Analysis
50 Countries will meet in London on May 7 to support the
nation-building project in Somalia. It is crucial that women, children and
displaced people are at the forefront of the debate.
I met Fatuma in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, late last
year. A few days before, she had been raped by an armed militia man while she
slept in one of the city's camps for displaced people.
She had nowhere to turn for redress.
Months earlier, 13-year old Abdi told me how he had been
kidnapped from school by armed members of the militant Islamist group
al-Shabaab and forced to serve in Mogadishu's battle zones. I asked Abdi, who
had fled to Kenya in late 2011, about his hopes for the future:
"We, the children, are suffering, our fathers are
killed, our mothers suffer, and we have been taken to the front line. We love
our country and want to be its leaders."
Prioritising the most
vulnerable
As representatives from over 50 countries gather in
London on 7 May to pledge support for the new Somali government, which is
barely eight months old, Abdi and Fatuma's stories continue to resonate.
The conference co-chairs, the Somali and UK governments,
along with others, are expected to make a commitment to support police and
judicial reform, which they have identified as top priorities, and to provide
technical assistance to tackle sexual violence.
But these much-needed resources will only contribute to
durable improvements if the rights of the most vulnerable Somalis - children,
women, displaced people - are placed at the forefront of debates.
Despite much heralded improvements since Somalia's long
transitional period ended and a new official government officially took over in
August 2012, Somalia remains home to one of the world's worst human rights
crises.
The 14 April attacks on the Mogadishu courts, claimed by al-Shabaab,
killed 22 people, including three prominent lawyers and a judge, and
highlighted the ongoing vulnerabilities.
Government forces, allied militia and others have raped,
beaten and assaulted internally
displaced people, restricted their access to food and limited their
movement.
Al-Shabaab targets civilians perceived to be spies or
collaborators throughout south-central Somalia. In areas under its control, the
group administers arbitrary justice and imposes harsh restrictions on rights.
Reports persist of children being forcibly recruited to
fight. The group has turned schools into battlegrounds, using them as weapons depots
and firing positions, sometimes with children and teachers still inside.
In Mogadishu and other towns which are no longer under
al-Shabaab control, boys and men risk arbitrary arrest and detention by government forces and
their affiliates on suspicion of al-Shabaab ties.
The need for accountability
The story of Somalia throughout two decades of conflict
is one of abuses of civilians by all sides with little or no effort being made
to bring the abusers to account.
Addressing this mistreatment has rarely been on anyone's
agenda. Somali journalists and activists pay a heavy price for their efforts to
bring these issues to national and international attention.
On 21 April, Mohamed Ibrahim Raage was killed by armed
assailants, the second journalist this year.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's government appears
willing to break this legacy of impunity by making government forces more
accountable for their actions and reforming the country's dysfunctional justice
system.
Donors have given the government time to find its feet,
but in London they need to press for specifics. One draft conference communique
I saw says very little about the plight of ordinary Somalis and does not
identify concrete measures that will convert rhetoric into reality.
Meaningful progress will depend in particular on
excluding rights abusers from government forces, building both civilian and
military accountability, and protecting women's and children's rights.
The message from donors such as the UK, US and European
Union should be clear: rights abusers, including those responsible for sexual
violence, have no role in the future Somali security apparatus.
Any security sector support needs to lead to well-vetted,
trained and accountable forces. The country needs a civilian police force and
an army that ordinary Somalis can turn to for protection, one that provides
redress for wrongdoings. Somalis should be able to access civilian complaint
mechanisms when things go wrong.
And the government should remove
children from its forces and protect schools from attacks or any military
use by all warring parties.
Accountability will obviously require a functional
justice system.
The recent high-profile, groundless prosecutions of a
woman who alleged rape by government forces and of the journalist who
interviewed her underline the need for serious reforms.
Concretely, the government can promote basic fair trial
rights by imposing a moratorium on the death penalty and ending trials of
civilians in military courts. Improving security at the courts and protection
for lawyers and judges is also key.
Somali women and girls have suffered unaddressed abuses
for far too long, from grinding repressioncon under al-Shabaab to sexual violence
by all sides.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has stated that
preventing and responding to sexual violence in conflict is his personal
priority - he has a unique opportunity in Somalia to safeguard women's rights
and improve their access to justice.
Plans should include building the capacity of police,
prosecutors and judges to deal with cases of sexual violence and recruiting
more women to be police officers. Medical and psychosocial support is equally
critical.
Only by building a more rights-abiding Somalia will Fatuma's
needs for redress and Abdi's dreams for an education be fulfilled. The London
conference should be an important step for both of them.
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