The Committee to protect journalists (CPJ) has raised the alarm on sustained press repression by the Kinshasa regime, which is implementing martial law to gag journalists.
The media watchdog highlighted how the Kinshasa regime has managed to terrorize journalists into submitting their threats against reporting objectively on the conflict in eastern DRC.
The Kinshasa regime has made sure that all journalists conform to their false narrative, and whoever steps out of line is arrested or executed.
The regime aims to ensure that the world stays in the dark about the atrocities committed by the FARDC and their coalition, which includes FDLR, Nyatura, CODECO, PARECO, Mai-Mai, and European mercenaries.
Due to this repression, journalists have to report in favor of the Kinshasa regime. Almost all media houses and social media influencers in DRC (and some in the region) have either been paid to report positively, while those who refused to compromise their professional ethics were chased out of town.
This practice has ensured that the world only gets to know one side of the conflict, where the Kinshasa regime has portrayed itself as the victim. This has resulted in the perpetration of atrocities and violations of human rights by the FARDC and their evil armed groups’ allies.
For what it’s worth, at least the world will know that since the beginning of the conflict, they have been only fed on propaganda crafted by the Kinshasa regime.
The international community must henceforth compel the Kinshasa regime to allow journalists to report freely because without the world knowing the actual truth, peace will not be attained.