Somalia - November 2022

After announcing in August 2022 its intention to launch a “total war” against the militant group Al-Shabaab, Somalia’s new government has tightened restrictions on freedom of expression in the country. On 7 November its Ministry of Religious Affairs banned the use of the name ‘al-Shabaab’ and prohibited scholars from “having dealings” with the group. The ban comes less than a month after a vaguely-worded government directive banning “the dissemination of extremist and terrorist ideology”, which local media organisations criticised for being unduly restrictive of freedom of expression and the press. One of these critics, the Secretary General of the Somali Journalists Syndicate, was arrested on security charges shortly after speaking out. The Deputy Information Minister revealed last month that the government had launched a cyber operation in which it had closed more than 40 social media accounts in the space of 48 hours.   

Sources: Voice of America (1), Voice of America (2), Voice of America (3), Middle East Monitor, Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Somali Journalists Syndicate

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called upon the Government of Somalia to take all necessary steps to strengthen protection of civilians, as he revealed that there had been a more than 30 per cent rise in the number of civilian casualties from 2021. UN data shows that at least 613 civilians have been killed and a further 948 injured so far in 2022. According to Türk, this year has ended a general decline in civilian deaths and injuries documented since 2017. Responsibility for these casualties lies principally with the militant group al-Shabaab, which has attacked civilians using Improvised Explosive Devices and suicide bombings – a bombing it carried out in the capital Mogadishu on 29 October 2022 killed at least 121 people. Commentators have suggested that such attacks, which have been on the rise in recent weeks and are expected to get worse, have been in response to the heavy losses al-Shabaab has been suffering in the civil war it is waging against the Government and its allies.    

Sources: United Nations, Africa Confidential, British Broadcasting Corporation, Twitter