{"id":20109182,"date":"2024-12-10T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20109182"},"modified":"2024-12-10T17:34:02","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T16:34:02","slug":"access-to-news-is-a-basic-human-right-and-a-matter-of-survival-in-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/access-to-news-is-a-basic-human-right-and-a-matter-of-survival-in-sudan","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Access to news is a basic human right, and a matter of survival in Sudan\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Kamal El Sadig, Editor-in-Chief, Dabanga \u2013 Radio TV Online<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stated vision of Dabanga \u2013 Radio TV Online has always been for a democratic Sudan where there is freedom, peace, and justice, and where human rights are enshrined \u2013 particularly the right to free speech and access to information. As the world marks Human Rights Day 2024, we are, tragically, still reporting daily on widespread human rights violations by all warring parties across Sudan, in the midst of what has become the most dire humanitarian catastrophe in the world, and maybe in modern history.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overthrow of the Al Bashir regime<\/a> in April 2019, which was characterised by the extreme suppression, censorship, and information control that forced Dabanga \u2013 Radio TV Online<\/a> into exile, represented a ray of light for all Sudanese media. For Dabanga \u2013 Radio TV Online, it raised our hope that we could emerge from the darkness of exile to fulfil our mission<\/a> to be a public service media house for all Sudanese that enables people in all states and regions to participate in the exchange of knowledge, news, and information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alas, the subsequent military coup of October 25, 2021<\/a> marked the return of information control and censorship. This has deepened further since the outbreak of the current civil war<\/a> between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15, 2023, in which all parties to the conflict have weaponised information, spread disinformation, muddied the waters with conflicting propaganda, and curtailed public access to news via internet and telecommunications blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dabanga \u2013 Radio TV Online shortwave broadcasts<\/a> are often a lifeline for listeners in remote parts of Sudan, for refugees in neighbouring countries, and for people who have been displaced from urban areas, where internet and mobile phone connections have become increasingly unreliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Threats, attacks, and abuses against journalists have also escalated, making it extremely challenging for correspondents of Dabanga \u2013 Radio TV Online, and most other media, to obtain and verify information that can sometimes mean the difference between life and death to our listeners in the war zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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