Media leader: South Sudan journalism ‘a game of football without rules’
March 4, 2010 (JUBA) – The Chairman of the Association for Media
Development in South Sudan, Jacob J. Akol, issued a statement against
harassment of Southern Sudanese journalists under vague or outdated laws.
The media representative said that covering the election campaign was
like “playing a game of football without clear rules, a Russian
Roulette game where journalist have no idea which opinion expressed
contains the next bullet, worse still for not knowing from whom in
particular the whistle is coming.”
He said that security personnel in South Sudan on Wednesday, March 3,
threatened radio staff of the Catholic Radio Bakheita and Liberty
Radio FM and briefly arrested top officials of these media entities.
Three years ago, Mr. Akol presented draft media laws to the Council of
Ministers, on behalf of local media and human rights organisations,
namely the Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS),
Khartoum Centre for Human Rights (KCHR) and international partners
namely the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), Article 19 (A19),
International Media Support (IMS), Olof Palme International Centre
(OPIC).
Mr. Akol said in a press statement yesterday that he pleaded that “in
the absence of well defined media laws we were like footballers
playing the game with out clear rules, in spite of seemingly
comparative (to Khartoum) liberal environment for the media in South
Sudan.”
Although the Minister for Legal and Constitutional Affairs in the GoSS
disputed the idea of no “media laws in place” he was unable to state
what media laws in existence that did not predate the CPA and the
Interim Constitution, said Akol.
“Since then journalists have been harassed and arrested under outdated
security laws by security personnel often directed by unknown
individuals, only to be released soon after when the issue had
threatened to equate Juba with the bad security practices still
operating in Khartoum,” he wrote.
Draft South Sudan media laws are still sitting in the Southern Sudan
Assembly awaiting enactment.
“The Government of Southern Sudan must own the responsibility for
these uncalled for harassments of the media and for foot-dragging on
the passing of the media laws and continuation of this uncertain media
environment in the region,” said the media spokesman.
(ST)
Ajang Aguer Pageer
Harassment of media is harassment of development
It’s extremely absurd to see southern sudanese harrassing journalists while on the contrary calling foreign investers to invest in southern sudan.There is no way profit making companies,which are agents of development, can invest in a country where there is murky media coverage-let alone a region where people try to excel in violence in addition to harassment of journalists.This trend has to be checked if the reputation of Goss,splm and southern sudanese is something to be maintained or elevated.For sure,there is no way somebody would claim to be the champion of the badly needed development in southern southern if he harasses journalists because harassment of media is harassment of development.If the ‘big fish’ in the Goss are not responsible for this,then this ‘self-governing’ generals should be seriously punished for poking into the eye of the public.
Media is the mirror of the society,and any one who doesn’t need the mirror should stop using it and watch others using it.Otherwise,breaking the mirror because you appear to be ugly on it does not help you become handsome in anyway,instead,people will be keen to look at you critically to a point where they will see more defects that they did see before on you!
Why should people be scared of the media anyway if they themselves are not wrong in the first place?And for how long will their deeds be in the darkness before they are known by the general public?This narrow-mindedness must stop altogether if the theoritical democracy people talk about is to be realized!!
Time1
Media leader: South Sudan journalism ‘a game of football without rules’
Look at the reasons why they have been arrested first, may be they raped somebody, should they be let free because they are journalists?
They have committed a crime by programming hateful material which incite division and could lead to violence which am sure no body want including jourlists.
So look first at the reason why they were arrest, then after that make your noise. otherwise you are not helping thier cause.