United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)

Media & Spokesperson Unit Communications & Public Information Office

MEDIA MONITORING REPORT

NOTE: Reproduction here does not mean that the UNMISS Communications & Public Information Office can vouch for the accuracy or veracity of the contents, nor does this report reflect the views of the United Nations

Mission in South Sudan. Furthermore, international copyright exists on some materials and this summary should not be disseminated beyond the intended list of recipients.

WEDNESDAYDAY, 03 JULY 2013

SOUTH SUDAN • Salva Kiir reiterates amnesty call to David Yau Yau, rebels (Gurtong) • S. Sudan: Media and rights bodies protest closure of Lakes state radio (Sudantribune) • South Sudan: Radio Station in South Sudan's Rumbek resumes broadcasting (allafrica) • Nearly 20,000 South Sudanese still stranded in Upper Nile: IOM (Sudantribune) • Over 1,000 leave Komou Boma over hunger threat (Emmanuel Radio) • 80,000 People suffer hunger in EELeave a reply (Eyeradio.org) • Invest in media to accelerate development, USAID tells South Sudan (Eyeradio.org) • 21 returnees arrive in Yambio from Khartoum (Anisa Radio) • AIDS Commission, stakeholders review 2011 commitment (Bakita Radio) • Dr. John Garang Memorial University lacks facilities for service delivery: Official

(Gurtong) • Eastern Equatoria State, Chinese firm ink agreement (The Citizen News Paper) • Western Bahr el Ghazal state ready for independence celebrations (VoL) • Limited equipment hampers South Sudan police work – Spokesperson (The Citizen News

Paper) • Political parties charge government of marginalization (The Citizen News Paper)

LINKS TO STORIES FROM THE MORNING MEDIA MONITOR

• South Sudan justice ministry denies delaying criminal cases (gurtong.net) • Prosecutor admits difficulty handling security officials (Gurtong.net) • Cleric urges government to respect rule of law (Emmanuel Radio) • MP urges investors to put money in education (Easter Radio) • Radio station in South Sudan’s Rumbek resumes broadcasting

(Sudantribune.com) • Ethiopia proposes body to verify claims of rebel support between Khartoum

and Juba (Sudantribune.com) • Sudan says crisis with Juba not discussed during China visit

(Sudantribune.com) • Machar calls on Sudanese opposition to support cooperation agreements

(Sudantribune.com) • South Sudan's exports undercut Asia's medium, heavy sweet crudes (Reuters)

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Highlights Salva Kiir reiterates amnesty call to David Yau Yau, rebels Gurtong Juba, 03/07/ 2013 - The South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has reiterated his calls to rebel leader David Yau Yau to accept an amnesty offer in a bid to address conflicts in the restless Jonglei State through peaceful means.

The statement released yesterday from the office of the President said it regrets the continuous suffering and insecurity situation in Jonglei due to presence of the insecurity forces.

Kiir also applauded response by some of the rebel groups such as the South Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Olony groups who surrendered to the government immediately after the amnesty offer in April.

“It’s only by ending the conflict that peace and stability can be restored,” said the statement.

“The President now calls David Yau Yau to show the same courage and leadership,” added the statement.

Kiir said the government has invested all necessary measures including involvement of community leaders in a bid to persuade Yau Yau for talks.

Unfortunately “these efforts have not yet succeeded” saying it regrets on the kind of the response to the amnesty amidst the deteriorating insecurity and humanitarian situation.

“The government is willing to continue with these efforts and is willing to reach an understanding with David Yau Yau,” stated the release.

Kiir had further called the Jonglei community to strengthen efforts on reconciliation, saying peace there cannot be achieved by the efforts of the government alone.

Last month Yau Yau was quoted by media outlets saying negotiation with government is not possible through mediation by any national agency; saying he needs the involvement of the international community as one of the conditions. . (Back to Top)

S. Sudan: Media and rights bodies protest closure of Lakes state radio Sudantribune.com Juba, 2/07/ 2013 - South Sudanese media and human rights advocacy groups on Tuesday protested against the closure of an independent radio station in its Lakes state.

South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA), in a statement, strongly condemned the shutdown of the state-run Catholic radio, describing the move by authorities as "vague and groundless".

Using such reasons to take the radio station off the air was an attack on the "heart of South Sudan’s Constitution", SSHURSA’s statement reads in part.

