In some instances involving rape and killing, the Somali government and Ethiopian forces have targeted individuals and small groups of civilians. In other cases they have targeted entire neighborhoods in disproportionate response to smaller scale attacks by armed opponents, sometimes decimating or emptying entire areas, and often resulting in injuries and unlawful killings of civilians.
Somali refugees in Nairobi and Hargeisa described incidents of attacks on their homes and in the streets. In some cases TFG and Ethiopians forces were searching for named individuals believed to have collaborated with armed groups, and in several such cases, they beat, arrested or killed someone other than the person they were looking for. TFG and Ethiopian forces would also “sweep” entire streets, moving door to door in areas believed to be insurgent strongholds.
Witnesses described military responses by Ethiopian forces after opposition armed groups launched attacks against them, most often using small improvised explosive devices. Among the most commonly reported abuses were gang rape, mass rape and a form of unlawful killing referred to by Somalis we interviewed as “slaughtering like goats,” which refers to the slitting of throats. AI collected scores of testimonies regarding incidents where bodies of men whose throats had been slit were left lying in pools of blood on the street until combatants, including snipers, had cleared the area.
Somali refugees noted specific characteristics, including uniforms, by which they identified their attackers as Ethiopian. They often referred to Ethiopian soldiers by language as “Amharic,” describing situations in which they said they pleaded for their families and their own lives but could not make themselves understood.
Violations by Anti-Government Armed Groups
Many survivors of violence in Mogadishu reported that “militias” are not visible, but known to launch small scale attacks to which the TFG and Ethiopian military respond with heavy artillery fire. There was a clear reluctance among many displaced Somalis to provide information about abuses by armed groups, presumably out of fear of retribution. Many were aware of rocket fire, shelling or gunfire they assumed came from armed groups, but said they never saw the attackers. Others received threats from armed groups by telephone, text message or letter
delivered by a third party.
Targeting Journalists and Human Rights Defenders
Journalists and human rights defenders have been specifically targeted for their professional activities in exposing human rights violations by multiple parties to the conflict. Amnesty International spoke with scores of journalists among many who fled Somalia in the last few months of 2007 when attacks against them increased. While international journalists and human rights organizations have been able to document some violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, we can assume that the majority of violations are not being documented, given restrictions on and closures of independent media by the TFG, and the general silencing of journalists and human rights defenders reporting on military operations by TFG and Ethiopian forces and anti-government armed groups.