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Journalists denounce attacks against the press after recent
torture, suppression and endangerment were intentionally done
Mogadishu, October 17, 2004:
The Somali Journalists Network (SOJON) is condemning the continuation of
attacks against journalists during their daily work after a radio
reporter was tortured & suppressed while other reporter was
endangered on 16th of October in Mogadishu.
At the time of this violation, reporters Mr. Abdullahi Yasin Jama’
and Ms.
Saynab Abukar Mohamed were carrying out an assignment to observe
and report
the situation of refugees living in a camp called Camp Bosnia
after heavy
rains destroyed their homes.
This infringement was fulfilled by four militias loyal to Abdinur
Darman who
claims that his supporters elected him the president of Somalia,
and at the
same time he strongly opposes Somalia’s recently selected
transitional federal
parliament and the newly elected interim President of Somalia
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
‘We were interviewing the refugee people about their current
conditions’
Abdullahi Yasin said. ‘When we finished interviewing the people,
four gunmen came and stood at the gate
of the camp and called me by saying “bring the tape and the
recorder, and if we hear a word of the government of Abdullahi
Yusuf,
you will lose your life” Abdullahi added. “But when Saynab saw me
in the hands of the militias, she hid at a kiosk in the camp”.
‘One of the militia directed his gun to my head, and when they
listened a
voice of refugee woman saying “we are waiting the Somali
government from Kenya to make us
resettlement”, I ran away and the militiaman opened fire to my
direction, but luckily he didn’t harm me, except hitting at
my cheeks when they were ordering me to
give them my tape and recorder’ Abdullahi explained on how the
violation happened.
Mr. Abdullahi Yasin Jama’, who works for Radio Banadir, lost the
recorder and the tape, while Ms. Saynab Abukar Mohamed of
HornAfrik Radio safely left from the camp after the militia left
there.
On October 10, 2004, Somalia’s 2-year old National Reconciliation
Conference in Nairobi was concluded after Somalia’s Transitional
Federal Parliament elected Colonel
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed to be the interim president for the coming
five years. The government is soon expected to relocate in
Mogadishu.
END…
Source: Somali Journalists Network
(SOJON)
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