"This must be condemned by anyone who cares about South Sudan’s current and future democratic and rule of law based governance", it adds

The 2011 Transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011 allows for the right to freedom of expression and media. Article 24(1) state:

"Every citizen shall have the right to the freedom of expression, reception and dissemination of information, publication, and access to the press without prejudice to public order, safety or morals as prescribed by law".

Garang Deng, a member of South Sudan civil society alliance said the way state authorities acted sends a frightening message to the press and demonstrates the government’s intolerance of independent and critical views.

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"Unilateral decision should not be the immediate response of the authorities to issues on which they hold different views”, Deng told Sudan Tribune Tuesday.

Several media and human rights bodies accused Lake state information minister, Dut Makoi Kuok of unilaterally ordering the closure of the radio, allegedly for broadcasting a meeting he held with the station’s management.

Makur Marial, who regularly commented on the radio said government blundered in its decision and that the reasons it put forward did not amount to closure of the Catholic founded station.

“I was not present at the time, but I learned from colleagues that the minister just decided to shut down the radio to show that he is in the position of authority. There are no good reasons he could give to convince the people", Marial said by telephone from Rumbek, the Lakes state capital.

Some of such reason, according to the minister, includes allegations that the radio station had been reporting on human rights abuses in Lakes state and that the programs and activities at the station have been politicised, he added.

Multiple sources, including activists and local journalists told Sudan Tribune that Lakes state authorities are furious about the way the station reports local politics.

Meanwhile, South Sudan Union of Journalists (SSUJ) called on the authorities to respect the internationally recognised standards of freedom of expression and freedom of the press it purports to uphold, and to cease all further acts of harassment and intimidation against journalists and media houses.

SSUJ, in a statement, further called urged South Sudan’s top leaders, including Lakes state’s governor and the country’s information minister to "quickly" reverse the decision, release all the equipments detained by the state administration and to allow the media to operate freely and without fear of repercussion.

“This is a threat to democracy and human rights; it is an affront to fundamental human rights of the citizen and of the profession which is guaranteed by the constitution of the Republic of South Sudan", the union’s statement reads in part.

Two year since it attained independence, South Sudan still lack functional media laws, with many of its journalists arrested on shaky grounds and held without trial.

The crack down on the media, media practitioners say, is seen as a contradicting move by a government, which declared its commitment to freedom of the press.

South Sudan, according to Reporters without Borders, dropped fell 12 places in this year’s press freedom rankings, which placed it at 124 out of 148 countries globally. . (Back to Top)

South Sudan: Radio Station in South Sudan's Rumbek resumes broadcasting Allafrica Rumbek, 02/07/2013 — Rumbek Catholic Radio Good News FM-89 resumed its normal broadcast on Tuesday after being ordered to go off air by the Lakes state government on Friday.

However, the station's program manager, Peter Mapuor Makur Malith, has been suspended without a reason being given.

The staff at the station alleges that Mapuor has been suspended due to pressure from the Lakes state government. Various government sources have told Sudan Tribune that Mapuor's suspension paved the way for the broadcaster to be allowed back on the air. Security personnel are reported to have been instructed to monitor the radio station's output, which the state minister of information described as politicized.

Radio Good News staff say the decision to shut the down on Friday was an act of media censorship and another example of the "rough justice" imposed by caretaker governor Maj-Gen Matur Chut Dhuol, who was appointed in January.

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A copy of a letter from Rumbek Catholic Diocese to Mapuor did not indicate any reason for his suspension but the move paved the way for Radio Good News to go back on the air after being off the air for nearly three days.

So far Lakes state minister of information and communication, Dut Makoi Kuok has permitted the station to reopen with only music.

Kuok told Sudan Tribune that Radio Good News has been allowed to resume but denied that state government had unlawfully forced them off air and claimed the government had followed "process" and "proper professionalism".

But the South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA) claimed that Kuok's actions represent an attack on the "heart of South Sudan's Constitution" which guarantees freedom of expression.

The human rights group accused Kuok of abusing his powers, not following the law and acting outside his mandate.

Rumbek Catholic Dioceses Administrator was allegedly forced to take the decision to suspend station program manager Mapuor to improve the chances for resuming normal broadcasting.

