{"id":815,"date":"2015-08-14T15:57:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-14T15:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mmdsom.org\/?p=815"},"modified":"2015-08-14T15:57:41","modified_gmt":"2015-08-14T15:57:41","slug":"au-forces-linked-to-wedding-killings-in-somalia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/?p=815","title":{"rendered":"AU Forces Linked to Wedding Killings in Somalia."},"content":{"rendered":"

Investigate Ugandan Troops for Shooting of 6<\/strong><\/h1>\n

African Union (AU) forces in\u00a0Somalia<\/a>\u00a0(AMISOM) should impartially investigate the killing by alleged Ugandan army troops of six men at a wedding on July 31, 2015, in the Somali port town of\u00a0Merka. The investigation should be carried out with maximum protection for witnesses, and the Ugandan government should fairly prosecute any of its soldiers responsible for criminal offenses.<\/p>\n

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\"Ugandan<\/a><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that following a bomb attack on an AMISOM convoy, Ugandan forces entered several nearby houses in\u00a0Merka\u2019s\u00a0Rusiya\u00a0neighborhood. At one house, where the Moalim\u00a0Iidey\u00a0family was celebrating a wedding, the soldiers separated the men from the women and shot the six adult men \u2013 four brothers, their father, and an uncle. Four died immediately, one brother hid under a bed after being shot but later died, and the father died during the night after the soldiers allegedly refused to allow the family to take him to the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrican Union forces in Somalia face difficult challenges, but that makes respecting the laws of war even more crucial,\u201d said\u00a0Maria Burnett<\/a>, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cGunning down people at a wedding or anyone else in cold blood as punishment for insurgent attacks will only make things harder for the African Union forces in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under international humanitarian law applicable to the armed conflict in Somalia, parties to the conflict, including troop-contributing countries to the peacekeeping force, have an obligation to investigate alleged war crimes by their forces or forces\u00a0under their jurisdiction, and appropriately prosecute those responsible.<\/p>\n

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African Union forces in Somalia face difficult challenges, but that makes respecting the laws of war even more crucial.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

One witness told Human Rights Watch: \u201cAfter the explosion everyone in that area ran, because people fear AMISOM a lot. I think the family thought they would be protected because they were celebrating a wedding and thought that would stop AMISOM from killing them. Instead AMISOM turned the wedding into bloody event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those killed were\u00a0Moalim\u00a0Iidey\u00a0Heyle, Omar\u00a0Moalim\u00a0Iidey,\u00a0Yusuf\u00a0Moalim\u00a0Iidey\u00a0known as \u201cBikole,\u201d Hussein\u00a0Moalim\u00a0Iidey,\u00a0Siid-Ali\u00a0Moalim\u00a0Iidey,\u00a0and\u00a0Aweys\u00a0Hassan Hussein known as \u201cHamarow.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2012, AMISOM troops supporting the Somali army helped retake\u00a0Merka from the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab. AMISOM forces have remained, but Al-Shabab\u00a0maintains control over large portions of surrounding rural areas of the Lower\u00a0Shabelle\u00a0region. The AMISOM forces now based in\u00a0Merka\u00a0are from the Ugandan People\u2019s\u00a0Defence Forces (UPDF).<\/p>\n

AMISOM issued a news release on August 4 stating that its supply convoys had come under repeated attack by Al-Shabab\u00a0in\u00a0Merka\u00a0and that its forces had responded \u201cproportionately\u201d in \u201cself-defense.\u201d The statement also said AMISOM would\u00a0address<\/a>\u00a0allegations of civilian deaths\u00a0and that the detachment commander had been recalled for questioning.<\/p>\n

\u201cAMISOM needs to carry out credible investigations into the events in\u00a0Merka\u00a0and elsewhere that would show Somalis that it is committed to holding abusive troops to account,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cThe investigation needs to include more than questioning AMISOM\u2019s own soldiers and it will require providing protection to witnesses so that all accounts can be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other recent alleged killings of civilians by AMISOM forces in\u00a0Merka\u00a0should also be investigated, Human Rights Watch said.<\/p>\n

Six witnesses told Human Rights Watch that on July 21, 2015, alleged AMISOM forces had killed at least 11 civilians, including a woman, two teenagers, and two elderly men, in separate incidents in the Jujuuma, Aw\u00a0Balle,\u00a0and\u00a0Rusiya\u00a0neighborhoods of Merka. AMISOM initially denied<\/a> reports of civilian deaths and said that its forces had killed five Al-Shabab\u00a0fighters during a patrol operation.<\/p>\n

AMISOM carried out a preliminary investigation into the July 21 killings, and has since created a board of inquiry to look into both that and the July 31 incidents in\u00a0Merka.\u00a0None of the survivors of either incident interviewed by Human Rights Watch have yet been interviewed by AMISOM investigators.<\/p>\n

Witnesses to both the July 21 and 31 incidents told Human Rights Watch that they feared reprisals from both Al-Shabab\u00a0and AMISOM. Al-Shabab\u00a0has executed civilians for allegedly assisting AMISOM forces. AMISOM leadership and troop-contributing countries will need to work carefully to ensure that witnesses who are interviewed are provided confidentiality and necessary security, Human Rights Watch said. This may involve bringing witnesses to Mogadishu and interviewing them in safe locations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In addition to the AMISOM inquiry, the AMISOM spokesman told Human Rights Watch that a joint oversight committee made up of AMISOM and Somali government representatives will also be established to investigate the civilian deaths in Merka. A 2013 joint investigation<\/a> into abuses by AMISOM forces in Mogadishu was marred by serious procedural flaws. For the joint committee to provide effective oversight, the Somali government should ensure that the work of the committee is transparent, includes competent personnel and gives priority to protecting witnesses, Human Rights Watch said.<\/p>\n

The AU Peace and Security Council deployed the peace support troops known as AMISOM to Somalia in 2007 under a United Nations Security Council mandate. Since then, AMISOM\u2019s mandate, size, and geographical presence have steadily increased.\u00a0AMISOM is currently conducting a new offensive against Al-Shabab\u00a0in\u00a0several regions<\/a>\u00a0of south-central Somalia.<\/p>\n

On July 28, 2015, the UN Security Council\u00a0renewed<\/a>\u00a0AMISOM\u2019s mandate\u00a0until May 2016, in a resolution that largely failed to underscore the importance of accountability for abuses by AMISOM forces. The Security Council resolution, however, said the AU should share information gathered through its newly established\u00a0Civilian Casualty Tracking Analysis and Response Cell\u00a0with relevant stakeholders, including the UN.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe military operations in south-central Somalia make accurate information and reporting on abuses against civilians increasingly urgent,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cThe willingness of AMISOM and troop-contributing countries to allow scrutiny of their conduct will be indicative of their commitment to accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Investigate Ugandan Troops for Shooting of 6 African Union (AU) forces in\u00a0Somalia\u00a0(AMISOM) should impartially investigate the killing by alleged Ugandan army troops of six men at a wedding on July 31, 2015, in the Somali port town of\u00a0Merka. The investigation should be carried out with maximum protection for witnesses, and the Ugandan government should fairly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":817,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions\/817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}