Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1991
SOMALIA
The 21-year rule of Mohamed Siad Barre ended in January 1991,
when Siad fled an uprising in the capital, Mogadishu. Efforts
to establish a new government have stalled repeatedly, with
central and southern clan factions involved in repeated bitter
fighting. Foreign embassies were evacuated in January and
most, including that of the United States, remain vacant. The
successors to Siad, 10 or more clan-based factions, exercise
varying degrees of control in their home regions. The two most
powerful groups are the United Somali Congress (USC)
,
predominantly of the Hawiye clan, located in central Somalia,
including in Mogadishu, and the Somali National Movement (SNM),
predominantly of the Isaak clan, located in northwestern
Somalia. Siad Barre and his supporters regrouped to form yet
another faction in southwestern Somalia, home of Siad's Marehan
clan. Elements of the large Darod clan family, of which the
Marehan are a small segment, fought the USC while trying to
distance themselves from Siad.
In January the USC proclaimed a provisional government which
none of the other factions recognized. In May the SNM declared
an independent "Somaliland Republic" which neither the other
factions nor any foreign countries recognized. In July, at a
meeting in Djibouti, six factions—including the USC and two
Darod movements but not the SNM—agreed to form an interim
government, under the old 1961 constitution, with a 2-year term
of office until elections could be held. The six factions
announced a 72-member cabinet, headed by Ali Mahdi Mohamed as
President. However, their efforts to establish a government
were aborted by fighting between factions of the USC, i.e. Ali
Mahdi ' s Abgal subclan and General Mohamed Farah Aideed's Habr
Gedr subclan. In Noven±)er and December, thousands of people
were killed in Mogadishu, and at year's end Somalia had almost
ceased to exist as a state, and Somali society had increasingly
diintegrated into chaos and general disregard for human rights.
Somalia's security forces consist of clan militias and the
uniformed police. Remnants of the former Somali National Army
(SNA), which disintegrated when Siad fell, are scattered among
the militias according to clan loyalties. Armed bands
associated with the USC engaged in indiscriminate killing of
members of other clans in Galkayo and Brava, as well as in
extensive pillage and rape. Uniformed police units,
reconstituted in Mogadishu and in the SNM-controlled north,
continued a tradition of professionalism, despite a lack of
resources. In Mogadishu the police struggled unsuccessfully to
confiscate weapons and suppress criminal gangs. Secret police
organizations probably existed but were minuscule compared to
Siad Barre 's former extensive internal security apparatus.
Continued internal warfare in 1991 drastically slowed the
rudimentary pastoral and agricultural economy; disrupted
infrastructure, including water supplies; and international
telecommunications links. Malnutrition and disease were
widespread, especially in the southern and central regions,
particularly among vulnerable groups such as mothers and small
children. At year's end, the fighting in Mogadishu disrupted
international food relief efforts.
Serious human rights abuses occurred often in a country racked
by war, anarchy, and poverty. Neither President Ali nor
General Aideed, the most prominent clan leaders, showed any
determination to retjuire respect for human rights by their
various armed forces. Undisciplined militias killed, looted,
and raped. Several prominent political figures were killed
either for revenge or simply because of their clan
affiliation. Combat often produced disproportionate numbers of
women and children killed or wounded, suggesting a pattern of
clan-motivated revenge. Security forces sometimes summarily
executed persons suspected of banditry.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
Among the approximately 20,000 people killed in the chaos of
early 1991 were several well-known political figures. Hashi
Weheliye Malin (Abgal Hawiye clan) and Ha j i Musse Bokor
(Majertain clan), two senior opposition leaders attempting to
arrange a cease-fire during the January fighting, were killed,
apparently on orders from Siad Barre. During the same period
Hawiye gangs killed Abdalla Mohamed Fadil, a Somali of Yemeni
ancestry who had served as assistant prime minister and
commissioner for northern reconstruction in the Siad
government, and Professor Ibrahim Mohamoud Abyan, a Dolbahante,
former president of the Somali National University, who led a
coalition of veteran politicians known as the Manifesto Group.
In September two adult sons of the elderly chairman of the
chamber of commerce, Haji Osman Ahmed Robleh (Abgal Hawiye),
were killed along with their wives and children. It is unclear
whether they were deliberately targeted or were random victims
of fighting in Mogadishu that took several hundred lives.
Somali activists in the United States and Canada published
lists of dozens of "elders" in various regions who were
allegedly victims of political killings.
According to credible reports, the USC chairman. General
Aideed, ordered his militia to execute summarily suspected
robbers and looters, sometimes within minutes of capture. A
militia commander in the northern city of Hargeisa is reported
to have carried out similar executions, and authorities in
other areas probably conducted much the same kind of campaign
against crime. Dozens, probably hundreds, of suspected bandits
suffered summary execution.
b. Disappearance
Some disappearances occurred when groups resembling death
squads attacked people because of their clan background and for
the opportunity to loot their property. Some of the
perpetrators were undoubtedly members of clan militias. Local
authorities did not condone these killings, but were unable to
prevent them. Such disappearances would have been hard to
distinguish from the thousands of people who disappeared as the
result of mass migrations to avoid conflict, deaths from
disease among refugee and displaced populations, and killings
in battle. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
has established a tracing network, covering a large part of the
country, which handles thousands of messages per month as
family members try to relocate one another. There is no known
compilation of disappearances. Most will likely remain
unsolved.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
In the uprising against Siad Barre, Somalia's internal security
apparatus was shattered and the doors of the country's prisons
were opened, allowing some 20,000 prisoners, including violent
criminals, to go free. Because of these events, there were
probably far fewer instances of torture by secret police than
in previous years. Temporarily at least, harsh treatment of
prisoners and deplorable prison conditions also ceased to be
relevant problems. Mogadishu Central Prison, a medieval castle
with seriously inadequate sanitation, resumed operations June
30. Its fate in the subsequent fighting is not known.
With increasing disorder, other forms of degrading treatment
increased; militia forces and bandits allegedly committed rape
on a massive scale (see Section l.g.).
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Information on these subjects is lacking, although at the
Djibouti conference the factions reportedly agreed to use the
1960 penal code based on the Napoleonic Code. It appears that
arbitrary arrests and detentions decreased substantially, in
part because local security forces were weak and disorganized,
in part because the new authorities were less zealous than
their predecessors in detaining suspected opponents. At year's
end, the SNM and possibly other factions held an unknown number
of former members of Siad's army as prisoners of war. The
feuding factions in Mogadishu held an unknown number of persons
in detention. Some local authorities as well as the interim
Government granted the ICRC access to detainees, but chaotic
conditions throughout Somalia made it difficult for the ICRC to
maintain access and systematically pursue detainee visitations.
There were credible reports of clan factions abducting members
of unfriendly clans and holding them hostage as insurance
against attacks on their own people. The USC militia, for
example, allegedly abducted 200 Majertain from the town of
Galkayo; SNM militia allegedly abducted 116 Warsangeli from
Erigavo and kept them in an open-air holding pen. There were
no known instances of exile.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The regular judicial system collapsed with the end of the Siad
government. There is little available information about the
successor authorities' efforts to revive and operate court
systems. In April, Radio Mogadishu announced the establishment
of an Islamic court. No details were given. Later, Radio
Mogadishu announced that regular courts and prisons hoped to
resume their functions by June 15. In the north, the SNM
announced that it was adopting Shari'a law, but how this worked
in practice is not known. It appears that none of the factions
created a version of the Siad government's National Security
Court, which tried political cases in secret with no regular
rules of procedure.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
Because all telephones were out of service, and the post office
stopped functioning for more than 6 months, phone tapping and
interception of mail ceased, for the time being, to be
significant problems.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in Internal Conflicts
The January uprising produced thousands of casualties and
violations of human rights. Siad Barre shelled Mogadishu with
field artillery, inflicting heavy casualties on clans he
considered enemies. One Siad loyalist distributed flyers
urging a war of extermination against non-Darod clans. The
insurrectionists in Mogadishu gave no quarter to Siad's forces;
members of the hated "Red Hat" presidential guard were left
unburied where they died.
At about the same time, armed Hawiye gangs began attacking
Darod neighborhoods in Mogadishu. There are credible reports
that hundreds of unresisting people—mostly Darod but Hawiye as
well—were killed in ethnically motivated violence. Other
reports, which cannot be confirmed, indicated people were
hacked to death with axes or killed by other brutal methods.
Mogadishu's population dropped by half or more as hundreds of
thousands of Darod residents and between 7,000 and 15,000
Isaaks fled the killing.
Atrocities were not limited to Mogadishu. On February 10, USC
militias entered the ancient coastal town of Brava in pursuit
of Darod forces. Although welcomed by the Bravanese (a people
of mixed Persian, Portuguese, Arab, and African ancestry) the
USC thoroughly looted the town. During their 36-day
occupation, repeated waves of USC combatants, many 14 to 16
years old, came through town looting, killing, and raping. USC
forces reportedly shot dead about 120 Bravanese, raped young
girls in front of their parents, and repeatedly robbed houses
and businesses. Girls carried away when the USC left Brava are
still missing.
