H.E. Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf
President
Office of the President
Garowe
Puntland State of Somalia

Fax: +252-944-6503 / +252-54-54024 / +252-523-4801

Vienna, 28 April 2004

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, leading journalists and media executives in over 120 countries, is deeply concerned about the arrest of Abdishakur Yusuf Ali, the editor of the independent War-Ogaal newspaper.

According to information provided to IPI, Abdishakur was arrested and detained in the port of Bossasso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, on 21 April by militia loyal to Puntland Finance Minister Abdirahman Mohamoud Farole. The arrest came after an article by Abdishakur alleging Farole’s ministry sold food donated by the international community.

Abdishakur’s arrest is not the first time the journalist has faced problems in Puntland. In early February 2001, Abdishakur was arrested for supporting the Mogadishu government and, in March of the same year, he was held in prison for 36 days after a story alleging a lesbian couple had been given a death sentence. He was released on 1 April 2001.

The use of the militia to arrest and detain journalists is an abuse of power. While IPI makes no comment on the factual issues raised in Abdishakur’s article, journalists have a fundamental right under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to “seek, receive and impart information.” It is also IPI’s strongly held view that, if necessary, defamatory comments should be proven by the claimants in a civil court of law and should not be treated as a crime.

Moreover, the decision to treat Abdishakur as a criminal will serve only to undermine further attempts by the international community to assist Puntland. Transparency and press freedom are fundamental principles in any society and Your Excellency should do everything possible to uphold them. Therefore, IPI calls on Your Excellency to release Abdishakur immediately.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director