UN human rights expert discusses press freedom in Sudan
April 19, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The United Nations independent expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, Aristide Nononsi Monday has discussed with the Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU) the press freedom conditions in the country.
He pointed to the SJU efforts to promote press freedom, saying they managed to cancel the pre-print censorship and the press prosecution office besides convincing the concerned bodies to set up a special court to look into media cases.
It is noteworthy that the SJU is controlled by the Sudanese government.
Al-Rizaigi further mentioned the negative impact of the American unilateral economic sanctions on the press industry in Sudan particularly with regard to the printing software programs, radio and television production, purchase of books and references via the internet and money transfer to pay the annual subscription fees in international and regional press associations.
Washington imposed economic and trade sanctions on Sudan in 1997 in response to its alleged connection to terror networks and human rights abuses. In 2007 it strengthened the embargo, citing abuses in Darfur which it labelled as genocide.
For his part, Nononsi demanded the SJU to give him detailed information on the impact of the sanctions on the press and media industry in Sudan, saying those sanctions could be discussed at the bilateral level between Sudan and the US.
Nononsi arrived in Sudan on Thursday in a two-week visit to assess the efforts of the Sudanese government to comply with its international human rights obligations. He will visit Darfur and South Kordofan state.
SUSPENSION OF AL-TAYYAR NEWSPAPER
Meanwhile, the Chief Editor of al-Tayyar newspaper Osman Merghani said he would discuss with Nononsi on Wednesday the circumstances which surrounded the suspension of the newspaper.
Last December, the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) suspended al-Tayyar daily newspaper indefinitely without giving reasons.
Merghani said that the legal advisor of al-Tayyar Nabil Adeeb would hand over a memorandum detailing the legal position on the newspaper.
He stressed the memo would also mention the suspension and confiscation which al-Tayyar has suffered since 2012.
Last March, journalists at Al-Tayyar went on a hunger strike to protest against the suspension of the newspaper.
Also, the newspaper launched a campaign to collect one million signatures to demand the lift of ban.
The NISS routinely suspends and confiscates newspapers either to prevent circulation of certain stories or to punish them retroactively on previous issues.
In February of last year, NISS seized entire print runs of 14 newspapers in one day without stating the reasons for its decision.
(ST)