Somalia: Assassination Attempt on Staff of Khalif Huudow Human Rights Organisation

Two human rights defenders are now in a safe location but are in fear for their lives.

(YORK, UK) - The Murder of a journalist in Somalia prompted human rights activists to conduct an investigation that nearly cost them their lives.

Mr. Yusuf Osman Mohamed is Head of Monitoring and Ms Hawa Omar Ahmed a field monitor at Khalif Huudow Human Rights Organisation (KAHRO), a human rights organisation founded in 2003 in Mogadishu.

On 25 March 2013, they were conducting a field investigation into the killing of a radio journalist that happened the previous day. Ms Rahmo Abdulkadir, who was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen, worked for local Abudwaq Radio in the district of Abudwaq, in the Galgaduud region.

As Yusuf Osman Mohamed and Hawa Omar Ahmed were conducting a fact finding mission in Towfiiq village, located in the Yaqshiid district of Mogadishu, they were confronted by four unidentified individuals carrying guns.

Shots were fired at Yusuf Osman Mohamed and Hawa Omar Ahmed but they managed to escape. Hawa Omar Ahmed was reportedly driven away to safety by people in the area at the time, and Yusuf Osman Mohamed was able to escape by taxi. Both human rights defenders are now in a safe location but are in fear for their lives.

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His Excellency Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
President of the Democratic Republic of Somalia
Office of the President
Mogadishu
Somalia

Email: president@somaligovernment.org

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com.

I came to know about the situation form Front Line Defenders.

On 25 March 2013, an assassination attempt was carried out on human rights defenders Mr Yusuf Osman Mohamed and Ms Hawa Omar Ahmed, as they were conducting a field investigation into the killing of a radio journalist a day prior. Yusuf Osman Mohamed is Head of Monitoring and Hawa Omar Ahmed a field monitor at Khalif Huudow Human Rights Organisation (KAHRO), a human rights organisation founded in 2003 in Mogadishu. Named after the founder of the Somali Youth League, the organisation is active in the areas of Merka, Afgoye, Mogadishu and Benadir.

On 25 March 2013, Yusuf Osman Mohamed and Hawa Omar Ahmed were conducting a fact finding mission in Towfiiq village, located in the Yaqshiid district of Mogadishu, into the killing of radio journalist Ms Rahmo Abdulkadir, who was shot dead in the area a day prior by two unidentified gunmen. Rahmo Abdulkadir worked for local radio station Abudwaq Radio in the district of Abudwaq in Galgaduud region. At 1.10pm, as the human rights defenders were interviewing local people, they were confronted by four unidentified individuals carrying guns. The assailants attempted to shoot Yusuf Osman Mohamed and Hawa Omar Ahmed but the human rights defenders managed to escape. Hawa Omar Ahmed was reportedly driven away to safety by individuals that had gathered in the area, while Yusuf Osman Mohamed subsequently escaped by taxi. Both human rights defenders were placed in a safe location but are in fear for their lives.

I would like to condemn the assassination attempt perpetrated against Yusuf Osman Mohamed and Hawa Omar Ahmed, which I believe to be directly motivated by their legitimate and peaceful work in investigating human rights violations in Somalia, and express my serious concern for their security and physical and psychological integrity, as well as the security of other staff members of Khalif Huudow Human Rights Organisation.

I urge the authorities in Somalia to:

1. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the assassination attempt on Yusuf Osman Mohamed and Hawa Omar Ahmed, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

2. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity of the abovementioned human rights defenders, as well as other staff members of KAHRO, with a view to effectively meeting their protection needs;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders and journalists in Somalia are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.

Yours Sincerely,
William Nicholas Gomes
Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com
www.williamnicholasgomes.com

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Salem-News.com Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes is a Bangladeshi journalist, human rights activist and author was born on 25 December, 1985 in Dhaka. As an investigative journalist he wrote widely for leading European and Asian media outlets.

He is also active in advocating for free and independent media and journalists’ rights, and is part of the free media movement, Global Independent Media Center – an activist media network for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate telling of the truth. He worked for Italian news agency Asianews.it from year 2009 to 2011, on that time he was accredited as a free lance journalist by the press information department of Bangladesh. During this time he has reported a notable numbers of reports for the news agency which were translated into Chinese and Italian and quoted by notable number of new outlets all over the world.He, ideologically, identifies himself deeply attached with anarchism. His political views are often characterized as “leftist” or “left-wing,” and he has described himself as an individualist anarchist.