Somali rights body accuses Islamic court of
abusing minorities
MOGADISHU, Feb 14 (AFP) - A human rights group in Somalia on Monday
protested an alleged bid by an Islamic court to seize property belonging to a member of a
minority clan and accused the tribunal of persecuting small communities.
The Doctor Ismail Human Rights Organisation (DIHRO) said the Islamic court
in Hamerweyne district in south Mogadishu on Saturday attempted to sell a house belonging
to Abdulkadir Aweys, a member of the minority Rer-Hammer clan, after forcing him out of
his home.
"The court arrested Abdulkadir Aweys after forcing him out of the
house. His two daughters, Zeynab and Khadija, were badly beaten when they refused to
vacate the house," Maryan Hussein Awreye, DIHRO's co-chairperson, told AFP.
Awreye accused Abdulahi Hirsi Da'ad, the chairman of Hamerweyne's Islamic
court, of being hostile to minority clans. Unarmed minority groups are often abused by the
more powerful armed groups in Somalia, which has been without a government since the
overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. str-amu/jnm/mec