Press Freedom in Sudan

"You can't have real newspapers without democracy, and you can't have democracy without newspapers", says French writer Alexis de Tocqueville

The media has one of the most powerful influences on public opinion, which is why it was defined as the virtual fourth power. As we know, human nature leads most people, including leaders, to feel ill at ease when they are criticized for their shortcomings. Therefore, writings that criticize the decisions and policies of the government, or demand introduction of improvements in the area of basic freedoms are firmly controlled in one way or another.

The World Press Freedom Day this year comes at a time when the Sudanese press is suffering a lot of repression and blatant violation of freedoms and when many newspapers are facing periodic prohibition of publication or confiscation after printing, and many journalists are being also banned from writing, including Haider Almkashfi, Khalid Fadul, Abu Dhar Alameen, Faiz AlSilaik, Rasha Awad, Zuhair al-Sarraj, Ashraf Abdel-Aziz, Amal Habbani, Essam Jaafar, Abdullah Mujahid, and Al-Tahir Abu Jawhara.

The newspapers in Sudan are still suffering from censorship of publications that is applied in different forms and modes.

In the past, there was the pre-publication censorship which was applied by the security cadres but now, I think, it is even worse! As the so-called self-censorship through the current code of honor leads the newspapers' editors and journalists to apply a kind of self-censorship, threatening freedom of expression and the press, it threatens the future of journalism in the country.

The authorities ask journalists to practice this kind of self-censorship in one form or another  or otherwise face accusations of high-treason, and their newspapers will be confiscated after they have been printed.

Last month parliament warned that journalists who contact rebel groups or cover their activities will be committing “high-treason.” Such action, according to parliament, amounts to “high-treason” and can be classified as an act of espionage.

The security authorities also order journalists from time to time to avoid reporting on certain issues deemed sensitive or confiscate newspapers after they have been printed.

Such practices, I believe, are against the basic principles of human rights and the internationally recognized standards of freedom of expression, because there is no harm if the press gives coverage to the other opinion.

Another important thing that threatens the future of journalism is the unfair distribution of the government's advertisements; as the government bodies do not advertise on newspapers that have opposite views, and as we all know that advertising is a very important contributor to the newspapers circulation since the process of printing is very expensive these days due to the scarcity of papers as well as the sharp decline in the value of the Sudanese pound against the foreign currencies. So this also leads the newspapers to apply a kind of self-censorship on the publishing materials so as to avoid the privation of the advertisement.

The exceptional situation the press is going through on the eve of the World Press Freedom Day shows the big retract in the field of the general freedoms and rights, of which the press freedom constitute the cornerstone. The matter is not confined to the harassments the newspapers face as the journalists themselves do not have sufficient guarantees for performing their tasks freely.

The third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson once said "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate to prefer the later." We ask our government, not to do the same!, but to revise these laws which regulate the work of journalism and to make balance between expression and responsibility because the free press is the basis of democracy, development and peace, that everyone seeks.

There is a pressing need for reform laws that keep pace with the constitution and international charters and conventions to which the Sudan is signatory to guarantee democratic freedoms and  human rights and not just for the press but rather to all the laws that restrict freedom topped by the freedom of opinion and expression and the freedom of the press and additionally to consolidate the legal and constitutional provisions to guarantee the freedom of the press and its independence and limit the executive authority intervention and its infringements of the press freedoms.

Journalists have to consolidate efforts with all the segments of society to restore and reinforce the general freedoms and the human rights as the freedoms and rights are both inseparable.

Last but not least, I hereby declare my solidarity with these journalists banned from publishing and ask authorities to refrain from illegal unconstitutional acts and to abide by the international laws of human rights and the old Sudanese heritage that honors freedom of expression.