January 11, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Somali President Signs Controversial Media Bill
10 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 385 Words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has signed into law a controversial media bill that aims to regulate the beleaguered media industry, after the government dismissed calls by journalists to review the bill. The journalists had complained that the bill was passed by Parliament without independent input from the media.
The 42-article new bill, earlier passed by the Cabinet and Parliament, is viewed as restrictive as it gives authorities a wide-range of options to prosecute and arrest journalists for disseminating ‘false’ news. It also slap heavy fines on journalists and media houses that infringe the stipulated law. Signing the bill into law on Sunday, President Mohamud said he had taken the decision after considering clauses in the constitution and the endorsement letters from the Parliament’s Speaker and the Prime Minister, which highlighted the need for media law to “safeguard the country’s culture and the reputation of the Somali people”.
The President made no reference of complaints by independent journalists, who singled out several articles in the law, including one which creates a watchdog outfit that will regulate media operations in the country. Members of the Fourth Estate have argued that this scenario aims at censoring critical voices and have expressed fear that the watchdog outfit will issue gagging orders on topics perceived sensitive. Journalists have also complained about not being consulted by drafters of this law, who they claim were handpicked by the government. However, the Somali government says majority of the committee members who drafted the media bill were selected among independent media practitioners.
Somalia is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists to work. Dozens have been killed in the past few years while on duty. Despite government’s promises to prosecute killers of media personnel, little has been done. The criminals still walk freely without facing justice, a factor that has provoked protests from the international community. Human rights groups have demanded that Somali authorities reestablish the media bill in Somalia, following the many killings of journalists in the country.
Key Headlines
- Somali President Signs Controversial Media Bill (Hiiraan Online)
- The National Consultative Meeting On 2016 Election Set To Open In Kismayo (Shabelle News)
- Puntland President Departs For NCF Amid Grievances (Garowe Online)
- Somali Journalist Beaten Wounded In Northern Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
- 122 Migrants Die In Somalia Boat Tragedy (9News)
- At Least 1 Killed In Mogadishu Car Bomb Attack (Xinhua News)
- UAE Ambassador Meets Somalia’s Minister of Justice (WAM Emirates News Agency)
- A Second Chance At Life For Ex-Al Shabaab Female Fighters (UNSOM)
NATIONAL MEDIA
The National Consultative Meeting On 2016 Election Set To Open In Kismayo
10 January – Source: Shabelle News – 153 Words
The National Consultative Forum, which brings together the top political leadership in Somalia, will meet on Monday to make the all-important decision on the preferred electoral mode of the much anticipated polls later this year. Jubbaland state spokesman has confirmed that the conference will be opened in the coastal town of Kismayo. Speaking to BBC Somali service, Abdinasir Serar said most of the delegates from the central government, regional administrations and international community were already in the city ahead of the scheduled meeting.
“The disagreement between Jubbaland and the South West State of Somalia has been resolved and both sides will attend the national consultative forum in Kismayo on Monday,” said the Jubbaland spokesman. The meeting was expected to kick off on Sunday, 10th January, but was postponed after Jubbaland and the South West State disagreed over the self-declared Upper Bakol administration.
Puntland President Departs For NCF Amid Grievances
10 January – Source: Garowe Online – 163 Words
The President of Somalia’s Puntland Government Abdiweli Mohamed Ali on Sunday departed from the port city of Bossaso for the National Consultative Conference in the southern port city of Kismayo against the backdrop of a growing frustration among locals. Garowe Online has established that local clans lodged complaints with Ali during his brief stay for the grand opening of Bossaso international airport on Saturday night. Bossaso’s booming businesses has reportedly been paralyzed by counterfeit currency that has been rejected by the country’s highest monetary authority. The depreciation of the Somali shilling against U.S. dollar has further hit a record low, with already destitute households being the most affected. Bari Governor Yusuf Mohamed Weays Dhedo has also issued a directive to hotel managements banning political gatherings. The Puntland President will return to Bossaso immediately after the NCF to address the local’s growing concerns, sources told Garowe Online.
Somali Journalist Beaten, Wounded In Northern Somalia
10 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 262 Words
Unidentified attackers beat up and wounded a Somali journalist in northern Somalia on Friday, the latest in series of attacks against media workers in the Horn of Africa nation. Hussein Hassan Adde, a reporter for the Puntland TV based in Buhodle town is recovering from head injuries at a hospital in Lasanod town.
Witnesses told local media that the unidentified beat up the reporter with woody sticks, metal objects, leaving him for dead: “I received no complaint nor did I receive any death threats – I don’t know who to blame,” the reporter told local media from his hospital bed. His mother Khadra Mohamed said she was informed that her son was lying dead, and expressed relief upon finding him alive at the scene of the attack.
