Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the ability of independent news media based in Somalia to report freely on the forthcoming presidential elections in that country.

​The UK has raised concerns publicly about restrictions to Freedom of Expression, Association and Assembly in Somalia: in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office updates on Human Rights Priority Countries and to the Human Rights Council. The most recent UK statement on Somalia to the Human Rights Council on 28 September.

The UK has raised concerns about these restrictions during the electoral process at the highest levels of the Federal Government of Somalia.