Somalia

Exiled Somali journalists living in Nairobi were struck with disbelief this week when daily newspapers published a statement by the Department of Refugee Affairs ordering all Somali refugees to move to refugee camps. "The refugees, particularly those living in urban centers, are contributing to insecurity in the country," the statement read. The acting commissioner for refugee affairs, Badu Katelo, said aid agencies including the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) must stop providing aid to those outside the camps. 

Syrian violence contributed to a sharp rise in the number of journalists killed for their work in 2012, as did a series of murders in Somalia. The dead include a record proportion of journalists who worked online. A CPJ special report

Murder is the leading cause of work-related deaths among journalists worldwide--and this year was no exception. But the death toll in 2012 continued a recent shift in the nature of journalist fatalities worldwide. More journalists were killed in combat situations in 2012 than in any year since 1992, when CPJ began keeping detailed records.

Almost half of the 67 journalists killed worldwide in 2012 were targeted and murdered for their work, research by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows. The vast majority covered politics. Many also reported on war, human rights, and crime. In almost half of these cases, political groups are the suspected source of fire. There has been no justice in a single one of these deaths.

The tortured and decapitated body of 39-year-old María Elizabeth Macías Castro was found on a Saturday evening in September 2011. It had been dumped by the side of a road in Nuevo Laredo, a Mexican border town ravaged by the war on drugs. Macías, a freelance journalist, wrote about organized crime on social media under the pseudonym "The Girl from Laredo." Her murder, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, was the first in which a journalist was killed in direct relation for reporting published on social media. It remains unsolved.

In October, two gunmen shot Shabelle Media Network reporter Mohamed Mohamud as he left a mosque one evening; he died from the gunshot wounds less than one week later. Several members of the Somali armed forces who happened to be at the scene opened fire on his assailants, local journalists said, but Mohamed's killers have still not been identified.

Nairobi, November 26, 2012--Somali authorities must immediately release Ibrahim Mohamed Adan, a correspondent for the Somali service of the BBC, who has been held for nearly a week in Mogadishu without charge, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

Here are the facts:

• A journalist is killed in the line of duty somewhere around the world once every eight days.
• Nearly three out of four are targeted for murder. The rest are killed in the crossfire of combat, or on dangerous assignments such as street protests.
• Local journalists constitute the large majority of victims in all groups.
• The murderers go unpunished in about nine out of 10 cases.
• The overall number of journalists killed, and the number of journalists murdered, have each climbed since the 1990s.

Nairobi, October 29, 2012--Somali authorities should conduct a thorough investigation into the October 21 shooting of journalist Mohamed Mohamud "Turyare," who died from his wounds on Sunday, and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Mohamed, 22, a reporter and website editor for the Shabelle Media Network, had been shot by unidentified gunmen in the Hawo Tako neighborhood in the Wadajir district of Mogadishu, according to local journalists and news reports. He was hospitalized for abdominal surgery, and local journalists told CPJ his health was improving until Saturday afternoon. He died at around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, the journalists said.

Nairobi, October 24, 2012--Unidentified gunmen killed a journalist in the Somaliland town of Las Anod on Tuesday, the first work-related fatality CPJ has documented in the semi-autonomous republic.

Nairobi, October 22, 2012--Somali authorities must investigate the shooting of a journalist for a national broadcaster, identify the motive, and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Two gunmen shot Mohamed Mohamud Turyare, reporter and website editor for the Shabelle Media Network, after he left a mosque in the Hawo Tako neighborhood in the Wadajir district of Mogadishu at around 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to local journalists and news reports. Mohamed was hospitalized for gunshot wounds in his chest and abdomen, the journalists said.

Nairobi, October 9, 2012--Security agents in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland shuttered private broadcaster Horseed FM on Saturday morning and ordered Internet service providers in the region to block the station's website, according to local journalists.

Police from the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland detained two journalists without charge on September 13, 2012, and released them four days later, according to local journalists.

Nairobi, September 28, 2012--Two Somali journalists have been killed in Mogadishu in the past 24 hours, one in a brutal targeted attack, according to local journalists and news reports. 

Nairobi, September 21, 2012--Unidentified gunmen killed veteran Somali journalist Hassan Yusuf Absuge in Mogadishu this morning, just hours after he had reported on an explosion that killed 14 people including three of his colleagues.

Nairobi, September 20, 2012--Three Somali journalists were killed and at least four were injured in a suicide bomb attack in a Mogadishu café today, according to news reports and local journalists. The attack took place across the street from the National Theater, where a bomb blast in April wounded at least 10 journalists, news reports said.

The 17-year-old videographer Anas al-Tarsha regularly filmed clashes and military movements in the city of Homs in Syria, and posted the footage on YouTube. On February 24, he was killed by a mortar round while filming the bombardment of the city's Qarabees district, according to news reports. The central city had been under attack for more than three weeks as Syrian forces stepped up their assault on opposition strongholds.

A journalist in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland was attacked by police while covering a child custody dispute in a local court on August 4, 2012, according to local journalists and news reports. 

All the radio stations wanted him, and for good reason--Abdi Jeylani Malaq was one of the most famous comedians in Mogadishu, and it was the holy month of Ramadan when the radio broadcasters hold quiz shows. Abdi had been in the business since 1989 and was in hot demand as a commentator for the competitions. He had just finished one such quiz show Tuesday evening at Radio Kulmiye, in the capital's central region, and had left the station for home when two gunmen shot him five times in the chest and head, local journalists told me. He was pronounced dead from blood loss at Medani Hospital and was buried Thursday. "He was a great friend for me and for all Somali journalists," recounted Abdalla Ahmed, a reporter for the private Mogadishu station Radio Risaale. 

Nairobi, July 9, 2012--Two unidentified gunmen shot Universal TV reporter and anchor Abdulkadir Omar Abdulle on Saturday evening near his home in the southern Wadajir district of the capital, Mogadishu, but he survived the attack, local journalists told CPJ.

An eyewitness spotted two men removing pistols from their waists and warned Abdulkadir before the two gunmen shot him four times in the stomach and leg, according to local journalists and news reports. The journalist managed to run inside his house and the two gunmen fled the scene. Abdulkadir is recovering at Madina Hospital, local journalists told CPJ.

Four East African journalists who were forced to flee their countries tell about their experiences, difficulties, and hopes for the future. (3:43)

Read CPJ's report, "Journalists in exile: Crisis in East Africa," for more information about journalists forced to go into exile.

Crisis in East Africa

Fifty-seven journalists fled their country in the past year, with Somalia sending the greatest number into exile. Journalists also fled Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Rwanda--mostly for Kenya and Uganda. Exiles in East Africa must grapple with poverty and fear. A CPJ special report by María Salazar-Ferro and Tom Rhodes

"I'm free but I don't feel free," said Mohamed Abdi Urad, chief editor of Yool, a critical weekly published in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland. Mohamed had just been released on May 22 after a week in detention at Hargeisa Central Police Station. His crime? "I have no idea," he said. Mohamed had attempted to cover a deadly skirmish between civilians and a military unit over a land dispute in the eastern part of the capital, Hargeisa. "The Interior Minister just saw me walking towards the scene and ordered his men to arrest me," he said. A few days later, police released Mohamed unconditionally and without charge.

Nairobi, June 11, 2012--A Somali radio journalist was shot by two gunmen in Mogadishu on Friday, according to news reports. Mohamed Nur Mohamed, who was hit twice in the abdomen, survived the attack, the reports said.

Mohamed, a correspondent for Radio Bar-Kulan, a U.N.-sponsored radio broadcaster with headquarters in Nairobi, was walking home in the Hamarjajab neighborhood of the capital when the gunmen attacked him and then fled the scene, local journalists told CPJ. Mohamed's colleagues took him to a local hospital, where he is in stable condition, according to news reports. It is unclear if the attack was related to his work.

Jeffrey Gettleman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times correspondent, says he travels with "a small militia" whenever he reports from Somalia, the East African country afflicted by armed insurgency, poverty, and hunger. As intrusive as the security detail might be, he feels far more fortunate than the local reporters who face sustained and often deadly risks, or the freelance journalists who don't have the extensive support system the Times can provide.

Gettleman spoke to a crowd of about 100 at the Half King pub in Manhattan on Tuesday in the first event in the new CPJ discussion series, "CPJ Debrief." Gettleman, the East Africa bureau chief for the Times, has worked in the region for six years. With East Africa's needs so acute, and the volume of international reporting on the decline, the assignment has given him a chance to have a profound impact.

