RES/30/20 Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights

GE.15-17664(E)

*1517664*

Human Rights Council Thirtieth session

Agenda item 10

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 2 October 2015

30/20. Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights,

Acknowledging that peace and security, development and human rights are the

pillars of the United Nations system,

Reaffirming its respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political

independence and unity of Somalia,

Reaffirming also its previous resolutions on Somalia,

Recalling its resolutions 5/1 and 5/2 of 18 June 2007,

Recognizing the continued urgent need to step up the scale, coherence and quality of

all capacity development in and technical assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights,

and in that respect welcoming the forthcoming universal periodic review of Somalia,

Recognizing also the role that women have played and will continue to play in

community mobilization and peacebuilding in Somali society and the importance of

promoting their economic empowerment and participation in political and public decision-

making processes, including within Parliament and at all levels of federal, regional state

and subnational government,

1. Expresses concern at the reports of violations and abuses of human rights in

Somalia, and underscores the need to end impunity, uphold human rights and hold

accountable those who commit any such related crimes;

2. Also expresses concern at the abuses and violations perpetrated against girls

and women, including sexual violence and female genital mutilation, and abuses and

violations committed against children, including the unlawful recruitment and use of child

soldiers, killing and maiming, rape and other sexual violence, and abductions, and

emphasizes the need for accountability for all such violations and abuses;

3. Expresses deep concern that internally displaced persons continue to bear the

brunt of ongoing violence, and at abuses and violations perpetrated against them, especially

the most marginalized and vulnerable, which may include women, children and persons

belonging to minorities;

4. Also expresses deep concern at the continuing attacks against and harassment

of journalists in Somalia, urges the authorities to prohibit, prevent and protect against all

unlawful killings, attacks and harassment of journalists, urges all parties to refrain from

violence and to respect freedom of expression, and underscores the need to end impunity,

uphold human rights and hold accountable those who commit any such related crimes;

5. Strongly condemns the serious and systematic violations and abuses

perpetrated against members of the civilian population, including women, children,

journalists, parliamentarians and human rights defenders, by Al-Shabaab and its affiliates,

including the killing of the Ambassador of Somalia to the United Nations Office at Geneva,

Yusuf Mohamed Ismail “Bari Bari”, in a terrorist attack in Mogadishu on 27 March 2015,

and calls for the immediate cessation of those violations and abuses and for perpetrators to

be held accountable;

6. Recognizes the importance of international assistance to Somalia, and stresses

that the primary responsibility for promoting and protecting human rights in Somalia rests

with the Federal Government of Somalia;

7. Welcomes the commitment of the Federal Government of Somalia to improve

human rights in Somalia, and in that respect also welcomes:

(a) The formation of the Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development as

the lead federal government body to advance the human rights agenda in Somalia, working

alongside the Ministry of Justice and Religious Affairs and other departments;

(b) The work to develop the action plan for the post-transition human rights road

map, including consultations with civil society and emerging regional administrations;

(c) The Somali Armed Forces Guulwade (Victory) plan and Somali Police Force

Heegan (Readiness) plan, as first steps towards the provision by the Federal Government of

Somalia of full security to the people of Somalia;

(d) The continuing institutionalization of the promotion and protection of human

rights in Somalia, including efforts to incorporate protection for civilians, internally

displaced persons and returning refugees, and to promote human rights in the reform plans

of the security and justice sectors;

(e) The commitment of the Federal Government of Somalia to be fully

consultative in its efforts to establish a national human rights commission in due course;

(f) The initiation of a consultative process to review and amend Somalia’s media

laws, while encouraging further progress in the process;

(g) The agreement and publication of a national action plan on eradicating sexual

violence in conflict;

(h) The drafting of a bill on sexual offences and the re-commitment to establish a

clear policy and to legislate against female genital mutilation;

(i) The continued commitment of the Federal Government of Somalia to the

universal periodic review process;

(j) The confirmation by the Federal Government that it will imminently ratify

the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on Cluster Munitions;

(k) The formation of the National Independent Electoral Commission, the

Boundaries and Federalism Commission and the Independent Commission for the Review

and Implementation of the Constitution;

8. Underscores the importance of coordinated international assistance to

Somalia in the field of human rights, and in that respect welcomes:

(a) The continued work towards meeting the goals established in the Somali

Compact, most recently the work of the High-level Partnership Forum held in Mogadishu

on 29 and 30 July 2015, noting especially the call for human rights to be anchored in the

implementation of all peace- and State-building goals, in particular through the human

rights road map and existing action plans on human rights;

(b) The sustained and vital commitment of the African Union Mission in

Somalia and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development;

9. Encourages international donors to provide timely and tangible assistance to

and to enhance cooperation with the Government of Somalia at the federal, regional state

and subnational levels;

10. Urges the international community to provide financial support to enable host

countries to respond to the ongoing humanitarian needs of Somali refugees in the region, to

support the reintegration of those returning to Somalia as well as internally displaced

persons, and to provide urgent financial support to receiving bodies in response to the

growing humanitarian needs of refugees from Yemen, while emphasizing the principle of

burden-sharing;

