The UN special envoy to Somalia has called for the establishment of an international court to probe war crimes in the conflict-hit country.
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to adopt a resolution which would permit the International Criminal Court (ICC) to look into war crimes committed by Somalis against their countrymen.
According to the UN representative, such an initiative would break the silence over the nearly two-decade-old civil war in Somalia.
"The conspiracy of silence over Somalia must end, you cannot just maim, kill and torture and get away with it," Ould-Abdallah said.
The UN envoy added that Somalia's problems were politically treated, since they were not being addressed like crises in other countries, such as the Congo where suspects have been sent to The Hague for trial.
Ould-Abdallah said he wondered whether the world even considers Somalia as a country with a humanitarian crisis after 18 years of conflict.
"Somalia is defying logic and the international community is defying the conflict and conducting studies instead of looking for a solution," he said.
Somalia has been in turmoil since the 1991 ouster of dictator Siad Barre by war lords.
Violence peaked in 2006, when foreign intervention in support of the embattled Somali transitional government was faced with stiff responses from the public and opposition fighters.
The conflict has killed more than 16,000 people and displaced 1 million others since 2007.