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Reporters and human-rights activists say they are worried about increasing infringements on freedom of press and expression in Somaliland.

Mohamed Rashid Muhumed Farah, secretary-general of the Somaliland Journalist Association (SOLJA), says this is the worst time for freedom of expression in Somaliland.

In the first five months of 2012, the Somaliland government arrested 63 local reporters, Farah said. He said none of the reporters were sentenced, and they were all released. In all of 2011, SOLJA documented the arrests of 51 journalists, which Farah says is an indicator that the media is being unjustly targeted.

He pointed to the case of Somaliland journalist Mohamed Abdirahman Ismail, who sought asylum in Yemen in July.

In February, Ismail, who works for the media website Subulaha News Network, was arrested in Borama and tortured by the security forces. He was treated in Addis Ababa using aid money granted to him by the Doha Centre for Media Freedom, Farah said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based non-governmental organisation that promotes press freedom worldwide, wrote a letter to Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo on June 13th, expressing alarm over the increasing infringements on the rights of the independent media in Somaliland.

In another case, Hargeisa Regional Court sentenced on July 8th Boqor Osman Aw Mohamud, popularly known as Bur Madow, to one year in prison after he was convicted of defamation against the president and high-level government officials.

The sentence sparked protests from international human-rights organisations, and the government gave in to the pressure and released Mohamud the same day, lawyer Osman Ibrahim Dahir told Sabahi. He had been in custody since mid-March.

Amnesty International said in a statement released July 12th that the Bur Madow case highlights the increasing restrictions on press freedom in Somaliland.

Such rulings damage the Somaliland constitution, which safeguards citizens' right to freedom of expression, said Mohamed Said Hirsi, secretary general of the Somaliland Lawyers Association.

"Freedom of expression is legal in Somaliland," Hirsi told Sabahi, adding that local courts are not as independent as the constitution mandates.

Strengthening Somaliland's media law

Law faculty at the University of Hargeisa organised a workshop on July 17th to discuss the shortcomings of the Somaliland media law, which was enacted in 2004.

The workshop was attended by Somaliland Information Minister Bobe Yusuf Duale, dean of the faculty of law Mohamud Hussein, lawyers, students and more than 30 local journalists.

"Freedom of the press is similar to freedom of movement," Duale said. "The press should not seek unlimited freedom, but every restriction should be lawful."

However, Farah said there is no need to pinpoint the shortcomings of the law, since the government is not implementing it, but is rather using the penal code to target reporters.

"We do not accept an amendment to this law, because since the government does not follow the law, it cannot be argued that it has loopholes," Farah said. "Only when the law is followed can its loopholes be uncovered. Right now the government has a different agenda and we, as the press, cannot accept it."

Ismail Mohamed, head of the media-strengthening unit of the Hargeisa-based Somali Media for Peace and Development, said the disagreement between the two sides should be resolved to remove the hurdles against freedom of expression.

"The press cannot trust the government while the courts are not implementing the law in cases against them," Mohamed said.

The draft of the Broadcast and Publication Bill is in parliament, expected to expand the freedom of the press, he said. The legislation will allow for the creation of a National Media Commission, comprising stakeholders who will serve as mediators between the media and the government.

Complaints against the media would decrease if journalists were better-trained, said SOLJA chairman Hassan Mohamed Yusuf.

No country has developed without a robust and free press, Duale said. He said to achieve that, it is essential to have collaboration between government and media.

"The Somaliland government respects press freedom and is committed to ensuring such freedom," he said.