Capital punishment in Somalia
Capital punishment in Somalia is legal. The death penalty is the most severe punishment in the country, and is reserved for capital crimes.
Methods
Military firing squads are officially used for capital crime offenses. They are reserved for capital crimes like treason, sabotage, desertion and mutiny. Methods such as stoning and hanging are also used, but are not as common as military firing squads.
Capital crimes
Seventeen Articles in the national law officially provide for the death penalty for capital crimes. These include:
- Article 1
"committing offences adverse or damaging to the independence, unity and security of the Somali State"
- Article 2
utilizing weapons against the State when it is at war
- Article 3
establishing organizations "whose purpose and work is hostile to the security of the Somali State"
- Article 4
conspiring with a foreign power
- Article 8
engaging in armed banditry
- Article 12
"using religion for the purpose of breaking up the unity of the Somali people or weakening or damaging the authority of the Somali state"
- Article 16
engaging in trade with a nation hostile to the Somali Democratic Republic
- Article 18
displaying or disseminating information "aimed at damaging the sovereignty of the revolution of the Somali nation"
References
- Amnesty International (1979). The Death Penalty: Amnesty International Report. Amnesty International Publications. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0900058889.