December 12, 2014 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

At least 50 dead in Somalia after drinking from contaminated well

11 Dec – Source: Somali Informer/CNN Africa/RT.com – 85 Words

At least 50 people have died in Somalia after drinking contaminated water from a well in northern Mogadishu, an official in that East African country said Thursday. Osman Mohamed, the deputy commissioner for Somalia’s Yaqshid district, told CNN about the deaths among those who drank from the newly constructed well. More than 150 people who had water from that well were recently hospitalized. Hawo Abdi, a mother of four, told CNN that her 8-year-old child is among those who died after drinking the contaminated water. It was not immediately clear how the water that led to the recent deaths got contaminated, including whether anyone or any group might be responsible.

Key Headlines

Himin and Heeb says clan conflict will not affect conference in Adado (Dalsan Radio)
At least 50 dead in Somalia after drinking from contaminated well (Somali Informer CNN/RT.com)
Ministry of Women is disturbed by the arrest of its director (Dalsan Radio)
AMISOM’S Kenyan troops rotate in Kismayo (Al-Shahid.net)
Somalia Djibouti join Arab Planning Institute (Kuwait News Agency)
Somalia sexual offences bill hailed as vital step towards lasting change (The Guardian)
Kenya MPs debate tough security laws criticized by opposition (Bloomberg News)
Media censored with impunity in Puntland (Reporters Without Borders)

SOMALI MEDIA

Himin and Heeb says clan conflict will not affect conference in Adado

11 Dec – Source: Dalsan Radio – 105 Words

The spokesperson of Himin and Heeb state said that the current clan conflict in Galgaduud Region will not affect the conference in Adado which is meant for making a unitary state for central Somalia. Mr. Aseyr Mohamed haji, the spokesperson of Himin and Heeb state told Dalsan that delegates who will be attending the conference and who are from all over the region and abroad are converging in Adado, the capital of Himin and Heeb state. In Galgaduud, there has been conflict between two clans who inhabit the regio. Also attending to participate in the conference will be delegates from the federal government of Somalia.

At least 50 dead in Somalia after drinking from contaminated well

11 Dec – Source: Somali Informer/CNN Africa/RT.com – 85 Words

Ministry of Women is disturbed by the arrest of its director

11 Dec – Source: Dalsan Radio – 109 Words

In a press conference, the minister of the Ministry of Women and Human Rights criticized today the arrest of the ministry’s director. The security forces apprehended the director, Mohamed Omar Nuur last night. The minister Khadiijo Mohamed Diiriye said the arrest of the director symbolises the lack of consideration towards the leaders of the ministry within the government who is going out after being ousted through vote of no confidence. The security forces picked him up from his house last night after allegations that he misused his power. However, the senior leadership of the security forces didn’t speak about the arrest of the director yet.

AMISOM’S Kenyan Troops Rotate in Kismayo

11 Dec – Source: AlShahid.net – 316 Words

Some 140 Kenyan AMISOM peacekeepers are rotating out after finishing their year-long tour of duty in Somalia. Based in the port city of Kismayo, in southern Somalia, the troops have served diligently and are being replaced by fresh soldiers. “These troops came in September last year (2013) and they have been here for one year and three months, and they should have rotated in September, but because of other circumstances, and the operations we were undertaking, it was important to seal the operations before the troops can move, so that when the others come, they fit in well so that they can carry on the operations from where the others have left,” said Brig. General Walter Raria, the Commander of Somalia’s Sector 2.

The forces departed from Kismayo International Airport after having been replaced at their various outposts in and around the city and welcoming the new troops. “This company operated in Kismayo through Goobweyn, Qamqam, Yontoy and captured Bula Gadud. So this is a big achievement, because from that day up to today, we have never had a single probing attack in Kismayo,” Brig. General Raria continued. Kismayo had a multinational force made up of the KDF, the Burundi National Defence Forces (BNDF) and Sierra Leone National Defence Forces (SLNDF).

October 16th 2011, Kenya Defence Forces moved into Southern Somalia to pursue insurgents group Al Shabaab after a series of kidnappings of tourists along the border. One month, later Kenyan government agreed to re-hat its forces under the African Union Mission in Somalia. The troops from Kenya were later formally integrated into AMISOM on February 22, 2012 after the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2036. AMSOM’s Sector 2, which has its headquarters in the port city of Kismayo, is comprised of Lower and Middle Juba. Currently there are 3664 troops from Kenya after they pulled out a battalion when 850 Sierra Leonean troops arrived.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Somalia, Djibouti join Arab Planning Institute

11 Dec – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 158 Words

Arab Planning Institute celebrated, on Thursday, the joining of Somalia and Djibouti under its umbrella, raising the number of its member states to 19 countries. At the celebration, Minister of Social Affairs and Minister of State for Planning and Development Hind Al-Sabeeh expressed hope that the two countries would benefit from various expertise provided by the institute. On his part, Somali Ambassador to Kuwait Abdulqadir Amin Abu Baker said that Kuwait has been supportive to his country’s endeavors, as well as other Arab nations’, in social and developmental domains.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia sexual offences bill hailed as vital step towards lasting change

11 Dec – Source: The Guardian – 613 Words

The first bill to define and address sexual offences in Somalia is expected to be presented to the cabinet before the end of this year, updating legislation that has been in place since 1930. The bill will define rape as a crime against a person, rather than a crime against morality, as it characterised at present. It will criminalise gang rape and introduce legislation against child marriage, human trafficking, sexual harassment and offences committed against vulnerable groups such as internally displaced people. The new law will also outline the role public officials and police should play in investigating and prosecuting cases, in addition to criminalising the obstruction of justice, protecting the identity of injured parties and witnesses, and – in a major shift for Somalia’s clan-based society – prohibiting the out-of-court settlement of sexual offences cases.

