Xoogsade Posted October 27, 2007 NAIROBI (AFP) - Journalists in Somalia have never been more targeted since the 1991 collapse of the state's institutions, the London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International said in a statement released Friday. "The situation of journalists in Somalia is currently the worst it has ever been since the disintegration of the Somali state after the overthrow of the Siad Barre government in 1991," it said. The statement comes after the October 19 murder of Bashir Nur Gedi, manager of the popular Shabelle radio network and the eighth Somali journalist killed this year. In its statement, Amnesty urged the country's transitional government to "meet (its) responsibility to protect journalists and media workers from these attacks." The restive Horn of Africa country's capital Mogadishu is rocked by almost daily incidents pitting the embattled Ethiopian-backed government forces against an Islamist-led insurgency. "Intimidation of journalists has become a stratagem by all parties to the conflict in Somalia," Amnesty said. In a statement issued on October 23, the New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch specifically took aim at the transitional government, notably for its frequent closures of media houses. "The Somali government's systematic harassment of journalists, its closures of media outlets, and its failure to investigate the killing of eight journalists have deeply damaged independent reporting in Somalia," it said. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Somalia -- where a vibrant community of independent journalists had developed amid the chaos -- now ranks as the world's second deadliest country for journalists after Iraq. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071026/wl_africa_afp/somaliaunrestmediarights_071026202326 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
