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Who Do you Want to Dispense Justice – Committees or Courts of Law?

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HARGEISA, 22 March 2010 (Somalilandpress) – On 13 March 2010, the House of Representatives’ Judiciary, Justice and Human Rights Committee submitted to the House a report about Somaliland prisons which brought to the attention of the public again the number of persons currently imprisoned on the orders of the Somaliland security committees. The report stated:

• Of the 765 prisoners held at the Mandhera prison in February 2010, 373 were sentenced by courts of law, whilst 300 were in prison on the orders of the Somaliland. The security committees’ prisoners included one person held since 2006 and two persons held since 2005.
• At the smaller Berbera prison, there were 7 security committees prisoners and the prison governor confirmed that there are usually more.
• At Gabiley prison, of the 132 prisoners, 32 were held on the orders of the security committees. Of these, one was sentenced by a committee to 18 months imprisonment and another was held for a year.

The House Committee reminded the Minister of Interior (who is in charge of the security committees) that the Constitution and the laws of the land do not allow anyone outside the judiciary exercising judicial powers and that the question is not so much why these persons were in prison, but why they have not been brought to a court of law.

The response from the government came, surprisingly, from the Justice Minister . The Minister who has, in the past, being reticent about the extra-judicial activities of the security committees argued that, as far as the government is concerned, the actions of the security committees were legal and were based on the Public Order Law. If it is the 1963 Public Order Law that the Minister is referring to, then none of its 78 articles set up a security committee or allow any detention except in situations when a state emergency has been declared by the President and the Parliament, and even then any such detentions are time limited and are subject to confirmation and review by the ordinary courts of law. No such national state of emergency has been declared under the strict provisions of Article 92 of the Somaliland Constitution. It has been our view that the way the security committees work owes more to the dictatorship’s security decrees and practices than to the 1963 law.

The Somaliland government has so far disregarded the unanimous condemnation of the extra-judicial activities of the security committees by:

• many Somalilanders, at home and abroad, and including members of the House of Representatives ;
• the Somaliland opposition parties and civil groups
• the international human rights organisations (for example Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in 2009 alone);
• the US State Department (in its yearly human rights reviews – latest 2009); and
• the UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Somalia/Somaliland – 2008 report, for example.

The detention and imprisonment of persons without due process is contrary to the Somaliland Constitution and the rule of law. The activities of these committees have also done untold damage to the reputation of a country which is aspiring to become one of the few in the region where democracy and respect for the rule of law and human rights are taking root. Human Rights Watch (2009) has summarised the government’s use of the security committees as follows:

“By using bodies that have no viable legal foundation, make no effort to conform to the rights enshrined in the Somaliland constitution, and which elicit no rebuke from the courts, the executive has appropriated much of the power of the judiciary for itself. In the process it has stripped away most of the fundamental rights that are guaranteed to everyone brought before the courts.”

Somalilandlaw.com and others have repeatedly called for the immediate end of the extra judicial activities of the security committees and for the latter to concentrate on their role of helping in the maintenance of security and peace and to leave law enforcement and dispensing justice to the police, the prosecution service and the courts. We repeat that call again and urge all civil groups to make similar calls.

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We appreciate that many of the provisions of the Public Order Law 1963 that have nothing to do with security committees, although dated and not fully in line with modern human rights law, can be used, in the interim, after the government publishes them clearly, until a new modern law can be passed by the parliament. The government has failed over the last 7 years to submit a modern bill to the parliament, and it is no wonder then that its misuse and abuse of the 1963 Public Order Law has led to calls for the total rejection of this old law.

We are disheartened by the fact that the continued intransigence of the government on this issue has made the constitutional/supreme court and the lower courts wary of challenging these unlawful detentions. Now that the Justice Minister pronounced that these detentions are made under the Public Order Law 1963, then even if we assume that such detentions were made under a declared state of emergency, surely the courts can then exercise their powers under Article 72 of the Law which states:

“Article 72 – Confirmation of Restrictive Measures
1. All measures concerning arrest or search of persons or premises taken during a state of emergency under the an ordinance referred to Article 71, paragraph 1(b) [relating to persons suspected of a crime or activities contrary to public order and security] shall be promptly notified to the competent court for confirmation within 30 days from such notification.
2. Except in cases of criminal proceedings, the arrest of persons suspected of such activities contrary to the public order and security may be confirmed for such period as is necessary to prevent the danger of disorders; provided that such period shall not exceed 90 days. The Regional Court within whose territorial jurisdiction the arrest was made shall have exclusive jurisdiction in the matter.
3. An appeal against the confirmation referred to in the preceding paragraph shall lie to the Supreme Court and shall be filed in the manner prescribed by law.”

