Journalists in Mogadishu Confront Surge of Threats Amid Displacements and Violence in the Capital

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     By Ali Musa
     Axadle Times international–Monitoring.

     MOGADISHU – The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) strongly condemns the wave of attacks targeting journalists in Mogadishu amid violent evictions and gunfight on Thursday, as the Somali national intelligence and security agency (NISA) intensified its aggressive pursuit of critical journalists.

     On Thursday, 14 August, Abukar Mohamed Keynan, a reporter for Radio Risaala and TV, was seized and beaten—struck with the barrel of a gun, slapped, and kicked—while covering an armed clash between two rival government forces over a planned eviction in Hodan district, Mogadishu.

     His cameraman managed to flee, but Abukar could not escape. Armed officers apprehended him, handcuffed him, and forced him to lie on the ground. Three officers whom Abukar described as members of the Haramcad (a Turkish-trained police unit) and the police-military (trained in Uganda)—kicked him repeatedly with their boots.

     Abukar sustained bruises across upper part of his body and a swollen upper lip. He was kept handcuffed under the scorching sun for two hours before being released. Scared and feeling pain, he was unable to continue his journalism work for the rest of the day.

     The journalists had been at Tarabuunka junction, Mogadishu, where Somali government forces attempting to forcibly evict families from a former football field in the Horseed area of Hodan district engaged in deadly fighting with a rival government force, mainly from the Somali National Army (SNA), which opposed the eviction. The eviction operation was led by Abdihakim Eeldheer, a relative of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and recently appointed commander of the Haramcad unit, while the rival SNA forces were led by a former military general.

     The full-day fighting caused multiple casualties, including civilians, and displaced many families living in the area.

     Journalists working for several other channels told SJS that they narrowly escaped capture while reporting on Thursday’s clashes, as Haramcad police and other armed men chased them. As a result, local journalists had to rely on sharing material, as only a few were able to record footage from the scene. Journalists reported seeing several bodies lying in the area while they were being chased away.

     On Thursday, police officers in Wadajir district, Mogadishu, confiscated the journalistic equipment of Mowlid Osman Bootaan, a cameraman with Shabelle TV, while he was recording a protest by internally displaced families living in the Wadajir district who complained that the government had evicted them and sold the land to businessmen. According to the journalist, the Wadajir police station commander had given the order to seize his equipment. He was held inside the station for several hours before being released, but only after the footage was wiped from his camera.

     On Thursday, armed NISA and police officers were deployed on the roads leading to the Jazeera Hotel in Mogadishu, blocking a dozen of local journalists who were on their way to cover an opposition meeting at the hotel. Some journalists told SJS that the NISA officers were aggressive and threatened them with physical harm if they attempted to proceed to the meeting. As a result, some journalists returned without covering the event, while others later managed to sneak in.

     An editor working for a local TV station told SJS that in recent weeks, NISA has increased its surveillance of reporters, particularly along Maka al Mukarama Street, near the Jazeera Hotel, and at Aden Adde International Airport, where many international diplomats are based. The editor said that his colleagues had been blocked, had their equipment confiscated, and had their footage deleted during various assignments—making it increasingly difficult for journalists to safely go out in search of news stories in Mogadishu.

     “We strongly condemn the Thursday’s brutal assault on our colleague journalist Abukar Mohamed Keynan of Risaala Media Corporation. Beating, handcuffing, forcing to lie under the scorching sun and humiliating a reporter for doing his job is a blatant attack on press freedom and a human rights violation. We demand those who carried this attack to be identified immediately and held to account,” said  SJS Secretary-General, Abdalle Mumin.

     “We also denounce the seizure of a journalist Mowlid Osman’s camera, and erasing footage, and detaining him which is not only unlawful but also a clear effort to censor the truth. Hassan Sheikh’s regime and the corrupt police must be reminded that the press has the right to report without fear of reprisal, and no matter how hard the regime tries to cover up its crimes—including evicting vulnerable families, targeting women and children, beating journalists and denying them their basic right to live in dignity—the regime’s actions remains exposed.” adds Mr. Mumin.