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Findings This section of the report presents information on the secu- rity institutions and laws, on conditions in the prisons, and on torture in Somalia as they relate to the committees' cases. The information presented was obtained prior to, during, and following the mission to Somalia. This section also presents the delegation's findings on the eleven imprisoned scientific colleagues in whose be- half the committees undertook the mission, on the two colleagues who were released in 1986, and on the cases of two additional scientific colleagues that came to the attention of the delegates during the mission. The committees have been able to obtain a reasonable amount of background information on those people who were educated in the United States and those who were quite well known before their arrests; background information on some of the other people is, unfortunately, sketchy. The two new cases are those of Mohamed Yusuf Weirah, an economist, and Suleiman Nuh Ali, a civil engineer. All of these thirteen scientists have been imprisoned for more than 5 years; six have been held without trial. Of those held without trial, five are scheduled to be tried by the National Security Court on February 2, 1988. Two had been members of the government and are part of a group known as the parliamentarians because they were government officials or members of parliament; the other three are among a group of civilians who are scheduled to be tried at the same time as the parliamentarians and a number of military officers. The seven who have been tried and sentenced, referred to here as the Hargeisa group because of their place of arrest, are serving terms of 20 years to life imprisonment on charges of antirevolu- tionary activities. 15
16 SECURITY INSTITUTIONS AND LAWS National Security Service The National Security Service (NSS) of Somalia is an intelli- gence agency with virtually unlimited powers of surveillance, in- vestigation, search, arrest, and detention. Created in 1969, it has its own interrogation centers, prisons, and courts. Human rights groups have reported that the NSS is known for its efficiency and is widely feared. These views were confirmed in the delegates' discussions during the mission with Somalis. According to the U.S. State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1986 (pp. 267-268): Despite constitutional provisions that accord Somali citizens the right to formal charges and a speedy trial, the criminal procedure code was modified in 1970 to exempt crimes in- volving national security from specific time limits and rules of procedure. Those arrested for expression of critical views of the Government may be charged with crimes against the State, such as sedition and conspiracy against the State, and held indefinitely without ever being brought to trial. The National Security Service is empowered to arrest without a warrant anyone suspected of a crime involving national secu- rity. There is no provision for bail in any but minor cases before the National Security Court. Law No. 54 of September 10, 1970 (see Appendix F), has been used by the NSS to detain hundreds of Somalis in recent years, including many of the cases of concern to the committees. This law relates to "protection of national security" and details "crimes against the State." Article 1 prohibits "acts against the independence, unity or security of the State" and specifically states that whoever commits, participates, aids or abets in the commis- sion of an act which is detrimental to the independence, unity, or security of the Somali State shall be punished with death and his properties shall be confiscated. He who cooperates, favors, or instigates such a person to commit the act, is also subject to the same punishment. The law carries a mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
17 National Security Court The National Security Court, under which six parliamentar- ians and fourteen others (see Appendix G) are scheduled to be tried in February 1988, is a military tribunal that hears political cases and is independent of the judiciary. Established in 1970, this court is run by members of the military and security forces; most were trained at a military and political orientation center in Mo- gadishu and have little or no training in legal matters. According to Amnesty International:7 The National Security Court is composed mainly of army and police officers, often without legal training. Legal represen- tation is permitted but most legal safeguards for defendants being tried in civil courts are absent. Defendants normally receive a summary trial and, although they have no right of appeal, the President must review the sentences. In the past, review of sentences and actual execution have been carried out very quickly after the sentence has been announced. The president of the court is the minister of marine transport and ports, General Mohamoud Ghelle Yusuf, who has had no formal legal training. This court is widely believed to be directly responsible to President Siad Barre. It is expected that the judges at the February trial will be three individuals from the military who will be appointed by special decree. Prisons As noted above, the delegates were denied permission to visit the prisons and to meet with imprisoned scientific colleagues. Con- ditions in criminal prisons, as opposed to security prisons, in Somalia are reported to be overcrowded and unsanitary, with in- adequate medical facilities. The poor conditions in these prisons, of which there are about fifty, appear to be the result of Somalia's difficult economic situation rather than purposeful ill treatment. When asked to compare the Mogadishu central prison, where common criminals are held, with prisons in other African capi- tals, an international relief worker who has been inside the prison described it as better than most. The prisoners' family members are usually permitted to bring food and to have periodic visits. 7Amnesty International Action, February 24, 1982, Index AFR 52/02/82.
