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UN ‘alarmed’ by Somali journalist murders

“We are extremely alarmed by the continuing assault on Somalia’s media workers and journalists by (the Al Qaeda linked) Al Shebab and other elements,” Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, told reporters in Geneva.

He pointed to the cases of Warsame Shire Awale, a well-known musician, drama producer and comedian working for RadioÂKulmiye, who was attacked and killed by two gunman late Monday, and independent Shabelle radio journalist Mohamed Mohamud Turyare, who died Sunday of gunshot wounds received last week.

Colville pointed out that the latest deaths brought to 18 the number of media workers killed in Somalia so far this year, with nine killed in the past six weeks and three in the past seven days alone.

“That’s the second highest toll in the world after Syria,” he said, calling on Somalia’s government “to take urgent steps to protect journalists and other media workers and to end the complete impunity that has been enjoyed by their killers.”

“The role of the media is crucial as Somalia tries to get back on its feet, and the continued slaughter of the country’s journalists risks stifling the media’s ability to contribute to an improvement in law and order and good governance,” he added.

Several killings are blamed on Shebab insurgents, but other murders are also believed to be linked to struggles within the multiple factions in power, and Colville stressed that those cases might be easier to investigate and prosecute.

Somalia has been ravaged by nearly uninterrupted civil war for the past two decades, and hardline gunmen still control large parts of the rural south and centre of the country.