VZCZCXRO7854
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1288/01 2381153
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251153Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1704
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001288 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, A/S FRAZER, SE WILLIAMSON 
NSC FOR BPITTMAN AND CHUDSON 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: JUBA JOURNALISTS DISCUSS ELECTIONS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: At ConGen Juba's monthly journalism club gathering 
16 media representatives related their pessimism regarding the 
readiness of civil society to support the highly complex elections 
in 2009, but agreed that even if the outcome is flawed, the creation 
of a democratic state is an evolutionary process.  They agreed the 
media have a responsibility to use the elections to educate civil 
society so that people will, over time, grow to understand their 
role in promoting good governance. End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) ConGen Juba has initiated a monthly media gathering in 
order to foster information sharing and informally build the 
capacity of the South's nascent media.   At the meeting held on 
August 21, the topic for discussion was the proposed 2009 elections. 
 Participants, including 16 representatives of state and public 
television, radio and print media, were generally pessimistic 
concerning the probable outcome of the elections.  Many felt that if 
GNU President Omar al Bashir is indicted by the ICC, as expected, 
under no circumstances will he step down from power.  For that 
reason, many also thought that GNU First Vice President Salva Kiir 
Mayardit will not contest the GNU presidency, but instead  stand for 
the presidency of the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS).  If the 
SPLM runs a candidate,  the consensus was that it would be someone 
other than Kiir, although no one could say who they thought it might 
be. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Despite this obstacle, most of the journalists did expect 
the elections to take place, even if just in the South.  However, 
the majority also voiced their concern that the forthcoming 
six-level elections will be far too complex for the majority of 
illiterate and uneducated Southerners to understand - given that 
this will be the South's first elections in two generations.  The 
electoral law itself is so complicated many in the room admitted 
they do not understand all its nuances.  The level of civic 
education programs required to prepare the general (and mostly 
illiterate) public for the task ahead simply, they said, cannot be 
accomplished in the time frame mapped out in 2009. 
 
¶4. (SBU) On a humorous note, one newspaper editor reported that his 
NISS censors speak and read English so poorly that he simply creates 
bland headlines for his more controversial articles, since they 
seldom read beyond the titles,  and he is mostly then able to 
publish what he wants. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Every media outlet represented (except for Radio Bakhita) 
stated that they had NISS personnel reading their news ahead of time 
and censoring stories not to their liking. The fact that newspapers 
are generally printed in Khartoum due to the absence of presses in 
Juba makes it easier for GNU to censor them.  Nhial Bol, of the 
newspaper The Citizen, forecasted that his paper would likely be 
shut down during the elections given recent negative GNU reaction to 
his coverage of the news. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The group agreed, however, that despite these obstacles, 
the media have  a critically important role to play.  The creation 
of a democracy in Sudan, they said, will be an evolutionary process, 
and even if the elections fail, if journalists begin to educate 
people on their rights and responsibilities, it will begin to lay a 
foundation that can be built upon later.  The time to start, they 
agreed, is now. The lack of a media law that clearly sets out free 
speech protections severely inhibits their ability to perform this 
function, however.  This, coupled with the lack of printing presses 
in Juba with which to print newspapers (meaning they must be printed 
elsewhere and flown into Juba), the high rate of illiteracy, and the 
severe limitation on advertising revenue available to support 
private radio stations as well as newspapers, makes developing a 
viable public service media in Southern Sudan a real challenge. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In line with that, and given their inexperience in covering 
elections with an eye to civic education, the group asked ConGen 
Juba to provide a workshop on this subject as soon as possible. 
Juba will come in with a request septel for IIP support for such a 
program. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Most participants also focused on corruption as a major 
problem in Southern Sudan, and pointed out that there are few 
mechanisms available for holding corrupt officials accountable. 
Attempts by the media to combat corruption are hindered by the fact 
that there are no laws to protect journalists who report on 
wrongdoing, and no code of laws under which corrupt officials can be 
effectively prosecuted. However, most of the media representatives 
emphasized the need to build alliances between journalists and 
institutions such as the Anticorruption Commission and members of 
the Southern Sudanese Legislative Assembly to build support for anti 
corruption strategies. 
 
 
KHARTOUM 00001288  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: The media in Southern Sudan are still 
underdeveloped and  only beginning to perform a role as public 
"watchdogs."  The lack of a media law that clearly sets out free 
speech protections severely inhibits their ability to perform this 
function.  However, these journalists also feared that a media law 
hostile to their work would also be a problem.  ConGen Juba will 
continue to look for ways to work with the nascent southern Sudanese 
media to try to help build it into the strong public information 
service the South needs. 
 
ASQUINO