Human Rights Watch has called on authorities in Somalia to intensify their investigations into the abduction execution of seven health workers and a pharmacist in May 2020.

It is understood that six months on, government investigations have not resulted in arrests or prosecutions, while the victims’ relatives await justice.

Al-Shabab denied any involvement, and the chief of staff of the federal army denied initial allegations from residents of security force involvement.

‘The heinous summary execution of seven health workers and a pharmacist left a rural community reeling from the loss of their loved ones and in dire need of health care’, the Horn of Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, Laetitia Bader, said.

‘The possible involvement of security forces in this appalling incident puts an even greater onus on the government to thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible and appropriately compensate the victims’ families’.

In Somalia, humanitarian agencies, including health providers, face serious difficulty reaching people in need due to insecurity, targeted attacks on aid workers, generalised violence, and restrictions imposed by parties to the conflict.

According to the Humanitarian Outcomes Aid Security Worker Security Database, 14 humanitarian workers, including the seven in Gololey, have been killed in 2020.

This conflict has had a serious impact on the right to health for the affected population. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reported that only 15 percent of people living in rural areas in Somalia have access to health care.

Bader said, ‘Attacks on medical staff challenge the very foundations of the laws of war, and will persist if those responsible go unpunished.

‘The government should show that they can credibly investigate and appropriately prosecute an incident that devastated a community at a time when health workers are so urgently needed’.

Source: HRW

Photo source: Reuters/Feisal Omar