National and International journalists assembled at the Al Jazeera office in Juba to pay tributes in honor of journalist Shireen Abu Akle, a Palestinian-American journalist who worked for Al Jazeera and was killed last week.
The 51-year veteran journalist was killed on Wednesday, 11 May, while covering an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
The president of the South Sudan Union of journalists (UJOSS), Oyet Patrick, has described the killing as a violation of human rights and has called for justice.
He says an immediate investigation on the killing of late Shireen should be made public, and the perpetrators brought to book.
The UJOSS leader is concerned that killing journalists while on duty is a bad image that undermines the rights to access to information and freedom of the media across the globe.
“The journalist in South Sudan would like to pass their condolences. Family of Shireen, please accept our condolences, her killing is a crime, and as such, it should be investigated, and those who committed this crime should be brought to book. Killing is a violation of fundamental human rights,” said Oyet.
Majur Chol Khor, a South Sudanese Freelance journalist, says the death of Shireen will create a big gap due to her significant contribution to the media fraternity and the family, respectively.
“We have not only lost a journalist, but we also lost a mother because she is a female journalist that we believe she is a mother who is giving birth to different children that will also have a different profession that they are supposed to perform globally.”
He pledged that the journalist in south Sudan will stand firm with the Al Jazeera media house and other journalists across the globe during this challenging moment.
“We stand in solidarity with Al Jazeera as a media house. We believe the loss of our late will also strengthen you to work together and continue to pursue the carrier of journalistic work.”
Mrs. Rania Elsadig, who reports for the South Sudan broadcasting company (SSBC), has encouraged the media fraternity to continue writing with courage.
She says the killing of Al Jazeera journalists will not create fear for the reporters to tell the necessary information the public needs.
Elsadig encouraged the government to protect journalists by ensuring their safety so that they could disseminate the information for public consumption.
Late. Abu Akleh is a Palestinian-American journalist who worked for Al Jeera for 25-years. She was known across the Arab world, for documenting the hardship of Palestinian life under Israeli rule.