International Committee Demands Release of Journalists in North Darfur

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for the immediate release of two journalists detained by an armed group in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, over the past two days.

The New York-based CPJ said that members of the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council (SLM-TC) arrested freelance journalists Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nizar on Monday, July 7, from a shop in the Abu Shouk camp market in El Fasher, North Darfur.

The arrests followed an incident on July 5, in which a member of the same group allegedly shot Yaqoub after he refused to hand over a Starlink device, a basic internet connection in the region, according to Nizars Facebook post, in which he confirmed Yaqoubs safety.

Yaqoub and Nizar were not covering an event at the time of their arrest. Instead, they were using the Starlink device to connect to the internet and cover the war on Facebook to Yaqoubs 5,000 followers and Nizars approximately 10,000 followers, according to a local journalist following the case who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

“The arrest of independent journalists Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nizar on July 7 is a clear assault on the public’s right to know what is happening in Darfur,” said Sarah Qudah, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa regional director. “Sudanese authorities must immediately release Yaqoub and Nizar and hold accountable those responsible for Yaqoub’s shooting on July 5.”

The Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council confirmed Yaqoub and Nizar’s arrest to local media after they were accused of media provocation and incitement, according to a local journalist.

Darfur residents rely heavily on Starlink devices to access the internet amid the collapse of formal telecommunications infrastructure in war-torn Sudan. Journalists using these networks face increasing harassment and violence by armed groups operating with impunity, according to the journalist who spoke with CPJ.

CPJ did not receive a response to an email it sent to the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council requesting comment on the arrests of Yaqoub and Nizar.

Since the outbreak of war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented the killing of at least fourteen journalists and media workers across Sudan.