JOINT STATEMENT
Escalating Digital Surveillance, Repression and Attacks Against Women Human Rights and Women Environmental Defenders in Somalia
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25 September 2026 | Somalia
Daryeel Human Rights Organization (DHRO), the Coalition of Somali Human Rights Defenders (CSHRD), and Horn Afrik News Agency for Human Rights (HANAHR) express grave concern over the increasingly restrictive environment facing women human rights defenders (WHRDs), journalists, social-media activists, environmental defenders and other civic actors in Somalia.
We are concerned by a developing pattern involving suspected targeted digital surveillance, intimidation, detention, physical attacks, home and office raids, confiscation of phones and computers and restrictions on peaceful civic and political expression by the state actor.
CSHRD’s 2026 monitoring has documented arrests, detention, assault, surveillance, prosecution and equipment confiscation affecting journalists and WHRDs, alongside a broader shrinking of civic space.
1. Growing concerns over targeted digital surveillance
Our organizations have received reports from WHRDs and civil-society actors concerning unusual and unexplained behaviour of their electronic devices, including:
Phones repeatedly overheating;
Unusually rapid battery depletion;
Unexplained changes in device performance;
Suspicious interference with communications; and
Organizational email accounts being flooded with unsolicited and unwanted messages or advertisements.
These reports have generated serious concerns among affected defenders that they may be subjected to targeted digital surveillance or device compromise.
There are also concerns and suspicions regarding the possible use of sophisticated commercial spyware, including Pegasus or similar intrusive surveillance tools.
The need to unleash independent research to establish the facts about the use of Pegasus or any particular spyware product has been deployed by Somali state authorities require resources which can also help reduce the its impact on HRDs. We therefore call for an independent technical investigation capable of determining whether devices have been compromised and, if so, identifying the technology, perpetrators and legal basis for such surveillance.
The expansion of digital surveillance is particularly concerning because defenders’ devices often contain highly sensitive information about victims, survivors, witnesses, journalists and other defenders.
2. Surveillance accompanied by physical repression
Digital threats are occurring alongside increasingly direct forms of physical and administrative pressure.
CSHRD’s latest quarterly report documents a pattern in which journalists and WHRDs have been arrested, assaulted, prosecuted, intimidated and had their phones or other equipment confiscated.
Our organizations are additionally concerned by reports concerning Rahma Yusuf and Zainab Abdi, who have reportedly been placed under house arrest in Beledweyne since early September 2026 and physically assaulted.
We call for these concerns to be considered serious and promptly, independently and impartially investigated, and for the authorities to clarify the legal basis for any restrictions on their liberty.
No WHRD should be subjected to detention, assault or restrictions merely because of peaceful human rights work, advocacy or civic participation.
3. Raids and confiscation of digital equipment
We are further concerned by reports of raids on defenders’ homes and offices and the confiscation of phones, laptops and other electronic equipment.
Such actions can have consequences extending far beyond the targeted individual. Devices used by WHRDs and civil-society organizations may contain:
Confidential information concerning survivors;
Communications with journalists and lawyers;
Evidence of human rights violations;
Information concerning women and children at risk;
Sources and witnesses;
Information about other defenders; and
Documentation of environmental and community rights violations.
The confiscation or unauthorized examination of such devices can therefore place numerous people at risk and undermine the ability of civil society to document abuses.
CSHRD has documented recent cases involving arrest and confiscation of journalists’ phones and recording equipment.
4. Targeting women in public and political discourse
We are particularly concerned about reports that political opposition parties and actors have been warned against using women social-media influencers and activists, including Sadia Moalim Ali, to promote political agendas.
We strongly reject any attempt to restrict women’s participation in public life on the basis of their gender or their visibility on social media.
The case of Sadia Moalim Ali illustrates the risks faced by women who participate in public debate. CSHRD documented her arrest on 12 April 2026 following her social-media expression and participation in peaceful protests and her subsequent three-year sentence imposed by the Banadir Regional Court. DHRO separately condemned her detention and conviction and identified her social-media activity and peaceful civic participation as central to the case.