18 While there is serious doubt that the prisoners actually receive all of the food brought for them, it is known that they do get some of it. Prison guards are underpaid and, according to knowledgeable sources in Mogadishu, the guards often receive some of the food brought for the prisoners in return for better treatment. (Con- servative estimates on the amount of money needed to feed one person per month in Mogadishu is 4,500 Somali shillings or $45. University teachers receive a salary of about 1,200 Somali shillings per month, or about $12.) The National Security Service has centers in a number of locations throughout the country. Reports on conditions in these prisons were received by the committees from Dr. Wendell Block and Dr. Philip B. Berger, medical doctors affiliated with the Canadian Centre for Investigation and Prevention of Torture. (See the section on torture in this report for additional information received from Dr. Block and Dr. Berger.) According to Dr. Block, who based his report on the examina- tion of thirteen Somalis who alleged that they had been tortured, almost all of these individuals said they had been imprisoned in NSS centers. According to Dr. Block, some of these individuals described being put in small cells with ten to twenty other inmates, while some were held in solitary confinement in cells so small they could not stand straight up or lie straight out. The usual food was some rice or bread with weak tea once or twice a day, and sometimes nothing at all. All of the men I questioned lost weight while incarcerated (as much as eighteen kilograms). Drinking water was rarely readily available. Many of the cells were completely dark, so that a sense of time was completely lost (one man detained for nine months thought three or four years had passed). Sometimes there would be a pail for a toilet, or access to a toilet at specific times or on request, but sometimes there was no facility at all, and the men would end up sleeping on floors filthy with their own urine and feces. There were often biting insects, poor ventilation, and hot temperatures. Some men were given blankets to sleep with, but all slept on the floors of their cells. Information on conditions of imprisonment received from Dr. Berger confirms much of the information provided by Dr. Block. Conditions in the National Security Service prison in Mo- gadishu, which is located in the unventilated basement of the NSS building, are also said to be harsher than the criminal prisons.
19 Beatings and torture are reported, and some prisoners are held in solitary confinement with continuous artificial lighting. The maximum security prisons of Lanta Bur and Labaatan- Jirow are also reported to be particularly harsh. Family visits are not permitted and some prisoners are reported to be held in prolonged solitary confinement, with no reading material or personal contact with other prisoners. Prisoners are reportedly given 20 minutes out-of-doors per day. While food is believed to be adequate, inmates are reported to suffer from isolation, varying degrees of blindness, and rheumatism. According to Dr. A.S. Abbas, director general of preventive services at the Ministry of Health, prisoners with severe health problems are treated at Medina Hospital in Mogadishu. Dr. Abbas also said that some private medical treatment for prisoners is available, if they can afford to pay for it. It is generally believed, however, that many prisoners in the maximum security prisons are in poor health. Lanta Bur prison is located about 15 miles outside of Mo- gadishu near Afgoi. It is an underground prison built in the 1970s with East German assistance. Labaatan-Jirow is located some 185 miles southwest of Mogadishu near the town of Baidoa. Prisoners held in Labaatan-Jirow are not known to have had any visitors in the last 5 years. FEBRUARY 2,1988, TRIAL The government of Somalia has claimed for a number of years that the six surviving parliamentarians who were arrested in 1981 would be brought to trial "in the near future." They are Ismail Ali Aboker, Omar Arteh Caleb, Osman Mohamed Ghelle, Omar Haji Mohamed, Mohamed Aden Sheikh, and Mohamed Yusuf Weirah. On September 25, 1983, President Siad Barre and Attorney Gen- eral Hussein Sheikh Abdirahman told Pio-Carlo Terenzio, the sec- retary general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, that the parlia- mentarians would be brought to trial "soon." President Siad Barre reportedly said the same thing in a radio interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation in early 1987. However, to the best of our knowledge, no public announcement of an actual trial date was made until September 23, 1987. According to an announce- ment made on that date by the Somali National News Agency
20 (SONNA) and broadcast on Radio Mogadishu, the National Secu- rity Court has set February 1, 1988, at 8:00 a.m. for the trial of the six parliamentarians and "others who are detained with them" (see Appendix H). While in Mogadishu the delegates learned that the trial date had subsequently been changed to February 2, 1988. This is the first time in Somalia that a trial date has been publicly announced several months before the trial. Three highly respected lawyers in Mogadishu have been se- lected by the families of the parliamentarians to be the lawyers for the defense. They are Dr. Mohamed Rajis Mohamed, Dr. Ismail Jumale Ossable, and Dr. Abdillahi Ma'allin. As of November 1, 1987, the defense lawyers had not been given copies of the for- mal court documents with the actual charges brought against the defendants, nor the names of the witnesses who will be called to testify against them, nor, despite a formal request, had they been allowed to visit or communicate with their clients. In the past, lawyers have been permitted to see their clients only a few days before their trials for short, nonprivate consultations. It is expected that the parliamentarians