Dokument #1132124
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Although the Somali Constitution accords
citizens the right to be formally charged and to a speedy trial,
the criminal code was modified in 1970 to exempt crimes involving
national security from the rules of procedure established by the
country's legal system. Persons suspected of seditious intent, or
perceived as a political threat, are frequently held indefinitely
without being charged or brought to trial. Further, "detention by
the security services may not be reviewed or overturned by the
courts." [
ENDNOTES:
Country Reports for Human Rights Practices for 1988,
(Washington: U. S. Department of State, 1989, p.310.]
The National Security Law of 1970, in
extending the range of the death penalty, brought up to 20 the
number of offenses punishable by death. These include treason,
espionage, subversion, sabotage, publishing and distributing
anti-state propaganda, and several offenses including non-violent
political, religious and trade union activities, for which
prisoners of conscience could be, and have been executed." [
When The State Kills... The Death Penalty: A Human Rights
Issue, (New York: Amnesty International USA, 1989), p.203.]
In August 1988, five cadets undergoing
military training in Egypt were forcibly returned to Somalia after
they had sought asylum from the UNHCR office in Cairo. They were
arrested on arrival in Mogadishu and held in detention. One of the
cadets reportedly died in detention and there has been no
information about the other three from the Somali government [ibid.
p.311.].
The president of the North Somali
Association states that the Somali government does not distinguish
between conscientious objection and desertion. It is difficult to
determine the exact penalty for defection by military or civilian
persons because the laws are not decreed, ie. they are not written
down. Ms. C. Kurata, a Toronto lawyer, expresses the view that the
security laws are ad-hoc and unevenly applied. This view is
supported by Amnesty International which reports that the
definition of offenses included in the National Security Law (Law
No.54 of 10 September 1970) is "so broad that, in effect, arbitrary
imprisonment is permitted." [Somalia: A Long-Term Human Rights
Crisis, (London: Amnesty International Publications 1988),
pp.22-23.] All political offenses, including public order offenses
and serious criminal offenses, fall within the jurisdiction of the
National Security Court. [ibid. p.24.]
Military offenses are tried by
court-martial which allows defendants restricted rights to legal
representation but not the right of appeal against the verdict of
the National Security Court. [ When The State Kills...The Death
Penalty: A Human Rights Issue, (New York: Amnesty International
USA, 1989), p.203.] Convicted prisoners have the right to petition
the head of State for clemency, as there is no automatic executive
review of all death sentences. Amnesty International reports that
"many death sentences have been carried out within hours of
conviction, suggesting that the right to petition for clemency was
ignored." [ibid.]
Amnesty International states that the
Somali National Movement(SNM), draws most of its support from
members of the Issaq clan. Its political leadership and guerilla
commanders are mostly former Somali army officers of the Issaq
clan. [ Amnesty International, Somalia: Imprisonment of members
of the Issaq Clan since Mid-1988, (London: Amnesty
International Publications, 1988), p.2] After the SNM attacks on
Burao and Hargeisa in May 1988, the Somali government arrested many
SNM members including Issaq army officers. [Ibid. pp.2-3.]
Some of those detained were released
shortly after. However most of them are still imprisoned either in
Godka, where political prisoners are routinely tortured, or in
military custody in Mogadishu. Some political prisoners have been
transferred to the maximum security prisons of Lanta Bur or
Labaatan-Jirow as it is also known. [Africa Confidential,
(London: Miramoor Publications Ltd.), 20 January 1989, pp.
2-3.]