More threats to press freedom in Sudan
By Alfred Taban, The Khartoum Monitor
April 7, 2007 — The authorities in Khartoum have taken a number of steps towards imposing additional press censorship. A few days ago the Ministry of Justice sent a directive ordering newspapers not to report on the disappearance of the son of Dr Abdelhai Yousef, a fundamentalist Islamic preacher and lecturer at the University of Khartoum.
On the 20th of this month the BBC Correspondent in Sudan, Jonah Fisher, will leave the country forever. Last month he was given a month to leave Sudan. The reason for his expulsion: hostile reporting.
This is not the first time that the Ministry of Justice has directed that some issues not to be covered in the newspapers. There are many examples. a lot actually. If it continues like this, soon the pages we are writing on will come out blank because the coverage of most issues of interest will have been banned.
Few people had actually heard of Abdelhai, let alone his son and the circumstances of his disappearance. In other countries, when a person disappears in mysterious circumstances, the spotlight is on that person so that he or she can be found and rescued. In Sudan, it is the opposite, a blackout is imposed. Will this lead to the reappearance of the person or a resurgence of censorship and dictatorship?
All these measures represent nothing more than a desire by the authorities in Khartoum to control and direct the press. The authorities have seen that most independent journalists are reporting negatively on most government actions . In the National Congress the government is blamed for the virtual failure to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), in Darfur it is associated with groups such as the Janjaweed, who are committing gross violations of human rights, in the east it is also charged with failing to implement the nascent Eastern Sudan peace Agreement (ESPA).
In Khartoum it is held accountable for mishandling security and not saving people from inflation and shortages.
Yet, in the year 2009, there are going to be national general elections. If this image of the government is left unchanged, it is sure to lose the elections massively. Once it loses power, many of its members could also lose their freedom as some of them are wanted for alleged crimes against humanity.
Thus the regime sees suppressing the press as its way out. It will not succeed however. Sudanese journalists have worked very hard to get to where they are today. They have suffered a lot in order to reach the level of freedom that the press enjoys today. They are not about to give up all these gains just like that.
The CPA, the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), the ESPA and the various constitutions of this country give journalists freedom to do their job without interference. Sudanese journalists will guard this modest gain with all their might.