Somali government vows to halt violations of press freedoms

MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somalia's new government on Monday pledged to put an end to a crackdown against journalists in the Horn of Africa country and vowed to restore press freedoms.

Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein made the promise as he was taking part in a national press freedom day ceremony in the capital Mogadishu.

"I am taking this opportunity to say that the government promises to make sure violations against the free press are over. We will improve the relation between the media and the government," he said.

The prime minister made his first appearance in Mogadishu over the weekend.
The Somali capital has been wracked by violence between Ethiopian-backed government forces and Islamist insurgents, forcing the government to remained hunkered down in the town of Baidoa.

Somalia's newly-appointed information minister, Ahmed Abisalam, also a co-founder of the Somali media corporation Horn Afrik, also attended the Mogadishu ceremony.
"The important thing is to set a up a committee linking between the government and the media so that there will not be violations against the free press

"I hope that incidents in which journalists are deprived of their rights are a thing of the past, we don't want any struggle between the government and the media," he added.

Several Horn Afrik journalists were killed or wounded in 2007 as the government cracked down on media houses suspected of sympathies with the Islamist insurgents.

According to the Somali Coalition for Free Expression, which co-organised the press freedom day Monday, issued a report detailing violations against the media in 2007.

"At least eight journalists were killed, five wounded and 42 others were arrested in the 2007. Four of them are still detained by the Somali government in Mogadishu,"

the report said.
Source:AFP