Wave of violence leaves journalists in Somalia ‘under siege’, says Amnesty

The increasingly hostile environment in Somalia has left journalists living in fear of both the government and militant groups, according to Amnesty International.

At least eight journalists have been killed since President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed came to power in 2017, while others have survived assassination attempts or been targeted for arrests and censorship, the rights group has said.

“Somali journalists are under siege. From barely surviving explosive-wired cars to being shot, beaten up and arbitrarily arrested, journalists are working in horrifying conditions,” Deprose Muchena, Amnesty’s director for east Africa, said in an statement.

The group claimed a “surge” in violence and intimidation under the current president, known as Farmajo.

Amnesty accused the government of not investigating attacks on journalists and censoring critical reports. Five journalists had been killed in attacks by the militant group al-Shabaab, while two others died at the hands of unidentified assailants, said Amnesty.

Bashiir Maxmud, a Mogadishu-based journalist, said he had received personal threats by telephone demanding he did not air sensitive stories or write about them on Twitter.

“I dared to ignore them and endanger myself to let my people have news from a reliable source,” he said.

Maxmud described the conditions as like working next to a “ticking timebomb”.

They cannot independently air news for fear of being attacked by the terror groups or the government itself,” he said.

To circumvent censorship, Somali journalists have used social media to post their work. However, the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) has warned of increased arrests for critical social media posts.

The organisation announced on Tuesday that journalist Hussein Ali Gesey was detained and threatened by authorities for a Facebook post criticising the security situation in the south-western town of Dinsoor.

According to the SJS, founded in May last year, 53 journalists were arrested in 2019.
At least 68 journalists have been killed in Somalia since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Most died in targeted murders while others were caught in attacks while on assignment.

In July 2019, Somali reporter Mohamed Sahal Omar and Canadian-Somali journalist Hodan Nalayeh were killed when gunmen attacked a hotel in the port city of Kismayo ahead of local elections.

“We, the journalists working in Somalia and specifically in Mogadishu, take risks working in a city where our colleagues are killed and maimed, and of course many others left the country,” said Maxmud.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cinema of Somalia

Image
Cinema of Somalia  Storytelling is an ancient custom in Somali culture. Love of cinema in Somalia is but a modern, visual incarnation and continuation of this well-established oral tradition. The earliest forms of public film display in Somalia were Italian newsreels of key events during the colonial period in Italian Somaliland. Examples of such works include Somalia: Gheledi (1913), Somalia italiana (1913), Somalia: Le bellezze del fiume Nebi (1913), Sotto la Croce del Sud - Somalia Italiana (1926), Visioni della Somalia italiana (1929) and Viaggio di S.M. il Re in Somalia (1934) In the late 1950s there was some collaboration between Rome's Cinecitta and the first Somali directors. As a consequence, in 1963 Hajji Cagakombe's Miyi Iyo Magaalo ("The Countryside and the City" or "Town & Village"), a Somali-Italian co-production, was the country's first full-length feature film Somaliwood A new generation of more entertainment-o
Read more

Heavy fighting erupts in Somali town near Kenyan border

Image
  Heavy fighting broke out overnight in a Somali town near the Kenyan border between Somali forces and those from the state of Jubbaland, as Somalia’s election troubles spill over into violence. Somalia’s information ministry in a statement early Monday accused Kenya-funded rebels of crossing into the town of Bulo Hawo and attacking Somali forces. But the Jubbaland vice president, Mohamud Sayid Adan, told reporters that Jubbaland forces stationed outside the town were attacked by what he called forces recently deployed to the region by the government in the capital, Mogadishu. Both sides claimed victory. The information ministry asserted that Somali forces were in control of the town and that nearly 100 of the suspected rebels had surrendered to Somali forces. But Information Minister Osman Abokor Dubbe later told reporters that five children had been killed and their mother wounded when a mortar round landed on their house. “Ordinary militias don't have mortars and missiles,” the
Read more

Somali Prime Minister announces new cabinet

Image
  Somalia's new prime minister announced his new Cabinet on Monday evening in the capital Mogadishu.  Speaking at the presidential palace flanked by his new ministers, Mohamed Hussein Roble said the new Cabinet consists of a deputy prime minister and 26 ministers, including four women. Fifteen of the new ministers (over 50%) are from the previous Cabinet, with Deputy Prime Minister Khadar Mohamed Gulaid, Finance Minister Abdirahman Duale Beyleh, Foreign Minister Ahmed Isse Awad, and Health Minister Fowzia Abiikar Nur all holding onto their posts. The new Cabinet also includes 17 state ministers and 26 deputy ministers. The new cabinet will need approval from the federal parliament. On Sept. 18, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed appointed Roble the country's new prime minister after parliament ousted Hassan Ali Khayre, his predecessor. The new prime minister and his Cabinet will have a brief mandate, as the Horn of African country's presidential and parliamentary elections
Read more