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 The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan!
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Hi Friends, I would like to share wih you some of my thoughts about the current situation of the media in our beloved country, Sudan.
News media in Sudan can’t be discussed without shedding the light on the general media situation in Africa. After independence, most Africans hoped to have vibrant African press, however, this was not the case as pointed out by William A. Hatchen “African journalists were widely persecuted and harassed by the politicians who controlled the destines of the fragile new states.” As stated by Hatchen, this situation has created dull, obeisant and uninformative newspapers.
Sudan is not an exceptional case to this general gloomy picture; the media in Sudan have never played a major role in shaping Sudan’s political life or economic development. The present ruling government in Sudan has seriously violated human rights including free expression. As a result, the Press continued to suffer under the military regime of the National Islamic Front (NIF), which marked its 14 th year in power. The pro- government Press and Publications Council has the full authority to suspend papers and sanction journalists in accordance with Sudan’s harsh press law.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an independent organization founded in 1981 to promote press freedom worldwide by defending the right of journalists to report the news without fear of harassment. CPJ reports that the Press and Publications Council hands out suspension orders against both private and pro- government newspapers throughout the years of NIF’s ruling. Using a wide range of repressive laws, the council routinely imprisoned journalists and banned opposition newspapers, thus successfully outlawing free expression in Sudan.
Media in Sudan include independently owned newspapers, state-owned newspapers, and broadcast industry. Private newspapers which have been critical to the government’s violation of human rights, official corruption, and the on-going civil have been subjected to different kinds of censorship such as frequent shut down, attack or arrest the outspoken journalists.
The council most frequent target is the privately daily Alray Alakhar. The paper was repeatedly suspended for criticizing government practices and for availing chance for opposition figures to express their views.
For instance, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports that “A group of armed men stormed the offices of the privately owned daily Alray Alakhar and confiscated all 20, 000 copies of that day’s edition. On May 25, 2001 authorities banned the paper for a two-week period.”
The private press suffers from serious economic shortage, in comparison with government-financed newspapers, because it must compete for limited amounts of advertising revenue. Independent newspapers, which have limited distribution, are also economically restricted by local businesses’ fear of government reaction for advertising in opposition -affiliated newspapers.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that in February 1999, former state minister for culture and information Amin Hassan Omer threatened Sudanese journalists with prosecution if they covered opposition parties that had not registered with the government. “If we feel you have somewhat gone beyond the limit, we may call you and ask you to correct your steps,” he was quoting as saying. “We have a constitution and laws which both politicians and journalists must obey.”
Situation of the broadcast industry in Sudan (Radio and television) even worse than the situation of the print journalism. Although television registered the fastest growth in the field of mass, radio remains the dominant source of information for Sudanese especially in rural areas, where more than a third of the population are illiterate. This means that the political influence of radio over the printed medium is enormous.
Broadcast journalism is extremely controlled by the government, radio and television come under by the state-owned National Radio and Television Corporation based in Omdurman. Both radio and television function as the most effective tools of the government to favor its own policies and views. Many ordinary people in Sudan called the Sudanese television ‘the military television’ for its continuous coverage of the civil war and the government’s parliament sessions. Complete absence of entertainment programs and opposing views are the main features of the Sudanese television.
If Sudanese people want to know what is going on in their country they have to seek information from other reliable sources. For this reason, a large number of Sudanese elite especially in larger cities own their own satellites or have access to television cables.
Sudan continues to lag behind the rest of the world in civil and political rights including freedom of the press. In the light of the current economic and political crisis in Sudan controlled by the current oppressive regime the press is hardly to flourish.
At the end, just let us hope that a new and open-minded generation of leaders will tolerate and furthermore welcome constructive criticism by the press.
(عدل بواسطة Nada Amin on 01-12-2004, 11:29 PM)
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| العنوان |
الكاتب |
Date |
| The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 05-23-03, 05:28 PM |
| القوانين المقيدة للحريات الصحفية في السودان | Alsawi | 05-23-03, 07:28 PM |
| Re: القوانين المقيدة للحريات الصحفية في السودان | Nada Amin | 05-23-03, 08:42 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Ahmedain | 05-23-03, 09:15 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Alsawi | 05-24-03, 09:32 AM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-12-04, 08:10 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | معتصم دفع الله | 01-12-04, 10:47 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | شتات | 01-13-04, 04:06 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-13-04, 06:07 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | معتصم دفع الله | 01-14-04, 00:27 AM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Elmosley | 01-14-04, 00:55 AM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | omdurmani | 01-14-04, 07:43 AM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | omdurmani | 01-14-04, 07:49 AM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Elsadiq | 01-14-04, 02:21 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-14-04, 05:26 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-14-04, 05:56 PM |
 Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Raja | 01-14-04, 06:08 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-14-04, 06:16 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-14-04, 09:46 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-14-04, 11:11 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | omdurmani | 01-15-04, 08:51 AM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | kofi | 01-15-04, 01:03 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | nada ali | 01-15-04, 06:26 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-15-04, 06:44 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-16-04, 04:28 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | nada ali | 01-16-04, 07:02 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-16-04, 09:57 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Ishraga Mustafa | 01-16-04, 10:04 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-17-04, 00:03 AM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-17-04, 00:06 AM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | omdurmani | 01-17-04, 08:36 AM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Raja | 01-19-04, 05:58 PM |
| Re: The Oppressive Press Laws in Sudan! | Nada Amin | 01-21-04, 05:54 PM |
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