South Sudan journalist speaks out after illegal detention
Detained without charge for 18 days, tortured, and released without explanation, South Sudanese journalist Peter Ngor plans to fight back. “I am going to sue them [in] court. What they did to me was completely, utterly wrong,” said Ngor, the editor of a new, private, English-language daily called Destiny. Still, Ngor believes that his illegal…
South Sudan security detains two journalists
New York, November 7, 2011–Two South Sudanese independent journalists have been imprisoned since last week over a column critical of President Salva Kiir, according to local journalists and news reports. On November 1, South Sudan National Security Services (NSS) agents in the temporary capital of Juba arrested Peter Ngor, editor of the private daily Destiny,…
Mission Journal: South Sudan’s struggle for a free press
The former guerrillas of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) fought a 22-year civil war for greater autonomy and civil rights for the southern Sudanese people, culminating in South Sudan’s independence this July. But local journalists fear the former rebels turned government officials still harbor a war mentality that is unaccustomed to criticism, and that…
Remembering South Sudan’s pioneer female reporter
When The Juba Post’s star reporter, Apollonia Mathia, told me that so-called “tong tong” rebels had attacked again near Gumba, in southern Sudan, I looked at her warily. “Let me get the camera I’ll check it out,” she said. Apollonia planned to hop on our rickety motorbike to cover a story about the infamous Ugandan…
Sudanese military arrests journalist after he criticized governor on water crisis, sources say
New York, July 24, 2024—Sudanese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release freelance journalist Omar Mohamed Omar, who was arrested on July 17 by the General Intelligence Service of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and allow members of the press to work safely and freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. “We are alarmed by…
Sudanese journalist Makawi Mohamed Ahmed and brother killed during RSF attack
New York, June 6, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is shocked by reports that journalist Makawi Mohamed Ahmed, a reporter at the official state news agency of Sudan (SUNA), and his brother Shamseddine Mohamed Ahmed were killed by the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during its Wednesday attack on the village of…
CPJ alarmed by extended communications blackout in Sudan
New York, February 5, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports of an ongoing communications blackout across most of Sudan since Friday and urgently calls for an immediate restoration of telecoms and internet networks across the country, where a nearly 10-month conflict has displaced millions. Since February 2, mobile and internet services provided…
Journalist killed, others injured in southern Lebanon strike
New York, October 13, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Friday shelling in southern Lebanon from the direction of Israel that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists. Those wounded include two other Reuters journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, two Al-Jazeera TV staffers, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, and Agence France-Press journalists Christina Assi…
Journalists shot, beaten, and harassed covering conflict between Sudan’s rival military groups
CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa team looked at the dangerous environment for journalists in Sudan as they cover the armed conflict that broke out April 15 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), former allies who jointly seized power in a 2021 coup. Hundreds of civilians have died, hundreds…