Over the past four years, violence against journalists and other media professionals in Somalia has escalated to an alarming level. Somalia is now the most deadly state in Africa for journalists. While Somalia remains enveloped in armed conflict between the internationally backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and a handful of armed rebel groups, the two largest being al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam, political and security instability in the country has led to pervasive and widespread violence throughout all regions. According to the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUOSJ), between 2007 and 2010, 22 journalists were targeted and murdered specifically for their journalism, 32 were wounded while conducting their journalistic work, 108 journalists were imprisoned, 200 journalists received death threats, and 250 journalists fled the country. There are several ways in which both the TFG and the armed rebel groups have silenced journalists and the media in Somalia, effectively obstruction the right to freedom of expression and of the press. Not only has direct violence and intimidation been used against journalists and other media professionals forcing them to risk their lives or flee, but legal restrictions and obstacles have created other means by which freedom of expression is threatened. Both the TFG and the armed groups have tried to control the media by creating laws to silence the other sides’ viewpoints, effectively silencing the media all together. The TFG has also used to the anti-terrorism laws passed by the transitional parliament in 2006 as a means to silence journalists. Defamation and slander laws have also been used to intimidate journalists and media professionals. Somalia is also lacking an independent judiciary, therefore creating an unjust court. Many journalists and media professionals have been detained without charge or brought before a closed court that has ignored the defendant’s right to due process. Violence, intimidation, legal restrictions, and an unjust court are all contributing factors to Somalia’s devastating loss of journalists and a free media.
Violence
In Somalia, between 2007 and 2010, 22 journalists have been killed and 32 journalists injured. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Somalia in 2010 stated that, “[k]illings of journalists and other attacks against the media are politically motivated in a direct attempt to muzzle freedom of expression and to obstruct the public’s right to know and to force self-censorship upon media practitioners.” In a formal letter to Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, President of the Puntland State of Somalia, signed by over 50 human rights organizations, the NUOJS emphasized their concern for journalists’ safety stating:
–On 17 November 2009, Mohamed Yasin Isak was allegedly wounded by soldiers affiliated with Puntland police while working as a reporter for Voice of America in Galkayo. A month later, Hassan Mohamed Jama of Radio Galkayo escaped assassination when he was fired upon by Puntland police in Galkayo. Journalist Abdullahi Omar Gedi who worked as a newscaster and reporter for Radio Daljir, was stabbed to death in the Galkayo District of Mudug region on 31 August 2010. To date, no one has been arrested or persecuted for these crimes (29th, October 2010).—
On 5, May 2010, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the killing of a veteran broadcast journalist. Sheik Nur Mohamed Abkey worked for the state-run Radio Mogadishu. He was abducted near his home and shot in the head three times, according to local journalists. Sheik Nur Mohamed Abkey’s body was found in an alley way near his home. Many local journalists suspect that he was tortured before he was killed. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the murder.
A month later, a New York Times correspondent, Mohammed Ibrahim, had to flee Somalia after he received death threats over an article he had written concerning the use of child soldiers by the Somali government. According to the International Press Institute (IPI), the government threatened everyone involved in writing the piece after foreign investors expressed concern over the allegations. “Somalia’s transitional government was outraged by our story on its use of child soldiers and has threatened all the local people who helped us report it, including Mohamed, another translator, and even the owner and staff of the hotel where we stayed when we reported that story,” said the NY Times East Africa Bureau Chief in an email to IPI.
Another devastating attack on local journalists occurred on the 29, June 2010. Reporters without Borders reported that several journalists were seriously injured when a local press conference was bombed in Mogadishu. “Journalists and civilians are never spared in the conflict pitting al-Shahaab against the Somalia Transitional Federal Government Forces. It is shocking that those who carried out this attack should target a press conference knowing that the main victims would be journalists”(Reporters without Borders).
Speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council in September, 2010, the NUSOJ Secretary General, Omar Faruk Osman, said: “the violence and fear of violence in southern and central regions of the country is testimony to the continuous struggles by journalists to uphold their rights, especially the rights to freedom of expression.” He added that violence remained a powerful tool to enforce a culture of silence and impunity.
Restrictions on Freedom of Expression
Not only is violence creating a climate of fear in Somalia, but legal restrictions and threats of legal action against journalists and media professionals have also put a strangle-hold on freedom of expression. According to the CPJ, award-winning journalist, Mustafa Haji Abdinur, and freelance cameraman, Yusuf Jama Abdullahi, were detained by police in July 2010, for taking pictures of their colleague, photojournalist Farah Abdi Warsame, who had been hit by shrapnel in crossfire. Officers at the Criminal Investigation Department interrogated the journalists for several hours and forced them to delete all of their photographs. They were then released without charge.
In August 2010, radio journalist Abdifatah Jama was sentenced for six years under Somalia’s anti-terrorism law for broadcasting an interview with a rebel leader. CPJ expressed outrage at the court proceedings, citing that the government violated basic standards of fairness. “The court issued its ruling just a day after Jama’s arrest, closed the proceedings to the public, and denied Jama access to a lawyer,” the journalist’s supervisor told CPJ. Jama was later pardoned and released after spending 86 days in prison. The TFG has used anti-terrorism and national security laws to suppress freedom of expression in Somalia. According to CPJ, the anti-terrorism law has not been disclosed to the public even though it is used quite often against Somalia’s citizens.
While the TFG uses undisclosed laws to silence journalists, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) found that Somalia is also lacking a functioning judicial system in South Central Somalia. Al-Shabaab uses its own Sharia courts and Puntland has a justice system deprived of all independence from the executive and other branches of government. According to the UPR, there are also allegations of corruption among attorneys, judges, police, and other security agents. Furthermore, witnesses are not protected, and therefore many people are unwilling to come forward.
Moreover, while rebel groups have banned radio stations playing music, claiming that music is un-Islamic, the TFG has threatened to shut down radio stations that do not play music. This fighting between the government and rebel groups have created laws that effectively ban all radio stations. Mohammed Ibrahim, a NY Times correspondent, reported that, “[t]he competing warnings to the radio stations, a broader reflection of the prolonged struggle over who is in charge in Somalia, clearly touched a nerve of exasperation among the handful of independent journalists who have continued to work here despite many years of violence and threats.” BBC and Voice of America productions have also been banned throughout southern and central Somalia. After forcing many radio stations to shut down and silencing all other independent radio stations, the European Union released a statement condemning the affront to freedom of expression in Somalia. The press release asserted that these attacks against the media were just the “latest chapter in an already established pattern of killings, threats and harassments of Somali journalists.”
Violence, intimidation, legal obstacles, the misuse of anti-terrorism laws, and a dysfunctional judicial system are what journalists and media professionals are facing in Somalia today. Many journalists have been killed or injured, and many have fled the country in search of protection. Radio stations have been effectively silenced, and a climate of fear lingers over the country. Independent media may be wiped out if Somalia continues to disregard the rights of its citizens to disseminate and gather important information. The international community and Somalia have an obligation to protect freedom of expression and of the press—they are fundamental human rights and conducive to a free and peaceful society.
