Sudanese Authorities Renew Use of Pre-Print Censorship to Suppress Political Opinion

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

(20 May 2010) In the evening of Wednesday, 19 May, three National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) officers visited the offices of the newspaper Ajras Alhurria, which is perceived as aligned with the SPLM. The officers demanded to see the following day’s edition.

The officers ordered that six out of 12 of the pages of the newspaper be deleted. This material included regular columns, general news, and opinion pieces. Ajras Alhurria could not publish a newspaper on Thursday as so much content had been removed. After their tour of Ajras Alhurria’s offices, they similarly censored Alsahafa and Al Sudani newspapers prior to the publication of Thursday’s edition. At Alsahafa, NISS agents demanded to see editorial material and opinion columns. Its editor, Al-Nur Ahmed Al-Nur, stated that the censorship constituted “a step backwards in the democratic transformation of the country”.

Much of the material censored by NISS agents regarded commentary on the arrest of Dr. Hassan Al Turabi, leader of the opposition Popular Congress Party, and the closure of the Rai Alshaab newspaper and arrest of members of its staff. Other articles censored included news critical of the attack on civil liberties in Sudan and about Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

At the time, both the NISS and the Press and Publications Council, the regulatory body governing the Press and Publications Act, stated that the NISS and the Council both have respect for the 2005 Sudan Interim National Constitution, and that the arrests and closure would not impact the overall process of democratic transformation and liberalisation of civil liberties in the country. Deputy editor of Ajras Alhurria newspaper Fayiz Silaik asserted that the “return of control and censorship confirms that the elections brought the fourth version of the Ingaz regime, and this new government does not respect the freedom of expression, as verified by the calls, interrogations, and trials of journalists. This is the fiercest attack on the Sudanese journalists in recent history”.

In late September 2009, President Bashir announced that the policy of pre-print censorship would be halted. However, statements issued afterwards warned journalists that they should avoid publishing “what leads to exceeding red lines and avoid mixing what is patriotic and what is destructive to the nation”. Aside from pre-publication censorship, there are a host of other mechanisms for Sudanese authorities to control publication of newspapers in Sudan through the Press and Publications Act of 2009.

The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies condemns the use of pre-publication censorship, which places severe constraints on freedom of expression, and the Sudanese public have little access to information. The practice violates freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 39 of the 2005 Interim National Constitution, Article 19 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ACJPS calls on the government of Sudan to reform the Press and Publications Act to include provisions to halt the use of pre-print censorship, an issue on which the Act is silent. The law must also further clarify and strictly delimit the exceptional circumstance in which concerns of “national security, order, and public health” may justify censorship.