South Sudan censors newspapers, hampers press in civil war

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) - Journalists' organizations, both international and domestic, charge that South Sudan's government is restricting their ability to report the news.

They say this is particularly serious because South Sudan's civil war has created the world's largest refugee crisis and there are widespread allegations of sexual and ethnic violence.

In May the government started censoring the country's newspapers by blacking out articles it deems critical.

The Union of Journalists in South Sudan said that 15 South Sudanese journalists have been arrested, beaten, jailed, threatened or denied access to information in the past four months. The Foreign Correspondents' Association of East Africa said at least 20 members of the foreign press have been banned from or kicked out of South Sudan in the past six months.