African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies

ACJPS Welcomes End to Pre-Print Censorship in Sudan; Calls for Greater Protection of Freedom of Expression

Contact: Osman Hummaida, Executive Director
Phone: +44 7956095738
E-mail: osman@acjps.org

(10 August 2010) On 8 August 2010, the head of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), Mohammed Atta, lifted the stringent pre-print censorship policy through which the content of Sudanese newspapers is reviewed nightly prior to publication by NISS agents. The practice, which has been used intermittently by security authorities since February 2008, has most recently been in place since May. Atta also affirmed that the NISS “reserves its constitutional right to reinstate censorship whenever the necessity arises”. His announcement of the end of censorship in Sudan came on the heels of a remark he made days earlier, on 6 August, that pre-print censorship would be halted “after the reasons that necessitated it have disappeared”.

In the time period referred to by Atta, several newspapers were subject to pre-print censorship, and some remain closed over charges of breaching national security and inciting sedition. The African Centre will publish a report on the situation of the freedom of expression in Sudan following the elections. There have been widespread attacks on journalists and incidents of arrest and torture, with some journalists still in detention. For example,

On 14 May, the Rai Alshaab newspaper was censored and four of its staff arrested. Three of the journalists were eventually sentenced to 2-5 years in prison, and one was acquitted. Their defence team withdrew after their witnesses were dismissed and they could no longer adequately defend their clients, who were at the time facing sentences ranging from life imprisonment to capital punishment.
On 3 June, NISS agents censored Ajras Alhurria newspaper so heavily that the newspaper could not be published. Ajras Alhurria began publication again, but was prohibited from publishing any news regarding the doctor’s strike, the ICC, and the arrest and trial of Rai Alshaab journalists.
From 6 June – 8 August, the Al Midan newspaper was not published.
On 11 June, Khartoum North Court Judge Modather Alrasheed issued a decree preventing newspapers from publishing any news on the Rai Alshaab journalists’ trial.
On 13 June, NISS agents prevented an article in Al Sudani newspaper from being published regarding the escaped convicts sentenced in the Granville case.
On 6 July, the Alahdath, Altihaar, Akhbar Alyoum, and Alhurra newspapers were suspended. A sixth newspaper, Alantibaha, was closed.
On 9 August, BBC News Arabic was prevented from broadcasting in northern Sudan due to allegations that they had obtained broadcasting equipment without following all legal procedures. BBC currently covers all of northern Sudan from Alobied in west Sudan, to Port Sudan in the east, Wad Medani in the centre, and Khartoum.

The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies welcomes NISS’ announcement to halt censorship as a positive step, but calls for more systematic attention to the issue of freedom of expression in Sudan. First, ACJPS contends that the use of pre-print censorship is in violation of Article 39 of the Sudanese Interim Constitution protecting freedom of expression and therefore is not, as suggested by Atta, constitutional. ACJPS calls on the government of Sudan to fully acknowledge its responsibility under Article 39 and clarify the legal basis for any ongoing censorship.

While welcoming the step, ACJPS recalls that the renewed use of pre-print censorship has continued off and on since February 2008, and has been only one of several tactics, including arrest of journalists and suspension of credentials, employed to curb freedom of expression. The closure and suspension of the newspapers undermines the freedom of expression, guaranteed under Article 19 of the International Civil and Political Rights, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 39 of the Sudanese Interim National Constitution. The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies calls on the government of Sudan to respect the freedom of expression through its regulatory bodies of the Press and Publications Council and the NISS to ensure that there is an opening of space for opposition voices in Sudan.