Hargeisa, 15 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) – If we look back into Government handling of this anticipated Sept.27,2009 election from 2006 to-date, We will be able to tabulate known Government policies of pre-delaying major hot issues to the last days or months proceeding the Election date!! The philosophy behind this unusual deception was to give the presidency’s Ally -The Guurti- a justification to extend the period on grounds of in-adequate time remining from the pre-set Election Date!!
This stubborn behavior was often followed by Constitutional crises, terrorist acts or inter-clan conflicts orchestrated through Gov,t covert activities!! Readers should be remembering the Daror, Ceel- garas, Yeyle, Berbera’s Dubar area, The Cement Factory crisis, Hargeisa empty spaces, local-made bomb detonations, where no body had been hit or injured and no creminals detained for those, but were blamed by Gov’t on the opposition, to twist the facts!!
Of those dirty trick operations, the sole benefactor of events was the Gov’t only and not the Opposition Political Parties to the fact that the Administration was trying to establish a fact on the ground that the National security was in danger, therby indicating to the Guurti to extend the Presidential Mandate by exercising the Constitutional Article, 83 !!
This was foiled in it’s all attempts by the opposition confronting the Administration with beyond the call of doubt facts, and at times with demonstrations!!
Now that Sept 27th, 2009 is only two months away, We do remind this Faqash reminents, Intelligence Officers lead Administration, please stop those old dirty tricks, that made your Russian Experts to shy-away of it and seek memberships in joining the E.U, because of the benignness of their policies, which only instigated hatred on them at every country they applied those dirty tricks at, that lead to chasing them out of Africa and Parts of th Middle-East as well.
The Bardaale conflict , was a covert political operation meant to destabilize the Country, You could see the installing of Federal flags of Somalia at parts of Borama and Laas-Anod!! More concretely, a delegation lead by Mr. Haabsade, the same colonel, who chased allegedly, President Riyale from laas-Anod and occupied that region with feeble Puntland Militia of Puntland for three years reached Borama two days ago , what for?!! to recite qur’aan there?!! We can’t take it any more Sirs!! , nor could we believe in this Administration, unless we see a sanctioned, ranked to file National Armed forces, with clear identification emblems demonstrating their regiments in the Somaliland National Armed forces, and formal Chains of command, but not , those mostly illetrate and undisciplined UNDP Kaki dressed with those of TNG Militia as i the case now, to be exploited on martial order and not through lawful Army Chains of Command controlled discipline and not, as is
now happenng at Bardaale!!
If the truth in any Dispute is not put into spot-light, any solution habhazardly uttered, will only lead to failure and may aggrevate the situation!! If we believe in honesty, We got to execute , the many judgements over Bardaale , last of which was the Guurti indictement. Instigating chaos at Borama , Laas-Anod and Berbera this time, will not be of any significance, because of the public knowledge of Gov’t election time Old-tactics!!
Dr. Ali A. Mohamed
_______________________________________________________________________________________ Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial
Hargeisa, 14 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) – According to some recent articles, quoted from a report from Human Rights Watch presented in Hargeisa, the capital city “Somaliland, “cautions that Somaliland is at a crucial juncture after an unlikely recent history of democratic progress and relative stability in the Horn of Africa. Somaliland is in danger of losing its democratic and human rights gains…” according to a human rights group. Let us examine these statements in detail.
The report was actually presented in Hargeisa, not in some foreign city, but in the capital city of Somaliland. This is an example of Somaliland’s political maturity. There was no attempt to block or muzzle the report by the Somaliland authorities, and it has been freely printed and discussed in the press. How many nations in the world can boast such a freedom of expression?
The report, although by and large based on the delay in the Presidential elections caused by problems with the voter registration programme, does mention, Somaliland hasn’t turned into a “Somalia”, and is not likely to do so.
There is still the process of law, the judicial system is working, and the legislative system is fully functional. The Presidential election will be held on the 27th of September, 2009, and as recently as a few days ago all three Somaliland political parties signed their declaration of intent with the National Elections Commission.
