From a distress call to a court room:

Supporting the Somali criminal

justice chain

N e w s l e tt e r, O c t o b e r 2 0 1 9

EUCAP SOMALIA

European Union Capacity Building Mission in Somalia

First came a distress call from the Cap-tain of “MV Moll"- his vessel had been hijacked and a rape had taken place. That call triggered the training scenario set up during the MACRILEX exercise, co-organised by EUCAP Somalia, EU NAVFOR and UNODC.

MACRILEX (Maritime Criminal Justice Chain Exercise) was conducted over six days between 25 September and 17 Oc-tober in Mogadishu. There were 24 par-ticipants altogether, including three women, from the Somali Police Force (CID, Interpol NCB and the Maritime Po-lice Unit), the Banadir Regional Court, the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney Gen-eral’s Office (AGO) and the Bar Associa-tion.

Scenario-based training was used to identify weaknesses and strengths in the Somali criminal justice chain, to increase interaction and mutual learning between professional groups involved in the crimi-nal justice chain.

The participants familiarized themselves with all the phases of the criminal justice chain, starting with the distress call from “MV Moll”, the allegedly hijacked vessel and analysed the intelligence from vari-ous sources like EU CRIMARIO IORIS sys-tem, an Interpol Blue Notice, police re-ports and radio communication. After the decision to board the vessel was made, the attendees had a chance to get out of the classroom and board the EUNAVFOR vessel ITS Marceglia, which played the part of "MV Moll".

The boarding team from the Mogadishu

Maritime Police Unit and CID of the So-mali Police Force administered first aid to a casualty, managed the crime scene, seized evidence, conducted initial inter-views and made arrests.

Next day, participants learnt about Crime Scene Management and Forensic Evi-dence, they then interviewed “Araale” and “Bulle” the alleged suspects who were arrested on board “MV Moll” as well as the “witnesses” and “victims.” The suspects were charged with various offences, including rape and taken to court which was a part of the exercise.

On the final day, the participants drafted recommendations, based on lessons learnt throughout the exercise. It be-came clear that the development of common positions and procedures across the Somali criminal justice chain is a vital element of moving it forward. Participants also stressed the need to enhance the forensic evidence handling capacity of Somali police and justice au-thorities.

The MACRILEX training concept proved to be an efficient way to bring together different actors of the justice chain and EUCAP is planning to conduct the same type of exercises in the other field offic-es. As the Head of Mission Chris Reyn-olds said during the closing ceremony of the exercise: “Law enforcement is ulti-mately a question of will. How you put to use the lessons learned here in the past days, is up to you. EUCAP is ready to sup-port you in your efforts to strengthen the criminal justice chain in Somalia.”

EUCAP Somalia newsletter, October 2019, page 2

Another interesting duty trip took me to Djibouti where we were able to explore opportunities to better generate Darwish Forces here in Moga-dishu, an issue we need follow up on.

I’m also pleased to share that international col-leagues are now receiving one-year gratis free visas and our SOMA (Status of Mission Agree-ment) has been finalized at the Council and ready to sign. Shortly we will publish the last normal CfC for 2019 with 23 positions and with the new de-ployment plan it will reinforce our Police Unit in Mogadishu in particular.

But there were also darker moments in October, especially the reprehensible attack on our sister Mission EUTM and the mortar attack on the air-port. I remind you to take notice and follow all Security advice and instruction in protecting your-selves. Thank you for all your support and I wish you a safe and rewarding November.

It has been a busy and exciting month for the Mission. One notable highlight was the trip to Hargeisa with EEAS’s Head of Operations Division, Jean-Marc Pisani and the EU Ambassador Nicolas Berlanga Martinez. It was my first time to meet with President Bihi who expressed his fond appreciation for EUCAP’s work. In Berbera, we examined the site of our new sub-office and took a patrol along the coast in the 22m Coastal Patrol Vessel.

Hargeisa is in advanced preparation for the focused training by our Swedish Coast Guard colleagues and in Garowe our new Police Advisers are bedding in.

In Mogadishu, the Major Botaan training facility, do-nated by our Mission, was put to good use by the MPUs from Bosasso and Mogadishu who were prepar-ing themselves for CUTLASS Express exercise. Conclud-ing the first MACRILEX exercise in Mogadishu was a remarkable achievement and you can read more about it on the front page of this newsletter.

1: EUCAP conducted a workshop on Strategic Planning and Project Design in Hargeisa. 2: The HoM on duty trip to Djibouti.

“We had a busy and exciting month”

DID YOU KNOW ABOUT SOMALIA?

The two most important Islamic holidays celebrated by all the families across the nation are Eid Al-Fitr (festival of breaking fast) celebrated after Ramadan and Eid Al-Adha, also known as Festival of the Sacri-fice as it honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. Of these to festivities, Eid Al-Adha is consid-ered the holier.

In preparation for the day of Eid Al-Adha, Somali families decorate and furnish their homes to wel-come relatives, friends and other visitors. On the festive day, people dress in their finest clothing and prepare different types of foods, especially desserts, depending on the means a family can spend for deli-cacies. Halwa (made of condensed milk and nuts) is popular and locally made biscuits are commonly enjoyed in the morning. In almost every house, meat, especially goat meat, is served during Eid Al-Adha.

Prayers are a pivotal part of Eid Al-Adha celebrations and the other important element is charity: the idea is to share happiness and for those who have some-thing to give, share food and drinks not only with their family, relatives and friends but also with poor and needy. Also money is given for charity.

Chris Reynolds Head of Mission

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