Human rights defenders in Somalia operate under extremely difficult and dangerous circumstances, due to the continued absence of the rule of law and of functioning State structures and the continued conflict between the government and insurgent groups. Freedom of expression is very limited and journalists and civil society leaders are harassed, threatened, kidnapped and killed.

2008 witnessed a sharp increase in attacks against humanitarian workers and civil society activists, which resulted in more than 41 humanitarian workers and human rights defenders being killed, and many more injured, kidnapped or forced to flee the country. In most cases, civil society groups and humanitarian agencies are specifically targeted because they are perceived by insurgent groups as backing the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

The closure of many human rights organisations has left journalists as the main voices still speaking out against human rights violations. While many have been forced to leave the country, those who remained active in Somalia continued to face very serious threats by all parties to the conflict. In the first few months of 2009 alone, at least five journalists have been murdered. Press freedom is very limited, with the closure of, and attacks against media houses and radio stations reporting on human rights abuses.

Human Rights Watch reported that “The suspicion and hostility of some insurgent groups is possibly the single greatest threat facing activists and humanitarian workers, however danger comes from multiple directions. Those targeted often have no way of knowing exactly where the threats against them originate. Even the coping strategies that allowed activists to carry on for more than a decade and a half without a central government provide no security in the current context”.