Hiiraan Online
Thursday, April 16, 2015
EU Special Envoy to Somalia, Ambassador Michele Cervone d’Urso
NAIROBI (HOL)--- The European Union on Thursday condemned the execution of six prisoners by Somaliland breakaway region in northern Somalia and said its an unexpected act that serves as a setback in the progress made in spreading the rule of law in Somaliland.
This week, Somaliland authorities carried-out six death sentences at the Mandera maximum-security complex after a long de facto moratorium. Capital punishments are rare occurrence in Somaliland which declared a unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991.
"The EU Heads of Mission strongly and unequivocally oppose the death penalty and consider that the death penalty constitutes a serious violation of human rights and human dignity." said a statement from The Heads of Mission of the European Union and Member States on Thursday.
They called upon the Somaliland authorities to immediately halt the execution of death sentences as a first step towards adopting appropriate legislation, which they said aims at the abolition of the death penalty.
It's unclear the crimes the executed convicts committed, however, the Somaliland government holds hundreds of suspected militants and criminals in its jails, awaiting for their trial.
Somaliland, a peaceful enclave in northern Somalia has escaped Somalia's two decades civil war. Despite lacking an international recognition, Somaliland considers itself as an independent state,
employing its own independent government and army.