Somalia: Making Human Rights Central to the State Rebuilding

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Somalia has been without any effective, central government for the last two decades. The UN Commission on Human Rights stated that “without a central administrative structure, it is not possible to lay down the foundations of a permanent program of human rights for Somalia”. On the other hand, there is a widespread consensus that, for a functioning central authority to be constituted, human rights protection should be made central to all attempts. Admittedly, it seems that the current effort to rebuild the collapsed state of Somalia is geared towards restoring a ‘minimalist’ state that can restore law and order without further thinking about the contextual circumstances and actual reasons, particularly human rights violations, which led to the collapse in the first place. This paper argues that it makes no sense rebuilding the same abusive state institutions. The argument proceeds in three stages. Firstly, it critically analyses the previous failed endeavours that tried to recreate the old order, without human rights components being implemented in the process. Secondly, it examines the role of human rights in creating a legitimate authority that can adequately protect human rights of the citizens. Finally, this paper suggests ways to embed human rights into all facets of state rebuilding.