Sudanese Media Assessment launched following a meeting of the National Roundtable

A number of Sudanese stakeholders met in Nairobi, Kenya on November 25 and 26 as part of a series of National Roundtables to discuss Sudan’s draft national media laws. The two day meeting was followed by the launch of a Media Assessment; Media in Sudan at a crossroads: Assessment and outline of a strategy for media support. The meeting was held as a part of an ARTICLE 19 managed project ‘Promoting freedom of expression and civil society involvement towards democratic media legislation in Sudan’.

For more information about the national roundtable click here.

To download the Media Assessment in English click here.

The Arabic version of the assessment will be available online soon.

Harassment of journalists and human rights defenders

ARTICLE 19 condemns the blatant and unjustified harassment of Journalists and Human rights activists, Faisal Elbagir, Lemiaa el-Jaily and Sabah Mohammad Adam by the government security forces.

Last week, Faisal Elbagir published the editorial below, "The Obedient Deems it Extenuating" on the Khartoum Advocacy Centre blog. Faisal Elbagir’s editorial was meant to be published in August in Al-Midan newspaper. However, the 15,000 copies of the issue containing the editorial were seized. The article ‘the Obedient Deems it Extenuating’ was critical of the ongoing abuses by the Sudanese national government on freedom of expression, and towards the media in Sudan.

For ARTICLE 19's full statement and more information about the summoning of the three journalists click here

The Obedient Deems it Extenuating

The following article was written by Mr. Faisal el-Baghir in Arabic and translated into English by Sarah Richani. The column was published in Al-Midan weekly issue 2039 on August 28, 2007. The 15000 issues printed were seized from the printers. The Arabic Version can be accessed here.

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It is neither new nor odd for the Security apparatus and intelligence to re-launch their campaign against freedom of expression. Prior censorship was reinstated on August 19, nearly one year after it was revoked by a decree from the Vice President.

The memory of the Sudanese press and its journalists is strong and the dates have not been forgotten. But just as a reminder, here we are repeating the events as they unfolded. The presidential decree to lift prior-censorship in August 2005, lasted no more than three weeks. Less than a month after the decree the censors and their blades returned as though to indicate that the authority of the security apparatus superseded that of the president and the vice president.

If this impression is accurate, then this ultimately does away with the “salvation” regime’s claim of building institutions.

Meanwhile, one should also be reminded that the Sudanese Constitution and the international declarations ratified by Sudan protect freedom of the press. The government is therefore obliged to respect and implement these obligations.

But, until these obligations are met, censorship can and has made a comeback. This unfortunate return was preceded by ‘under the table’ forms of censorship such as ‘advice’ given to journalists and editors. The press was, for instance, warned about publishing articles and editorials regarding the Kajbar issue amongst other topics which security and official circles refer to as “destructive conspiracies”.

This latest prior censorship campaign has so far featured a number of violations on freedom of expression. 17000 copies of the daily Rai el Shaeb were claimed on Tuesday August 21 2007 from the printers. The same paper was denied the right to publish the following day. Numerous newspapers have suffered from similair restrictions such Al-Sudani, Al-Ayyam, Al-Rai el Am, Hikayat where a number of editorials and news stories have been unscrupulously lacerated by the censor’s blade.

This is just a simple reminder of the unending abuse of the principles of free speech and expression. On the other hand, it would also be worth reminding readers of all the forms of resistance devised by journalists to counter the government’s strategy of muting the press and its journalists.

And we know all too well that the struggle against the institutional practices to stifle journalism will continue, unabashed, until victory.

Amidst this battle for freedom of expression and the press comes the obedient Sudanese Journalists’ Union with a press release describing the recent flagrant violations on freedom of the press as “exceptional measures.”

Needless to say, the press release did not even mention the words censorship, security, violation or oppression. It is not too surprising however as this ostrich-of-a-union only happens to see extenuating circumstances in flagrant violations. It also failed in its statement to suggest any practical measures needed to resist the security censorship. This is indeed a pity.

Sudanese Government Must Improve Media Laws

In a report released last week, ARTICLE 19 condemned a set of four draft media laws as “unlikely to improve on the current dire situation for Sudan’s media”.

“These new draft laws will not bring the much needed reform that ARTICLE 19 and others have long called for. If adopted, they would instead serve to maintain the status quo for the foreseeable future", said John Barker, ARTICLE 19 Africa Programme Director

ARTICLE 19’s report expresses serious concern at the current state of legislation as well as at the new proposals.

The four new laws that ARTICLE 19 has received would govern the print as well as the broadcast media, and propose a new access to information’ regime. However, the new media laws would still allow for significant government interference in media regulation, including by shutting down of newspapers, while the ‘access to information’ law contains exemptions that are so broad that it would be more likely to serve as a secrecy law.

The report also expresses concern at the lack of any true consultation with stakeholders in the drafting of the laws, and questions why a ‘press law’ is necessary at all. It also contrasts these laws with developments in Southern Sudan, where the Legislative Assembly has recently adopted a progressive media policy recognising, amongst other things, that self-regulation is the best form of regulation for the print media.

South Sudan: Journalists Agree a Code of Ethics

At a two day meeting in Juba, on June 19-20, a group of editors representing South Sudanese media agreed a code of ethics for the print media. The signatories to the Code (pictured right, signing the code) have undertaken to promulgate the code in their own papers and abide by its terms.

To find out more click here

Sudan Media Law Task Force Convenes for First Session

In collaboration with the Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED), ARTICLE 19 held the first meeting of its National Media Law Task Force in Juba, Sudan on Thursday June 21.

The session brought together a number of leading editors to discuss the package of draft laws produced by Future Trends Foundation think tank (FTF) at the request of UNDP-Sudan. The four laws; The Press Law, the Broadcasting Bill, the Public Broadcasting Law and the Access to Information Law have since been presented to parliament and are likely to be adopted in September after the parliament’s summer break.

For more infomation follow this link:
http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/sudan-media-law.pdf

Welcome to the Khartoum Advocacy Centre

This blog is part of the project “Promoting Freedom of Expression and Civil Society Involvement in Developing Democratic Media Legislation in Sudan”, which is managed by ARTICLE 19 and organised in cooperation with a consortium of Sudanese and international organisations. In addition to ARTICLE 19, the consortium consists of Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS); International Media Support (IMS); Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED); Norwegian Peoples’ Aid (NPA) and Olof Palme International Centre (OPIC). The project is funded by the European Commission and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This site will serve as an e-wing of the Khartoum Advocacy Centre established specifically for the project. The advocacy centre is envisaged to the be the site of ongoing campaigns and efforts seeking to implement and adopt new legislation for freedom of expression and information and of meeting and discussions on such issues as freedom of expression, censorship and media law reform in Sudan. It is our hope this blog will allow more stakeholders, wherever they are, to partake in the discussion.