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UN: Noncompetitive Rights Council Election Aids Abusers

Withhold Votes for Serious Rights Violators Cameroon, Eritrea, UAE

(New York) – A noncompetitive United Nations election for Human Rights Council members virtually guarantees seats for candidate countries with abysmal rights records. UN member countries should refrain from voting for Cameroon, Eritrea, United Arab…
UN General Assembly Hall
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Somalia: Ensure Justice in Health Worker Massacre

Boost Stalled Investigation into Killing of 8 in Rural Village

(Nairobi) – Authorities in Somalia should intensify their investigation into the abduction and apparent summary execution of seven health workers and a pharmacist in May 2020, Human Rights Watch said today. Six months on, government investigations…
An ambulance transports patients to a hospital from a camp for the internally displaced people on the outskirts Mogadishu, Somalia, March 2017.
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Letter to Somalia Authorities on Gololey Investigations

October 5, 2020 Col. Guled Ahmed Acting Director Criminal Investigation Division Somali Police Force Mogadishu   Re: Preliminary Findings and Questions into Gololey Investigations Dear Colonel, I am writing on behalf of…
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Baseless Charges Against Prominent Somali Journalist

Government Should Support Independent Media Ahead of Electoral Process

On July 7, Abdiaziz Ahmed Gurbiye, the chief editor and deputy director of the independent Goobjoog Media Group, is expected to appear in court in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. But his case should have never gone this far. On April 14, Abdiaziz…
Somali journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia December 29, 2019. 
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Somalia: Inadequate US Airstrike Investigations

Apparently Unlawful Attacks, No Redress for Civilian Deaths

(Nairobi) – Two United States airstrikes in Somalia in early 2020 killed seven civilians in apparent violation of the laws of war. US forces have not adequately investigated a February 2 strike killing one woman at her home, and a March 10 attack that…
Somali families, displaced after fleeing the Lower Shabelle region amid an uptick in US airstrikes, rest at an internally displaced persons camp near Mogadishu, Somalia, March 12, 2020. © March 12, 2020 REUTERS/Feisal Omar.
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Somalia: Spate of Arrests, Intimidation of Journalists

Allow Public Debate on Security, Covid-19 Responses

(Nairobi) – Somali authorities have been stepping up their intimidation of journalists as the country faces a growing number of Covid-19 cases. Since mid-April 2020 alone, authorities arbitrarily detained three journalists, accused two…
Somali journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia December 29, 2019.
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High-Profile Jailbreak Undermines Somalia’s Fight for Justice

On 31 August 2019, dramatic news emerged that the notorious security minister of Somalia’s Jubaland region had been detained. In the capital Mogadishu, federal authorities had arrested Abdirashid Hassan Abdinur (commonly known as Abdirashid Janan)…
A prison warden at a prison in Garowe, Puntland state, in northeastern Somalia, December 2016.
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Tragic Loss of Somali Activist

Almaas Elman Dies from Gunfire in Mogadishu

Yesterday, Somalia lost a bright star. Almaas Elman, a committed Somali-Canadian civil society campaigner, died after being struck by gunfire in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, while driving from a meeting in the heavily fortified Halane compound,…
Almaas Elman
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A Small Victory for Somalis at the UN

Security Council Blocks Measure Jeopardizing Aid

Six United Nations Security Council members have blocked a bid by Kenya to impose additional counterterrorism sanctions on the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab in Somalia. While Al-Shabab’s atrocities merit Security Council…
Women who fled drought line up to receive food distributed by local volunteers at a camp for displaced persons in the Daynile neighborhood on the outskirts of the Somalian capital Mogadishu
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Somali Torture Victim Wins Small but Important Step Toward Justice

US Court Holds Siad Barre Era Commander Liable for Torture

On May 21, a US court ruled in favor of a plaintiff who alleged that Yusuf Abdi Ali, a former commander of Somalia’s Siad Barre government, tortured him in 1987. The court awarded the plaintiff, Farhan Mohamoud Tani Warfaa – a teenager…
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Heinous Act Overshadowed Women’s Day in Puntland

Somali Authorities Should Ensure Justice for Rape, Murder of 12-year-old Girl

Ten days before the world celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8, the brutal rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Puntland, Somalia sparked protests across the country and outrage on social media. Aisha Ilyas Adan went missing on…
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Somaliland: Free Poet Detained for Critical Poems

Permit Peaceful Expressions of Dissent

(Nairobi, February 19, 2019) – Somaliland authorities should immediately and unconditionally release from arbitrary detention Abdirahman Ibrahim Adan, a poet known as "Abdirahman Abees," Human Rights Watch and Amnesty…
Abdirahman Abees
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East Africa: Civic Space Shrinking

Region’s Leaders Should Reverse Repression, Ensure Justice

(Nairobi) – Clear patterns of government repression against peaceful protesters, activists, and journalists emerged across the East and Horn of Africa region during 2018, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2019.…
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Somali Journalist Critically Hurt in Car Bombing

Authorities Should Conduct Prompt, Credible Investigation

On Tuesday evening, veteran Somali journalist and media rights activist Ismail Sheikh Khalifa was critically wounded when a bomb planted in his car exploded in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. Ismail was leaving the TV studio where he hosts a weekly show,…
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UN: Dangerous Double Standard on Children in Conflict

Secretary-General’s ‘List of Shame’ Should Reflect Report Findings

(New York) – The United Nations secretary-general’s new report on children and armed conflict sets a damaging precedent by ignoring or downplaying some countries’ abuses in his annual “list of shame,” Human Rights Watch said today.…
School in Nikishine, eastern Ukraine, damaged during fighting between Ukrainian government and rebel forces from Aug. 2014 to Feb. 2015.
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Somaliland: Prosecutions Threaten Free Expression

Repeal Provisions that Criminalize Free Speech

(Nairobi) – A string of recent prosecutions in Somaliland targeting people who spoke out on controversial issues is a dangerous attack of free expression, Human Rights Watch said today. In the latest such case, a prominent traditional…
Naima Ahmed Ibrahim, a popular poet, was sentenced to three years in prison for promoting unity of Somaliland with Somalia. She was released on May 7, 2018, following a presidential pardon after spending more than three months in detention. © Private
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Yemen: Detained African Migrants Tortured, Raped

Grant Access to Asylum Procedures; Hold Abusers Accountable

(New York) –Yemeni government officials have tortured, raped, and executed migrants and asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa in a detention center in the southern port city of Aden, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities have…
Buraika detention facility for migrants in Aden governorate, Yemen. © 2018 VICE News Tonight on HBO
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Interview: How Security Forces in Somalia Fail to Protect Children

After recruitment by Al-Shabab, children face difficult conditions in detention

How is it that children get involved with Al-Shabab in the first place?   Al-Shabab uses many means to recruit children, including enticements, deceit and force. Poor rural communities, with little protection, are particularly vulnerable to…
Photo of Somali children blindfolded.
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Somalia: Detained Children Face Abuse

Emphasize Rehabilitation, Develop Child-Specific Procedures

(Washington) – Somali authorities are unlawfully detaining and at times prosecuting in military courts children with alleged ties to the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. …
A prison warden at a prison in Garowe, Puntland state, in northeastern Somalia, December 2016.