The Catholic Diocese of Rumbek's Fr. Fernando Colombo has described as false and misleading media reports the station was closed for spreading political messages. He has welcomed the station's resumption of broadcasting.

Radio Good News FM-89 is a part of the Catholic Radio Network operating in South Sudan. . (Back to Top)

Nearly 20,000 South Sudanese still stranded in Upper Nile: IOM Sudantribune.com Juba 2/07/ 2013 – An estimated 20,000 South Sudanese returnees are still stranded within the four transit camps in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.

Despite this, however, the organisation says it organized a convoy of river barges carrying 1000 returnees, which departed Sunday from Renk in Upper Nile on a two-week journey to the capital, Juba.

“The river convoy, consisting of two passenger and two luggage barges, was the first to depart from Renk this year,” Jumbe Omari Jumbe, the IOM spokesperson told a United Nations briefing Monday.

IOM medical staff, he said, screened returnees travelling on the barges 72 hours prior to departure to check if they were fit to travel and prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

“Children under the age of five were also vaccinated,” Jumbe further said, adding that IOM medical teams escorted the barges throughout the journey to guarantee their safety.

The IOM spokesperson, however, expressed concerns that the two Sudans had not yet finalised the implementation of the four freedom agreement, which both countries reached in September last year.

The agreement, signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia would allow Sudanese persons to live and potentially gain citizenship, if they wished to live in South Sudan, and vice versa.

Meanwhile, IOM says that it has helped at least 40,000 people return to the south from Sudan since 2011, when the country split into two after southerners voted for secession.

The organisation has since 2007 reportedly registered up to 1.9 million South Sudanese returnees. . (Back to Top)SSTEP chief meets state education minister _

Over 1,000 leave Komou Boma over hunger threat Emmanuel Radio Torit, 03/07/2013-At least 1,000 people are estimated to have abandoned their homes fleeing to urban areas due to food shortages in Budi County of Eastern Equatoria.

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Komou Boma Area Chief Celestino Lokai reported the hunger threat that drove hundreds to an urban exodus, Emmanuel Radio reported.

The Boma chief disclosed the hunger disaster on Saturday during the handover of Kiviva Rock Water Catchment Project in Kimotong Payam, Budi County.

Chief Lokai said many youths left the rural areas in groups of ten, 20, 40 and 50 and never returned home.

He added that many able bodied men and women went to Kapoeta South, Kapoeta North, Chukudum and Torit in search of food.

Chief Lokai said the remaining population can’t survive on the water provided by Caritas Switzerland-Luxembourg but need food.

He appealed to the Catholic charity to rescue the community with food.

Kimotong payam women representative Lucia Nayepwo Anthony cited unreliable rainfalls that caused crop failure as the main cause for the hunger threat.

She said looming hunger caused massive relocation from villages to towns.

Ms Nayepwo added that many villages in Komou Boma of Kimotong payam in Budi County were abandoned. . (Back to Top)

80,000 People suffer hunger in EELeave a reply Eyeradio.org Torit, 03/07/2013-Severe hunger has affected nearly eighty thousand people in Eastern Equatoria state, as the current drought continues to cause crop failures in the region.

Since the beginning of this year, farmers have had to contend with an absence of rain, and growth of their crops has been greatly affected.

“The state is under extreme threat of hunger – forcing people to migrate in search of food,” the state minister of Information, Felix Otudwa, told Eye Radio.

“This time round, it has failed completely and it has already affected many people…..all the Taposa now have migrated with their cattle to Lopa County …while Lebuya have also migrated to Torit.”

Mister Felix appealed to the government and non-governmental organizations for humanitarian assistance, to ease the crisis.

Earlier this year, Eastern Equatorial region reported a hunger crisis in the state after famine killed at least 10 people in the area. (Back to Top)

Invest in media to accelerate development, USAID tells South Sudan Eyeradio.org Juba, 03/07/2013-South Sudan should invest and develop its media sector, to accelerate development, and realize a democratic state, the Deputy Mission Director for the United States Agency for International Development told Eye Radio.

Alex Deprez says the freedom of the press, needs to be enshrined in South Sudan’s Constitution, and upheld by law.

“As the nation builds its legislative, its judicial, its executive functions, it also needs to build its press –its information, because that is a very important part of a democracy. It is a very important part of democratic institution; it is a very important part of the nation.”

