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Ban Ki-moon calls for inquiry into shooting of Congolese journalist
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an independent inquiry into the shooting death of a Congolese radio journalist and said the killing underlined the risks of covering news in the country's restive east.
- AP
- Published: 17:03 November 25, 2008
Goma: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an independent inquiry into the shooting death of a Congolese radio journalist and said the killing underlined the risks of covering news in the country's restive east.
Didace Namujimbo, a reporter for UN radio station Radio Okapi, was shot in the back of the neck on Friday night outside his home in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.
His killing "underlines once again the deep insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly for journalists, whose work leaves them particularly vulnerable," said Ban in a statement released late on Monday.
Namujimbo had reported extensively on the trial into the murder of another Radio Okapi journalist, Serge Maheshe, who died in similar circumstances in June 2007, the station's news editor Leonard Mulamba told Paris-based journalist advocacy group Reporters without Borders.
A military tribunal was never able to determine if Maheshe was killed because of his work. The tribunal convicted and jailed three people over Maheshe's murder. However, local and international legal experts found irregularities in the proceedings.
"Is it the same people seeking revenge?" Reporters without Borders quoted Mulamba as saying. "That is a supposition. This continues to be a dangerous region where all stories are sensitive, including military stories and stories about rape."
Namujimbo had not received any threats, a UN spokesman said, adding that they could not determine if his death was related to his work.
New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Namujimbo is the fifth Congolese journalist killed since 2005. No clear motive was ever established for the deaths.
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