Courts therefore have jurisdiction to review these detentions even when made under a state of emergency. But as there was no declared national state of emergency, the detentions are not lawful, even under this exceptional provision of the Public Order Law 1963, and therefore the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal can use their Habeas Corpus under Article 66 of the Criminal Procedure Code to order the release of the detainees. Habeas Corpus was the first power of the courts that the military dictatorship suspended in 1970, and it is sad that nearly 20 years after its reinstatement in Somaliland and the adoption of a Charter/Constitution which guarantees the right to liberty (specially under Articles 25 to 28), the Somaliland courts have not so far offered justice to these detainees. We hope the Supreme Court will show leadership in defending both the independent constitutional role of the judiciary, as well as the rights and freedoms of individuals.

Finally, we are coming this year (again) to numerous elections at national and local levels. Public order issues are always heightened during election times , and it is fitting, therefore, that every candidate must be asked a simple question: Do you want committees (of public officials) who hold no hearings or courts of law (with the police, prosecutors and judges) to dispense justice in Somaliland? It is a stark and simple choice – justice, sometimes, is that simple!

Ibrahim Hashi Jama
Somalilandlaw Editorial
editor@somalilandlaw.com

Healthcare vote: Barack Obama passes US health reform by narrow margin

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In the annals of American liberalism, a (very) few years in our history stand out enough that the mere mention of the year summons a waterfall of images and emotions – 1933 means the start of the New Deal and the birth of modern liberalism, 1964 means the passage of the civil rights act, 1965 means the passage of universal healthcare for the elderly. Now, in the wake of this morning’s narrow margin in the House of Representatives, 2010 joins that short list: the year we finally passed major healthcare reform after a century of trying.

It is a monumental accomplishment. The story of that century of failure is a story of multiple plots and subplots, but at its heart the story is about the tension in American society between the individual and the community – whether we are just a loose confederation of individuals who should be left alone to pursue self interest, or something more than that, a community of citizens with mutual ties and obligations.

I know that sounds awfully highfalutin and philosophical, but it’s precisely what the healthcare debate, both the current and historic versions, has been about. Your average American thinks, I have my insurance coverage, so why should I worry about the loser who hasn’t bothered to get his? For people who work hard and aren’t exactly wallowing in spare dollars, it’s a fair question to ask. But there is an answer to it, which is that in the long run, if coverage is universal and insurance companies face stricter rules, society will benefit, and your average American will benefit too, in the form of lower costs and better care.

The problem, of course, is that most people don’t believe that. There are many reasons for this, but a central one is that very wealthy and powerful interests have spent blood-curdling amounts of money convincing them that extending insurance to 32 million more of their fellow citizens (and yes, citizens only – not undocumented immigrants) will be at least detrimental to them and more probably calamitous. A record $3.47 billion was spent lobbying Congress last year. Not all of that was about health care, but a hefty chunk of it was, and the vast majority of it by corporations and associations that wanted to kill the bill outright or shape it to reflect their financial priorities.

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It’s been those two forces – that deeply embedded philosophical resistance to the notion of a common interest, lashed to those billions from corporations whose oxen reform might gore – that have killed efforts like this one every time. The defeat of them is indeed a rare thing in American history.

It did not, you may have noticed, come easily. The Democrats pulled it out in the end, but they – especially the Democrats in Congress – behaved abominably throughout this process. Dozens of Democrats – mostly moderates, but a few on the left, too – acted more like members of a small-town city council considering a zoning application than legislators considering one of the most momentous votes in recent American history. And while it’s certainly true that a “yea” vote last night will prove to be a risky one for some members, and will cost a few of them their jobs, even that reality is no justification for the preening and fretting we’ve witnessed in these recent weeks, weeks they could and should have spent promoting the bill.

Sometimes one had to wonder why some of these people are Democrats in the first place. Barack Obama, speaking to Democratic legislators on Saturday, sought to remind them of this, and he did so in just the philosophical terms I discussed above: “Something inspired you to get involved, and something inspired you to be a Democrat instead of running as a Republican. Because somewhere deep in your heart you said to yourself, I believe in an America in which we don’t just look out for ourselves … but we also have a sense of neighborliness and a sense of community, and we are willing to look out for one another and help people who are vulnerable and help people who are down on their luck and give them a pathway to success and give them a ladder into the middle class. That’s why you decided to run.”

So now they’ve cast that vote, and they will have to defend it. Opposition will be feral. Democrats may well suffer losses in the near term. And substantively, the mandated purchase of insurance, which begins in 2014, will be a hardship for some people at first.

But here’s the thing. Community hasn’t succeeded very often in American politics, but when it has, it’s tended to work better than advertised. Social Security and Medicare (universal coverage for senior citizens) are very popular. Once changes like these are made, well, it takes a while, but most people tend to like them. And maybe that’s the real reason Republicans are so unhinged right now.


Source: Guardian

Terminally ill Somali woman and her son deported from Norway

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OSLO, (SomalilandPress) — Fathiya Ahmed Omar and her six year old son, Munir, were forcefully deported from Bergen, Norway, and sent back to the city of Genoa in Italy where she was found to have been fingered printed and processed as an asylum seeker before entering Norway in 20006.

