Case for IICJ
On February 6, 2023, Colonel Muse Bihi Abdi, the president of the self-declared “Republic of Somaliland,” ordered his military forces to unleash indiscriminate shelling of the City of Laas Anod , the administrative capital of Sool region in northern Somalia. Laying siege to the city from three different directions, with its military base of Goojacade, located in the outskirts of the city, Somaliland forces relentlessly bombarded the city with heavy artillery for seven months. Defending the city, a coalition of local militias from Laas Anod, the surrounding areas, as well as militias from the Harti clan of Puntland, engaged the Somaliland forces in a deadly armed conflict that ended with the crushing defeat of Somaliland forces
at the battle of Goojacade on August 25, 2023. By the end of hostilities, approximately 724 civilians who took no part in combat were killed and 4522 were wounded as a result of the intentional and indiscriminate shelling of the city by Somaliland forces. The following overview of events will show that Somaliland forces, its president, and other individuals in leadership positions named below, are responsible for violations of the international humanitarian law (IHL) of armed conflict, including crimes prohibited under Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 calling for the protection of civilians during an internal armed conflict not of an international character, and Article 8(2) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as crimes against humanity committed in the context of a large-scale attack targeting civilians prohibited under Article 7(2) of the Rome State of the International Court. Available evidence will show that Somaliland’s crimes include widespread and systematic intentional and indiscriminate attacks or strikes that resulted in the murders of hundreds and wounding thousands of civilians and non-combatants, including children, women, elderly and personnel involved in humanitarian assistance taking no part in hostilities, the displacement of ninety percent (90%) of Laas Anod’s population for reasons related to the conflict, and the intentional attacks against mosques dedicated to religion, schools, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded were sheltered, destruction of the city’s only water supply plant and other civilian structures, without any military value. The crimes committed during the war in Laas Anod by Somaliland forces are international crimes against humanity that require investigation and accountability for those responsible. There exists an abundance of evidence, witness testimonies of former Somaliland politicians, captured commanders, soldiers, and members of international agencies, incriminating written material, social media videos and photos documenting the actions of Somaliland rank and file soldiers openly boasting about killing civilians and indiscriminately bombarding the city with artillery and munitions. To maintain international peace and security and to prevent impunity for war crimes, it is imperative for the international community to collaborate in bringing the perpetrators of this mass atrocities to justice and ensure that they face their due consequences.
