This is the annual report and accounts made by Human Rights Center between January 2021 to December 2021. Somaliland is located in the horn of Africa and declared self-independence from Somalia in 1991 after the government of Somalia collapsed led by the dictator Mohammed Said Barre. While not officially recognized, Somaliland attributes much of its success to the relative peace and elections held periodically. The constitution of Somaliland was ratified in a referendum held in 2001 containing a Bill of Rights and recognizes international treaties such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Each year, the Human Rights Center disseminates an annual report to inform people and government of Somaliland of issues that rightly need improvement in proper governance and human rights sector. In this year alone, we have seen an increasing trend of arbitrary arrests, detentions, violations of freedom of expression and a complete misuse of judicial and executive powers granted to officials elected. Furthermore, the number of journalists arrested for merely doing their jobs and reporting on the state of affairs of Somaliland has increased. These journalists are not arrested for crimes committed personally, nor have they stolen state secrets but reporting on daily issues facing Somalilanders. As such, this report highlights arbitrary arrests of journalists and citizens, police brutality, and internally displaced people.

The areas covered in this report include:

• 10 opposition leaders arrested, a total of 114 individuals arrested for cases related to freedom of expression around the region

• Police brutality cases

• Sexual gender-based violence- Hindi Omar was brutally raped and murdered while on public transportation

• Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)- HRC visited camps located in Burco and Hargeisa to document the continuous displacement, forced evictions, and lack of basic fundamentals provided by the government such as health, shelter, education, security and food.

• Prison and jail stations- HRC visited jails and prisons in the region, however limited access granted, to document and highlight the conditions of the accused person and the environment in which they are being held in.

READ HERE THE HRC REPORT

State of Affairs- Annual report of Final