RES/24/30 Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights

GE.A/HRC/24/40. 3-17992

Human Rights Council Twenty-fourth session

Agenda item 10

Technical assistance and capacity-building

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council

24/30.

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 previous Human Rights Council resolutions on Somalia,

Recalling Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1 and 5/2 of 18 June 2007,

Recognizing the urgent need for a step-up in the scale, coherence and quality of all

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

Recognizing also the role 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,

1. Expresses concern at the reports of violations 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

women, including sexual violence, and emphasizes the need for accountability for all such

abuses and violations;

 The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of the Council on its twenty-fourth session (A/HRC/24/2), Part One.

3. Expresses deep concern at the continuing violations and abuses committed

against children, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers, killing and maiming,

rape and other sexual violence, abductions, attacks on schools and/or hospitals, and at the

continued displacement of children as a result of armed conflict;

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

journalists in Somalia, urges all parties to refrain from violence against and harassment of

journalists 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 grave and systematic human rights abuses perpetrated

against the civilian population, including women, children, journalists and human rights

defenders, by Al-Shabaab and its affiliates, and calls for their immediate cessation;

6. Welcomes the commitment of the Federal Government of Somalia to

improving human rights in Somalia and, in this respect, also welcomes:

(a) The adoption of the Post-Transition Human Rights Road Map for Somalia on

27 August 2013, its continuing development and realization;

(b) The justice, police and armed forces reform plans presented at the Somalia

Conference on 7 May 2013;

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

rights in Somalia, including efforts to incorporate civilian protection and to promote human

rights in security and justice sector reform plans;

(d) The commitment of the Federal Government of Somalia to establish a

national human rights commission in due course;

(e) The joint communiqué, signed by the United Nations and the Federal

Government of Somalia on 7 May 2013, on tackling the root causes of sexual violence in a

sustainable manner;

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

universal periodic review process;

(g) The accession of Somalia to the Convention on the Prohibition of the

Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their

Destruction, and its commitment to the implementation of the Convention with the

technical support of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and

bilateral assistance provided by Member States;

7. Underscores the importance of coordinated international assistance to

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

(a) The endorsement of the Somali Compact on 16 September 2013;

(b) The establishment of a high-level task force in March 2013 consisting of the

Federal Government of Somalia and representatives of the Somali Federal Parliament,

Somali civil society, the United Nations and the donor community, to guide and support the

implementation of the Compact on the basis of mutual accountability;

(c) The holding of the Somalia Conference on 7 May 2013 in London, and the

communiqué thereof, noting especially the commitments to create sustainable and

accountable security forces that respect human rights, to ensure the protection of women

and children in conflict, to ensure equal access for all to a robust, impartial and effective

justice system, and to ensure press and media safety and freedom;

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

Somalia and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development;

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

that the primary responsibility to promote and protect human rights in Somalia rests with

the Federal Government of Somalia at the national and subnational levels;

9. Encourages States to provide timely and tangible bilateral assistance and to

enhance cooperation with the Federal Government of Somalia at the national and

subnational levels;

10. Calls upon the Federal Government of Somalia, with support from the

international community:

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

recognizing the importance of assistance provided by the Intergovernmental Authority on

Development;

(b) To finalize and adopt a federal Constitution by December 2015;

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

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

other marginalized groups in national political processes;

(e) To hold public hearings on the draft law on the establishment of a national

human rights commission, with the guiding intention of ensuring an independent institution

in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the

promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) with a broad mandate and

enforcement capability at the national and subnational levels;

(f) To ensure the inclusion of human rights compliance mechanisms in

instruments and institutions at both the national and subnational levels, and to recognize the

importance of promoting and protecting human rights;

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

frameworks with applicable human rights obligations and their other commitments,

including those referenced in the provisional Constitution and the migration and human

rights agenda at the national and subnational levels, in order to achieve effective and

consistent application of human rights for all and, in this regard, calls upon States Members

of the United Nations to ensure timely and tangible assistance, taking into consideration the

potential benefits of a political dividend;

(h) To establish independent, accountable and efficient judicial institutions;

(i) To seek tangible and timely assistance from, inter alia, regional bodies, to

reform the Somali judiciary system, to select and enhance the capacity of Somali judges

inside the country, with a particular focus on the promotion and protection of human rights

and, in this regard, calls upon Member States to provide timely and tangible assistance;

(j) To ensure accountability of State institutions and security forces, and those

serving within them;

(k) To increase awareness and training among the Somali security forces at the

national and subnational levels on human rights, including the protection of civilians, with

the timely and tangible support of the international community;

(l) To ensure that comprehensive vetting procedures are put in place for

personnel in the security forces and security institutions;

(m) To issue clear and public orders that the Somali National Armed Forces,

Somali National Police Force and allied militias should comply with applicable human

rights obligations;

(n) To guarantee a minimum level of protection for children, and to implement

the action plan to end the recruitment and use of children in the Somalia National Armed

Forces;

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

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

exploitation and other forms of abuse;

(p) To ensure that individuals found to be responsible for and complicit in sexual

violence, regardless of their status or rank, are held to account;

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

journalists, to prosecute all those responsible in a manner consistent with applicable

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

press to operate;

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

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

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

including from sexual violence and exploitation, paying particular attention to ensuring that

the human rights of internally displaced persons in Mogadishu are respected in relation to

relocations, and to ensure a fully consultative process, providing prior notice and ensuring

safe, sanitary new sites that have basic services, as well as unfettered access for

humanitarian organizations;

(t) 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;

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

situation of human rights in Somalia and his latest report submitted to the Human Rights

Council;1

12. 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, inform appropriate remedies by duty-bearers and ascertain

technical assistance needs;

13. Also stresses the important role of joint monitoring and reporting of 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;

14. 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;

15. 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 two years;

16. 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 assist Somalia in the implementation

of:

(a) Its domestic and international human rights obligations;

(b) Human Rights Council resolutions;

(c) Accepted universal periodic review recommendations;

(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;

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

at its twenty-seventh session;

18. 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;

19. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

37th meeting

27 September 2013

[Adopted without a vote.]