SOMALIA - Addressing Impunity

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 001781 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KDEM PHUM PGOV SO SUBJECT: SOMALIA - Addressing Impunity -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) From August 17-18, the Nairobi-based Somalia office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Political Office for Somalia held a conference entitled, "Addressing Impunity: Toward Justice and Reconciliation." In attendance were the Ministers of Reconciliation and Gender and Family Affairs, several lawmakers from Parliament's Human Rights Committee, and NGO representatives working in various regions of Somalia. It was the second initiative to take action on Article 9 of the Djibouti Agreement that addresses concerns over justice and reconciliation. The first meeting was a November 2008 workshop for the High Level Committee in Djibouti. While the conference brought together key actors from the field, over half of whom were women, it was not an outcome-oriented meeting and there is no plan of action for specific next steps on how to address impunity and justice within Somalia's still insecure and unstable environment. End summary. -------------- Conference Convenes Field Actors To Address Impunity -------------- ¶2. (U) From August 17-18, the Nairobi-based Somalia office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) convened a conference in Nairobi entitled, "Addressing Impunity: Toward Justice and Reconciliation." Representing the Transitional Federal Government were Minister of Reconciliation Abdirashid Aden Deeroow and Minister of Gender and Family Affairs Fauzia Mohamed Sheikh and several lawmakers from Parliament's Human Rights Committee. Also in attendance were minority rights groups and NGO representatives from Mogadishu, Merka, Baidoa, and other towns across Somalia. This meeting had the unusual distinction of having women comprise more than half of its participants. The workshop was sponsored by the Embassy of Switzerland. ¶3. (SBU) The meeting was the second initiative related to Article 9 of the Djibouti Agreement that addresses concerns over justice and reconciliation. Sandra Beidas, Director of the UNPOS Office for Human Rights, introduced the meeting and said that the first meeting to address transitional justice was a November 2008 workshop for the High Level Committee in Djibouti. Beidas noted that sweeping changes in Somalia's political landscape had prevented prior discussions from taking place. ¶4. (U) Several international experts acted as resource-persons, providing examples from other countries including Rwanda, DRC, and East Timor. Justice Mohamed Othman from Tanzania, the former Prosecutor General of the UN in East Timor, was well-received and Priscilla Hayner, Director of the International Center for Transitional Justice in Geneva led a discussion on justice, reconciliation and human rights. There was also a representative from Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission who offered lessons learned from the Kenyan experience. They offered various models for transitional justice mechanisms such as traditional and Sha'ria courts, truth and reconciliation committees, and international tribunals to address widespread impunity. Though the participants agreed that some of those models could be of some use in the case of Somalia, they stressed that Somalia-specific framework would need to be created. -------------- No Plan to Address Outstanding Questions -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The participants recognized the constraints to addressing impunity given the current security environment and lack of access. However, they stressed the importance of beginning the process of documenting abuses and war crimes. They suggested that in order to address these issues, human rights awareness campaigns were need across Somalia, making use of media and grassroots civil society networks. They noted that Islam clearly defines justice processes and heavily favors reconciliation before punitive measures. The group discussed a myriad of challenges that prevent any concrete actions on justice issues, in particular the lack of any institutional or traditional structures for addressing impunity. The participants stated they were categorically against "justice" as interpreted by al-Shabaab and others. NAIROBI 00001781 002 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) During the course of discussions, participants identified several key questions that must be addressed before developing a framework for justice in Somalia: -- Can justice be implemented before stability? -- How can we speak of transitional justice in a context where violence is on-going and the government is extremely weak? -- What modalities of justice can be implemented in the absence of a judiciary in the short to the medium term? -- What timeframe should a transitional justice system address, i.e., from the end of the Siad Barre-era or only during the most recent five years? -- Can the TFG be trusted to address issues of impunity when some ministers in the government are guilty of human rights abuses? ¶7. (SBU) While these questions were echoed by all of the participants and the experts offered their respective perspectives, the workshop did not include a plan for next steps. At a reception on August 17, many participants worried that they would return to Somalia and the UN and the rest of the world would forget about justice in Somalia until the next organization called a meeting, months or years from now, where "lip service" again would be paid to these issues. They told us that they continued to believe that, until impunity was addressed, sustained security and stability would be impossible in Somalia. RANNEBERGER