Nairobi — The teaching of human rights in schools is likely to surface in Somalia following a recommendation by a three-man delegation the UN had recently sponsored to the troubled country.

Addressing a press conference here, Prof Ghanim Alnajjar, a UN-appointed independent expert on human rights in Somalia, said: "Some of the community leaders we met here were in favour of this idea and we intend to push their feelings to the UN for consideration".

But the UN official was quick to add, "Not all regions would qualify for this. Some regions such as Mogadishu and Hargesia in Somaliland have what would qualify as "workable education systems, while other regions such as Baidoa have not".

Priority will be given those regions with workable education systems, he stressed, adding that the three-man delegation visited the regions of Mogadishu, Baidoa and Hargesia.

He added that during their stay in the country, they managed to have an audience with leaders of major political parties as well as community leaders at grassroots levels.

According to Prof Alnajjar, many human rights issues were raised during the mission. Concerns touched upon the establishment of human rights commissions, the inclusion of human rights in school curricula, investigations into specific human rights violations and the deteriorating conditions of prisons.

He added that other discussions were pegged on the development of the judicial system, the status of women, law enforcement, the separation of juveniles from adults in prison, and the ratification of international human rights treaties.

Answering a question, Prof Alnajjar said he intended to write to the UN Secretary-General and Security Council, urging them to appoint an independent Committee of Experts to investigate various allegations and make recommendations to the Security Council.

Prof Alnajjar said, however, that there is no pre-conceived model on how this concern should be approached, and the proposed committee would decide on this.

The UN official announced that about 18,000 Somalis have so far been demobilised since last year. There is a great need for NGOs to assist the demobilised Somalis, he said, while stressing that " they are in great need of vocational training to lead them into a profitable new life".

He added that the outcome of their fact-finding mission in Somalia will be included in a report to be presented to the 58th session of the Commission of Human Rights in April next year. u