2024-03-29T19:25:29+00:00
A-
A
A+
/ Human Rights Watch urges the Somali Parliament to reject a constitutional amendment to lower the age of majority from 18 years to 15 years, warning that such a change may “undermine the protection of children’s rights.”
The organization believes in its statement that “this new age of majority may practically exacerbate the ambiguities in Somali law in this regard, which may lead to increased vulnerability of children.”
The proposed amendments, which are expected to be discussed by the Somali Parliament tomorrow, Saturday, distinguish between the age of majority starting at fifteen and the age of responsibility starting at eighteen, “which leads to the belief that every person under the age of eighteen remains protected by the judicial provisions applicable to minors.”
Fearing that Somali girls will suffer early marriage
According to Human Rights Watch’s fears, “the proposed amendment to set the age of puberty at 15 years will expose girls in particular to a higher risk of (early) marriage, which may affect their health, especially reproductive health, as well as their access to education and protection from other types of marriage.” other exploitation.
It is noteworthy that data from the international organization Girls Not Brides (Girls Not Brides) indicates that 36% of girls in Somalia, which is considered one of the least developed countries in the world, are under eighteen years of age, and 17% are under fifteen years of age.
According to Human Rights Watch, the adoption of the aforementioned amendment “contraries to Somalia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines children as persons under the age of eighteen.”
In this context, the NGO points out that children in Somalia “have long been subject to arrest, detention and imprisonment.”
International law is violated in Somalia
For more than 16 years, Somalia has been facing the extremist Al-Shabaab movement linked to Al-Qaeda, which seeks to overthrow the Somali government supported by the international community and impose Islamic law in the country.
Human Rights Watch denounced the treatment by the Somali authorities, during the first term of President Hassan Sheikh Mohammed, of “boys suspected of belonging to Al-Shabaab as if they had reached the age of majority,” describing the matter as a “violation of international law.”
The organization notes that “intelligence agents threatened, beat, and sometimes tortured detained boys. Military courts also issued sentences against children as if they were adults.”