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Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have released, on a US $30 bond, Matthieu Kisose Kasha, a well-known Pentecostal cleric in Uvira, after detaining him for five days.
The Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Goma (RCD-Goma) had released Kisose on Wednesday, but denied him the right to travel outside Uvira, humanitarian officials told IRIN.
Kisose is the coordinator of the Centre pour l'education et la formation integree, a local NGO active in conflict resolution. In 2001, he participated in an international conference on the trafficking of small arms and ways of eradicating the trade held in Brussels, Belgium.
The reasons for his arrest remain unclear. Kisose has said he was accused of "trying to lead a revolution in Uvira" and of being close to the Mayi-Mayi, pro-DRC government militia.
After the withdrawal of Rwandan troops, the militia took over Uvira on 13 October, but the RCD-Goma in turn recaptured it a week later. Since then, civil society leaders and reporters of the local Le messager du peuple newspaper have been threatened. Two of the reporters, Charles Nasibu and Mutere Kifara, have sought refuge in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura. A list of the names of 40-targeted individuals, including Kisose, has reportedly been distributed in the city.
On 30 November, heavily armed soldiers in Sanga, 35 km from Uvira, killed Ndaheba Rusagara, a human rights activist of Heritiers de la justice, together with his wife and one of his daughters; his two other children survived, but were badly wounded.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
