PUNTLAND: BOYS EXECUTED FOR ALLEGED TERRORISM

Puntland is under criticism following the execution of some children suspected to be members of the Al-Shabaab terror group. Five boys, aged between 14 and 17, have been sentenced to death in the northeastern Puntland region for their alleged role in the killing of three senior administration officials in February. A military tribunal meted the sentences.
There are plans to execute two more boys Muhamed Yasin Abdi (aged 17) and Daud Saied Sahal (15) also for their alleged membership of the Al-Shabaab and the killing of government officials.
Rights group, Amnesty International, said the boys were executed following a fundamentally flawed process during which they were tortured to confess, denied access to a lawyer and additional protections accorded to juveniles, and tried in a military tribunal.
"The lives of the remaining two boys must be spared," said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International's deputy regional director.
Kagari said authorities should halt the executions and retry the boys in fair proceedings in a juvenile civilian court without recourse to the death penalty.
"The Puntland authorities must not allow more blood on their hands." Amnesty nonetheless demanded those responsible for killing the three administration officials be identified and be brought to justice. "Torturing juveniles to confess, subjecting them to an unfair trial and then executing them does not ensure this." According to family members, the boys, who they denied were members of the Al-Shabaab, were subjected to electric shock, burnt with cigarettes on their genitals, beaten and raped into confessing to the murders.