A United Nations official funded by China delivered a blistering attack on the United States at the U.N. Human Rights Council, accusing the Trump administration of “naked aggression” and “renewed imperialism” while holding up Somalia as a model of responsible human rights practice.
Ben Saul, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, told the council that American military action has been used as cover for imperialism. “Countering terrorism has excused naked aggression and renewed imperialism against Iran and Venezuela, raining death and making us all less safe,” Saul said.
Saul then cited Somalia as an example of how nations should handle terrorism without compromising human rights. “My report on visiting Somalia last year shows how a country facing an existential terrorist threat is strengthening, not sacrificing, human rights,” he stated.
Saul’s praise for Somalia stands in stark contrast to what independent human rights organizations have documented on the ground. Amnesty International reported that 854 civilians were killed or injured in Somalia between January and September 2024. Al-Shabaab was responsible for 65 percent of those casualties.
More than 552,000 people were internally displaced in Somalia during that same period, according to U.N. data. Nearly 200,000 of those, most of whom were already displaced, were forcibly evicted. Women and children made up more than 80 percent of the displaced population.
The Coalition of Somalia Human Rights Defenders reported in 2025 that the country saw “abusive use of the death penalty, torture, extra-judicial killings, conflict-related sexual violence, violations against women and children, enforced evictions, and mass displacement” throughout the year.
