"The people of Somalia are being killed, raped, tortured; looting is widespread and entire neighbourhoods are being destroyed." Amnesty International received testimony suggesting that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed while no one is being held accountable.

Amnesty International on Tuesday issued a new report unfolding prevalent human rights abuses by all sides in the conflict in the ‘anarchist' Somalia. According to Amnesty, Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Ethiopian troops that are backing it, and the various Islamist and clan-based insurgent groups in the country, are all engaged in widespread human rights abuses against Somalia's civilian population.

War crimes and crimes and against humanity
The report, Routinely Targeted: Attacks on Civilians in Somalia, represent the voices of ordinary Somalis who told Amnesty International of increasing incidences of "slaughtering" or "killing like goats" by Ethiopian troops, referring to killing by slitting the throat.

"The testimony we received strongly suggests that war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity have been committed by all parties to the conflict in Somalia - and no one is being held accountable," said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Africa Programme.

According to the report, some 6,000 civilians were killed in attacks in 2007; one million Somalis are internally displaced and journalists and human rights defenders fear each day for their lives. All parties to the conflict have committed human rights abuses, including killings, extrajudicial executions, torture, rape and beatings, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances. Particularly Somali civilians have been routinely targeted since there is no one to protect them.

Anarchy in Somalia
Somalia has been subjected to decades of brutal inter-clan fighting and it is vulnerable to severe droughts and floods which contribute to widespread malnutrition and poverty. Since the overthrow of Siad Barre's 21-year rule in 1991, civil conflict based on clan rivalries, competition over scarce resources, and criminal activity has torn the country apart.

A dozen unsuccessful peace conferences did not resolve one of the world's longest crises of state collapse. Only in October 2004 a transitional government led by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was installed. Although it is supported by the UN and the US, the TFG has not been able to effectively establish control over the country.

By 2006 the Council of Somali Islamic Courts (COSIC) heavily challenged the
TFG and managed to take over Mogadishu. They were eventually ousted by Ethiopian troops supported by the US. The humanitarian situation however has only grown worse since then according to Amnesty. Security in many parts of Mogadishu is non-existent and lawlessness leaves a culture of impunity.

International Commission of Inquiry
Amnesty called upon all parties to the conflict to immediately halt all violence. It also strongly condemns the international community for failing to take measures which will end mass atrocities, stop impunity and guarantee support and security to defenseless civilians across Somalia.

It calls for the establishment of an International Commission of Inquiry to investigate violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed in Somalia in 2007 and 2008, and to map violations since 1991 which may be considered war crimes or crimes against humanity.