9 November 2005
GUNMEN KILL COLUMNIST AND HIS WIFE
Journaliste en danger (JED), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have called on authorities in the Democratic of Congo (DRC) to thoroughly investigate the murder of a newspaper columnist and his wife who were gunned down in Kinshasa on 3 November 2005.
Franck Ngyke Kangundu and his wife, Hélène Mpaka Ngyke, were reportedly shot at point blank range by three masked men outside their home, says JED. According to eyewitness reports, the assailants told Ngyke before he died that they had been sent to kill him. The victims' mobile phones were taken.
One of the journalist's sons was shot in the shoulder as he tried to save his father's life, says JED. He is currently recovering in hospital. The motive behind the murders has not yet been determined.
Ngyke, 52, was a political columnist for "La Référence Plus", an independent daily newspaper he was associated with for more than 10 years. He covered a variety of issues for the newspaper, including relations between political parties in the country's power-sharing government, and business and economic issues.
RSF has raised concerns that those who murdered Ngyke and his wife may escape justice.
It says authorities have yet to seriously investigate the August 2005 murder of human rights activist Pascal Kabungulu Kibembi in the eastern town of Bukavu, nor have they investigated the attempted murder of Radio Okapi journalist Jean Ngandu in May.
Visit these links:
- JED: http://www.jed-afrique.org/full_view.php?id_alerte=432
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/DRC03nov05na.html
- CPJ Report on DRC: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2004/DRC_9_04/DRC_9_04.html
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15499
- RSF Report on DRC: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13570
- Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=congo
- UN Mission in DRC: http://www.monuc.org/
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