A radio station north of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s Goma has been repurposed as an AFC/M23 intelligence service office, according to a report released Thursday by media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Radio Télévision Nyiragongo Musisimuke, which ceased broadcasting in January 2025 after the armed coalition seized the area, has since been occupied by the group’s intelligence services.
RSF said the former studios are being used not only for intelligence operations but also as a temporary detention site for civilians, citing witness accounts and photographs showing the station’s logo still displayed at the compound entrance.
Witnesses described violent interrogations, inadequate food and transfers to Goma’s provincial intelligence office known as Chien Méchant.
RSF condemned the development as “another red line crossed” by the AFC/M23, which has already been accused of detaining journalists in shipping containers and suppressing media freedoms in North and South Kivu.
“RSF condemns yet another tactic that exposes the violence perpetrated by the rebel group against media outlets and journalists,” the group said.
The AFC/M23 coalition, which re‑emerged in late 2021, has tightened its grip on eastern DRC since early 2025, seizing territories in North and South Kivu.
The insurgency has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, disrupted trade routes, and triggered repeated clashes with government forces and allied militias.
The group claims to defend the rights of Congolese Tutsi communities but has been accused by Kinshasa and international observers of committing widespread abuses, including arbitrary arrests and attacks on media outlets.
Neither AFC/M23 spokespersons nor the head of the intelligence service operating from the radio station responded to RSF’s requests for comment.
JN/APA