User:Crtew/Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan



Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan (1973?- 18 December 2011) was a Somali broadcast journalist for Horn Cable TV, as well as Hamar Radio and Voice of Democracy in Mogadishu, Somalia. He is one of 24 Somali journalists who has been killed since 2007. According to the New York Times, a suspect was apprehended, which is unusual as there has been impunity in every case reported.

Personal
Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan was 38 years old and was born in 1973  Hassan lived in Mogadishu, Somalia, and was married and  the father of four children.

Career
Hassan, known as "Xiis" by his colleagues, worked as a broadcast reporter and freelancer Hassan worked at Horn Cable TV as a local reporter and at the radio station Hamar radio and voice of democracy. He did receive death threats by phone before he was killed. He was a well respected journalist, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists and New York Times.

Horn Cable TV director had this to say about Hassan and his career, “Hassan was a very tough, professional journalist who relayed very neutral coverage of both sides of the conflict, I don't suspect he had any vendettas and cannot understand why anyone would target such a professional and likeable journalist."

Death
Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan covered a session of parliament where a political conflict ensued and after his reporting of the incident, he receieved death threats. He told fellow colleagues about the threats.

Hassan was murdered in the Hamar Jabar district, also referred to as "Hamar-jajab", which is a central part of the Mogadishu district in Somolia on December 18, 2011. The shooting happened around four in the afternoon. He was driving to a press conference along with fellow reporter Zakariye Abdulahi,when their vehicle was intercepted by a man wearing a government uniform. The man opened fire on Hassan using an AK47 and fired 2 shots into his head. The passenger in the vehicle was left unharmed. He was rushed to a local hospital in Medina where he died shortly after arrival.

Context
Somalia is the most dangerous place in Africa for journalists. Somalia has been without an effective central government ever since former president Siad Barre was overthrown 1991, and the U.S. Embassay in Somalia has been closed ever since. Somalia now has a Transitional government called the Transitional Federal Government. Extremist groups including Al-Shabaab have begun taking power in Somalia, thus limiting the transitional government’s power to provide services and protect people. Military forces from both Kenya and Ethiopia have been sent to Somalia to push back the Al-Shabaab militants.

Impact
The murder of Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan has brought more attention to the issue of impunity for killing journalists as his murder could be the first to lead to a successful prosecution for the crime.

Reactions
The death of Hassan brought strong reactions from fellow journalists and authorities.

The media community of Somalia reacted by holding a national burial for him, which was organized by the National Union of Somali Journalists, and fellow journalists fasted and mourned him for 24 hours. They also created posters asking for justice for all slain journalists.

Various government officials expressed their sympathy and said that they will try to find the murderer and seek justice.

Tom Rhodes, who is the CPJ's East Africa consultant, said, "We condemn the heinous assassination of Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan. The Somali government must lead a thorough and transparent investigation and break a pattern of impunity for killers of journalists."

Irina Bokova, who is the director-general of UNESCO, said, "I condemn the murder of Abdisalam Sheikh Hassan. Securing safer working conditions must be made into a priority in Somalia’s effort to establish democracy and rule of law. I therefore call on the transitional government to investigate this crime against a journalist and against society as a whole."