Somalia religious courts idea of 'justice'

"This man was accused of raping and killing an 18-year-old girl in May this year. The court found him guilty of the charges brought against him," Sheikh Mohamed Saleban, a local Shebab official, told AFP.

"He was a married man, which is why the court sentenced him to be stoned to death," he added, explaining that a rape conviction only incurs flogging. (snip) "Ten masked men from the Shebab forces stoned him to death in front of everyone. They had dug a hole, buried him to his neck before throwing stones at him," he said.

On Thursday, Shebab forces in Mogadishu publicly amputated the right hand and left foot of four men accused of theft.

The four suspected robbers' ages were not immediately clear but witnesses said they looked very young and that some of them were most likely teenagers. (snip)

In October, a 13-year-old girl was stoned to death in public by around 50 men in the southern city of Kismayo. She was accused of adultery by local hardline Islamists after reporting that she had been raped by three men.

"These punishments amount to torture," said Tawanda Hondora, the London-based watchdog's Africa Deputy Director, in a statement.