On the sidelines of the Human Rights Council:

Partners for Transparency reviews the human rights situation in Somalia

In an oral intervention before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Partners for Transparency Foundation reviewed the deteriorating human rights situation in Somalia, as part of the activities of the 42nd session of the Council, where the Foundation expressed its concern about the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in this African country.

The intervention addressed the conditions of women who are exposed to violations of sexual violence, especially allegations of gang rape throughout the country, as no progress has been made in the draft law on crimes of sexual abuse. The Penal Code criminalizes rape, but considers it a crime against morality, not against the victim. With regard to the rights of the child, the Foundation confirmed that Somalia is still at the top of the list of countries in which the rates of child recruitment are increasing, as about 2,228 boys and 72 girls are being exploited, and the recruitment of young people by Al-Shabaab increases significantly.

The intervention also criticized the restrictions imposed by the Somali government on freedom of opinion and expression, and the work of human rights activists and journalists, through the so-called "security exceptions", which are often used as a cover to suppress human rights. In addition, the spread of corruption within the justice system has made Somali citizens try to courts in areas belonging to the Mujahideen Youth Movement. Because the Somali government does not have the means to verify the rulings issued by its courts.

In the end, the Somali Government Partners Foundation called for the need to review the laws on freedom of opinion and expression, especially the media law, which limits the formation of an independent civil society, and work to intensify the penalties for sexual violence against women, and to stop discrimination in all its forms and types against women. And increase efforts to protect Somali women from violations committed by Al-Shabaab under the pretext of implementing Sharia law. And intensify efforts to combat corruption in the judiciary, and activate the role of constitutional laws in parallel with customary laws. And the formation of a national committee familiar with the law and acceptable to the community to consider controversial legal matters in which the law conflicts with custom.