Somali broadcast journalist unlawfully arrested in Mogadishu

From: AIPS
With Somalia listed as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists to work in the world, the country’s federal police arrested a senior broadcast journalist in the capital Mogadishu on Sunday. The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is protesting Sunday’s arrest of the broadcast journalist by the federal police.  Nuradin Hassan Ibrahim, editor of SkyFM Radio in Mogadishu, has been arrested at the Crimes Investigations Department (CID) headquarters in Mogadishu, following a call to summon him from the officials.  Nuradin was then questioned on how his station had obtained news about a passport stolen from an official stationed at the Prime Minister’s office. Nuradin reportedly answered all the questions satisfactorily, but was arrested due to the influence of General Abdullahi Gafow, head of Immigration and Naturalization Services who lodged a complaint against SkyFM at the CID. “This amounts to physical intimidation of a journalist and appears to be in direct breach of Somalia’s provisional Constitution. It clearly demonstrates how journalists in Somalia are a soft target for the authorities who are supposed to uphold principles of rule of law, and a  respect for independent media to report without fear of retaliation,” said Omar Faruk Osman, Secretary General of NUSOJ. NUSOJ call on the Federal Police to immediately release Nuradin Hassan Ibrahim, and allow him to exercise his constitutional freedom as a citizen in general, and as a journalist in particular.  SkyFM is a sister station of Radio Shabelle, which has been subject to systematic abuses a number of times in the last couple of years.

Ethiopia: Eastern Africa journalist association urges Ethiopia to release jailed Somali Journalist

From: AllAfrica

The Ethiopian government should reverse the 27-year prison sentence handed down to veteran Somali journalist Mohamed Aweys Mudey in Addis Ababa, on trumped up terror charges, the Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) said at the closing ceremony of its regional press freedom monitors workshop in Bujumbura, Burundi. EAJA supports its affiliate, the National Somali Journalists Union (NUSOJ), which has launched a petition to free Mohamed Aweys Mudey. He was sentenced at the end of February this year on charges of "terrorism" under Ethiopia' anti-terror law. Mudey is accused of having information about Al-Shabaab operations in Ethiopia and charged for participating in terror activities.

EAJA calls on Ethiopian authorities to reverse the sentence and release the journalist. "We back the campaign led by the National Union of Somali Journalists to free Mohamed Aweys Mudey and call on the government of Ethiopia to reverse this situation. We will fight for Mudey's release," said Alexandre Niyungeko, EAJA Secretary General. Niyungeko said EAJA is concerned with the case of the Somali journalist and others in the region, which point to a pattern of intimidation and harassment of journalists, adding this constituted a grave affront to press freedom in the region.

Meles Zenawi and Genocide in the Ogaden

Some of us know what is going on in the Somali region currently occupied by Ethiopia. But the extent of mass killings, rape and terror in the region is not something i believe many Somalis yet understand. Indeed the mass killings has been classified as a "genocide" by rights groups. It is therefore incumbent upon you to educate yourself about what our fellow Somalis across the colonial border is going through with the aid of the "moral" and "righteous" west. You can start with watching this documentary and spreading this to your immediate family and friends and hopefully they will do the same.

           


        
             

Al Shabaab, AMISOM, and the United States

From: CFR

In a recent article on the Daily Maverick, Simon Allison identifies the “surprisingly perceptive” core message of al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane’s recent propaganda audio message.

In his message, Godane urges his Somali comrades to throw out their Kenyan and Ethiopian occupiers. Allison notes that, although unsettling, Godane is, in certain respects, correct and tapping into widespread sentiments. 

Despite operating in Somalia under the authority of an African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to rid the country of al Shabaab, Kenyan and Ethiopian troops are, in fact, occupying Somalia. 

Their goals are not altruistic, and are largely informed by their own national security and political considerations. Thus, instead of celebrating the foreign troops’ efforts to stem al Shabaab, Somalis are worried about the outsized influence being wielded by foreign powers in their country. Although troubled by these developments, the United States and its partners have other goals in the region that will prevent any intrusion into Kenyan or Ethiopian plans.

Godane’s message is particularly striking when considering the formation of federal states in Somalia. In the absence of strong leadership from the Somali Federal Government (SFG), Kenya and Ethiopia have assumed leadership positions as state builders and negotiators in southern Somalia. In practice, this means that Kenya and Ethiopia have been able to influence the formation of new federal states, and create governments that will benefit their own national security concerns.

As an example of this influence, Kenya and Ethiopia had an important role in the creation of the Interim Jubba Administration (IJA), a new federal state consisting of the Somali regions (Gedo, South Juba, and Middle Juba) bordering Kenya. Effectively, the IJA acts as a buffer state between Kenya and the threat posed by al Shabaab in Somalia. Ethiopia is involved as a negotiator for the creation of the IJA because it wants to maintain involvement and influence in the region as it deals with its own ethnic Somali population. Despite disagreements regarding the proposed make-up of this federal state from other regions and conferences in southern Somalia, the SFG has endorsed the IJA because it must maintain Ethiopian and Kenyan support as it battles al Shabaab.

