Thursday December 14, 2017
The African Union Commission has rejected allegations of human rights violations by Amisom troops contained in a report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, Human Rights and Protection Group and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights.
The commission said it has noted with concern the report titled "Protection of Civilians: Building the Foundation for Peace, Security and Human Rights in Somalia", contains "significant misrepresentations" of certain incidents pertaining to Amisom operations in Somalia.
The report noted that from January 1, 2016 to October 14, UNSOM documented a total of 2,078 civilian deaths and 2,507 injuries.
More than half the casualties (60 per cent) were attributed to al Shabaab, 13 per cent to clan militias, 11 per cent to state actors, including the army and the police, four per cent to Amisom, and 12 per cent to unidentified or undetermined attackers.
But the AUC said the UN report ignored conclusive investigations carried out by the AU Mission’s internal investigative organs, such as the Board of Inquiry, "without presenting any hard evidence to substantiate the report’s conclusions", despite the offer by Amisom to provide the required security for the UN to undertake its own independent investigation.
"The African Union Commission wishes to clarify that Amisom troops were exonerated in the Ceelbuur incident of May 7, 2016, and the Bulo-Burto incident of April 2016, after investigations provided no evidence of human rights violations by AMISOM troops. These cases are, unfortunately, mentioned in the report as factual cases of rape, perpetrated by the AU peacekeepers," the AUC said.
The commission further said investigations into the Garastan incident of June 18 are ongoing and have not been concluded.
"Despite the thorough nature of the AMISOM BOI investigation and the fact that its findings were transmitted to the Head of the UNSOM, the report, ignoring these facts, proceeded to treat the Elbur (Ceelbuur) incident as a conclusively proven allegation against Amisom," AUC said.
The report accuses Amisom troops of killing and maiming 178 civilians in the period of investigation.
"Ultimately, civilians are paying the price for failure to resolve Somalia’s conflicts through political means," the head of UNSOM, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Somalia Michael Keating said.
"Civilians were the victims of unlawful attacks – by being directly targeted and through the use of indiscriminate bomb and suicide attacks by non-State groups," the report says.
"Such attacks, which are prohibited under international human rights and humanitarian laws, are, in most cases, likely to constitute war crimes, and it is imperative that perpetrators are identified and held accountable."
The African Union Commission, in its defence, says "this is not in line with the spirit that has been presiding over the constructive relationship between Amisom and UNSOM-UNSOS Human Rights Due Diligence Policy Working Group"