France, Nov. 6 -- Across Africa, journalists are being kidnapped, tortured and killed - often by people whose identities are known but who face no punishment. Reports gathered by RFI and press freedom groups show these incidents spreading from Burkina Faso to Guinea and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where journalists who refuse to toe the line are silenced or forced to flee.

In Burkina Faso, respected investigative journalist and editor of newspaper L'EvenementSerge Oulon vanished on 24 June, 2024 after an armed group stormed his home. He has not been seen since. Over the following months, around a dozen other journalists in the country were abducted in similar incidents.

Oulon's face appeared on the cover of the last published ...