Somalia:increasingly target journalists report
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Monday March 07, 2022 - 06:32:27 in English News by Super Admin
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ASOJ.ORG - 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 Associated Somali Journalists (ASOJ) 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.
Sarah Abdi
Somalia:increasingly target journalists report
ASOJ.ORG - 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 Associated Somali Jour