THE COLONEL’S BLUFF
February 17, 2004 - 23:48
A hard-line approach without sound military hardware is a dangerous bluff. Thus, Colonel Abdillahi Youssef’s shrill cry of joy (mashxarad) over the occupation of Las Anod may soon turn into rivers of tears that could be irrigated in the drought stricken areas of Sool.
In December 2003, a group of armed militiamen acting under the command of Colonel Abdillahi Yousef- the absolute ruler of the autonomous provincial administration of Majertenia (now calls itself Puntland)- crossed the border into Somaliland Republic and occupied Las Anod- the regional capital of Sool region. Since Puntland was formed in 1998, the Colonel had always claimed Sool and eastern Sanaag regions that are largely but not exclusively populated by Dhulbahante and Warsangali clans, as his own territories. It is not clear how the Colonel would manage to redraw the century-old colonial boundaries or rewrite the history of these people but what is clear is that the basis of his claims are at best ludicrous and at worst infantile. The basis of the Colonel’s argument is that these people are, by blood or descent, related to the people of Puntland and are together known as Harti. Thus, in his figment of imagination, the Colonel believes that this gives him the automatic right to claim these territories as part and parcel of his own little fiefdom- Puntland. However, the unpalatable truth is that, geographically the people in these territories had, for nearly a century, belonged to Somaliland (the former British Protectorate), which broke away from Somalia in 1991.
In the past, it was not uncommon to see the Colonel’s militia sneaking across the border into Somaliland under the cover of darkness and returning back to their bases in Puntland after a short spell of stay without causing any mischief in the disputed territories. Successive Somaliland governments had a policy of turning a blind eye to these flagrant violations of its territorial integrity ostensibly to avoid an unnecessary military show down with its troublemaker neighbour- Puntland- even though Somaliland had always maintained the military capability to decapitate the Colonel’s ruling apparatus. The idea behind this was that, so long as the local people did not mind the surprise visits paid to their towns by their cousins from Putland and so long as these sneaky visitors were not upsetting the local sensibilities, the Somaliland government didn’t mind to forget about these border violations. However, this approach apparently sent a wrong signal to the Colonel, for he saw this as a weakness on the part of successive Somaliland administrations.
Unopposed and undeterred, the Colonel got emboldened to the extent that he hatched a plot to assassinate the president of Somaliland, Dahir Rayale, who paid a visit to Las Anod at the end of 2002. Escaped by a narrow margin, president Rayale was whisked to Aynabo where a division of combat ready troops waited by, in case something went wrong. But something went terribly wrong yet president Rayale chose, much to the anger and dismay of many Somalilanders, not to order the army to take swift retaliatory measures against his assailants for fear that a lot of innocent people might die in the cross fire between the government troops and its opponents. Friends and foes alike were astonished by the compassion and sense of responsibility displayed by Rayale in restraining his troops not to fire the big guns in anger.
On his return to Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, the parliament gave the president the green light to deal a mortal blow to the shaky regime of the strongman of Majertenia. However, Rayale opted instead to impose a state of emergency on the entire region and continued to maintain a policy of non-engagement with the Sool people although critics on both sides of the broader political divide were somewhat divided over the wisdom of that policy. Apart from the state of emergency, both local and presidential elections were also barred from taking place in Sool, thus adding to the woes and isolation of these people.
This latest incursion into Somaliland by Puntland however completely changed the rule of the game. The Colonel’s militias came in from the wilderness with all guns blazing, killing at least three people and kicking all Somaliland government personnel out of their residences and offices. Such callous disregard of Somaliland’s eastern border, which is porous and often unguarded, coupled with the Colonel’s bravado, angered the Hargeisa administration.
This was further compounded by the Colonel’s spur-of-the-moment proclamation in the international media that his militia captured the city of Las Anod by force. Up until now, the Colonel who is famous for his beastliness and intransigence, dismissed calls from friends and lately his benefactor, Ethiopia, to show respect for Somaliland’s boundaries drawn up by British Colonial administration- boundaries considered by the AU as sacrosanct.
