MOGADISHU, Feb 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Federal Government of Somalia has dismissed an Amnesty International report highlighting increased cases of journalists getting harassed and killed while on duty in the country.
The report, “We live in perpetual fear: Violations and abuses of freedom of expression in Somalia”, was released in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to the report, the surge in violent attacks, harassment and intimidation is deeply entrenched in the country, making it one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist.
The report warns that the situation may get worse now that the country is in its election year.
But the Somali government says the cases listed in the report are fabricated.
The report says journalists continue to face arbitrary arrests, physical attacks and censorship as enforced by the Somali government since February 2017 when President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed alias Farmaajo took office.
The report notes the attack on media freedom in the country is happening mainly on three fronts namely; physical attacks, censorship and social media hounding.
According to Amnesty International, journalists working in Somalia have to contend with not just direct threats from the government and its security forces but also targeted attacks from militia group al-Shabaab.
Eight journalists were killed in South Central Somalia and Puntland in the period under review, while eight others were forced to flee the country since October 2018.
In a press release, the Somali government denied the allegations, terming them deliberate lies packaged to misguide the general public.
“Majority of the cases (53 percent) described in the report are not accurately media freedom cases and there is no single evidence to back this fabrication. For instance, the alleged victims of those violations were not targeted due to their legitimate media activities. Some of the alleged victims fabricated the cases in order to help them secure successful asylum applications in European countries and the government is fully aware of the circumstance that individuals departed from Somalia,” it said.
The government further claimed that some of the sources cited in the report live and operate in Kenya and Finland and thus are “disreputable impersonators seeking attention through distortion and misrepresentation.”
“The Federal Government of Somalia assures members of the press, friends and citizens of Somalia that it will continue to uphold the rule of law, which includes media freedom, while at the same time remains committed to put in place effective mechanisms to tackle violations against the press.” — NNN-AGENCIES