However, due to religious sensibilities, the bill does not address marital rape or domestic violence. The latter is widespread in Somalia. “If you want to affect real change this is not the solution, but it is one part, a very important process,” said Antonia Mulvey, the executive director of Legal Action Worldwide (Law), a Nairobi-based NGO working with the Somali government to draft the bill. “Without the legal framework in place we are not going to be able to make the other changes. People argue that we are unable to arrest, prosecute or convict because they don’t have the legal framework. This gives them the legal framework.”

Kenya MPs debate tough security laws criticized by opposition

11 Dec – Source: Bloomberg News – 533 Words

Kenya’s parliament has begun debating tougher security laws after a series of attacks by Islamist militants in the country, raising opposition concerns that the bill will suppress human rights. Proposals in the Security Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014 include extending the time authorities can hold suspected criminals beyond the current 24 hours, capping the number of refugees and asylum seekers in the country to 150,000 and establishing a national counter-terrorism center, according to a draft of the legislation distributed in parliament today.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta replaced his police chief and interior minister last week after gunmen from al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based arm of al-Qaeda, targeted non-Muslims in two attacks in the northeast of the country that left at least 64 people dead. Those assaults were the latest in a string of al-Shabaab raids in Kenya, including on a shopping mall in the capital, Nairobi, last year that left at least 67 people dead, prompting warnings by foreign governments to avoid travel to parts of the country. Al-Shabaab has said the attacks are revenge for Kenya deploying troops in Somalia in 2011 to back government forces.

The opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy, led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has urged Kenyatta to develop an exit strategy for the troops from Somalia and overhaul the current security system. East Africa’s largest economy currently hosts more than 600,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mostly Somali nationals who have fled conflict and famine and are staying at the United Nations-run Dabaab camp in Kenya’s north.

Media censored with impunity in Puntland

11 Dec – Source: Reporters Without Borders – 255 Words

Reporters Without Borders is worried about freedom of information in the autonomous northeastern region of Puntland, where four news websites have been blocked and journalists have been threatened since the start of December. The four sites – Puntlandnow, Puntlandtoday, Galgalanews and Puntlander – were blocked by Golis Telecom Somalia, Puntland’s biggest telecom company. Puntlandnow’s owner said the closure order came directly from the government but Golis Telecom refused to confirm this when contacted by RWB.

Accompanied by soldiers, police chief Ahmed Abdullahi Samatar stormed into Radio Garowe, a station based in Puntland’s capital, Garowe, on 7 December and cut short the news programme presented by Ali Abdi Du’alle, threatening him with arrest, after he broadcast a report about a protest against a government tax. Somalia is ranked 176th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“I call upon the authorities of Puntland to protect the environment journalists require to do their work and to secure and respect their freedom of expression.”

Somalia marks international human rights day

11 Dec – Source: UNSOM – 2:10 Minutes

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) joined the Federal Government of Somalia and the people of Puntland State in commemorating this year’s World Human Rights Day on 10 December. This year, the theme was ‘Human Rights 365’, which promotes the idea that every day of the year should be a ‘human rights day’. Members of Somali society, policymakers and international development partners attended this event, which also served as the closing ceremony for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign that had begun on 25 November, also in Puntland.

A significant number of local civil society groups that are engaged in advocacy on women’s right issues also attended this event. During his speech, Puntland’s Vice-President Abdihakim Abdillahi Omar Amey told guests that protecting the human rights of all Somalis was one of the Government’s priorities. “I call upon the authorities of Puntland to protect the environment journalists require to do their work and to secure and respect their freedom of expression,” said Faysal Khalif Barre, who chairs the Puntland Media Association.

AMISOM donates footballs to the Somali Police Forces

11 Dec – Source: AMISOM – 1:42 Minutes

As part of their support to the Somalia Police Force (SPF), the AMISOM Police Unit on Thursday handed over 40 footballs to the General Kahiye Police Training academy in Mogadishu. The balls will be used in the teambuilding sessions that are part of the police curriculum. Speaking after receiving the footballs from AMISOM, the academy’s commandant, Brigadier General Abdulrashid Adan Hersi, thanked AMISOM for its continued material and moral support.

“We are supported by many organizations like our brothers the AMISOM Police who do a lot for us in terms of training or capacity building and mentoring us. As you can see today, they even support our sports programs by donating balls for volleyball, basketball and football,” he said. AMISOM Police Training Coordinator Dr. Benjamin Agordzo, told officials the footballs were a donation from the US government under the One World Football initiative. The General Kaahiye Academy is the main training centre for the SPF – which will be celebrating it’s 71st anniversary on December 20, 2014.