Whilst it is true that the people of Sool and eastern Sanaag and the people of Puntland are of the same lineage, it is also true that twice the same number of Issaq and Gadabursi people are living in Ethiopian territories. But, that is not to say, this will give Somaliland the right to claim these territories as its own.
The Colonel’s burning ambition to become the leader of a future government in Somalia is totally incompatible with his ardent but parochial and myopic tribalist posture of promoting the doctrine of Darodism. Neither his ludicrously lineage-based territorial claims is acceptable to any African country where people of the same blood or tribe are divided by artificial boundaries.
Since the inception of Somaliland, the people of Sool were torn between their brethren in Puntland who have nothing to offer to them other than empty avowals of fraternity and a Somaliland government that cannot give them of what they describe as ‘ironclad guarantee of our rights and privileges’ before committing themselves fully to the Somaliland ship of state.
At the moment, Dhulbahante and Warsangali have more than their fair share of representatives in both houses (35 members in total) on top of the administrative and ministerial portfolios.
Many believe that Somaliland can still guarantee to provide Sool people for their fair share of the national cake in terms of financial resources and development projects if they are equally prepared to show their allegiance to Somaliland. It is an open secret that the Garads, religious men and their politicians had participated in all major Somaliland Conferences held in Balligubadleh, Berbera, Burao and Borama and put their signatures to all these agreements. But they dishonoured each and every covenant they have undertaken and callously disregarded all the agreements they have entered into with the rest of clans in Somaliland.
Disintegrated, divided and disorientated, Dhulbahante cannot decide for thirteen years where their interest truly lays. They do not seem to agree on anything other than one thing: that they shouldn’t subscribe to, no matter what, the Issaq dominated state of Somaliland. But that line of argument does not hold water any longer since it became evident that Harti and Gadabursi head all the three major powers of the government namely the Executive, the Supreme Court and the Parliament. The Issaq are no longer in the driving seat of the Somaliland state.
The Colonel’s occupation of Las Anod was facilitated by anti-Somaliland segment of Dhulbahante who are loyal to Puntland. This encouraged the bloodthirsty Colonel to adopt an increasingly belligerent and war-mongering attitude, which is viewed by many throughout Somaliland and the Diaspora as provocative designs calculated to further disrupt and create chaos and confusion in Somaliland at a time the country’s security situation remains precariously on a knife’s edge following the recent spate of gruesome murders committed against western humanitarian relief workers. Others see the Colonel’s outrageous and ludicrous claims to Sool and Sanaag as nothing more than a cynical ploy to effect disturbances in Somaliland, hoping to trigger a heavy handed government response thus spoiling Somaliland’s chances of recognition from the international community. The latter view was reinforced when a cross-party delegation from Britain paid a two-day visit to Somaliland and a subsequent Commons debate regarding Somaliland’s recognition was held in Westminster Hall on 4th February.
Colonel Abdillahi Yusuf had always been a ‘pain in the neck’ in this cross-border issue between Puntland and Somaliland. His militia visited Las Anod before under the pretext of mediating warring sub-clans amongst Dhulbahante. But on each occasion they returned to their bases on their own accord.
Strangely enough, the Colonel began a propaganda campaign by activating all the media resources at his disposal and has blown the issue out of proportions even though he is the aggressor in the eyes of all those who are familiar with the politics of that region. He began to engage in Intifada on the airwaves, emblazoned headlines on the local papers, gave regular interviews to international news agencies, issued press releases and plastered articles staring out of every page and screen on the Net.
