Somali Journalists Taking More Shots Than One

Somali Journalists Taking More Shots Than One

In the United States, our current president has the freedom to post factually inaccurate tweets while citizens have the freedom to mock him expressing their disdain and rebel against the federal government through their expressions on social media, organized marches and protests in cities across the country. In Somalia, however, journalists working for independent news and media sources are virtually powerless having no freedom to photograph notable sightings and report on actual newsworthy events. In the United States, educated, trained journalists receive certain immunities and protections for their news reporting whereas similarly educated and trained journalists in Somalia receive no such protections, even though Somalia is considered the most dangerous country in the world for journalists.

Over the past decade, there have been twenty-six killings of journalists in Somalia and none of them have been solved in that no murder charges were brought or perpetrators found and brought to justice. At least 930 journalists within the past decade through the end of 2017. Nearly all of these killings have been committed by the terrorist group known as Al-Shabaab (Cook). During this period, only one out of the ten reported incidents led to a conviction. Based on these horrifying statistics, if a journalist in Somalia were to report on a controversial topic, they run a high risk of getting bombed, shot, or subjected to some other fatal event and would likely get no support from the government. Equally alarming and perhaps even worse, is that notable people in Somalia doubt the work being done by journalists because they want to censor their opinions and essentially ban them from doing what they are trained and skilled to do. Because of this, journalists will not report on what they are doing, making the journalist vulnerable to physical attack without any support or protection from the government.

Al-Shabaab is a jihadist fundamentalist group based in East Africa and has publicly vowed their devotion to the militant Islamist organization, Al-Qaeda. The Al-Shabaab’s primary goals are to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state and are considered the group most responsible for the violent attacks on journalists n Somalia. Al-Shabab has targeted journalists as part of its offensive line against the Somali government leaving the government authorities feeling afraid and powerless as they have neglected their responsibility to appropriately investigate and prosecute the killers who have been identified as responsible for the atrocities against their country’s journalists, who live in constant fear of being a victim of a fatal attack.  (Bekele). Journalists in Mogadishu are repeatedly subjected to such attacks as they bear wounds from explosions and attacks by the Al-Shabab. The Al-Shabab routinely charges hotels, which are familiar meeting places for officials, parliamentarians, and government-connected business officials. Most of the reporters for events held in these hotels are freelancers, with no connection to a larger news organization for them to look for possible defense and support in the event of an attack on them and suffer even greater than significant news journalists because freelancers typically have no health benefits to cover their medical expenses if they are injured on the job (Mohamed Olad Hassan).

While Al-Shabab has modeled itself as the first menace to the media, journalists have been under attack from a variety of state and non-government sources. A journalist in Galkayo, Puntland states, “The authorities, the public, and the militants are all hostile to us. We are like fish in poisonous waters, we can be attacked or killed at any time” (Bekele). Famous people in Somalia want to silence journalists because they want to repress what they post about them. Violence against journalists and other media workers that is unpunished and uninvestigated indicates broader privilege and frequent disregard for the rule of law in Somalia. Government inquiries and prosecutions of targeted assaults on journalists have been infrequent, and the only actions that have taken place have been for killings alleged or supposed to have been carried out by Al-Shabab. The federal government’s center on events associated to Al-Shabab to review these assaults adds to one-sided responsibility (Bekele). Political figures often intimidate and punish journalists because they want to “control the narrative” (Cook). They want to cover up their exploitation and gain executive control and journalists often stand in the way of that, or reveal uneasy exposures (Cook).

Journalists continue to live in constant fear of their lives because of terrorist groups, and because in their role as a reporter they can be viewed as an extension of a government official, thus, for this reason, they are treated with an extreme bias. For this problem to be solved, the Somalian government needs to provide adequate and equal security protection to journalists so they can do their job to report the news, even if it means they report and write articles that do not portray or benefit the government and its authorities in the most favorable light.

Work Cited

Ali, Abdifatah Hassan. “No Escape Plan for Somali Journalists.” Women Thrive Alliance - Making gender

equality a reality., https://womenthrive.org/no-escape-plan-for-somali-journalists/. Abdifatah Hassan Ali’s writing examines the case of Hindia Haji Mohamed who was a mother of five children and served as a journalist for a state-run radio station and TV channel in Mogadishu. She was killed after a bomb was planted under the seat of her car soon after she was leaving her University. Hindia was the widow of a former journalist who also died in a 2012 restaurant charge. Ali highlights the gravity of the situation and the disparity these journalists face. Ali is a Project Officer at Somali Women Development Center. Therefore, he is a credible source. Ali is an activist in this field and displays it in the article. Thus, there is some bias. This essay aided me to see the cruel violence journalists as well as the people of Somalia experience given the oppressed government.

