Hubaal

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Residents sit under Somaliland's Independence memorial in Hargeisa. Journalists there say conditions are improving, but they remain wary. (Reuters/Feisal Omar)

Mission Journal: Fewer arrests but fear still lingers for Somaliland’s press

Conditions for the press in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland may, on the surface, appear to be improving. But without a functioning media law to lend protection, and pending legislative elections, journalists remain wary of state harassment.

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The front page of an old edition of Haatuf newspaper. A court on Thursday ordered the paper to be shut down. (Guleid Hussein)

Somaliland authorities shut down independent papers

Nairobi, April 8, 2014–Police in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland on Thursday raided the Hargeisa offices of the independent Somali-language paper Haatuf  and its sister English-language weekly, Somaliland Times, and suspended them indefinitely, according to local journalists and news reports. 

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Police raid and shut down paper in Somaliland

Nairobi, December 16, 2013–Police in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland on December 13 raided the Hargeisa offices of the critical independent daily Hubaal, arrested two staff members, and ordered the publication to be shut down, according to news reports. This is the third time the paper has been targeted this year.

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Journalists jailed for covering protest in Somaliland

Police arrested four journalists on December 3, 2013, and detained them for nearly a week for covering a peaceful protest in the capital of the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland, according to local journalists and human rights organizations.

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Editor Hassan Hussein, left, and Director Mohamed Ahmed relaunch their publication one day after the government lifts its suspension. (Hubaal)

Q&A: Hubaal’s editor talks about press in Somaliland

Hubaal, Somaliland’s critical and much-beleaguered daily newspaper, is back on newsstands after a presidential pardon last week. The paper was shuttered on orders of the attorney general in June without explanation. In April, two gunmen, subsequently identified by authorities as police officers, raided the office of Hubaal and attacked its staff after a series of…

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A bid to rid Africa of criminal defamation, sedition laws

The African Union’s special rapporteur on freedom of expression and access to information, Commissioner Pansy Tlakula, has launched an auspicious initiative in East Africa to counter criminal defamation and sedition laws. Since independence, authorities and business interests in the East and Horn region have used criminal laws on sedition, libel, and insult–often relics of former,…

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Mohamed Ahmed Jama is attacked in April, imprisoned in July. (Hubaal Media Network)

In Somaliland, Hubaal journalists sentenced to jail

Nairobi, July 3, 2013–A court in the capital of the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland today convicted the manager and editor of the independent daily Hubaal of defamation and sentenced them to prison. Hubaal’s editor, Hussein Hassan Abdullahi, received two years, while the paper’s manager, Mohamed Ahmed Jama, was sentenced to one year in jail on…

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A Hargeisa resident reads the Hubaal paper before the daily's suspension. (Barkhad Dahir)

Independent daily suspended indefinitely in Somaliland

Nairobi, June 12, 2013–The acting attorney general in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland should withdraw his request to suspend the independent daily Hubaal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A court ruled on Tuesday that the paper had been indefinitely suspended at the request of Aden Ahmed Mouse, according to news reports.

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Mohamed Ahmed Jama is attacked in April, imprisoned in July. (Hubaal Media Network)

Somaliland official says media owner attacked by police

New York, April 30, 2013–A senior administration official in Somaliland has said that police officers were the perpetrators of an April 24 attack on the owner of a media network, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the semi-autonomous republic to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that all…

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