Freemuse calls for the dropping of all charges against Somaliland singers
UPDATE
After public pressure, singers Hamda Yousuf
Ibrahim and Barwaaqo Mohamed Hashi have been released from police detention.
However, the charges against them still stand.
“The arrest and detention of Hamda Yousuf Ibrahim
and Barwaaqo Mohamed Hashi have shown a severe breach of the artists’ right to
freedom of artistic expression. Freemuse welcomes their release from detention,
but calls for the unequivocal dropping of all charges,” says Dr Srirak Plipat,
Freemuse Executive Director.
Singers Hamda Yousuf Ibrahim and Barwaaqo Mohamed
Hashi from the Somaliland band Horn Stars have been returned to detention after
initial release by the Regional Court of Hargeisa, reports Human Rights Centre
Somaliland. According to Online Caasimada, the artists and Barwaago’s husband
Salah Arab were initially arrested in their homes in Hargeisa by the local
authorities in April this year.
The band had previously performed in the national
day celebration of Somalia in Mogadishu, Somalia. The artists were arrested
upon their return. According to the Horn Observer, they are charged with
anti-national activity of a citizen abroad (article 212 of the Penal Code) and
corruption of a citizen by foreigners (article 189). Following their arrest,
they were held in detention at the
Hargeisa police station until their court hearing on 8 June 2020. Salah
Arab was released on 10 May 2020 on the grounds of being a Yemeni Citizen.
During their hearing on 8 June at the Regional Court of Hargeisa, Hamda and
Barwaaqo were acquitted of all charges. However, they were transported back to
detention on the order of a prosecutor appeal. As of the current moment, there
is no new hearing scheduled.
This is not the first time that the two artists
have been imprisoned for Somalia associations. The BBC reported that in 2015
the two artists were arrested for allegedly waving a Somali flag during a
concert. At the time, Somaliland’s deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Adarre said
that freedom of artistic expression was not silenced – expect in instances of
performances in Somalia.
“The Somaliland artists can perform anywhere in
the world but not in Somalia. They should not be involved in politics.
Somaliland and Somalia have conflicts to resolve,” he said, “We are not
silencing them, they can perform anywhere they want, but they have to abide by
our laws.”
According to a source who wishes to remain
anonymous, in this most recent incident, the band had been invited to celebrate
the July festivals for the killed Mayor of Mogadishu Abdirahman Omar Osman, who
died in a 2019 Al-Shabab extremist bombing.
According to The Guardian , the former Mayor was a strong proponent of
unity and anti-Al-Shabab sentiment.
Over the past months, an increasing trend of
censorship of musicians and news media has occurred in Somaliland. Somaliland
is not been internationally recognised as independent, even though the Somali
National Movement (SNM) declared the independence of Somaliland in 1991. Those
in favour of Somaliland’s independence claim that the regions are culturally
and ethnically distinct, which leads to a perception that as long as
Somaliland’s cultural unity with the rest of Somalia remains intact,
Somaliland’s self-declared independence will not be recognised.
Public knowledge of the incident is limited. Show
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