Somali News
Somalia: Spate of Arrests, Intimidation of Journalists
Allow Public Debate on Security, Covid-19 Responses
(Nairobi) – Somali authorities have been stepping up their intimidation of journalists as the country faces a growing number of Covid-19 cases. Since mid-April 2020 alone, authorities arbitrarily detained three journalists, accused two of various crimes, and prohibited a local radio station from broadcasting in a local dialect.
As of April 30, Somalia had 601 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 28 deaths reported. The country is also scheduled to hold general elections in late 2020 or early 2021, possibly the country’s first open election in 50 years. Somali authorities should use World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2020, to commit to ending arbitrary arrests and harassment of journalists.
“Somali authorities should stop jailing and harassing journalists at the very time when getting the news is crucial,” said Laetitia Bader, Horn of Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “An independent media protected from abuse is key to ensuring that Somalis have information to make informed decisions during the pandemic.”
On April 20, in the town of Baidoa, the authorities detained a Voice of America (VOA) reporter, Mukhtar Mohamed Atosh, and held him for two nights before releasing him on April 22. A court document stated that he was under investigation on charges of “publication of false, exaggerated news” and “giving false alarm to the authorities.”
Mukhtar told Human Rights Watch that the regional police questioned him about an April 19 VOA news story in which he reported on the alleged rape of three women on the road between Mogadishu and Baidoa and the death of one from her injuries.
On April 14, the police summoned Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye, the chief editor and deputy director of the private Goobjoog Media Group, to the Hodan police station in Mogadishu, where there was a warrant for his arrest. This followed two posts on his Facebook pages criticizing the Somali government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. One post alleged that President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (“Farmajo”) had taken one of the few ventilators recently donated to a hospital in Mogadishu.
On April 15, prosecutors before the Benadir regional court said that they were investigating Abdiaziz on charges of “offending the prestige and honor of the head of state” and “publication of false news,” among other provisions. Conviction on these charges can be punished with up to three years in prison. The judge ordered Abdiaziz transferred to Mogadishu Central Prison pending investigation. On April 18, he was released on bail.
On April 2, Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) posted on its Twitter account that it was investigating Harun Maruf of VOA, a prominent, veteran United States-based journalist and co-author on a book on Al-Shabab, as having “links that are a threat to national security” and accused him of engaging in actions “outside of the media code of conduct.” On April 23, the agency announced on Twitter that it had completed the investigation and was handing over the file to the country’s attorney general.
According to Somali journalist organizations, the authorities arrested journalist Mohamed Abidwahab Nur (known as Abuja) on March 7 and held him incommunicado. On April 22, after the journalist organizations protested his detention, the Ministry of Information announced that he was being detained by security agencies and under investigation for Al-Shabab membership and murder.
Human Rights Watch wrote to Federal Attorney General Suleiman Mohamed Mohamud on April 28 asking for details of the status of the investigations into Abdiaziz, Harun, and Mohamed Abuja but did not receive a response.
On April 24, the police briefly held Farhan Mohamed Hussein, a reporter with Radio Kulmiye, while covering a sudden outbreak of protests against the police, after the police fatally shot two people during a coronavirus curfew. They detained Farhan shortly after he arrived at the scene of the shootings, and took him to the Bondhere district police station, where he was forced to delete his photos and audio, and then released him.
On April 20, in the coastal town of Barawe, District Commissioner Omar Sheikh Abdi ordered a private community radio station, Radio Barawe, to stop broadcasting programs in Barwani, the local dialect. The order followed an April 17 broadcast on Universal TV network of a program featuring Radio Barawe. The station director said that the district commissioner arrived at the station at 8:30 p.m. with armed guards and ordered him to stop the broadcast. After significant public outcry and a statement from the region’s governor, the station was able to resume its Barwani programing late on April 21.
Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, as they face threats and attacks from government officials, private individuals, and the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab. Impunity for killings of journalists remains the norm. Journalists seeking to report on security issues and human rights abuses have regularly faced harassment and intimidation and many have been compelled to resort to self-censorship. These problems have increased during previous pre-election periods. Amnesty International has reported that Somalia’s current government regularly threatens, harasses, and interferes with the social media accounts of journalists who post critical comments.
The country’s outdated penal code, which came into force in 1964, includes a number of vague and overly broad crimes, including criminal defamation; offending the honor and prestige of the head of state; insulting a public officer or institution; and contempt against the nation, state, or flag, that contravene regional and international human rights standards.
The authorities have used these vague criminal laws on a number of occasions to silence critical reporting and commentary, Human Rights Watch said. The police detained another popular Goobjoog journalist, Ali Adan Mumin, for three days in May 2019 and accused him of insulting public officials in Facebook posts criticizing the country’s intelligence agency. He has since fled the country, fearing for his security.
A Human Rights Watch report in March 2020 on the human rights dimensions of the Covid-19 response and government obligations noted that governments have an obligation to protect the right to freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive, and impart information of all kinds. Any restrictions on this right must be lawful, proportionate, and necessary to achieve legitimate objectives. Access to timely and accurate information and open public debate are crucial for addressing the public health crisis.
The Somali government should ensure that the public is kept informed and that people are allowed to express their views, including to criticize the government’s response to Covid-19, Human Rights Watch said.
“The free flow of information is especially important in addressing and curbing the Covid-19 pandemic,” Bader said. “The government should be encouraging coverage of the pandemic and taking to heart people’s concerns and fears, rather than trying to stop the flow of information.”
