UN says South Sudan kills, beats, arrests journalists

In at least 60 incidents over the last year and a half journalists in South Sudan were killed, beaten, detained, denied entry or fired for doing their jobs, a UN report said Thursday. State security officers were responsible for the majority of the incidents verified by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and UN Human Rights Office between July 2016 and December 2017. The effect has been a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression, "further shrinking the space for debate and dissent," said UNMISS head David Shearer at a press conference in the capital Juba.
The UN said it verified 60 out of 99 allegations of incidents affecting at least 102 people. The incidents included two killings, 58 arbitrary arrests and 16 sackings as well as "intimidation, harassment, and other forms of violence". It said nine media outlets faced restrictions, three were shut down or suspended, four websites were blocked and eight articles in two newspapers censored. The vast majority of attacks targeted South Sudanese journalists, but some foreign correspondents were also affected.