Ayman Aqeel: We ask To open urgent investigations to achieve justice and redress for the affected victims and their families.

Basant Essam: We recommend that profound and effective changes be made in the structure of the African mission and the nature of its work

The Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights condemns in the strongest terms the wide range of violent practices carried out by the African Union Mission in Somalia “AMISOM”, the latest of which was the indiscriminate artillery shelling of the village of Mishani; Located in the Lower Shabelle region, adjacent to the capital, Mogadishu. The attack, which occurred on February 7, resulted in the death of two children and the wounding of 3 members of their families seriously. So far, the causes of the accident have not been revealed, either by the local authorities in Lower Shabelle, or even by the AMISOM forces.

The Maat Foundation calls on the leadership of the African Union Mission in Somalia to announce justifiable explanations for this indiscriminate shelling, in addition to the need to open urgent investigations to achieve justice and reparation for the affected victims and their families.

In this regard, Ayman Aqil, President of the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights stated: Somalia is suffering from a deep crisis related to the very entity of the state; And which lacks the ability to defend itself against terrorist elements where Al-Shabaab penetrated. The human rights expert added that this incident violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the protocols attached to it, especially the Optional Protocol on the protection of children in armed conflict, in addition to the principles of international humanitarian law, especially the first protocol added to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and related to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts.

In a related context, Basant Essam El Din, a researcher at the African Affairs and Sustainable Development Unit at the Maat Foundation, indicated that the African Union mission is about to end by the end of 2021, and despite the passage of 14 years of its presence in Somalia, it has not achieved tangible successes in terms of Fighting terrorism, and terrorism has become rampant in the country and neighboring regions. The researcher recommended the necessity of making profound and effective changes in the mission’s structure, along with the nature of its relations and cooperation with the local authorities, in the event that its mandate is extended again, in line with basic human rights principles and work to activate the human and child rights components within the mission.

It is worth noting that Somalia and the continent of Africa come within the interest of Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, as it is a member of the General Assembly in the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, and also has observer status in the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, as well as the North African region coordinator in the group of non-governmental organizations. The largest government in Africa of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.