S. Sudan should allow UN-backed radio operate, says CPJ

March 10, 2018 (NAIROBI) – South Sudanese authorities should allow the United Nations-backed station Radio Miraya to continue broadcasting, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Friday.

South Sudan’s media regulatory body ordered Radio Miraya to suspend operations because the station had allegedly not acquired a broadcasting license, which, it said, is a mandatory requirement.

“South Sudanese authorities must ensure Radio Miraya is permitted to operate unhindered,” said CPJ’s deputy executive director, Robert Mahoney.

“Journalists in South Sudan are too often faced with bureaucratic red tape or other tactics of government intimidation, which are incompatible with efforts to create conditions for sustaining peace,” he added.

In late October 2017, South Sudan’s media regulator also suspended the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS), but the suspension was only lifted after it applied for its operating license, CPJ said.

Over the years, CPJ said it has documented persistent government efforts to restrict journalists’ ability to operate freely in South Sudan.

Reporters without Borders ranked South Sudan 145th out of 180 in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index.

(ST)