After his abduction by unidentified individuals in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, on the evening of 28 December, Honneur-David Safari, the editor of the La Prunelle RDC press group, was found “in poor condition” in a vacant lot near Nyantende, in Kabare Territory, on 31 December and had to be hospitalised, one of his lawyers, Pascal Mupenda, said. 

The lawyer said that “his body shows signs of torture” and that “he is being treated at a hospital.” Knowing that he was being followed, the journalist had sent a distress message to his wife, also a journalist, just minutes before his abduction. 

RSF sources and several local organisations, including the Integrated Protection Partnership (IPP), had said he was being held by the rebel coalition known as the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC)/23 March Movement (M23), which has controlled this city in the eastern DRC since February 2025. 

But at a meeting with several journalists in Bukavu on 30 December, AFC/M23 officials denied that he was being held in any of their cells. Captain Emery, the local head of M23's Services and Intelligence Division in Bukavu, did not respond to RSF’s requests for comment.

“RSF is relieved by Honneur-David Safari’s release but strongly condemns his abduction and the torture he suffered. This violence illustrates the dangers that reporters face in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and yet they continue to do their duty to report the news. Journalists must stop being subjected to reprisals by the warring parties for performing this public service. We call on the AFC/M23 coalition, which controls this city, to shed full light on this serious attack and ensure that it does not happen again.

Honneur-David Safari had continued to work independently and impartially since the M23 took Bukavu. He recently interviewed civilians who criticised “forced” marches of support imposed by the AFC/M23 in Goma, Bukavu, and Uvira. He had also questioned the withdrawal of AFC/M23 elements from Uvira, which occurred earlier in December. 

Several journalists have been physically attacked since the M23 seized Bukavu. Amisi Musaada, a journalist with the online news outlet DeboutRDC, was abducted, tortured and detained for several days in April 2025 by unidentified individuals. 

The DRC is ranked 133rd out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2025 World Press Freedom Index.