COI-Report-Somalia

98 — EASO Country of Origin Information report — South and Central Somalia — Country overview
Different law systems are now applied by different communities within Somalia, based on: traditional (xeer) and
customary law; Sharia; legislation from the period of independency (before Siaad Barre); and/or legislation from the
rule of Siyaad Barre (1969-1991) ( 1014 ).
More recently, some drafts of legislation were prepared which could have an impact on the future human rights
situation in Somalia:
• In February 2013, the Ministry of Justice presented a draft law to the Parliament on the establishment of a National
Human Rights Commission (amended in May 2013) ( 1015 ).
• On 11 July 2013, a draft media law, prepared by Somalia’s Ministry of Information, Post, Telecommunication and
Transport, was adopted by the Somali Council of Ministers ( 1016 ).
4.1.2.3 Citizenship
• 4.1.2.3.1 Citizenship Law (1962)
Article 2 of the Citizenship Law of 1962 - Acquisition of Citizenship by Operation of Law – stipulates that any person:
a) whose father is a Somali citizen; b) who is a Somali residing in the territory of the Somali Republic or abroad and
declares to be willing to renounce any status as citizen or subject of a foreign country shall be a Somali Citizen.
Article 4 of this Law arranged the Acquisition of Citizenship by Grant to any person who is of age and makes application
therefor, provided that: a) he has established his residence in the territory of the Somali Republic for a period of
at least seven years; b) he is of good civil and moral conduct; c) he declares to be willing to renounce any status as
citizen or subject of a foreign country. Articles 10 and 11 of the Law arranged the renunciation and deprivation of
the citizenship ( 1017 ). The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada referred to a publication of Haji (1972), to state:
‘Somalian citizenship is transmitted through the father, which means that the children of a Somalian father are
considered to be Somalian even if their mother is a foreigner.’ ( 1018 )
Practice in regard to citizenship has varied with time and governments. For example, the requirements of seven
years residence and renunciation of other citizenships have not always been applied ( 1019 ).
• 4.1.2.3.2 The Provisional Constitution (2012)
Article 8 of the Provisional Constitution prescribes that the Parliament shall define how to obtain, suspend or lose
the Somali citizenship, but also that this cannot happen based on political grounds. The principle of possible dual
citizenship is also stated in the article ( 1020 ). By the end of 2013, the Parliament had not yet arranged citizenship in
a law ( 1021 ).
4.2 General situation
In its World Report 2014 (year 2013), Human Rights Watch reports that ‘Civilians continue to suffer serious human
rights abuses as the new Somali government struggled to extend its control beyond the capital, Mogadishu, and to
( 1014 ) Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (The Netherlands), Algemeen ambtsbericht Somalië, 19 December 2013 (http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/bestanden/
documenten‐en‐publicaties/ambtsberichten/2013/12/19/algemeen‐ambtsbericht‐somalie-2013-12-19/algemeen‐ambtsbericht‐somalie‐december-2013.
pdf) accessed 27 May 2014, p. 39. Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2014 - Somalia Country Report, 2014 (http://www.bti‐project.de/fileadmin/Inhalte/reports/2014/
pdf/BTI%202014%20Somalia.pdf) accessed 29 May 2014, p. 10.
( 1015 ) HRW, Comment to Somalia’s Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Women, and Humanitarian Affairs on Draft National Human Rights Commission
Legislation, 12 June 2013 (http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/Memo%20NHRC%206%2010%202013.pdf) accessed 6 June 2014.
( 1016 ) IPS News, Media Law Hits Somali Journalists, 20 August 2013 (http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/08/media‐law‐hits‐somali‐journalists/) accessed 32 May 2014;
Omar, A., ‘The verdict on Somalia’s new draft media law’, African Arguments [Weblog], 19 March 2014 (http://africanarguments.org/2014/03/19/
the‐verdict‐on‐somalias‐new‐draft‐media‐law‐by‐annisa‐omar/) accessed 6 June 2014.
( 1017 ) Somalia, Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 - Somali Citizenship, 22 January 1963 (http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b50630.html) accessed 2 June 2014.
( 1018 ) IRB Canada, The Horn of Africa: Multiple Citizenship of the Ethnic Somalis, 1 January 1992 (http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a81120.html) accessed
6 June 2014.
( 1019 ) IRB Canada, The Horn of Africa: Multiple Citizenship of the Ethnic Somalis, 1 January 1992 (http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a81120.html) accessed
6 June 2014.
( 1020 ) Federal Republic of Somalia, Provisional Constitution, adopted on 1 August 2012 (http://unpos.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspxfileticket=RkJTOSpoMME)
accessed 29 May 2014.
( 1021 ) US Department of State, Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2013 - Somalia, 27 February 2014 (http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/
humanrightsreport/index.htmyear=2013&dlid=220158) accessed 27 May 2014.