This competition for influence over land in Southern Somalia is not likely to lead to a sustainable governance model for Somalia moving forward, and is already causing regional strife. Somalia would be wise to ensure that whatever governance plan, or federal state organization, is put in place is durable enough to last after AMISOM forces have left, regardless of current security concerns.

Due to AMISOM’s recent successes against al Shabaab forces, proxy states and vigorous counter terrorism operations by foreign forces seems likely to continue. Unfortunately this means the pattern of Kenyan and Ethiopian meddling in Somalian political affairs is likely to continue. Godane’s message is dangerous because it taps into that fact. The U.S. is interested in long term stability of Somalia, but the immediate concerns are to stabilize the Horn of Africa and to exterminate al Shabaab. Therefore, despite feeding al Shabaab’s propaganda machine and potentially destabilizing Somalia in the future, the United States will likely turn a blind eye to Kenyan and Ethiopian influence in Somalia.

IFJ Backs Call to Free Somali Journalist Mohamed Aweys Mudey

From: IFJ

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today backed a call by its affiliate in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists, to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn to free Somali journalist, Mohamed Aweys Mudey, found guilty under Ethiopia’s notoriously harsh anti-terror laws and sentenced to 27 years in jail. 

The call was made on the occasion of a summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Kampala, Uganda, which is attended by presidents and prime ministers from eight member states in East Africa.

The Prime Minister was sent by NUSOJ a petition signed by 24,000 supporters including journalists, writers and press freedom and human rights activists from 97 countries. Launched by NUSOJ, the petition, calling for the “immediate and unconditional release of Mudey,” received massive support in a matter of days, after being promoted by freedom of expression organisation IFEX and by the African Freedom of Expression exchange (AFEX).

"The petition was a major success for our union in Somalia which managed to motivate tens of thousands of people in support of Mohamed Mudey, said IFJ President Jim Boumelha. “It is heartening to see a small union taking up the cudgels in defence of one of their members against an authoritarian regime. I urge all our unions with members unjustly jailed to follow the lead of NUSOJ and join the IFJ campaigns to free journalists in prison."

NUSOJ Secretary General, Omar Faruk Osman, thanked all the organisations and activists who expressed solidarity with Mudey and said: “My union is overwhelmed by such a massive reaction from all over the world rejecting the charges and condemning the guilty verdict as well as the harsh sentence. Mohamed Aweys Mudey is not guilty of any crime.

  

“He has been persecuted and unjustly jailed because he is a journalist and he is a Somali. Ethiopian authorities should listen to the calls of these thousands of people and free Mudey”. NUSOJ’s campaigns for the right of Somali journalists received a boost after the African Commission on Human & People’s Rights (ACHPR), Africa’s top inter-governmental human rights body, agreed during its extraordinary session on 7-14 March, resolution 264 on attacks of journalists and media practitioners in Somalia.

The commission expressed concern “about the restrictions and intimidations against NUSOJ such as negative labelling, prosecution as well as physical harassment and intimidation of its members” and appealed for them to be ceased immediately. It also called on “the Somali authorities to respect, protect and promote the right to life, freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly of journalists and media practitioners as provided in the African Charter and other international and regional human rights instruments”. 

Kenya: Plan to Force 50,000 Refugees Into Camps

 From: hrw


The Kenyan authorities should reconsider a new plan to forcibly move 50,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers from cities to overcrowded and underserviced refugee camps. News media reported that Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku made the announcement on March 25, 2014, two days after unidentified attackers killed six people in a church near Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa.

Such a move would violate a July 26, 2013 Kenyan High Court ruling, which quashed an identical government refugee relocation plan from December 2012. The court said the relocation would violate refugees’ dignity and free movement rights, and would risk indirectly forcing them back to Somalia. It also said the authorities had not proved that the move, which followed a series of grenade and other attacks in Kenya by unidentified people, would help protect national security.

“Kenya is once again using attacks by unknown criminals to stigmatize all refugees as potential terrorists,” said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher. “This plan to force tens of thousands of refugees into appalling conditions in severely overcrowded camps flouts a crystal clear court ruling banning such a move.”

Ole Lenku said on March 25 that,“All refugees residing outside the designated refugee camps of Kakuma and Dadaab are hereby directed to return to their respective camps with immediate effect.” Citing “emergency security challenges” in Kenyan towns, he also said that, “Any refugee found flouting this directive will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”

In January 2013, Human Rights Watch called on the authorities to drop their first relocation plan. Human Rights Watch said then that the authorities had failed to show, as international law requires, that the plan was either necessary to achieve enhanced national security or the least restrictive measure possible to address Kenya’s national security concerns. The plan also unlawfully discriminated against refugees because it would allow Kenyan citizens to move freely while denying refugees that right.

Kenyan police operations in Nairobi and Mombasa have frequently committed serious human rights violations against both refugees and Kenyan citizens in the wake of attacks.