If the Colonel’s tactics were to scare off Somaliland government not to come to the aid of Sool people, it certainly produced the opposite results of what he desired. Massive troops have already been deployed in the vicinity of Las Anod and others are being mobilised throughout much of Somaliland for a potential show down with the Colonel’s motley collection of rag tag militia holed up in Las Anod. The Colonel is beginning to see that his megaphone diplomacy is proving counterproductive and self-defeating. As a military man whose tactics was simply confined to shooting from the hip to anyone who stands in his way, he knows this time round that the odds are heavily stacked against him, for he is not militarily up to scratch vis-à-vis Somaliland. His ragtag militia hasn’t got the slightest chance to stand up to the overwhelming military superiority of Somaliland unless of course they are prepared to commit mass suicide.
In a country where its people are more often divided than united, the arrival of the Colonel’s militia in Las Anod was a godsend that miraculously united the Somaliland people- friends and foes alike – firmly behind the President in defending the motherland from the external enemy.
Rayale whose recent controversial visit to Djibouti created furore in Somaliland took advantage of the situation and swiftly tabled a motion before the two Houses in a bid to evict the Colonel’s rag-tag militia out of Sool and teach him as UCID opposition leader, Faisal Ali Warabe put it ‘an unforgettable lesson’ that would serve as an example for those who try in future to infringe the country’s territorial integrity.
The fact that the motion was overwhelmingly passed by both the Parliament and House of Elders sent an unmistakable signal to Puntland and gave President Rayale a free hand to aim for the Colonel’s jugular, if need be, and decapitate his ruling apparatus in Garowe, if deemed necessary.
Apart from the troops that have already been deployed on the eastern front, most of Somaliland’s heavy weaponry including an array of artillery pieces, tanks and multiple rocket launchers have been kept out of sight but are ready to be deployed if the Colonel refuses to budge. Major government buildings in surrounding towns and villages have been evacuated and are being readied for casualties in case of break up of hostilities. Huge consignments of food and medicine are being poured into the eastern front. Columns of commercial tankers carrying fuel are heading for Sool.
These war preparations robbed the Colonel of many nights’ good sleep. It is believed that he sent emissaries to Wardheer and Goday and propagated the message that Majertenia is about to face a devastating attack from her powerful neighbour- Somaliland. According to Somaliland Times, the Ogaden sent some ONLF fighters to Las Anod to reinforce Puntland’s poorly armed ragtag militia holed up in Las Anod as they brace for a hugely devastating attack that might seal the fate of their little fiefdom.
For so long, Somalilander’s intimate knowledge of war and its painful consequences have always been to avert the break up of any hostilities between Puntland and Somaliland but the die seem to be cast now, for the Colonel had crossed a Rubicon.
With the assassination attempt on his life weighing heavily on his mind and enjoying the unstinting support of the whole nation, Rayale is unlikely to flinch from his hard-line approach. His muscle flexing tactics seems to be having an effect on the Colonel as the local people whom the Colonel considered to be their saviour scramble for the Puntland militia to pull out of their territories. Las Anod is in the grip of fear as the Somaliland army dug in its heels within a striking distance, getting ready to flush out the Colonel’s militia.
In a recent BBC interview, the Colonel spoke undiplomatically and hurled toxic rhetorical salvos at Rayale by describing him as a “tool”. The Colonel claimed himself to be a battle hardened man while accusing Rayaale of being a man with NSS background who did not understand much about politics. But the Colonel seems to forget that he is a megalomaniac who ruled his clan-based fiefdom of Majertenia by the barrel of the gun since 1977- a rule punctuated by cold-blooded murders and mysterious disappearances of his own kin and kith. Unlike Rayale, who is a democratically elected president, the Colonel is no more than a chieftain of Harti.
The Colonel who initially appeared to have taken leave of his senses when he undertook this dangerous adventure is slowly but steadily beginning to tone down the frequency of his rhetoric and sabre-rattling that characterised his occupation of Las Anod in the early days. Panic and fear permeated in the file and rank of his militia. Some of them have already fled for fear of their lives and others are pondering their next move as the black cloud of war began looming menacingly on the horizon. Whatever, the situation of those who remain in the town, they are left with no option but to cut and run. At least a senior Puntland militiaman defected to Somaliland recently with several along with ‘technicals’.
