M23 rebels attack radio station, journalist killed in eastern DRC

Kinshasa, December 2, 2024—Following clashes with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) on October 29, M23 rebels attacked the facilities of the privately owned Mpety community radio station (RCMP) in the Walikale territory in eastern North Kivu province, later killing journalist Yoshua Kambere Machozi, according the radio station’s program director and two local residents.

RCMP Program Director Diallo Kambale Ombeni told CPJ that Kambere, a reporter and presenter with RCMP, was heading to retrieve belongings from home when he was killed. CPJ was unable to confirm whether the attackers knew he was a journalist.

“The killing of journalist Yoshua Kambere Machozi is a tragedy, and the attack on the Mpety community radio station is an outrage,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program head, in New York. “Media outlets and journalists have too often become victims of the conflict in eastern DRC. It’s a pattern that must end.”

Since resuming their offensive at the end of 2021, M23 rebels have advanced towards mining areas rich in gold and coltan in North Kivu. They have occupied much of the region and extended their hold on five of six territories in the eastern DRC.

A village resident who was present during the attack and spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity said that they saw M23 rebels cut Kambere’s throat with a knife and throw his body into the nearby Mweso River. Kambere’s body was found on November 6 on the banks of another river about four kilometers (2.5 miles) away.

Mwami Ntandu Kindi, a traditional chief of Mpety village, similarly told CPJ that M23 rebels killed Kambere and looted the Mpety community radio.

M23 rebels seized broadcasting equipment from the station, including two computers, a solar panel kit, dictaphones, microphones, and a transmitter, Kambale told CPJ. 

Since mid-November, CPJ spoke to M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka by messaging app and over the phone, but he did not provide comment on the incidents by the time of publication.

M23 rebels vandalized and seized broadcasting equipment from the private Mweso Community Radio (RCM) station, also in North Kivu province, on September 23, 2024.

Separately, in May, soldiers with the DRC military threatened to kill Parfait Katoto, director of the Radio Communautaire Amkeni Biakato (RCAB), over his criticism of insecurity in the country’s northeastern Ituri province.