Author : U. S. Department of State
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781481215572
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (155 download)
Book Synopsis Report on Human Rights Practices for 2011 Country of Somalia by : U. S. Department of State
Download or read book Report on Human Rights Practices for 2011 Country of Somalia written by U. S. Department of State and published by . This book was released on 2012-12-10 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Somalia is fragmented into regions led in whole or in part by different entities, including: the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu, the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in the Northwest, Puntland in the Northeast, and Galmuduug in the central region. The TFG was formed in 2004 with a five-year mandate to establish permanent, representative governmental institutions and organize national elections. In 2009 a 550-member Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP), established under the internationally backed Djibouti Peace Process, extended the TFG's mandate until August 2011 and elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as TFG president. On February 3, the TFP unilaterally extended its mandate by a further three years. On June 9, following a six-month stalemate between the TFP and the TFG (collectively referred to as the Transitional Federal Institutions, or TFIs) over ending the transitional period, both the president and the parliamentary speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, signed the Kampala Accord. That accord extended the transition period to August 20, 2012, and stated that elections for president and parliamentary speaker should take place prior to that date. On September 6, the TFIs as well as regional and political stakeholders endorsed a Roadmap for Ending the Transition that includes the key essential tasks to be completed before August 2012. On December 13, members of the TFP passed a vote of no confidence against parliamentary speaker Sharif Hassan. The TFG, African Union, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and Speaker Sharif Hassan himself all deemed the no-confidence vote to be a violation of the Kampala Accord and questioned whether the vote followed proper parliamentary procedure. At year's end Sharif Hassan remained in the speakership position. Conflict-related abuses, including killings, displacement, and restriction of humanitarian assistance continued to severely impact civilians. According to the UN, there were 1.36 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country and 955,000 persons had taken refuge in other countries, primarily due to conflict, famine, and drought. Approximately 300,000 Somali refugees arrived in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Yemen during the year. The rule of law was largely nonexistent. Al-Shabaab controlled most of the south and central regions, where it committed human rights abuses including killings, torture, restriction of humanitarian assistance, and extortion. On August 6, al-Shabaab withdrew from most areas of Mogadishu, but in the following months it continued attacks in the city.