Nairobi, May 24, 2012--Assailants in Mogadishu today gunned down the host of a critical radio program, further punctuating what has already been a deadly year for the Somali press corps and for the journalist's employer, the Shabelle Media Network.

Four unidentified men fired repeatedly at Ahmed Addow Anshur at around 1:45 this afternoon while he was in Bo'le Market, in Dharkenley District, local journalists told CPJ. Ahmed was on his way home from work, the journalists said. Eyewitnesses said that soldiers of the Somali government were in the general area of the shooting, but did nothing when the attack happened, according to local journalists. The motive for the attack was unclear, and no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Will China's quickly expanding media presence in Africa result in a fresh, alternative, and balanced perspective on the continent--much as Al-Jazeera altered the broadcast landscape with the launch of its English service in 2006--or will it be essentially an exercise in propaganda?

New York, May 3, 2012--Two unidentified men shot and killed Somali journalist Farhan Jeemis Abdulle on Wednesday evening as he walked home from work in Galkayo, a town in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, according to news reports. 

Local journalists told CPJ that Abdulle, a producer and host at the private Radio Daljir, would often sleep at the station as a safety precaution but had decided to walk home since he had finished work early. The two assailants were waiting for the journalist near his home in Garsoor Village and shot him four times in the back and hand, news reports said.

CPJ's María Salazar-Ferro names the 12 countries where journalists are murdered regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. Where are leaders failing to uphold the law? Where are conditions getting better? And where is free expression in danger? (4:46)

Read CPJ's 2012 Impunity Index. And visit our Global Campaign Against Impunity and see how you can help.

CPJ’s 2012 Impunity Index spotlights countries
where journalists are slain and killers go free

New York, April 6, 2012--Authorities in Somaliland must immediately release two journalists who have been detained without charge for days in apparent violation of regional law, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, April 5, 2012--Somali authorities must immediately investigate the murder of a radio journalist who worked for the country's leading independent broadcaster and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice. Mahad Salad Adan was the fourth journalist killed in Somalia since the beginning of the year.

New York, April 4, 2012--At least 10 journalists were reported injured, several of them seriously, when a bomb ripped through Somalia's newly reopened national theater in Mogadishu, local journalists told CPJ. The blast, for which the militant insurgent group Al-Shabaab took responsibility, killed several people, including two of the nation's top sports officials, news reports said.

New York, March 26, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Sunday's shooting of radio journalist Mohyadin Hassan Mohamed in the capital, Mogadishu, and calls on authorities to ensure his safety.

Two unknown gunmen opened fire on Mohamed, the news director of Shabelle Media Network's radio station, as he walked home from work at around 6 p.m., news reports said. The journalist told CPJ that he ran after the gunmen began shooting at him, and that one bullet grazed his chest. 

Veteran Somali radio journalist Hassan Mohamed, 45, died early yesterday morning in Eastleigh, a Nairobi suburb. He had fled Mogadishu in 2010, having been threatened, kidnapped, and shot twice. One of hundreds of Somali refugees in Kenya, many of them journalists, Hassan struggled to support himself and survive worsening diabetes-related ailments, despite relentless support from Somali colleagues and friends, including CPJ. His death highlights the plight of exiled journalists in East Africa.

New York, March 5, 2012--Authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in Somalia shut down an independent radio broadcaster and arrested the station's director over coverage of fighting between the government and Al-Shabaab militants, local journalists said.

Around 10:20 p.m. Saturday, armed police arriving in two vehicles raided Codka Nabadda (Voice of Peace) in the port city of Bossasso, confiscated equipment, and sealed the studios, local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists. An hour later, police raided the home of the station's director, Awke Abdullahi, and are holding him at the Bossasso Central Police Station. He has not been charged, although it is not legal in Puntland to hold a suspect for more than 48 hours without charge.

New York, March 5, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of a former Somali journalist who was shot on Sunday in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. The victim, Ali Ahmed Abdi, had recently resigned as a manager for a news outlet that has come under attack by Al-Shabaab insurgents.

New York, February 28, 2012--Unidentified gunmen today assassinated a veteran journalist who had been trying to relaunch a radio station that extremist group Al-Shabaab had shut down and looted in 2010, local journalists said.

New York, February 28, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns last week's arrest and brutal assault of Mohamed Abdirahman, a journalist in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland. 

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.