According to Human Rights Watch senior researcher Chris Albin-Lackey “The West’s failure to engage with Somaliland as separate from the rest of war-torn Somalia is a missed opportunity”. For eighteen years, the people and the leadership of Somaliland have been saying the same thing.
Mr. Albin-Lackey goes on to state “Somaliland’s unique success story within a region where human rights violations are the norm should give additional impetus to the fight to save the territory’s democracy”. Once again let me reassure Mr. Albin-Lackey and all at the Human Rights Watch, the citizen’s of Somaliland wholeheartedly agree with this view, and are more than willing to join in the protection of their democracy, and they will be glad to learn that the rest of the world will finally acknowledge its unique success, and come on board.
The report also goes on to mention that there is a need for “a new policy framework on the part of international donors that looks at the realities on the ground in Somaliland..Greater willingness to invest time and resources to following what is going on here and finding effective ways both to provide assistance..”. This is not entirely accurate, there have been many nations engaging Somaliland for the past eighteen years, including the US, UK, EU and other interested parties. In fact, the US, UK and EU continue to provide funds for capacity building including voter registration, education and elections.
Looking at this report in an objective manner, the government of Somaliland and its leadership have not denied the process of law or habeas corpus to any of its citizens. There are no allegations of summary executions or beheadings or detentions, this is after all democracy.
The report is merely stating the Somaliland’s democracy is at the crucial juncture, and needs the support of the international community in order to safeguard this unique success story. There will not be many reasonable people who will disagree with this statement.
In conclusion, it worth noting that Somaliland has cooperated with the United States and other Western nations in combating terrorism and piracy . Isn’t this a mark of true democracy in a dangerous world.
Ahmed Kheyre
London
______________________________________________________________________________________ Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial
Somalia's soldiers patrol in Afgooye, some 30 kilometres south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on October 19, 2016. - At least four police officers were killed on October 18 when a suicide bomb attacker rammed an explosives-packed car into a police station before fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group subsequently stormed the area killing at least 10 people, including soldiers and civilians. (Photo by MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB / AFP)
Mogadishu, Jul 14 2009 — Gun battles in Somalia are continuing as government forces and opposition fighters vow to press their fight for control of the country.
The exact details of who is holding the upper hand in battle is still murky, but the human toll from the conflict is crystal clear.
Al-Shabaab’s first attack on Kenyan soil was in 2008. Since then the Kenyan government has responded with force. United Nations Photo/Flickr
Hargeisa, 14 July 2009 – Federal officials unsealed an indictment in Minneapolis on Monday charging two young Somali-Americans with providing material support for terrorism.
The disclosure of the indictment, which was handed up by a grand jury in February, is the first public step in a sweeping federal investigation of more than 20 young Americans who are believed to have joined a militant Islamist group in Somalia, the Shabaab, that is affiliated with Al Qaeda.
The indictment states that one of the men, Salah Osman Ahmed, flew from Minneapolis to Somalia in December 2007 to “fight jihad.” Mr. Ahmed, 26, and Abdifatah Yusuf Isse, 25, have been charged with plotting to provide “personnel including themselves” in a conspiracy to “kill, kidnap, maim or injure” people in a foreign country.
The case drew national attention after one of the other men, Shirwa Ahmed, blew himself up in an attack in Somalia last October, becoming the first known American suicide bomber.
The indictments followed news that two other Somali-American men suspected of fighting with the Shabaab were shot dead Friday in a battle in the Somali capital. Relatives and friends reported the deaths of the men, Zakaria Maruf, 30, and Jamal Sheikh Bana, 20, both of Minneapolis.
Salah Osman Ahmed, one of the men charged Monday, used to write rap lyrics before he became religious in recent years, a friend said. After Mr. Ahmed arrived in Somalia, he became disillusioned with the militant movement there, said the friend, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It wasn’t for him,” the friend said. “He felt like he didn’t fit in.”
