Groups slam rape victim's sentencing
2013-02-05 16:21
Mogadishu - Somalia on Tuesday jailed for one year a woman
who said she was raped by security forces and a journalist who interviewed her,
saying they were guilty of insulting the state.
"We sentence her for offending state institutions by
claiming she was raped," judge Ahmed Adan told the court in the capital
Mogadishu. "She will spend one year in prison after finishing the breast
feeding of her baby."
Freelance journalist Abdiaziz Abdinuur, who is already in
detention, was to begin serving his sentence immediately.
"The court finds that he offended state institutions by
making a false interview, and entering the house of a woman whose husband was
not present," the judge added.
Rights groups have condemned the case as "politically
motivated".
Three other defendants, including the husband of the alleged
victim, and a man and woman who helped introduce her to the journalist, were
found not guilty and released.
The reporter, who works for several Somali radio stations as
well as international media, was detained on 10 January in Mogadishu after
researching rampant sexual violence in Somalia.
Ahead of the trial the United Nations said it had
"raised concerns" at the treatment of those arrested, noting the
"prolonged detention" and initial lack of access to legal advice "could
negatively impact" the trial.
Increased media attention
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Committee
to Protect Journalists have said in a joint statement that the case is "linked
to increasing media attention given to the high levels of rape... including
attacks allegedly committed by security forces".
Somalia, which has been ravaged by relentless conflict since
1991, chose a new administration in September in a UN-backed process, ending
eight years of transitional rule by a corruption-riddled government.
Many have hailed the new government for offering hope it
will be the first effective administration since the fall of president Mohamed
Siad Barre in 1991.
Last week, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited
the European Union, issuing a joint statement with the bloc's foreign policy
chief Catherine Ashton claiming that "a new Somalia is defying the
cynicism of outsiders".
Somalia needs "a justice system offering fair access to
all", the statement said, warning that "without security for every
Somali citizen there will not be the rule of law and the space for economic
development".
But HRW said that bringing a case against a woman who
alleges rape "makes a mockery" of such rhetoric, calling it a
"politically motivated attempt to blame and silence those who report on
the pervasive problem of sexual violence by Somali security forces".
