Rape must be tried under judicial system not clan mechanism- Somali Deputy Premier

Cases of rape must be dealt with under the country’s judicial system and not traditional means since it’s a crime committed against the state, Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte has said.

The deputy premier said traditional elders must sign a commitment binding them against dealing with rape outside the justice system.

“Classifying rape as a crime against the state and we want the prosecution to make sure that this is not dealt with in under the traditional resolution mechanism. It has to be a crime that has been committed against the State so that it will not be possible for them to take it out of the court systems to deal with it at clan level/customary law,” Arte said.

Speaking during a high level discussion with representatives of the international community Wednesday, Arte called on Somalis to discard retrogressive practices that infringe on fundamental human rights.

Women and Human Rights Development Sahra Mohamed Ali Samatar said the Sexual Offences Bill which is yet to be tabled before Parliament was a win for Somalia noting it harmonises the Islamic Sharia law and secular law.

“Sharia law will not allow impunity and it has zero tolerance on sexual violence. What we have now developed is that the Sexual Offenses Bill which is a great bill that complements both Sharia and the Somali penal code. We took that into account together, to make this bill as a standard Somali justice system, while protecting Sharia law as well,”  Samatar said.

On its part, AMISOM chief Francisco Madeira said the mission was committed to safeguarding human rights in Somalia adding they had taken measures to ensure cases of sexual violence are addressed and occurrences deterred.

The Sexual Offences Bill also criminalises Female Genital Mutilation; a practice the World Health Organisation puts its prevalence rates at 98% in Somalia.