Case History: Godeliève Uwimana
On 7 January 2016, Godeliève Uwimana and Rozenn Kalafulo were threatened by the station chief of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) at the DRC-Rwanda border, Mr Safari, as they covered the reported harassment of small-scale cross-border traders by border officers. While conducting interviews with alleged victims of the reported harassment, most of whom are women, the human rights journalists were approached by Mr Safari, who threatened to kill them if they continued covering events at the border.
Godeliève Uwimana is a journalist working for Radio Pole FM, a radio station affiliated with the Institut Interculturel Dans la Région des Grands Lacs - Pole Institute (Intercultural Institute In the Great Lakes Region – Pole Institute). The Institute was created in 1997 and has since been active in the promotion and defence of human rights, with a view to promoting peace, good governance and democratic change. Radio Pole FM has also been a public advocate of human rights in the DRC, and has publicly denounced human rights abuses in the State.
On 7 January 2016, two human rights defenders were subjected to death threats while on a journalistic assignment at the border between Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Gisenyi, in Rwanda.
The two journalists, Ms Godeliève Uwimana and Ms Rozenn Kalafulo, work for Radio Pole FM, a radio station affiliated with the Institut Interculturel Dans la Région des Grands Lacs - Pole Institute (Intercultural Institute In the Great Lakes Region – Pole Institute). The Institute was created in 1997 and has since been active in the promotion and defence of human rights, with a view to promoting peace, good governance and democratic change. Radio Pole FM has also been a public advocate of human rights in the DRC, and has publicly denounced human rights abuses in the State.
On 7 January 2016, Godeliève Uwimana and Rozenn Kalafulo were threatened by the station chief of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) at the DRC-Rwanda border, Mr Safari, as they covered the reported harassment of small-scale cross-border traders by border officers. While conducting interviews with alleged victims of the reported harassment, most of whom are women, the human rights journalists were approached by Mr Safari, who threatened to kill them if they continued covering events at the border, stating: “We're going to blow your heads. We will arrest you and you will go to jail. Who do you think you are, you journalists of Pole FM, do you think that all these state services fear you?” (“Nous allons faire sauter vos têtes. Nous allons vous arrêter et vous irez en prison. Pour qui vous prenez vous, vous journalistes de Pole FM, pensez-vous que tous ces services de l’Etat peuvent vous craindre?”).
The threats against Godeliève Uwimana and Rozenn Kalafulo follow previous attempts by a member of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) to intimidate them and prevent them from carrying out the interviews at the border. The two human rights defenders could not verify the name or identity of this military officer, who, according to a broadcast from Radio Pole FM was “chasing the colleagues like dogs with strong threats in Lingala”. (“chassé les deux consœurs comme des chiens avec des fortes menaces en lingala”).
