South Sudan: Serious violations of the freedom of the press

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has accused the government of South Sudan of violating the freedom of the press by arresting the director of the state television channel “South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC)” and by harassing other journalists. The human rights organization demanded the immediate release of Adil Faris Mayat, who has been held in custody by the state security service since July 10, 2017. He is charged with deciding not to broadcast President Salva Kiir’s speech on occasion of the South Sudanese day of independence. “The accusations against the television director are absurd. This is a clear sign that the civil rights situation in South Sudan is serious – and it shows how power-hungry and ruthless the political leadership is,” explained the director of the STP, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Tuesday.

“There are more and more restrictions of the freedom of the press in South Sudan,” Delius criticized. “Within a few months, the country has fallen from rank 140 to rank 145 from among the 180 states on the World Press Freedom Index.” According to internet users, the South Sudanese media authority “South Sudan National Communication Authority” had apparently blocked part of the web pages and blogs of “Radio Tamazuj” and “Sudan Tribune”. The two critical media report about South Sudan from the Netherlands and from France.

More than a dozen local journalists have already fled from South Sudan for fear of their lives. Others have been arbitrarily detained and held in prison for several years without a regular trial. In May 2017, following countless international appeals for his release, the journalist George Livio Bahara of “Radio Miraya”, which is operated by the United Nations, was released from prison after two and a half years. He had been accused of keeping contacts with armed rebels. The journalist Malek Bol even had to die for his critical reporting. He had been abducted in October 2016. His body, which showed torture marks, was found a few days later.

At the end of June 2017, three US-American journalists were expelled because of visa problems – and Justin lnchy, reporter of the news agency “Associated Press”, was forced to leave South Sudan in December 2016. He had published critical reports about the escalating human rights situation. In May 2017, the Arab TV station Al Jazeera had to stop its work in the country after reporting about the civil war. In the spring of 2017, the media authorities banned 20 foreign journalists. Following protests in the country and abroad, the ban was lifted on June 23, 2017.

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