Free Press Environment In South Sudan a Far Cry "It was difficult to understand what on earth the security personnel and the police had to do with the code of dress in the conference" 23 April 2011
By Jacob K. Lupai On the 9th July 2011 and probably at 12.01am Sudan local time South Sudan, amid much fanfare countrywide, will be formally declared as the independent Republic of South Sudan, becoming the newest independent nation in the world. On the freedom of the press the question to ask is, will there be free press environment in independent South Sudan? For now, according to a press release, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services in the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) said the GOSS allows journalists to freely exercise and perform their duties without entertaining violence, harassment or threats from any faction in the society against them, stressing the journalists must operate freely. This is indeed a very bold statement on the freedom of press. However, what happens in practice may be another issue. It is important to note that the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services is the official spokesman of the government. He is an eloquent communicator and does his best in presenting the government as caring. The Minister is diplomatic and could make an excellent Minster of Foreign Affairs. (But) the freedom of press cannot be guaranteed without the enactment of media laws to protect journalists and the public. Creating a free press environment therefore needs laws. Free press environment cannot be on the mercy of individuals and to depend on their whims or on how they may be comfortable with what the press may say. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, however, has affirmed that journalists are free to perform their duties without harassment or threats. Nonetheless contrary to what people are made to believe a car load of armed police raced to the premises of the Citizen Newspaper in Juba to arrest the Editor-in-Chief who was apparently in a meeting with a Norwegian diplomat. The diplomat was ordered out while the Editor-in-Chief was being arrested and bundled into the waiting car. If this was not a harassment of a journalist it is difficult to see what it was. According to the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan, 2005 Article 28 Freedom of Expression and Media Sub-Article 1, “Every citizen shall have an unrestricted right to the freedom of expression, reception and dissemination of information, publication, and access to the press without prejudice to order, safety or public morals as determined by law”. It is abundantly clear that the constitution guarantees freedom of expression but the enactment of law is paramount in guaranteeing that freedom. However, it seems obvious that people who may hardly read the constitution abuse their positions in arresting people with impunity with no due respect for the constitution. Semi-literate people can be the problem when they arrest citizens without due process of the law. For example, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure Act 2008, Section 73 Sub Section 1, it is clear that a public prosecution attorney, magistrate or a court empowered is the one to issue a summons for the appearance of any person after reasons have been given in writing in issuing a warrant for arrest. The police also have the power to arrest without a warrant. However, how more often are people arrested without a warrant indicating the reasons for the arrest and what guarantee is there that the police may not abuse their powers when arresting people without an arrest warrant. Sometimes charges may not even be filed against the accused that may be made to languish in custody. Disgruntled individuals may abuse their powers to harass and intimidate others with arbitrary arrests. However, as a deterrent to the abuse of power those practicing the unlawful arrests of citizen should themselves face the law by being locked up or being dismissed from their positions as a deterrent. Free press environment is not yet realized in South Sudan. This is despite the warning of the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services that social factions including security operative must not take upon themselves to attack professional media personnel but allow them to carry out their duties as their role is to inform the nation about events happening in the country. The warning nonetheless seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. An example is when security personnel and police guarding Equatoria Conference 2011 at Nyokuron Cultural Centre dragged a journalist out of the compound. It was claimed the reason for the eviction from the conference was because of the improper dress of the journalist. Now where are the security personnel hands off from harassing journalists? It was difficult to understand what on earth the security personnel and the police had to do with the code of dress in the conference. There was no special announcement on the code of dress in the conference. The behavior of the security personnel and the police was nothing but the harassment of journalists contrary to what the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services stated about the freedom of the media. One problem of the lack of free press environment in South Sudan seems to be the lack of coordination between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services says one thing but the security personnel and the police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs seem to be on a different wave length. For example, the security operatives confiscated copies of The Juba Post over an article about renegade General George Athor threatening to launch an attack on Juba. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, however, said the incident of the confiscation of copies of The Juba Post was an isolated one and that his government does not in any way support infringing on press freedom. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services said they are a democratic government which allows all kind of freedom including the press and added the case of the isolated incident of confiscation has been resolved. How was the incident resolved is the relevant question. It seems there was no strong deterrent action for the security personnel to stop harassing the media. After the confiscation of the copies of The Juba Post another journalist was thrown out of Equatoria Conference at Nyokuron Cultural Centre notwithstanding the intimidator arrest of a senior journalist, the Editor-in-Chief of the Citizen Newspaper. It seems there is no difference between what the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services says and what is happening in practice on the ground to the media when journalists are harassed with impunity. This may be because there are no media laws to protect journalists. To foster free press environment in South Sudan, it is important the security personnel are made aware of the importance of media in nation building and in helping to fight corruption in promoting development and unity. This can be done through conferences, seminars and workshops. Security personnel, journalists, writers and other pressmen and presswomen can participate in such gatherings. Papers by the various stakeholders can be presented on what people understand of media. Through open discussions participants may gain in-depth understanding of what makes the media so important in nation building. This may provide mutual understanding between security personnel and journalists. It is through open discussions and dialogue that ignorance may be minimized in promoting cooperation and sharing of viewpoints. In conclusion, the heavy handed behavior of some security personnel in treating the media fraternity as an enemy is unsettling. The security personnel are supposed to guarantee fair treatment for all. It is important that cordial relations between security personnel and journalists should be fostered in building confidence. When somebody is to be arrested the offence should be clearly stated as a transparent way of promoting mutual understanding and respect between the police and the community. The use of a load of armed police to apprehend somebody who may be harmless is at best a harassment and intimidation. As a writer I would not resist arrest even by unarmed policewoman. Sometimes the security personnel do not bother to establish the identity of the person they are arresting. This causes problems in that the police may badly treat the person only to find out that the person may be a constitutional post holder or a person of a high rank in the civil service and could be innocent. An example of the innocent being manhandled by the police is the driver of the Citizen Newspaper mistaken to be the Editor-in-Chief. In all there is a need to have a culture of respect for human dignity between the police and citizens. One is innocent until proven guilty but the police sometimes treat people as if they were already guilty. Even a guilty person has the right to protection until sentenced. One step towards cordial relations between the security personnel and the media is a liaison for dialogue between the two for a better way forward. The author can be reached at Posted in: Opinions -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