and those among the other fourteen prisoners being held outside Mogadishu who are to be tried in February will be brought to the capital in early January 1988. It is feared by Somalia with whom the delegates spoke that visits have not been permitted because the prisoners are in poor physical condition. It is thought that the prisoners will be given better food and medical treatment during the coming months so that they will look presentable at the trial. Although most Somalis with whom the delegates met were reluctant to discuss the trial, diplomats and others all expressed confidence that the lawyers for the defense would present an effective defense, though they doubted that the trial would be fair because the verdict may have been decided in advance by President Siad Barre. After having kept these men in prison for more than 5 years, it is believed that the government is unlikely now to find them innocent. While in Mogadishu the delegates were able to examine, through private sources, an English translation of a general ledger entry made on January 25, 1987, by the Office of the Prosecutor General of the National Security Court. This entry, which at the time of the visit had not been made public by the Somali au- thorities, requested that court procedures and related matters be initiated and that the president of the National Security Court of
21 Mogadishu set the date for the trial of two of the parliamentar- ians, Ismail Ali Abokor and Omar Arteh Galibâboth of whom are members of the northern Isaaq clanâand fourteen other peo- ple. This entry also contained the specific charges being brought against each of the sixteen detainees. The six parliamentarians, who will apparently be tried at the same time, were also listed in a separate ledger entry, which contained accusations but not actual charges. On the list of sixteen individuals to be tried are scientific col- leagues Abdi Ismail Yunis, Farah Hussein Ahmed, and Suleiman Nuh Ali, whose cases and the specific charges being brought against them are described below. They have apparently not yet obtained lawyers for their defense. These three men are charged under various articles of Law No. 54 (Articles 3, 4, 8, 19) and Articles 44 and 71 of the Penal Code (see Appendix F). Article 3 of Law No. 54 relates to "membership in a subversive organi- zation," Article 4 to "conspiring against the state," Article 8 to "membership in an armed group," and Article 19 to "possession of seditious materials." Article 44 of the Penal Code provides for a punishment for violations of more than one provision of the code and violations of the same provision more than once. Article 71 provides for punishment when more than one person participates in an offense. From the documents relating to the parliamentarians it now appears that two of the six who were originally charged with conspiring to overthrow the government and colluding with foreign powers, Omar Haji Mohamed and Mohamed Aden Sheikh, both of whom are from the Marehan clan, may be charged only with lesser crimes related to having "unknowingly divulged security information." The other four parliamentarians are apparently being charged, along with the civilians and military officers, under various articles of Law No. 54. Following the mission, the members of the delegation paid the ambassador of Somalia to Washington, Abdullahi Ahmed Addou, a courtesy visit. Ambassador Addou told the delegates that the trial will be open and international observers will be permitted to attend. When asked what procedures are required in order to send such observers, the ambassador said none is needed, that any observers should simply go to the trial.
22 The Parliamentarians In June 1982, seven parliamentarians were arrested and ac- cused of treason after apparently having criticized the government and President Siad Barre. One of them died in prison. The oth- ers have been held incommunicado under National Security Law No. 54 since that time. Two of these parliamentarians, Mohamed Aden Sheikh and Mohamed Yusuf Weir ah, are scientific colleagues whose cases have been undertaken by the committees. Warsama Ali Farah, who was arrested while hospitalized, died in prison on July 20, 1983. According to the autopsy report (see Appendix I), prepared by doctors Salah Ay dams Nasir and Mo- hamed Said Ali of the Mogadishu General Hospital, Mr. Farah died of "chronic renal insufficiency." A resolution regarding Dr. Farah's death was adopted unanimously by the Inter-Parliamentary Coun- cil of the international Inter-Parliamentary Union at its 139th session on October 11, 1986. It reports that "the competent Au- thorities had neither felt it appropriate to have him admitted to hospital nor allowed him to have contacts with his family. . . ." Mohamed Aden Sheikh, medical doctor Dr. Mohamed Aden Sheikh is a surgeon who received his medical training at the University of Rome and practiced surgery at Mogadishu General Hospital (known as Digfir) before going into politics in the 1970s. Dr. Aden, who is 53 years old, formerly held posts as Minister of Health, Minister of Higher Education, and Minister of Information. He was also a central committee member of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Partyâthe only political party permitted in Somalia. At the time of his arrest on June 9, 1982, Dr. Aden was president of the Somali National Academy of Sciences and Arts, which is under the direction of the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education. Dr. Aden and the others have been held incommunicado in solitary confinement in Labaatan-Jirow high-security prison since their arrests. They have not been permitted access to their fam- ilies or legal counsel. Dr. Aden is reported to be in poor health and has required hospitalization. It is the understanding of the delegates that Dr. Aden has received some medical treatment, but the committee is concerned that it has been inadequate.