Ms. Omar left Mogadishu, Somalia, carrying her son Munir and walking all the way to Kenya. From Kenya she went to Sudan, and eventually ended up in Libya. On her way to Libya she was held captive by the Libyan human smugglers who raped her for twenty days.

After this tribulation, Fathiya and her child arrived in Italy where she was processed in the city of Genoa as an asylum seeker. Fathiya decided to head to Norway where she had some family members and went to the city of Bergen.

Last week Immigration officers came to Fathiya’s apartment and was given one hour to gather all her belongings and told that she will be deported to Italy because of the Dublin Cooperation regulation (343/2003/EC).

This agreement established a series of criteria in which any member state that permits an applicant to enter or to reside in the territories of the member States of the European Union is obligated to take back its applicants who are irregularly found in another Member State.

At the time of her deportation Fathiya Omar was going intensive medical surgery at the Bergen hospital for the rape that she sustained from the Libyan human smugglers. Doctor Ulf Horlyk who was treating Fathiya before her deportation confirmed that Fathiya not only needed the physical surgery but also that she needs physiological treatment for the torment that she went through.

Fathiya and her son Munir are now in the city of Genoa, Italy, where they are homeless and without the medical treatment that Fathiya requires. She may not make it without assistance from international rights groups and medical teams.


On 18 February 2003, the EU Council of Ministers adopted a regulation (343/2003/EC) establishing a series of criteria which, in general, allocate responsibility for examining an asylum application to the Member State that permitted the applicant to enter or to reside in the territories of the Member States of the European Union. That Member State is responsible for examining the application according to its national law and is obliged to take back its applicants who are irregularly in another Member State.

Homeless and ill: Farhiya puts her son to sleep on a bench

Photos: WaryaTV

SomalilandPress, 21 March 2010

Rageh Omaar: journalism with passion.

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BEFORE joining the Witness team at the launch of Al Jazeera English, Somali-born reporter Rageh Omaar worked for the BBC for over 12 years. An international correspondent covering stories from all over the world, he reported on the Kosovo War, and the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict. He was named BBC’s Developing World Correspondent and then in 2001, as the BBC’s Africa Correspondent.

After 9/11, the Oxford-trained journalist was the only TV correspondent from a Western media house to report from inside Kabul, Afghanistan during the bombing of the city and Taliban forces.

It was, however, his coverage from Baghdad during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 which brought him worldwide attention.

This year, the forty-three-year old is to front a new series for Al Jazeera called The Rageh Omaar Report, which begins on March 24. In this exclusive interview, Omaar talks about his expectations and hopes for the new programme, and offers advice to upcoming journalists.
What motivated you to start the Rageh Omaar Report?
It really didn’t need much motivating because it was an offer that I think every journalist dreams of, which is to be given your own programme to explore the issues and the stories that you’re passionate about, that are largely ignored by the mainstream western media. I’ve returned to the Balkans, Bosnia to look at how the ethnic war in Bosnia has scarred that region and continues to do today. And also to re-tell the story of how Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader evaded justice from war crimes for so long. I’ve just come back from Zimbabwe, looking at Zimbabwe very differently, not like the one-sided view that’s been done in the Western media quite a lot, but trying to explain Zimbabwe from all sides. We’ve spoken to the opposition and to ZANU-PF. We’ve spoken to indigenous black farmers who’ve benefited from land reform and white farmers who have lost everything, and looking at the land issue in a historical context. So these kind of stories and many more to come is a great personal opportunity and professional opportunity, and as I said it’s the kind of thing all journalists dream of.

What issues do you want to explore in Africa when you start your programme?
The most important thing I want to do, given that how sometimes one dimension and clichéd the coverage of issues in Africa, is not to come with any agenda. I don’t want the Rageh Omaar Report to say, you know, ‘we’re going to do this kind of reporting in Africa or that kind of reporting’. I just want to look at specific issues and countries and deal with them individually because I think one of the problems that I learnt before my years at Al-Jazeera, working in mainstream media, is that often a lot of the West both journalists and even politicians look at Africa as though it is one country and one place. You know Zambia is the same as Nigeria, and Nigeria is the same as Ethiopia, and Ethiopia is the same as Mozambique. Africa is like one place with all the same, similar problems you know, war and hunger and HIV. So I want to do reports on Africa to try and explain individual countries and societies undergoing difficult and sometimes hopeful change, but within their context, so that they’ll be interesting to an African audience. I know that people in Zambia and in Southern Africa are engaged in and are involved in what is happening in Zimbabwe, but that’s not true if you were to talk of viewers in maybe Ghana or Ethiopia or Mauritania. So I’d like people in those countries in Africa to be able to watch it and see hopefully a more intelligent, a more levelheaded but still journalistically strong and brave reporting from Africa. I want to approach the continent in all its complexities, as individual societies and think that there’s one theme to African problems.

