A Somalia lead Researcher Laetitia Bader explains to the press the content of a report dubbed “The Power These Men Have Over Us”. The report paints an ugly picture of how African Union Soldiers, while on their mission to maintain peace in Somalia, sexually assaulted women and girls. (Photo:David Njaaga/Standard) A human rights group has alleged that soldiers fighting the Al-Shabaab under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) are sexually abusing and exploiting women and girls in the war-torn country.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a report released yesterday, claimed the soldiers rely on Somali intermediaries and use a range of tactics, including humanitarian aid, to lure the vulnerable women and girls.
According to the report, the soldiers have sexually assaulted women seeking medical assistance or water at Amisom bases. Speaking in Nairobi, HRW women rights director Liesl Gerntholtz revealed that 21 of those interviewed confessed to having been allegedly raped or sexually exploited by Ugandan or Burundian military personnel serving with the AU.
"Some AU soldiers have misused their positions of power to exploit Somalia's most vulnerable women and girls. Without employment options and basic resources, many must rely completely on outside assistance and are forced into exploitative and abusive situations so as to sustain their families," she said Food crisis
The report indicates that the women and girls are exposed to other abuses and serious health risks such as physical abuse and sexually transmitted diseases.
Africa director at HRW Daniel Bekele called on the AU and the countries contributing troops to do more to prevent, identify and punish sexual abuse by their soldiers.
"As another food crisis looms in Mogadishu's displacement camps, women and girls are once again desperate for food and medicine. They should not have to sell their bodies for their families to survive," said Bekele.
Troop-contributing countries have to varying degrees established procedures to deal with misconduct, including deploying legal advisors, with Uganda temporarily sending a court martial to try cases.
The report, however, indicates that the troop- contributing countries - Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sierra Leone - have not provided the necessary resources to investigate and prosecute suspects.
The report further pointed out that women who have been victims of the sexual abuse were afraid of reporting their experiences because they feared reprisals from their attackers, the islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab, as well as stigma and retribution from their own families.
"The AU can no longer turn a blind eye to the abuses on Amisom bases as it undermines the very credibility of the mission," Gerntholtz said.
"Governments supporting Amisom should work with the AU to end this."
By:Standardmedia
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