A/HRC/24/40 were battling Al-Shabaab), due to non-payment of wages. An agreement was reached after the government promised to pay outstanding salaries, but the forces insisted that work would resume only after payment of wages. The protest by the custodial corps, which took control of Bossaso Central Prison because they had not received wages for four months, was another manifestation of difficulties encountered by the authorities. 76. On 6 May 2013, the Independent Expert wrote a letter to President Farole condemning the execution of 13 civilians by the government of Puntland and enquiring whether the military courts genuinely afforded the suspects full fair trial guarantees as stipulated in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The President responded by saying that due process had been respected. On 22 May, a military court in Puntland sentenced to death a further seven persons who had been accused of murder or of being Al-Shabaab members. Five of the accused were sentenced in absentia. 77. On 17 July, six persons charged with the murder of Sheikh Abdikadir Nur Farah and other officials who were killed in Garowe at different times were found guilty and sentenced to death by a military court; the sentence was later confirmed by the court of appeal of Puntland. On 23 July, two of those convicted, namely, Abdirahman Jama Bile and Abdillahi Osman Ahmed, were executed. The UNPOS Human Rights Unit was not able to monitor the trial due to lack of access to the military court. 78. On 13 July 2013, shortly after leaving the Al Towba mosque in the village of Israac, in Gaalkacyo, Abdi Farah Dheere, deputy chair of the NGO Peace and Human Rights Network (PHRN/INXA) in Puntland was shot dead by two unidentified men. It is reported that the two assailants were waiting for Mr. Dheere outside the mosque and fled the scene after the killing. Reportedly, no suspects have been arrested. 79. In Somaliland, an important development was the signing by the government of Somaliland of an agreement with the Federal Government of Somalia in April 2013, following talks held at the presidential level in Ankara. The talks, which were mediated by the Government of Turkey, resulted in a joint communiqué that, among other things, enjoined the parties to continue with further talks and meet again in Turkey within three months. On the political front, the Somaliland Parliament passed a bill extending its tenure for two more years until 2015, making it the second time such an extension was made, the first being in 2010. 80. In April, there was increased tension and a deterioration of the human rights situation in Ainabo (100 km from Burao), resulting from fighting between the Habar Jeclo (major) clan and subclans following oil exploration activities in the area. It followed allegations that oil companies had awarded contracts to pro-Government groups instead of to the people whose land was being exploited. The affected clans mobilized, resulting in fighting. In the ensuing conflict, a group is reported to have broken into the prison and released two suspects who had been arrested and detained earlier; the group is also reported to have killed the regional intelligence officer, a member of the custodial corps and two policemen. The Government is reported to have sent to the area a high-powered delegation, comprising ministers, Members of Parliament and key personalities, for talks in order to calm the situation. 81. On 1 April, the Somaliland Military Court of Appeal ruled on the appeal case brought before it by 22 civilians who had been sentenced to death and life imprisonment by the Military Court of Hargeisa. The Court used article 221 of the Somali Penal Code to qualify the incident as an “armed insurrection against the power of the State” and to assert its jurisdiction over civilians during peacetime. The Court however reduced the sentences handed out in the first instance: death sentences were reduced to 20-year prison terms, and life sentences were reduced to 15-year prison terms. This ruling came after criticisms were raised about the trial of civilians by a military court. 15