Which specific countries are you looking at on your programme? How did you gain the courage to venture into Kabul at the risk of your life to cover the stories?
In terms of the new programme, it’s quite challenging the new programme because we don’t just want to be, it’s not a background story. We want the stories we cover to be relevant and newsworthy. Which is why we’re doing Zimbabwe now and we’ll certainly be looking at my own country Somalia which is a big hot issue, regionally in the continent and internationally. We’ll be looking at many other sorts of issues. I think we really want to explore America and America under Obama, and how it relates with the world, I think that’s very important, how it relates to Africa, the Muslim world. I think especially for a channel like Al-Jazeera, it’s very important to examine and look at America and its role in the world, but how Americans explain their policies and their role in the world and vice versa. So that’s a big topic, I think especially from a non-Western international news organisation’s point of view, like Al-Jazeera, because of course the other big international news channels, BBC, CNN are Western, but to have Al-Jazeera as a way for America to engage and how its engaging with the world is very important, in Africa and elsewhere. So very broad issues really, and timely issues.

In terms of why did I go to Kabul with the Taleban, I was the only news television journalist working for Western news agency, Al-Jazeera Arabic was there. I think, like someone said, it’s like a cat, curiousity. In journalists I think the one element that is indispensable (is) you’ve got to have a natural curiousity: what’s happening there? What’s really going on? Because also as dangerous as it was, because I was Muslim, because I was not white, I think that was an advantage. I was able to engage with the militia leaders and other people, and they saw me differently, and that’s why they decided to take me and only a few other non-Western colleagues into Kabul, and to have the privilege to see the last moments of the fall of Kabul with the Taleban before NATO and its allies took the city.

Will you cover Iraq? How does present-day Iraq compare with the Iraq of 2003?
I think it’s very important. Of course it’s different in some ways, and not different in others. The main thing I think we have to remember is that many, many tens of thousands of Iraqis have died for the country to get to where it is today. We’ve obviously just had elections in Iraq and I read a very interesting headline; it read ‘Iraq condemned to democracy’. And I think that was a very telling headline, you know, because there are elections, but politics is not time democratic. You have militia leaders and a lot of people who have sectarian politics, the insecurity is still there but still it’s not the place it was in 2003, 2004. But Iraq is still very fragile, it’s going to take a very, very long time for you and for me to be able to take a ride in Baghdad and walk around and talk to all Iraqis and see the country differently.

I think it’s been very, very incremental changes, and there have been important developments, there is a thriving press and so forth, but we can’t describe Iraq as a full democracy in a way that someone in the West would understand it.

And also there is a sectarian fault line in Iraq. It’s very different to the kind of Iraq we were all told was going to emerge from the invasion and occupation. If everyone had said in 2003, “by going into Iraq, we’ll have six, seven years of bloodshed and upheaval, but at the end of it, we’ll have relative democracy, but still authoritarian and sectarian division,” would everyone have said, “yes, let’s go in”? I don’t think so.

What do you think are some of the challenges journalists are facing and do you see any countries in Africa where great strides have been made to allow journalists to practice their profession freely?

I think the profession has changed out of all recognition in the last 10 years.

Because, I think especially in electronic media, the ability to get into it has become more accessible. To have television cameras and editing equipment and software and computers is possible now. You’ve got television stations, and really good journalism blogs, and newspapers and production, the standards are out of this world. I just think one has to be much braver because of the political context in a lot of Africa to be able to practice the profession freely. I think journalism succeeds not only because you have the ability to do it, but also because you have the support of society and government to practice it freely. You’ve got to have that. So that’s a big challenge in a lot of different places. There are far too many places in Africa where, look at my own country – journalists who write articles about al-Shabaab which is the militant group in Somalia – they’re often threatened and killed. That’s a real problem. …the profession is doing incredibly well, but it also needs support and help.

Do you think the media has portrayed your country specifically Somalia in a fair light, considering most of the images we see have to do with what you’ve mentioned terrorist groups, pirates, lawlessness…?

I think you’re right. Somalia has become a cliché. You know, everybody talks about Somalia as a failed state, no government for 20 years and then whenever anyone gets interested in Somalia, Western interests or Westerners are involved; you know the piracy. The piracy is a symptom of what’s happening in Somalia and to Somalis. But we have to be honest; this has been done by Somalis to Somalis, there’s no getting away from that, you know. And Somalia is in a catastrophic state, but I think the West needs to realise and is beginning to realise now, especially with the support of the transitional government is that there’s only going to be a Somali solution to this, with help from the outside, with help from countries in the region, from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, many others. But its only going to be Somalis that can effectively…at the end of the day. So of course these things are happening I can’t deny, no Somali can deny, but I think that like the rest of Africa, it’s hard to see in the Western media beyond the cliché.

Looking at where you have come from as a journalist, what advice can you give to upcoming journalist today in Africa?

I think journalism as a profession, whether you go from the UK or wherever, it’s tough, because sometimes it’s a closed shop. You need a lot of persistence. It can seem like it’s hard to get ahead. But the advice I’d give first of all, you’ve got to know what kind of journalism you want to practice.

Don’t have like just pipe dreams and say “Oh, I want to be in the media.” What is it that you’re passionate about? Is it sport? Is it politics? Is it like social commentary? You’ve got to know what is it that you’re passionate about.

