26/08/07 (B410) LDDH : commentaires et reprise d’un appel de l’EHAHRDP en faveur des journalistes somaliens qui sont victimes de la violence et qui sont tués dans l’exercice de leur métier.
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DIFFUSION D’INFORMATION Le génocide reste impuni en Somalie, |
Après la chute du Président M. Siad Barre, la Somalie du Sud est restée
déstabilisée par les Seigneurs de guerre soutenus et manipulés par des
forces extérieures.
Au début de 2006 les seigneurs de guerres ont fui Mogadiscio et ses environs
avec l’avancé rapide des Islamistes « libérateurs ».
Même les prises d’otages des navires passant au large des côtes Somaliennes ont immédiatement cessé dés que les islamistes ont pris bon nombre des Ports
Somaliens.
Après une année du « printemps des Islamistes à Mogadiscio en 2006 », les
Forces armées éthiopiennes avec leur invasion de la Somalie, au début de cette année 2007, n’ont apporté que famine, massacres, réfugiés et personnes déplacées en masse, génocides et crimes de guerre pratiquement cautionnés par le silence des Instances Internationales en particulier l’Union Africaine et l’ONU.
Pour taire tous ces crimes intolérables, pire que celles du Darfour, rien qu’en l’espace de huit (8) mois, les journalistes somalies en particulier sont les premières victimes de ces massacres ciblés.
La Ligue Djiboutienne des Droits Humains (LDDH) lance un Appel pressant à tous les Défenseurs des Droits de l’Homme, notamment la Commission Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples, au Conseil des Droits de l’Homme, à Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, FIDH et l’UIDH, ainsi qu’à Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), pour qu’une enquête internationale soit diligentée, afin de déterminer l’ampleur des crimes de guerre et crimes de génocide perpétrée par l’armée éthiopienne qui a, depuis huit mois, envahi la République voisine de Somalie.
M. NOEL ABDI Jean-Paul
Vice-président de l’UIDH
Chargé de la Corne d’Afrique
_______________________________________________________________
EAST AND HORN OF AFRICA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS NETWORK
24th August 2007
KAMPALA: EHAHRD-Net DECRIES CONTINUED MURDERING OF SOMALI JOURNALISTS
What began like a year of hope for Somalia with the removal of the Islamic Courts militias that had been accused of causing havoc in the war-torn country has sadly turned out to be the deadliest year ever for Somali journalists.
EHAHRD-Net has just received information from the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), a founding member of the Network, that another journalist, Abdulkadir Mahad Moallim Kaskey formerly working with Radio Banadir in South-Western Somalia, was killed this morning. Reports say that unknown gunmen opened fire to the Minibus that he was riding in early today (Friday, 24 August 2007), in El Ilan village. The deceased is the seventh journalist to be murdered in Somalia since the beginning of this year, and the third in just two weeks.
« This has been a terrible year for the human rights defenders’ community in the East and Horn of Africa with the needless loss of courageous media workers. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is duty-bound to ascertain the circumstances under which journalists continue to be targeted by murderous elements. The TFG backed by Ethiopian troops and the African Union troops currently in control of Mogadishu , must trace the murderers and ensure that they are held accountable.
The time is now for the African Union and the UN to wake up to the call for protection of not only journalists but all other human rights defenders as well as the innocent
civilians of Somalia, » says Hassan Shire Sheikh, Chairperson EHAHRDP/Net.
Background:
War-torn Somalia has been stateless for over 16 years, and within this
period, journalists have experienced grave violations of their rights from all sides of the conflict. By mid last year when Martin Adler, 47, an award-winning Swedish journalist and photographer was shot dead by an unidentified gunman while filming a demonstration in the Somali capital in June 2006, he was the 14th journalist to be murdered in Somalia since the fall of former dictator Siad Barre in 1991. This year alone, four months to its close, has already recorded half the number killed in the previous sixteen years.
Worldwide, Somalia has continued to be one of the most insecure places of work for journalists both on and off duty, despite the pledge of security by both the TFG and the African Union forces.
APPEAL:
EHAHRD-Net appeals to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia to:
. Establish details about the murder of Abdulkadir Mahad Moallim Kaskey,
and ensure those behind it receive their due punishment;
. Avail adequate security to journalists in view of their legitimate role of
gathering and disseminating news and information;
. Strictly observe the right to life and freedom of the press as stipulated
in the Somali Transitional Federal Charter, and in regional and
international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, and the 1998 UN Declaration on the rights of human rights
defenders.
We also call upon the international community to intervene in the security
situation in Somalia which has escalated to unbearable levels. The African
Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations must rise up
and condemn the continued killing of journalists, and use their mandates to
ensure a return to normalcy.
All Network members across the sub-region and beyond, are requested to write
to the TFG authorities condemning the murder of Abdulkadir Mahad Moallim
Kaskey and ask them to take the necessary measures to protect the lives of
journalists and all other human rights defenders working in the country.
Please send appeals to:
The Somali Ambassador in Kenya , asking for them to be forwarded to Somalia
‘s President, Col. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed:
TFG Ambassador,
Mohamed Ali Nur,
PO Box 623-00606,
Jabavu Road ,
Hurlingham,
Nairobi – Kenya
Email: mali@somaliembassy.co.ke
Salutation: Dear Sir
For further information, please contact
Tumusiime Kabwende Deo
Press Officer, +256-712-075721
Regional Coordination Office
EAST AND HORN OF AFRICA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS PROJECT (EHAHRDP)
Human Rights House, Plot 1853, Lulume Rd., Nsambya
P.O. Box 70356 Kampala, Uganda
Phone: +256-414-510263 (general) / ext.112
+256-414-267118 (direct)
Fax: +256-414-267117
E-mail: ehahrdp@yahoo.ca, hshire@yorku.ca
Website: http://www.yorku.ca/crs/AHRDP/index.html