Condemnations of the arrest of a Somali journalist

The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders´ Network (EHAHRD-Net) is greatly appalled by the continued harassment of media workers in Somalia, the latest being the arrest of the Secretary General of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), Mr. Omar Faruk Osman, right, together with Ali Moalim Isak, the NUSOJ Organising Secretary. (19-DEC-06)

Based on the EHAHRD-Net´s press release, this article has been edited for republication here by HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz. Photos of Osman and Sheikh: HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz.

The NUSOJ Secretary General is said to have been picked up from the Mogadishu airport by security officials loyal to the Islamic Courts Union as he was about to board a plane enroute to Dubai. Reports say that Faruk’s laptop and other office details were confiscated and he was later released without charge. Faruk actively participated in the just concluded conference for journalists from the East and Horn of Africa held at Entebbe Uganda between the 27th and 29th of November 2006, organised by the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP).
 
-This continued trailing of journalists and other media workers by security forces in Somalia is an adamant violation of media freedom and is highly condemned. There´s no state that can exist harmoniously with its people while denying the media its freedom to operate without hindrance. As such, any group that wants to control leadership, must be seen to respect media freedom as provided for in regional and international human rights instruments, without fail, says Hassan Shire Sheikh, left, Chairperson of EHAHRDP/Net.
 
NUSOJ is an internationally acclaimed organisation fighting for the freedom of journalists in Somalia and is a founding member of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network. It has kept a good track record with the Network and therefore its activities or employees should not be viewed with contempt to the extent of harassing them the way the case in point happened.
 
APPEAL:
The Network calls upon the leaders of the Islamic Courts Union to observe media freedom by creating an enabling environment for media workers to carry out their responsibilities without undue interference.
 
The ICU should also ensure that all the documents confiscated from Faruk and his colleague, be returned to the owners in one piece.
 
All members of the Network should condemn this unfortunate act by the ICU forces and appeal to the international community to keep watch over unfolding events in that direction aimed at sabotaging the freedom of the press.

See also:

Two leaders of journalists´ union arrested at Mogadishu airport