Dozens of journalists dressed in black, gathered on Friday evening in Goma to pay tribute to fellow pressmen murdered in the last four months in Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
Two journalists have been murdered in eastern Congo in August alone, according to the International Federation of Journalists, IFJ.
A radio-television director, Joel Mumbere Musavuli, was stabbed and killed along with his wife at his home by suspected Mai- Mai militiamen, in the early hours of Saturday, August 14, 2021.
Eight days earlier, unknown assailants had slit a journalist’s throat in the village of Bunyangula, Rutshuru near Goma.
In May, another journalist was shot eight times and killed just minutes after hosting a radio program in the Masisi area of North Kivu region.
The region which is awash with armed groups remains one of the worst places for journalists to work.
Threats to journalists come from militia groups and security forces according to rights watchdogs.
President Felix Tshisekedi as part of his campaign against armed groups had placed the region under emergency rule.
