Shell-Shocked

Civilians Under Siege in Mogadishu

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Map 1: Mogadishu: Insurgent attacks through mid-March 2007

Map 2: Mogadishu: Ethiopian offensives in March and April 2007

I. Summary

II. Key Recommendations

To the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG)

To the groups comprising the insurgency

To the government of Ethiopia

To the European Union and its member states, the European Commission, the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, the Arab League, and the government of the United States

III. Background

The Fall of the Barre Regime and the Outbreak of Clan Fighting

Successive Failed Peace Processes: 1991–2004

The Ethiopian Factor

The Rise of the Islamic Courts in 2006

Peace Talks Fail: June–December 2006

The Fall of the Islamic Courts

IV. Mogadishu Under Siege: January–April 2007

Hurtling Toward Conflict

V. International Humanitarian Law and the Armed Conflict in Somalia

VI. Patterns of Abuses by Parties to the Conflict in Mogadishu

Indiscriminate or Disproportionate Attacks

Deployment in Populated Areas

Attacks on Medical Facilities

Intentional Shootings and Summary Executions of Civilians

Deliberate Killings of Civilians and Mutilation of Captured Combatants

Abuses of Civilians by the Transitional Somali Government

VII. A Case Study in Laws of War Violations: The March–April Offensives

The first Ethiopian offensive: the battle for Mogadishu Stadium, March 29–April 1

The second Ethiopian offensive: the battle for the Pasta Factory, April 18–26

The civilian victims of the March-April indiscriminate rocket barrages and shelling

VIII. Displacement by the Fighting

Displacement within Mogadishu

Treatment of Displaced People Fleeing Mogadishu

IX. Applying International Humanitarian Law to the Conflict in Somalia

A. Applicable International Law

B. Protections for Civilians and Civilian Objects

C. Violations of International Humanitarian Law by the Parties to the Conflict in Mogadishu

X. Recommendations

To the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG)

To the groups comprising the insurgency

To the government of Ethiopia

To the participants in the National Reconciliation Conference and representatives of civil society

To the European Union and its member states, the European Commission, the government of the United States, the African Union, and the Arab League

To the government of the United States

To the African Union

To the United Nations

XI. Methodology

XII. Acknowledgements

August 2007 Volume 19, No. 12(A)