Both Mr. Ahmed and Mr. Isse later returned to the United States. Mr. Isse was detained last spring in Seattle, said Stephen L. Smith, a lawyer who advised Mr. Isse’s former girlfriend. Mr. Ahmed, who was working as a security guard in Minneapolis, was arrested there on Saturday.
The men are being held at an undisclosed location pending a detention hearing on Thursday.
Hargeisa, 14 July 2009 – Transport delays from Djibouti have led the World Food Programme (WFP) to begin diverting vessels carrying food assistance to the Port of Sudan and the Port of Berbera in Somaliland, where trucks will transport the aid to Ethiopia.
This decision by the WFP was a result of the Ethiopian Government ostensibly prioritizing the transportation of fertilizers from the Port of Djibouti to crop-producing areas of the country with the intention of trying to increase production at the next harvest.
Many international NGOs are currently criticizing the Government for its decision to prioritize fertilizer delivery, while 4.9 million citizens are badly in need of emergency food assistance. WFP was the first to condemn the Government in a move that also raised the Government’s awareness of the issue.
The Disaster Management and Food Security Sector (DMFSS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development explained to the charities that it has agreed to ease distribution delays and prioritize the transportation of emergency food assistance according to USAID’s emergency report titled, ‘Ethiopia – Complex Emergency’.
The Government has agreed to authorize companies to provide 100 trucks per day to transport food commodities from the port as of late June. However, WFP reported that the transport challenge is continuing.
According to it, an average of only 12 trucks are currently transporting food per day, which prompted WFP to divert vessels carrying food assistance to the alternative ports. WFP reached the decision on which ports to use after trucking companies from Somaliland agreed to transport the aid to Ethiopia.
Areas that produce during the belg rains are currently registering below average harvests that are worsening food insecurity. Preliminary belg assessment findings of UN agencies indicates a significant reduction of belg crop levels, including 75 to 90 per cent crop loss in some areas, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported.
INDIAN OCEAN - OCTOBER 8: In this handout photograph provided by the U.S. Navy, pirates leave the merchant vessel MV Faina for the Somalia shore under observation by a U.S. Navy ship October 8, 2008 at sea in the Indian Ocean. The Belize-flagged cargo ship is owned and operated by Kaalbye Shipping, Ukraine and is carrying a cargo of Ukrainian T-72 tanks and related military equipment. The ship was seized by pirates September 25 and forced to anchor off the Somali coast. (Photo by Jason R. Zalasky/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
Hargeisa, 14 July 2009 – Eyewitnesses say two French journalists have been kidnapped from a hotel in the Somali capital.
Abdi Mohamed Ahmed, who owns a teashop in front of the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu, said about 10 gunmen disarmed the hotel’s guards Tuesday morning and kidnapped the men.
Hotel manager Mohamed Hassan Gafaa said the men are French journalists.
Somalia is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists to work.
epa05758229 People gather for a protest at the International arrivals of Boston's Logan International Airport after people arriving from Muslim-majority countries were held at the border control as a result of the new executive order by US President Donald Trump in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 28 January 2017. According to reports, thousands of people took part in the demonstration as people from countries on the suspension list were reportedly held at the airport. US federal judge issued an emergency stay for visa holders and refugees that have been detained at airports following US President Donald Trump's executive order, halting all refugee entry for 120 days and for 90 days bans entry from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. EPA/JOHN CETRINO
Hargeisa, 14 July 2009 – A group of 92 people in need of international protection received the red carpet treatment at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Thursday, as they completed the last leg of a long and hazardous journey via Malta from their homes in Africa and Asia.
French Immigration Minister Eric Besson greeted the newcomers after they flew into a cloudy Paris on Thursday afternoon from sunny Malta. The group, including 20 children, was made up of people from various nationalities. More than half (57) were Somalis. There were also 18 Eritreans, nine Sudanese, three Ethiopians, three Sri Lankans and two people from Côte d’Ivoire.
“I wish you all the best in France. I wish you peace and happiness in your new life,” Besson told the new arrivals, whom France had agreed to accept from Malta as a gesture of European responsibility sharing and solidarity. “Your future starts here,” he added.
