Journalism at risk in the Sahel. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published a report on Monday 3 April on the increasingly difficult conditions of journalism in this region of Africa, with "growing threats" to freedom of information.
Despite the "happy release" of Olivier Dubois after 711 days of captivity in Mali, the head of RSF's sub-Saharan Africa desk, Sadibou Marong, recalled in the preamble that "no less than five journalists have been murdered and six others missing" in the Sahel over the period 2013-2023.
The report, entitled "In the shoes of a journalist in the Sahel", lists the various obstacles that currently hinder the work of journalists in the region, which is becoming "a no-news zone", according to RSF.
The "intensification of attacks" by armed groups occupies a prominent place in this respect. Between 2017 and 2022, more than 1,000 terrorist attacks were recorded in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, according to Sécurité Liptako-Gourma, a security monitoring and expertise structure.
Part of Mali has thus become "a no-man's land for reporters," according to RSF. The NGO lists the direct attacks on the physical integrity of journalists in the country over the past ten years: the murder of journalists Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon (RFI) in Kidal in 2013; the kidnapping of radio journalist Hamadoun Niabouly (La Voix de Douentza) in the Mopti region, in the centre of the country, in 2020; the abduction of Olivier Dubois (correspondent for Libération, Le Point and Jeune Afrique) in the Gao region on 8 April 2021; and the kidnapping, ten days later, of radio journalist Moussa M'Bana Dicko (The Voice of Haïré) in Boni.
"What we did not imagine at the time (in 2013) is the impact that the tragedy of Kidal would have, not only for RFI, but also for all the Malian and international press," said Christophe Boisbouvier, RFI's deputy director in charge of Africa. "For ten years, there has been virtually no field investigation in northern Mali, Kidal and Tessalit."
In addition to Mali, other Sahel countries are also cited as "risk areas" for journalists. In Burkina Faso, the security situation now forces journalists to "assess the risk before moving" to report, says Atiana Serge Oulon, editor of the newspaper L'Événement. In Niger, "no journalist dares to go on the ground outside the few missions (...) such as travel by the head of state or ministers in charge of security issues," said a journalist on condition of anonymity. Chad is not immune to this situation of insecurity either.
Control and suspension of media by new ruling juntas
The attacks in the region "directly affecting the media" include two armed groups identified in the region since 2012, according to the report: Wilayat al-Sahel (formerly Islamic State in the Greater Sahara) and the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM). The latter, which since 2017 brings together several jihadist groups including Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, was notably behind the kidnapping of Olivier Dubois.
These two groups "are present mainly in Mali, but also in Burkina Faso, Niger, and have been active in the border areas north of Benin, Togo and Côte d'Ivoire [...] and they have been waging a relentless war since late 2019, early 2020," Wassim Nasr, a journalist specializing in jihadist movements, told France 24.
In addition to the security threat, the arrival of juntas in power in several Sahel countries represents "another challenge" for journalists, RSF said: "Whether in Mali, Burkina Faso or Chad, no sooner are they in power than the new authorities seek to control the media through bans or restrictions. even attacks or arbitrary arrests."
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The report recalls that "public media are particularly vulnerable at the time of coups", with the military seeking to take control of national television and radio in order to announce their seizure of power – as was the case in Burkina Faso during the second coup in nine months, in September 2022.
Once in power, juntas in several Sahel countries "do not hesitate to reshape the media landscape to better serve their interests," RSF said. He cited the example of Mali, where correspondents from France 24 and RFI were accused in January 2022 of contributing to a "disinformation campaign" by the Collective for the Defence of the Military (CDM), a group of soldiers reputed to be close to the ruling junta.
Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga ordered, two months later, the suspension of the two French media of international information, although the company France Médias Monde "strongly protested against unfounded accusations" and recalled "its unwavering attachment to the freedom to inform and the professionalism of its teams".
🔴 @France_MM deplores the procedure initiated by the Malian authorities to suspend @RFI and @FRANCE24 in Mali, and strongly protests against unfounded accusations. The group reiterates its unwavering commitment to the freedom to inform and the professionalism of its teams. pic.twitter.com/pjTFLm0dln
— France Médias Monde (@France_MM) March 17, 2022
The situation has also deteriorated in similar conditions in Burkina Faso: RFI was suspended last December, the military authorities accusing it of having taken up "false information" on the president of the transition, Captain Ibrahim Traoré. Our colleagues "strongly deplored this decision" and protested "against totally unfounded accusations".
France 24th met the same fate on March 27, the Burkinabe government reproaching him for broadcasting an "interview (a 19-second excerpt, editor's note) of the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb". The channel's management "deplored this decision" and "contested the baseless accusations that call into question (its) professionalism". The NGO Human Rights Watch called for "lifting the ban on the dissemination of France 24", adding that "the serious security situation in Burkina Faso must not be used as a pretext to restrict the fundamental rights of the Burkinabe people to seek and access information through independent media outlets."
The correspondents of the newspapers Le Monde and Libération were also expelled from Burkina Faso on Sunday 2 April.
The shadow of Wagner and "patriotic injunctions"
The shadow of the Wagner group also hangs over the freedom of tone of journalists in the Sahel, RSF points out, which specifies that all the journalists contacted for its report make the same observation: "In Mali in general, in the north and center in particular, no media dares to talk about Wagner for fear of reprisals." One added: "Since the suspension of France 24 and RFI, the national media have avoided mentioning the words 'Russian mercenaries' or 'Wagner'."
In addition to the armed groups and juntas in power, journalists working in this region of Africa also face the difficulty of collecting, verifying and cross-referencing their information in the political and military fields. This work "with the competent institutions has become more difficult, if not impossible," RSF notes, to the point that the media "find themselves more and more often confined to having to pass on soothing official communiqués."
The NGO identifies cases of withholding information in Niger, Benin and Burkina Faso. It also notes the adoption in several countries of regulations "that restrict the right to inform more than they protect it." RSF also notes cases of "patriotic injunctions" issued by the authorities of certain Sahel countries who are "determined to control media discourse".
Faced with these multiple dangers to journalism, the head of RSF's sub-Saharan Africa desk warns: "This part of the African continent is dangerously becoming a region without independent journalists and reliable information, where self-censorship is becoming the norm."
"To avoid (this), this report also calls on states in the region," Marong said. "A leap forward is absolutely necessary so as not to deprive 110 million Sahelians of their basic right to be informed."
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