New York, December 19, 2011–Somali authorities must pursue all leads in investigating the murder on Sunday of a broadcast journalist who had reported receiving several recent threats. A gunman in a military uniform shot freelance reporter Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan, according to local and international reports.
Kassahun Yilma left Ethiopia quickly in December 2009. He didn’t have time to save money for the journey, choose a place to go, arrange housing or a job. He left his wife, his mother, his house and all his friends behind. Yilma didn’t know what lay ahead. He only knew that if he stayed, he…
New York, November 2, 2011–Authorities in northern Somalia banned two private broadcasters from operating in Puntland Tuesday, blaming independent media coverage for undermining national security as they grapple with potentially destabilizing violence in the region, according to local journalists and news reports. The Information Ministry in semi-autonomous Puntland banned the local operations of Universal TV…
New York, October 19, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Tuesday’s grenade attack on a Puntland radio station and calls for authorities to take immediate steps to identify and prosecute the perpetrators. This was the third local radio station hit with a blast in three months, CPJ research showed.On Tuesday evening, a grenade was hurled…
New York, September 26, 2011–Four African Union soldiers deployed in Somalia have been suspended and returned to their home country of Burundi for potential trial after an internal investigation found them responsible for the shooting death of a Malaysian journalist this month. In a statement issued today, the African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM,…
New York, September 15, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Wednesday evening shooting of a Somali radio journalist in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, and calls on the government to immediately take steps to bring the perpetrators to justice. Unknown gunmen shot 20-year-old radio journalist Horriyo Abdulkadir Sheik Ali four times on Wednesday evening…
New York, September 12, 2011–Authorities in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland are obstructing independent journalists from covering government politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Four reporters have been harassed and arrested while on assignment since early September.
New York, September 5, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the African Union to ensure the safety of civilians operating in Somalia after witnesses reported that AU forces fired on a Malaysian humanitarian convoy in Mogadishu on Friday, killing one journalist and injuring another. Calling the shootings “deeply regrettable,” the African Union Mission in…
New York, August 29, 2011–Authorities in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland should conduct a thorough investigation into a grenade attack against a private radio station that left a security guard injured and the station damaged, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. “This is the second attack on Radio Daljir,” said CPJ East Africa Coordinator Tom…