Every year hundreds of desperate migrants and asylum-seekers arrive in Malta, a tiny island nation of 400,000 inhabitants, after making the perilous boat trip across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa. They have fled poverty, persecution or war.
To help Malta, the French government agreed to receive 96 people whom the Maltese authorities had given either refugee status or subsidiary protection. Of these, 92 arrived in Paris on Thursday, while the rest, an Iraqi family of four, will come at a later date.
“France is proud to be the European country that receives the most asylum-seekers,” Besson told journalists covering the arrival. “This not a case of immigration but of asylum, which is a completely different thing. To those chased out of their country by oppression, France will do everything necessary to integrate them.”
The minister also told the new arrivals about some of France’s core values, including liberty, equality and fraternity as well as religious tolerance and secularism. He said they were expected to do their best to become self-sufficient and integrate, particularly by learning French.
“It’s good to learn French to be able to communicate with people and find a job,” said Abdirisaaq, a 21-year-old man who fled Mogadishu in Somalia and made his way through Kenya, Sudan and Libya, before making the sea voyage to Malta. “Today, I feel as happy as the day that I was saved from the sea and touched land after fours days at sea,” he said.
After receiving refreshments and talking to officials and journalists, the group was taken by bus to collective centres in the towns of Nanterre, Poitiers, Créteil and Oissel, where they will stay until they find employment and accommodation.
Halimu, a Somali woman wearing white flowing robes and with henna patterns on her hands, said in fluent English before heading to an accommodation centre in Oissel: “I’m very happy because I will start my life again, improve my education and eventually reunite with my husband and children.”
Hargeisa, 14 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The is no Somalilander, who is not angered over the loose Gov’t handling of the land problem. In th hitory of land Disputes, it had been customery for Governments to act immediately and put in place a lasting peace by ruling fairly on the problem in a way that every party had too be confronted with the truth and Administrative resources statements of Facts.
The Bardaale issue is one of the Gov’t set backs. This is not the first time such a verdict lands on one of the clans but there had been others too, on the same clan. It’s very unfortunate and highly regretable to learn, loss of Somalilanders lives in conflict, which should not have taken place at all if strict non bias on the spot solution would have been exercised by the Government at time.
l think , what Somali-land TV is doing in the public mobilization campeign of condemnations will only aggrevate the situation. like we said before , there will be no winner nor loser in an armed conflict between the two clans, who will only gain casuals weeping at both houses because they are like siamese twins interlocked, sharing blood!! We Somalilanders are all losers if we unjustifiably in law terms, meddle in issues that directly affect our National security Barriers. Though it had been one of our dark moments, Tribal Conflicts used to happen but non of those had made any of those tribes to Install a foreign flag at home, due to anger as has happened at Las-Anod and Borama!!
We have a Constitution rendered inactive and a law enforcement forces sadly unsanctioned rank to file. It is another leadership failure to serve the Country. With the World Human Rights Organization report released, this Government lead by Prsident Riyale, should see itself in that report, which is not published by a somlilander but the United Nations Human Rights Organization. I do advice Somaliland TV to correct itself and realize that they are for Somali-land and to teach the public constructively, not exaggerating mishaps and fishing in dirty waters.
The TV reports should be analytic, referential and very concrete in truth. Adopt to the Democratic World media principles and keep in mind that the TV is one of the three ways, the Ministry of Information teachs the Public therefor, you are obligated to be a good teaching unit. Let’s all participate in the cessation of that conflict and save any further deaths. Hargeisa TV should stop this filthy Bardaale politicization immediately as it will add fuel into the existing Fume.
Dr. Ali A. Mohamed
Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial
Hargeisa, 14 July 2009 – The Somali Sections of VOA and BBC Radios sometimes hold political debates on Somaliland cause and its quest for diplomatic recognition. Some participants in the debates raise insincere arguments about the legitimacy of Somaliland national borders calling it “Colonial Borders.” These individuals are either ignorant of the historical origin of current borders of African States or purposefully mislead the listeners. The United Nations, African Union, and African States did not draw or make the current borders of African States. All the borders of African independent states had been drawn by the colonial powers of Europe in the 19th century, before or after The Partition of Africa in 1884, and the independence and recognition of each African State today depend upon its own colonial demarcations or borders. Likewise, all the borders of Asian and South American States also emerged from colonial boundaries drawn by Britain, France and Spain.