23 Mohamed Yusuf Weirah, economist That Mohamed Yusuf Weirah is an economist and therefore falls under the mandate of the committee came to the attention of the delegates during their mission to Mogadishu. Mr. Weirah received his economic training at the University of Florence. He had been Minister of Finance and was a member of parliament when he was arrested, along with the other parliamentarians, on June 9, 1982. Like the others, Mr. Weirah is being held in solitary confinement in Labaatan-Jirow prison. Mr. Weirah had spent time in prison from January 1981 to March 1982 before his last arrest. He is reported to be in poor health and to have asked to leave the country for medical treatment following his previous imprisonment. The Other Detainees Suleiman Nuh Ali, civil engineer The case of Suleiman Nuh Ali is the second one that came to the delegation's attention during the mission. Mr. Ali is charged with "creating a subversive organization" under Article 3 of Law No. 54 and under Article 71 of the Criminal Code. The general ledger entry alleges that from 1978 until 1982 Mr. Ali and others held secret meetings, contacted various officers of the armed forces and businessmen, and organized, led, and assisted the Somali National Movement. The entry claims that Mr. Ali and others "organized, led and assisted the establishment of an Armed Group led by Ex. Colonel Mohamed Hashi Diriye . . . who led an assault on the Mandera Prison causing death, other casualties, destruction of property and taking away prisoners ..." Mr. Ali and others are also charged with "establishing an armed group" under Article 8 of Law No. 54 and Article 71 of the Criminal Code. The entry alleges that Mr. Ali and others at- tempted to assassinate the former commander of the 26th Sector of the Somali National Army, Major-General Mohamed Hashi Gani, and that a private, Abdillahi Abdi Ali, was killed while pursuing them. Mr. Ali graduated in 1971 from Howard University in Wash- ington, D.C., with a bachelor's degree in architecture from the School of Architecture and Planning. He returned to Somalia af- ter graduation and became a highly respected architect and civil
24 engineer. Mr. All built a large, multi-unit apartment complex for workers in Mogadishu called the African Village. During the mission to Somalia, the delegates were able to confirm that although Mr. Ali has a degree in architecture, he was working as a civil engineer, on a consulting basis for the U.S. Agency for International Development, at the time of his arrest. Mr. Ali was reportedly arrested at his home in Mogadishu on September 12, 1982, by members of the National Security Service. He is not known to have been involved in antigovernment politi- cal activities nor to have ever practiced or advocated violence.8 Mr. Ali has been held under the preventive detention law in the National Security Service prison in Mogadishu, except for several months spent in 1984 at Lanta Bur maximum security prison. The committee is concerned by reports that Mr. Ali was mis- treated during the early days of his detention and that he has problems with his eyes because he is held in a cell with continual artificial light. Mr. Ali is married and has a 13-year-old daugh- ter. His wife was reportedly imprisoned for several days in 1983 when she tried to protest his ill treatment. According to a 1985 Amnesty International report, Mr. Ali is reported to be held in a cell measuring about 1.2 by 1.8 meters. He is not allowed out for exercise or to have contact with other prisoners. The report says that Mr. Ali's wife was allowed to visit him "every few months for a few minutes at a time, under security supervision. He is allowed no other reading material than the Koran, and no writing material or radio."9 Students, faculty, and staff at Howard University have or- ganized a "Suleiman Ali Committee" and have appealed to the 8 According to Amnesty International, Index AFR 52/05/85, Somalia: The Imprisonment of Suleiman Nuh Ali: "jo]n 24 November 1984 three Somali army officers hijacked an aircraft on an internal flight in Somalia and demanded its diversion to Ethiopia. There they threatened to blow up the aircraft and its passengers unless the Somali government released into exile seven secondary school students condemned to death in Hargeisa the previous month and 14 political detainees, including Suleiman Nuh Ali. The government refused to accede to these demands but agreed not to execute the seven students and to review the cases of the 14 detainees. The hijack then ended peacefully and the three hijackers were granted political asylum in Ethiopia. ... It is not believed that the hijack was undertaken as a result of any prior collusion with any of the condemned students or the detainees."
26 government of Somalia for his release. Mr. Ali is described in one of the committee's mailings as "a slender, soft-spoken and consci- entious student with a sparkling smile." The mailing also relates that Mr. Ali, at graduation, "could not wait to return home to offer his talents in the redevelopment of his country." Farah Hussein Ahmed, engineer Farah Hussein Ahmed is charged, like Mr. Ali, with "establish- ing an armed group" that attempted to assassinate Major General Mohamed Hashi Gani. Mr. Ahmed, 42, is married and has three children. He received his engineering degree in West Germany and returned to Somalia in 1981 where he worked as an engineer with Interplan, a West German firm. He was a regional coordinator for public works when he was arrested in early 1983. Mr. Ahmed is being held in the National Security Service prison in Mogadishu. A bdi Ismail Yunis, mathematician Abdi Ismail Yunis is charged with the same crimes as Mr. Ali under Law No. 54 and Articles 44 and 71 of the Penal Code. Mr. Yunis, 41, a mathematician, is a former dean of the College of Education of the Somali National University in Mogadishu and was director of the division of planning in the Ministry of Higher Education. Mr. Yunis was arrested in March 1982 while visiting his parents in Hargeisa, for allegedly "belonging to an opposition organization." He is married and has three children. Mr. Yunis received a bachelor of arts degree in 1970 and a master's degree in 1972 in mathematics from the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz. According to information received from Barbara Weidner, former director of academic re- lations at SUNY, throughout his career in higher education in Mogadishu: [Mr. Yunis was a] nationally respected intellectual and edu- cator with no history of political activism or antigovernment activities. While at the College, Abdi Yunis was well respected by students and faculty alike and was a star soccer player for the College. In 1969, Abdi was selected to the All Conference Soc- cer Team of SUNY Athletic Conference, and to the All-New
