Watchdog demands release of editor detained in Somaliland

A US-based press freedom watchdog has urged authorities in Somaliland, the self-declared republic in northwestern Somalia, to release the editor-in-chief of two newspapers arrested at the end of last month.

New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that Hassan Said Yusuf, the editor-in-chief of the independent Somali-language daily, Jamhuuriya, and its weekly English-language edition, The Republican, was picked up from his office in Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital, on 31 August.

CPJ quoted local sources as saying that Yusuf's colleagues had by 2 September not been allowed to visit him.

"His arrest stemmed from a news article published in Jamhuuriya on August 30 about the Somaliland government's stance on peace talks in Kenya," CPJ said in a statement.

The Somaliland administration refused to take part in the reconciliation conference in Nairobi aimed at ending factional warfare in the rest of Somalia, which has been without a government since the regime of Muhammad Siyad Barre was toppled in 1991.

"Arresting a journalist over a news story is unacceptable," said Ann Cooper, CPJ's executive director. "We call on Somaliland authorities to ensure Hassan Said Yusuf's immediate, unconditional release, and to ensure that journalists in Somaliland are free to report on matters of public concern without fear of government reprisal," she added.

The article published in Jamhuuriya suggested that Somaliland's main opposition party, Kulmiye, took a harder stance against participating in the peace talks than Somaliland's government, CPJ quoted local sources as saying.

"It is unclear whether Yusuf has been formally charged. His arrest has been condemned by local press freedom organizations, including the Somali Journalists Network (SOJON) and the Press Freedom Violation Monitors," the watchdog said.

It said that Yusuf and other journalists working for Jamhuuriya have been targeted by Somaliland authorities before.

In October 2003, police detained Yusuf for nine hours in Hargeisa accusing him of publishing information that was "not good for the government." In February 2004, two reporters working for Jamhuuriya at the Somaliland Supreme Court were arrested when covering the trial of a prominent traditional elder accused of destabilizing Somaliland.

The two journalists were held for four hours before being released without charge, according to local journalists' organisations.