New York, June 23, 2014-Authorities in Somalia must immediately investigate the murder of a Somali journalist in Mogadishu on Saturday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yusuf Ahmed Abukar, who also used the name Yusuf Keynan, was killed when a bomb believed to be attached to his car exploded while he was on his way to work, according to news reports. Yusuf was a reporter for Mustaqbal radio, a privately owned station in Mogadishu, and Ergo radio, a Nairobi-based station that covered humanitarian affairs, reports said.
“We call on authorities to undertake a thorough investigation into the deadly attack on Yusuf Ahmed Abukar, identify the perpetrators, and hold them to account,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Sue Valentine. “Despite establishing a task force in 2012 to address impunity of murdered journalists, authorities have little to show for their claims that they are committed to creating a safer Somalia-for citizens and journalists. We urge Mogadishu to redouble their efforts.”
Anti-press violence in Somalia ebbed slightly from its record high in 2012, but four new murders took place in 2013. Of the 27 cases of journalists murdered in the country since 2005, only one resulted in aconviction. Somalia ranked second on CPJ’s 2014 Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free.
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