Darod organizations in the United States estimate that 500
civilians were killed, 1,000 wounded, and 200 taken hostage in
the February attack by USC forces on Galkayo in north-central
Somalia. Although the numbers may be inflated, the allegation
appears to be based on fact.
In the northwest, the SNM forces attacked and looted Borama;
about 80,000 people fled into Ethiopia. SNM units also raided
villages in Sanaag Region; Darod organizations in the United
States claim that civilian casualties in these raids ranged
into the hundreds, including children and some politically
active elders. Corroboration of numbers is lacking, but it
appears that the incidents did happen.
In addition to the SNM offensive, the USC attacked refugee
camps at Jalalaqsi and other locations in south central
Somalia. Opponents of the USC claim that thousands of refugees
were killed in these raids.
In December a Belgian ICRC worker died after being shot in
downtown Mogadishu, as well as a Somali Red Crescent worker who
tried to protect him. In early January 1992, a Bulgarian
UNICEF doctor was machine-gunned by assassins in the
northeastern town of Bosaso. By year's end, the resumption of
fighting in Mogadishu had almost brought international
humanitarian relief efforts to a halt. An ICRC official
reported, according to the international press, that 60 percent
of the children in some areas suffered from severe malnutrition.
Although some commanders controlled their troops better than
others, there are no reports of members of clan militias or
other security personnel being disciplined or otherwise called
to account for hximan rights abuses.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
When Siad Barre fell, restraints on speech disappeared.
Prominent politicians expressed controversial views; in March,
Mohamed Omar Jama, a member of the 1990 Manifesto Group,
accused the USC of persecuting Darods. Members of the
Mogadishu Government denounced Jama, accusing him of being in
league with Siad Barre, but took no action against him. In the
north, the SNM's political control may have discouraged
expression of unsanctioned views.
Radio Mogadishu continued to broadcast as the voice of the
USC. A rehabilitated Radio Hargeisa was similarly controlled
by the SNM. The Mogadishu television station was destroyed
during the January fighting and had not been rebuilt by year's
end. There was no private broadcasting in Somalia.
By March there were at least six newspapers publishing in
Mogadishu. Largely independent of factional control, these
papers carried on a lively commentary as the clan struggles
unfolded. By October over 22 "newspapers" operated in
Mogadishu, mainly printed on photocopy machines. It is not
known how many survived the fighting of November and December.
Academic freedom was a moot question, as the Somali National
University remained closed after Italian professors fled.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The demise of Siad's security apparatus opened new possibilities
for peaceful assembly and association. People began to
demonstrate, seemingly undeterred by the climate of violence
and insecurity. By June peaceful demonstrations in favor of
peace, demanding more food, or calling for an end to crime were
occurring almost daily in Mogadishu. People in Mogadishu not
only supported General Aideed's campaigns for the USC
chairmanship and against the Darod, they also demonstrated
against Aideed and in favor of USC participation in the
conference held in Djibouti with other clans. Demonstrations
also occurred in the SNM's capital, Hargeisa. Information is
lacking on freedom of assembly in other parts of the country.
c. Freedom of Religion
Nearly 100 percent of the population is Muslim, predominantly
of the Sunni sect. The fall of Siad Barre 's regime, which was
both secular and fearful of religious opposition, eliminated
constraints on the practice of Islam. Political figures
declared their solidarity with Islam, and the SNM's Somaliland
Republic adopted Shari'a law and described itself as an Islamic
state, though what that meant was unclear. The practice of
religions other than Islam ceased in 1991 because practically
all non-Muslims were evacuated from Somalia. In Mogadishu
vandals looted, defaced, and burned the Catholic cathedral.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
With the breakdown of government, movement within Somalia was
unconstrained except by the risks of encountering bandits or
the militias of hostile clans. Hundreds of thousands of people
moved into the countryside or traveled great distances to their
home regions to avoid the fighting and clan-motivated killings
in Mogadishu and other cities.
Government controls on foreign travel also ceased, but for most
Somalis the practical difficulties of international travel
became acute. Air transport services were suspended, and
foreign embassies and their visa sections closed. Somalis
living overseas were free to return home if they were not
deterred by the dangers and the difficulty of travel.
Practically all 350,000 refugees believed to be in the country
fled back into Ethiopia. These included ethnic Somali
(Ogadeni) refugees from Ethiopia and Ethiopian Oromos, camped
in Somalia since the 1977-78 Ogaden War. As a result of the
SNM campaigns early in the year and the continuing reluctance
of most Isaaks to return to their homes despite the SNM
victory, the number of Somali refugees in Ethiopia reached
500,000, up from 370,000 at the end of 1990. About 100,000
Isaak refugees in eastern Ethiopia did return to northwestern
Somalia by the end of 1991.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Despite the end of the Barre regime, people still did not have
the right to change their government through democratic means.
However, as the year unfolded the people exerted considerable
influence, mainly through large demonstrations, on political
developments. General Aideed won an indirect election as
chairman of the USC with genuine popular support, yet when he
vetoed USC participation in the Djibouti Conference he was
overruled by public opinion favoring national reconciliation.
When politicians in northern Somalia tried to stop short of
declaring independence, they were overruled by grass roots
demands for secession.
At the end of 1991, for all practical purposes Somalia did not
exist as a unified state. No general elections could be held,
and the clan based movements functioned much like local
one-party states; there was debate within the
organizations—sometimes erupting into battles in which
hundreds were killed—but no competing political parties. The
role of women in the political events of 1991 was minimal,
except as victims.
Section 4 Government Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Although the Association of Somali Lawyers formerly was
involved with human rights issues, their activities in 1991
were unknown. The various authorities' attitudes toward human
rights organizations were unclear. No international human
rights groups attempted to send delegations to Somalia for
investigative purposes.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social Status
Eighty percent or more of the population are ethnic Somalis.
The Somali majority looks down upon the minorities of Bantu and
Asian extraction. Somalis also view as inferior members of
several small client or "outcast" clans, who are relegated to
certain low-prestige occupations and who rarely intermarry with
members of majority Somali clans.
Racial tensions are a minor problem, however, compared to
animosities and rivalries between ethnic Somalis based on clan
affiliation. These are the fundamental cause of the country's
continuing civil conflict. Siad Barre's favoritism towards his
family and members of the Marehan clan, and corrupt
accumulation of wealth by Siad's cronies, were common
grievances among the clans which rebelled against Siad's rule.
Somali women suffer discrimination in education, work, and
family matters. About 96 percent of female Somalis cannot
read, and females receive about one-third the schooling of
males. A year of turmoil in Somalia seriously weakened women's
rights as recognized in the 1990 Constitution. The intentions
announced by some officials to promote greater adherence to
Islam and the adoption of Shari'a law in northern Somalia
indicated that religious practices will probably become more
conservative. Nevertheless, at least one women's group
(associated with the USC) continued in existence, working to
counter fundamentalist pressures to reduce women's rights.
Female circumcision remained a common practice, including
Pharaonic circumcision, the most extreme and dangerous form.
However, the risks of undergoing circumcision in the midst of
war and famine may have led some families to delay subjecting
their daughters to the procedure. The chances of getting
medical attention in case of infection or other complications
of circumcision were even less in 1991 than in past years. The
Siad Barre government opposed female circumcision and organized
campaigns against it; attitudes of Somalia's new governing
authorities toward female circumcision are unknown.
The absence of alcohol in Somali culture and the tradition that
the family protects a daughter after her marriage help shield
women against domestic violence, such as wife beating. There
are suggestions, however, of these constraints breaking down
under the strains of civil war, anarchy, and urban life.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution adopted in October 1990 granted workers the
right to form independent unions and to strike, but this reform
was not implemented in practice before Somalia descended into
anarchy. It is unknown if any unions are functioning in the
current situation or if there were any strikes during 1991.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
No instances in 1991 of collective bargaining are known, nor
were there any known cases of antiunion discrimination. There
are no export processing zones in Somalia.
c. Forced or Compulsory Labor
There were no known instances of forced or compulsory labor.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
During the Siad years the minimum age for employment was 15,
but the law was widely ignored, with considerable child labor
on the margins of the wage economy. Civil war and anarchy have
probably made these conditions worse, with street children
engaged in begging and thievery more often than work or
education, which are increasingly unavailable.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
During the Siad years there was no legal minimum wage.
Inflation reduced salaries in the public sector to the
equivalent of a few dollars a month. To survive, government
workers resorted to corruption and outside business activities.
In theory the small modern sector of Somalia's economy had an
8-hour workday, 6 days per week, with limits on overtime.
Workers were entitled to paid holidays, annual leave, and other
benefits. Laws set minimum safety and health standards in the
workplace, and in theory inspectors from the Ministry of Labor
enforced these standards. Because of inflation and low
productivity, these benefits were mostly fictional. In 1991
political instability and economic contraction further
undermined working conditions for those persons lucky enough to
be employed.
