Sabahi (Washington, DC)

Somalia: Somali Police Say Alleged Rape Victim Fabricated Story

17 January 2013
Photo: Human Rights Watch
Journalists in Mogadishu protest the ongoing detention of freelance journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim.

A woman who claimed she was raped by Somali soldiers and the journalist who was arrested for covering the story both made false allegations against the police, Police Commissioner General Sharif Sheikhuna Maye said Wednesday (January 16th).

Medical examinations of the alleged victim, Lul Ali Hassan, an internally displaced person living in the Burdhubo camp, showed no evidence of rape, Maye said, according to Somalia's Hiiraan Online. He said Hassan also confessed to police that she fabricated her story because she was told that she would get money and extra rations at the camp if she claimed she was a rape victim.

Journalist Abdulasis Abdinuur Ibrahim, also in police custody, and several Somali women's rights group leaders bribed Hassan to claim that she was raped, Maye said, according to UN-funded Radio Bar-Kulan.

Human Rights Watch and the National Union of Somali Journalists have called for the release of Ibrahim and Hassan.

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