EASO COI Report Somalia Actors 2021
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Somalia Actors Country of Origin Information Report July 2021 More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu) PDF ISBN 978-92-9465-186-0 doi: 10.2847/446144 BZ-02-21-871-EN-N © European Asylum Support Office, 2020 Cover photo, Untying the camel © Shafi – Somali Nomad, 2007 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EASO copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. Country of origin information report | Somalia: Actors Acknowledgements This report was jointly written by the COI Sector of EASO, together with contributions from France. EASO would like to acknowledge the Information, Documentation and Research Division (DIDR) COI unit of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless People (Office Français de Protection des Réfugiés et Apatrides – OFPRA), as the co-drafter of this report. The following departments and organisations have reviewed the report, together with EASO: x Austria, Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum, Country of Origin Information Department, Africa Desk x Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD) It must be noted that the drafting and review carried out by the mentioned departments, experts or organisations contributes to the overall quality of the report, but does not necessarily imply their formal endorsement of the final report, which is the full responsibility of EASO. 3 Country of origin information report | Somalia: Actors Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 3 Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Disclaimer................................................................................................................................................ 8 Glossary and Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Map Somalia - Approximate Territorial Control (30 April 2021) .......................................................... 14 Clan Maps.............................................................................................................................................. 16 Map by Abikar (1999) ....................................................................................................................... 17 Map by Lewis (1955) ......................................................................................................................... 18 1. Country background.......................................................................................................................... 19 2. Federal Government of Somalia ....................................................................................................... 22 2.1 State Structure and Governance ................................................................................................ 23 2.2 Territorial control and areas of influence ................................................................................... 25 2.3 Access to justice through formal and informal systems ............................................................. 26 2.3.1 Nature and limits of the formal justice system (statutory law) .......................................... 28 2.3.2 Customary justice - Xeer and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) .................................. 30 2.3.3 Shari’ah law ......................................................................................................................... 33 2.3.4 Death penalty, trials, and human rights standards in the judiciary .................................... 35 2.4 Security forces ............................................................................................................................ 37 2.4.1 SNA ...................................................................................................................................... 37 2.4.2 Special Forces ...................................................................................................................... 39 2.4.3 NISA ..................................................................................................................................... 39 2.4.4 Somali Police Force ............................................................................................................. 40 2.4.5 Prison forces, prisons, and detention ................................................................................. 42 2.4.6 Security forces’ human rights conduct................................................................................ 43 3. Clans .................................................................................................................................................. 45 3.1 Spatial organisation and mobility in the Somali arena ............................................................... 46 3.1.1 Major clans .......................................................................................................................... 46 3.1.2 Minor clans, casted communities and non-Somali groups ................................................. 47 3.2 Protection and security .............................................................................................................. 49 3.2.1 Intra clan protection ............................................................................................................ 49 3.2.2 Extra clan protection ........................................................................................................... 49 4 Country of origin information report | Somalia: Actors 3.3 Traditional customary law - Xeer ................................................................................................ 51 3.4 Clan militias’ role, recruitment, and engagement in disputes ................................................... 52 3.4.1 Establishment of a clan militia ............................................................................................ 52 3.4.2 Evolution of clan militias in Somalia .................................................................................... 53 3.5 Clans and Al-Shabaab ................................................................................................................. 55 3.5.1 Clans within Al-Shabaab ...................................................................................................... 55 3.5.2 Minor clans and Al-Shabaab ................................................................................................ 56 3.5.3 The role of the elders .......................................................................................................... 56 3.6 Overview of clan militias abuses ................................................................................................ 56 4. Al-Shabaab ........................................................................................................................................ 58 4.1 Presence, territorial control, areas of influence, and outreach ................................................. 58 4.2 Armed forces, the Amniyat, and modus operandi ..................................................................... 59 4.2.1 The Jabahaat ....................................................................................................................... 59 4.2.2 Amniyat ............................................................................................................................... 59 4.2.3 Modus operandi and tactics ................................................................................................ 60 4.3 Governance and services, taxation, and infiltration ................................................................... 61 4.3.1 Governance and services .................................................................................................... 61 4.3.2 Taxation ............................................................................................................................... 63 4.3.3 Infiltration............................................................................................................................ 64 4.4 Access to justice under Al-Shabaab ............................................................................................ 65 4.5 Overview of abuses .................................................................................................................... 66 5. AMISOM and AFRICOM..................................................................................................................... 67 5.1 AMISOM...................................................................................................................................... 67 5.1.1 Strength and regional presence .......................................................................................... 68 5.1.2 Activities and capacity ......................................................................................................... 69 5.1.3 AMISOM’s human rights conduct ......................................................................................