Journalism is arguably one of the most dangerous professions in Somalia, with Al-Shabaab Militants and Government agencies targeting reporters. Media Freedom is a narrative that many Somali journalists hear of, but never truly live to experience.

According to the ‘State of the Media Report, 2021’, released by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), an association set up in August 2002 to promote and protect freedom of the press and the interests of journalists in Somalia, around 69 cases were recorded in 2021 alone, of media houses and journalists that had suffered gross violation of human rights, humiliation and some even murdered in cold blood while in line of duty, with Mogadishu and Somaliland regions being top of the list.

Another annual report of 2022 on the State of Press Freedom in Somalia by the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), an independent journalists’ trade union established in May 2019 to speak for  journalists’ human rights, it was established that “arbitrary detention, use of threats, restrictions and blocking access to information had reached another worrisome level throughout 2022 and on the other hand federal and local authorities have doubled their attacks on journalists covering the government-declared war with Al-Shabaab in certain regions of the country. Subsequently, two prominent journalists were killed while ten others injured, 84 journalists were arrested, and seven media stations were raided and shuttered due to their critical reporting.”

This and many other reports clearly display what it means for journalists to practise their profession in Somalia. While people being attacked, tortured and even murdered by terrorists would expect to find solace in the government, this has not been entirely the case for Somali journalists. Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, a journalist and the current secretary-general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS),describes the practice of journalism in Somalia as “being between a rock and a hard place.”

“Somalia has the worst press freedom in the world. We are targeted by both the Al-Shabaab militia and the government; tortured, detained aimlessly and even killed!”

Abdelle adds that it gets worse for a journalist that is reporting on the war between the government and the terrorists. “They all do not want publicity that is especially showing defeat on their side.” He further adds that atrocities are committed towards journalists by the Al-Shabaab, and the government does nothing about it. Instead, it contributes to suppressing press freedom and freedom of expression.

Mumin was in October 2022 detained by Somalia's National Intelligence (SNI)  as he boarded a flight to Nairobi, Kenya, a day after he and other media activists issued a joint press statement criticising a new government directive to impose censorship on the independent media. He was routinely detained, blocked from travelling, persecuted and even charged on several charges including 'refusing the ministry of information’s directive'.  He was later jailed for 33 days in Mogadishu.  A year earlier, Mumin and his two colleagues had been detained by the local police in the Hirshabelle region, while training journalists from the minority community around. Al-Shabaab militia also issued a stern warning to him and the organisation he works for, accusing them of being ‘pro-democracy’ and 'working with western governments'. 

The unfortunate incidents faced by Mumin and his colleagues continue to happen day by day, with most of them unreported. There are many more journalists who fear to speak up after intimidations, so they either quit the profession or ‘they just go missing.’