East Africa’s exiled journalists live in fear of attack and imprisonment
By Kate McIntosh
July 20, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Exiled East African journalists who fled their countries due to work-related persecution continue to live in fear of reprisal in their adopted homelands, a new report from the Doha Centre for Media Freedom (DCMF) found.
Out of 60 journalists interviewed by DCMF in Kenya and Uganda, 22 experienced imprisonment at home and 30 were attacked while in exile.
DCMF said that as a result of insecurity and fear of reprisal, only a few continue to practice their profession.
FORCED INTO EXILE
Sudanese journalist Nagla Sid Ahmed Elsheikh, who was interviewed for the report, described being flogged, threatened and forced into exile for reporting on human rights violations in her home country.
During her journalistic career, she produced over 3,000 videos depicting human rights abuses suffered by various ethnic groups in Sudan, as well as other social issues.
Her work out her in direct conflict with Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), which she says threatened and harassed her for more than a decade, adding that in 1997 she was taken to court, flogged and fined after she and 36 other women presented a letter to the UN, protesting the recruitment of secondary school students for the war with South Sudan.
In 2012, Elsheikh was taken out into the street and beaten after she was caught filming the funeral of a student in Darfur, allegedly killed by the NISS.
The female scribe and her husband later fled Sudan for the Ugandan capital, Kampala after Sudanese authorities threatened their 14-year-old daughter.
In case bought by the Sudanese government, Elsheikh is accused of inciting violence against the state, a charge which holds the penalty of death by hanging.
John Penn de Ngong, a prominent South Sudanese journalist, activist and writer, was also forced into a life of exile after threats were made to his life.
In addition to his extensive writing and other activities, Penn, who is now based in Kenya, runs an organisation called the United Scribes, Teachers and Artists of South Sudan (USTASS), which advocates for the rights of minority professions in the new nation.
South Sudanese authorities have labelled USTASS as a subversive group by South Sudanese, and Penn has been identified as a threat to national peace and stability.
He was subject to a campaign of text messages, emails and letters threatening his life and warning him about his future.
While living in hiding in Juba, Penn’s hotel room was also ransacked and hard drives containing some 500GB worth of work and information were stolen from his room. As well as a letter demanding that he stop his work, a bag of rotting animal bones was also left on his bed.
In January, Penn managed to escape Juba with the help of a former colleague, reaching the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, without work, money or a place to stay.
ONGOING CHALLENGES
According to the report, exiled journalists were also impeded by a number of challenges, including high levels of cyber surveillance from government security agents, lack of access to information and restricted financial resources.
As asylum seekers, exiled journalists also have limited rights and access to working permits, leaving them with very few professional opportunities and prospects of improvement remain meagre.
Out of the 60 journalists interviewed by researchers, only two recently relocated to a safer country, away from attacks by security forces and abuses from local police agents in Kenya and Uganda.
Elsheikh is now continuing her studies and developing her skills as a journalist.
But while she is safer in Kampala compared to Khartoum, she says she still fears the influence and power of the NISS, adding that the Sudanese government could easily hire someone to make an attempt on her life at any point.
However, despite facing difficult personal circumstances, Elsheikh said she had no regrets about pursuing a career in journalism and continues to produce reports on Sudan from outside.
“In Sudan there are many violations against freedom of expression and the government is denying every right for citizens to know the truth by not letting them know anything that is going on”, she said.
She says she still feels a sense of guilt about leaving Sudan and for her colleagues who remain in the country.
“If there was change there tonight – we would be there tomorrow; we would be there now if we could”, she said.
As for Penn, he says he is still torn about whether to carry on with the work he started in South Sudan in exile or seek asylum in a third country as a refugee.
“There is a big group of people relying on me and they want me to carry on their cause, so I am just in a dilemma of whether to continue with the campaign for them here in exile, or to shut up and close everything to do with the campaign and go as a refugee elsewhere – I am still undecided,” he said.
MORE SUPPORT NEEDED
The report was compiled after a delegation from DCMF travelled to Kenya and Uganda – the two biggest hubs for refugees in the region – to document the situation of East African exiled journalists.
As well as interviewing exiled journalists, researchers also met with some 30 representatives of institutions working for the protection of media professionals at risk.
DCMF says it’s hoped the report will serve as a starting point for further collaboration between the various parties involved in the protection of exiled journalists and improve the situation of East African media professionals at risk.
Exiled journalists interviewed for the report have called for more opportunities to expand their professional skills and improve their living conditions through education and vocational trainings.
“For us education is so important, you know you have to educate yourself all the time – all your life,” Elsheikh says.
“We can make the citizens more aware of their rights, let them known if their rights have been violated, and then help them defend their rights,” she adds.
(ST)