Notorious Somali warlords, regional administration heads and former military government leaders have committed grave human rights atrocities against the Somali civilians including women and children.
Tens of thousands of Somalis have been killed, and hundreds of thousands were wounded. Millions more are displaced internally and externally. As a result, the Somali people remain stateless. No institution is left functioning.

Somalia has the second highest infant mortality rate and second highest rate of maternal mortality. According to UNICEF, more than 225 of every 1,000 Somali children die before they reach the age of 5.
The life expectancy of Somalis is about 47 years, one of the lowest in the world. Young Somalis die in the Mediterranean and Red seas fleeing atrocities at home.

There is no functioning judicial system in the country. And, alas, the transitional national government, whose legitimacy is questionable now due to the termination of its mandate, failed to ratify the International Criminal Court before its three-year term ended.

It is left to the international community to protect the Somali people. It should start by establishing an international criminal tribunal that documents, identifies and prosecutes the perpetrators of the human rights crimes of the past and the present in Somalia.
Lack of reliable records reinforces the culture of impunity in Somalia because the perpetrators of crimes assume they could, in the future, deny their culpability.

The local human rights organizations cannot be expected to fulfill this role because their capacity is limited. Moreover, since human rights activists are at the mercy of these warlords, some have been killed and many have left the country.

The creation of an international criminal tribunal would not only document the transgressions of war criminals, but also deter further human rights violations. Warlords often travel abroad, particularly to Europe and the Middle East, for medication or vacation.

If the warlords and regional leaders knew that the international community would hold them responsible for their crimes, they would reconsider. Instead, they believe that the international community considers them the legitimate leaders of the Somali people.
The establishment of a tribunal would also bring political pressure to bear on neighbouring countries that help sustain the conflict. To establish sustainable peace, the international community must be tough with the Somali warlords who commit human rights violations, and the countries that support them.

Professor Stephen John Stedman, an authority on peace building at Stanford University, says the international community plays an important role in stopping what he calls spoilers of peace — in Somalia's case, the warlords.

"Where international custodians have created and implemented coherent, effective strategies for protecting peace and managing spoilers, damage has been limited and peace has triumphed. Where international custodians have failed to develop and implement such strategies, spoilers have succeeded at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives."

Ending impunity in Somalia would also facilitate the peace process. Identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators of human rights crimes will empower the victims of injustice. It would also encourage civil society and the peace-loving sectors of the community to establish an open and transparent system.

Unfortunately, while these criminal warlords and their militias continue with the killing, hostage-taking, displacement and rape, the international community seems to tacitly endorse their actions by convening reconciliation conferences for the warlords while excluding civil society and traditional leaders.

Appeasing these criminals has left the impression throughout Somalia that the more people one has killed, the more say a person will have in the peace process. New warlords have already appeared, hoping to take their share after seeing other warlords dictating the terms for peace.

This also has had a negative effect on the civil society and traditional leaders. Many could not stay in the country, and those remaining are highly demoralized.

Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International's Canadian chapter, says Canada has been a leader on such issues. It played a significant role in establishing the International Criminal Court and has helped establish the international criminal tribunal for Sierra Leone.

The establishment of such a tribunal for Somalia would be the first and necessary step in bringing peace to that country.
And Canada, being at the forefront of peace building and international justice issues, has a special role to play.

Afyare Abdi Elmi is a member of the Star's community editorial board.
 

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