CSHRD’s latest report also identifies a broader concern that women activists can become particularly vulnerable when their public visibility intersects with political contestation, referring to the cases of Sadia Moalim Ali and Ikran Tahlil.
We emphasize that women must not be treated as political instruments or targets. Women have the same right as everyone else to participate in public debate, express political views, organize peacefully, communicate with political actors and use social media.
5. Environmental defenders in Milxo
Our organizations are also deeply concerned about the situation of environmental and community defenders in Milxo, Bari Region, Puntland.
These defenders have been raising concerns regarding environmental degradation, unregulated and illegal mining, destruction of grazing land and water resources, displacement and the impact of extractive activities on local communities.
CSHRD’s fact-finding report on Milxo documented concerns including land degradation, pollution of water sources, destruction of grazing areas and displacement of pastoral communities, and called for protection of environmental defenders and affected communities.
Environmental defenders must be able to document environmental harm, advocate for their communities and peacefully organize without being subjected to surveillance, intimidation, detention or violence.
6. A broader shrinking of civic space
These developments form part of a broader deterioration in the operating environment for Somali civil society.
CSHRD’s 2026 reporting identifies surveillance of online activity, arbitrary detention, physical assault, prosecution, equipment confiscation and restrictions on peaceful activism and journalism as recurring concerns.
When a defender can be monitored online, have her home raided, have her phone confiscated, face detention or physical violence, and then be prevented from communicating with others, the combined effect can be to silence not only one person but an entire network of civic actors.
7. Our demands
DHRO, CSHRD and HANAHR call upon the relevant Somali authorities to:
1. End unlawful surveillance, intimidation, harassment and retaliation against WHRDs, journalists and environmental defenders.
2. Immediately clarify the legal basis for restrictions imposed on Rahma Yusuf and Zainab Abdi and guarantee their access to lawyers, family members and independent medical care.
3. Conduct an independent investigation into allegations of physical assault against Rahma Yusuf and Zainab Abdi and ensure accountability where violations are established.
4. End unlawful raids and confiscation of defenders’ phones, laptops and other equipment.
5. Ensure that any lawful search or seizure of digital equipment complies with due-process, privacy and human-rights safeguards and protects confidential information concerning victims, witnesses and sources.
6. Establish an independent technical investigation into reported digital surveillance and device compromise, including the reported overheating, abnormal battery depletion and other unexplained device behaviour.
7. Determine whether commercial spyware or other intrusive surveillance technologies have been used against defenders and, if so, identify the responsible actors and legal basis.
8. Ensure that any state surveillance is lawful, necessary, proportionate, independently authorized and subject to effective oversight and remedy.
9. Protect women’s freedom of expression and political participation, including women social-media activists and influencers, and reject attempts to intimidate or silence them because of their public engagement.
10. Protect environmental defenders and communities in Milxo and ensure that concerns about mining, environmental degradation, displacement and natural-resource governance can be raised peacefully.
11. Guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, privacy and participation in public affairs.
12. Ensure that human rights defenders can communicate safely with lawyers, journalists, civil-society organizations, diplomatic missions, UN mechanisms and international human rights institutions without retaliation.
8. Call for international attention and protection
We call upon the Federal Government of Somalia, Federal Member State authorities, diplomatic missions, UN human rights mechanisms, international organizations and donors to closely monitor these developments and support effective protection mechanisms for defenders at risk.
We further encourage defenders and civil-society organizations experiencing suspected digital compromise to preserve relevant technical evidence and incident records while prioritizing the safety and confidentiality of victims, sources and other at-risk persons.
Human rights defenders should not have to choose between protecting their communities and protecting their own lives.
The ability of Somali WHRDs, journalists and environmental defenders to work safely is essential to accountability, democratic participation, environmental protection and the protection of vulnerable communities.
Issued jointly by:
– DARYEEL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION (DHRO)
Office: Mogadishu, Somalia
Tel: +252 61 111 5243
Email: info@dhro.org
– COALITION OF SOMALI HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS (CSHRD)
Email: SomaliaCivilSocietyForum@cshrds.org
– HORNAFRIK NEWS AGENCY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (HANAHR)
Email: protection@hanahr.net