Press freedom has declined the most in Africa, according to RSF ranking

Senegal has seen its place in the rankings plummet due to a series of events, including the arrest of Senegalese journalist Pape Ndiaye. Here, a demonstration demanding his release on January 26, 2023, in Paris. © Stefano Rellandini / AFP

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As every year on 3 May, the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) unveiled its annual ranking of press freedom in the world. According to the report, press freedom declined the most in Africa in 2022: RSF points to the effects of disinformation and threats and intimidation against journalists.

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Botswana moved up 30 places in the ranking, while Senegal, hitherto a "regional model", lost 31.

Despite a variable situation from one region to another, the picture is darkening for journalists on the continent: in 4 out of 10 countries, they work in "difficult" conditions.

In the Sahel, RSF notes an "explosion of disinformation" fuelled by the security threat. In Burkina Faso and Mali, RFI and France 24 have seen their antennas suspended, the report recalls, and foreign journalists have been expelled.

This turn of the screw by the authorities also concerns local journalists. The NGO points to more arbitrary arrests. In Burundi, for example, ranked 114th out of 180, journalist Floriane Irangabiye has just been sentenced to 10 years in prison for undermining "the internal security of the State".

For its part, Cameroon was mourned earlier this year by the assassination of Martinez Zogo. This radio host kidnapped in the street in Yaoundé and then found the mutilated body in January.

Some progress can be noted in Niger, ranked 61st, after the amendment of a law on cybercrime, deemed threatening for journalists.

In Sudan, even "outside the capital" there are "many difficulties as a journalist

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In Khartoum, most media outlets have closed. Amid the shooting and shelling, journalists are prevented from covering the conflict. This is the case of Marwah Alamin, a journalist who recently fled the capital. She tells how she continues to exercise from the state of Al Jazeera, a hundred kilometers from the capital, an area protected from fighting.

I had to flee Khartoum because it was impossible to work there. I couldn't leave my house, even to go to the nearest hospital, to cover the events there. The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces are everywhere. Even more so if you are a journalist! They rummage through your wallet and find your press card. Sometimes they abuse journalists, beat them or rob them. I report on Al Jazeera State, which has received the most displaced people since the beginning of the conflict. There are shortages of gasoline, bread, medicine. So I want to know, in what conditions do they live? Do they have enough to eat? While newsrooms are closing in Khartoum, outside the capital I still have a lot of difficulties. Because all these displaced people now depend on the Sudanese government. So it's not easy to get data from the authorities. I don't have access to the shelters where they are staying, I spent maybe 5 and a half days doing a single report on the situation here. When I was in Khartoum, I couldn't work. I literally saw people dying on the street. I feel bad that I can't accurately reflect the situation, but I have a lot of hope for a free press at last. The current conflict is further distancing this dream, but we will continue to fight to make it a reality.

Sudanese journalist Marwah Alamin talks about why she fled Khartoum and what her daily life is like as a reporter

Pauline Le Troquier

Senegal, a former "regional model", plummets in RSF's ranking

In the annual Reporters Without Borders ranking, Senegal fell 31 places compared to last year. The NGO RSF notes an "upsurge in verbal, physical and judicial threats against journalists in recent years". As a major election approaches, the presidential election scheduled for February 2024, the profession is worried.

With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac

From 73rd to 104th place: this is one of the biggest declines in RSF's new ranking, which notes that Senegal has long been considered "a regional model" for press freedom.

Yesterday regional model, the #Sénégal 🇸🇳 (104th) fell 31 places in the #RSFIndex2023 due in particular to the prosecution of journalists @papealeniang and Pape Ndiaye and the sharp deterioration of the security conditions of media professionals. #WPFD2023 pic.twitter.com/isYekpVkIS

— RSF (@RSF_inter) May 3, 2023

Several cases have followed one another in recent months. With the arrest first of Pape Alé Niang in November. Owner of the Dakar Matin website, after two stays in prison, he has been under judicial control since January, in particular for "disclosure of military documents likely to harm national defense".

Pape Ndiaye, a judicial columnist for Walf TV, has been imprisoned since March 7 for "spreading false news" after criticizing magistrates in the case against opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. The private channel was also suspended for 7 days in February, for coverage deemed "irresponsible" of opposition demonstrations in Mbacké.

As for Babacar Touré, director of the news site Kewoulo, he was charged on Wednesday evening, including for defamation, and placed under judicial control.

For its part, the government has regularly assured that press freedom is indeed guaranteed in Senegal, and denies any interference in judicial proceedings.

► Read also: Press freedom in Burkina Faso and Mali: The Call of the thirty

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  • Freedom of the press
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  • Mali
  • Sahel
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