What happens to the victims of torture in Somalia ?
Somalia is a country of which modern history is shaped by violence and lawlessness with turbulent political and security context.
All most, every administration from the newly adopted federal level to the regional level, torture is a customised tool to punish critics which include journalists, lawyers, activists, human rights defenders, minority and marginalized communities.
The federal government national intelligence and security agency known as NISA and other security apparatus e.g. Danab forces which are funded and trained by USA as well as Al-shabab terrorist group, kenya defence force KDF and regional states use the most cruel torture methods which include but not limited to:
1. Stoning to death
2. Waterboarding
3. Fig method (immobilised captive is set on his forehead on the ground where his hands and legs are tied together and kept in that state for days)
4. Death penalty
5. Rape
6. Using metal sticks to beat immobilised captive
7. Tying captive’s hands to tree where his legs are lifted from the ground
These torture tools are used in order to hardly punish or execute the captive.
The inhumane and degrading treatment of vulnerable communities in Somalia includes:
1. Massive displacement of entire indigenous communities to affect politically Motivated demographic change as the case is in Somalia’s Jubaland region
2. Massive rape in order to spread fear among communities
3. Conscription of children and recruiting them as soldiers
4. Arbitrary Detention
5. Extra judicial killings
6. Summary killings
7. Assassination and forced disappearances of critics etc.
The worsening situation of Human Rights in Somalia is exacerbated by:
1. Impunity
2. Weak justice institutions
3. The newly adopted federal system which makes hard to control what regional states are doing regarding human rights
4. Foreign interests that do not respect human rights
5. Al-Shabaab terrorists controlling still many territories in Somalia
Taken all together, only victims of torture become more disadvantaged in the face of negligence where no entity, or organisation cares for them to give them another chance to live with dignity as human beings and compensate them for the violent crimes they have faced because of their activism, believe or political group membership etc.
Torture victims in Somalia require attention and care in order to get adequate rehabilitation and integration (psychosocial support), some of the victims who spoke to us and allowed us to present their initial names include:
1. F. H. SH.
2. M. D. A.
3. N. X. A.
4. Y. H. H.
5. M. A. X.
7. H. A. O.
8. I. A. SH.
Human rights experts and rights groups in Somalia warn against increasing violations of the UN Torture convention and Somalia’s constitution, as Somalia’s government is the only primary responsible entity in this case, as it has many possibilities to protect its citizens against systematic tortures.
HANAHR ADVOCACY DESK