11. Calls upon the Federal Government of Somalia, with the support of the

international community:

(a) To promote reconciliation and dialogue at both the local and national levels,

recognizing the importance of the assistance provided by the Intergovernmental Authority

on Development;

(b) To finalize and adopt a federal Constitution in line with the provisions of the

Federal Government’s Agenda Vision 2016;

(c) To prepare for and hold credible, transparent and inclusive elections in 2016;

(d) To ensure the equitable participation of women, youth, members of minority

groups and other marginalized groups in national political processes;

(e) To harmonize national and subnational political policies and legal

frameworks with the applicable human rights obligations and other commitments, including

those referenced in the provisional Constitution and the migration and human rights agenda

at the federal, regional state and subnational levels;

(f) To establish independent, accountable and efficient judicial institutions and

to seek tangible and timely assistance from, inter alia, regional bodies, to reform the Somali

judicial system and to enhance the capacity of Somali judges, with particular focus on the

promotion and protection of human rights and combating corruption;

(g) To establish, without further delay, the remaining constitutional bodies,

including the Human Rights Commission, the Judicial Services Commission and the

Constitutional Court;

(h) To ensure the accountability of State institutions and security forces and

those serving within them; to increase awareness of and training on human rights among

the Somali security forces at the national and subnational levels, including regarding the

protection of civilians and the prevention of extrajudicial killings, with the timely and

tangible support of the international community; to ensure that comprehensive vetting

procedures are put in place for personnel in the security forces and in security institutions;

and to issue clear and public orders that the Somali National Armed Forces, Somali

National Police Force and allied militias should comply with applicable international law;

(i) To continue measures to implement the action plans to end the recruitment

and use of children in the Somalia National Armed Forces;

(j) To implement, in a clear and accessible manner, a zero-tolerance policy on

gender-based violence, particularly sexual violence, to include prevention of sexual

exploitation and other forms of abuse, and to ensure that individuals found to be responsible

for and complicit in sexual violence are, regardless of their status or rank, held to account;

(k) To fulfil its commitment to sign and ratify the Convention on the Elimination

of Discrimination against Women;

(l) To initiate effective and impartial investigations into the killings of

journalists, to prosecute all those responsible for unlawful acts in a manner consistent with

applicable domestic and international legal obligations, to create security and space for a

free press to operate, and to take measures to protect and support civil society and human

rights defenders, in particular in view of the forthcoming elections;

(m) To treat disengaged combatants in accordance with applicable obligations

under domestic and international law, in particular international human rights law and

international humanitarian law, as applicable;

(n) To ensure the protection and well-being of all internally displaced persons,

including from sexual violence and exploitation; to seek durable solutions for them; to

ensure a fully consultative process and best practice for relocations, as well as safe, sanitary

new sites that have basic services; to ensure unfettered access for humanitarian

organizations; to recognize the acute vulnerability of internally displaced persons; to

facilitate full humanitarian access to people in need wherever they are in Somalia; and to

safeguard the neutrality, impartiality and independence of humanitarian actors from

political, economic and military interference, while paying particular attention to the rights,

freedoms and needs of ethnic and religious minorities who require humanitarian assistance;

(o) To continue to engage constructively in the universal periodic review

process, including through its engagement with the upcoming review in 2016 and the

subsequent follow-up;

12. Strongly commends the engagement of the Independent Expert on the

situation of human rights in Somalia;

13. Stresses the importance of technical assistance in building credible and

impartial domestic capacity to undertake monitoring, investigations and public reporting to

identify human rights concerns and inform appropriate remedies by duty-bearers;

14. Also stresses the important role of joint monitoring and reporting on the

situation of human rights in Somalia by domestic and international experts, and the role that

those monitoring human rights can play in evaluating and ensuring the success of technical

assistance projects, which in turn must be for the benefit of all Somalis;

15. Underlines the importance of the realization by the United Nations

Assistance Mission in Somalia of its mandate throughout Somalia and the need to ensure

synergy with the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human

Rights;

16. Decides to renew the mandate of the Independent Expert on the situation of

human rights in Somalia, under agenda item 10, for a period of one year;

17. Requests the Independent Expert to continue his engagement with the

Government of Somalia at the national and subnational levels, civil society and the United

Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia with a view to assisting Somalia in the

implementation of:

(a) Its domestic and international human rights obligations;

(b) Human Rights Council resolutions;

(c) The recommendations accepted during the universal periodic review;

(d) Other human rights commitments, including the post-transition human rights

road map and the process to establish an independent human rights commission in due

course;

18. Also requests the Independent Expert to report to the Human Rights Council

at its thirty-third session;

19. Requests the Office of the High Commissioner and other relevant United

Nations agencies to provide the Independent Expert with all the human, technical and

financial assistance necessary to carry out his mandate;

20. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

42nd meeting

2 October 2015

[Adopted without a vote.]