26 York Soccer Team of the National Soccer Coaches Associa- tion by the All-America Selection Committee. Abdi also was a member of the New Paltz Soccer Team which toured five European countries in 1969-70. The delegates received reliable information in Mogadishu that Mr. Yunis is being held in the National Security Service prison in Mogadishu where he is kept in solitary isolation and unsanitary conditions. Only a few short family visits are permitted. The committee has received information from reliable sources that Mr. Yunis was tortured during the early period of his confinement. He reportedly suffers from infections resulting from testicular wounds inflicted by his interrogators during the early days of his detention. He is reported also to have suffered from skin irritations caused by ticks or mites, probable rheumatoid arthritis, and severe back pain. Representations in behalf of Mr. Yunis have been made by the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the United University Professions; students, faculty, and staff at SUNY, and members of Amnesty International and the U.S. Congress. A petition in behalf of Mr. Yunis was submitted to UNESCO on February 19,1987, by the International Human Rights Law Group, which is based in Washington, B.C. THE HARGEISA GROUP All of the individuals whose cases are described in this section are alleged by the government of Somalia to have been members of an unofficial organization in the northern town of Hargeisa known as RUDMâRagga U Dhashay Magaaladda or "men born in the city." According to an official transcript of the trial by the Security Court of the North-West region that came to the attention of the committees, these allegations were based on the testimony of a paid NSS informant, Abdi Langare, who had previously been tried on charges of treason and fled the country prior to the trial. The transcript also relates that these men admitted to having been involved in a community self-help project to organize the local schools and the medical and administrative functions of the Hargeisa Group Hospital and that they had collected money, but said that they were not members of an organization called RUDM and had, in fact, never heard of it. The hospital in Hargeisa had
27 reportedly fallen into disrepair after years of neglect. According to Amnesty International (AI), the individuals had also:10 held meetings to discuss local grievances against the govern- ment, including issues relating to development in the northern region. Representatives of the group are believed to have held private meetings with senior government officials to discuss these questions. . . . Information available to AI indicates that the criticisms expressed by the group did not entail the advocacy or use of violence. Because of the long-standing conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia over the Ogaden and the existence of two opposition groups based in Ethiopia, Somalia from the northern region are often seen by the government as potential destabilizers of the regime because of possible links with these groups. Hargeisa has been the site of reported killings of government officials, bomb explosions, attacks on government establishments, and a number of violent acts believed to have been perpetrated by antigovernment organizations. During the last two years there has been a curfew from 4:00 p.m. until sunrise in Hargeisa. The scientists in Hargeisa were arrested in late 1981, along with several dozen other young professionals, by National Security Service officers. (See Appendix J for the names of the individuals arrested at that time.) It is believed that these arrests resulted from suspicions that the efforts at the Hargeisa Group Hospital were politically motivated against the government. It is ironic that President Siad Barre has been a strong promoter of individual participation in self-help efforts toward community development as part of his "scientific socialism" program. Many of the people who were arrested had recently completed their education abroad and had returned to work in Somalia. One Somali scientist has reported to the committee that "among the original group [of those arrested] are some of the brightest, most dedicated, and best-trained Somalia, precisely the kind of individuals Somalia, one of the poorest nations in the world, needs for its development." Seven of the cases undertaken by the committees and many of the other people arrested at the same time (listed in Appendix J) 10Amnesty International Medical Office/Research Department - Africa, medical letter writing action memorandum of November 25, 1985, addressed to medical professionals.
28 were tried in one day by the National Security Court in Hargeisa on February 28, 1982 on charges relating to organization of or participation in a subversive organization and to publishing and distributing antistate propaganda. (About the time of the arrests of these people, antigovernment literature was being circulated in Hargeisa.) According to the court transcript, two of the defendants were accused of publishing an antigovernment journal, of which only two copies were found, and the others were charged with having read the journal and having associated with the publishers. When the court was asked by one of the lawyers for the defense whether the articles in the journal were considered bad for the country, his question was not answered. The defendants received sentences ranging from 3 years to life imprisonment, with no right of appeal to a civil court. The defendants were allowed to consult lawyers only immediately before the trial. Some of these prisoners were reportedly blindfolded at night and taken to an unidentified place and severely beaten. The prison guards also reportedly deprived some of the detainees of food, threatened them with immediate execution, poured water on the floor of the cells so they could not lie down, and pounded rifle butts on the floors to keep them from sleeping. Complaints by the defense lawyers of ill treatment and that confessions were extracted under torture were reportedly suppressed at the trial. According to the court transcript, when the lawyer for Mohamed Dagaal Hirsi, one of the accused, asked the court to allow his client to show bodily evidence of torture, the court responded that the defendant was responsible for his own body and that the lawyer was simply trying to cause problems. The lawyer then said that torture was in violation of Article 150 of the Somali Penal Code and that "there is no evidence more important than to show bruises on the body." The court said it would take the defendant to a private room to examine the physical evidence of torture. Other requests by the lawyers to show evidence of torture were also denied. According to one Somali source, whose account has been con- firmed by others: After their [the defendants'] imprisonment, local secondary school students in Hargeisa protested through public demon- strations and civil disobedience. During these events 10 of the secondary school students were killed and 300 more, as well as many of the local elders, were arrested by the army.
