Journalist tortured and abandoned to die in South Sudan

Journalist Joseph Afandy was found abandoned to die in Juba, the South Sudan capital, on 7 March. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) representing 600,000 journalists across the world condemns this inhumane and brutal act meted out on a journalist who was simply doing his work.

Media report that Joseph Afandy was kidnapped on 4 March by "unknown men", tortured and abandoned to die on the roadside near the Hai Malakal Cemetery, east of the capital, Juba. Afendy was found by a colleague in "a very bad condition, with wounds on his body and his legs burned".

According to the Africa Review, journalist Joseph Afendy, who works for the Al- Tabeer Arabic newspaper "is believed to have written an article criticising the ruling of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) on the current situation in the country".

Afendy is now receiving treatment at the Juba Teaching Hospital.

"We call for a swift investigation into this brutal attack against our colleague and ask the South Sudan government to take every possible measures to bring the perpetrators to justice", said IFJ President, Jim Boumelha. "One cannot simply look away while journalists are being tortured and brutalised with impunity simply for reporting the truth in South Sudan. We demand an immediate reaction from the Government and its judiciary system".
 
The IFJ recalls that 7 journalists were killed in 2015 while covering the conflict in South Sudan.