franck Kangundu and his wife, Hélène Paka, were murdered during a political crisis intensified by allegations that Congolese President Joseph Kabila had donated 30 million dollars to the Tanzanian education department. A JED report highlights that it was also a period where numerous groups were pressuring the government for salary increases, including teachers.

Serge Maheshe and Didace Namujimbo, two journalists from the Foundation Hirondelle and U.N. Congo Mission (MONUC) joint initiative Radio Okapi, were assassinated while Eastern Congo was gripped by a political crisis. At the time, rumours were circulating that a new attack on the country was being planned in Kigali, Rwanda, with the support of certain Congolese officials and rebel leader Laurent Nkunda’s National Congress for the People’s Defence (known by its French acronym, CNDP). "Did Serge and Didace find out and become targets?" human rights activists ask.

What also stands out in all cases is that, with the exception of Kangundu, none of the victims’ personal belongings were stolen; a fact highlighted by the media defence organisation ‘Journaliste en danger’ (JED), which dismissed the random crime hypothesis. In Kangundu’s case, only his cell phone was stolen; his assailants had every opportunity to also take his black Mercedes, which was abandoned on the scene of the crime, according to Djudju and Francine Kangundu, two of the victim’s children.

Moreover, all five media professionals were killed by or in the presence of armed men, close to police stations that failed to respond despite gunshots. The alleged attackers were often caught mere hours after the events, and sent to military tribunals, despite the fact that there are legal avenues for such acts to be dealt with by civil courts.

"We’ll provide all resources necessary for the criminal justice system to fulfil its mandate and ensure justice for the victims," promised Azarias Ruberwa, vice-president responsible for the judiciary at the time of Franck Kangundu’s assassination.

The same was said by Aunorius Kisimba Ngoy, minister of justice when Serge Maheshe was assassinated, and most recently by Charles Mwando Nsimba, current Minister of Defence, who has "vowed to bring to light the truth behind Didace Namujimbo’s murder."

But the current trial will probably have the same outcome.

A joint statement from JED and the Congolese National Press Union addressed to Dieudonné Kayembe, head of the Congolese Armed Forces in June 2007 denounced trials against alleged assailants that go unresolved, controversial investigations that remain uncompleted and decisions made to appease.

The three trials for the journalists killed prior to 2008 failed to shed full light on the motives, authors and backers of the crimes simply because the investigations were botched, according to JED. Botched investigations can only result in mock trials, which feeds impunity. Civil society organisations urge authorities to provide the justice system with the necessary autonomy and resources to perform professional investigations and fair and equitable trials, declared Chantal Kanyimbo, president of the journalists’ union.

The guarantee of impunity for the real murderers and backers via mock trials feeds the cycle of violence against journalists.

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