2025 Annual Report of the Military Justice System

Summary of the Report

The 2025 Annual Report of the Armed Forces Military Justice System demonstrates a substantial expansion in criminal investigations, prosecutions, and adjudicative activities compared with 2024. The total number of defendants increased from 2,966 in 2024 to 6,036 in 2025, representing an increase of 3,070 defendants (approximately 103.5%). Similarly, the number of case files increased from 2,597 to 4,004, an increase of 1,407 cases (approximately 54.2%).

Terrorism-related offences constituted the largest category, increasing from 359 cases in 2024 to 1,470 cases in 2025, representing an increase of approximately 309%. Other major offences also increased: homicide rose from 227 to 486 cases (114%); assault increased from 153 to 294 cases (92%); robbery increased from 214 to 548 cases (156%); and misappropriation of military property increased from 452 to 762 cases (approximately 69%). These figures demonstrate a marked increase in the volume of criminal matters handled by the military justice system during the period under review.

The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) submitted the highest number of investigation files, with 1,460 cases, followed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with 1,024, the Somali National Army (XDS) with 851, the Banadir Regional Police with 382, and the Correctional Services (Asluubta) with 287. The distribution indicates that security institutions, particularly those involved in counter-terrorism and security operations, constituted the principal sources of cases submitted for criminal adjudication.

The distribution of defendants by institutional affiliation further illustrates the nature of the caseload. Al-Shabaab accounted for 45.4% of all defendants, followed by the Somali National Army (XDS) at 29.6%. The Macawisley forces, Police, and NISA each accounted for approximately 6-7%, while the Correctional Services, Darawish forces, ISIS (Daacish), and local district administrations represented smaller proportions. Among the four principal state security institutions, the Somali National Army accounted for 67% of defendants, followed by the Police at 15%, NISA at 14%, and Correctional Services at 4%.

A comparison of defendants by institutional category between 2024 and 2025 reveals significant variations. Terrorism-related defendants increased by 354%, from 606 to 2,754, while defendants associated with local government authorities increased by 440%, from 107 to 578. Defendants associated with Correctional Services increased by 50%, and those associated with NISA increased by 33%. Conversely, defendants associated with the Macawisley forces declined by 80%, Darawish forces by 86%, Maroodi soldiers by 49%, Police by 11%, and the Somali National Army (XDS) by 13%.

Geographically, the distribution of case files was highly concentrated in Banadir Region, which accounted for approximately 93.95% of all recorded cases. Galmudug, South West State, Hirshabelle, and Jubbaland collectively accounted for less than 6.1%, indicating that the overwhelming majority of cases within the recorded military-justice caseload originated in the capital region.

With respect to nationality, Somali citizens constituted approximately 99.90% of all defendants. Defendants from Ethiopia, Yemen, Sudan, and other countries accounted for less than 0.2% of the total. Thus, the recorded caseload was overwhelmingly domestic in terms of the nationality of the defendants.

Overall, the 2025 data demonstrate a substantial expansion in the workload of Somalia’s military justice institutions. The most pronounced increases concerned terrorism-related offences and defendants, while significant increases were also recorded in homicide, assault, robbery, and misappropriation of military property. At the same time, the distribution of defendants and case files demonstrates that military justice activity remained heavily concentrated in Banadir Region and among security-related cases.