MOGADISHU, SOMALIA — His makeshift art gallery survived warlords, gangsters and Islamic zealots during Somalia's 16-year civil war. But when the transitional government took charge of Mogadishu, the artist known as Happy got two hours' notice that his tiny shop was to be torn down.
As friends raced to salvage his collection of paintings depicting Somalia's years of anarchy, government troops swept away scores of commercial squatters who had been operating in tin-roofed shacks along the capital's oldest shopping avenue.
"They demolished my shop," said the artist, whose real name is Abdulkhadir Aweys Abdi and whose work was featured this year in a Los Angeles Times article.
Six months ago, the fledgling government said it had liberated Mogadishu from Islamic extremists. It now finds itself under fire for heavy-handed tactics that critics warn have sapped public support and fueled a budding insurgency.
In one raid, about 100 children and teachers at a Koranic school were rounded up at gunpoint and held for three days before most were let go. Last month, government security officers arrested a clan elder who had been an outspoken critic, but quickly released him after an international outcry.
In all, more than 1,500 people have been detained in the last few months. About 1,000 remain behind bars, many without charges, according to civil society groups. Many of those released complain of torture, beatings or extortion by the police.
"We don't even know the exact number of people still in prison because the government won't acknowledge it," said Abdullahi Mohammed Shirwa, an activist with Somali Peace Line, a local watchdog group. After his organization complained about arrests, he said, top government officials warned its members to stop getting involved in "politics" or other activities that might be viewed as aiding terrorists.
"You are either with them or against them," Shirwa said. "They just dictate. But I think they are creating terrorists by harassing the people."
Last week, on the eve of a visit to Washington by Somalian Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi, the State Department protested the government's arrest and harassment of prominent citizens, civic activists, opposition leaders and journalists. It called for the immediate release of those unjustly detained.
The presence of about 1,500 Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu is also fueling resentment. Ethiopian soldiers invaded Somalia in December to help the transitional government seize control of the capital, but most Somalis view them as occupiers.
