parliamentary seats, none of which were held ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES by women, a fact which further undermined On 12 July, a woman announced in the women’s voices at the legislative level. media that her 25-year-old daughter, Ikran INDISCRIMINATE ATTACKS Tahlil Farah, an officer with the NISA, had been missing since 26 June when she was All parties to the armed conflict continued to abducted by unidentified people in a car commit crimes under international law with outside her residence in Mogadishu. The impunity. According to the UN there were family alleged repeatedly that NISA officers 536 civilian casualties (241 deaths and 295 were behind the abduction and injuries) between February and July, 68% of disappearance because she was taken from which were the result of indiscriminate a secure location near the heavily guarded attacks by the armed group Al-Shabaab, NISA headquarters, accessible only to while the rest were attributed to state security screened visitors and NISA personnel. On 2 forces, clan militias, and international and September, an announcement was made in regional forces including the African Union state media saying that Ikran Tahlil Farah had Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). been kidnapped and killed by Al-Shabaab, a Al-Shabaab launched repeated attacks claim immediately denied by the group. against civilians and civilian infrastructure, A public outcry prompted the prime including restaurants and hotels. The group minister to replace the NISA director, also carried out targeted killings of people following which the president appointed the with perceived links to the government, and former NISA director as his National Security journalists, among others. On 2 March, Al- Advisor. The prime minister referred the Shabaab members killed at least 20 people disappearance to the Military Court and injured 30 others in the popular Luul Prosecutor for investigation. On 21 Yemeni restaurant in the capital, Mogadishu, November, the Chief Prosecutor announced in a suicide car bombing. On 25 September, that preliminary investigations found no at least eight people were killed in another evidence that NISA was involved in Ikran such attack in Mogadishu. Among the dead Tahlil Farah’s alleged disappearance. was Hibaq Abukar, an adviser on women and FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION human rights affairs in the prime minister’s office. Two journalists were killed and others faced On 10 August, allegations emerged that beatings, threats, harassment and AMISOM soldiers had targeted and killed intimidation, arbitrary arrests and prosecution seven civilians in a retaliation attack against as a means to silence them. Al-Shabaab in Golweyn town, in the Lower On 22 February, Puntland police arrested Shabelle region. On 21 August, AMISOM said freelance journalist Ahmed Botan Arab in it constituted a Board of Inquiry to investigate Bosaso town after he posted interviews on the incident. On 21 October, the Board made Facebook showing Bosaso residents public its findings, admitting that “the seven commenting on the Puntland president’s people killed were civilians and the conduct speech about regional political developments of the personnel involved was in breach of and a stalemate on the implementation of an the AMISOM Rules of Engagement.” On 13 electoral agreement between regional and November, AMISOM announced that a federal leaders. He was detained at Bosaso Ugandan court martial in Mogadishu had police station and released two days later found five Ugandan soldiers guilty of the without charge after clan elders intervened. killings, two of whom were sentenced to On 1 March, independent journalist Jamal death and three to 39 years in prison, and Farah Adan was shot dead by unidentified that they would serve their sentences in armed men at a shop in Galkayo town, Uganda. Mudug region. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the killing. Before his death, Amnesty International Report 2021/22 330