It is hypocritical that these anti-Somaliland debaters recognize the legitimacy of the border between Somaliland and Djibouti but challenge the legitimacy of the border running between Somalia and Somaliland knowing that both borders were drawn by colonial powers. The borders of Somalia, Somaliland and Djibouti have the same status and legitimacy because they were all drawn by European Colonizers. Most of such debaters are easily overwhelmed by unattainable ambitions for tribal state that does not exist in Africa or elsewhere and their denial of the legitimacy of Somaliland borders is completely in contrary to the historical realities of African borders. Anyone who opposes the legitimacy of Somaliland borders, its independence and its diplomatic recognition is challenging the borders and sovereignty of all African independent states (54 states) whose borders rose from their colonial borders or demarcations.
Some people confuse Somaliland with Puntland for either ignorance or for futile political reasons. Puntland is an integral part of Somalia because it is located within Somalias colonial borders (Italian-drawn borders) with which Somalia achieved independence on July 1st, 1960 and shares people and history with Somalia. Unlike Somaliland Republic, which has the rightful claim of independence and recognition for having its own, unique colonial borders with which it achieved independence and diplomatic recognition on June 26, 1960, Puntland can not be recognized as independent state because it is part of Somalia and because it does not have its own and unique colonial borders that promote independence and recognition in Africa, but it can be federal region within Somalia. If tribal boundaries or tribal states were recognized in Africa, the whole continent would collapse and be plunged into endless, devastating clan wars. That is why the Organization of African Unity solemnly declared in 1964 that all member states pledge themselves to respect the borders existing on their achievement of national independence. Here the borders existing on their achievement of national independence are the colonial borders on which Somaliland achieved independence on June 26, 1960. Another point to make, Somaliland Republic can not let Puntland Administration integrate with it because that would violate Somalias sovereignty and borders.
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 1st, 1960, the first Somali country to be recognized by the UN and 35 member nations immediately after independence like the rest of African States. Independent Somaliland was also the first to pioneer the unification between Somaliland and Somalia in quest for Greater Somalia in the Horn of Africa. The union was doomed after Somalia hijacked the governments for the thirty years of its existence (1960-1990) and then committed atrocities against Somaliland people when they rebelled against injustices perpetrated by Somalia. Injustices and atrocities were the major causes that forced Somaliland people to withdraw from the union with Somalia in 1991. The failure of the union does not alter or change the status of Somaliland for claiming legitimate borders, independence and diplomatic recognition.
The Somaliland Congress held in Burao on May 18, 1991 unanimously proclaimed the withdrawal of the Somaliland from the union with Somalia and reclaimed its independence of June 26, 1960 renaming itself: Somaliland Republic. The referendum held in Somaliland on May 31st, 2001 reaffirmed Somaliland sovereignty from Somalia. Somaliland is not a secessionist or a breakaway region from Somalia as anti-Somaliland groups would like to portray it. It just withdrew from the union it joined as an independent state on July 1st, 1960 after it failed in the hands of Somalia. Djibouti, Somaliland and Somalia have the same status and legitimacy for independence and diplomatic recognition.
Somaliland and Somalia are not the first two countries in this world whose union ceased to exist. The Soviet Union of 15 Socialist Republics and created by the Bolshevik Revolution led by Vladimir Lenin in 1917 broke up after social upheavals with deep political discontent and came to an end peacefully in 1989 with new countries emerging from it such as Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia etc. They are all recognized by the UN and international community on the basis of their original borders existing before the union. The federation of former Yugoslavia that had 8 countries broke up after bloody civil wars (1991-1995) and new countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, Kosovo etc emerged from its ashes. All are recognized diplomatically too for their original borders existing before the federation. This shows that the unity among countries in a union is not sacred if they disagree but the unity within a country like Somaliland, Djibouti, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda etc is sacred because each country is bound together by its own national borders inherited from colonial powers.
