Joseph Kazadi Kamuanga
Fuentes
Joseph Kazadi Kamuanga is a journalist from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who was arrested on 13 July 2022 in Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga (southern DRC). Kazadi was arrested along with Nicholas Niarchos, an American journalist with whom he had been working. Niarchos and Kazadi had been investigating links between artisanal cobalt mining and paramilitary groups in DRC. They were detained by the national intelligence agency (ANR) in Kinshasa. The DRC authorities have suggested that the reason for the detention was the 'nature of [the journalists'] activities', which involved making contact with paramilitary groups including the Mai Mai Bakata Katanga. Niarchos was released on 18 July 2022, while Kazadi remained in detention until 4 August 2022. Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) reported that while detained, Kazadi was denied access to the lawyer mandated by RSF to represent him.