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| A.Y. Abdallah |
A.Y.Abdallah has been threatened on numerous occasions since he became a journalist in 2007. He spoke to DCMF's Shakur Ali about his experience working as a journalist in Somalia, his escape to South Africa and his quest to produce quality and responsible journalism.
The year 2012 was the deadliest year
for journalists and media personnel in Somalia. It was in that year that I
witnessed the lives of many of my good friends and co-workers fade to black.
For some reason I am still here today and my life clock is still ticking. It
seems to me that there are people who want to stop my clock from ticking - the
reason for this, you may not understand, and apparently I do not either.
It wasn’t that long ago that I was in
school, and each morning some of my classmates and I would rush to catch
a part of the daily morning news programme. I believe it was at this time that
I started developing a love for the art of news reporting and journalism. As I
listened attentively, I thought to myself what if what was being said in that
programme wasn’t totally true? What if the reporter or the writer had their own
agenda? It was these questions I explored, and during this chapter of my life
is when I began being committed to telling the truth, and it would soon become
my responsibility to tell the truth to unaware and misguided individuals.
Politics in Somalia has been ‘funky’
for the past two decades, and this was the hot topic when I formally began
doing informative and investigative work in the beginning of 2007. I was about
19-years-old at the time and felt more energetic than ever. I was always on the
hunt for things to share, and for issues to investigate. That may have brought
me some attention and over the next year I start to ‘officially’ receive direct
threats.
Blanket operation against all media
It was precisely a week after the death
of my good friend, colleague, and mentor Mahad Ahmed Elmi that I
started receiving threats. (Mahad who was 30 years of age when he passed was
most known for his popular morning show in which residents of Mogadishu would
call in and report issues such as crime and government security in their
neigbourhoods).
After having to go through this, I
realised that the ‘heads’ behind these killings, whoever it may be, are
targeting not only the ‘corrupt’ media personnel but also righteous ones like
Mahad. It seemed to me clearer than ever, that they have waged a specific and
deliberate war on all journalists in Somalia. It didn’t matter who it was or
what they did, “come one, come all” was how they operated against us.
In October of 2008, there was a press
conference held by the militant group Al-Shabaab. As a part of the Radio
IQK (Idaacada Quraanka Kariimka) team, several colleagues and I were
sent to cover the meeting. As we were on our way, our envoy was stopped
and a member from the Al Shabaab group exclaimed. “Get out of the car and go
work for the government and government media outlets!”
I was being intimidated and not only
was I shocked, but also confused. I had attended governmental conferences and
events, but I thought producing unbiased material was the aim and epitome of
good journalism. It was after this experience that I internalised that there
was a different game being played in this industry in Somalia, and I would not
be a part of it.
Series of threats
Also in 2008, I received another direct
and even more puzzling threat. One day, I interviewed a high ranking member of
the Al-Shabaab group over the phone. The group at this time was disallowing the
landings of regular passenger airplanes, military planes and planes that
carried food aid into Mogadishu. So I asked the gentlemen: “Why do they allow
the planes to land in other cities in Somalia but not Mogadishu?” The
interviewee didn’t respond and I sensed his frustration. A few days later I
received a warning over the phone ordering me to stop doing what I was doing.
The gentleman’s rationale behind the warning was that “I had asked a
difficult question and it was bothering.”
In early to mid-2009 I had to put a
hold on my work and limit my movements. One early morning, as I was
sitting in front of an internet café with my brother we were approached by two
armed men. These men were on the phone for most of the encounter, and they were
moving as if they were being given instructions. They searched us and took my
phone away. As we were walking they said: “Hey journalist, you come back.”
Then they proceeded and took my brother
along with them. I tried to follow covertly but lost them. They held him for
three days asking him questions about the work I was doing and brought him back
battered, bruised and traumatised. Following the return of my brother, I
decided to move from the area in which my family lived. It wasn’t safe for me,
but it was even more dangerous for them.
One Monday in early January 2010, I
received another phone call. This time, I was being told without hesitation
that those behind the call were fixed on killing me, and that they knew who I
was, where I lived, what I did, and who I worked for. I didn’t want to take my
chances living in Mogadishu amongst people like this, so I decided to migrate
to a ‘safer’ area. A few days later I booked my ticket to travel to Uganda. I
stayed there for two weeks and headed back East to Kenya.
In Kenya, things were much better for
me, both professionally and personally. I was given an office by the
website Bartamaha and I lived almost worry-free for a year. On
January 11, 2011, I interviewed a young man who had his tongue cut in half by
Al Shabaab militants. At the end of the interview, I wanted to share with the
larger Somali Diaspora that if they wanted to help this man, they could help
him in certain ways. At the beginning of February I received a call from an Al
Shabaab journalist who warned me that my time was up and that I needed to
abandon all of my journalistic activities if I wanted to stay alive. This is
when I decided to embark on another journey.
Travelling to safety
I left early February from Nairobi to
head to South Africa. It was challenging to enter South Africa but after a
month of traveling between Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, I was
finally granted entrance. It was tough in South Africa, but I carried on
my freelance work with the little resources that I had.
In 2012 I published two interviews, one
of a young man who was shot in the head by an unknown armed man and the other
one in which I was the subject. During my interview, one of the key points
stressed was the concept of impunity in Somalia. Who was behind these
operations against media personnel and why are they doing these atrocious
things? Consequently, this truthful and emotional video received 30,000 views,
bringing me 30,000 more worries.
One person shared this video on
Facebook, and a Shabaab supporter commented on the video on October 6 stating:
“This man he already pass away, don’t show the people this video, because
he abuse for what we call “Mujahidiin.” The same person who commented came and
found me on October 9 in a public cafeteria. He rushed me and stole my phone
than ran away. The man returned and assaulted me, so I locked myself in a room
and called the police. When the police arrived, the man was nowhere to be
found. I opened a case against him and was told to notify the police as soon as
I saw him. The day after, I saw the man and I called the police immediately.
The police returned, but the suspect was nowhere to be found again. As soon as
the police left my sight, I was attacked and he began attempting to stab me but
ended up slashing my back. He picked up a metal rod and swung it at my
arm, causing it to break. Thankfully he was pulled off me by onlookers and I
was hurried to the hospital.
Now I am forced to sleep in many
different areas and shops of friends every night in order to keep a distance
from these crazed men.
Besides the phone calls and the
attacks, I have regularly received threats via email, and Facebook since August
of 2007. I have been told that my time is up hundreds of times, but I am still
here. I have been called a disbeliever, but still Islam is my religion.
Hopes for the future of Somalia
Hopefully this year will mark the end
of impunity and end of injustices against media freedom in Somalia. Somali
journalists and Somali people in general have great hope in this new
administration. The administration obviously has a vision and a structure that
can build a great nation. Even though it may not be a great start for Somali
media personnel in 2013 with the unlawful arrest and detainment of my colleague
Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim but we still have hope. The Somali government should
realise that the whole world is watching on, and sadly the outcome of this case
may have set a precedent for similar cases in the future, and surely will deter
people from reporting sexual misconduct.
I just want the judicial system of
Somalia to understand that you can’t ‘correct wrong with wrong,’ and to hold a
human being in prison without proper due process or disallowing him
representation by an adequate defense is just wrong.
Source:
Doha Centre for Media Freedom.
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