WardheerNews editorial
“Where are the women”?, retorted Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the US House of Representatives.
This expression was echoed by Nancy Pelosi (D- California), during the 2012 debate on women’s health issue, as part of the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care), held by the Republican controlled Congress with no women included in the panel. The Republican leadership invited to the hearing ONLY men to testify on Women’s health. “Imagine having a panel on women’s health and no women in the panel”, Nancy stated.
The recent Human Rights Watch’s report on sexual abuses, rape and misconduct against Somali women is a fitting scenario in that both the perpetrators of the crimes and the arbiters are AMISOM’s soldiers/officials, protected by the executive leaders of Somalia – are men with power to the exclusion of women. Although this gross sexual abuse of Somali women should concern all Somalis and other defenders of human rights violations, however, it’s bewildering the Somali women in the Diaspora and at home, particularly those that were known to give a voice to the voiceless, are silent on this barbaric act by AMSIOM soldiers and their collaborators. The sexual exploitation and abuse of Somali women by the AMISOM Burundian and Ugandan soldiers may have shocked human rights activist outside Somalia, but has hardly made any ripples in Mogadishu, a place inured to human rights violations at every level since the collapse of the State in 1991.
Neither the Somali government that was to defend the dignity and rights of its citizens, above all, the most vulnerable amongst them, not even the powerful political UN office UNSOM, nor the African Union’s AMISOM that is supposed to uphold peacekeeping mandate, have shown any remorse over the matter. On the contrary, the thoughtless reaction of the AMISOM leadership and that of the Somali government was the instant defence of the honour of AMISOM. They did so by reverting back to procedural talking points in an attempt to whitewash it’s shameful acts. As usual, the abused are wronged twice: first as victims of abuses and secondly when denied justice.
No Somali group had been subjected to so much continuous human rights abuses as are Somalia’s internally displaced people (IDP). Violence against them in their areas of origin was one of the contributory factors to their displacements and their relocation to makeshift camps in Mogadishu and elsewhere in central and southern Somalia. Once in these camps, they represent sitting ducks to random rape, or exploitation by rogue and unscrupulous gatekeepers. They are constantly subjected to arbitrary and forceful evictions, often being dumped in remote sites with no services or protection. Worse, the camps where internally displaced people’s (IDP) live are also magnets to overpaid, overfed and unregulated AMISOM soldiers who had earlier history of raping or sexually abusing women and underage girls.
Is there any hope that this shocking report by Human Rights Watch will serve as a wake-up call to the Somali government whose leaders are often consumed by sterile petty squabbles and often attending mediocre overseas meetings criss crossing world continents? That is anybody’s guess.
One solution that can help minimize the potential for future rapes and sexual abuses of Somali women by foreign troops is to put an end to Somalia’s need of foreign troops, thus rebuilding its own strong national army. Somalia can’t continue to outsource its military needs to AMISOM. Although Somalis recognize AMISOM’s support of fighting with the extremist Al-Shabab and applaud it for coming to Somalia’s aid, this is however an unsustainable undertaking that needs a comprehensive plan to rebuild Somalia’s integrated forces.
Recently WardheerNews asked a high ranking US State department official, if the US government, which is Somalia’s biggest donor, is aware of any plan with a firm time timetable to build Somalia’s national army? The official’s short answer was “NO”.
A nation lacking a disciplined, strong and reliable national force cannot defend itself from internal and outside aggression. The absence of a capable police and military force makes civilians, especially women and children of Somalia, vulnerable and to be at the mercy of the unrestrained AMISOM troops. AMISOM’s continued sexual exploitation of defenceless civilians, especially women and girls in Somalia seeking medical attention within AMISOM camps, will create a window of opportunity for Al Shabaab.
Another tool to protect Somali women from sexual predators lies in the establishment of independent human rights institutions or national commissions for refugees and IDPs. Such a tool is one the first tools to implement policies for stabilization in post-failed states. Somali needs an activist National Commission for Refugees and IDPs (NCI) as stabilization and resettlement of both refugees and IDP are in the horizon. The existing Commission (since 2013) has so far been dormant and ineffective since it has not been legally powered by an act of parliament and hence has been starved for funds at home and abroad. Thus, if the Somali Government under Prime Minister Abdiwali Sheikh Ahmed wants to put forth some teeth into the 2013 Commission to protect the rights of its people, it should empower its National Commission right away.
Somali women organizations, Somali women parliamentarians, and civil society all need to come to demand the rights of woman and ask the Somali parliament and the government to expeditiously investigate the sexual exploitations and abuse of Somali women and under age girls by AMISOM.
WardheerNews
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