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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Somalia: Human Rights and the Law
Author:Neier, Arayeh
Year:1990
Periodical:Horn of Africa
Volume:13
Issue:1-2
Period:January-June
Pages:69-77
Language:English
Geographic term:Somalia
Subjects:human rights
offences against human rights
Law, Human Rights and Violence
Miscellaneous (i.e. Demography, Refugees, Sports)
Politics and Government
Abstract:After the military coup of October 1969, which brought Siyaad Barre to power, 'scientific socialism' was declared as Somalia's ideology. Aim was to transform Somalia, traditionally a conservative Islamic country, into a radical socialist State based on Marxist-Leninist principles. Since then, a strong intelligence gathering network has been established, basic human rights have been denied and justice has been subordinated to politics. The National Security Service (NSS), the country's principal intelligence agency, has the right to detain people indefinitely for 'investigations'. At the neighbourhood level, the Victory Pioneers act as the government's watchdog and, like the NSS, have been responsible for the detention of countless people. Several other independent agencies also have unlimited powers of arrest: the 'Backbreakers' (Dhabar Jabinta) and the National Committee for the Eradication of Corrupt Practices in the Public. The single most sweeping law is the Law for Safeguarding National Security, Law no. 54 of September 10, 1970, which provides the death penalty for exercising a wide range of internationally recognized rights such as freedom of expression, association and worship. Since 1981, the Somali National Movement (SNM), which draws its support mainly from the Issaq clan in the north, has been the principal opposition group fighting the government. The government's answer has been indiscriminate killings on a massive scale and a scorched-earth policy, first in the Mudug region in the south and later in the northern region.
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