The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday in a press release once again called on the authorities of Somalia to stop violence against journalists and step up efforts in providing media workers' safety
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2020) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday in a press release once again called on the authorities of Somalia to stop violence against journalists and step up efforts in providing media workers' safety.
The press release comes after a report on the state of media freedom in Somalia was released by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). According to NUSOJ, there were 84 detected cases of killings, threats, intimidation, physical assault and censorship in Somalia in 2019. Moreover, three journalists were killed by militants from the Al-Shabaab radical group (part of al-Qaeda terrorist organization, banned in Russia).
"The numbers of attacks on media workers in Somalia remain shocking. We'll keep pushing national authorities and using all the international mechanisms available to protect Somali journalists' rights and combat impunity for attacks on them," IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said, as quoted by the press release.
According to IFJ, Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in Africa for journalists with a total of 55 media workers killed in the country over the past decade. Only four perpetrators of those killings were prosecuted.
