AU Asks UN Security Council to Impose Sanctions on Eritrea

In an unprecedented move, the African Union is calling for sanctions against one of its own members. Eritrea has been accused of arming Islamist insurgents in Somalia. On Friday, 45 people were killed in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia; over half were civilians.

Islamist "Justice" in Somalia

Earlier this month, Sharia court in Somalia found a man found guilty of stealing clothing worth about $90. He was punished by having his right hand cut off. It is believed to be the second amputation this year in Somalia. Hardliners from al-Shabaab, a group of Somali Islamists that has been linked to Al-Qaeda, follow the Wahhabi school of Islam, which is based on a very strict reading of Islamic texts. Most Somalis practice the mainstream Sunni faith and al-Shabaab's rules have created an "alien culture" in areas that are controlled by the group.

Michelle Kagari, of Amnesty International's Africa programme, said: "Punishments like these illustrate the extent to which violence still substitutes for the rule of law in many areas of Somalia."

She said she wanted the United Nations to take concrete steps to stop such human rights abuses, and that an independent commission of inquiry or similar mechanism should be set up to investigate.

Amnesty International has also called on the fragile Somali transitional government - and the militias which currently run Kismayo and other parts of the south - to publicly condemn all human rights abuses, including punishments carried out without due process of law.

Violence Explodes in Mogadishu

113 civilians have been killed in the last 3 days as fighting between pro-government fighters and an insurgent group increases. More than 27,000 have been forced to flee their homes.

The renewed violence in the Horn of Africa nation is pitting pro-government fighters against those allied to al-Shabab, an insurgent group seeking to overthrow Somalia's Western-backed government and establish an Islamic state. Over the weekend, both sides pounded the capital with mortars and machine-gunfire.

National Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden said the government would crack down on the insurgents, and said some of them were foreigners.

"They are anarchists," Aden told The Associated Press. "We will continue the fighting until we eliminate these elements."

(The image accompanies the AP story and is of a man packing all of his family's belongings onto a donkey cart as he prepares to flee Mogadishu.)