Somalia

Al-Shabaab is listed in the annexes of the SG’s latest annual report (S/2024/384) on CAAC for all five ‘trigger’ violations, and Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama’a (ASWJ) is listed for recruitment and use. The Somali National Army and the Somali Police Force are each listed for recruitment and use, killing and maiming, and rape and other forms of sexual violence. In 2023, the UN verified 2,283 grave violations against 1,802 children, with Al-Shabaab remaining the primary perpetrator. Children were detained for alleged association with armed groups, with 278 children verified as detained by Government Security Forces. The SG’s report highlights the continued killing and maiming of children, with explosive ordnance responsible for a significant number of casualties. In October, UNSOM’s mandate is up for renewal, per SCR 2705 (2023). In September, the SG’s Special Representative for CAAC and the Committee on the Rights of the Child condemned the August 17, 2024, execution of four young adults in Puntland, Somalia, for crimes committed as children while associated with Al-Shabaab. The Security Council should:

• Demand that all parties fully uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), immediately cease all grave violations against children, and release all children within their ranks and hand them over to civilian child protection actors; call on the Federal Government of Somalia to strengthen accountability for all grave violations committed against children;
• Strongly condemn the recent execution of four young adults for their association with Al-Shabaab while they were children, and call on the Federal Government and Puntland authorities to treat children allegedly associated with armed forces or groups primarily as victims, in line with the Paris Principles and Commitments; and recall that the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Provisional Constitution of Somalia, all define a child as any person under the age of 18 and that Article 37 of the CRC specifically prohibits the use of death penalty against minors;
• Urge the Federal Government to fully implement its 2012 action plans on recruitment and use and killing and maiming, as well as its 2019 roadmap; to swiftly engage with the UN to strengthen its commitments to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children; and to consistently apply the 2014 Standard Operating Procedures for the reception and handover of children separated from armed groups to civilian child protection actors; and to swiftly implement the age verification guidelines and its standardized checklist endorsed by the Federal Government in July 2023;
• Emphasize the need to maintain resources to allow UNSOM to fully deliver on its mandated responsibilities including those related to child protection and monitoring and reporting on grave violations against children; underline the need to prioritize measures to address conflict-related impact on children during ongoing and future military operations in Somalia in light of the phased drawdown of ATMIS, and reiterate that joint commitments on CAAC are important mitigation measures for UN support to non-UN security forces per the UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy.

THE UNITED KINGDOM IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON SOMALIA.

This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update – October 2024.

In May, the Secretary-General (SG) released his sixth report (S/2022/397) on children and armed conflict (CAAC) in Somalia, covering the period from October 2019 to September 2021. During this time, the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) verified 8,042 grave violations against 6,501 children (5,108 boys, 1,393 girls). Al-Shabaab was found responsible for the majority (67 percent) of these violations. Government security forces, including the Somali National Army and the Somali Police Force, as well as regional forces, also continued to commit grave violations. Recruitment and use (2,852), abduction (2,502), and killing and maiming (1,857) accounted for 90 percent of the total verified violations. Rape and other forms of sexual violence continued to be reported at high levels and frequently occurred in internal displacement camps or in the context of abduction and forced marriage. Accountability remained low for such violations, and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the handover of children were implemented inconsistently. Little progress was made to strengthen legal protections for children; rather, attempts were made to weaken draft legislation pertaining to child protection, such as lowering the age of majority from 18 to 15 in the third draft of the revised Constitution, a pending bill weakening protections for children from sexual violence and child marriage, and no progress on adoption of the Child Rights Bill. The Working Group should:

• Strongly condemn the staggering numbers of violations and abuses committed against children in Somalia, and demand that all parties fully uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), immediately cease all abductions and recruitment and use of children, and release all children within their ranks;
• Call on the Federal Government of Somalia to strengthen accountability for all grave violations committed against children, to enact the Child Rights Bill, to adopt the original 2018 Sexual Offences Bill, to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child’s Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, to treat children allegedly associated with armed forces or groups primarily as victims, in line with the Paris Principles and Commitments, and adopt age verification guidelines;
• Encourage the Federal Government to implement its commitments under the Safe Schools Declaration, developing comprehensive risk assessments and risk reduction strategies to prevent and respond to attacks, including child recruitment and sexual violence at, or on the way to or from, school;
• Urge the Federal Government to fully implement its 2012 action plans on recruitment and use and killing and maiming, as well as its 2019 roadmap; to swiftly engage with the UN to strengthen its commitments to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children; and to consistently comply with its 2014 SOP on the handover of children to civilian child protection actors;
• Emphasize the need to allocate and swiftly deploy sufficient resources to allow UNSOM to fully deliver on its child protection mandate.

This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update: July 2022.

Year listed: 2003
Action Plans signed: Somali National Army – recruitment and use of children (July 2012) and killing and maiming of children (August 2012); Roadmap to expedite the implementation of the two action plans adopted in October 2019. 
Sanctions Committee: Somalia Sanctions Committee (Current Chair: Belgium)
Secretary-General’s reports on CAAC in Somalia: 2022; 2020; 2016; 2010; 2008; 2007
Security Council Working Group conclusions on Somalia: 2020; 2017; 2011; 2008; 2007
Missions: UNSOM, AMISOM