Rights group slams Western backing for Somali authorities

The Somali government must improve its human rights record or its Western backers should reconsider their support for the weak authority, according to a new report released Monday by Human Rights Watch.

'The United States, European Union, and United Nations provide support for the TFG (Transitional Federal Government) without making a meaningful effort to press its leaders to curtail abuses,' the rights group said.

Established in 2004 as an international effort to restore a functioning government in Mogadishu, the TFG's mandate faces renewal next year. Human Rights Watch said Western capitals should push the government to improve by that time, or risk losing its key supporters.

The Somali government rejected allegations by the rights group that it was failing to protect civilians.

'We refute these allegations. Our soldiers undertake exceptional work under extremely dangerous and difficult conditions,' said Abdirahman Omar Osman, a government spokesman.

He blamed Islamist militia al-Shabaab for 'most of human rights violations that happen in Somalia.'

The new human rights report entitled 'You Don't Know Who to Blame: War Crimes in Somalia,' condemns the numerous parties to Somalia's civil war, which began 20 years ago.

Al-Shabaab, the Somali government, the African Union peacekeeping forces (AMISOM), and neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia all shared the blame for the dire plight of Somalia's civilians, the report said.

It accused Kenya and Ethiopia of backing militias involved in the fighting and not ensuring the protection of Somali refugees, who are attacked by bandits and even the police in the neighbouring states.

The actual groups taking part in the fighting either fail to consider the effect of their actions on civilians or actively target and harm them, the report said.

'There is no quick fix to Somalia's tragedy, but it's clear that impunity for serious abuses perpetuates insecurity,' said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

'International pressure to bring an end to abuses by all sides is more crucial than ever,' he said.