Mr. Deprez who visited Eye Radio yesterday describes how free media could help boost development in South Sudan:

“Our country, the United State of America, we believe that press and freedom of information has greatly contributed to our progress across the board, and we believe if South Sudan can also invest in its freedom of the press and support its media, then it will also benefit -in the long run –as it builds up its institutions and the rest of its nation.”

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Mister Deprez also said that, South Sudan will continue to receive support from the US government, as it enters its third year since independence.

“You have the support of the American people towards building a democratic state, one that gives opportunities to all of its citizens, protect all of its citizens, delivers services as well and is a great partner to its neighbors and also to the United States of American.”

USAID is involved in various sectors in South Sudan.

The humanitarian arm of the US government supports democracy and governance programs, building the agriculture sector, procuring of pharmaceuticals in the health sector, infrastructural development, capacity building of government institutions, including humanitarian assistance and conflict mitigation. (Back to Top)

21 returnees arrive in Yambio from Khartoum Anisa Radio Yambio, 02/07/2013-Twenty-one returnees on Saturday arrived in Yambio transit camp from Khartoum.

The returnees came by lorry, Anisa Radio reported.

Peter Carmelo Baika, the head of the family of five, said they spent two years and half since they left Khartoum in June 2011.

He said some of them lost their relatives and properties during the long journey.

Mariata Khanido Dangu, a returnee from Ezo County, thanked God for reaching home safely.

The State Relief Coordinator for Yambio County Francisco Francis Hakim said the authorities asked the returnees to trace out their places of origin in the state. (Back to Top)

AIDS Commission, stakeholders review 2011 commitment Bakita Radio Juba, 02/07/2013-South Sudan AIDS Commission and different stakeholders on Tuesday reviewed 2011 High Level Meeting principles declared to fights HIV AIDS.

Commission chairperson Esterina Novello said the review comes while the Commission is planning to develop the 2013-2017 HIV AIDS strategies, Bakhita Radio reported.

She said the work on the new strategies will be finalized by this month.

Ms Novello said a survey launched in March showed that HIV prevalence in the country is at 2.6 percent with 16,000 new infections annually.

She warned that the country is not secured though the previous statistics put the national prevalence at three percent.

National Health minister Michael Milly Hussein said the government is committed to fight HIV AIDS.

He said the ministry plans to conduct a nationwide awareness campaign that can minimize the spread of HIV AIDS.

Dr Hussein called on the stakeholders and the civil society activists to put more efforts in educating the public. (Back to Top)

Dr. John Garang Memorial University lacks facilities for service delivery: Official Gurtong Bor, 02/072013–Dr. John Garang Memorial University operating in Jonglei state lacks facilities to enable the smooth running and effective service delivery, an official has said.

An Associate Professor and Coordinator at the College of Management Studies, Mawut Achiechque Guarak has said that the five public universities operating in South Sudan lack university structures, lecturers and other university needs.

Speaking to Gurtong, associate Professor calls upon the national government to prioritized education and provide quality higher education within the country.

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“The National Government must revise its list of priority and education must be put on top, that is the only way, even our armed officers fighting if they are not relatively educated to understand what they were fighting for they cannot wage a better conventional war so education must be lifted up from where it is now in the government priority,” Mawut said.

He said the lecturers must understand that it is not an easy task to deliver services to students as a respond to the Vice Chancellor, Professor Aggre Ayien Majok who was last week reported to have considered resignation if all the requirements are not fulfilled for the university to run effectively.

Aggre said that University lacks enough lecturers, structures and adequate operating cost for the maintenance of the University facilities in Jonglei state adding that funds for running the university had never been released by the Finance Ministry.

The university, then called Dr. John Garang Institute of Science and Technology, branch of International University of Moldova (ULIM) opened on January 28, 2008 as a promising institution for South Sudan by South Sudanese and run by ULIM.

Former Governor of Jonglei State, Philip Thon Leek, is considered as the founding father of the university when he rejected taking sponsored 40 students to Moldova

and pushed for home-based university

The institute opened two months after Governor Philip Thon Leek was replaced by Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk.

Governor Philip Thon’s argument was tremendous because 80 more students enrolled at the university when it started making a total of 120.

It was just three years since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and many of the students had returned from different countries with varying education system.

An access course was necessary to close the gaps between students who completed high school in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan.

