Somali women, girls at risk of gender-based violence

From: Sabahi

Somali women and girls continue to be at high risk for gender-based violence (GBV), with more than 1,000 cases reported in Mogadishu during the first half of 2014, Somalia's RBC reported Sunday (October 26th).

 

According to the Somalia Gender Based Violence Working Group, a subsidiary of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the true number of GBV incidents is likely much higher due to a lack of reporting.

 

Survivors often choose not to inform security agencies, fearing reprisal by perpetrators and social stigma, the group said. Most reported incidents were rape followed by physical violence, with women and girls from displaced communities making up a majority of the survivors, it said.

 

Aid workers have been able to provide psychosocial support to 22,000 GBV survivors since the beginning of 2014, but prevention programmes and medical, psychosocial and legal response services remain under-resourced, the group said.

 

The Somali Ministry of Women and Human Rights held a training on gender-based violence in July, during which Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in Somalia Lydia Wanyoto-Mutende said empowering women would contribute to the peace-building process in the country.

Forced returns to south and central Somalia; A blatant violation of international law

 From: Amnesty

Amnesty International considers that forced returns to south and central Somalia amount to a violation of international law. Amnesty International is seriously concerned about continued attempts by the Dutch government to effect such forced returns.

The Dutch government’s position is that, under certain circumstances, Somalis can be returned to areas under the control of al-Shabaab, an Islamist armed group with links to Al-Qaeda. Amnesty International considers it dangerous, irresponsible and in violation of international law to attempt to return, or compel Somalis to return, to areas under al-Shabaab control. 

The Netherlands’ repeated attempts to argue for the forcible return of Somalis to areas controlled by the Islamist armed group al-Shabaab exposes them to grave risks of human rights abuses and would be a blatant violation of international law, Amnesty International said in a new briefing published today. 

The Dutch government has insisted that Somalis can be forcibly sent to the most perilous areas of the country, including those where al-Shabaab is responsible for unlawful killings, torture and ill-treatment.

“For some Somalis, being returned to al-Shabaab-controlled areas is akin to being handed a death sentence,” said L. Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Eastern Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes. 

“By sending Somalis to volatile areas where their lives are in danger, the Dutch government is also responsible for the human rights abuses they face on their return.” 

International law requires that states do not return people to areas where their lives or freedoms are at real risk, such as certain situations of armed conflict. 

Amnesty International has called on other governments including Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Norway and Saudi Arabia to end their policy of returning Somalis to south and central Somalia.

The briefing Forced returns to south and central Somalia, including to Al-Shabaab areas: a blatant violation of international law highlights the grave risks faced by civilians in Somalia.

Amnesty International has received numerous reports of Somalis being accused of spying by armed groups, leading in many cases to retribution - including killings. Many Somalis fear returning to areas not only controlled by al-Shabaab, but also to areas where the armed group has a presence, including Mogadishu.

The briefing includes testimonies of human rights violations people have faced upon return, such as Fartuun, 25, whose uncle was killed in August 2013 shortly after returning from Yemen. 

“He was captured the day he returned home. Al-Shabaab soldiers took him away and held him captive. After five days, they brought him in front of the stadium and beheaded him in front of people. After, they left him outside with his head on his stomach. He was there for one week,” Fartuun told Amnesty International.

In Mogadishu and other areas of south and central Somalia, people continue to be killed and wounded in crossfire during armed clashes and by suicide attacks, grenade attacks and by improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Ongoing military operations throughout 2014 have led to an increase in violence against civilians.  

In November 2013, the Netherlands flouted international law and forcibly returned 26-year-old Ahmed Said, who had left Somalia more than 20 years earlier, to Mogadishu - a city he said he had never visited. 

Three days later he was wounded along with numerous others in a suicide attack that killed at least six people. 

“All countries have a responsibility to protect people who are at risk of serious human rights abuses if returned to their countries, rather than sending them back into the lion’s den,” Wanyeki said.

“Not only is it dangerous and irresponsible to put people’s lives at risk in this way, but states are in flagrant violation of their obligations when they do.”

The Netherlands recently scheduled a meeting of its Parliament and Migration Minister to discuss its policy of returning failed asylum seekers to areas under al-Shabaab control.

In May 2014, the United Nations Secretary-General urged all countries providing refuge to Somalis fleeing conflict to comply with their obligations under international law and not to return them forcibly to Somalia, where their lives could be at risk.

Novelist Nuruddin Farah: Facing A Blank Page Is 'Bravest Thing' A Writer Does

Nuruddin Farah's novel Hiding in Plain Sight centers around Bella, a Somali living in Rome, who has become a famed fashion photographer. Her beloved half-brother Aar, a UN official, is murdered by extremists in Mogadishu and leaves behind two teenagers who are Bella's niece and nephew.

