UN Committee finds torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence committed by NISA

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UN Committee finds torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence committed by NISA

GENEVA (HORN OBSERVER) The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) issued its findings regarding the torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence committed by the Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA).

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Mahad Mohamed Salad is the current director of NISA appointed by president Hassan Sheikh in late May 2022.

GENEVA (HORN OBSERVER) The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) issued its findings regarding the torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence committed by the Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA).

The Committee's findings were published following a review on the state parties obligations towards protection of human rights. The states reviewed include Australia, Chad, El Salvador, Malawi, Somalia and Uganda, as well as the final version of the concluding observations on Nicaragua provisionally adopted during its previous session.

The findings contain the Committee's main concerns and recommendations on each country’s implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

NISA's human rights violations

"In Somalia, the Committee regretted reports about torture and ill-treatment, including gender-based violence, committed by the National Intelligence and Security Agency, Somali National Army and other state and non-state actors," the UN Committee said.

It also noted that the public executions practised in Somalia raise serious issues under the Convention against torture.

The UN Committee asked Somalia to establish a definition of torture that confirms fully with the Convention, to expeditiously establish a national human rights institution and ensure that all alleged torture and ill-treatment are promptly and impartially investigated.

According to Amnesty International, parties involving Somalia's conflict including the national intelligence (NISA) continue to commit crimes under international law with impunity.

For example: On 12 July, a woman announced in the media that her 25-year-old daughter, Ikran Tahlil Farah, an officer with the NISA, had been missing since 26 June when she was abducted by unidentified people in a car outside her residence in Mogadishu. The family alleged repeatedly that NISA officers were behind the abduction and disappearance because she was taken from a secure location near the heavily guarded NISA headquarters, accessible only to screened visitors and NISA personnel. On 2 September, an announcement was made in state media saying that Ikran Tahlil Farah had been kidnapped and killed by Al-Shabaab, a claim immediately denied by the group.

NISA has conducted mass security sweeps despite having no legal mandate to arrest or detain. NISA holds detainees for prolonged periods without charge, and obstructs or curtails key due process rights, including access to legal counsel and family visits. NISA has arbitrarily detained journalists and political activists for apparent politically motivated reasons. We have documented NISA torture and other ill-treatment of terrorism suspects to extract confessions.

In an earlier report, Human Rights Watch expressed concern about the broad mandate granted to Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) particularly regarding terrorism-related offenses and lack of accountability for abusive conduct by its agents.