Somali's Prime Minister, Abdi Farah Shirdon, has said his government will shortly set up an Independent Task Force on Human Rights to investigate human rights violations, abuses against women and violence against journalists.
In a statement, released on Sunday (February 3rd), the Prime Minister said the government was committed to upholding human rights and freedom of expression. He specifically referred to reform of the judiciary which he described as "under-resourced and lacking the needed capacity to meet today's challenges", noting that this was one of the government's six leading priorities. The Prime Minister underlined that the crime of rape was completely intolerable in Somalia culture and stressed the importance of encouraging "any victim of sexual violence, to come forward and report such attacks, which must then be investigated and prosecuted". He said the government was encouraged by a sharp drop in incidents since it made its involvement clear.
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