Somaliland urged to lift ban on private radio stations

The Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), has called on the authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland to lift its ban on all privately owned radio stations.

A circular issued by the Somaliland information ministry on 5 June said that until broadcasting regulations were laid down, there would be no private radio stations because of the "potential dangers" of such operations.

"No other voice can be heard on the air waves except Radio Hargeysa, which is the national voice," the circular said. Any broadcasting equipment already in the country should be surrendered to the information ministry, it said, warning that anyone found opposing the contents of the circular "will be brought before a court of law".

"This move is a serious obstacle to press freedom and the growth of independent and diverse expression in the region," said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to Somaliland's President, Dahir Riyale Kahin. "The government has taken this step because it knows most of the region's inhabitants get their news from the radio."

Somaliland's only radio station is the official Radio Hargeysa, but several individuals and opposition parties have applied for broadcasting frequencies, while several privately owned newspapers are published and sold in Somaliland, the RSF statement noted.

Somaliland declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, but has yet to be recognised by the outside world. RSF noted that in Puntland - another autonomous Somali region - the authorities last month shut down the main radio and TV station, which is privately-owned.