Yusuf Osman Samatar

Yusuf Osman Samatar (Barda'ad) (15 March 1932 – 13 February 2020) was a Somali lawyer, post-colonial political party leader, and member of Somalia's parliament. First arrested in 1969, Samatar was arrested again in 1975 by the dictatorial regime and detained without charge or trial. A prisoner of conscience, Samatar would spend nearly two decades in prison, mostly in solitary confinement making him the longest serving political prisoner in Somalia's history.

Personal life Born in the Nugal region of Somalia in 1932, Yusuf Osman Samatar hails from the Majeerteen clan. He completed his primary and secondary school studies in Somalia before leaving for Italy to study political science at the University of Rome. In the 1950s, Samatar returned to Somalia where he attended law school,

Political career After returning to his native Somalia, Samatar became very active in the nationalist movement, He was Secretary-General of the leftist Somali Democratic Union (SDU). The SDU was banned by Mohamed Siad Barre following his rise to power in 1969.

A preeminent communist leader, Samatar served as a member of parliament until the military coup. His detention under Somalia's Detention Law, which contained no provisions for independent reviews of detentions nor allowed detainees the right to appeal their detention, was in direct violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In May 1975, Samatar was placed in permanent solitary confinement in Labatan Jirow maximum security prison due to his non-violent criticism of the government and his refusal to join or support the ruling Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party, which was the only legal political party in the country at the time.