South African investigative journalist Micah Reddy and local journalist Mohamed Willo Ismael, known as Kooki Mahmoud, have gone missing in Djibouti while Reddy was on assignment.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) said it lost contact with the pair in Djibouti City at about 1 pm local time on Saturday, 19 September. Neither had been reachable since, according to the organisation.
ICIJ says circumstances are still unclear
ICIJ said Reddy is its Africa coordinator and was staying at the Escale International Hotel in Djibouti City.
The organisation stressed that Reddy was not reporting on Djiboutian affairs when contact was lost. It also said it did not yet know what had caused the sudden loss of contact.
Daily Maverick reported that Reddy had travelled from Johannesburg to Djibouti on Thursday and had planned to stay for no more than three days. His ICIJ editor, Fergus Shiel, told the publication that Reddy had been working on a longer-term investigation unrelated to Djibouti.
Concern they may have been detained
Daily Maverick reported that South African and British authorities had tried to establish whether the two men had been arrested or whether something else had happened to them.
Shiel told the publication that he suspected Reddy was in custody, but this had not been confirmed by Djiboutian authorities.
ICIJ’s official statement does not confirm an arrest or detention. It says only that the circumstances behind the disappearance remain unknown.
Authorities urged to provide answers
ICIJ said Reddy holds both South African and British citizenship and that authorities in London and Pretoria were alerted shortly after the pair disappeared.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, cited by ICIJ and Daily Maverick, has called on Djiboutian authorities to urgently establish the pair’s whereabouts and confirm their safety.
AmaBhungane, where Reddy previously worked as an investigative journalist, also expressed concern and called for the pair’s safe return, Daily Maverick reported.
ICIJ said Djiboutian authorities had not responded to its requests for information at the time its statement was published.