[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday criticized the violent and repressive conditions in southern Somalia that have been implemented by the Islamist group al-Shabaab. HRW interviewed more than 70 victims and witnesses, concluding that while some areas of the country under al-Shabaab rule are more stable when compared to areas under control of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), that stability comes at a steep price. The report details the use of harsh punishments including beatings, amputations, and executions without due process for the victims. Women have been particularly affected by al-Shabaab rule and the implementation of harsh measures in the name of Sharia law. According to the report:
Freedoms women took for granted in traditional Somali culture have been dramatically rolled back. In many areas, women have been barred from engaging in any activity that leads them to mix with meneven small-scale commercial enterprises that many of them depend on for a living. Al-Shabaab authorities have arrested, threatened, or whipped countless women for trying to support their families by selling cups of tea. In many areas, al-Shabaab officials require women to wear a particularly heavy type of abaya, a traditional form of Islamic dress that covers everything but the face, hands, and feet. Women who fail to do so are often arrested, publicly flogged, or both.HRW also criticized the TFG and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) for their roles in the continuing violence in Mogadishu, stating, “ll sides are responsible for laws-of-war violations that continue unabated in Mogadishu. Many Somalis confront indiscriminate warfare, terrifying patterns of repression, and brutal acts of targeted violence on a daily basis.”Somalia has endured a lengthy civil war and several rounds of failed peace talks since the collapse of its last civil government in 1991. Last July, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights indicated that human rights violations committed during recent Somalian conflicts may amount to war crimes. In an attempt to avoid violence in Mogadishu, the Somali parliament voted last April to adopt Islamic Sharia law as part of a cease-fire agreement with the country’s Hizb al-Islamiya and al-Shabaab rebels. Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed had previously expressed his support for the adoption of a moderate form of Sharia as part of peace talks with the rebels.