29 The military's action discouraged many [university-level] So- mali students from returning home and many others who were already in Somalia have fled since. Released While the committees' terms of reference for the mission to Somalia contained the names of eleven imprisoned colleagues, its original list in 1983 contained the names of two more colleagues also arrested in 1981, Mohamed All Sulub, a medical doctor, and Ahmed Mohamed Madar, a biologist. Both were released in a general amnesty granted by President Siad Barre to many prisoners on October 21, 1986, the anniversary of the Somali revolution. Mohamed AH Sulub, medical doctor Dr. Mohamed Ali Sulub was released from prison in 1985 for about a 6-month period; he was then rearrested and held until late October 1986. He is reported by Somalis from the region to be in Hargeisa and in urgent need of psychiatric treatment as a result of his imprisonment. Dr. Sulub, who was imprisoned on charges of antirevolutionary activities, had been a physician at Hargeisa Group Hospital. He is approximately 36 years old. Ahmed Mohamed Madar, biologist Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Madar, a biologist and teacher, was sentenced to 8 years in prison for antirevolutionary activities after his arrest in 1981. He was released before the end of his term, on October 23, 1986. Mr. Madar, who is now in Djibouti, is report- edly suffering from back problems and loss of hearing in one ear for which he requires medical treatment. Mr. Madar has applied for refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Tried and Sentenced The committees believe that all of the following individuals are being held in Labaatan-Jirow prison. They have not been seen by their families or others in more than 5 years. Most, if not all, are reported to be held in solitary confinement.
30 Aden Yusuf Aboker, medical doctor Dr. Aden Yusuf Aboker, a medical doctor with a specialization in internal medicine, was director of the Hargeisa Group Hospital. He is about 40 years old, was arrested on November 19, 1981, charged with antirevolutionary activities, and sentenced on March 6, 1982, to 20 years in prison. Mohamed Barud Ali, geologist/chemist Mohamed Barud Ali received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Sunderland Polytechnic in the United Kingdom. When he returned to Somalia he worked for the British-built sugar factory, "Mareey" in Kismaayo. Mr. Ali was director of the Pepsi Cola plant in Hargeisa at the time of his arrest on November 4, 1981. He is about 39 years old. Mr. Ali was sentenced on March 6, 1982, on charges of antirevolutionary activities, to life imprisonment. Mohamed H. Mohamoud Omer Hashi, economist Mohamed H. Mohamoud Omer Hashi received a bachelor's degree from the London School of Economics in 1975, a diploma in economics from the North London Polytechnic School in 1977, and a master's degree from the London School of Oriental and African Studies in 1978. He was co-owner of a private construction company in Hargeisa at the time of his arrest, on November 19, 1981. Mr. Hashi was sentenced on March 6, 1982, to 30 years in prison. He is 37 years old. Osman Abdi Megag, medical doctor Dr. Osman Abdi Megag received his medical training in Po- land, and he worked as a physician with the West German Red Cross at Hargeisa Group Hospital. He was arrested on December 4, 1981. He is 45 years old. Dr. Megag was sentenced on March 6, 1982, to 20 years in prison. Aden Waraama Said, economist Aden Warsama Said was trained as an economist in India. He was working as a private businessman in Hargeisa at the time of his arrest on December 4, 1981. Mr. Said was charged with
3I antirevolutionary activities, tried, and sentenced on March 6,1982, to 20 years in prison. He is 38 years old. Mohamoud Sheikh Hassan Tani, medical doctor Dr. Mohamoud Sheikh Hassan Tani is a medical doctor who received his training at the Faculty of Medicine at the Somali National University in Mogadishu. At the time of his arrest, on November 19, 1981, on charges of antirevolutionary activities, he was affiliated with an Italian-run leprosy control program in northern Somalia. Dr. Tani is 32 years old. He was sentenced on March 6, 1982, to 20 years in prison. Abdillahi Ali Yusuf, veterinarian Dr. Abdillahi Ali Yusuf, a doctor of veterinary medicine, was employed at the National Range Agency in Mogadishu; he had gone to Hargeisa to get married at the time of his arrest, on November 19, 1981. He was charged with antirevolutionary activ- ities, tried, and sentenced on March 6, 1982, to 20 years in prison. He is 35 years old. Detained Without Trial Osman Abshir Abdelleh, agronomist Mr. Abdelleh is an agronomist who was trained at the Faculty of Agriculture at the Somali National University in Mogadishu. He was employed by the National Range Agency as director of the Northern Rangelands Development Project in the Togdheer region. (This rangeland conservation and development project, financed by the Kuwait Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, divided rangeland areas into reserves that were closed to grazing on a rotational basis.) Mr. Abdelleh was arrested in September 1982. To the best of our knowledge, he has never been charged or brought to trial. Based on information obtained from unofficial sources during the mission to Somalia, the committees believe that Mr. Abdelleh is being held in the National Security Service maximum secu- rity prison in Mogadishu. Mr. Abdelleh reportedly suffers from
