{"id":7018,"date":"2020-11-23T22:31:46","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T22:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=7018"},"modified":"2020-11-25T07:37:14","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T07:37:14","slug":"hrw-urges-justice-in-somali-health-workers-killings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2020\/11\/23\/hrw-urges-justice-in-somali-health-workers-killings\/","title":{"rendered":"HRW urges justice in Somali health workers\u2019 killings"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON —<\/strong> Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged Somalia’s authorities to intensify investigations into the abduction and killing of seven health workers and a pharmacist, saying government investigations \u201chave not resulted in arrests or prosecutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn May 27 at about 1:30 p.m., five masked gunmen entered the compound of a mother and child healthcare clinic run by a nongovernmental organization, the Zamzam foundation, in Gololey village, Balcad district, Hirshabelle state. Several witnesses said the gunmen \u2013 three in Somali military uniforms, one in a seemingly light blue police uniform, and another in civilian clothes \u2013 separated seven male workers from the five female workers,\u201d a HRW\u2019s report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the afternoon of May 28, residents found the men\u2019s bullet-ridden bodies outside the village,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

No one claimed responsibility for the killings.<\/p>\n

The al-Shabab armed group denied any involvement, and the chief of staff of the country\u2019s federal army denied initial allegations from residents of security forces\u2019 involvement.<\/p>\n

The father of one man said: “I received a call saying that my son was taken away by the doctors by government soldiers with their faces covered. I wasn’t too worried as they used to take people and bring them back again.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d said Laetitia Bader, a horn of Africa director at HRW.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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\u2019 families,\u201d Bader added.<\/p>\n

The HRW went on to say that humanitarian agencies, including health providers, in Somalia \u201cface serious difficulty reaching people in need due to insecurity, targeted attacks on aid workers, generalized violence, and restrictions imposed by parties to the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Anadolu Agency\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Origin: View original<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON — Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged Somalia’s authorities to intensify investigations into the abduction and killing of seven health workers and a pharmacist, saying government investigations \u201chave not resulted in arrests or prosecutions.\u201d \u201cOn May 27 at about 1:30 p.m., five masked gunmen entered the compound of a mother and child healthcare …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[1289,1290,1291,1292],"class_list":["post-7018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-health-cluster","category-news","tag-hrw","tag-somali-health-workers","tag-somalias-authorities","tag-zamzam-foundation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t