Over 3,000 children killed or maimed in Somalia since 2012 -UN
More than 3,000 children were maimed or killed between 2012 and 2016 in Somalia by armed groups and security agencies including the African Union force, Amisom the UN has said.
In a report on children and armed conflict in Somalia, the UN Secretary General notes that 3,404 were killed or maimed in cross fire, mortar shelling, improvised explosive device attacks or public executions particularly by the militant group Al-Shabaab.
Casualties
The year 2015 recorded the highest cases of maiming or deaths among children in conflict with 753 of them either killed or maimed which represented 22 per cent of the total number of verified cases of killing and maiming.
Unknown armed elements were responsible for 43 per cent of 1,505 of the total number of violations while the Somali National Army is recorded as having been responsible for 949 cases of violations, the report says. The militant group Al-Shabaab either killed or maimed 758 children between 2012 and 2016 while the African Union force, Amisom was responsible for 108 cases through airstrikes or crossfire during joint operations with Somali National Army.
Casualties attributed to the Somali National Army occurred primarily in the context of military operations or in indiscriminate shootings following improvised explosive device -related attacks.
Regional security forces including militias allied to the regional forces were responsible for 30 cases while the moderate Islamist group Ahl al -Sunna wal -Jama‘a largely based in central Somalia was noted in the report as having been responsible for maiming or killing 14 children.
Kenya and Ethiopian forces
Kenya Defences Forces which the UN indicates operates outside Amisom command either killed or maimed 32 children in the period of review mainly through airstrikes in southern Somalia while Ethiopian National Defence Forces also operating outside Amisom command were responsible for 5 cases. Unidentified air forces and US forces killed or maimed 4 and one child respectively.
Recruitment and use of children
The report also raises worrying trends on the use of children by the various groups in Somalia with the militant group Al-Shabaab notoriously enlisting the services of children in its operations especially with the loss of fighters through joint SNA and Amisom offensives.
More than half of Al-Shabaab could be children, the report says noting a steady trend of child recruitment climbing to 624 in the first half of 2016 up from 555 in the preceding year.
In total, the report says 6,163 children (5, 933 boys; 230 girls) were recruited in armed conflict by government forces, regional administrations, armed groups, Amisom and Al-Shabaab.
Out of this, 70 per cent or 4,313 were recruited by Al-Shabaab between 2012 and 2016.
“A recurrent pattern of recruitment and use by Al -Shabaab was observed during the reporting period, in particular to reinforce or replenish its ranks following losses during joint Amisom and Somali National Army operations or ahead of new offensives against the armed group. It is estimated that more than half of Al-Shabaab may comprise children. For example, at least 60 per cent of the Al-Shabaab elements captured in Puntland in March 2016 were children,” the report reads in part.
Somali intelligence agencies, the report says have also been responsible for child rights violations through their use for intelligence gathering and detention of children in the same centre with adults.
Legal ambiguities
The lack of clarity and inconsistency between the Federal and State constitutions have rendered the treatment and handling of child cases difficult since the laws have different interpretations on the definition of a child, the UN says.
For instance, whereas the Provisional Constitution is in tandem with internationally accepted definition of a child as under 18 years, Puntland’s constitution caps it at 15 years. This the UN says explains why Puntland handed death sentences to some of the children arrested by Puntland forces last year during heavy fighting with Al-Shabaab.
Despite Somalia’s adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2014, the report notes the implementation of the provisions of the treaty remain scanty in Somalia making it difficult to protect the interests and rights of children especially those arrested from Al-Shabaab or other armed groups.
“I urge federal and regional authorities to swiftly domesticate the country’s international obligations under the Convention and resolve existing legal ambiguities in respect of the definition of a child,” the UN chief said in the report.