May 4, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Somalia Parliament Debates Election Model

03 May – Source: Garowe Online -273 Words

Lawmakers in Somalia’s Federal parliament have begun debating modality adopted for 2016 elections amid talks of possible delay in polls on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports. With four months left to presidential election, Somali parliament is likely to endorse the election text marred by months of deadlock over the return to 4.5 quota.

National Assembly member Ahmed Omar Mohamud said, they began the parliamentary deliberation after Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke presented election blueprint for approval by the weekend. On April 4, UN-backed national government and the northeastern State of Puntland struck a deal covering scheme for 2016 Electoral Process, Upper House, 2020 roadmap, and tight implementation to be closely monitored by international community.

Somalia Federal Government introduced national election model that garnered swift support from western donors. On Friday, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke hoped that Somalia could see election date pushed back by at least two months. Somalia held first-ever presidential election on its own since the state collapse, in September 2012. Incumbent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is seeking second term in office under a model, UN envoy called “a midway point between the election of 2012, when only 135 electors selected 275 Members of Parliament and 2020, when all Somalis will have a say.”

Key Headlines

Somalia Parliament Debates Election Model (Garowe Online)
Somali Special Force Overrun ISIS Training Facility (Radio Dalsan)
Two People Killed In Galkayo Clashes (Goobjoog News)
Human Rights Watch Urges Somalia To Protect Journalists (TRT World)
Somali Refugee In Critical Condition After Setting Herself On Fire (UPI)
Somali Journalists Stay Committed To Work In Country Ranked Among The World’s Most Dangerous(AMISOM)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Special Force Overrun ISIS Training Facility

03 May – Source: Radio Dalsan – 96 Words

Somali special forces have overrun Islamic state training camp in Janale,South of the capital Mogadishu.According to Somali National News Agency (SONNA) the raid was conducted on Tuesday.Commander who was the leading the operation but didn’t disclose his identity told Somali National News Agency that they have destroyed the training camp in the operation.He added that the force is currently pursuing militants who fled the camp and hiding in the vicinity area.Al-Shabaab defectors led by British Somali Sheikh Abdulkadir Munin pledge allegiance to ISIS in Somalia in video released online last week.

Two People Killed In Galkayo Clashes

03 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 179 Words

At least two people have been killed and five others injured as Galmudug forces clashed with gunmen over illegal checkpoints near Galkaayo town. The gunbattle broke out when Galmudug forces attacked gunmen who were collecting illegal money from the public transport at a checkpoint in the outskirt of Galkaayo town which lies 722 km North of Somalia’s capital city, Mogadishu. “The fighting is still ongoing and I can only hear heavy gunfire from the area where the fighting is taking place now,” resident told Goobjoog News via telephone.

Galmudug government has issued a stern warning to militia men who are setting up illegal roadblocks in Galgaduud region. In recent months, ‘Illegal roadblocks’ have been on increase in Mudug region. Goobjoog News Correspondent, Ali Noor Eyn in the region says the roadblocks interrupted people’s daily lives because the armed groups imposed huge levies on public service vehicles and would harass passengers if drivers did not pay the money quickly. Analysts see that removing the illegal roadblocks was an urgent requirement because it affected residents’ security and stability in the country.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Human Rights Watch Urges Somalia To Protect Journalists

03 May – Source: TRT World – 317 Words

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday urged the Somali government to strive harder to protect journalists and media workers facing rampant violence and intimidation in the country.The group published a report to mark World Press Freedom Day, calling for the Somali president, the federal parliament and government ministers to prevent attacks on journalists, prohibit intimidation and arbitrary arrests, stop the closure of broadcast stations and review legislation to bring it into line with freedom of expression.

The group accused the Somali authorities and Al Shabab militants of attacking media coverage, documenting arbitrary arrests, killing and the detention of journalists since 2014. “Human Rights Watch did not find evidence of any government official or security force member having been disciplined or charged for abuses against journalists in the past several years,” the report said.

Attacks against journalists and other media workers that goes unpunished by law reflects a wider impunity and general disregard for the rule of law, the group said. The group cited the case of veteran journalist Abdirisak Jama Elmi, killed by unknown murderers in October 2014.”As I was trying to escape, the man started shooting automatic rounds and I felt as though he hit me about 10 times in my back, I could hear several voices telling the shooter to aim better,” he told HRW.

Somali Refugee In Critical Condition After Setting Herself On Fire

03 May – Source: UPI – 313 Words

A 21-year-old Somali refugee was in critical condition Tuesday after setting herself on fire in the detention facility on the Pacific island of Nauru, the second incident in a week.Hodan Yasin was transferred to Australia for treatment after setting herself on fire and sustaining severe burns to most of her body.One person told the Australian Guardian the incident was worse than when 23-year-old Omid Masoumali died last last week after self-immolating, also on Nauru.Last November, Yasin was treated in Australia for a head injury obtained in a motorbike accident but was forcibly returned to Nauru last Wednesday, the Refugee Action Coalition said.

Many refugees arriving in Australia by boat are refused entrance and relocated to offshore islands.Labor Party immigration spokesman Richard Marles is demanding to have the situation on the islands rectified. He said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull “must urgently seek a viable agreement to resolve the fate of people on Manus Island and Nauru.”

Yasin had been held in Nauru for three years until being transferred to Brisbane, Australia. Last Wednesday, she screamed as she was forcibly carried out of the site.The United Nations has been critical of Australia’s offshore detention program.Catherine Stubberfield, spokesperson for U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees’ regional representation in Canberra, said there was “no doubt that the current policy of offshore processing and prolonged detention is immensely harmful.”

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“On World Freedom Of The Press Day, newsmen and women in the horn of Africa country are urging the government to make the environment safer for a growing and vibrant press that works under constant threats and intimidation from political, criminal and militant forces,”

Somali Journalists Stay Committed To Work In Country Ranked Among The World’s Most Dangerous

03 May – Source: AMISOM – 718 Words

A close call with death gave popular Somali radio journalist Mohamed Nor firsthand experience of the perils of exercising his profession.Nor, who goes by the studio name Shariifka, was shot three times in the stomach in a brutal attack in the capital city Mogadishu in June 2012. He was leaving his office premises when he was attacked by two pistol-wielding assailants, believed to be Al-Shabaab militants. The attack left two bullets lodged in his stomach.

After two months in a Nairobi hospital and another three convalescing at home, Nor returned to continue his work in Mogadishu, despite protests from his family. Two months later, two of his journalist friends were killed in an explosion in which Nor believes he was the real target.“I received a text message saying, ‘your friends who left you moments earlier have met their death. You survived before, but from now on we will see if you live,’” Nor said.

Death threats, targeted assassinations and intimidation are still daily realities for Somali journalists, for whom working conditions have been ranked among the most dangerous in the world.According to a March 2016 report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to work in as a journalist. Fifty nine journalists have been killed since 1992, many of them either murdered or killed in crossfire, combat or while on dangerous assignments. The country ranks at the top of CPJ’s Global Impunity Index, which highlights countries where murders of journalists go unpunished.

In Mogadishu, assassinations are normally carried out by masked men who waylay journalists in alleys and at times at the gates of their residences. Most murders are never properly investigated. The threats undermine coverage of not only sensitive political stories but also important humanitarian issues.“In Somalia, one has always to be careful on what he or she writes, as it might be the decider of one’s survival or death. If they do not like an article you have written or a photo you have taken, they will always threaten you and at times come for you if they feel you are disobeying their orders,” said Farah Abdi Warsame, a Mogadishu-based photojournalist, who survived a bomb blast and still faces constant death threats from armed gangs.