In Sudan, journalists still face serious limitations in their profession

On what was supposed to be another busy November Sunday, Lemia el-Jaily and Faisal Elbagir were summoned to the offices of the National Security Services in Khartoum. They did not know why, nor were they given any explanation. They were held for six hours; then sent home with orders to report back the next day. The following day, they were questioned for hours about their organization, its funding but also about their personal income.

Lemia el-Jaily and Faisal Elbagir are both journalists and work for the Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED), an IMS partner and an important contributor to the Sudan Media Assessment 2007, recently published by IMS.

Summonds and short detentions

Ironically, it was while finalizing the assessment, the two were summoned and it confirmed all but too well the conclusion of the assessment; in spite of a number of positive changes brought about by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, the main obstacles to independent and free media persist, with censorship, control, harassment and persecution of journalists and media actors as ongoing problems.

Repeated summons and short detentions as in the case of Lemia el-Jaily and Faisal Elbagir is one instrument used by the authorities to control the independent media. They act as warnings and are aimed at engraving fear and inspire to self-censorship. A week before being summoned, Faisal Elbagir had published an editorial on ARTICLE 19’s blog. The editorial was initially meant for publication in the newspaper Al-Midan. However, the 15,000 copies of the issue containing the editorial were seized. The editorial was critical of the ongoing abuses by the Sudanese national government on freedom of expression and towards media in Sudan.

New ways to block are more subtle

The methods to control the media have changed in recent years and have become more subtle. “There used to be a very direct censorship. We used to have this security officer who would come every night to tell you what you could print and what not to print. Today, the physical and direct censorship has almost disappeared,” says Faisal Mohamed Salih, a media consultant and director of Teeba Press.

The change of methods has resulted in more indirect censorship, evidenced by examples of suspensions and confiscations. “Now you are punished after you publish. If you have the courage to publish controversial information, you can. But after, you may be punished,” says Faisal Mohamed Salih.