Mogadishu 3.5.2013: ARTICLE 19 welcomes the commitment made
by the Somali government at an ARTICLE 19 conference in Mogadishu to take
special measures to ensure perpetrators of violence against journalists are
held accountable.
Among the measures announced during today’s World Press
Freedom Day celebrations include the speeding up of thorough investigations
into the killing of journalists and better collaboration between security
agencies and media workers.
"We are particularly pleased that the Ministry of
Information has prioritised protection of journalists. The state of lawlessness
in Somalia has had a terrible impact on freedom of expression and if
implemented we believe these renewed efforts will help prevent the targeted
killings of journalists" Henry Maina, Director, ARTICLE 19 Eastern
Africa.
Speaking during a national conference hosted by ARTICLE 19
and held in Mogadishu to mark World Press Freedom Day, the Deputy minister of
Information, Posts and Telecommunications, Abdishakur Ali Mire said that his
Ministry together with the Parliamentary Committee on Information and the
National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) will work together to ensure
crimes against freedom of expression are punished.
The government also stated that the process of reviewing the
Media Law is on-going and that journalists from Puntland and Somaliland will
also be consulted to give their input.
In 2012, 18 journalists were killed in the country.
There has been only one conviction in relation to one of
these cases. A military tribunal sentenced Adan Sheikh Andi Sheikh Hussein to
death in March of this year for the killing of Radio Maanta’s Hassan Yusuf
Absuge in September 2012.
The situation for 2013 does not look to be showing any signs
of improvement. Four media workers have been killed so far this year. Despite
these widespread attacks, there is little accountability for violence against
media workers, leading to a high level of self-censorship and forcing many journalists
to escape into exile.
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