(BBC) – Amnesty International has accused Ethiopian Woyanne troops of capturing 40 Somali children during a raid on a mosque last week, and called for their release.
The rights group condemned the killing of more than 20 people, including some religious scholars, during the raid.
It quoted witnesses as saying that many of the dead were unarmed civilians, and that some had had their throats cut.
Ethiopia Woyanne denied its troops were involved in the killings, which came during fierce clashes with insurgents.
“The safety and welfare of the children must be paramount for all parties,” said Amnesty’s UK Director Kate Allen.
“The UN Security Council must endeavour to investigate human rights violations committed during the armed conflict.”
Throats cut
Somalia’s Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein said his government was defending itself, with the support of Ethiopian Woyanne troops, during the weekend’s clashes in the capital.
But Amnesty said the throat-cuttings were a form of extra-judicial execution practised by Ethiopian Woyanne forces in Somalia.
The Ethiopian Woyanne forces said they would only release the children from their military base in north Mogadishu “once they had been investigated” and “if they were not terrorists”, witnesses told Amnesty.
Some 80 people were killed during the weekend, local residents say, including at least six religious leaders from the Tabliq Sufi sect, which is not involved in the conflict.
Ghanim Alnajjar, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Somalia, denounced the killing of civilians and called for an immediate ceasefire.
Locals have accused the Ethiopian Woyanne troops of shelling residential areas of the capital.
“The use of heavy weaponry in areas where civilians are concentrated left reportedly 81 civilians dead and more than 100 wounded,” said Mr Alnajjar.
The UN says more than half of Mogadishu’s population has fled recent fighting in the city, and has warned that Somalia faces the possible twin catastrophes of war and famine.
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FORUM | 4 Comments
woyane captures 40 alqaida fighters,wow
[Reply]
April 24th, 2008 at 6:45 AM
uuuu woyane yemiyadergew tefawe
[Reply]
April 24th, 2008 at 10:52 AM
The capture of the 40 Somali children by the Woyanne soldiers remains a mystery to me; how did the army capture such a big number of children? Did the army capture these children armed with guns and fighting the Woyanne soldiers in the streets of Mogadishu? If the Woyanne army had captured these children in the battlefield; then these children are prisoners of wars, and they should be treated well according to the International law. Perhaps, the Woyanne soldiers went to a school, killed the school guards, the custodians, the principal of the school, the assistant principal, the secretary, the school librarian, the cafeteria workers, the school teachers, and then kidnapped the 40 children after they killed the rest of the other school children. If this is what happened, then Meles Seitanawi is responsible for the genocide of such a big number of children and adults from one school that holds, perhaps, about 2 or 3 thousand children.
What are the purposes of holding school children, separating them from their parents? I think, Meles is telling the parents of these children that if the parents want their children back to them, they have to promise that these children will not join the Slamist terrorists, and the parents should not welcome any Slamist terrorists to their homes. This is indeed a big deal for Meles Seitanawi, and the parents can do anything Meles asks them to do in order to bring their children home. Of course, after they have secured the release of their children, they can change their minds and send their children to the battlefield to fight against the Meles soldiers. In the mean time, the world is watching closely what is going to happen to these 40 Somali children kidnapped by the Woyanne soldiers.
[Reply]
April 24th, 2008 at 6:43 PM
After crimes against humanity in Somalia by the Woyane regime, the WOYANE GANGS has no moral right to lecture us about the Hawsien masacre by the Dergs or for that matter Mussolin,s invasion of Ethiopia.
[Reply]
April 24th, 2008 at 8:00 PM