Sudan remains ninth worst in global press freedom index

January 30, 2013 (LONDON) – Sudan remains one of the worst countries in the world in terms of press freedom, according to global index published annually by Reporters Without Borders, keeping company with many other East African nations.

The report described East Africa as a “region of censorship and crackdowns” singling out Sudan “where more newspapers were seized and the arrests of journalists continued during the summer” of 2012.

Sudan’s other neighbours also fared badly with
175th
East Africa is also a region of censorship and crackdowns.

East Africa: journalists’ graveyard

In Somalia (175th, -11) 18 journalists were killed, caught up in bomb attacks or were the direct targets of murder, making 2012 the deadliest in history for the country’s media. The Horn of Africa state was the second most dangerous country in the world for those working in news and information, behind Syria. In Eritrea (in last place in the index for the sixth successive year), no journalists were killed but some were left to die, which amounts to the same thing. With at least 30 behind bars, it is Africa’s biggest prison for journalists. Of 11 incarcerated since 2001, seven have died as a result of prison conditions or have killed themselves. Since the independent media were abolished more than 10 years ago, there are no independent Eritrean news outlets, other than outside the country, and terror prevails.

Djibouti (167th, -8), which also has no independent media, detained a correspondent of the foreign-based news site La Voix de Djibouti. Despite the release of two Swedish journalists arrested in 2011, Ethiopia(137th) fell 10 places because of its repressive application of the 2009 anti-terrorist law and the continued detention of several local journalists.