The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to South Sudan Geert Geut today called on the government to respect media freedom.
Geut said this in Juba on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day which is marked around the world on May 3 to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, to defend media from attacks on their independence.
“As members of the diplomatic community our first job is to bring the universal rights of freedom of expression to the fore, and to the attention of the government, so in all our interactions with the government, we bring this to their attention and also in our contact with the international community they speak to the government,” Ambassador Geut said.
He stressed the need for the South Sudanese government to respect the freedom of expression as part of the world body.
“The membership of the United Nations brings with it the obligation to respect this right, so that’s why on the international front we are speaking about that,” he said.
The Dutch diplomat urged South Sudanese journalists to do their job professionally. “So it is a job that you have to learn,” he said, the professionalism of journalists in this country is important, especially in times of conflict and times of war to know what the truth is.”
“There is a saying when a war starts or a conflict starts the first victim in that war is truth. The task of journalism and journalists is to discover the truth,” Geut said.
The diplomat affirmed the international community’s commitment to support professional journalism in South Sudan.
A UN report released early this year said genuine reconciliation and lasting peace will only be achieved in South Sudan if people are free and safe to express their opinions regardless of their ethnic or political affiliations.
The report warned that undue restrictions on freedom of expression are having a “chilling effect” and “further shrinking the space for debate and dissent” in the conflict-affected country, while hate speech also continues to cause mistrust, fear and violence.