Mogadishu 21February, 2009 ::  It is great mourning for Somali Media as the UN special envoy for Somalia gave wrong definition about the Somalia media’s tough peace role in the country by comparing it with Radio Mille Colline which supported or incited the Rwanda Genocide.

The special envoy Oulad Abdalla said the Somalia media are just like Radio Mille Colline because they are inciting the insecurity, instead all the international human rights and media are appreciating and reporting the insecurity that the Somali media is operating.

 The media reported that AMISOM forces committed genocide in Mogadishu following when road side bomb went off with one of the AMISOM vehicles that injured a soldier and then AMISOM fired all the directions with causalities of 40 civilians mainly women and children and elderly people.

 Ould Abdalla has never sent a condolence statement to the families who lost their beloved ones. But he started responding angrily to the Somali media which reported about the incident by naming them as radio Mille Colline in Rwanda.

Somali media is mourning about the wrong definition made by the UN special envoy Ould Abdalla and is trying now to know whether the special envoy is inciter of the killings of innocent Somalis or a peace envoy?

Without Somali media nobody could report about what is happening in the country as both local and international are threatened, kidnapped and killed in Somalia while they were on duty by the different groups fighting for the power.

The Somalia media on one hand daily reports on all humanitarian situations in Somalia and other human rights cases committed by government forces and other international peace-keeping forces and on the other hand it reports about the peace process and supports all peace envoys including envoy Abdalla.

Somali media role in the peace process in well known by all Somali people including the newly elected Somali president H. E President Sharif Sheikh  Ahmed  who in his first speech thanked the Somali media for their role in the peace and security of the country and requested their effort to be doubled.

  Soon after the election of president Sharif on 31^st January 2009 the Somali media directors convened a meeting to support Djibouti political agreement at one of the radio stations meeting room (Radio Koran Karim meeting room, north Mogadishu).

            The media issued a communiqué that composed four articles:

1. Not to host the Islamic awareness direct from the Mosque to the radio centre organized by Somali Ulumos, As it was used into a political issues and out of its agenda here in after it is decided to send the journalists and cover it then release it after while editing.

2. Not to accept any press conference holding through telephones, Since the Ethiopian troops have moved out and was the cause of organizing press conference holding by phones thus for Islamic forces and any one wishing to have a press conference have to request from administrations of the media centres. Then will be sending a journalist, even though regions.

3.      Not to interview a person whom the society does not know him in the politics or the issue that he/she is talking about, As well as having no known rank and name of famous and not to propagate a new group or person whom cannot voting any additional profit to the society. All sides agreed that people to be referred should be the famous known leaders and not to make a famous in our centres for a person not bringing any profit for the society.

4.Finally has agreed that to make strong any one operating for the peace issues and not host to the society for news can create problems and unit-peace issues.

Since the above articles are implemented the media centres was opposed a press conference holding through telephones organized by a part of the Mukawama  and other political groups reasoning that people whom was spoke was not appropriate leaders.

The special envoy’s speech has increased the insecurity of the Somali journalist and it became reason that many anti-media freedom groups use as reason to eliminate the small press freedom that existed in Somalia for the last 18 years.

The Somali media believes that the special envoy should be accountable of all killings, kidnappings and threats that Somali and international reporters face in the country.

The Somali Journalist Rights Agency is preparing meetings and demos against the speech made by the UN special envoy that was calling the Somali media as Radio Colline in Rwand and the UN in generally. Among the possibilities measures that the Somali media will take are “all Somali media not to report about UN activities in the country for a period of one month.”

The demos are also intended the implementation of the articles adopted at the 31January ^st Somali media Directors meeting in Mogadishu.

SOJRA would like to thank all international human rights and press organizations who strongly responded about the wrong speech made by the UN Special Envoy Ould Abdalla.

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