Press Under Fire: Journalists Killed in Eastern DRC Conflict
The Washington Peace Accord, signed under Donald Trump's auspices, barely had time to dry before the Congolese terrain shook once more. Between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, promises of calm in the Great Lakes region evaporated against the brutal reality of renewed combat.
The AFC/M23, this movement claiming to defend the Tutsi minority but which, according to UN experts, dances to Kigali's rhythm, has multiplied its offensives. The result: the fall of Uvira, that strategic South Kivu city which locked access to Bujumbura. A severe blow to Congolese defense and their Burundian allies.
Accusations fly from all sides. Accord violations, ethnic tensions, control of precious minerals: Eastern Congo remains this terrain of all appetites. No wonder the European Union sanctioned the Gasabo gold refinery and several Rwandan officials. European sanctions cast shadows over Rwanda's booming mining sector.
The humanitarian toll remains horrific: thousands dead, over 5 million internally displaced, and nearly one and a half million refugees scattered across the region.
Reporters in the Crosshairs
In this spiral of violence, journalists pay the heavy price. The NGO Journaliste en Danger sounds the alarm: never has the profession been more dangerous in the region. More than half of journalists killed in DRC over the past thirty years died in the country's east.
These past days, two reporters lost their lives, perfectly illustrating the conflict's brutality. In Kiliba, ten kilometers from Uvira, Lwesho Janvier Nyakirigo of Radio Kiliba FM died in a bomb explosion attributed to M23 fighters. The International Contact Group for the Great Lakes, gathering Western chancelleries, denounces the use of kamikaze drones blindly targeting civilians.
Further north in Goma, Magloire Paluku, owner of Kivu1 FM and emblematic figure of AFC-M23, was gunned down outside his home. Hours before his death, an audio recording revealed his sharp criticism of the rebellion, betraying internal tensions undermining the movement.
Audio source published by Byobe Makenga: Facebook Recording
As the region sinks deeper into violence, the media ecosystem falters. Between stray bullets and censorship, information struggles to circulate, worrying observers who see in this situation an additional threat to Congolese democracy.
This pattern of targeting journalists reveals a deliberate strategy to silence independent voices documenting the conflict's true nature. When reporters become casualties, truth itself becomes the first victim of war.