32 epilepsy, and the committees are concerned that he may not be receiving required medical attention and care. TORTURE A number of the individuals in whose behalf the mission to So- malia was undertaken are alleged to have been tortured. Because the delegates were not permitted to visit these prisoners to ascer- tain their physicial condition and because the Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs in Somalia told the delegates that torture does not occur in Somalia, this section of the report is based on information from three physicians affiliated with the Canadian Centre for Investigation and Prevention of Torture (CCIPT) who have examined and treated Somali refugees in Canada who have said they were tortured in Somalia. The Canadian Centre for Investigation and Prevention of Tor- ture was constituted in 1983 "to provide appropriate services specifically to victims of torture. Its aim was to coordinate medi- cal, legal and social care for torture victims and their families, and to help them with the process of integration in the host society."11 The CCIPT, which is a charitable organization, is supported by a grant from the government of Canada. According to CCIPT, in 1987, 36 new patients who were victims of torture in Somalia came to the center for treatment. The three doctors who provided infor- mation to the committees are Wendell Block, M.D., of the West Community Health Centre in Toronto, Donald E. Payne, M.D., a psychiatrist in private practice, and Philip B. Berger, M.D., a general practitioner in private practice; all are actively involved in the work of CCIPT. The Victims The report by Dr. Wendell Block, written on November 18, 1987, for the committees, describes evidence of torture and oppres- sion in Somalia based on interviews and physical examinations of thirteen Somali refugees between November 1986 and October 1987. Dr. Block states in his report: 11 Annual Report, 1986, The Canadian Centre for Investigation and Pre- vention of Torture, Toronto, April 1987.
33 There is no doubt in my mind that detention without trial, under horrendous conditions and accompanied by brutal tor- ture, exists as a daily reality in Somalia. Further, it seems to be carried out as a means of stamping out political oppo- sition and criticism. Unless something drastic has happened in Somalia since 1986, and I am not aware that it has, these kinds of atrocities are continuing unabated at the present, rrr It is my earnest hope that the information in this report will somehow contribute to a renewal of basic human rights in Somalia. The Somali torture victims examined by Dr. Block were men between the ages of 18 and 38. The following information is from Dr. Block's report: It is my belief that the men I saw were exceptionally fortunate, and were able to leave Somalia because they were young, male, and had the education and financial connections which enabled them to get here [to Canada]. The men I interviewed were detained in Somalia for a num- ber of presumed reasons, ranging from fund-raising for the Somali National Movement (an opposition organization), to students taking part in protests, to verbal criticism of gov- ernment policies, to simply being a relative or a member of an opposition organization or being suspected of writing anti-government graffiti. Every man I interviewed denied ever being formally charged on any count; none of them was ever brought to trial, and none of them ever had access to a lawyer throughout the experiences they described, their detentions varying in length from a week for a fourteen-year-old to al- most three and a half years for a twenty-seven-year-old student protester. . . . The following information is excerpted from a report written for the committees by Dr. Donald E. Payne on November 16, 1987. In 1986 and 1987 Dr. Payne performed psychiatric assessments on ten Somalis who said that they were detained and tortured in Somalia. Dr. Payne's report contains detailed case histories on each of the ten individuals examined. Because of their length, only Dr. Payne's summary of the cases is presented here: They consisted of nine men and one woman aged 20 to 34 with an average age of 26.7 years. They reported having been detained after engaging in peaceful protests, such as distributing leaflets, or because of their association with other
34 people who had been detained. Seven of the detainees reported that they felt they were detained because of their membership in a tribe [clan] which was being persecuted. The Physical and Psychological Methods and Consequences The following information is from Dr. Block's report: While in detention these men were all interrogated, as- saulted, and tortured. Aside from the inhuman [prison] con- ditions . . . there were regular, brutal beatings with kicks, punches, rifle butts, whips, sticks and clubs. . . . The beatings might be haphazard in some cases, while in others, specific parts of the body, for instance the knees or the soles of the feet, would be persistently beaten. Sometimes they would be blindfolded for these beatings; one man described being put inside a large bag and beaten. Two men described being beaten while tied for one or two hours in what they called "mig" (chest to floor, arms and legs pulled back so that wrists are tied to ankles) or "vig" (wrists tied to ankles anteriorly) positions, and one was hung upside down, beaten, and left hanging until he lost consciousness. These beatings would often occur daily or every other day for weeks or monthsâa few men described transfers to areas where beatings occurred perhaps twice a week as being a great change for the better. Three men described burns, from cigarettes or the white- hot tip of an electrical appliance. One man received electric shocks to his legs, while another was forced to watch another prisoner being shocked. Three were cut by knives or bayonets. Five men described being tied and repeatedly submerged or held under water until they lost consciousnessâsometimes they would then be interrogated as they were coming to. ... The demoralization and threat to life was a constant reality, but sometimes there would be direct verbal threats, a pistol held to the head, and so on. Again quoting from Dr. Block's report: The incidents described to me spanned the period between August of 1977 and August of 1986. Most of these men continued to complain of a variety of somatic and psycho- logical problems typical of torture victims. Somatically these included spells of dizziness, headaches, stomach pains, back pains, aching eyes, knee pains, coughing, and choking feelings. Psychologically there were frequent complaints of nightmares,
