Crimes of Italian soldiers in Somalia

The crimes of Italian soldiers in Somalia were committed in 1992-1994 during the “Revival of Hope” operation , which was led by the United States.

In 1993, several Italian journalists and soldiers stated that Italian peacekeepers from the UN forces in Somalia beat and tortured prisoners. Witnesses said that the Somalis were kept tied up under the scorching sun without water and food, they burned the soles of their feet with cigarettes, and threw them on barbed wire. Similar statements were made by Somali human rights defenders.

So, in the Italian magazine "Panorama" got a few photos taken by the Italians themselves. On one of them, a Somali woman tied to a tank is raped using a rocket launcher. In another photograph, soldiers tied electrodes to the hands and genitals of a Somali ^{[1] [2]} .

In 1997, the Italian government announced the start of an internal investigation. The Department of Defense has established a government commission led by former chairman of the Constitutional Court, Ettore Gallo. The commission did not visit Somalia, confining itself to a survey of 141 people (among them there were only a few Somalis). The commission’s report examined eight incidents, of which only three cases were called “trustworthy”: electric shock and two episodes of gang rape by Italian soldiers of Somali women. These three cases were the subject of judicial investigation.

Journalists accused General Bruno Loi, commander of the Italian peacekeeping contingent, of trying to hide the crimes of his subordinates. One of the journalists who handed over the evidence of crimes to the general was soon killed ^[3] .