Be very direct because you won’t get any editor giving you any advice or a chance, unless you’re very clear about what you’re good at. You’ve also got to develop a tough character because news is fast-paced, you need to be able to write well. But persist. You got to have persistence, I think that’s the main thing because it’s a tough, tough business to break into; it’s not easy to get into. But you’ve got to persist.

Source: Sunday Post Online

Russian delegation arrives in Somaliland

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HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — Somaliland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed a high-powered Russian business delegation that is in Somaliland to explore investment opportunities and strengthen relations.

The delegation which consists of investors and journalists is in the country for a four-day visit and are expected to meet with different Somaliland ministers and the president.

The delegation will travel to number of locations where they will examine investment-related opportunities in a bid to strengthen bilateral economic and commercial relations in the region.
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According to sources the Russians want to renew their relations with the nations of the Horn of Africa under new foreign policy dubbed ‘Horn of Africa initiative’, similar to that one of the days of the Soviet Union. They added that Somaliland was the first of number of countries the Russians want to develop ties with in the region.

They will visit port of Berbera, where they will meet President Dahir Rayale. Berbera’s 12-metre deep-water facility was constructed in 1964 by Russian engineers at a cost of $5.6 million. They have also constructed the longest run way in the region in the 70s.

The reports added that the Russians want to invest in oil exploration and other infrastructures.

In the final-leg of their visit, the Russian delegation have been invited for a dinner at Mansor Hotel where they will meet with former Somali students who studied in the Soviet Union.

Last week, the Russian navy operating the coast of Somalia, turned over seven suspected pirates to Somaliland authorities in the Sanag region.

Somalilandpress, 21 March 2010

Of Things That Make Me Growl

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HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) – It was with great interest that I read an article published on March 14, 2010 entitled ‘Dream job turns into a nightmare’ on The Star, one of Malaysia’s leading English language newspapers, regarding telecommunications consultant Hor Chee Fei’s experience in Somaliland.

Somaliland is of personal interest to my husband and I as we lived and worked in Hargeisa last year as volunteer teachers, and intend to return to the country this August for another year.

After spending six months in the country and experiencing our own host of Somaliland adventures, I feel compelled to write in and express my disagreement with the tone used in this write-up. I will not deny that Somaliland is far from perfect and can definitely understand Hor’s situation. I can probably even relate to it a little having been threatened with deportation myself by a former employer in Hargeisa (one of many ‘adventures’), but the country (and its people) does not deserve the unflattering language used in Hor’s one-sided account published in The Star.

Somaliland was referred to as a lawless country not once, but twice in the article and it left me wondering what one defines as a ‘lawless’ country. Anyone who has been to Somaliland can attest to how far the country has come since being virtually leveled to the ground during the civil war almost twenty years ago. There is now a government, a more or less stable currency, a bustling and functioning main city and while there is plenty to be done in terms of public infrastructure and establishing a sustainable economy, people are happy (as happy as can be given their situation), proud and more importantly, peaceful. And let us remember that all of this was accomplished without formal international recognition. This is so much more than can be said about many countries in other parts of the world.

I will not presume to know how it was for Hor and his team members in Somaliland, I know nothing of the events that led up to their sudden departure from Hargeisa. The article talks about how Hor visited the country prior to his engagement and I can only assume that he and his team entered on appropriate work visas and had gone through all the normal government channels, of which there are many and admittedly, can be confusing at times. The government takes the security of the international population very seriously as all foreign workers are registered with the local police department and are required to be briefed upon arrival on security and safety measures in the country. Foreigners are technically not allowed to move about without armed personnel, especially in the later hours of the day and when traveling outside Hargeisa. While these regulations may sound a little frightening and alarming to newcomers and outsiders, they in no way suggest that Somaliland is unsafe or that foreigners are constantly in danger or harm’s way. If anything, it means that the Somaliland government prefers not to take any unnecessary risks when it comes to safeguarding the security of its guests and the overall peace that they have worked so hard to achieve since its formation in 1991. If this doesn’t speak of some working laws, I don’t know what does.

It is not apparent how much research was done by the writer before writing this article. From the international community’s point of view, the writer is not technically wrong in calling Somaliland part of Somalia, neither is he/she wrong when he/she writes that Somalia is currently one of the most dangerous places in the world; and yes, Somalia has been quoted as the most lawless place on Earth. However, I feel that it would be a grave wrongdoing to equate Somaliland with the rest of Somalia when the two countries’ political and social environments could not be more different. To put it briefly, most of southern Somalia is controlled by the Al-Shabab, an Islamist group bent on implementing its own interpretation of Islamic sharia, and the group continues to wage war against the internationally-backed, but weak government led by Sharif Ahmed.

