IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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ALERT - SOMALIA

25 October 2004

Journalist abducted, held overnight in Mogadishu

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - On 24 October 2004, Zamzam Abdullahi Abdi, a member of the
Somalia Women Journalists Association's (Sowja) governing board, was
abducted and detained overnight by unidentified armed individuals in
Mogadishu before being released on 25 October.

"We welcome the fact that Abdi was released safe and sound, but her
abduction reinforces the urgent need to rebuild a state in Somalia. We call
on President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, as part of his new duties, to do justice
to press freedom activists like her by heeding their struggle and their
message," RSF said.

RSF said there was no justification for the use of violence or threats
against Abdi, who honoured her country by defending not only press freedom
in a climate of anarchy, but also women and children whose situation is
often precarious in Somalia.

The organisation learned from sources in Mogadishu that two men and a woman
armed with AK-47s and a pistol forced Abdi into a car near the Bakaraa
market at about 5:00 p.m. (local time) on 24 October, blindfolded her and
took her to an undisclosed location in Mogadishu. At one point during her
abduction, she was able to briefly speak to her husband by telephone and
explain what had happened. Abdi was released at around 8:00 a.m. on 25
October.

The exact motives for the kidnapping are unknown. "I think I was abducted on
account of my activities in defence of children, because my kidnappers told
me stop talking about children's rights," Abdi told the Somali Journalist
Network (Sojon), a local press freedom group.

In addition to being a Sowja member, Abdi is also the deputy head of COGWA,
a Somali women's group, and the local representative of the African Network
for the Prevention and Protection of Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN),
based in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Married and the mother of a girl,
she has both Somali and Kenyan nationality.

The kidnapping of civilians is common in Somalia, where militiamen carry out
abduction "contracts" for US$200.

For further information, contact Leonard Vincent at RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy
Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51,
e-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of RSF.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
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