Somalia’s journalists may be operating in one of Africa’s most dangerous zones with state actors and militants targeting them because of their work, a new report shows…
A report released Wednesday by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) accuses government officials, both at federal and regional levels, of being an inherent danger, operating beyond the law to punish both reporters and media houses “with impunity.”
It also shows that al-Shabaab and other militants have increasingly targeted journalists.
In 2021, two senior journalists were killed by unknown gunmen. Jamal Farah Aadan, 56, was gunned down on March 1 in Galkaayo, in Somalia’s Galmudug federal state. Later in November, Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled aka ‘Africa’, a veteran radio broadcaster who criticised Shabaabs on his shows, was blown up in a car park. A suicide bomber standing near the window of his car blew himself up, killing the journalist. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility in both cases.
Government officials have also been implicated in targeting journalists, In 2021, the report says, 34 journalists were arrested and detained without charge and four private media houses were temporarily shut down mostly for reporting on subjects that didn’t please authorities.
The report, Trail of Violence: Somali Journalists Bear the Brunt of Impunity, says there were 63 reported cases of unlawful arrests, detentions, torture, cyberbullying, threats directed at journalists, violent attacks and harassment, especially of female journalists,This is an “an overt and concerted effort to intimidate and weaken the entire industry,” report says.
