(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has hailed President Omar Hassan Al Bashir’s 10 July 2005 announcement of the lifting of the state of emergency, but called for this to be followed quickly by real and significant press freedom improvements. “The repeal of the emergency laws in force since the 1989 coup must not be contradicted by government […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has hailed President Omar Hassan Al Bashir’s 10 July 2005 announcement of the lifting of the state of emergency, but called for this to be followed quickly by real and significant press freedom improvements.
“The repeal of the emergency laws in force since the 1989 coup must not be contradicted by government intolerance towards the independent news media,” the organisation said, calling on the authorities to respect the commitments they have made.
A new constitution signed on 9 July by Al Bashir and the new vice-president, John Garang, the head of the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), is less restrictive than the previous one and does not subordinate press freedom to the imperatives of public order, security or morals.
The National Security Organ also confirmed the lifting of censorship on 10 July, saying the news media “must play their national role without there being any need to restrict them.” The next day, the “Al Ayam” and “Juba Post” newspapers had enthusiastic front pages predicting a new era for the Sudanese press.
But many journalists are sceptical. The English-language “Khartoum Monitor”, an independent newspaper that was widely read in the former rebel south until banned by a high court judge on 12 June, has still not been able to reopen. The ban was the result of an interview it published in 2003 in which a former government minister, Santino Deng, who is now deceased, accused the government of practicing forms of slavery.
In the presence of several African presidents, European and American officials and of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President Al Bashir said on 11 July he was committed to the democratisation of Sudan, to the rule of law and to freedom, and that these would no longer be curtailed by emergency laws.