VZCZCXRO6577
RR RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1629 3130948
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080948Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2260
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001629 
 
STATE FOR AF/SE, AF/SPG, AF/PDPA, IIP/G/AF, RRU-AF, DRL 
NSC FOR HUDSON AND PITTMAN 
DEPT PLS PAS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI AU UNSC MCAP KPAO OIIP SU
SUBJECT: Media Reaction:  Sudanese Journalists Strike Against 
Censorship 
 
¶1. U) SUMMARY: Sudanese dailies Ajras Al Hurriya and Rai Al Shaab, 
in a show of solidarity with 46 modern-minded "democratic" 
columnists, took up a protest on November 4 against increasing 
censorship by state security organs, which have censored the 
editorial content of the publications.  The dailies both confirm 
that they halted publication for three days, November 5-7, to 
protest what they view as an infringement on press freedom.  Staff 
members of both newspapers staged a 24-hour hunger strike that ended 
at 1:00 pm, November 5.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) None of Khartoum's pro-government newspapers reported on this 
protest. The only Khartoum daily to provide coverage was 
independent, English-language "Khartoum Monitor." 
 
¶3. (U) "Sudaneseonline.com" noted on November 5: "Publishers of two 
Sudanese dailies say they will stop printing their newspapers for 
three days to protest state censorship. Salah Kajam, publisher of 
the independent pro-south daily Freedom Bells, says government 
agents often come at night and order the removal of articles, citing 
security concerns. His paper and another, affiliated with an 
Islamist opposition leader, will halt publication until Friday. 
Other journalists said Tuesday they are planning a 24-hour hunger 
strike in protest. There was no immediate government comment. 
Lawyers say they have challenged the new wave of censorship, which 
started in February, with a law suit in the constitutional court." 
The same website ran  an AFP report noting that Sudanese journalists 
had launched a mass hunger strike on Tuesday, and that three 
independent newspapers had stopped work for three days in the 
country's biggest organized media protest against censorship. 
 
¶4. (U)Charge d'Affaires Fernandez, accompanied by the PAO, visited 
Ajras Al-Hurriya on Novemebr 6 to express U.S. Government support 
for press freedom in Sudan.  Editor-in -Chief Murtada Elghali 
Elgaali Hussain, who participated in a 2006 Post-funded program for 
Human Rights Advocates, and Director of the Board Deng Goc, provided 
an overview of the newspaper's standing with the Press and 
Publications Council, indicating that there are 17 cases pending 
against them. They noted a particular taboo was any criticism of the 
much-touted (by the regime) Sudan People's Initiative (SPI), which 
is supposed to try to solve the Darfur crisis. 
 
¶7. (SUB) COMMENT: With the signing of the Comprehensive Peace 
Agreement in 2005, which ended the two-decade long war between the 
north and south, media censorship was significantly eased, 
particularly in the south.  However, in recent months, especially 
since the JEM rebel attack on Omdurman in May 2008, the GoS has 
begun to restrict print journalists' ability to publish freely. 
With Presidential elections in Sudan scheduled for 2009, State 
security mechanisms are gradually tightening their grip on media. 
Their intent appears to be to limit the range of issues covered in 
the press, accustom journalists to repression and self-censorship 
and also stifle any points of view that differ with the GoS.  In 
response, this week's protest by the three newspapers seeks to call 
public awareness to this rise in censorship.  According to editors, 
their next step will be to stop publication of any single issue in 
which the censors cut three columns or more. 
 
FERNANDEZ