Human rights defender and journalist Serge Maheshe was gunned down on 13 June 2007 in Bukavu, in the Province of Southern Kivu. Serge Maheshe was the editor of Radio Okapi in Bukavu, a radio station supported by the United Nations.

On 13 June 2007, around 9.00pm, Serge Maheshe left his friend's house in the residential area of Bukavu. He was walking to his car when a group of men in civilian clothing carrying Kalashnikov's approached him and his friend. One of the men is said to have asked which one of them was Serge Maheshe. When Serge Maheshe identified himself, he was told to get down on to the ground before being shot several times. Serge Maheshe died on his way to the hospital. According to reports, a group of soldiers were arrested close to where he was shot down. In the days leading to his death, Serge Maheshe had received death threats and feared for his safety.

Front Line is gravely concerned for the security of human rights defenders in Kivu. The murder of Serge Maheshe comes only two years after the murder of human rights defender Pascal Kabungulu Kimbemi, secretary general of the organisation Héritiers de la Justice.