UN warns Somalia after alleged rape victim, journalists arrested | GlobalPost

UN warns Somalia after alleged rape victim, journalists arrested | GlobalPost

The United Nations in Somalia called Thursday for a "proper investigation" after police again arrested an alleged rape victim and the journalists who reported her story.
Rape, and reporting on sexual assault, is one of the most sensitive topics in Somalia, and the case is the latest in a series of arrests of victims and the journalists who aired their story.
Previous cases have seen the victim and reporter jailed for "offending state institutions".
The alleged victim, a 19-year old reporter, told the independent Radio Shabelle she was attacked and raped at gunpoint by two fellow journalists.
"One of the men threatened me with a pistol, and took me to the bedroom by force... both of them raped me several times, destroying my pride and dignity," she said, in a video interview broadcast on Somalia's Radio Shabelle website earlier this week.
"I am appealing to the government to take legal action against the rapists, they might have done the same to other poor girls," she added.
The video has been carried by several other Somali news websites.
Police in the capital Mogadishu have arrested the woman, as well as Mohamed Bashir Hashi, the reporter who interviewed her, and Shabelle's manager Abdulmalik Yusuf.
Nicholas Kay, UN special representative for Somalia, said in a message Thursday the UN was monitoring the "new rape allegation in Mogadishu" and warned that "legal representation, proper investigation and media freedom (are) important issues."
Alleged rapists not arrested
The victim and Hashi remain in police custody, but the station manager has been released on bail.
None of the men accused of the rape have been arrested.
Somalia's internationally-backed government said in a statement Thursday that "rape and sexual violence against women are completely unacceptable in Somali culture", but would not comment on the case.
"Somalia has an independent judiciary and we must allow the police and judiciary to carry out their investigations," government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman said in a statement.
"It is inappropriate for the government to get involved in the judicial process, as it is any other country."
Osman also insisted the government did respect press freedom.
"Journalists perform a critical role and we want them to be able to work without fear or favour," he added. "A free press is at the heart of every democracy and is guaranteed under our new constitution."
In February, a Somali journalist and a rape victim he interviewed were both sentenced to a year in prison, but they were released after two months after the case sparked widespread international criticism.
In that case, the court found the woman had lied after a midwife conducted a "finger test" to see if she had been raped, which Human Rights Watch (HRW) said was an "unscientific and degrading practice that has long been discredited".
Both were initially found guilty of "offending state institutions".
In August, a Somali woman who alleged she was gang-raped by African Union soldiers was also held by police for questioning.
Earlier this month HRW called on the government to order a new and impartial investigation into that case, saying the response to the incident "has been marred by mismanagement, opacity, and the harassment of the female rape survivor and support service providers."
This "points to security officials trying to silence both those who report the pervasive problem of sexual violence and those who help rape survivors," HRW added.
Rape is a major problem in Somalia, ravaged by conflict since 1991.
Amnesty International warned in a report earlier this year that "rape and sexual violence a constant threat" in Somalia, especially for women living in camps where they have fled conflict.