OHCHR has received confirmation of the execution of a man on 3 April in Kismayo, Somalia, after he was accused of killing an elder in the city on 24 March, according to a statement released by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights based in Geneva.

The man was found guilty last week – it is not clear by whom exactly, but possibly not even by a court. He was executed by firing squad in public on 3 April. The United Nations Mission in Somalia, UNSOM, had urged a stay of execution, including at the highest levels within the regional Interim Jubba Administration which appears to have been heavily involved in the sentencing and execution.

Under international law, the death penalty should only be applied after the most rigorous judicial process. OHCHR is concerned that the hasty judicial process in Kismayo – just nine days between the murder and the execution – meant that the suspect did not enjoy full fair trial guarantees, including  the right to legal representation and the right to appeal. Someone sentenced to death should also have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.

According to reports, more than 34 people have been executed in Somalia since January 2013.

OHCHR calls upon the Somali authorities to place a moratorium on the death penalty, as it committed to do during the 2011 Universal Periodic Review process conducted by the Human Rights Council.

In 2012, the UN General Assembly, for the fourth time adopted a resolution (A/RES/67/176) urging UN Member States to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. Somalia was one of the sponsors of that resolution and voted in its favour.

The recent executions in Somalia therefore directly contravene Somalia’s commitments at the international level.