SOMALIA COUNTRY REPORT April 2004 Country Information & Policy Unit IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY DIRECTORATE HOME OFFICE, UNITED KINGDOM SOMALIA APRIL 2004 CONTENTS 1. Scope of Document 1.1 - 1.7 2. Geography 2.1 - 2.3 3. Economy 3.1 - 3.4 4. History Collapse of Central Government 1991 & Civil War 4.1 - 4.6 United Nations Intervention 1992-1995 4.7 - 4.11 Southern and central Somalia since 1995 4.12 - 4.15 Attempts to reunify Mogadishu 4.16 - 4.18 Kismayo and Juba 4.19 - 4.20 Gedo 4.21 - 4.23 Bay & Bakool 4.24 - 4.26 Arta Conference 2000 and formation of the TNG 4.27 - 4.31 Formation of Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) 4.32 TNG vote of no confidence, October 2001 4.33 Eldoret Peace Conference 2002 4.34 - 4.42 Peace related initiatives February - August 2003 4.43 - 4.54 Expiry of TNG mandate August 2003 4.55 - 4.56 Peace related initiatives September 2003 - March 2004 4.57 - 4.61 "South West State of Somalia" (Bay & Bakool) 2002 - 2003 4.62 - 4.64 "Puntland State of Somalia" (North-eastern Somalia) 1998-2003 Establishment of Puntland 4.65 - 4.66 Constitutional Crisis in Puntland 2001-2003 4.67 - 4.74 "Republic of Somaliland" (North-western Somalia) 1991-2003 4.75 - 4.77 Referendum on independence and the legalisation of political parties, 2001 4.78 - 4.79 Death of President Egal - May 2002 4.80 Civic elections - December 2002 4.81 - 4.82 Presidential elections - April 2003 4.83 - 4.88 Tension with Puntland - December 2003 4.89 5. State Structures Constitution 5.1 TNG Charter 5.2 - 5.3 "Puntland State of Somalia" Charter 5.4 "Republic of Somaliland" Constitution 5.5 Political System General 5.6 - 5.9 - Mogadishu (Benadir Region) 5.10 - 5.11 Other areas in central & southern Somalia 5.12 - Lower and Middle Juba (including Kismayo) 5.13 - Middle Shabelle 5.14 - 5.15 - Lower Shabelle 5.16 - Hiran 5.17- 5.19 - Galgudud 5.20 - Gedo 5.21 "South West State of Somalia" (Bay and Bakool Regions) 5.22 - 5.24 Puntland 5.25 - 5.26 Somaliland 5.27 Judiciary 5.28 - 5.31 Southern Somalia 5.32 - 5.34 Puntland 5.35 Somaliland 5.36 - 5.37 Legal Rights/Detention 5.38 - 5.39 SOMALIA APRIL 2004 Death Penalty 5.40 Internal Security 5.41 Armed forces 5.42 - 5.43 Police 5.44 - 5.46 Clan-based militias 5.47 - 5.48 Prisons and prison conditions 5.49 - 5.52 Military Service 5.53 Conscientious objectors and deserters 5.54 Recruitment by clan militias 5.55 Demobilisation initiatives 5.56 - 5.58 Medical Services 5.59 - 5.68 HIV/AIDS 5.69 - 5.71 People with disabilities 5.72 Mental health care 5.73 - 5.74 Educational System 5.75 - 5.80 6. Human Rights 6.A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES General 6.1 - 6.5 Torture, inhumane and degrading treatment 6.6 - 6.7 Arbitrary or unlawful killings 6.8 - 6.11 Disappearances 6.12 Abuses by militia groups 6.13 Regional situation for human rights activists 6.14 - 6.16 - Local Human Rights organisations 6.17 - 6.19 - International Human Rights organisations 6.20 - 6.24 Freedom of Speech & the Media 6.25 - 6.26 Media institutions 6.27 - 6.30 Media law and practice 6.31 - 6.32 Journalists 6.33 - 6.38 Academic Freedom 6.39 Freedom of Religion 6.40 - 6.43 Muslims 6.44 Christians 6.45 Freedom of Assembly & Association Charter provisions in TNG controlled areas 6.46 Charter provisions in Puntland 6.47 Constitutional provisions in Somaliland 6.48 Public gatherings and demonstrations 6.49 - 6.52 Political activists 6.53 - Southern Somalia 6.54 - Puntland 6.55 - Somaliland 6.56 - 6.57 Al - Itihaad 6.58 Employment Rights Trade Unions and the right to strike 6.59 - 6.60 Equal employment rights 6.61 Forced labour 6.62 Child labour 6.63 People Trafficking 6.64 - 6.66 Freedom of Movement 6.67 Internal relocation (internal flight) 6.68 - 6.70 Internal movement 6.71 - 6.74 External movement 6.75 - 6.76 Willingness to accommodate refugees 6.77 Citizens' access to identity documents/passports 6.78 SOMALIA APRIL 2004 6.B HUMAN RIGHTS - SPECIFIC GROUPS General 6.79 - 6.81 Ethnic Groups 6.82 Somali Clans 6.83 - 6.85 The Rahanweyn clans 6.86 - 6.87 Minority Groups 6.88 - 6.90 General security position for minority groups 6.91 - 6.94 - Bajuni 6.95 - 6.97 - Bantu 6.98 - 6.101 - Benadiri and Bravanese 6.102 - 6.103 - Hamar Hindi 6.104 - 6.106 - Midgan, Tumal and Yibir and Galgala 6.107 - 6.109 Women 6.110 General legal provisions relating to women 6.111 - 6.112 Women in Government 6.113 - 6.114 Position in society and discrimination 6.115 - 6.116 Violence against women 6.117 - 6.118 Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) 6.119 - 6.121 Childbirth 6.122 Children 6.123 - 6.126 