Rights Group Criticises Somalia over Rapes

{{Somalia’s President has responded to a report that accuses security forces of abusing people in refugee camps, saying his government is working to improve its human rights record but that the list of problems his country is facing is “endless”.}}

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday that Somalia’s state security forces and armed groups have raped and beaten people who sought shelter and safety in emergency camps.

The New York-based rights group said the victims were people arriving in the capital, Mogadishu, after fleeing famine and armed conflict since 2011.

In an 80-page report, the HRW said the new Somali government had done little to change the situation.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Al Jazeera that the human rights abuses have been a longstanding problem in the East African country but that men in fake uniforms may have been responsible for some of the rapes.

“Violations have happened in the past 20 years. We have been working to address the challenge of human rights without a government in place in Somalia. But now that we do have a government, we are committed to address this issue,” Sheikh Mohamud said.

“A report has been prepared before I came to office in 2011 and 2012 and we do not deny that there are shortcomings. The list of problems in Somalia is endless. The human rights issue is part of that list,” the president added.

HRW called on the Somali government to urgently improve the protection and security of Mogadishu’s internally displaced population.

The report details serious violations, including physical attacks, restrictions on movement and access to food and shelter.

It also highlights clan-based discrimination against the displaced in the capital from the height of the famine in mid-2011 through 2012.

{Aljazeera}