A May 2013 Human Rights Watch report described how Kenyan police in Nairobi tortured, raped, and otherwise abused and arbitrarily detained at least 1,000 refugees, including women and children, between mid-November 2012 and late January 2013 following grenade and other attacks. The police called the refugees “terrorists” and said they should move to the camps.

The new relocation order comes after numerous statements by senior Kenyan officials, going back as far as March 2012, calling on Somali refugees to return to Somalia.

On January 17, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, issued guidelines on returns to Somalia and called on countries not to return anyone before interviewing them and ensuring they do not face the threat of persecution or other serious harm if returned. On January 28, UNHCR also issued a news release about the guidelines, appealing to all governments “to uphold their obligations” not to forcibly return anyone to Somalia unless they are convinced the person would not suffer persecution or other serious harm upon return.

UNHCR said that southern and central Somalia “remains a very dangerous place” and that it “consider[s] the options for Somalis to find protection from persecution or serious harm within Southern and Central Somalia to be limited.” The agency said that this “is especially true for large areas that remain under the control of the Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab,” which “prohibits the exercise of various types of freedoms and rights, especially affecting women” and uses “public whipping, amputation … and beheadings” as punishment.

UNHCR also said that al-Shabaab attacks in Mogadishu, the capital, that killed civilians had increased in 2013 and that the Somali authorities are “reported to be failing to provide much of [the] population with basic security.”

Kenyan authorities should not press refugees to return to Somalia. Such pressure would violate Kenya’s obligations not to forcibly return – or refoule – refugees to situations of persecution or generalized violence.The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Dadaab camps in Kenya – where about 400,000 refugees are crammed into space meant for 170,000 – and the lack of properly developed new camps there or near the Kakuma camps means that any transfer of refugees from the cities to the camps would also breach Kenya’s international legal obligations.

They require Kenya not to adopt “retrogressive measures” that would negatively affect refugees’ rights to adequate standard of living – including food, clothing and housing – and to health and education.

On March 10, the international humanitarian organization Médecins sans Frontières, which runs health care programs in the refugee camps, released a report describing the serious humanitarian conditions and insecurity in the camps.

Foreign donors to Kenya and UNHCR should oppose the new relocation plan, based on its inevitable violation of refugees’ rights to free movement, basic social and economic rights, and the right not to be forcibly evicted. “The new plan risks riding roughshod over Kenya’s High Court and a range of refugees’ fundamental rights,” Simpson said. “Foreign donors to Kenya and UNHCR should encourage Kenya to abandon the plan.”

Somalia: AU Human Rights Body Calls for Respect for Union and Journalist Rights

From:  AllAfrica


The African Commission on Human & People's Rights (ACHPR), Africa's highest human rights body, adopted resolution on attacks of journalists and media practitioners in Somalia at its 15th Extra-Ordinary Session, from 7 to 14 March 2014, in Banjul, The Gambia. This landmark resolution denounced "the serious violations of the right to life and freedom of expression that continue to prevail in the Federal Republic of Somalia".

The African Commission expressed concern "about the restrictions and intimidations against the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) such as negative labelling, prosecution as well as physical harassment and intimidation of its members". The Commission was "deeply concerned by the continued killing of journalists and media practitioners in the Federal Republic of Somalia, where several media workers were killed with total impunity, in Mogadishu and Galkayo in 2013".

The resolution specifies that the Commission: "Strongly condemns the serious violations of the right to life committed against journalists and media practitioners in the Federal Republic of Somalia; "Calls on the Somali authorities to respect, protect and promote the right to life, freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly of journalists and media practitioners as provided in the African Charter and other international and regional human rights instruments; "Calls on the Somali authorities and AMISOM to investigate the killing of journalists and media practitioners, and bring the perpetrators to justice; "Appeals for the immediate cessation of harassment and intimidation aimed at independent media organisations, in particular the NUSOJ, in the Federal Republic of Somalia."


NUSOJ salutes the African Commission and its distinguished Commissioners for taking action on the predicament of Somali journalists and their national union who suffered tremendously over the years of oppression and threats to their fundamental rights. "We welcome the adoption of this Resolution by the African Commission and its recognition of attacks against journalists and our own union, NUSOJ who have been targeted for speaking out and fighting for the rights of journalists," said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General.

The resolution puts to rest accusations that NUSOJ was bent on tarnishing the image of government officials in cahoots with external forces through peddling lies of obvious human and trade union rights abuses.
The union reiterates its call for gun tooting men to stop killing journalists and allow media professionals to enjoy their fundamental right to life and freedom of expression.

NUSOJ calls on the government officials using public offices to attack the union and its members to embrace the resolution and implement the calls and appeal laid out in the resolution.

"While we should not generalize all people in government, those using their authority negatively and abusively to attack the union and its journalists must create a better and peaceful future by accepting and owning up to their wrong doings. They should use this as a clean start that has been offered to them but it is only possible if they implement this resolution to the letter."