Kalawareeg: Mapping Police Violence Against Bajaaj Drivers in Mogadishu
Nearly a month ago, I shared on Twitter a new side initiative: #KalaWareeg – a citizen-curated victim-level database on police violence against motorists, passengers, and pedestrians in Mogadishu. This was in response to an unremitting spike in police misconduct, violence, and killings of Bajaaj (auto-rickshaw) drivers at the many security checkpoints in the city, aptly named Kala Wareeg by residents.
As a result, the first version is now up and running on Google Sheets. I encourage you to peruse, review, download and contribute to this effort at this link here. This is a first attempt, and so it is incomplete in many ways. In the coming days and weeks, with the help of friends, we plan to improve and make it more accessible and comprehensive.
For this week’s chart, I’m using this nascent database to map out the locations where Bajaaj drivers were reportedly killed by police in Mogadishu since 2017.
As is evident from the map, the majority of these deadly encounters occurred at road junctions. Police officers, particularly tax collectors, locally known as Minishiibiyo, routinely set up ad-hoc security checkpoints at these locations. It’s here where they chase, harass and extort motorists. Often, during these encounters, a simple spat over one or two dollars results in fatal shootings that have claimed the lives of not only the auto-rickshaw drivers but also passengers and bystanders.
In other cases, soldiers escorting VIPs indiscriminately shoot into traffic jams in order to force their way. Road rage expressed in gunfire is also very common in Somalia. Perpetrators are rarely arrested. So far, not a single police officer was punished for any of these crimes. The killings, therefore, continue unabated and with total impunity.