Mr President,

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) in collaboration with the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) would like to thank the Independent Expert on Somalia for his report and his efforts to engage with civil society actors from Somalia.

We would like to build on some of the key issues raised by the Independent Expert notably regarding ongoing attacks on human rights defenders and limited international human rights reporting on Somalia.

Somali Human Rights Defenders Network (SOHRIDEN) continues to pay a heavy price for their efforts to ensure that the widespread violations committed in South and Central Somalia are not obscured. In 2010 individual journalists have been subjected to arbitrary detention, kidnappings and key media outlets have faced severe restrictions on their reporting, had their facilities attacked and/or taken over primarily by insurgent groups. Activists have also faced significant challenges and threats that have affected the scope and nature of their work. The voices of these key actors are therefore scarcer as many defenders have either been forced to exert significant self-censorship, relocate to the small TFG controlled areas of Mogadishu, or been forced to flee into neighbouring countries or further afield.

Key actors, including donor states and UN agencies, should encourage accountability for violations against defenders and enhance support – logistical, political and financial- to defenders on the ground. Ensuring that the voice of Somali human rights defender Network (SOHRIDEN) from Somalia are heard at the international level is a key: for promoting their work which many of them have lost their lives , detained , abducted and others were forced to leave their country.

The dire human rights situation is further aggravated by the current absence of systematic international human rights documentation and reporting on Somalia. Whilst welcoming the decision to establish a UN human rights presence in Puntland and Somaliland we wish to call on key actors, notably the Human Rights Unit of UNPOS and the OHCHR, to deploy sufficient staff to ensure that systematic monitoring and reporting of daily rights violations committed by all actors takes place. Furthermore, we would also like to encourage the IE to take a proactive approach in implementing his mandate so as to ensure a diversity of sources reporting on this situation are increased.

Finally, we call on the UN to immediately step up efforts to map out key past and present violations of human rights law and to identify appropriate accountability mechanisms to ensure that those responsible for these violations are held to account. This will be key to overcoming the culture of impunity so deeply rooted in Somalia.

Thank you for your attention.