Blood Money Offers Should Not Be Encouraging Impunity in Somalia

[Deeq A.]

Mogadishu (PP Comment) — Blood money (mag/diya) has been a key component of the Somali justice systems since 1991. Before 1991 blood money was only payable to the family of a victim if the cause of the death was deemed not to be premeditated murder. Somali Sheikhs advocate the application of Islamic precepts governing the payment of blood money. The family of the victim  has the choice to accept or not accept offers for blood money from the family of the perpetrator.

In a situation where the perpetrator belongs to a powerful clan, the dysfunction of the Somali political system exacerbates impunity. A perpetrator from a powerful clan can be released from jail without serving his sentence, only to have his actions lead to similar crimes by perpetrators whose connections to powerful clans ensure their release.

Payment of blood money presupposes that the family of the victim and the family of the perpetrator are equal under the law. If one clan enjoys an unfair political advantage blood money turns into a tool exploited intentionally by the powerful clan.

The hybrid justice systems in Somalia combine the Penal Code and Sharia articles. This fusion of the two justice systems does not consider injustices embedded in the post-conflict justice systems throughout Somalia.

Recently, the Commissioner of Puntland Police Force deplored the practice of releasing convicted criminals after clan elders reach a settlement that should have been finalised before the case went to a trial. In Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia blood money is an option forced on the families from the less politically privileged social groups. Refusal to accept  an offer for blood money could result in reprisals from the family of a perpetrator. In cases when the victim was a breadwinner for a family accepting blood money is the only reasonable option that fuels impunity. The hybrid justice systems of Somalia benefit extremists whose courts in parts of Southern Somalia still administer “justice” and settle property disputes.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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