H.E. President Joseph Kabila
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
c/o H.E Permanent Representative to UN
Email: drcongo@un.int

12 July 2006

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at the murder of journalist Bapuwa Mwamba.

According to reports, Mr Mwamba, who worked for several publications in Kinshasa, was shot by unidentified gunmen who burst into his home on 8 July.

We are concerned that Mr Mwamba’s murder may have been related to his journalistic activities. The day before his death, Mr Mwamba published a commentary in the daily Le Phare criticising Congolese authorities and the international community for what he deemed to be the failure of the country’s political transition.

In March, men wearing military uniforms raided Mr Mwamba’s house, stealing a mobile phone and some money. The men reportedly threatened to kill Mr Mwamba, although the motive behind the attack remained unclear and the police failed to follow up on Mr Mwamba’s complaint.

Mr Mwamba is the second Congolese journalist killed in the past year. Franck Ngycke Kangundu, a political affairs journalist, and his wife were shot dead on 3 November 2005. The trial of three soldiers, arrested several weeks later and charged with the double murder, is scheduled to begin today.

We respectfully call on you to do everything possible to ensure that those responsible for murdering Mr Mwamba are swiftly brought to justice. We urge you to take all necessary steps to create an environment in which journalists are able to carry out their duties without fear of violence.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers

George Brock
President
World Editors Forum

WAN is the global organization for the newspaper industry, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 newspapers in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. WAN is non-governmental and non-profit.