The situation of journalists working in Somalia is getting worse. A few weeks ago, the New York Times correspondent Mohammed Ibrahim fled the country because of threats to his safety, after an article he wrote about child soldiers enrolled in security forces.
Ibrahim, the press freedom coordinator of the National Union of Somali Journalists, left for Kenya after receiving death threats, and after the government tried to arrest him following the publication of the article.
- Mohammed Ibrahim, New York Times correspondent in Somalia and press freedom coordinator of the National Union of Somali Journalists;
- Omar Faruk Osman, President of the Federation of African Journalists.
The article in question was published in the New York times on 15 June, titled "Children Carry Guns for a U.S. Ally, Somalia".
The Somali government denied that its army employs child soldiers. Omar Faruk Osman, President of the Federation of African Journalists, say they have to do so because they receive financial support from the US.
“That’s why they are nervous that their support will be cut,” he said.
“There are Congressmen asking the government to stop supporting the TFG [the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia] because it is using child soldiers. The real danger comes from militias or gun-carrying men who are not part of the proper army but paid by the government.”
After the article appeared, the government’s director of communications called Ibrahim for a meeting at the presidential palace, which Ibrahim did not attend. He was later tipped off that the police were looking for him near travel agencies.
He opted to travel to Nairobi by bus, a journey that took three days and which he intends to write about for the International Press Institute website.
“A translator who helped me with the article on child soldiers had to escape too,” he said. “He fled to Hargeisa and then reached Nairobi through Uganda.”
Ibrahim what will become of journalists in Somalia.
“The government area was relatively safe in Mogadishu, compared to the insurgency controlled area. But now that the government is so incensed with journalists, what will become of us?”
Both he and Osman say that the international community must impose conditions on the Somali government to ensure that the rights and safety of journalists are upheld. Furthermore, they deplore that African Union troops in Mogadishu cannot offer protection to journalists who request their help because they do not have the mandate to do so.
Their associations, besides providing bulletproof jackets and hostile environment training, have partnered with the African Union to organise a regional workshop on Safety and Protection of African Journalists on 2-3 September at the African Union Conference Centre in Addis Ababa.
They intend to come up with a draft resolution during the workshop similar to the UN Security Council Resolution 1738 that may be adopted by the AU heads of States.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe