Somalia: Information regarding the penalty for defectors returning home, particularly for soccer players who sought asylum while representing Somalia abroad
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 November 1989 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SOM2419 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Information regarding the penalty for defectors returning home, particularly for soccer players who sought asylum while representing Somalia abroad, 1 November 1989, SOM2419, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab3c6e.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Although the Somali Constitution accords citizens the right to be formally charged and to a speedy trial, the criminal code was modified in 1970 to exempt crimes involving national security from the rules of procedure established by the country's legal system. Persons suspected of seditious intent, or perceived as a political threat, are frequently held indefinitely without being charged or brought to trial. Further, "detention by the security services may not be reviewed or overturned by the courts." [FootnoteS:
Country Reports for Human Rights Practices for 1988, (Washington: U. S. Department of State, 1989, p.310.]
In August 1988, five cadets undergoing military training in Egypt were forcibly returned to Somalia after they had sought asylum from the UNHCR office in Cairo. They were arrested on arrival in Mogadishu and held in detention. One of the cadets reportedly died in detention and there has been no information about the other three from the Somali government [ibid. p.311.].
It is difficult to determine the exact penalty for defection by military or civilian persons because the laws are not decreed, ie. they are not written down. Ms. C. Kurata, a Toronto lawyer, expresses the view that the security laws are ad-hoc and unevenly applied. This view is supported by Amnesty International which reports that the definition of offenses included in the National Security Law (Law No.54 of 10 September 1970) is "so broad that, in effect, arbitrary imprisonment is permitted." [Somalia: A Long-Term Human Rights Crisis, (London: Amnesty International Publications 1988), pp.22-23.] All political offenses, including public order offenses and serious criminal offenses, fall within the jurisdiction of the National Security Court. [ibid. p.24.]
Many of the political offenses which are punishable by death are detailed in the attached Amnesty International report. The same source reports on the fate of an unsuccessful asylum applicant who was returned to Somalia in 1987. This person was reportedly mistreated and tortured while in Godka NSS Prison. This prisoner alleges that he heard of about 20 other prisoners arrested and given prison sentences of 3 to 15 years for having applied for asylum in other countries. [ibid. pp.11-12.]
Attached please find excerpts from the following documents:
On-Line News reports compiled by the Associated Press, Kenya, Nairobi, 7 February 1989.
Somalia: A Long-Term Human Rights Crisis, London: Amnesty International Publications Ltd., 1988, pp.11-12, 22-24, 35-37.
