Goma: a journalist assassinated

Edmond Bahati, coordinator of Maria radio in Goma, regional capital for North Kivu in eastern Congo, was killed this Friday evening by gunmen in civilian clothes. Local civil society demands an urgent independent investigation.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Our colleague was returning home in the Ndosho neighborhood in the city of Goma when he was killed, witnesses say.

“He was shot dead by armed men in civilian clothes,” they say.

This tragedy occurs in an increasingly worrying security context in Goma, despite the state of siege in force in the province of North Kivu since May 2021. The state of siege, which gives increased powers to the military authorities to restore peace and security, has not prevented a resurgence of violence and targeted assassinations in the city.

Members of the Maria-Goma radio community, as well as many residents of Goma, express their shock and indignation at this murder.

“Edmond was a man of peace, committed to serving his community and the Church. His disappearance is a huge loss,” said a close collaborator of the station.

Security officials have not yet officially reacted to this murder, but civil society in North Kivu is calling for an immediate investigation to identify and prosecute the perpetrators. The inhabitants of Goma, exasperated by the persistence of insecurity, are demanding concrete measures to guarantee their protection and that of their families.

Edmond Bahati unfortunately joins the long list of victims of armed violence in Goma. His death is a reminder of the urgent need for more effective intervention to restore security in a city that continues to mourn its children.

According to Sadibou Marong, director of the Sub-Saharan Africa desk at RSF (Reporters Without Borders), journalists in conflict zones are very threatened.

“They are targets of both armed groups and regular armies. For example, in the DRC, where community radio stations run by local journalists are a valuable means of information, particularly in war zones, we have seen that many journalists are forced into exile and their equipment destroyed. Their hostage-taking by the military or armed groups, trapping them in the heat of war, prevents journalists from doing their work and deprives tens of thousands of inhabitants of their right to information,” Mr. Marong recently denounced in an interview with SOS Médias Burundi. “The targeting of local media is not a new phenomenon. Their journalists are direct victims of conflicts, and this is very regrettable.”

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Edmond Bahati, coordinator of Maria radio in Goma killed by gunmen on September 27, 2024