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In Somalia, Attacks on Media Workers Rising

Mohammed Yusuf

   NAIROBI - A [1]new report says attacks on journalists in Somalia, an
   entrenched problem in the African country, are on the rise again. The
   report by rights watchdog Amnesty International says the attacks, along
   with harassment and intimidation, have rendered Somalia one of the most
   dangerous places in the world to be a journalist.
   The report titled "We Live in Perpetual Fear," details harassment,
   intimidation and killings of journalists by militant group al-Shabab,
   police and government actors.

   The threats on Somali journalists have created a climate of fear, says
   Deprose Muchena, head of Amnesty International in East and Southern
   Africa.

   "This fear is experienced through range of violations that are physical
   in nature, which include physical attacks, arbitrary arrest of
   journalists, killings by both armed group al-Shabab and government
   forces, in particular in one case, and an observation point we make is
   that for all these violations there is no concluded investigation that
   has been done in order for us to say impunity is now being addressed,"
   Muchena said.

   The rights group says eight journalists have been killed since the
   administration led by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo came to power
   three years ago. Five journalists were killed by al-Shabab attacks, two
   by unknown gunmen, and one was murdered by a police officer.

   Abdullahi Hassan, an Amnesty International Somali researcher, told
   reporters in Nairobi that journalists were attacked for doing their
   work.

References

   1. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr52/1442/2020/en/

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