“My hope got restored when I saw him lying on the ground but moving and trying to sit up,” said the journalist’s mother. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is seen as a murder attempt on the journalist. According a recent Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) report, 30 Somali journalists have been killed with impunity in the last 10 years alone. Very few perpetrators have so far been charged with the cold-blood murders which have sent shockwaves across media industry.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
122 Migrants Die In Somalia Boat Tragedy
09 January – Source: 9News 198 Words
At least 112 migrants have died when a boat carrying Ethiopians and Somalis sank off the coast of the Somaliland autonomous region in northern Somalia. The sinking occurred on Friday after the vessel suffered technical problems, said regional health department official Abdurahman Yasin.
“The coast guard rescued 75 people and local residents spotted 112 bodies” that were washed ashore, he added. The injured are being treated at a health centre in the nearby town of Berbera. Some three members of the crew of the stricken vessel were arrested as they tried to flee into nearby mountains and they will be questioned by authorities, Ahmed Abdi Falay, the chairman or governor of Sanag region, said.
Every year, thousands of people die in the waters off the coast of Africa while trying to reach Yemen in order to escape conflict ridden situations and poor economic prospects at home. Yemen serves as a gateway to the rich Gulf countries in the Middle East. Somalis, Eritreans and Ethiopians make up for most of the migrants who look to cross the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea trying to reach Yemen and beyond in precarious boats, often controlled by unscrupulous human traffickers.
At Least 1 Killed In Mogadishu Car Bomb Attack
10 January – Source: Xinhua News – 162 Words
At least one government official was killed and another was wounded in a car bomb attack in Shibis district north of Mogadishu on Sunday morning, police and witnesses said. According to police officer Abdiasiis Jama, Al-Shabaab militants are suspected to have planted explosives in the car.
“So far, we have no more details, but we will try to get more information. We heard that one of the two government officials inside the car was killed and the other was badly injured,” Jama said. Witnesses said they heard heavy explosion early Sunday morning. “We were sleeping when we heard the explosion. We knew that two government officials were in the car,” Mohamed Sheikh, a Mogadishu resident, told Xinhua.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Al-Qaida linked group Al-Shabaab has launched similar attacks in Mogadishu recently. The insurgents once controlled much of Somalia before the African Union and Somali forces drove the group out of Mogadishu in 2011.
UAE Ambassador Meets Somalia’s Minister of Justice
10 January – Source: WAM Emirates News Agency – 95 Words
Mohammed Ahmed Al Othman, UAE Ambassador to Somalia, has met with Abdullahi Ahmed Jama, Somalia’s Minister of Justice, at the headquarters of the embassy in Mogadishu. The Somali Minister expressed his thanks and appreciation to the UAE for its prominent role in various developmental and humanitarian fields in Somalia. He reiterated his keenness to strengthen bilateral relations between the UAE and Somalia in the field of justice and the judiciary. The UAE Ambassador to Somalia expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Minister of Justice for his efforts in consolidating relations between the two countries.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The program is unique because of its complexity, as it involves different facets of human life, which are all critical in the transformation of an ex-combatant”.
A Second Chance At Life For Ex-Al Shabaab Female Fighters
09 January – Source: UNSOM – 972 Words
Twenty-one year-old, Nurta Mohammed Hassan, can finally afford a smile after years of torture under the rag-tag militia group, Al Shabaab, thanks to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), which came to her rescue. Ms. Nurta was abducted by Al Shabaab fighters, taken to an unknown destination and tortured for days, until she succumbed to their demands.
“I did not join Al Shabaab willingly, rather, I was hijacked by mean-looking men and driven out of town to an unknown destination where I was tortured and without any option left, I joined the group,” said Ms. Nurta. Her colleague, Hawa Ibrahim Ali, joined the group after being prevailed upon by a friend. Like Nurta, Hawa was also tortured and forced to serve the group’s rank and file.
Nurta, for example, was prevented from contacting her family for almost three and a half years, while Hawa’s brother was killed by Al Shabaab gunmen. Both tactics are normally used by Al Shabaab to force their victims into compliance: “I was responsible for searching and screening women for Al Shabaab. I used to carry the weapons for them,” admits 33-year-old Hawa.
Fortunately, the torturous life under Al Shabaab is now behind them. The two have managed to turn a new leaf, with the help of a program funded by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), which rehabilitates ex-female combatants and reintegrates them into the community. One of the popular centers that has excelled in rehabilitating ex-Al Shabaab fighters, both male and female, is based in Baidoa, a liberated town in south-central Bay region of Somalia, about 256 km by road from the capital Mogadishu.
According to Patrick Loots, the Chief of UNSOM Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Section, the program for female disengaged Al Shabaab fighters started in 2014, after they received the first female fighter who had deserted Al Shabaab: “There were facilities catering for male disengaged combatants but not women. As a result, we sought help from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) Trust Fund, which funded the establishment of female safe houses in Baidoa,” explains Mr. Loots.
The first safe houses to be established in Baidoa were for seven female ex-combatants and 21 of their children. The center is expecting another group of about 10 female ex-fighters. UNSOM’s plan is to establish three or four safe houses in the next year and expand the program to other regions, depending on the need and the number of disengaged female combatants in the rest of Somalia.