Source: HRW
Photo credit: © REUTERS/Feisal Omar
Minnesota –
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) confirmed measles outbreak. This highly contagious virus can be serious, especially for young children and those with weakened immune systems. Here’s what you need to know:
What is Measles? A viral infection that causes a high fever, cough, runny nose, and a characteristic rash. It can lead to complications like pneumonia and encephalitis.
Symptoms to Watch For: Fever, cough, runny nose, and a red, blotchy rash that typically starts on the face and spreads.
Prevention: The best defense is vaccination. Ensure you and your family are up-to-date with the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. It’s safe and highly effective.
If You Suspect Infection: Contact your healthcare provider immediately and avoid public places to prevent spreading the virus.
Your vigilance can help protect our community. For more information and updates, check with local health authorities and healthcare providers.
Stay safe and informed! https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/measles/index.html
Minneapolis, July 20, 2022 –
The Horn of Africa experiences two rainy seasons per year. The timing varies across the region,
but rains broadly fall from March to May. The lack of these rains in 2022 has been felt
particularly in equatorial parts of the Horn of Africa region, where the long rains contribute 70% of the annual total rainfall. Currently, 16.7 million people are projected to be in crisis (UNOCHA) or worse levels of high acute food insecurity solely due to the drought in The Horn of Africa.
Four consecutive rainy seasons have failed since late 2020, a climactic event not seen in the
last 40 years. This disaster is expected to be worse than the famine in 2011, when 260,000
people died in Somalia alone, 50% of those people being children under the age of 5.
Our Executive Director, Mohamed Idris, and Program Director, Jordan Greene, had the
opportunity to visit the Horn of Africa in June 2022. While in The Horn, they were able to witness firsthand the effects of the drought. It became apparent to Idris that the humanitarian situation in the horn of Africa region is alarming.
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report projects that global warming will negatively affect food systems in the region by shortening the growing season and increasing water stress. The combined population of Switzerland and Australia doesn’t add up to the 16.7 million people facing food insecurity in the Horn of Africa. The UNOCHA report further emphasized that the consequences of the prolonged drought conditions have extended to the loss of livestock, with 7 million deaths recorded so far. Another 22 million livestock are estimated to have been severely emaciated due to the drought.
The ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by the drought raises serious questions about future
food and water security in the Horn of Africa. The conditions have increased the workload for
women and female children who are responsible for providing water using donkeys or carrying it on their back; Access to water has increased to a walk between 3 – 5 miles each way. As a
result, female children drop out of school to assist their mothers with this burden.
ARAHA has launched a campaign to support families suffering from this drought. Our teams on the ground in the Horn of Africa allow ARAHA to know what supplies are most needed at this time and respond to the areas in the most need as fast as possible. These supplies include
rice/maize/wheat, cooking oil, evaporated milk, and water. According to our Program Director,
“We are able to distribute food baskets and non-food items for hundreds of drought-affected
families in The Horn of Africa. However, the needs are currently far beyond the resources we
have.”
ARAHA needs donations to continue providing immediate relief and aid to victims of
this disaster. The Executive Director of ARAHA urges donors to think about these families and
support ARAHA’s lifesaving work: “It’s a matter of life and death for these families. Let us save
families before it’s too late. ”
To donate, please visit www.araha.org/donate or text “ARAHA” to 44321.
If you would like more information about ARAHA’s current efforts in The Horn of Africa, please contact Jordan Greene, Program Director (jordan@araha.org), or Ashley Dial, Marketing Director (ashley@araha.org). To learn more about our relief campaign, please visit www.ARAHA.org.
About ARAHA:
ARAHA is a humanitarian non-governmental organization (NGO) that works in the Horn of Africa region, delivering essentials and developing opportunities. We have a diverse range of programs that brings life to our mission and adapts to the specific needs of each community in which it works. The organization aims to bring immediate relief to those in need throughout the Horn while simultaneously seeking to create the conditions for sustainable opportunity and self-reliance. In all programs ARAHA pursues, it seeks to responsibly enact its mission while delivering essentials and developing opportunities in communities across the Horn.
Dhobley, 9th July 2022—Troops from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) serving under African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), have donated an assortment of medical supplies and food items to Dhobley General Hospital.
ATMIS Deputy Sector Two Commander, Colonel Joel Maiyo, said the food donation was to help with feeding of patients, especially children admitted with severe malnutrition as a result of the ongoing drought. The medical supplies are to help the hospital in meeting the medical needs of patients.
“We came to Dhobley General Hospital to donate medicine and food to support all patients, especially children, women, and the elderly who are admitted to this hospital. Our mandate as ATMIS is to support the Somali people, and this includes supporting the Somali Security Forces in protecting and taking care of welfare of the population. This donation forms part of our civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) activities,” said Col. Maiyo.
Receiving the items, the Director of Dhobley Hospital, Mohamed Yusuf Hassan, called for more support from ATMIS and Somalia’s international partners to help alleviate the suffering of the vulnerable members of the community.
“We appreciate this timely donation, and it must be said that ATMIS has always supported us in times of need. This donation will help alleviate some of the challenges we face. On many occasions, ATMIS has helped us deal with serious medical cases that cannot be treated in our hospitals due to lack of specialist care. We have taken patients to the ATMIS hospital where they have been treated, and we appreciate that very much,” said the hospital director.
Beyond combat activities to degrade Al-Shabaab, ATMIS forces in Somalia undertake Quick Impact Projects, which are small-scale projects that address the basic needs of local populations. Some of the activities include drilling of boreholes, refurbishing hospitals, building schools and markets to help improve the lives and welfare of the local communities living under its areas of responsibility.
ENDS.
SOURCE: ATMIS PUBLIC INFORMATION
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