Police in Hargeisa Battle Uptick in Gang-Related Violence

Hargeisa, Oct 31, 2013 (SDN) —Violent crimes perpetrated by street gangs have increased in the Somaliland region in the past 18 months, but authorities say they are cracking down on the growing phenomenon. Gangs of youths, who used to be organised into football or neighbourhood groups, are now committing crimes and violent felonies in Hargeisa neighbourhoods, said Guled Ahmed, director of the Hargeisa-based Human Rights Centre.

“The most serious [of these crimes] are gang rapes committed against women, with rape violations steadily on the rise,” Ahmed told Sabahi.

One of the most notorious cases was the rape of two Hargeisa women by 21 men on the night of July 25th. Soon after, all of the men were convicted and most were sentenced to ten years in jail.

Lately, some robberies have turned deadly, with the gang members using axes, knives, daggers and even rocks to threaten people, Ahmed said.

“Some of the murders that result from the illegal activities the youth are engaged in are carried out in an ugly and merciless manner,” he said.

For example, on October 2nd, four men mugged recent graduate Mustafa Abdi Hassan at an intersection in northern Hargeisa and ordered him to give them his mobile phone. When he refused, they threw stones at him until he fell down and then stabbed him to death, according to local media reports.

“Several different groups exist in a single neighbourhood or district in Hargeisa,” Ahmed said. “At night, or sometimes even during the day, they place rock barriers on the roads so they can extort money from the vehicles that are using the road.”

No one should fear for his or her life or property, and the government must ensure that, he said.

The gang problem can be tackled by overhauling the police force, reforming its poor public reputation and increasing its capacity, he said. If police operated regularly in neighbourhoods, the gangs would not be able to gather and organise themselves.

“The police force has to have enough capacity to cover all the security needs,” Ahmed said.

Other major cities in the Somaliland region are also experiencing an uptick in gang-related violence.

Citizens recount gang activity

Abdinur Mohamed Hassan, a resident of Ahmed Dhagah district, said he was alarmed when he found out that his 14-year-old brother and the neighbourhood kids he grew up with had turned into a criminal gang engaging in illegal activities.

“When I yelled at him and forbade him to go with them, my house was attacked by 12 to 13 young people armed with clubs, knives and machetes. Since they could not come into the house because the doors were locked, they destroyed the lamps hanging outside the house,” Hassan told Sabahi.

In August, he convinced his brother to leave the group, he said, but the gang threatened retaliation unless his family paid 132,000 shillings ($20), a hefty fee for the family.

“I pulled him from the gang because he was causing problems for the community and I also did not want him to get hurt,” Hassan said of his younger brother. “Since I paid the monetary fine, which is a requirement to leave the gang, I have not had any other problems [with the gang]”.

Elsewhere in Hargeisa, Mohamed Hirsi, who lives in Sheikh Hared neighbourhood, said that at the start of the year, his wife and daughters could not go out shopping after 6 pm because of the gang menace.

But in recent weeks, Hirsi said he has seen at least four police vehicles patrolling his neighbourhood and security is improving.

“The young people who were causing problems in my neighbourhood have been arrested, and the police operations at night are eliminating the existing fears,” he told Sabahi.

Police urged to ease public fear

For their part, authorities say they are acting to solve the criminal threat posed by youth gangs.

Somaliland Minister of Interior Affairs Ali Mohamed Waranadde and Chief of Police Brigadier General Abdilahi Fadal Iman announced October 8th that they assigned 540 police officers to night patrols in Hargeisa to combat the deadly gang assaults that had taken place earlier in the month.

By October 21st, Iman told a press briefing, 265 people had been arrested.

The detainees included gang members, thieves, illegal substance dealers, drunkards, and other violent criminals, said Iman, who displayed axes, daggers, machetes, knives and drugs that police had seized from suspects during the arrests.

“They were using these weapons against one another and also to harm the public,” he said.

Waranadde also blamed the judiciary for being in cahoots with the gangs.

“We are sorry to announce here that some of our courts are collaborating with the youth,” Waranadde said at a press conference October 26th after meeting with National Security Committee. “When the youth are arrested for rape and robbery, the courts release them after getting a small bribe.”

The security forces arrest hundreds of gangs in the neighbourhoods during night patrols, but none of them goes to jail, Waranadde said. “We cannot accept that and we will reach out to courts about it,” he said.

The courts have not publicly responded to the accusations and attempts by Sabahi to reach officials for comment were not successful.

Putting youthful energy to good use

Despite recent anti-crime initiatives by the Somaliland authorities, more steps are needed to stave off the gang threat by engaging youths in constructive activities, said lawmaker Said Mohamed Osman.

“According to the reports we have received from the police and prison authorities, 95% of the prisoners are between the ages of 15 and 25 years,” Osman, who sits on the social affairs subcommittee in the House of Elders, told Sabahi.

“This is manpower that has not been put to good use,” he said. “If these issues continue, they will result in major security problems … Hargeisa is the least safe city at this time, and the existing [security] gaps have to be filled by increasing police stations, carrying out education and awareness campaigns, and also engaging the youth in other programmes.”

Nonetheless, Osman expressed high hopes that the Somaliland Police Law, which was passed by parliament’s Upper House on October 29th, would be part of solving these issues.

By: Barkhad Dahir

Source: Sabahionline