Reporters Without Borders critical of draft press law
May 21, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — Reporters Without Borders and Sudanese lawyer Salih Mahmoud Osman have joined to argue for amendments to be made to the draft press law currently going through parliament, saying passage of the law would represent “a very serious step backward.”
Reporters Without Borders was the winner of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, awarded annually by the European Parliament, and Osman was the winner in 2007, in recognition of his legal work in Darfur.
The draft was one of many laws that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) were meant to come to agreement on in order to codify the reforms outlined in the interim constitution and Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the North and South in 2005.
Under the terms of the proposed law, journalists could face heavy fines of up to 50,000 Sudanese pounds (21,500 US dollars) for unspecified offences. The bill furthermore grants a regulatory body the power to shut down newspapers.
“The law in its current form is unacceptable. It does not conform to the interim constitution and will form a serious impediment to the conduct of free and fair elections in 2010,” Salih Mahmoud Osman said.
Reporters Without Borders added: “The state of press freedom in Sudan is already worrying and the adoption of this draft law in its current form would constitute a very serious step backward. Journalists must be allowed to do their job freely, without the threat of heavy fines and protected by a fair legal framework. We offer our firm support to Sudanese journalists and urge Members of Parliament to amend this draft law”.
Around 50 Sudanese journalists protested against it in front of the Parliament in Khartoum on May 19, in a peaceful two-hour demonstration.
Osman, who is also a member of parliament representing the opposition communist party, has used his position with the Committee on Legislation and Justice to push for a more “progressive” press law.
Reporters Without Borders noted that “Publications are subjected to relentless prior censorship. The government has for example attached a security officer to each newspaper, who reviews content and decides whether or not the paper can issue.”
The journalists’ organization had released a report in April 2007 after a fact-finding visit, detailing blacklisting of media and individual journalists on the part of the Sudanese authorities and describing and describing government efforts to establish a permanent stranglehold on the foreign press.
Two foreign journalists were expelled from Sudan since the start of 2009, though some foreign reporters are tolerated by the Sudanese authorities after careful screening and handling.
The contested law is currently discussed in the federal parliament. The SPLM crafted the bill with the ruling NCP but now shows opposition to the proposed text.
(ST)