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SOMALIA / PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
STORY: SOMALIA / PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
TRT: 2:56
SOURCE: UNSOM
RESTRICTIONS: CREDIT REQUIRED: UNSOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 DECEMBER 2017, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
1. Wide shot, Michael Keating, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia arriving to launch a report on ‘Protection of Civilians in Conflict’
2.Various shots, participants at press briefing
3. Wide shot, UNSOM staff at the launch
4. Wide shot, SRSG Keating speaking at the lunch
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Keating, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia:
“There were over 4,500 civilian casualties in the approximately 20-month period up to and including the terrible bomb on October 14. Four thousand five hundred people killed or maimed, and of course the bomb, the IED on 14th October, was the worst example of deaths of civilians.”
6. Close up, Deputy SRSG Zenenga
7. Med shot, journalists listening to SRSG Keating
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Keating, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia:
“Sixty percent of all civilian casualties during that 20-month period that the report covers are attributable to Al-Shabaab. So they are by far the worst when it comes to activities that kill civilians in conflict. And of the incidents attributable to Al-Shabaab, 79 per cent are as a result of the use of IEDs, Improvised Explosive Devices, whether they are vehicle-borne or otherwise.”
9. Close up, a journalist asking a question
10. Wide shot, press briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Keating, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia:
“The fundamental problem we continue to face in Somalia is that people are using violence to achieve their political objectives. The next problem is that if you are going to use military force or violence, you have a responsibility, whoever you are, to protect civilians. Sharia law is very strong on the need to protect civilians. All the other parties to this conflict, all the parties to the conflict claim that they have a responsibility and have mechanisms to protect civilians. And that’s good that they do, and we encourage that. But the problem is the reality is ugly. The reality is that too many young Somalis in particular and civilians are dying as a result of military activity.”
12. Wide shot, journalist speaking
A new United Nations (UN) report said armed conflict in Somalia continues to exact a heavy toll on civilians, damaging infrastructure and livelihoods, displacing millions of people, and impeding access to humanitarian relief for communities in need.
Speaking to reporters in the Somalian capital Mogadishu on Sunday (10 Dec), the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia, Michael Keating said that there were over 4,500 civilian casualties in the approximately 20-month period up to and including the terrible bomb on October 14, adding that the bomb was the “worst example of deaths of civilians.”
Keating highlighted that sixty percent of all civilian casualties during the 20-month period that the report covers are attributable to Al-Shabaab.
He added “they are by far the worst when it comes to activities that kill civilians in conflict. And of the incidents attributable to Al-Shabaab, 79 per cent are as a result of the use of IEDs, Improvised Explosive Devices, whether they are vehicle-borne or otherwise.”
Keating reiterated that civilians are paying the price for failure to resolve Somalia's conflicts through political means.
He said “the fundamental problem we continue to face in Somalia is that people are using violence to achieve their political objectives. The next problem is that if you are going to use military force or violence, you have a responsibility, whoever you are, to protect civilians.”
He added “Sharia law is very strong on the need to protect civilians. All the other parties to this conflict, all the parties to the conflict claim that they have a responsibility and have mechanisms to protect civilians. And that’s good that they do, and we encourage that. But the problem is the reality is ugly. The reality is that too many young Somalis in particular and civilians are dying as a result of military activity.”
The report – “Protection of Civilians: Building the Foundation for Peace, Security and Human Rights in Somalia” – covers the period from 1 January 2016 to 14 October 2017, and was produced by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), which Mr. Keating also heads.
During this reporting period, UNSOM documented a total of 2,078 civilian deaths and 2,507 injuries, with 60 per cent of the casualties attributed to Al Shabaab militants, 13 per cent to clan militias, 11 per cent to State actors, including the army and the police, four per cent to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), and 12 per cent to unidentified or undetermined attackers.
Civilians were the victims of unlawful attacks – by being directly targeted and through the use of indiscriminate bomb and suicide attacks – by non-State groups. Such attacks, which are prohibited under international human rights and humanitarian laws, are, in most cases, likely to constitute war crimes, and it is imperative that perpetrators are identified and held accountable, the report notes.
The worst incident on a single day was the twin bomb blasts in Mogadishu on 14 October, attributed to Al-Shabaab by Somali government officials and in which at least 512 people are officially recorded to have died as of 1 December, along with 316 injured. The attack received widespread condemnation, including from UNSOM and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Somalia has been plagued by armed violence for decades, as well as poverty, marginalization, natural hazards, insecurity and political instability. UNSOM is working with the East African country's authorities to support national reconciliation, provide strategic and policy advice on various aspects of peacebuilding and state-building, monitor and report on the human rights situation, and help coordinate the efforts of the international community.
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