S. Sudan urged to end harassment of journalists
November 5, 2014 (JUBA) – Almost two years since renowned South Sudanese columnist Isaiah Abraham was gunned down in the capital, Juba, journalists in the young nation continue to face harassment, arrest and threats on a daily basis.
Dhieu Williams, a radio journalist in Juba, was assaulted and had his phone seized near the national parliament two weeks ago, while freelance photojournalist Jok Solomon had his camera snatched last Friday while photographing the long queues at fuel stations.
“Security agents approached me and after identifying myself as a photojournalist, I was told: ‘You are destroying the image of this country and now you are under arrest,’” said Solomon.
For Williams, his trouble started when plain-clothes security officers noticed that he was reporting a traffic accident live to the radio station.
“After slapping and punching me on the face, they ran away in their pick-up car despite public outcry,” said Dhieu, who asked that the radio station he works for not be identified.
Solomon and Williams are among many South Sudanese journalists who have been detained, subjected to intimidation or had cameras, recorders or mobile phones confiscated by security agents either in public or at news stations.
In August, South Sudanese security officials arrested four staff at the Catholic-run Bakhita FM radio station in Juba, forcing it to go off air for a month.
Three staff members were released after a four-hour interrogation, but news editor David Ochen was detained for three days.
According to government officials, the radio station had broadcast news reports blaming pro-government forces for instigating a military offensive in the restive capital of Unity state, Bentiu.
CALLS TO END HARASSMENT
Angelina Daniel, the director of the End Impunity Organisation (EIO) in South Sudan, has called on security agents to end intimidation tactics used on journalists.
“The arbitrary arrest of journalists, for example, by security officials without any legal reason must stop,” Daniel said in an interview Sudan Tribune on Monday following a special ceremony on 3 November to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
“We have the story of the killing of journalist Isaiah Abraham in 2012. I don’t know who killed Abraham up to now and this culture of impunity must stop. People cannot die every day [at the hands] of unknown gunmen,” she said.
More than 100 Juba-based reporters attended the event, which was held as part of a global drive to highlight threats faced by journalists and end government interference in the work of the media.
Abraham’s killing at his compound on 5 December 2012 sparked international condemnation and the FBI was involved in a subsequent investigation into his death.
No official report into his death has been released.
Over the past decade, more than 700 journalists around the world have been killed while doing their job.
According to UNESCO, 123 journalists, media workers and social media producers were killed in 2012.
In 2013, the figure decreased slightly to 91, but it still represented the second deadliest year for journalists.
The United Nations General Assembly last year proclaimed 2 November as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. The date was chosen in memory two French journalists assassinated in Mali on 2 November 2013.
Under UN resolution 68/163, member States are urged to do their best to prevent violence against journalists and media workers, and to ensure perpetrators are held accountable.
South Sudan, as a member of the United Nations, is expected to abide by this resolution.
JOURNALISTS AT RISK
Brigadier General David Dut, the legal advisor at South Sudan’s ministry of interior, concedes the safety of journalists in the fledgling country is at “stake”.
“There is a war in the country right now and the security of the journalists, like any other citizens, is at stake,” said Dut in an address at the 3 November event at Nyakuron cultural centre in Juba.
“Let us work together for your (journalists) protection,” he added, admitting that the level of education among law enforcement agents demands “intensive capacity building”.
However, Paul Jacob, the director of public information at national ministry of information, defended government actions towards journalists.
“Government do recognise journalists as partners, not enemies,” he said.
“[But] there must be professionalism so that they don’t fall into trouble with the security. We always advise as the ministry [of information] that we want people to be responsible when they are writing their articles; there must be ethics,” he added.
Jacob was among a number of guests invited to speak at the 3 November event.
NO EXCUSE
The chairman of Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS), Oliver Modi, said there is no excuse for intimidating journalists.
“By not punishing those responsible [for abuses against journalists], they (security agents) will keep on with abuses,” he told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.
Modi cited the closure of Bakhita FM in Juba, the arrest of a radio journalist for allowing public discussion on a Rumbek station and the detention of a reporter in Bentiu before fighting erupted in December 2013 as an indication of the government’s intolerance towards free speech.
“We have witnessed a lot of cases in South Sudan. Journalists have been locked up, newspapers confiscated and nothing is done to the perpetrators,” Modi said.
GAINS MADE
Modi said UJOSS, with assistance from UNESCO and other international and local advocacy groups, had made some gains in improving working environment for journalists in South Sudan.
“We are always in dialogue with the government and security agents, and that has resulted in a better working environment [for journalists]. We conduct trainings to build reporting standards but no-one is 100% perfect,” he said, adding, that journalists, like anyone, sometimes make mistakes.
Enacting news media laws signed in September by president Salva Kiir is another step forward, Modi and other journalists said.
South Sudan’s UNESCO chief, Salah Khaled, said his organisation is “working very closely with the security forces, building their capacity on sensitising them about the role of the media”.
“[We are] also working with the journalists on how to cover [stories] in a professional manner; unbiased, balanced, the information that they should have verified. So it is a dual responsibility,” Khaled told reporters attending the event.
HELD IN UNKNOWN LOCATION
Meanwhile, as journalists, government officials and media advocacy groups were attending the event in Juba, two South Sudanese journalists continue to be held in an unknown location having been detained several weeks ago in Western Bahr el Ghazal state.
“Right now, while we are talking, we have some journalists in detention that even I don’t know. Where are they detained and why they are detained?” said Daniel, who has called on authorities to adhere to the rule of law and an end to the arbitrary arrest of journalists.
She said enacting media and security laws is one such step to ensure government and security officials work within the legal framework.
However, for journalists like Solomon, who has been detained five times, no legal document will protect him.
“I am not destroying my country as a photojournalist because I take photos and write [a] caption for the public to see what is happening and that is all,” he said.
Solomon’s camera was recently returned to him after being held for four days by security agents.
(ST)