Somaliland, in comparison, has succeeded in remaining independent and on the sidelines of this conflict and is governed by a democratically elected government, headed by President Dahir Riyale Kahin and Vice President Ahmed Yusuf Yasin. What this means on a more basic, day-to-day level is that while civilians are dying in Somalia whether from military offensives between Al-Shabab and government forces or from lack of basic necessities like food and water due to the war, Somaliland has peace and order on its streets, no one is dying a violent death, Hargeisa’s residents are not exactly starving and the country is moving forward despite the absence of international recognition.

To not acknowledge this difference, in my opinion, appears to be an oversight by the writer of this article. Even if one is only writing about Hor Chee Fei’s experience and not a narrative on Somaliland politics and history, journalist Shaun Ho has a responsibility to depict things accurately and objectively. Many are unaware of the existence of Somaliland and that it is not involved in the brutal war raging in Somalia. To write it off such as in the article, would be to disregard and disrespect the hard work of Somalilanders everywhere.

As for Hor’s situation, I can only share what I’ve learnt from my own experiences in Hargeisa. My husband and I left for Somaliland last year to join a university as faculty of engineering. Upon arrival, we found the university to be non-operational, and its founder and president had hired no administrative staff and was single-handedly running the whole show. He had yet to recruit students for our classes despite promises that it was already in the making. There were other issues as well, namely a lack of properly laid out job descriptions, and the realisation that our director had not really thought the whole thing through and wanted us to build and implement degree programmes from scratch when none of us were qualified to confer degrees (at least, not accredited ones)!

After two weeks of consideration and deliberation with three other volunteer teachers in the same predicament (two of whom had arrived two months prior to our arrival, and were still waiting on classes that were supposed to have begun weeks before), as well as attempts to voice our concerns with our employer in hopes that we would be able to work things out, we decided to submit our resignations and find work elsewhere in Somaliland. We had all come to Somaliland to teach and experience Somali culture, and we were determined to do just that. None of us had actually signed an employment contract with our director, so we felt that it was within our rights to merely inform him of our decision, and leave. He was understandably quite disappointed with our decision, but we parted on good, if not amicable terms.

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We had found employment with another local college on the other side of Hargeisa and was just settling into our teaching schedules when our new employers informed us that our former employer had submitted a formal complaint to the Ministry of Education, accusing them of underhandedly stealing away his teachers. He claimed that our departure had incurred unexpected costs and that our new school be held responsible for this. He also requested that we be deported from the country immediately. We were shocked (and somewhat fascinated by the absurdity of his accusations) and worried that we had bitten off more than we could chew as we were told by our college and the Ministry of Education that we had failed to go through the proper procedures of leaving one employer for another within Somaliland. Procedures that involved firstly, approaching the ministry with any grievances towards an employer in order for them to mediate the situation between the employee and employer and avoid ill feelings. Secondly, if disputes cannot be resolved by ministry officials, they will then bear witness to the resignation process. And lastly, the new employer must meet with the old employer as an act of courtesy and goodwill.

We were made to sit through what seemed like countless meetings with ministry officials and our new college president and his administrative staff. Our former director refused to back down on his demands and the ministry tried everything in its power to placate him without giving in to him. At the same time, they made it clear that our rights were not to be abused and since no contract was signed, it was our prerogative to seek new employment. While we were confused with the course of action taken by all parties involved (it seemed rather unorthodox to us that the ministry tried so hard to appease our old director, and our new president actually had to meet with him and apologise for not approaching him earlier), we were impressed with the effort made by the authorities to make us feel safe, secure and welcome to stay and contribute our expertise to the country. Despite our former employer’s accusations and demands, not once did we feel threatened or at risk of being harmed by anybody.

I understand that our situation differs from Hor Chee Fei’s. I can imagine how frightful it can be being in a situation where your employer threatens to make life difficult for you. Not to mention how his men followed Hor right up to the runway leaving Berbera (although, we’ve stopped a plane on the Hargeisa runway ourselves. We bought last minute tickets as the plane was pulling out and we ran down the runway chasing after the aircraft. I am happy to report that we succeeded in boarding it). Things are especially frightening when one is not accustomed to the local culture and cannot predict how people would respond to you and the things you do.

We’ve found ourselves in rather stressful situations ourselves, not knowing what to do or whom to turn to. Our accommodation was once broken into while we were away, allegedly by people that we knew. We felt a little uneasy for days afterwards, but let it slide as none of our things were missing. I was regularly approached by well-meaning men who felt it appropriate to comment on my un-Islamic dressing (ie pants instead of skirts) despite the fact that I was extremely covered and modestly clothed especially by Malaysian standards. My husband was constantly yelled at on streets, mostly unsolicited greetings, sometimes obscenities (which usually meant it was the only English they knew), and it took him a while to realise that raised voices did not necessarily precede aggressive behaviour. Children threw rocks at us from across the street. But then we noticed that parents threw rocks at children (to get their attention), so then rock throwing became commonplace.

The armed guard who sleeps in front of our house once fired his AK-47 and we almost got heart attacks wondering what could possibly have happened (it turns out that some teenagers were bothering him). And once, a man followed us all the way down the street inquiring where our armed guard was and thinking back he could easily have been mistaken as a potential harm doer. It took time and patience, but as we became more familiar with Somaliland, occurrences that were once frightening became less frightening and eventually we became used to the unexpected and learnt to roll with the punches a little more easily.

