Somali journo arrested after interviewing reported rape victim

17 Jan 2013

A Somali freelance journalist has been detained without charge since 10 January 2013 after interviewing a woman who says she was raped by state security forces. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that Abdiaziz Abdinur was summoned by the Central Investigations Department (CID) last Thursday, in connection with the interview he conducted with the woman.

According to Human Rights Watch, the CID detained the reported victim, along with an acquaintance who had put her in contact with journalists. Police allegedly used the woman's cell phone to call Abdiaziz Abdinuur in for questioning.

Authorities also searched the journalist's home, says Human Rights Watch, although it is unclear if they had a search warrant. Local journalists and news reports mentioned by CPJ say that Abdiaziz told police that he had interviewed the woman, but had not published her story.

The woman says she had been living in a camp for internally displaced persons in Mogadishu when she was raped, according to news reports mentioned by CPJ.

In a statement, CPJ's East Africa consultant, Tom Rhodes noted, "It is shameful that Somali authorities have arrested a woman who has reported a rape, and a reporter who documented her story, instead of conducting an investigation into this reported crime."

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