Some Somalis believe that Somaliland should not withdraw from the union with Somalia claiming that all Somalis share language, religion, color, and culture. If this claim were true, the Arab World (Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Sudan) which has 17 separate independent countries with the same language, religion, color, and culture would have one union today. They do not have any federal union for disagreeing to share one. Over 14 South American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador etc) also share religion (Catholic Church), language (Spanish), culture, and color but they are not required to share union. Sharing language, religion, color, and culture is not convincing factors to share or remain in a union. Justice and fair power-sharing are the most important factors for a union to survive and that is what Somalia failed to understand in the years of the union. Islamic religion commends unity for enhancing strength and power but does not support one that brings death and destruction upon its partners like Somalia did to Somaliland in the decade of 1980-1990, particularly in the years 1988, 1989 and 1990. “Greater Somalia” is like “Greater Arab World” or “Greater South America” which no one knows when such dreams will come true. Some other Somalis believe that only Somaliland and Somalia constitute “Greater Somalia” excluding Djibouti and the occupied territories for opportunistic reasons. Somaliland will not be an easy target again as in the years of the old union.
The occupied Somali territories are of different case. For being a devout Christian Kingdom, Ethiopia survived the European colonization and with the European approval and military support, it annexed the far Western Somalia in 1889 that includes Diridhaba, Harar, Hawas etc. The near region of Western Somalia, which is Hawd and Reserved Area, was colonized with Somaliland and then amalgamated to Ethiopia in 1954 by the Britain. The Somali Northeastern Region (N.F.D) was colonized by Britain too then amalgamated to Kenya in 1963 by Britain. Ethiopia and Kenyan governments are black colonizers in the Horn of Africa today. The peoples of these two regions have the right to struggle for their self-determination.
The place is Africa where tribalism and localism are more important than nationalism and patriotism and where democracy, fair elections, and rule of law are not respected. Chronic tribalism, brutal dictatorships and crippling corruptions are common and normal practice of the day. Any federal government can be easily overthrown at any time by military coups, just like General Siad Barre did in 1969, with the immediate dissolution of elected parliament and constitution. No one can guarantee that this will not happen again in restive Africa. Neither Somaliland people nor the people of Somalia can afford to have another risky union that leads them to another military brutal dictatorship or to a government led by a despot turned-elected president that plunges both peoples into other violent, atrocious civil wars. After the departure of colonial powers from Africa (Between 1950-1970), it fell to brutal African dictators and leaders who killed all hopes and aspirations of African masses that liberated it from Europe, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel yet. Because of the past painful experiences, peoples of Somaliland and Somalia need to have separate, safe, prosperous sisterly states with mutual relations like the Arab countries. Both nations must reject blind patriotism for “Greater Somalia” which is not practical today.
Somaliland Republic will only discuss future relations with a government of Somalia (Former Italian Territory) which is democratically elected and which represents and controls the entire people and territory of Somalia. Somaliland will not meet with a government or parliament that includes individuals claiming to represent Somaliland. Any meeting or discussions with Somalia without fulfilling these two conditions would violate the basics of Somaliland`s sovereignty.
Somaliland, as any African state, has the right to be diplomatically recognized by the United Nations and international community for its current borders that rose from colonial borders. If the African countries do not recognize Somaliland Republic for its own colonial borders as soon as possible, they should know that they put their statehood and sovereignty based on their colonial borders in question. For faster diplomatic recognition, Somaliland needs good governance and fair elections held on time. Somaliland people do not bow to external threats or give up their sovereignty for outside pressure.
Ibrahim Hassan Gagale
Email: ibrahim_hg@yahoo.com
Date: July 14, 2009
Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial
Hargeisa, 13 July 2009 – The Somaliland government’s disregard for the law and democratic processes threatens the territory’s nascent democracy, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The administration of President Dahir Riyale Kahin has committed human rights violations and generated a dangerous electoral crisis.
