Wordl Press Day: Press Freedom under Siege in South Sudan
3 min readBy Emmanuel Malual Makuach, Nairobi, Kenya
May 3, 2016 (SSB) — The U.N. said World Press Freedom Day is also an occasion to inform citizens of violations of press freedom – a reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even killed. The media and journalists are now the State’s biggest threat. Journalists are facing multi-faceted threats from intimidation, witch-hunt, denial of employment, confiscation of work tools, physical attacks and assault, kidnapping for ransom and outright killing or denial without trial in south Sudan.
Over the recent past, cases of journalists receiving threats for publishing reports touching on the ills troubling the south Sudanese society have reportedly been on the rise. Some of the threats are believed to originate from numerous actors including the Government, politicians, influential individuals and internal security apparatus. Few institutions are more important to a democratic society than a free and independent media. Information is a vital aspect of human life. Our actions are directed by the amount and type of information we receive or can access in a given situation. Information thus wields insurmountable powers.
The media in south Sudan have played a critical role in shaping public agenda and also in governance. Media freedom is a key pillar in any democracy. In the country. For sustainable development. The year under review has been for press freedom for several decades with the media coming under pressure relentless assault from several directions. The have been attacks on journalists sacks and denying accreditation and other personal changes affecting critical personalities and withdrawal of advertising which places pressure on the editorial integrity of publication and which press freedom is under siege, graves of threats to freedom of expressions in south Sudan
The freedom press is questionable because of brutal attacks endanger on media practitioners .freedom physical attacks on journalists since we got independence from North Sudan concerning all media controversy surrounding media industries in the country .and journalists face harassment outside the country like Egypt 2014 south Sudanese journalists was attacks by youth in Egypt and in Kenya I was attacks by the youth who are supporters of oppositions and many other facing the media practitioners in the country south Sudan.
Because killing journalists, arresting journalists, intimidating journalists is not just a punishment, it is an act of sending a message to all other journalists,” she said, a harsh treatment that has contributed to increase of self-censorship.
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