20 April 2005
ARTICLE 19 PROMOTES FREE EXPRESSION IN PEACE PROCESS
As Sudan moves slowly toward peace after 21 years of war, ARTICLE 19 is playing an active role in placing freedom of expression on the redevelopment agenda. The IFEX member has drafted a media policy that will feed into discussions between the Sudanese government and the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM), which are taking place as part of a peace agreement signed in January 2005.
ARTICLE 19 and Norwegian Peoples Aid have taken a lead role in facilitating dialogue on freedom of expression and civil society involvement in media development, a cornerstone of the peace process. The dialogue will include a number of roundtables in both Northern and Southern Sudan. The northern dialogue will be led by Sudanese journalist Mahjoub Mohamed Salih, winner of the 2005 Golden Pen of Freedom Award.
ARTICLE 19 says the peace process to date has largely ignored the views of civil society, including press freedom advocates, despite indications from both sides and from the UN that media development will be a priority in the post-conflict era. "There is a very real risk that Sudanese decision-makers, while partially responding to the international community when setting new standards for the media, will ignore their own constituents in their media development efforts," the group says.
Restrictive media laws and the absence of freedom of expression pose major barriers to peace in Sudan, according to ARTICLE 19. Sudanese media face huge challenges in communicating the peace accords to the Sudanese population in a credible and inclusive way, hampered by a lack of infrastructure, a multiplicity of languages in Sudan and the vast size of the country.
In order for media to operate freely, ARTICLE 19 says the state of emergency should be lifted immediately and the Press Act, which requires all media outlets and journalists to register with the government, should be abolished. Defamation should also be decriminalised and an access to information law should be adopted, the group says.
For a copy of ARTICLE 19's media policy, contact John Barker, ARTICLE 19's Africa Director: Tel: +7951 834894; E-mail: johnb@article19.org
Visit these links:
- ARTICLE 19 Report on Free Expression Conditions in Sudan:
http://www.article19.org/docimages/1893.pdf- Recommendations by Amnesty International:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR540362005?open&of=ENG-315- Donors Pledge Billions for Sudan:
http://tinyurl.com/af9yt- International Crisis Group:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1230&l=1- Human Rights Report by Sudan Organisation Against Torture:
http://tinyurl.com/avywm- First Newspaper Launched in Southern Sudan:
http://www.globaljournalist.org/magazine/2004-3/sudan.html- Concerns Over Peace Accord:
http://tinyurl.com/aocvj- Sudan Information Gateway:
http://www.unsudanig.org/