Twenty-four-year-old Sagal Salad Osman, a broadcaster and producer with the state-run Somali National Television (SNTV) and Radio Mogadishu, was near the University of Mogadishu where she was studying when two gunmen with pistols opened fire on her in early May.
She was the radio station’s second female journalist murdered since December 2015 – the same month that one of Somalia’s leading trade unionists escaped an assassination attempt.
In a country struggling to rebuild itself from failed-state status, where al-Shabaab militants control much of the country and cause havoc elsewhere, journalists and trade unionists face violence and intimidation – both from the insurgents as well as the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
On 29 December last year, Omar Faruk Osman, general secretary of the Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU), secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) and a newly-appointed member of the executive committee of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), escaped unscathed from a drive-by shooting that left three others wounded.
FESTU, the national trade union centre, is an affiliate of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and has been a leading voice for human and trade union rights in the war-torn country.
In November 2015, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Committee on Freedom of Association made a landmark ruling against the federal government of Somalia, denouncing it for intimidating trade unions, interfering with their democratic internal affairs and imposing non-union individuals as leaders of existing trade unions, amongst other findings.
“This ruling was a wonderful victory for NUSOJ and the entire Somali labour movement,” Omar Faruk Osman told Equal Times. “The report vindicated our union in that the ILO discovered interference in trade union work – a violation of the freedom of association and movement, and a contravention of ILO conventions, in an attempt to deny our right to exist as a free and independent trade union that is not controlled by government. This is quite significant.”
One month after the ILO ruling, Omar Faruk Osman was the victim of an attempted assassination. He had publicly criticised a controversial media law passed by the Somali parliament the day before the attempt on his life, describing it as a threat to media freedom in Somalia and calling on the president not to sign it.
Trade unions around the world strongly condemned the attack. The IFJ said: “This terrible incident exposes the challenge of building a strong independent union in a country ruined by 20 years of conflict, and where press freedom is frequently violated.”
President Mohamud eventually signed the bill in January. It empowers courts to compel journalists to reveal confidential sources, erodes the independence of the Somali Media Commission and forces all journalists to have a university degree in journalism and be registered with the Ministry of Information. Worse still, the law gives the Ministry of Information the power to set a professional code of ethics for journalists.
Growing persecution
This May, four UN human rights experts made a joint intervention on the growing persecution of trade unionists in Somalia. They urged the Somali government to stop the intimidation and reprisals against members and leaders of the independent trade unions, and to stop interfering in union activities.
“Somalia is not fulfilling its international human rights obligations and the situation for trade unions keeps on worsening despite specific recommendations made by the International Labour Organization’s Governing Body urging the Somali Government to refrain from any further interference in the unions registered in Somalia, with particular reference to the NUSOJ and FESTU,” the experts said.
Though up from 172 last year, Somalia ranks 167 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters sans frontières (Reporters Without Borders, or RSF).
“Freedom of information in Somalia suffers from corruption, political violence and the central government’s extreme weakness…journalists are persecuted by both the government and the rebel Islamist al-Shabaab movement,” the RSF country report stated.
“Those who refuse to censor themselves are the targets of bombings or shooting by al-Shabaab militants or exposed to arbitrary detention or the closure of their media outlets by the authorities.”
The UN human rights experts also noted that FESTU and NUSOJ leaders have also frequently been arrested and interrogated on their union activities, and face undue travel restrictions.
In an attempt to deny NUSOJ members the right to meet freely and exercise their union rights, the government disbanded the NUSOJ general assembly, scheduled to take place on 13-14 February this year.
During the same month, the State Attorney General sought a criminal prosecution against Omar Faruk Osman over his cooperation with the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR).
Reprisals
But the condemnation continues – as does the repression. In March 2016, the ILO Governing Body called on the Somali government to “take immediate steps to give full effect to its recommendations of November 2015.”
Amongst them, they urge the government to “ensure the protection and guarantee the security of the FESTU and NUSOJ leaders and members, and establish a full and independent judicial inquiry on the allegations of intimidations and death threats affecting them.”
In February 2016, the Ministry of Labour demanded security forces to disband a FESTU congress, which finally took place on 6-7 April without any disturbances (despite the governments attempts to organise an “alternative FESTU congress” on 6 April).
In May, some media owners and managers, with the backing of the Ministry of Information, organised a bogus NUSOJ general assembly, which was not attended by any NUSOJ members.
It seems “the situation for trade unions keeps on worsening,” as the UN human rights experts noted. But Omar Faruk Osman is adamant that something must be done.
“We are deeply disturbed by the public and shameful confirmation that trade union repression in Somalia is orchestrated and supported by the government itself,” he told Equal Times. “This vicious cycle of rights infringements is exacerbated by impunity and the anti-trade union mentality of those that govern us.”
