From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Jan 21 2010 - 12:06:34 EST
Controls on military assistance to Somalia must be tightened
21 Jan, 2010 - 11:11:32 PM
Amnesty International has called for arms transfers to the Somali government
to be suspended until there are adequate safeguards to prevent weapons from
being used to commit war crimes and human rights abuses. In its latest
briefing paper on the country, Amnesty International details US shipments of
arms, including mortars, ammunition and cash for the purchase of weapons to
the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). These transfers were made despite
substantial risks that such types of weapons could be used in indiscriminate
attacks by TFG forces, or diverted to armed groups opposed to the TFG, who
also commit gross and widespread abuses.
"International concern for the future of the Somali government has not been
matched by an equal concern for the human rights of civilians," said
Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International Deputy Director for Africa. "Mortar
attacks continue to claim lives - it is time for international donors to
apply tighter controls to their support for the government"
Amnesty International's briefing also details growing international
programmes of military and police training for TFG forces, despite a lack of
adequate oversight procedures.
The training is delivered in Somalia itself and in Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti
and Uganda. The European Union, France, Germany and Italy are involved, or
have pledged funding for it.
Amnesty International calls for all states providing, financing or planning
military and police training for the TFG to provide training in
international humanitarian law and on arms management. They should also
press for the establishment of oversight procedures for TFG forces.
A UN arms embargo on Somalia has been in place since 1992 but states can
apply to the UN Sanctions Committee for exemptions to supply security
assistance to the Somali government.
Amnesty International is urging the committee to apply criteria for
assessing the risk that exemptions to the arms embargo will contribute to
war crimes and human rights abuses, and to deny authorisations on this
basis. To be effectively implemented, Amnesty International argues that such
criteria need to be enshrined in international law and universally applied
to all arms transfers. The organisation calls on states to establish such
common standards in an international Arms Trade Treaty.
Background
Somalia has been mired in armed conflict since the collapse of the Siad
Barre government in 1991. Conflict intensified and unlawful killings of
civilians increased after Ethiopian troops entered Somalia at the end of
2006 to help the TFG fight against several armed opposition groups from whom
it has been seeking to regain territorial control. Despite a peace agreement
between the TFG and one armed group, the appointment of a President issued
from the former armed opposition and the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from
Somalia, armed opposition groups have continued attacks against the TFG. In
May 2009, they launched a major offensive against the TFG, which currently
only controls a small part of the capital Mogadishu.
In 2009, indiscriminate attacks by all parties to the armed conflict have
resulted in thousands of civilians killed and hundreds of thousands
displaced. The number of people internally displaced within Somalia is now
1.5 million and some 3.7 million are dependent on humanitarian assistance
for their survival.
END/
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