All our time there has taught us this: that the people of Somaliland really do value peace above all else. They have seen too much war and frankly speaking, they are sick and tired of it and want no more fighting. So we knew that no matter how unnerving some individuals were towards us, we had faith in the people. We had (and have) faith that whatever trouble we faced, we could trust the Somalilanders to choose the most peaceful solution to our problems.

by M. A. Abdullah
21 March 2010

Enterprising ‘Somalilander’ dreams of returning home

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JEDDAH (Somalilandpress) — Mohamed T. Gino has been residing and working in the Kingdom for the past 24 years. He calls himself a Somalilander and dreams of returning to Somaliland, the country of his birth, someday.

“It is a personal struggle to be away from home, but I am happy and thankful to this country, Saudi Arabia, and its leaders for extending the benevolent arms to us Somalilanders to stay and work in this place we now call our home,” Gino said.

Gino is one of the approximately 3,000 Somalilanders residing in the Eastern Province. The Somalilanders in the Kingdom work in government agencies and private business sectors. Gino works independently as a businessman and business development officer.
For over two decades, Gino has built strong ties with business communities in Saudi Arabia, leading him to a number of successes. “I plan to return home someday; I am saving enough money to start a fishing business because my country is endowed with rich fishing resources,” he said.

Gino, like his compatriots, is waiting for international recognition of Somaliland and the establishment of a strong and transparent government. “When all these issues are settled, then it will be time for me and my family to return home,” he said.

Somaliland was the first of the five Somali territories to achieve independence from the British Empire on June 26, 1960 based on its existing borders and, before the merger with Somalia on July 1, 1960, the first Somali country to be recognized by the United Nations and 35 member nations immediately after independence like the rest of the African States.
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Independent Somaliland tried to strengthen its unification with Somalia in its quest for Greater Somalia in the Horn of Africa, but Somalia hijacked the governments of the union for the thirty years of its existence, from1960 to1990, and treated Somaliland as one of its own provinces. The Somalilanders rebelled against the injustices perpetrated by Somalia in the twenty years between 1960-1980. In those 20 years, Somaliland had three consecutive elected presidents and two parliaments in addition to a municipal council.

Somalilanders held a national congress on May 18, 1991 and unanimously proclaimed the withdrawal of Somaliland from the union with Somalia and reclaimed the country’s independence on June 26, 1960 renaming it the Somaliland Republic.

Somaliland Republic’s fledgling democracy, however, encountered many serious obstacles since the first municipal elections that were held in 2002, resulting in the delay of the presidential election.
According to Gino, many of his compatriots who arrived and settled in Saudi Arabia in the early 1960s have become Saudi citizens. Like many Saudis, they continue to support Somaliland by investing and doing business in there. “We Somalilanders have strong links and ties of friendship with Saudi Arabia,” he added.

“Our country is rich in natural and mineral resources, and I plan, with the cooperation of my fellow expatriate Somalilanders, to harness this wealth for the benefit of our people,” Gino said.

– Sournce: Saudi Gazette, 20th March 2010

SOMALILAND: One Person Dies As Police Raid a House

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Burao, 20 March 2010 (Somalilandpress) – The Somaliland police in Togdher have clashed with gunmen on Saturday. The police raided a house in Faqa Ayub village, around 170kms northern Burao while searching a man who killed a police officer in Burao last week.

It is reported that the man was hiding in a house in the village when the police attacked but faced with resistance from armed men. One of the militia died and two others were wounded, one of them is a policeman.

The regional admin confirmed the clash to the press saying they will capture the suspect soon. They did not give any further details to the incident.

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Reports say there are efforts going on in Burao in order to avoid more clashes in the Faqa Ayub village.

A gunman killed a police officer last week as he was coming out from a teashop in Burao. It is believed that the killing was related to a clan revenge.

Somalilandpress

Kenya: Nation Stuck With Somali 'Mercenaries'

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Nairobi, 20 March 2010 (Somalilandpress) – Nairobi — An estimated 2,500 Somali youths trained by Kenya to fight in Somalia are stranded at Archer’s Post in Isiolo, The Star has established.

A report by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia which was presented to the UN Security Council indicates the youths, majority of them from the Ogaden clan, started receiving training early last year at the request of President Sheikh Shariff under the auspices of his then Minister of Defence Mohamed Abdi Mohammed “Gandhi”.

“Kenya hosted the programme and Ethiopia has been closely involved.

Approximately 2,500 youths were recruited by clan elders and commissioned agents both from within Somalia (exclusively the Juba Valley) and Northeastern Kenya, including the Daadab refugee camp,” states the UN report.

The Star established that the youths cannot be deployed to Somalia as there was a stalemate between Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia about where they would be most useful.

