Journalists subjected to arbitrary arrests and intimidation in South Sudan, Sudan

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN  

Journalists in both Sudan and South Sudan say threats, intimidation and arbitrary arrests are part of everyday life, limiting their ability to inform the public.

South Sudan ranks 128th and Sudan ranks 151st out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ annual World Press Freedom Index, released Tuesday to coincide with the United Nations’ annual recognition of World Press Freedom Day. The bigger the number, the worse the environment for news media.

Irene Ayaa of the Association for Media Development in South Sudan says government censorship in her country is widespread.

"Last month, we registered four articles removed from newspapers," she said.

Between January and March alone, security personnel removed dozens of articles from the Juba Monitor, Anna Namiriano, editor-in-chief of an English-language daily, told South Sudan in Focus. "They removed stories and we left the space blank. They say why we are not listening to them, so on 17th of March, they suspended the newspaper."

In February, a handful of journalists were briefly detained for covering a press conference by opposition lawmakers in parliament. A Juba Monitor newspaper article about the incident was removed by security agents at the printing plant.

"We don’t have freedom of the press in the country," Namiriano said. "The solution is let us do our work as media houses. We have the code of conduct, we have the media law to guide us, and removal of stories is really very bad."

South Sudan’s information minister, Michael Makuei, insists press freedom is alive and well in his country.

"South Sudan is the only place where journalists are free, where they enjoy absolute freedom according to the law. I say, 'according to the law,' because there is nothing absolute in this world," Makuei told South Sudan in Focus.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights refutes that assertion. In a report issued last October, it said the government is harassing activists, journalists and their families, limiting their activities and targeting their work and finances. South Sudan is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist, according to the commission.

"South Sudan has a lot of work to do to establish and solidify the institutions that are critical to a well-functioning democratic state," David Renz, charge d’affaires for the U.S. Embassy in South Sudan, said in a statement Tuesday, adding that the U.S. remains deeply concerned about the state of press freedom in South Sudan.

"We have seen some of the local radio stations shut down over very trivial matters," Renz said. "And we also are aware that journalists of radio and television and even social media are self-censored" and wary of local and national governments’ actions "to penalize journalists who say things the government would prefer that they not say."