Summary execution in Somalia

Somali Current includes this account of the summary execution of a suspected al-Shabab member:

Nour Abdale Awale, a young man suspected to be member of Al-Qaeda linked group, Alshabab who was caught from Deynile district has been shot to death in the spot where he was caught by the Somali armed forces after the military court has issued an emergency order allowing military person[nel] to execute the suspected on the spot without taking him to court proceedings. The executed young man accused of having illegal weapon including grenade bomb and to be the mastermind of an attack launched on Deynile district.

Chairman of military’s lower court Liban Ali Yarow said that the court has [made] the execution order of Nur Abdale Awale, 21 who was member of Alshabab militant fighters after he confessed all the allegations crimes he committed. “He [was] found guilty of attacking with grenade bombs on Deynile.”

Chairman of Somali military supreme courts Abdirahman Mohamed Tur revealed, “From today, everyone confirmed and convicted of guilty of being one of the militant group of alshabab, will not be given a chance and will be executed in the spot where he is being caught.”

Editor's note: It is difficult to understand the process employed by the military courts in this case. Was there a mass trial in absentia? Did anyone represent the defendants? How were the names of those condemned determined? Or was the death penalty imposed as a "blank check"? Cf. Hitler's Commando (1942) and Commissar (1940) Orders. How was this accused's confession obtained? Had he surrendered to government forces? Seemingly, there was no opportunity for even the pretense of appellate review. For a recent report by Human Rights Watch on Somali military courts, click here.