Bella's a globetrotter, with tightly scheduled lovers and global obligations, but she feels drawn into their lives despite the opposition of Valerie — the mother who gave birth to the youngsters but left the family and doesn't know them.
Farah, a Somali-born author of 11 previous novels, talks with NPR's Scott Simon about his homeland and his biggest challenge as a writer.



On parallels between the novel and his own life

It feels almost everything that happens in Somalia is either part of my life directly or indirectly. ... What happened in this particular case is that I had done the first draft of a novel — submitted it to my publishers — when something very similar to what happened to the character Aar happened to my sister: [she was] killed in Afghanistan in a Kabul restaurant on January 19, 2014.

On the challenges of writing and loss

I go to Somalia a great deal, perhaps, in part, to feed my imagination and also to be in touch with the experiences that other Somalis go through on a daily basis. But, in terms of writing as a writer, there's always a daily challenge when one goes into one's studio to write. And the bravest thing, I think, for a writer is to face an empty page. Almost everything else is less challenging until it comes to ... someone close to you — as close as Basra was to me — fall[ing] a victim to terrorism.

On writing about Bella's photography

I actually have very little understanding of how photography works — or had very little understanding. But I had to train myself and I had to read lots and lots of books. And then, after that, had to train myself, buy a camera, and go digital/analog and do all these things.

 On the power dynamic between a photographer and his or her subject

Just as there is a power structure between the novelist and the subject the novelist is writing about — it's the novelist who decides who gets the power of speech. So, whoever puts their finger on the button that ultimately decides what happens with the camera is the one who has the power.

And anyone sitting outside of that power zone is turned into a subject. So, I could see parallel between the novelist's writing, and therefore, deciding, ultimately, the destiny of his or her characters — in the same way that the photographer decides what position to take, what light to use.

On whether he could live in Somalia 

Mogadishu has stopped being a cosmopolitan city; it was a cosmopolitan city many years ago — one of the most celebrated cosmopolitan cities. I can imagine living in Somalia, but Somalia has to change. I have changed and therefore Somalia must change. 

And that would be the case if: one, there was peace. Two, if I could live anonymously — which is not possible all the time, but it could be. And then, [three], if there are book shops and cultural stuff that one can do and get involved in. There is no such thing now. Civil war dominates everything in one's everyday life in Somalia, which is quite tragic.

From: NPR

Calabrian prize honours Somali human rights activist

From: Italianinsider

COSENZA – “From culture comes the inspiration to pursue freedom,” said judge Marinella Rocca, as she congratulated prize-winner Dr Hawa Abdi at the 8^th annual Mediterranean Culture Prize hosted by the Carical Foundation.

The magnificent prize ceremony held at the Rendano Theatre in the heart of the historic centre of Cosenza celebrates culture across eight categories. This year’s prize highlighted outstanding work across the Mediterranean with winners from Somalia, Croatia and Spain, and also emphasised Calabrian and Italian contributions to the region. 

Local-born winner Vincenzo Linarello has been an ambassador for Calabria worldwide for many years in his work to help the unemployed in the region to find jobs in reinvigorating traditional Calabrian industries. Accepting his prize, he said “In Calabria we need to be proud of our roots, we have one of the richest cultures of all Italy.”
Organisers involved local young people in the awards by asking high school classes to judge the Youth Literature Prize, which was awarded to debut novelist Daniele Bresciani for “Ti volevo dire” (“I wanted to tell you”). 

He spoke of the importance of having faith in the younger generation in his acceptance speech. Representatives from the nine high school classes appeared on stage to speak of the difficulties they had in choosing a winner, and to congratulate Mr Bresciani.
For the main Literature prize, Spanish author Clara Usón won for her historical fiction novel “The Daughter.”

Croatian translator Mladen Machiedo was honoured for his work in bringing Italian literature to a wider audience through his translations. The judges acknowledged the vital nature of this work given the fact that Italian is not an international trade language, and therefore it is more difficult to ensure that the country’s culture is diffused. 

A recurrent theme across the evening was good and evil, and in particular the choices that we face between them. Winner of the information prize, La Stampa journalist Domenico Quirico, was kidnapped in Syria and held hostage for five months in 2013. In his speech, he spoke of the absolute lack of choice for people in war zones. He said, “In these places people do evil things in order to not be killed, there, everyday life is suffering and pain.”

Meanwhile the winner of the Human Sciences prize, Spanish philosopher Fernando Sarater, reflected on what it means to live and make choices in the Western world, he quoted Sartre, “Man is condemned to be free, because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.”

The undisputed guest of honour was Somali human rights activist Dr Hawa Abdi, whose small women’s health clinic swelled to a 400-bed hospital. With the arrival of war, the land surrounding the hospital eventually became one of the largest refugee camps in the country.

An extract was read from Dr Abdi’s memoir “Keeping Hope Alive” in which she bravely talked down a band of militants who attempted to take control of the camp. When asked what significance international recognition had for her, Dr Abdi replied in Italian, “It gives me the strength to carry on my work.”