A/HRC/21/36 1. Human rights monitoring 53. The security situation, the small size of the UNPOS Human Rights Unit and concerns for victim and witness protection have limited the Unit’s ability to monitor human rights throughout Somalia, although it has been able to monitor and investigate patterns of human rights abuses in “Somaliland” and “Puntland”. Since the Transitional Federal Government gained control over Mogadishu, the Unit has also started to monitor human rights violations in the Mogadishu area, although security and movement restrictions present a serious challenge to the verification of information. A database on human rights violations has been established by the Unit. 54. In collaboration with the United Nations Protection Cluster, the Human Rights Unit has strived to monitor the situation of civilians in areas directly affected by the armed conflict. It has been able to undertake one monitoring mission to southern and central Somalia. Preliminary findings seem to point to a reduction in civilian casualties directly resulting from the armed conflict; however, in the absence of a civilian casualty tracking system and lack of access to areas under the control of Al-Shabaab, no accurate conclusion can be drawn in this regard. 55. The Human Rights Unit has monitored detention facilities under the authority of the ministries of justice in “Somaliland”, “Puntland” and Mogadishu, as well as police custody facilities under the Ministry of the Interior in “Puntland”. It has thus been able to establish a pattern of arbitrary detention, lack of compliance with fair trial guarantees, and poor detention conditions across areas under Government control, as well as in the “Puntland” and “Somaliland” regions. UNPOS has also investigated allegations of ill-treatment and lengthy detention without charge or trial and lack of access to defence counsel in cases involving conflict-related detainees, including children. 56. In Mogadishu, the Human Rights Unit has conducted monitoring visits to Mogadishu Central Prison. At the time of the most recent visit, the facility hosted a population of nearly 800 inmates, including 32 children (20 of them detained for conflictrelated offences) and 12 women (five for conflict-related offences). The Unit also participated in the assessment of Mogadishu Central Prison, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, UNODC and UNICEF. According to information provided by the Ministry of the Interior, 80 per cent of all detainees fall under the jurisdiction of military courts, which raises questions about judicial guarantees. Most inmates sentenced to death or life imprisonment are not granted affordable access to legal counsel. The Unit also investigated cases of women and girls detained for disobedience to their parents, which is not a punishable offence under Somali law. The release of two of these female inmates was obtained through a habeas corpus procedure. 57. In “Somaliland”, the Human Rights Unit conducted monitoring visits to Hargeisa and Mandera prisons. In Mandera, it met with several adult males arrested for “hostile acts” against the “Somaliland” region in the context of the Sool and Sanaag conflict. The Unit registered its concern with the regional Government of “Somaliland” at cases of prolonged pretrial detention and military jurisdiction. It also monitored the case of 23 civilians sentenced to death or life imprisonment by the “Somaliland” Military Court of First Instance, and submitted a written opinion to the Ministry of Justice on the legality of military jurisdiction over civilians under international and domestic norms. 58. In “Puntland”, despite the difficulty of obtaining authorization to conduct confidential interviews, the Human Rights Unit was able to monitor custody and detention conditions in three police stations, as well as Garowe and Bossasso prisons, where prisoners were found to be held in shackles. Overcrowding and poor conditions of detention were brought to the attention of the prison authorities. 11