Not one month after Sudan’s president promised his country a free press, two Sudanese Arabic-language dailies had their printing presses shut down without explanation. The move was neither out of character nor unexpected, but it did abruptly end the honeymoon that permeated Sudan’s political arenas throughout much of July. Index on Censorship reports. (11-OCT-05)
“So it has taken a month for President Omar Hassan Al Bashir to break the promises he made with his hand on his heart,” Reporters Sans Frontiers wrote in an 10 August press release. “We would not want to think the announcement was just for show.”
On 9 July, Al Bashir repealed a more than two-decades-long state of emergency and allegedly ended direct press regulation by government. At that same time, Al Bashir announced Sudan?s desire to have a more open media ? a system more conducive to stable government, he claimed. But journalists continue to be detained without explanation in Sudan. In 2004, for instance, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced that five reporters were imprisoned without reason because they wrote an article about a potential Sudanese economic collapse. And journalists still struggle to obtain required visas to report in the embattled southern region of Darfur.
?Lifting the state of emergency is hopeful and there has been some change in the press, especially for ?southern? papers?, said Professor Peter Woodward, a professor of Africa and Middle East politics at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. ?But it?s early days and will need monitoring and support for the ?free? press.?
Self-censorship
Only 12 newspapers operate within the state?s borders mainly because the price of acquiring a license ? estimated at US $10,000 ? allows only wealthy would-be publishers to enter the market. Just three of these newspapers are independent from Sudan?s government, and those newspapers are in constant jeopardy of being shut down or their staff threatened with physical violence.
So when Al Bashir stated his desire for a free press, the best that could be said about public sentiment is that it was steeped in healthy scepticism. Though Al Bashir announced an end to overt, outright newspaper closures and censorship, these practices remain largely unchanged through laws that promote ?national security?. Papers in Sudan have always reflected the will of the state or other powerful political forces, said Woodward. And newspaper owners self-censor to avoid violence or governmental coersion.
Bleak history for treatment of journalists
Sudan had been in a state of emergency since 1989, but a recently brokered peace deal between former political foes President Al Bashir and the now-deceased John Garang tentatively ended more than 21 years of bloodshed in the country. With more than 1.5 million Sudanese dead throughout more than two decades of fighting, the world watches as the Muslim north attempts peacefully co-exist with the Christian and Animist south. The end of the state of emergency is a hopeful beginning to the end of Africa?s longest-running civil war.
Sudan has a painful and bleak history of improper treatment of journalists who don?t tow the state line. The litany of censorship offences reads like the rap sheet of some of the most egregious free speech violators: unjustified suspensions of widely-read daily newspapers, banning Arabic newspapers without explanation, arrests without reason of journalists of opposition-sponsored publications. The injustices stretch across decades. In May 1989 the government used the emergency laws to imprison Muhammad Madani Tawfiq, the editor-in-chief of Al-Rayah. There was no need to give a reason. In 1990, International PEN reported 16 journalists, lawyers and editors were imprisoned or detained for their writing. In October of 1993, Ed-Fadil Adam, a member of the opposition party was arrested for distributing leaflets critical of the government. By 1999, the government was consistently haulting presses and confiscating publications ? including Al Rai Al-Akhar and Al-Rai Al-a?am ? that were critical of the regime. In recent months, the English language daily the Khartoum Monitor, has been subject to month-long closures and threats to its staff members.
Major setback
The early August closures of the Al Watan and Al Wan newspapers are a major setback in Sudan?s recent progress. Al Watan editor-in-chief Tahir Sati said he was not told why more than 25,000 copies of his newspaper were confiscated. Similarly, Al Wan?s chief Hussein Khogali lost more than 40,000 copies of his publication.
?The aim is to put us in financial difficulty,? Sati told Reporters San Frontieres. ?This sends a message to our advertisers that they should stop buying space in our newspaper?. Khogali is well aware of the Sudanese authority?s dislike of opposition reporting: he claims to have been harassed by police for more than a year and was detained for a month.
The ramifications of censorship on a war-torn country trying to pull itself from the brink of state failure are vast. The Sudanese and the world must be kept aware of progress — or its opposite –in every region of the state if it hopes to escape state failure. The remedy must include more than a token announcement of censorship?s end. In short: Sudan must follow through on its promise to open up its media if it plans to become a productive state. Index on Censorship and the rest of the world will serve as vigilant watchdogs.