After six months, students were released for a two-month holiday and returned in September 2008 to start degree programs in four courses of Pharmaceutical Technology, Law, Ecology (Environmental Science) and Agriculture. (Back to Top)

Eastern Equatoria State, Chinese firm ink agreement The Citizen Juba, 03/07/13 – The Government of Eastern Equatoria State and Chinese firm Sinohydro Corporation Ltd reached a deal yesterday for the construction of the Kinyeti Hydro Electricity Power State that will supply Torit and Ikotos counties in the state. The contract was signed at Home and Away Business Centre in Juba.

Ning Junyun, the representative of Synohydro Corporation Ltd, emphasized that they have already completed feasibility studies and other related technical aspects and will soon start construction work on the $27 million project. The dam will have a generating capacity of two megawatts and will be situation 60km from Torit town and about 200km from Juba. . (Back to Top)

Western Bahr el Ghazal state ready for independence celebrations Gurtong Wua, 02/07/ 2013-Western Bahr el Ghazal State Committee Secretary for the July 9 second independence celebration, Kamil Wana Uraj, has said that his state is now ready for the celebrations.

“Our committee which was recently formed and comprised of organization, financial, information and security committees has completed their preparations,” Uraj said.

He also said that the committee which was handling fund raising, decoration awareness and general cleaning of the town will tomorrow report back to the administration.

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“There is currently ongoing of one colour pains of shops in the town to those shops along the main roads, that is blue, white and red,” he said.

Cultural activities that are scheduled to host the day are also in practice within the town, he said.

Uraj acknowledged that 9th July 2011 is the year that marks the end of Arab regime in South Sudan and the year that brought the happiness of freedom to the people of South Sudan.

The day is a chronology event in the history of the Republic of South Sudan when the semi-autonomous region gained her independence. . (Back to Top)

Limited equipment hampers South Sudan police work - Spokesperson The Citizen Juba, 03/07/13 – The duties of the police to keep law and order in the country still faces challenges due to limited equipment, says the Spokesperson of the South Sudan National Police Services, Col. James Enoka. Speaking to The Citizen newspaper last week from his office, Enoka told the paper that some of the difficulties are the insufficiency of mobility facilities and lack of proper communication services along the highways and other roads. He said however the biggest need in the fight against crime in the country is cooperation among the different stakeholders.

“It is not the police alone to contribute towards the eradication of crime across the country, other sectors of the government and the citizens should work alongside by getting the information to police whenever needed,” he said.

He noted a decrease in crime rates between 2012 and these last months in 2013 but warned this should not be a case for celebration and called for renewed fights against crime.

The police spokesperson also pointed out at other problems in the force such as illiteracy on the part of some police officers as well as old age.

“The aged in the police are supposed to be pensioned but this needs a lot of money and the austerity measures are still in place,” Enoka added.

Meanwhile Enoka said investigations into the rape and murder of the 10-year old girl at Munuki is still on-going and justice is bound to take its course. . (Back to Top)

Political parties charge government of marginalization The Citizen Juba, 03/07/13 – Opposition political parties are accusing government of marginalizing them in decision-making on national issues. At a press briefing in Juba last week that was attended by representatives of seen political parties under the Political Parties’ Leadership Forum, the opposition parties requested the government to involve them in the negotiation process on the current situation in the country. This was in reaction to the threats of an oil shutdown made by Sudan early this month. (Back to Top)

Abyei students take part in Wau interschool national games Voive of Love Wau, 03/07/2013-Over 50 students from the Abyei area participated for the first time in South Sudan’s National interschool competition that ended on Tuesday in Wau.

Abyei area administrator Deng Monytuic Agok said it was of great pride for the people of South Sudan to gather themselves in such events like the national interschool games, Voice of Hope reported.

He said the games increase the spirit of love and unity.

Mr Monytuic added that sports gather athletes from different ethnic groups promoting social interaction.

He urged supporters to avoid aggressive behaviours because the games are not about winning the cup but a way of bringing people together.

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Mr Monytuic said states hosting the tournament should review and study the mistakes and successes of the previous games to improve the event.

Mr Monytuic called upon all the sports organizers to get prepared on time and organize well the next games.

National Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin closed the Second Interschool National Games in Wau on Tuesday.

He announced that Malakal would host the next games. (Back to Top)

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