85 poor sleep, poor appetite, difficulties with short-term memory and concentration, fatigue, depression and anxiety. Some of these symptoms might be expected in individuals separated from their family, home and culture, but the degree of the symptoms suggested much greater trauma. The most common visible, physical scars were those of abrasions and lacerations, entirely consistent with whippings, kicks, bayonet cuts, and the other methods of beatings de- scribed. They were located on faces, chests, backs, abdomens, arms, legs, and feet. Many of the abrasions had the hypopig- mented, thickened scarring which suggests former infections, and I was told that in the prisons almost everyone had chron- ically draining wounds (there was no medical care). Some of the men had burn scars, quite easily distinguishable from the burn scars many of them had from traditional medical or ceremonial rites. In all of these interviews and examinations the scars and complaints I found were consistent with the history of deten- tion and torture I was given. It was my impression that the men related to me quite frankly and directly, albeit with some anxiety as it obviously brought up painful memories, and their legal status in Canada would depend to some extent on my report. . . . The following information is from Dr. Payne's report: All the detainees reported being held in very poor condi- tions which were unhygienic and being fed poorly. Cells were typically very small with no light or very limited daylight with floors of dirt or dirty concrete and very limited sanitary facil- ities. Seven of the cases reported having been held in solitary confinement and this was usually associated with a sensory deprivation. It appears that little effort was made to hide the fact that the victims had been tortured. They were punched, kicked and hit with sticks, whips, and rifles. Three cases reported having had their heads submerged in water and two of suffering from hot water burns. Five cases were forced into awkward, painful and humiliating positions or were suspended. Almost all the individuals reported threats to their lives and found this quite terrifying as it appeared that their death could result from a whim of the guards rather than requiring any order from a higher authority. No medical care was provided for medical illnesses or injuries resulting from their torture at their place of detention. One individual was transferred to a military hospital. . . .
36 All the cases showed evidence of a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The following report was written for the committee by Dr. Philip B. Berger on December 7, 1987. Dr. Berger describes four Somalia whom he examined between April and September 1987. The 3 men and 1 woman examined in detail ranged in age from 22 to 37 years when examined. These Somalians were detained between 1978-1986. The three men were detained respectively for seven months total over 2 detentions, several days during one detention. The woman was detained twice for a total of five weeks. The ages of first detention for the men were 14 years, 13 years and 30 years respectively. The woman was 17 years old. All four Somalians suffered physical abuse. The woman was gang-raped several times. She reported being beaten with rifle butts, sticks and fists. She had hot liquid and cold water poured on her. She was forced to eat noodles until she vomited. She was burned with hot sticks, had hot pepper placed in her eyes and in her vagina. She had a finger lacerated with a wire cutter. She exhibited extensive non-specific scarring on all 4 extremities (particularly her legs), her face and her left breast. Although it was not possible to relate these to a specified method of torture, the scars were consistent and compatible with her history. Some were suggestive of cuts and deep wounds. The boy detained at age 14 years stated that he was repeat- edly burned with cigarettes to his back, chest, abdomen, and arms. He exhibited over 100 1.0 cm mostly circular pigmented scars in these areas strongly suggestive of previous cigarette burns. These scars are similar to cigarette burn scars that I have observed in dozens of other cases from all over the world. [Photographs of his lesions were enclosed with the report.] The 30-year-old man (age at first detention) stated he was repeatedly beaten with wood and fists, stabbed with a bayonet and hung upside down in the hot sun for up to one hour (estimated time). His ankles were tightly cuffed in an inversion position, cutting the medial aspect of the ankles. He exhibited symmetrical scarring of the medial aspects of both ankles suggestive of bilateral similar trauma to these areas-consistent with the history of the ankles being tightly cuffed. He had a thick large scar corresponding to the area of the alleged bayonet wound. The boy detained at age 13 years stated he was repeatedly stabbed with bayonets to his chest, back, and buttocks. He
37 says he was hung by his legs from a tree, kicked and slapped and burned with cigarettes to his face. He exhibited severe and extensive scarring with over 50 scars counted over all parts of his body. Most notable were 5 identically shaped scars on his chest. These were in the form of crosses with each line of the cross ranging form 5 to 7 cm and thickened. He had severe scarring on his arms, legs and back. His scars were strongly suggestive of injury with a sharp object occurring in a similar fashion to different areas of his body. In over ten years of examining over 200 torture victims I have never observed such dramatic signs of previous injury.