This archive report was first published on 29 August 2019.
On August 29, 2019, a vigil was held outside the South Sudan Embassy in Washington DC, where the parents of slain journalist Christopher Allen met with South Sudan Ambassador to the US Philip Jada Natana.
Christopher Allen, a freelance journalist, was killed in August 2017 while covering a rebel assault in Kaya, near the border with Uganda. His family has called on the South Sudan government to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
However, Ambassador Natana stated that the government is not accountable for Allen's death, citing that Allen had entered South Sudan through its southern border without proper documents.
The government claims that Allen was embedded with SPLM-IO rebels at the time of his death, making him the first foreign journalist killed in the South Sudan conflict.
Conditions for journalists in South Sudan remain difficult, with several journalists quitting the profession due to fear of persecution and others fleeing to exile.
