Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

Somalia
The Transitional Federal Government is committed to upholding the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and to preventing human rights abuses in areas of its
control. However, it lacks the power and capacity to deal effectively with many of the
systematic human rights abuses that occur. Successful presidential elections were
held in Somaliland and were judged by international observers to have reflected the
will of the voters. The new government in Somaliland made a commitment to
improving the human rights situation there.
Continued opposition from insurgent groups in southern and central Somalia
prevented the Transitional Federal Government from extending its authority beyond
approximately half of the capital city, Mogadishu. Insurgent groups, such as al-
Shabaab, remained in control of much of southern and central Somalia and
continued to perpetrate serious acts of violence against civilians throughout the
region. Somaliland and Puntland in the north offered greater stability, though reports
of human rights abuses were still common.
The unstable security situation in 2010 prevented us from directly monitoring and
verifying human rights abuses or from being able to apply pressure or push for
changes and improvements. Nevertheless, we raised human rights violations with
the Transitional Federal Government and the Somaliland government at every
appropriate opportunity and met with a number of human rights groups and NGOs
throughout the course of the year. The international community remained focused
on the human rights situation in Somalia, notably holding a discussion on this issue
during the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva in September. As a result
of this session, the Geneva Friends of Somalia group was formed, mandated to
improve coordination among those working in the human rights and humanitarian
assistance fields in Somalia. We were a founding member of this group.
The human rights situation in Somalia is unlikely to improve significantly in 2011.
The Transitional Federal Government is due to end its transitional period in August
2011, but this is unlikely to have an impact on the human rights situation in the short
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