By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
UN Marks Human Rights Day With Focus on Persecution of Somalia Journalists
The United Nations marked the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Nairobi by
highlighting the persecution of journalists in Somalia.
A panel of U.N. officials and human rights advocates addressed an audience in the Kenyan capital, where numerous Somali
journalists have fled in the past year.
Eight journalists have been killed in Somalia this year. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists, only Iraq is more dangerous for journalists.
Since January, Ethiopian troops backing the transitional Somali government have been facing an increasingly violent
Islamist-led insurgency in the capital Mogadishu. The fighting has displaced more than one million people, including
600,000 in the capital.
The speakers at Monday's event emphasized that Somalia's journalists are facing threats from all parties in the
conflict, though the transitional government and its Ethiopian backers often received the most criticism.
"All sides in the conflict qualify as fierce enemies of the media, and they do not tolerate independent reporting,
detailed examination and criticism of their activities and performance," said Omar Faruk, Secretary General of the
National Union of Somali Journalists. "These desperate groups wanted to manipulate media and to shape public opinion and
when the media resists, they commit these crimes."
Over the weekend, Somalia's parliament approved a new law regulating the media. Faruk was hopeful that the new
legislation would provide increased protection for journalists, but said that his organization had not yet seen the law.
The East Africa campaigner for Amnesty International, Dave Copeman, said the organization has catalogued a number of
abuses by government and insurgents that will be included in an upcoming report on conditions for Journalists in
Somalia.
"Journalists in Somalia have told Amnesty International they face death threats on an almost daily basis, particularly
when they are reporting on conflict or military operations or if they mention casualties that have been suffered by
either side to the conflict," said Copeman. "Many receive threats from individuals who identified themselves as officers
of the National Security Agency of the Transitional Federal Government demanding to know why they had spoken about
particular incidents of conflict or military operations, and threatening them with enforced disappearances or arrest if
these stories remained on the web."
Private radio stations, the most popular source of news in Somalia, have borne the brunt of attacks and have repeatedly
been closed by the government. In the most recent episode, three major stations were shut in mid-November, before being
allowed to resume broadcasting last week.
Several of the speakers also expressed concern with a threat by the government of Somaliland to expel 24 journalists
that have been seeking refuge in the breakaway republic of Somaliland, after fleeing Mogadishu.
The event marked the beginning of a year-long U.N. effort to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
ENDS