Bader, Laetitia. “Five Wrongfully Detained in Somalia Now Free.” Human Rights Watch, 13 Sept. 2016,

www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/13/five-wrongfully-detained-somalia-now-free. Bader’s article focuses exclusively on the agents of the National Intelligence and Security Agency who wrongfully arrested five men at the offices of the Mogadishu Center for Research and Studies. Bader has a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and holds a bachelor’s in history from University College London. She has worked as the Horn researcher at Human Rights Watch focusing primarily on Somalia and on issues of political repression, including mistreatment of political detainees therefore this article is credible. Bader uses part of the article as a call-to-action on the Somalia government making the article bias. This article gave me a hard example on the extent of barriers researchers and journalists face in Somalia.

Bekele, Daniel. “"Like Fish in Poisonous Waters" | Attacks on Media Freedom in Somalia.” Human Rights

Watch, 12 July 2017,

www.hrw.org/report/2016/05/03/fish-poisonous-waters/attacks-media-freedom-somalia.  

Bekele’s article focuses extensively on the entire issue of free speech in Somalia. Because Bekele is the Africa Director for the Human Rights Watch and prior to journalism, practiced law in Ethiopia as a partner and served as the legal department director and secretary of the board for United Insurance Co., he is a credible source. Bekele begins the article by telling the reader about Abdirisak Jama Elmi, who was known as “Black.” Abdirisak Jama Elmi was a veteran journalist working for the private Somali Channel TV and while he was outside his home in Mogadishu, a man in a car started shooting at him. He adds that bullets struck Abdirisak in the hand and several times in the back and he spent four months in the hospital. As a result of his injuries, he can no longer carry out his reporting activities. There is no bias in this article because he is simply giving examples of extreme situations, as well as statistics and data on the issue. This article helped me understand the terror and struggle journalists, as well as citizens in Somalia, must experience given the strict and secluded government.

Cook, Jesselyn. “Getting Away With Murder In Somalia, Where Journalists Are Killed With Impunity.” The

Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 31 Oct. 2017,

www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/somalia-cpj-impunity_us_59f6195ce4b077d8dfca3d2c.  Jesselyn Cook’s article gives detail into the dozens of journalists that have been killed in Somalia in the last ten years and how none of their killers have been brought to justice. Because Cook is a Canadian-American world news reporter who graduated from NYU in the field of Joint Studies and International Relations, she is a credible source. While Cook is a journalist and is vulnerable when it comes to this topic, she does not present any bias in her article. This document was useful to use because it gave data as well as key quotes from notable people.

Hassan, Mohamed Olad. “To Get Story, Somali Journalists Risk Bullets and Bombs.” VOA, VOA, 30 Jan. 2017,

www.voanews.com/a/somali-photographers-reporters-risk-lives-to-get-the-story/3698936.html. Mohamed Olad Hassan’s report follows the events in Mogadishu which he uses to show why the Somali capital is the most dangerous city in the world for journalists. Hassan is the Chairman at Federation of Somali Journalists at VOA, he is a credible source. Hassan covers specifically on the attacks in Mogadishu while also aiming the attention towards freelance writers in general. While Hassan is a journalist and activist in this field, there is no bias in this article because he is only stating facts and examples, as well as quotes from notables on the issue. This report helped me see the motive and terror journalists as well as the people of Somalia experience given the strict and divided government.

Maruf, Harun. “Somalia to Open First Journalism School in 26 Years.” VOA, VOA, 1 Aug. 2017,

www.voanews.com/a/somalia-first-journalism-school-twenty-six-years/3968230.html. Harun Maruf’s article presents the first journalism school to open in Somalia in 26 years. She tells that Somali journalists bear uniquely challenging conditions, including the numerous ambushes, attacks and suicide crimes by al-Shabab that expose them to danger, particularly in Mogadishu. She also adds that parliament has passed a media law that demands serving reporters to have a journalism degree which is a robust document to get in a country without journalism schools. Harun Maruf is a journalist and Writer in the VOA Africa Division. Therefore, he is a trustworthy source. This article, in particular, is an informative article, although an opinions article as well making it partially bias. This article revealed the actions people who are not part of the government are building in an attempt to give journalists the freedom they deserve.

"2017 Turned Out to be Another Grim Year for Journalists and Journalism in Somalia, says NUSOJ." Africa

News Service, 1 Jan. 2018. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A520983218/GIC?u=los42754&xid=6b28b195. Accessed 23 Mar. 2018. This article reveals how 2017 in specific was horrid for journalists in Somalia. It describes how throughout 2017, the enemies of media freedom intensified their struggles in their journey to banish, jail or censor journalists. I found this source in the database, therefore, it is reliable with little bias because it is informative. The article adds that journalists proceed to suffer arrests and illegal detentions whereas some are beaten up and others brazenly threatened with extrajudicial punishments in most prominent cities such as Kismayo, Beledweyne, Garowe, Hargeisa Baidoa and Las Anod. This source, in particular, was effective because it informed me that Somaliland authorities have developed as the sole authority that actively penalizes journalists by using the penal code to criminalize what they reflect on being "fake news."