It's Like We're Always in a Prison

95 Pages·2017·0.87 MB·English

“It’s Like We’re Always
H U M A N
R I G H T S in a Prison”
W A T C H
Abuses Against Boys Accused of National Security Offenses in Somalia
“It’s Like We’re Always in a Prison”
Abuses Against Boys Accused of National Security Offenses
in Somalia
Copyright © 2018 Human Rights Watch
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-1-6231-35744
Cover design by Rafael Jimenez

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FEBRUARY 2018 ISBN: 978-1-6231-35744

“It’s Like We’re Always in a Prison”
Abuses Against Boys Accused of National Security Offenses in Somalia

Glossary .............................................................................................................................. i(cid:3)
Map ................................................................................................................................... ii(cid:3)
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1(cid:3)
Key Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 8(cid:3)
Immediate Action for the Somali Government .......................................................................... 8(cid:3)
Intermediate and Long-Term Actions ........................................................................................ 8(cid:3)
Methodology .................................................................................................................... 10(cid:3)
I. Context ......................................................................................................................... 13(cid:3)
Somalia’s Ongoing Conflict ..................................................................................................... 13(cid:3)
Children in Somalia’s Conflict ................................................................................................. 15(cid:3)
Ongoing Recruitment, Use of Children by Al-Shabab ......................................................... 16(cid:3)
Existing Policy Framework Affecting Children Formerly with Al-Shabab .............................. 18(cid:3)
II. Abuses Against Children in Pre-charge Detention ......................................................... 22(cid:3)
Pathways into Government Custody ........................................................................................ 23(cid:3)
Abuse of Children in Custody of Intelligence Agencies ............................................................. 25(cid:3)
Ill-treatment and Forced Confessions ............................................................................... 26(cid:3)
Lengthy Pre-Charge Detention ......................................................................................... 29(cid:3)
Lack of Access to Relatives and Lawyers ........................................................................... 31(cid:3)
Harsh Conditions, Detention with Adults .......................................................................... 32(cid:3)
Use of Children as Informants ........................................................................................... 33(cid:3)
III. Military Court Prosecutions of Children ....................................................................... 36(cid:3)
Puntland/Galmudug Caseload –Discrepancies in Practices Across the Country ....................... 37(cid:3)
Unlawful Confessions, Evidence Obtained Under Coercion, Torture ......................................... 39(cid:3)
Age Determination ................................................................................................................. 40(cid:3)
Right to Legal Counsel, Guardians, Preparing and Presenting a Defense .................................. 42(cid:3)
Sentencing and Right to Appeal .............................................................................................. 43(cid:3)
Child Detention in Prisons ...................................................................................................... 45(cid:3)
Children in Mogadishu Central Prison .............................................................................. 46(cid:3)
Children in Garowe Prison ................................................................................................ 47(cid:3)
IV. Rehabilitation ............................................................................................................. 49(cid:3)
Serendi and Adult Rehabilitation Centers ............................................................................... 49(cid:3)
Children Rehabilitation Centers, Programs .............................................................................. 51(cid:3)
V. International and Somali Law ....................................................................................... 55(cid:3)
International Legal Standards ................................................................................................. 55(cid:3)
Prohibiting the Recruitment and Use of Children in Armed Conflict .................................... 55(cid:3)
Treatment of Captured Children ........................................................................................ 56(cid:3)
Standards for Children Accused of Terrorism-Related Crimes ............................................ 58(cid:3)
Applicable Somali Law ........................................................................................................... 60(cid:3)
Federal Law ..................................................................................................................... 60(cid:3)
Puntland .......................................................................................................................... 61(cid:3)
Pending Legislation ......................................................................................................... 62(cid:3)
VI. Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 63(cid:3)
To the President of Somalia .................................................................................................... 63(cid:3)
To the Minister for Internal Security and Head of the National Intelligence and Security Agency
(NISA) .................................................................................................................................... 64(cid:3)
To the Minister of Defense ...................................................................................................... 65(cid:3)
To the Minister of Justice ........................................................................................................ 65(cid:3)
To the Somali Federal Parliament, Including Federal-level Parliaments ................................... 66(cid:3)
To the Somali Federal Government and Federal-level Governments ......................................... 67(cid:3)
To the Ministers for Internal Security and Justice .................................................................... 68(cid:3)
To the Government of Puntland .............................................................................................. 68(cid:3)
To Al-Shabab ......................................................................................................................... 69(cid:3)
To International Donors, Particularly those Supporting Security Sector Reform and
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programs .................................................... 69(cid:3)
To the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ...................................................................... 71(cid:3)
To the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) ............................................... 72(cid:3)
To the UN Department of Political Affairs and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) ................................................................................................................................. 72(cid:3)
To AMISOM and Its Troop Contributing Countries .................................................................... 72(cid:3)
To the UN Security Council ...................................................................................................... 73(cid:3)
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ 74(cid:3)
Appendix I: Letter to NISA ................................................................................................. 75(cid:3)
Appendix II: Letter to Federal Minister of Justice ............................................................... 79(cid:3)
Appendix III: Letter to Puntland Minister of Justice ........................................................... 82(cid:3)

Glossary

Al-Shabab Islamist armed group controlling much of the countryside and key
supply routes in south-central Somalia.

ISIS Islamic State armed group, sometimes referred to as ISIL.

NISA National Intelligence and Security Agency, Somalia’s intelligence
service.

PIA Puntland Intelligence Agency, also known as Puntland Intelligence
Service.

Barista Hisbiga Main NISA detention and investigation facility within the
Presidential Palace in Mogadishu.

Godka Jilaow NISA detention center.

MRM United Nations Security Council's Monitoring and Reporting
Mechanism on Children and Armed Conflict.

SEMG UN Security Council Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea.
Map
Summary

In late 2015 the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab forcibly abducted Hamza, a 15-year-old
boy from the contested town of Merka in southern Somalia, and took him to one of the
group’s training camps. After two and half months of rudimentary training with an AK-47
assault rifle, he was among at least 64 children sent to fight for Al-Shabab in an
unprecedented attack in Puntland in March 2016.

Hamza, unlike many of the boys he trained with, survived the assault. He was captured by
the Puntland military and taken to jail. “Four Puntland soldiers beat me,” Hamza told
Human Rights Watch. “They tied my hands behind my back and legs together with a very
strong rope. They beat me with their gun butts and kicked me in the chest several times.
Then they threw me into their vehicle.”

After six months’ detention in Garowe, Puntland’s administrative capital, he faced trial on
charges of insurrection and terrorism before a military court. He described his trial:

The military court prosecutor asked me my name, if I had fought against
Puntland, where I had been captured, and whether I had a gun. I was alone,
there was no lawyer.

In court, I was asked if I was guilty, and I said, yes and that I had a gun but
that I wasn’t fighting. The judge said, “If you were carrying a gun, then you
are part of Al-Shabab.”

He was given a 10-year sentence. He has since been transferred to a child
rehabilitation center, but his sentence has not been rescinded.

Hamza told Human Rights Watch he felt doubly victimized: “I feel afraid and let
down. Al-Shabab forced me into this, and then the government gives me this
long sentence.”

1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2018