A Decided Future: Death or Torture

“I couldn’t sleep at night as there was no space and I suffered from excruciating headaches, but received no medication” stated one of the previously detained Somali children, when questioned about his time in the intelligence agency (Detained). This is one example of the abusive treatment Somali children must suffer when they are apprehended by intelligence forces after their time in militant organizations.

Many children in Somalia are initially forced to fight in militant groups, primarily the Al-Shabaab. They are further victimized by authorities as they are detained and tortured for information. This issue arose as the Al-Shabaab militant group spawned from the Islamic Courts Union and began kidnapping children in order to fill out their ranks (Sieff). If these children are able to defect or escape, they are “protected” by Somali intelligence agencies that detain them for years while promising rehabilitation. This is a prevalent issue, as it not only scars thousands of children crushing any future but also violates their basic human rights.

Somali children are abducted from their homes and schools by the Al-Shabaab and are forced to take part in criminal activities for which they will later be prosecuted. They are taken to camps where they are trained to use guns and grenades yet left completely unprepared to fight on the front lines. The children are essentially used as human shields and mowed down in large numbers (Tancos). They are also victims of sexual abuse and forced into marriages. The sexual violence cases documented in Somalia show that there have been at least 164 incidents with 18 cases being forced marriages (Office). Overall the children are unlawfully abducted for the purpose of recruitment but also with the intent of sexual violence.

If the Somali children are able to escape from the militant groups, they are further exploited by intelligence agencies. Though organizations like UNICEF aim to rehabilitate the children, intelligence forces detain them for personal gain. The most prominent groups are the Somalia National Intelligence and Security Agency, and Puntland’s Intelligence Agency who implement coercive interrogations and torture in order to get criminal confessions from these children. They are tried in military courts due to the outdated legal system and given dire sentences for crimes initiated by the Al-Shabaab (Detained). Some children escape prosecution but are instead used as informants due to their experience in the militant group. Their lives are put in danger when they are taken on missions aiming to expose Al-Shabaab’s members. Somali children are not only kept from their families but are also easy targets for insurgents when they are revealed as informants (Sieff). These children have escaped one horror, but are once again abused by intelligence forces that do not rehabilitate them.

Overall, the treatment of children in Somalia is detrimental through their part in the Al-Shabaab militant group and further their experiences with the intelligence agencies. This is a prominent violation of human rights, that stunts the growth of an entire generation of children and continues the cycle of abuse. 

Work Cited

Sieff, Kevin. “Exclusive: U.S.-Funded Somali Intelligence Agency Has Been Using Kids as 

Spies.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 7 May 2016. 

“Somalia: Detained Children Face Abuse.” Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch, 22 

Feb.2018.

“Somalia Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed 

Conflict.” United Nations, United Nations, 20 Apr. 2016.

Tancos, Kathryn. “More Child Soldiers in Somalia Fighting.” CNN, Cable News Network, 22 

Feb. 2012.