Saturday, May 2, 2009

'Somali criminals get away with heinous crimes'

A United Nations official has urged the international community to investigate and bring to justice the parties involved in Somali war crimes.

"I honestly think that there have been very serious war crimes and crimes against humanity that have been committed by most if not all the parties to the conflict," Reuters quoted UN refugee agency's representative to Somalia, Guillermo Bettocchi, as saying on Friday.

"I certainly think that there should be a mechanism to bring those responsible for that to justice," he added during a speech at a London event.

Bettocchi called for a global commission of inquiry that would eventually pass on the result of its investigations to an international criminal tribunal.

The lawless Horn of Africa nation has lacked a functioning government since warlords ousted dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

Bettocchi stressed that 'the most serious violations' go unpunished in Somalia and criminals rely on a sense of total impunity.

The remarks echoed recent calls for a similar international probe by US-based Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Some 1.3 million Somalis are internally displaced and one third of the population in the impoverished country relies on foreign food aids.

Source: Press TV

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