New York-based Human Rights Watch described the attacks as a war crime, and added that it was ‘crucial’ for the country to push ahead with reforms, meaning judges and lawyers require protection to do their jobs.
According to the Reuters news agency, the al Shabaab rebel group killed about 30 people on Sunday in a wave of suicide bombings and shootings aimed at Mogadishu courts, as part of its six-year campaign to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, on Somalia.
Prominent lawyers
The country’s new government has identified reforming the judiciary and imposing the rule of law as key factors in removing Somalia’s ‘failed state’ tag. However, the government’s influence does not extend past major urban centres.
Among those killed in the attacks were prominent lawyers Mohamed Mohamud Afrah, the head of the Somali Lawyers Association, and Abdikarin Hassan Gorod, although it is unknown if they were deliberately targeted.
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