The 56-page report, “‘Hostages to Peace’: Threats to Human Rights and Democracy in Somaliland,” says that Somaliland’s government has helped create a measure of stability and democratic governance even as Somalia has remained mired in armed conflict. But Somaliland’s gains are fragile and currently under threat. The administration of President Riyale has regularly flouted Somaliland’s laws and has twice delayed elections that were originally scheduled for April 2008, through processes of questionable legality. A further delay of elections, now slated for September 2009, could prove disastrous for democratic rule in Somaliland.
“Somaliland has spent 18 years trying to build stability and democracy, but all its gains are at risk if the government continues to undermine the rule of law,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The electoral crisis has laid bare the need to create functioning government institutions that will respect human rights.”
The Human Rights Watch report is based primarily on a two week visit to Somaliland in March 2009 in which researchers interviewed government officials, opposition leaders, civil society activists, local analysts, and victims of human rights abuses.
Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 after the demise of Somalia’s last functioning government. No country has recognized Somaliland’s claim of statehood. Human Rights Watch takes no position on whether Somaliland should be internationally recognized as an independent country. But international actors should engage more deeply with Somaliland, press Somaliland’s government to respect human rights and the territory’s emerging democratic norms, and provide assistance tailored to bolster key government institutions, the media, and civil society.
In recent years the Riyale administration has regularly treated the opposition-controlled legislature as an irritant, refusing to respect its role in the legislative process or in overseeing opaque government expenditures. Little has been done to build the capacity of the nominally independent judiciary; the lower courts are often incapable of applying the law while the Supreme Court has acted as though it is entirely beholden to the president.
Government actions in violation of domestic and international law have directly infringed upon the rights of Somalilanders, Human Rights Watch said. The Riyale administration has circumvented the courts and trampled on the rights of criminal defendants by relying on “security committees” that are entirely under the control of the executive and that have no legal basis under Somaliland law. The security committees sentence and imprison Somalilanders, including people accused of common crimes and juveniles, without any pretense of due process. They regularly sentence defendants en masse on the basis of little or no evidence after truncated hearings in which the accused are given no right to speak. When Human Rights Watch visited Mandhera prison outside of Hargeisa in March, over half of the prisoners there had been sentenced by the security committees, not the courts.
The government has also engaged in other repressive practices that are common in the region, but relatively rare in Somaliland. A former driver for the president’s family was imprisoned after publicly accusing the first family of corruption, and only released after photos surfaced of the man lying shackled to a hospital bed, gravely ill. The leaders of a dissident political association called Qaran, which challenged the existing three parties’ legal monopoly of electoral politics, were sentenced to prison terms and banned from political activity, though they were released before serving their full terms. And Somaliland’s leading independent human rights group was dismantled during a leadership struggle in which government officials blatantly intervened.
But patterns of low-level harassment targeting journalists, opposition activists, and others are the most common. On numerous occasions government officials have detained, usually for brief periods, individuals who have publicly criticized the government or provided press coverage deemed to be unfavorable.
Somaliland’s precarious situation in the region has deterred Somalilanders from protesting loudly when their rights are abused for fear of damaging their territory’s hard-won stability and its quest for international recognition. Many people told Human Rights Watch that they are effectively “hostages to peace” – unable to confront Somaliland’s deepest problems effectively for fear of upsetting the fragile balance that has kept the territory from going the way of Somalia and other countries in the region.
The repeated delay of Somaliland’s presidential election threatens the foundations of its emerging democratic system. President Riyale has twice been granted lengthy extensions of his term by Somaliland’s unelected House of Elders. The election is currently scheduled for September 29, but there is considerable uncertainty whether it will take place and under what circumstances.
“Somaliland is at a dangerous crossroads,” Gagnon said. “Eighteen years of progress towards democratic governance and general respect for human rights will either be consolidated or endangered, depending on President Riyale’s next moves.”
