Somalia

The danger of covering violent street protests has become a significant risk for journalists, alongside combat and targeted killings. Sexual assault, organized crime, and digital vulnerability are also hazards. The security industry is struggling to keep up. By Frank Smyth

Murders decline, but fatalities rise during coverage of protests. Photographers and freelancers pay an especially high price. Pakistan is the world's most dangerous nation.

Local and international journalists faced persistent, deadly violence, with both targeted murders and crossfire killings reported. Four soldiers with the African Union peacekeeping mission fired on a Malaysian humanitarian aid convoy in September, killing one journalist and injuring another. The AU mission in Somalia suspended the soldiers and returned them to their home country of Burundi for potential trial. Despite improved security in the capital, Mogadishu, journalists across the country continued to flee into exile to avoid threats and violence. Al-Shabaab militants and other insurgents continued to shutter independent radio stations in southern and central Somalia. Growing insecurity in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland led to increased attacks and arrests of journalists. In Somaliland, President Ahmed Mahmoud Silyano reneged on his 2010 campaign pledge to uphold press freedom and initiated a series of state-sponsored criminal defamation cases against the region's private press.

New York, January 30, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is saddened by Saturday's murder of a Somali journalist and calls on authorities to investigate the killing immediately and bring those responsible to justice.

New York, January 17, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the deteriorating press conditions in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland after this weekend's detention of 21 journalists protesting a police raid on a private broadcaster.

New York, January 13, 2012-- The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the recent spate of arrests of independent reporters in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland. 

New York, January 10, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland to explain why they have detained Royal Television correspondent Yusuf Ali since Sunday. 

New York, January 5, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland to explain why they have held two journalists without charge since Monday.