Child care arrangements 6.127 - 6.129 Child soldiers 6.130 - 6.132 Homosexuals 6.133 - 6.135 6.C HUMAN RIGHTS - OTHER ISSUES Humanitarian issues 6.136 - 6.139 Internally displaced persons (IDPs) 6.140 - 6.145 Returning refugees 6.146 - 6.150 Current security situation 6.151 - 6.152 Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle 6.153 - 6.158 Middle Shabelle 6.159 - 6.160 Kismayo and Juba regions 6.161 - 6.166 Bay and Bakool 6.167 - 6.168 Gedo 6.169 - 6.170 Hiran 6.171 - 6.172 Galgudud 6.173 - 6.174 Mudug 6.175 - 6.176 Puntland 6.177 - 6.178 Somaliland 6.179 - 6.183 Border security 6.184 Chronology of events Annex A Somali clan structure Annex B Main minority groups Annex C Political organisations Annex D Prominent people Annex E List of source material Annex F SOMALIA APRIL 2004 1. SCOPE OF DOCUMENT 1.1 This Country Report has been produced by the Country Information and Policy Unit, Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Home Office, for use by Home Office officials involved in the asylum / human rights determination process. The Report provides general background information about the issues most commonly raised in asylum / human rights claims made in the United Kingdom. It is not a detailed or comprehensive survey. 1.2 The Report is compiled from a wide range of recognised sources and does not contain any Home Office opinion or policy. All information in the Report is attributed, throughout the text, to original source material, which has been made available to those working in the asylum / human rights determination process. The Report aims to provide only a brief summary of the source material quoted. For a more detailed account, the relevant source documents should be examined directly. 1.3 The information contained in this Country Report is, by its nature, limited to information that we have been able to identify from various well-recognised sources. The contents of this Report are not exhaustive and the absence of information under any particular heading does not imply that any analysis or judgement has been exercised to exclude that information, but simply that relevant information on the subject has not been identified from the sources that have been consulted. Equally, the information included in the Reports should not be taken to imply anything beyond what is actually stated. 1.4 The great majority of the source material is readily available in the public domain. Copies of other source documents, such as those provided by government offices, may be provided upon request. 1.5 All sources have been checked for currency, and as far as can be ascertained, contain information which remained relevant at the time this Report was issued. Some source documents have been included because they contain relevant information not available in more recent documents. 1.6 This Country Report and the accompanying source material are publicly disclosable. Where sources identified in this Report are available in electronic form the relevant link has been included. The date that the relevant link was accessed in preparing the report is also included. Paper copies of the source documents have been distributed to nominated officers within IND. 1.7 It is intended to revise this Report on a six-monthly basis while the country remains within the top 35 asylum producing countries in the United Kingdom. Information contained in Country Reports is inevitably overtaken by events that occur between the 6 monthly publications. Caseworkers are informed of such changes in country conditions by means of Country Information Bulletins. Back to contents SOMALIA APRIL 2004 2. GEOGRAPHY 2.1 As reflected in Africa South of the Sahara 2004 (ASS 2004), the Somali Republic (Somalia) has an area of 637,657 sq. km and borders Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. In mid 2000 the UN estimated the population to be 8,778,000. [1a] (p 989) Somalia is divided into a total of 18 administrative regions or provinces; the largest city is the capital Mogadishu (population estimated in 2000 as 1,219,000). [1a] (p 989) [16] (p. 501) Other important towns include Hargeisa (capital of the self-declared independent "Republic of Somaliland" in the north-west), Kismayo, Baidoa, Berbera, Bossaso, Garowe (the "Puntland" capital), Merka (Merca) and Brava (it should however be noted that there are frequently variations in the spelling of place names in Somalia). [1a] (p 989) [50a] As noted in the Europa World Year Book 2003 (EWYB 2003), the majority of the population is Sunni Muslim; there is also a small Christian community, mostly Roman Catholic.