South Sudan / Africa

  

South Sudanese journalist Alfred Angasi detained without charge since July 5

Nairobi, July 23, 2021 — South Sudanese authorities should immediately release journalist Alfred Angasi and cease arbitrarily detaining members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 5, intelligence officials in Juba, the capital, arrested Angasi, a radio presenter at the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), according to his sister…

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South Sudan journalist Bullen Alexander Bala detained for 4 days, charged

On October 16, 2020, agents of South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS) arrested Bullen Alexander Bala, a reporter with the privately owned Juba Monitor newspaper, as he worked to report on student protests at the University of Juba, according to an Eye Radio report published on October 17 and an individual familiar with the arrest…

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Journalists harassed, detained, and sentenced to jail in South Sudan

New York, November 5, 2020 — South Sudanese authorities should immediately release journalists Zechariah Makuach Maror and Jackson Ochaya and halt all acts of intimidation against the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On September 1, Ochaya, a reporter with the privately owned No. 1 Citizen newspaper, went missing and was later confirmed…

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Daniel Pearl's parents

Getting Away with Murder

CPJ’s 2020 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elana Beiser/CPJ Editorial Director Published October 28, 2020 Incremental progress toward reducing the murders of journalists worldwide is fragile and could be thwarted by legal appeals and lack of political leadership, CPJ found in its latest report on…

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Getting Away with Murder

CPJ’s 2019 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free Published October 29, 2019 Somalia is the world’s worst country for the fifth year in a row when it comes to prosecuting murderers of journalists, CPJ’s 2019 Global Impunity Index found. War and political instability have fostered a deadly…

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Juba International Airport, pictured in October 2018. Two days before South Sudan's National Security Service detained Al-Watan editor Michael Christopher, the journalist had his passport confiscated at a Juba airport. (AFP/Akuot Chol)

South Sudan detains Al-Watan editor for over 3 weeks

New York, August 9, 2019—Authorities in South Sudan should immediately release Michael Christopher, editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language daily Al-Watan, and halt its harassment of his publication, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Newspaper vendors chat on their way to sell newspapers in Juba, South Sudan. Recently, the South Sudanese government has attempted to restrict local newspapers' ability to cover the ongoing political crisis in neighboring Sudan. (Adriane Ohanesian/Reuters)

South Sudanese media regulator bars newspaper from covering Sudan crisis

Nairobi, January 18, 2019–South Sudan’s state media regulator should immediately lift an order barring a privately-owned newspaper from covering protests in neighboring Sudan and issue a statement guaranteeing the media’s right to press freedom and editorial independence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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CPJ outraged at Tanzania’s treatment of its Africa program team

New York, November 12, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed indignation at statements from Tanzanian authorities and South Africa’s foreign minister justifying the detention of CPJ’s Africa team in Dar es Salaam on November 7. Officials from both countries falsely claimed CPJ’s Africa program coordinator Angela Quintal and sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo were in…

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Peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan patrol on March 7, 2018. The South Sudanese Media Regulatory Authority ordered the UN-backed station Radio Miraya to suspend operations because the station had not acquired a broadcasting license, according to reports. (AFP/Stefanie Glinski)

South Sudan suspends broadcast of UN-backed radio station

New York, March 9, 2018–South Sudanese authorities should allow the UN-backed station Radio Miraya to continue broadcasting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The South Sudanese Media Regulatory Authority ordered Radio Miraya to suspend operations because the station had not acquired a broadcasting license, according to a copy of the suspension notice seen by…

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A billboard featuring President Salva Kiir, left, and opposition leader Riek Machar, is displayed in Juba in 2016. South Sudan is due to resume peace talks under an agreement that includes calls for an end to harassment of the press. (AFP/Albert Gonzalez Farran, CDS)

As peace talks resume South Sudan continues its assault on press freedom

A ceasefire agreement signed on December 21 between the South Sudanese government and opposition forces has revived a 2015 peace process and brought hope that the conflict will not persist into its fifth year. The agreement includes obligations to “ensure protection of media” and “[c]ease all forms of harassment of the media.” Yet, ahead of…

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