On April 20, authorities ordered the closure of Radio Barawe, a community radio station broadcasting in Baravanese dialect, in Barawe town in Lower Shabelle region, on the pretext that the dialect was not recognized by the government and therefore it was illegal to use it for broadcasting news and entertainment programmes.
In another bid to censor reports, officials asked Mohamed Dhaysane, a journalist working for Turkey’s national news agency Anadolu, to retract his report based on the government’s announcement that it would send 20 doctors to Italy to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Your Excellency, these acts of intimidation, censorship and arrests of journalists perpetrated by officials of your government are creating a climate of fear and forcing many of them to practice self-censorship.
Under your leadership, Somalia is preparing to hold its first parliamentary elections in decades, which will be a significant milestone in establishing democracy in the country. However, democracy will not be able to flourish in Somalia without an independent media. Media pluralism too is an essential element of a democracy, especially at a time when the country is faced with arduous challenges.
We, therefore, urge you to take immediate steps to stop the intimidation and arbitrary arrests of journalists by the security forces and the unjustifiable closure of media outlets, and ensure the strengthening of an independent media that would help build a democratic Somalia.
