31/07/08 (B459) Garowe Online / Un défenseur des Droits de l’Homme meurt en Somalie / Human rights activist dies in Somalia

A man who spent years fighting for human rights in war-torn Somalia died Tuesday in the capital Mogadishu after falling ill.

Ali « Fadha » Sheikh, a representative of the Elman Human Rights organization, confirmed to local media that the group’s longtime Chairman Sudan Ali Ahmed died from a kidney-related illness he had been combating for years.

Prior to his death, the late human rights defender traveled to neighboring countries for treatment and reportedly returned to Mogadishu after recovering.

Mr. Sudan founded an organization that fought for human rights and named it after his brother, Elman Ali Ahmed, who was gunned down in Mogadishu in 1996.

Through Elman, Mr. Sudan collected street children and offered them an education and an opportunity to learn useful crafts.

In 2007, Elman Human Rights’ late chairman went into hiding for some time after Somali government officials threatened him. Elman, which monitors and collects figures on deaths and injuries during the Mogadishu conflict, has been cited often by local and international media.

He was buried yesterday and those who knew best said Somalia had lost of its heroes.