UN Rights Office: There Is Massacre In Kismayo

On April 4, 2014, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) voiced concern about the ongoing massacre in the town of Kismayo. He specifically referred to the public execution of a suspect that the Raskamboni militia accused of allegedly murdering an elder.

The UN human rights office noted that there is no court or due process in Kismayo and called for an end to extrajudicial killings by Kenya-supported Raskamboni militants. Interestingly, the office faulted the absent role of the Federal Government of Somalia in Kismayo and described the ongoing massacre as “directly contravening Somalia's commitments at the international level.”

Kismayo has become a human butchery since Kenyan forces took the town in 2012. More than 2,000 civilians were killed in the town over the past 12 months and many women were raped. Thousands more were systemically displaced from their homes by armed criminal clan militias under the overt support of Kenyan forces stationed in Kismayo. Ambassador Aden Hirsi, who recently visited Kismayo, told a meeting in Mogadishu that there is a Kenyan-sanctioned clan cleansing in Kismayo and civilians from non-Ogaden clans are targeted for killing and displacement. “Militia leaders have even gone to the mosque to announce that certain clans should leave the town or brace for death,” he said.

Last month, the Minister of Women Affairs at the Interim Jubba Militia of the Raskamboni group, Moallin Mohamed Ibrahim announced that his militia wanted all women and children from other clans to depart Kismayo within 24 hours. Since then, there were serious crimes against civilians in Kismayo to the extent that more than 100 people are in the hands of the clan militia and more than 90 have been killed.

While the UN rights agency has denounced the Kismayo massacre, the Somali Government and AMISOM have said nothing about these violations of international human rights by the Raskamboni militia.

Somali Rights calls upon the government of Somalia to demand the removal of Kenyan forces from Kismayo. SR also calls on AMISOM to work towards the completion of the deployment of multi-national forces to Sector 5 and the transfer of sector command to the Sierra Leone contingency as announced earlier.

Finally, Somali Rights calls upon the Government of Somalia, UNSOM, and AMISOM to hasten the implementation of the Mogadishu agreement including the immediate return of the Somali National Forces based in the town of Gobwein to guarantee security for the civilian population in Kismayo.

We call upon the International Criminal Court to speed up the investigation of crimes against humanity committed by Kenya and its allies in Kismayo. We also call on the U.S. government to suspend all military aid to the criminal regime of Uhuru Kenyatta.

Somali Rights
Washington, D.C.
[email protected]