Somalia Media Conditions Deteriorate

All sides in Somalia’s long-running conflict are united in at least one goal, an international rights group said Monday — trying to curtail independent media by “killing, arresting and threatening” reporters.

The report by Amnesty International was released a day after government raids shut down three independent radio stations in Mogadishu.

It says conditions for journalists are the worst since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and Somalia’s chaos began.

Fighting between Islamic insurgents and Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia’s shaky government has intensified since the Ethiopians dislodged them from power in December 2006.

At least nine journalists have been killed since February 2007 and death threats and arrests have forced at least 50 others to seek refuge in neighboring countries, Amnesty International said.

“The killings, arrests and death threats targeting Somali journalists are not just another unfortunate byproduct of the conflict and general insecurity in Somalia — they are a deliberate and systematic attempt by all parties to the conflict to stem the flow of information out of the country,” said Michelle Kagari, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Africa Program.

The attacks on media freedom mark a reversal from 2005 and 2006, when new media outlets began extending news coverage and affiliation beyond clan and warlord loyalties, the report said.

On Sunday, Somali government soldiers raided three independent radio stations in the capital, Mogadishu. The soldiers forced the stations off the air, arrested a journalist and seized equipment.

“The troops came in, took our equipment and arrested our boss without explanation. We do not know why they are targeting us,” Mohamed Abdullahi, a Shabelle radio staff member, told The Associated Press. Shabelle’s director, Muqtar Mohamed Hirabe, was arrested.

Mohamed Abukar, a presenter and producer at Radio Horn Afrik, said troops broke down their doors and ordered the station off the air. The other shuttered station was Simba.

Government officials declined to comment on the raids.

The three stations and several other independent outlets were briefly taken off the air three times last year, prompting criticism from press freedom watchdogs.

The targeted media houses have criticized both the government and the Islamic militants who have been trying to topple the administration through a bloody insurgency.

The day before the raids, at least 14 people died and 30 were wounded in fighting between insurgents and government and Ethiopian soldiers.

– By Mohamed Olad Hassan

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