UN official wants inquiry into Somali 'war crimes'

By Steve Bloomfield in Nairobi
Published: 15 May 2007
A senior United Nations official has called for an investigation into allegations of war crimes in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, following weeks of fighting that has left more than 1,600 people dead and caused hundreds of thousands to flee.
Sir John Holmes, the UN's emergency relief co-ordinator, who visited Mogadishu on Saturday, said there was "clearly a need" for an investigation by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour.
Ethiopian tanks and helicopters bombarded Mogadishu residential districts during weeks of fighting in March and April as Somalia's Ethiopian-backed interim government attempted to pacify an insurgency. Civilians were caught in the crossfire of what the Red Cross described as the worst fighting in the capital for 15 years.
Human rights groups and regional analysts have accused the government and the Ethiopian forces of committing war crimes. Sir John said Somalia's interim President, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, and interim Prime Minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, had agreed there should be an investigation. "They accepted it very clearly," he said.
Jose Diaz, a spokesman for Ms Arbour, confirmed that the UN was ready to send a team of human rights investigators to Mogadishu. "It is good to hear that this is the government's position. It needs urgent attention," he said.
Up to 400,000 people have fled the capital since the insurgency began at the end of January. A further 300,000 are believed to be displaced within the city. The fighting has made it difficult for aid agencies to reach those in need and the majority of those who fled Mogadishu are still without any humanitarian assistance.
Some Somali businessmen have sought to take advantage of the situation. In some areas, the price of water has risen by 2,000 per cent, while in others a "shade tax" has been introduced, charging women and children to sit under a tree.
According to the Food Security Analysis Unit, prices for food, rent and transport have risen by between 30 and 70 per cent in the past four weeks.
Sir John warned that, with the rainy season imminent, the humanitarian situation could get much worse. "It is easy to imagine the worst-case scenario when 300,000 people are still out there without shelter," he said. "There is already a lot of acute watery diarrhoea and cholera and that could get much worse"
The Horn of Africa experienced its worst flood season in a decade last year. Any repeat this year would be terrible, he said.
Sir John is the most senior UN official to visit Mogadishu since 1993 but the trip did not go to plan. Three bombs went off on Saturday and a fourth was diffused. "It began to look as if a message was being sent," he said. Planned visits to a hospital plus a tour of the city were cancelled.
He had also hoped to stay the night in Mogadishu before visiting Jowhar, a town 55 miles to the north, where many of the residents have fled. But security concerns led to the trip's cancellation.
The attacks on Saturday underlined the fragility of the security situation. Few analysts believe the insurgency has ended and many see the fighting as an inter-clan conflict between the Darod-led government and the Hawiye, which dominates Mogadishu. A national reconciliation conference, which international observers hoped would bring moderate leaders from the former Union of Islamic Courts into the government, has been postponed twice.
Ethiopian troops are still in Somalia. Analysts say that the Somali government is still so fragile that if Ethiopia were to withdraw its troops the government could collapse.