GENEVA (AFP) — The human rights situation deteriorated last year in war-wracked Somalia with serious violations by all parties, but there is a new "window of opportunity" now, a UN expert said Wednesday."In 2008, the conflict in Somalia took on a new dimension with targeted killings of dozens of humanitarian workers and civil society activists," said Shamsul Bari, the UN expert for the Horn of Africa nation."The lack of accountability for past and current violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law has further exacerbated the situation," said Bari, presenting his report to the UN Council on Human Rights.
Bari, who comes from Bangladesh, said that every party to almost two decades of conflict in Somalia was guilty of serious violations.He drew a "grim picture" of a lawless mainly desert nation ravaged by both specific and indiscriminate violence,with "targeted attacks, abduction and killings of aid workers and human rights defenders, in particular journalists; smuggling and human trafficking; looting and extensive property destruction; as well as sexual and gender-basedviolence."..more..http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gco4AdUKLppfV2YvkbjNUbbAi1iw
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