H.E. Abdullahi Yusub
President
Office of the President
Garowe
Puntland State of Somalia
Fax: (011.252) 944-8503 / 545-4024
Your Excellency:
The recent arrest of Abdishakur Yusuf Ali, editor of the independent newspaper War-Ogaal is a clear violation of international standards for free expression as established in Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
According to information from the International Press Institute (IPI), Mr. Abdishakur was arrested on April 21, 2004 in Bassasso, the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, after his article in the newspaper alleged that Puntland@quot;s Ministry of Finance under Finance Minister Abdirahman Mohamoud Farole sold food for profit that had been donated to Somalia by the international community.
This is not the first time that Mr. Abdishakur has been arrested. In 2001, he was arrested twice ? once for supporting the Mogadishu government, and once for publishing an article alleging that a lesbian couple had been given a death sentence because of their sexual orientations.
We agree with IPI that published defamatory comments should, if necessary, be proven by claimants in a civil court of law. However, they should not ever be treated in criminal proceedings. We urge you to recognize that press freedom is an essential foundation of democracy, Your Excellency. Help build Somalia@quot;s image as a forward-looking and forward-acting democracy.
Our non-partisan organization has supported freedom of the press around the world for more than 65 years. We urge you to release Mr. Abdishakur so he can resume his job of keeping Somalians informed of what is happening in their country.
Respectfully yours,
Kevin McDermott
Norman A. Schorr
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee