Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1989
SOMALIA
.
Somalia is a one-party state ruled since 1969 by President
Mohamed Siad Barre. He presides over the Somali Revolutionary
Socialist Party (SRSP) , the sole legal political party, and
the Government through the presidentially appointed Council of
Ministers. The President's clan, the Marehan, holds key
positions, e.g., the President's eldest son, Abdurahman
Mohamed Siad "Maslah", is Commander of the Armed Forces. A
National People's Assembly, last elected on a single slate in
1984, is subordinate to the executive. Civil conflict
continued during 1989, with an outbreak of rioting in the
capital, Mogadishu, followed by official reprisals. Troops
mutinied in the southern, central, and northern regions, and
political ferment intensified.
The Somali Armed Forces (SAF) number over 35,000 troops.
Internal security responsibilities, including for coping with
the civil conflict, are shared by the National Army, the
military police (MP), the Defense Intelligence Security Agency
( "Hangaash") , the National Police, and the National Security
Service (NSS) . During 1989 army combat units and military
police resorted to attacks on civilian villages, roundups, and
summary executions as means of combating the antiregime Somali
National Movement (SNM), other dissident groups, and rioters.
Reformist groups made efforts during 1989 to curb the security
services' arbitrary powers of detention, but were only
partially successful.
Clans continued their age-old competition for waterholes and
grazing lands, and at the national level the governing elite,
based on the Marehan subclan, struggled with other clans for
control of the country's few resources. Most of Somalia's
estimated 8 million people manage a bare subsistence as
herdsmen or farmers. The modern sector of the agricultural
economy consists mainly of banana plantations located in the
south. The chief exports are livestock and bananas.
Mogadishu now has a population exceeding 1.5 million, many of
whom are unemployed migrants from the countryside.
Increasingly straitened conditions in the capital contributed
to an increase in crime and to the potential for civil
disorder, while life in the north has been severely disrupted
by the civil conflict.
Despite som.e limited progress in the first half of the year,
human rights in Somalia suffered sharp setbacks during 1989.
A State Department-sponsored study (the Gersony report)
documented massive human rights violations, committed by both
government and, to a lesser extent, SNM forces in the 1988-89
fighting; the SAF murdered at least 5,000 unarmed civilians
between May 1988 and March 1989. In the first half of 1989,
the Government did release most political prisoners, including
those whose cases had been publicized in the West, and
strengthened the constitutional prohibition against arbitrary
detention. However, on July 9, an unknown gunman shot and
killed the Roman Catholic Bishop of Mogadishu. The Government
detained for investigation several prominent Islamic leaders
and other critics. On July 14, rioting broke out in Mogadishu
as a result of the detentions, and several police officers
were killed. The police and MP's responded to the killings by
firing on the crowds. At least 100 people were killed and
hundreds more injured in fighting throughout the city. (One
human rights group claims 450 were killed.) On subsequent
days and nights military units detained about 2,000 people,
searched and looted houses, assaulted and sometimes shot
people in their homes, and summarily executed at least 46
young men, mainly Isaaks, at a nearby beach. In response to
the growing political discontent, the President announced that
multiple political parties would be allowed to organize and to
contest elections to a new People's Assembly within 16
months. He offered to negotiate with dissident organizations,
but his initial attempts had been rebuffed at year's end.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
During 1989 extrajudicial killing was employed as a method of
warfare in Somalia's civil conflict. Government forces were
the worst though not the only offenders. While some incidents
could be attributed to poor leadership and training, the
pattern of raids on civilian villages, reprisal killings, and
summary executions suggested that extrajudicial killing had
official sanction (see Section l.g., for details). Following
the extensive July disorders and killings, the President
formed an investigating committee, but at the end of 1989 the
committee had not released its findings, and the Government
had not brought those responsible to justice. There have been
persistent reports that the perpetrators were members of the
Marehan subclan (Rer Koshin) to which the President and his
family belong.
b. Disappearance
Disappearances continued to occur in Somalia during 1989.
They were hard to distinguish from arbitrary arrests and
detentions (see Section l.d.) and extrajudicial killings,
because these are not acknowledged by the authorities. For
example, an interpreter employed by the U.S. Office of
Military Cooperation has been missing since July 17 and is
presumed to have been among the victims of the shootings at
the beach.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Torture is forbidden by Article 27 of the Constitution.
Senior government officials repeatedly deny that it is
practiced as a government policy and, in fact, instances of
torture appeared to decrease in response to a governmental
reform effort and international pressure. Some recently
released short-term detainees complained, however, that they
were subjected to forms of torture such as the "Mig," in which
their hands and feet were tied together behind their backs
with a rope, which was pulled tight so that the body was
arched backwards, to resemble the swept-back wings of a Mig
aircraft. The Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture
continued to report seeing torture victims from Somalia.
Harsh prison conditions do not provide sanitation, adeguate
water, or medical care. Prisoners receive the absolute
minimum of food necessary for survival because it is customary
for food to be supplied from outside by their families.
Amnesty International (AI) stated that the conditions at the
maximum security prisons of Lanta Bur and Labatan Jirow, where
political prisoners are often held incommunicado, were
particularly life-threatening.
Mistreatment of detainees sometimes results from negligence.
In October, for example, at least 11 youths died of
suffocation and dozens of others were hospitalized after
police locked them in a steel shipping container. The
authorities arrested the police official allegedly responsible
for this incident.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Although Article 26 of the Constitution accords citizens the
right to be formally charged and to receive a speedy trial,
the Criminal Code was modified in 1970 to exempt crimes
involving national security from time limits and rules of
procedure. The Government has repeatedly shown an
exceptionally broad interpretation of what constitutes
national security and has used its powers in an arbitrary
manner to detain, often incommunicado, suspected political
opponents or critics. In the first half of 1989, in response
to growing criticism of such abuses, the Government revised
Article 26 of the Constitution to limit arbitrary detention.
As a result, the security services in the early months of 1989
detained fewer persons and usually released them if evidence
against them was lacking. (Normally, the National Security
Court--see Section I.e. --gives investigators a fixed time
limit, with necessary extensions, to complete an
investigation.
)
Following the disturbances in July, however, mass detentions
were resumed under a presidential decree (as provided for in
Articles 82 and 83 of the Constitution) imposing emergency
rule throughout the country. Many detentions seemed to have
only an incidental investigative purpose, the main aim being
to frighten possible opponents of the regime and silence
criticism. Most of the detainees were released after a few
weeks in military camps.
Prominent Somalis arrested in the investigation of the
Bishop's assassination in July included the lawyer Dr. Ismail
Jimale Ossoble, chief counsel for the defense in the February
1988 national security trial; Abdulkadir Aden Abdulle Osman,
son of Somalia's first president; Sheikh Abdirahman Sheikh Ali
Sufi, a senior religious leader; and three other imams. Dr.
Jimale Ossoble and Mr. Osman were released in October 1989.
The sheiks remained in detention at the end of the year.
Also under detention were former cabinet ministers Aden Nur
and Ba'adleh, who were arrested in July.
The number of detainees is difficult to estimate because the
Government does not disclose such information, detainees are
often held incommunicado, and at least 9 entities (National
Police, NSS, Hangaash, military police, SRSP, the militia, the
Custodial Corps, regional governors, and district
commissioners) have the power to detain. The number probably
fluctuated considerably during 1989, as the Government first
released most detainees, then arrested about 2,000 people in
July, and then released most of them after a few weeks. In
conjunction with the October 21 national day celebrations, the
President amnestied over 1,160 detainees and prisoners. Most
of these detainees had been held on criminal charges, but some
!nay have been detained for minor political offenses such as
making "tribalistic" remarks.
The Somali security forces also practice the taking of
hostages in interclan conflicts. In disputes between rival
clans, the Government may order the arrest of senior members
of both clans in order to compel an end to the violence. The
most recent example of this practice occurred in June when a
minority Darod clan began attacking members of the Hawiya clan
in and around Mogadishu. The Government arrested members of
both clans and dictated peace terms between the parties; when
peace was assured the hostages were released.
The Government does not practice exile as a means of political
control. With regard to forced or compulsory labor, see
Section 6.c.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Somali judicial system includes civil and criminal courts,
and a separate National Security Court. Lawyers are permitted
to represent suspects before the National Security Court, but
proceedings are usually held in camera. Although nominally
independent, the judiciary is in fact not distinguishable from
the executive, which reviews and controls judicial decisions.
All judges in the Supreme Court and lower courts are appointed
by the President with the advice of the higher judicial
council, of which the President is chairman. Judges of the
National Security Court generally are military officers posted
to the Court.
Law No. 54 of 1970 provides the death penalty for political
offenses "against national security," defined as behavior
"which may be considered prejudicial to the maintenance of
peace, order and good government." Among the 20 offenses
punishable by death are "organizing a subversive association"
(Article 3), "exploiting religion for creating national
disunity" (Article 12), and "publishing antistate propaganda"
(Article 18).
In the civil and criminal courts, legal assistance is
provided, and there are established rules of evidence. There
are no religious courts in Somalia. In civil proceedings
relating to family matters, such as marriage and inheritance,
the judge may cite prevailing Islamic Shari'a law in rendering
decisions. The right to appeal exists in criminal and civil
cases but not in cases heard by the National Security Court.
For persons convicted by the National Security Court, the only
avenue for clemency is through the Politburo of the SRSP.
Only one trial before the National Security Court received
publicity in 1989. This was the November conviction and
sentencing to death of five persons accused of embezzling
funds from the Commercial and Savings Bank. These were the
first death sentences announced in Somalia in over a year. It
appeared that some of those convicted were still at large. At
year's end none of the death sentences had been carried out.
By midyear most political prisoners had been released. Most
of the thousands of persons detained in July were also
released. Few if any detainees were tried and convicted of
political offenses.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Under the umbrella of the National Security Act, the security
forces routinely search the homes of citizens for weapons and
printed material critical of the Government. These searches
are carried out without a warrant or the consent of the
searched. No probable cause is required (see Section l.g.).
The telephone conversations and mail of suspected persons aremonitored, and anyone in the country suspected of political
activity is subject to surveillance.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in Internal Conflicts
About 500,000 people fled the outbreak of fighting in northern
Somalia in 1988. A U.S. Government-sponsored 1989 study (the
Gersony Report), based on 300 interviews with displaced
persons and refugees (many of them eyewitnesses to killings),
"conservatively estimated that at least 5,000 unarmed
civilians were purposefully murdered by the SAF between May
1988 and March 1989," when the civilians no longer represented
a threat to the Somali Armed Forces (SAF) forces. The study
also found that the SNM combatants killed hundreds of unarmed
civilians in similar indiscriminate fashion. Further, the
study found that both sides systematically engaged in grave
violations of the internationally protected status of
Ethiopian refugees in the refugee camps administered by the
United Nations in the area. The Government forcibly
conscripted Ethiopian refugees from the camps into the SAF
after May 1988. The SNM conducted systematic violent attacks
against these camps, killing 400 or more refugees in the
process (see also Section 2.d.).
Some of these abuses, apparently sanctioned by the opposing
leaderships, were consistent with traditional patterns of clan
warfare in an arid land. One of the basic tactics of Somali
army forces, for example, was to control the waterholes and
deny their use to the SNM. The SNM similarly prevented the
Government from repairing the pumping station which once
supplied water to Hargeisa. When combating rebels, mutineers,
and bandits in the central regions of the country, Somali
troops took reprisals against certain villages by driving off
livestock and burning houses.
Documented incidents included:
SNM members of the Isaak clan, in fighting around the
northern town of Erigavo in March, killed a number of
unresisting civilians. Progovernment militias then drove the
SNM out of Erigavo and killed about 200 Isaak civilian
inhabitants of the town.
Marehan soldiers carried out reprisal killings of about
30 Isaak civilians after a landmine explosion on the
Burao-Berbera road in May.
Reacting to rioting in Mogadishu on July 14, military
police fired into crowds, killing bystanders as well as
rioters. Some innocent persons were killed in their homes by
stray rounds. During searches of Mogadishu neighborhoods on
subsequent nights, security forces looted houses and
assaulted--and occasionally shot--their inhabitants.
In retaliation for the killing of some of their comrades
in the July 14 riots, members of the Armed Forces abducted 47
Somali men, took them to an isolated section of beach, and
shot them. Reports from witnesses and one survivor indicate
that the targets of this execution were members of the Isaak
clan, randomly selected and identified by their accents.
In late September, when government forces attacked rebels
of the Ogadeni clan near the Kenyan border, troops overran the
village of Dobli and killed many of the inhabitants.In November, when government forces attacked several
villages near Galkayo in central Somalia in reprisal for a
mutiny there, troops reportedly killed a number of civilians
outside of immediate combat zones.
There have been other unverified reports of summary executions
of rebels in the northern and southwestern regions of the
country and of massacres committed by SNM fighters against
non-Isaak villages in the north.
The situation remained volatile at the end of 1989. According
to the Gersony report, the Government has armed clan-based
civilian militias which are not under the effective command of
either the SAF or clan elders. These militias were an
additional element of continuing instability and lawlessness.
Information is lacking on the fate of prisoners taken in
Somalia's civil conflict. In general, it seemed that few
prisoners were taken. Rebel forces welcomed deserters from
government ranks.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Although freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution,
that right continued to be severely abridged in practice. NSS
informants frequented public places listening for expressions
of antigovernment sentiment; persons were sometimes held
responsible for opinions expressed in personal conversations
as well as in public forums.
The Government continued to own and operate the radio and
television as well as the country's six newspapers. No
publications other than those authorized by the Government
were legally distributed, and possession of unauthorized
newspapers and journals has brought prison sentences of from 5
to 15 years. All printed, taped, and filmed material entering
Somalia must be approved by the National Censorship Board.
The material is checked for "obscene" as well as politically
objectionable content. Academic freedom was not permitted; a
Somali law professor with an evident interest in the local
human rights situation was detained for several months in 1988
and 1989".
Information on the situation in Somalia was difficult to
obtain because throughout the first half of 1989 the
Government refused to issue visas to foreign journalists.
Several European journalists were permitted to enter the
country in the latter part of 1989. An American journalist
arrived in Mogadishu in December for a 1-week visit.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Although politics is a common topic at informal gatherings of
Somalis, and although Article 24 of the Constitution
guarantees the right to participate in or organize an assembly
or demonstration, in practice the Government only permitted
meetings which it sponsored to advance government purposes.
Political protest meetings were not permitted.
Freedom of association, though not specifically mentioned, is
implicitly provided for in the Constitution, which entitles
every citizen to participate fully in political, economic,
social, and cultural activities. In practice, however, there
was no freedom of association in Somalia in 1989. Having a
1
business relationship with a person under suspicion was enough
to attract the attention of the security services. In March a
restaurant owner was detained by the NSS when his restaurant
was host to a party for former political prisoners. The only
organizations allowed to exist are those approved by the
Government and the SRSP.
For a discussion of freedom of association as it applies to
labor unions, see Section 6. a.
c. Freedom of Religion
Islam is the state religion and nearly 100 percent of the
population is Muslim, predominantly of the Sunni sect. The
Constitution states, however, that every person shall be
entitled to profess any religion or creed. In practice this
means that members of religions other than Islam may practice
their faiths but may not proselytize. Mogadishu has a Roman
Catholic community numbering about 2,000, which was
established during the period of Italian colonial rule. Both
Protestant and Catholic houses of worship operate openly. No
other religious group has significant representation in
Somalia. Christian charitable organizations operate in
Somalia but confine their activities to technical assistance.
There is no evidence that the July 9 killing of the Catholic
Bishop of Mogadishu was religiously motivated. Nevertheless,
the assassination inflamed Muslim-Christian relations.
Tension between the communities increased in the first half of
1989, as a revivalist spirit spread within the Muslim
community, and some imams accused Christians of
proselytizing. During the July disturbances in Mogadishu,
there was some violence against Protestant medical
missionaries and other persons perceived to be Christians.
Many in the Muslim community attribute Somalia's difficulties
to lax observance of Islam. Such views, in addition to
raising popular anxiety over Christian proselytizing, also
tend to set the Islamic community in opposition to the
Government, which has secular roots and a long history of
antagonism toward religious leaders. The Government is
sensitive to this trend, because it threatens to unite
disparate opposition groups under the banner of Islam.
Therefore, since 1985 the Government has licensed all mosques
and Koranic schools, and since 1986 it has approved all imams
and paid them a salary. Tensions between the Government and
the Islamic community came to the fore in July, following the
Catholic Bishop's assassination. In the investigation of that
crime, security forces detained several outspoken imams.
These acts provoked more antigovernment criticism within the
mosques. The police, alerted to expect trouble on Friday,
July 14, ringed the mosques, entered some, attempted to
prevent antigovernment sermons, and tried to arrest additional
imams. Widespread rioting and many deaths ensued.
Ethiopian Christian refugees sometimes claim that they face
persecution in Somalia, but apparently that persecution is
based more on nationality than religion.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Police and military checkpoints control travel between towns,
in border areas, and in areas of interclan violence. There
is, however, no requirement to report residence to the police
or other government authority. Many Somalis'are nomads, and
the nomadic tradition remains strong. Travel within Somalia
is a freely practiced right. In general, there are no
restrictions on international travel for those who can afford
it. Passports are available to all citizens and to ethnic
Somalis who reside abroad; they generally are not denied on
political grounds.
However, the Government restricted the travel of some former
detainees and political prisoners by denying them passports or
stopping them at the airport. Former political prisoners
Suleiman Nuh Ali and Abdi Ismail Yunis were prevented from
attending the Muslim pilgrimage. Their passports were
confiscated when they tried to depart Somalia at Mogadishu
airport. At the end of 1989 their passports had not been
returned.
Somalis who have emigrated are generally permitted to return;
in 1989 President Siad repeatedly promised amnesty to
antigovernment Somalis returning from foreign countries.
Nevertheless, based on the experience of previous years, some
Somalis remained abroad because they feared possible
imprisonment for opposition activity if they returned.
There have been massive displacements of persons as a result
of the civil conflict. Many persons have fled to Mogadishu
where the population has swollen to over 1.5 million. The
Isaak population of northern Somalia has been driven into
remote rural areas, and many hundreds of thousands are living
in exile in Ethiopia and Djibouti, and fewer in Kenya. Within
Hargeisa, about 90 percent of the Isaak homes, businesses, and
property have been destroyed or severely damaged. The
economic life of northern Somalia has been profoundly
disrupted. At the end of 1989, the best estimates indicated
that there were 324,000 displaced persons and refugees from
Somalia (mainly Isaaks) in Ethiopia and 30,000 in Djibouti.
The Government reports that there are 837,000 Ethiopian
refugees in Somalia, but outside observers, including from the
United Nations, indicated that about half that number remained
in refugee camps at the end of 1989. Conscription of refugees
into the Somali army continued in 1989, in violation of
international covenants. Spontaneous repatriation of refugees
to Ethiopia continued throughout the year, and tripartite
negotiations involving Somalia, Ethiopia, and the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) made progress
on arrangements for officially sponsored voluntary
repatriation. In addition to the UNHCR, the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) agreed to participate.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Citizens have neither the legal right nor the ability
peacefully to change their government or the form of their
government. The SRSP is the only legal party; opposition
groups and criticism of the Government are illegal. However,
in August President Siad Barre announced that multiple
political parties would be allowed to contest elections to a
new People's Assembly by the end of 1990. In November a
committee of lawyers began drafting proposed changes in the
Constitution that would remove the SRSP from its leading role
in state and society, permit the operation of multiple
parties, and allow operation of a free press and other
institutions of an open society. At the end of 1989 no
practical steps had been taken to implement these proposals.
In the present governmental structure, the National People's
Assembly has very limited powers.
For many Somalis the traditional clan system is the accepted
vehicle of political expression. President Siad Barre and
other officials consult frequently with clan elders. Since
1982, however, President Siad has been widely perceived as
relying on and furthering the interests of his family and his
Marehan subclan by playing off other clans aginst one
another. This reliance on the Marehan accelerated in 1989, as
the President appointed his son as head of the Armed Forces,
another family member as Chief of Police, and Marehan officers
as commanders of most military units.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
During the first half of 1989, the Government showed a
willingness to cooperate with international and other human
rights organizations. A visit by Amnesty International,
proposed by President Siad in 1988, took place from June 24 to
July 2. Officials arranged the meetings requested by the
two-man delegation, including with former political prisoners.
Prime Minister Samantar, and President Siad. However, a week
after the AI delegation's departure, the Bishop of Mogadishu
was killed and civil unrest and summary executions followed;
and AI has not been invited to return.
The Government has continued cooperation with the ICRC, which
is now operating an emergency hospital in Berbera and making
preparations to aid in refugee repatriation.
Although there are no human rights organizations as such in
Somalia, the Association of Somali Lawyers concerns itself
with human rights issues.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social Status
Because Somalia is racially homogeneous, there is little
racial discrimination as such. Animosities and rivalries
based on bloodline and clan affiliation, however, are a
fundamental problem at the root of the country's continuing
civil conflict. Many persons have capitalized on their clan
and family affiliations to gain economic advantage or
privilege. The clan differences also have a north versus
south aspect. Members of the Isaak clan, who form the bulk of
SNM supporters, are increasingly discriminated against because
most of them are perceived as opponents of the Government.
Although not all Isaaks are persecuted, a disproportionate
number of political detainees and victims of extrajudicial
executions (e.g., almost all of the 46 in Mogadishu in July)
were of that clan.
By tradition Somali women suffer discrimination in education,
work, and family matters. Female enrollments in school remain
far below those for males at all levels of education for
traditional and cultural reasons. The payment of dowry and
bride wealth are common marriage customs. Divorce laws and
practices strongly favor the male partner.
The Siad Barre Government has historically supported women's
rights. In the face of conservative opposition, it rewrote
laws to increase women's rights to inherit and own property,
made women the legal equals of men, and perhaps most
importantly it outlawed female circumcision. The Government's
campaign against female circumcision, led by the Somali
Women's Democratic Organization of the SRSP, continued to make
progress in 1989. Although the practice remained common,
especially in rural areas, pharaonic circumcisions (the most
extreme and dangerous form of female genital mutilation)
became less common.
Domestic violence against women is not a significant social
problem in Somalia. There are several interlocking cultural
and economic reasons why such practices as wife beating are
relatively uncommon. One is that Somalis, being Muslims, do
not generally drink alcohol. A second reason is that Somali
marriages are contractual, with the wife's relatives prepared
to enforce the agreement that she will be treated with
dignity. Wife beating carries a stigma which makes it
difficult for divorced wife beating males to remarry. Finally
economic conditions, which have made it increasingly difficult
for men to have more than one or at most two wives, also tend
to curtail violence against women. (A veteran police officer,
asked whether wife beating was a problem, said that in the
days before independence it was common for men to have three
or four wives and to treat the less favored of them as beasts
of burden, beating the ones who faltered or were lazy. He
said that young men of the present generation cannot afford
more than one wife, and therefore they are constrained to
treat her with respect.)
The civil conflict has, however, had a profoundly negative
impact, and it appears that rape by government forces and
others has occurred fairly often.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Workers are not free to form independent unions. There is a
single labor confederation, the government-controlled General
Federation of Somali Trade Unions (GFSTU) , is run by
government-appointed officials. The GFSTU' s main function is
to monitor the work force and provide a conduit for worker
grievances. The GFSTU is a member of the Organization of
African Trade Union Unity and the International Confederation
of Arab Trade Unions. Somalia has been a member of the
International Labor Organization (ILO) since 1960, but has
ratified neither ILO Convention 87 regarding freedom of
association nor Convention 98 on collective bargaining.
Strikes are outlawed, and organizing a strike is legally
punishable by death. Nevertheless, there was a short
transportation strike in 1987, and strikes by quarry workers
in 1989. The Government took no action against the striking
workers.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The right to organize does not appear to be infringed by
employers. Because the GFSTU speaks for the Government, its
dealings with employers on wages, hours, and working
conditions tend to resemble binding arbitration rather than
collective bargaining. Some negotiation between employers and
employees goes on outside the union framework. Given the
official status of the GFSTU, antiunion discrimination appears
to be a moot question. Labor courts adjudicate
employer-employee disputes with relative impartiality. There
are no export processing zones in Somalia.
c. Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited by law, but the
Government and party occasionally organize campaigns of
"voluntary labor" to clean streets or boost production of
state-owned factories.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The minimum age for the employment of children is 15, and
persons under 18 are not permitted to work at night or in
certain hazardous occupations. The law imposing the
requirements, however, is not effectively implemented, and
there is considerable child labor on the margins of the wage
economy. Children sell cigarettes on the street, carry bags
in the market, and watch and clean cars to support themselves
and to supplement family incomes.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Somalia has comprehensive labor legislation setting minimum
safety and health standards for the workplace. These are
applicable to the small, modern wage sector of an economy that
is predominantly pastoral and agricultural and are not
normally enforced. In theory the workday is 8 hours per day,
6 days per week, with limits on overtime hours. There is no
legal minimum wage. Workers are entitled to paid holidays,
annual leave, holiday bonuses, and a variety of fringe
benefits. In reality, however, the salary scale is extremely
low, especially in the public sector. The average salary of a
civil servant is equivalent to about $10 per month and is not
adequate to maintain a decent standard of living.
Productivity in the public sector is correspondingly low, and
many civil servants make only minimal appearances in their
offices. Workers resort to second jobs, corruption,
assistance from other family members, and remittances from
abroad to support themselves and their families