While the Kenyan security forces want to have the youths deployed in the southern Somali regions of Juba and Gedo to create a buffer zone with the militant Al Shabaab, Ethiopia and the Somalia transitional government want them sent to Mogadishu to help repulse the Al Shabaab who have taken control of large parts of the capital.

Somalia President Sheikh Shariff later fell out with his Defence minister Mohamed Ghandi, an Ogadeni, whom he suspected of pushing for the deployment of the youths in Juba and Gedo to not only fight the Al Shabaab but also lay the foundation for the establishment of an Ogaden autonomous region.

Ethiopia’s fears the deployment of the contingent in Ogaden might bolster and give the Ogaden National Liberation Front a launching pad for its attacks against Ethiopia.

The Ogaden clan live in the central Ogaden plateau of Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province of Kenya, and the Jubaland region of Southern Somalia. In Kenya, the Ogadeni have served the government in key positions since independence.

Yesterday Somalia Ambassador to Kenya, Mohamed Ali Nur, confirmed there was a stalemate in the deployment process. He could not comment further “because the issue is sensitive.” “The government of Somalia will very soon address that. I am not an authority on this matter. I can’t talk about it, but I have heard the reports of the former Somali Defence minister meeting with Somali elders in Nairobi on the deployment issue,” said Ali Nur.

The Ministry of Foreign Affair spokesman Egara Kabaji denied the UN report that Kenya was training the youths to support Somalia transitional government. He denied the existence of the such a contingent anywhere in the country, Kabaji said the only training that the government was involved in was in accordance with an agreement between the EU and Kenya in which Kenya offered to train policemen for the Somalia government.

“The last time we trained Somali police officers was in 2006, when we trained 200 VIP protection police officers. But even as we speak there is a plan between Kenya and the EU to train Somali policemen,” said Kabaji.

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However, according to the UN report: “In December 2009, the Kenyan Minister for security, George Saitoti, reportedly confirmed to foreign diplomats the existence of Jubaland policy which is intended to establish a ‘buffer zone’ bordering Kenya in the Juba Valley.” Yesterday Parliament’s departmental committee of Foreign Affairs said they will in the next 10 days table a report on the recruitment in the House. Committee chairman Aden Keynan said the matter had serious consequences for security in the region.

“The issue we have been dealing with is about recruitment of the youth which the committee has concluded its investgigations,” said Keynan.

According to the UN report, two training centres were established at the Kenya Wildlife Service training camp at Manyani, and near Archer’s Post in Isiolo.

“A total of 36 Somali officers were recruited to assist in the training under the command of a General Abdi Mahdi and Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail ‘Fartaag’. The officers completed one-month training in September 2009”.

The youths under the command of General Mahdi, a former Somali warlord, were supposed to be deployed on February 16, 2010 immediately after they completed their training.

They have been at the training camps since then waiting for their deployment.

Yesterday security analysts were fearful that if the squad is allowed back into the communities it would pose a grave security risk. A few of the trainees escaped from the camp when they received reports they might be deployed to Mogadishu to fight the Al-Shabaab militants.

One of the Kenyan Somali trainers who sought anonymity told the Star that he and other trainers have not been paid since the programme started last September.

The youths who were each promised a salary of $150 (Sh11,400) a month after recruitment had also not been paid.

Last Tuesday the former Somalia Defence minister Mohamed Ghandi hosted elders from the Marehan and Ogaden clans to brief them on the training and deployment plans. The meeting, held at Chester House, Nairobi, also discussed the possibility of the two clans withdrawing their support to the Somali government.

Sources at the meeting said Ghandi assured the elders that the youths will be deployed in the Gedo and Juba region as he had initially planned when he was still Minister.

Source: Nairobi Star

Security Council Extends Mandate of Group Monitoring Weapons Bans in Somalia

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New York, 20 March 2010 (Somalilandpress) – Condemning the continued flow of weapons that it said violated its arms embargoes on Somalia and Eritrea, the Security Council this afternoon extended for 12 months the mandate of the group monitoring those measures, expanding its mandate and giving it three additional experts.

Unanimously adopting resolution 1916 (2010) under the Charter’s Chapter VII, the Council also condemned the misappropriation and politicization of humanitarian assistance by armed groups in Somalia and called upon all Member States and United Nations units to take all feasible steps to mitigate such practices.

Through the resolution, in addition, the Council decided to ease some restrictions and obligations under the sanctions regime to enable the delivery of supplies and technical assistance by international, regional and subregional organizations and to ensure the timely delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance by the United Nations.

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The expanded mandate of the Monitoring Group includes oversight of the arms embargo on Eritrea and the designation of individuals subjected to a travel ban and asset freeze for violations, as set out in December 2009 by resolution 1907, which demanded that Eritrea cease its support for destabilizing elements in the region.

The Council, by today’s action, reiterated its intention to consider further specific action to improve the implementation of the arms embargo, which was first imposed by resolution 733 in 1992 on arms destined for Somalia. The country has been without a functioning Government and beset by factional fighting since 1991.

Source: Reliefweb