South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) on Tuesday called on the government to offer formal condolences to the family of slain U.S. journalist Christopher Allen.
Oyet Patrick Charles, Chairperson of UJOSS said that Allen was killed while trying to tell stories of South Sudanese people to the world.
“UJOSS therefore, urges R-TGoNU to produce a written report on the death of Christopher, offer a copy of the report and formal condolences to his family,” Oyet said in a statement issued in Juba.
The 26-year-old freelance journalist, a dual American-British national, was shot in the head during a battle between the South Sudanese army and SPLA-IO rebels in the town of Kaya in Central Equatoria State on August 26, 2017.
On 21 March 2024, South Sudan released a report on the investigation into the 2017 death of journalist Christopher Allen claiming that he was “killed in crossfire” while covering the country’s bloody civil war.
The seven-member committee said it found out that slain journalist Allen entered the country illegally without travel documents.
The report repeatedly denied targeting Allen, who had been embedded with rebels from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army -in Opposition to cover the conflict that erupted just two years after the country declared independence.
Oyet welcomed the government’s efforts in investigating the circumstances under which Allen was killed.
“UJOSS appreciates the government for being transparent about what happened during the skirmishes in 2017,” Oyet said.
He said that the probe into the death of Allen should mark the beginning of an investigation into the death of other journalists killed in South Sudan while doing their job.
He said any Journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered civilians according to article 79 of the 1977 First Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
“From the evidence denoted to the media, it’s abundantly clear that Christopher was killed in the territory of South Sudan by warring parties in 2017, but those parties are now in one government,” Oyet said.
