DRC: RSF deeply concerned about the disappearance of journalist Amisi Musada
Amisi Musada, a journalist with the news site DeboutRDC, has been unreachable for three days. The reporter has not given any sign of life since leaving his home on the morning of 15 April and had recently been threatened. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is concerned about this disturbing disappearance and calls on the authorities to do everything in their power to find the journalist.
The silence grows more disturbing with every passing day that Amisi Musada remains missing. On 15 April, the reporter left his home in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, at around 9.45 a.m. to go to the office. “He was supposed to meet a trainee to explain to her how the media works at this time of tension,” a colleague explained. But Amisi Musada never arrived at his destination or returned home. No text messages have reached his phone since.
Five days earlier, the journalist had received threats from an individual claiming to be an army general via an unknown number. The caller “promised the worst,” labelling him a “traitor” and a “Rwandan.” Amisi Musada had been reporting on allegations of abuses committed by members of the national armed forces in the village of Ihusi, in South Kivu province, where the army and its auxiliary, the Wazalendo militia, had clashed with Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group in mid-February.
“Amisi Musada’s sudden disappearance just a few days after he received serious threats is extremely worrying. It comes at a time when the security situation is more precarious than ever — the area is marked by conflict and journalists must deal with threats from all sides. Amisi Musada, renowned for his work, was simply reporting the reality on the ground, in a context where the right to reliable information is more necessary than ever. RSF is worried about his disappearance and urges the AFC/M23 authorities, who control the city of Bukavu, to do everything in their power to find him.
For several years, reporters from the DeboutRDC news website have been covering the abuses committed by the various parties involved in the violent conflict plaguing the east of the country. In September 2020, Patrick Babwine and Justin Murhu, publication director and reporter of DeboutRDC, respectively, were summoned and arrested by the provincial authorities after the publication of an investigation revealing compromising information about the lawyer of former president Joseph Kabila.
