A/HRC/13/65 page 14 50. To topple the Transitional Federal Government at any cost, the Islamist forces were reported not to have spared even hospitals and the surviving medical institutions in Mogadishu. It has been reported that, on 25 January 2010, they carried out a vicious attack on a hospital behind Mogadishu Airport run by AMISOM, killing innocent Somali patients. This was reportedly the second attack on this health centre which treats Somali civilians. B. Freedom of opinion and expression 51. As in most conflict situations, freedom of opinion and expression have become a particular victim in the south-central region. To muzzle the media, targeted attacks by the Islamist opposition have claimed the lives of media executives, reporters, photojournalists and cameramen working with electronic media. Large numbers of journalists have also been wounded and arrested. 52. According to the National Union of Somali Journalists, in 2009, nine journalists were killed either in the line of duty or in targeted, brutal attacks, making Somalia the most dangerous place for journalists in Africa. Seven out of the nine journalists were killed in Mogadishu. One was killed in Afgoye and another in Beledweyne. A total of 12 journalists were wounded and 15 others arrested in Somalia in 2009. Another 100 journalists reportedly received death threats, causing many of them to leave their respective areas or to exercise self-censorship. C. Violence against women 53. Domestic violence victimizing women continues to be a major problem in all parts of Somalia. Women victims of sexual and gender-based violence have no functioning judicial system to which they can turn. Rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence are dealt with by clans as a civil dispute, not involving the victim, and are often solved by either the payment of blood money or a forced marriage between the victim and the perpetrator. 54. Women reportedly continue to face cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment on a daily basis, particularly in Al-Shabaab-controlled areas. On 18 November 2009, according to reports from a village near the town of Wajid, a 20-year-old divorcee woman accused of committing adultery was taken to an open area where she was buried up to her waist and then stoned to death in front of a large crowd. 55. It may be mentioned in this connection that men are also subjected to inhuman and cruel treatment for their illicit relationships with women. In November 2009, a man was stoned to death for rape in the port town of Merka. Under the Al-Shabaab’s interpretation of sharia law, anyone who was ever married – even a divorcee – who has an affair, is liable to be found guilty of adultery and punished by stoning to death. Following this incident, the independent expert issued a public statement and strongly condemned executions by stoning in Al-Shabaabcontrolled areas, urging all Islamist groups and religious leaders to abide by human rights and international humanitarian law obligations.