1/23/2024 4:55:55 PM
The Sudanese Journalists Network (S.J.N) follows with great concern the systematic targeting of journalists by both warring parties through summons, arbitrary detention without legal justification, and extrajudicial killings. The network condemns all violations and continues to call for the defence and protection of journalists.
The network would like to point out that information is still conflicting regarding the killing of the Nile Blue TV presenter, martyr Ahmed Youssef Arabi, with some accusing army members of killing him after abducting him from his home in Al-Abasiya, which he had returned to from his village in Al-Duaim, to collect some of his belongings. He was summoned for investigation by army members of the rank of officer, only for one of the force members to return and inform his family of his death by a stray bullet. The army leadership did not clarify the circumstances of the incident in an official statement. Even if it was a stray bullet, the matter requires investigation, as long as he was summoned by the army force led by an officer who killed him.
The network holds the army responsible for the killing of the martyr Arabi according to these circumstances. It also regrets that such a heinous crime occurred in an area under the supervision of the regional commander, Major General Yasser Al-Atta, a member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council. In this regard, the network calls on all media and human rights institutions to form a united front in order to pressure for an investigation into the killing of colleague Ahmed Youssef Arabi. The network is submitting this case to the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry, headed by Judge Mohamed Chandi.
The network strongly condemns the arbitrary and undignified detention of journalists, which undermines human dignity. With the continuation of clashes between the two sides and the transfer of battles from one city to another, this puts them at the indirect target of any party to the conflict, and the safety of those detained remains at risk. Therefore, the network holds both warring parties responsible for the safety and security of journalists and all civilians they hold hostage. The network renews its condemnation of the violations that have been committed against journalists in recent days, as mentioned below:
• The Sudan Journalists Network rejects the involvement of journalists in the ongoing conflict between the two sides and their accusation of spying for one of the sides, simply for carrying out their duty in media coverage, especially satellite channel correspondents who require transferring information from the scene of the event and documenting the truth with cameras. The network condemns the accusation of colleague Shuhdi Nader, correspondent for Al Arabiya, Al Hadath TV, as working for the Rapid Support Forces due to his coverage of areas that were shelled, and considers that this is incitement to target him in all ways. The network calls for his protection and not to expose his life to danger, and holds both sides of the fighting responsible for his safety and security.
• The Rapid Support Forces arrested the editor-in-chief of Al-Meidan newspaper, Haitham Dafaallah, and his brother in front of their home in the south of Khartoum on Saturday, January 20, 2024. No information is available about the place of their detention or the reasons for this arrest.
• A force affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces attacked Ahmed Jamaa, the office manager of Bashir Al-Nile channel, on Saturday, January 20, 2024, at his home in Aldaraja, causing him severe injury and terrifying him and his family, and encroaching on the property and belongings of the channel's office, including cameras, a laptop, two new mobile phones, and a quantity of new clothes.
• The military intelligence arrested photojournalist, Asim Mohamed Khalafallah, by a force affiliated with the military intelligence in Port Sudan on charges related to his relationship with the Rapid Support Forces since late December last year.
• The Rapid Support Forces arrested the journalist and member of the union board, Aqeel Ahmed Al-Na'im, on Thursday, January 18, 2024, in front of his home in the Geli area and took him to an unknown destination without reason before releasing him the same day.
• The journalist Yasser Jabara was arrested by the intelligence of the Fourth Infantry Brigade of the Sudanese Army in Damazin locality, on January 6, 2024, for four days in inhumane conditions inside a container after identifying his identity and accusing him of belonging to the Forces of Freedom and Change. He was told that his presence in this area exposes him to arrest again before signing a pledge that he did not see, and his phone and money were also seized, and he was threatened with arrest if he was present in the Blue Nile region.
• The military intelligence forces arrested (11) individuals over two days, including Mohamed Ibrahim Kabotsh, the editor-in-chief of Al-Jawhara Al-Riyadiya newspaper, on December 30, 2023.
The network pledges to continue monitoring the violations against journalists, exposing all parties attempting to silence and terrorise them. It calls on international and regional organisations to fulfil their responsibilities in compelling the conflicting parties to protect civilians and journalists, enabling them to perform their duties. The network holds the conflicting parties responsible for any journalist subjected to harm.
Free journalism remains, and tyrants will ultimately fall.
The Sudanese Journalists Network (S.J.N)
22/1/2024
For Conacts:
Email: sudansnj8@gmail.com