Several journalists in the Darfur region have voiced grave concern for their safety after one of their colleagues was killed in El Fasher town, the capital of North Darfur State, last week.
Hawa Dawud, a journalist in El Fasher town, told Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that the killing of Journalist Khalid Balal at his home in the Dem Silik neighbourhood in El Fasher has caused fear and panic among the journalists.
“Gunmen killed Khaled Bilal at his home in the Dem Silik neighbourhood in the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, last Friday,” she said.
Dawud described the killing of Khaled as a “clear message to journalists who are still covering the conflict in the Darfur region” and demanded an urgent investigation into the killing of their colleague.
She also called on both sides of the conflict in Sudan to deal with journalists by the laws that regulate their profession.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Darfur Journalists Association condemned the journalist’s killing in El Fasher.
The association said, “We condemn the killing of Journalist Khaled Balal because of his affiliation to the journalism profession, and we sound the alarm for the lives of colleagues across the Darfur region.”
Separately, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged Sudanese authorities to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for killing journalist Khalid Balal in Darfur region.
The body appealed to all parties to the conflict to respect members of the press.
“We are shocked by the brutal killing of journalist Khalid Balal in his own home by armed combatants,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour from Washington, D.C.
He added, “We urge the Sudanese authorities to promptly investigate Balal’s killing and ensure justice for this crime. All parties to the war in Sudan must respect journalists’ safety and cease killing members of the press who are civilians.”
A colleague of the slain journalist – who preferred anonymity – accused the Sudanese army of killing Khaled Bilal because of his ethnicity.
She pointed out that Khaled was living in the Dim Silik neighbourhood, one of the neighbourhoods under the control of the Sudanese army.
The late journalist Khaled Bilal was an employee in the Information Department of the Supreme Council for Culture and Information in North Darfur State.
Assaulted and assassinated
Since the outbreak of the war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, journalists in Sudan have faced assaults, threats, enforced disappearances, and detentions by both Military Intelligence and the RSF.
Dozens of human rights violations against journalists and other media workers have been reported since April 15. Most newspapers and radio stations have been forced to close because of the fighting and the attacks.
Before April 15, Sudan already ranked 148 out of 180 in the 2023 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index.