Media watchdog urges Sudan to lift press censorship

April 17, 2008 (PARIS) — Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders urged the Sudanese government to lift its three month censorship of the independent press in the country and to abide by the constitution

The Sudanese security service has intensified ban and confiscation against six daily newspapers since three days. The current censorship campaign is the most important since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.

“Secret police surveillance of newspaper staff is outrageous and illegal and the national unity government must put a stop to it. The media, one of the better aspects of modern Sudan, is being punished without reason and in violation of the national constitution.” the worldwide press freedom organisation said.

The security service phoned the editors of 10 daily papers on 13 April and ordered them to henceforth submit all their content for prior approval under the censorship illegally reestablished on 6 February. However the papers all refused to comply and printed their editions in the normal way.

The police then went to the printers and seized copies of Ajras al-Huriyya, Rai al-Shaab and Al-Ayyam on 15 April. The editions of Al-Sudani, al-Ahdath, Ajras al-Huriyya, Rai al-Shaab and the English-language daily The Citizen were seized the next day (yesterday) after several tens of thousands of copies had been printed.

Al-Sudani and The Citizen are banned on Thursday April 17.

The four Arab-language dailies had been warned not to report the press conference held the day before by the editors of Ajras al-Huriyya criticising the new censorship, a local journalist told Reporters Without Borders.

The government imposed censorship on 6 February on privately-owned media outlets after they had mentioned several times that the government was backing Chadian rebels in their attack on the Ndjamena government.

(ST)