SUDAN: Media will be Decisive Factor in Post-Conflict Era
ARTICLE 19
ARTICLE 19 toady release a report on “The Legal Framework for Freedom of Expression in Sudan”
The final peace agreement, ending Sudan’s civil war was signed on the 9th January 2005.
The media will be a decisive factor in the post-conflict era. It can take on a strong, supportive role vis-à-vis the peace process; helping to inform the public of the peace agreement and its implications, facilitate public participation and reconciliation and help diffuse the many threats to the peace process through professional media activity. On the other hand, it can fail to do this, cater for divisive elements within the main warring camps, fuel remaining tensions and further deepen dangerous divisions within Sudan.
In the short term, the existing media and the media community will be crucial for communicating the peace accords to the Sudanese population in a credible and inclusive way. This in itself will be a huge task, given the territorial vastness, lack of infrastructure, the linguistic diversity and the lack of credibility within some groups of the only national broadcaster, the Sudan Radio and Television Corporation.
The issue of freedom of expression and media law – who has access to the airwaves, who may publish what, where and when – also represent potentially serious controversy within the context of the internal conflicts in Sudan. Experience from other war-torn societies indicate that when the guns are no longer the preferred or accepted option for conflict resolution, the media often become a seriously contested means of control and power and therefore a potential new source of conflict. This issue is not presently dealt with in any meaningful way in the Sudan.
The ARTICLE 19 report identifies a number of Key Recommendations to ensure that a free, independent and pluralistic media can develop in Sudan.
Constitutional Provisions? The locus of responsibility for media regulation under the Power Sharing Protocol of 2004 should be clarified as a matter of urgency.
– The state of emergency should be lifted immediately. At a very minimum, restrictions on freedom of expression imposed by regulations adopted pursuant to the current state of emergency should be repealed.
The Press Act
– The Press Act 2004 should be repealed. Consideration should be given to leaving the media and journalists free to regulate themselves.
– The a new Press Act is adopted, it should differ from the present law in the following key regards:
o Any press council or other regulatory body should be fully independent of government and should be granted only limited regulatory powers, analogous to those that would be wielded by a self-regulatory body.
o There should be no licensing of media outlets and any registration system should be limited in scope to technical registration, automatic upon the provision of limited information.
o The law should not impose any restrictions on the content of what may be published or broadcast over and above restrictions found in laws of general application.
o There should be no licensing or registration of individual journalists.
Broadcasting
– A broadcasting law should be adopted with a view to establishing an independent system for the regulation of broadcasting. The law should, among other things:
o establish an independent broadcast regulator, protected against government or commercial interference by, inter alia, explicit guarantees of independence, the appointments process for members, rules on conflict of interest (commercial and political) and adequate and protected sources of funding;
o grant the independent regulator the power to award licenses, along with appropriate frequencies, and to develop and enforce a code of conduct for broadcasters;
o provide for a fair and transparent system for the allocation of broadcasting licences; and
o provide for the development, in a consultative manner, of a code of conduct for broadcasters, as well as the implementation of that code, including through a regime of graduated sanctions for breach.
Access to Information Legislation
– Comprehensive legislation providing for the right to access information held by public bodies should be adopted as a matter of urgency.
– Such legislation should, among other things:
o establish a presumption in favour of disclosure of all information held by public bodies, subject only to the regime of exceptions;
o place an obligation on public bodies to publish proactively a wide range of information about their activities and the information they hold;
o provide for clear and transparent procedures for the processing of requests for information;
o set out clearly and narrowly the exceptions to the right of access, based on the idea that access may only be refused where disclosure poses a risk of harm to a legitimate protected interest and the overall public good is served by secrecy; and
o allocate the power to hear appeals from any refusal to provide access to information to an independent body.
– Secrecy laws should be reviewed and amended as
necessary to bring them into line with international standards in this area, as well as the new access to information legislation.
Other Content Restrictions
– The rules relating to defamation should be completely revised to bring them into line with international standards. In particular:
o defamation should be decriminalised;
o truth should be a complete defence to a charge of defamation;
o defendants should benefit from a defence of reasonable publication;
o public officials should not receive special protection against defamation; and
o sanctions should be strictly proportionate to the harm caused.
– Other laws imposing restrictions on freedom of expression – including the Criminal Act and the National Security Forces Act – should be reviewed and amended as necessary to bring them into line with international and constitutional standards.
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– For more information contact ARTICLE 19’s Africa Programme:
– 6-8 Amwell Street
– London EC1R 1UQ
Tei: +44 20 7278 9292
Email: [email protected]
To read the full report, please go at: http://www.article19.org/docimages/1893.pdf