The Colonel is beginning to get a sense that a hard-line approach without military sound military hardware is a dangerous bluff that could be called. His shrill cry of joy (mashxarad) might soon turn into rivers of tears that could be irrigated in the drought stricken areas of Sool.
Somaliland will win back what was rightfully its territory, without in the meantime, depriving others from their rights. The Colonel’s reluctance to withdraw all his militia is merely an attempt to avoid ordering his militia back to Garowe- the capital of Puntland- with their heads down in shame as well as saving himself from becoming at the butt of a joke in his fiefdom. But Rayale must take the moral high ground and give the Colonel a face saving exit even though the tyrant of Majertenia had just got ‘too big for his boot’ as Sudi Yalaxow put it and had to be taught an unforgettable lesson.
Jamal Madar
England
adammadar@yahoo.com
SIRAG ARCHIVE
Showing posts with label crimes against humanity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crimes against humanity. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
“The Butchers of Majertenia, Hargeisa Politically isolated” By O .M. Nur
“The Butchers of Majertenia, Hargeisa Politically isolated”
By O .M. Nur {OJ}, Toronto, Canada
On January 29 the Somalian leaders reached what is described as the best agreement on Somalia’s reconciliation so far, in Nairobi, Kenya, but The Butchers of Majertenia and Hargeisa, Abdullahi Yusuf and Morgan, are isolated in the process. They have a common enemy to teach a lesson to. Both disregarded the agreement after they have agreed to it. The reason is not based on Somalian interest. It is the personal ambition of Abdullahi Yusuf and of Morgan to seek revenge through the top offices of Somalia.
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According to article 30 of the already signed Charter, the faction leaders are to nominate the transitional members of Parliament from their clans. The traditional leaders are to ratify the selected to make sure that each sub clan gets its fair representation.
However, Abdullahi is looking forward to his position in the new government. He doesn’t intend to allow any one other than him to nominate the” Darod” parliamentarians. His aim is to make sure that he gets the position of a president or a Prime minister before any vote for the positions for these take place. He is a hardheaded dictator who doesn’t believe in democracy, so he doesn’t trust voting. His law is the law of jungle where the mighty rules.
Bihi of Gedo, Barre Hirale and Jees of the Lower Juppa, Jama Ali Jama of the North Eastern Region, Hassan Abshir of Garowe Region, Mohamed Yusuf and Abdullahi Yusuf of Mudug Region are all in the new leaders committee and all belong to the same Darod clan of Somalia who will nominate their portion of parliamentarians. Normally, every one should be able to nominate his share from his sub-sub-clan and seek ratification from his sub-sub clan’s traditional leaders. Abdullahi doesn’t want things to happen that way that and lose his bid for the eagerly awaited positions. He believes to have politically barred the above-mentioned Darod leaders from the leader’s committee and defeated them in the battlefiel. “There must not be a comeback through the TNG and The National Salvation Group and must not share power with him.” He believes.
Both Abdullahi and Morgan are seeking revenge for what Siyad Barre and later Barre Hiiraale have done to them. Abdullahi says, “The real war in Somalia is not between Hawiye and Darod, but between Marehan and Majertens. It is true and Marehan leaders are well aware of his position. It is why Barre Hirale allied himself with USC and why there is no Marehan member in the SRRC, which is dominated by Abdullahi Yusuf and Morgan. They chose to be in alliance with the Arta Group (The TNG) and with the National Salvation Group. The Marehan, through their allieis are trying hard to deter any attempt by Abdullahi Yusuf or Morgan to get a position of leadership in Somalia. On the other hand Abdullahi and Morgan are trying to whisk away the other Darod members in the leaders committee by all means. The Marehan now believe that tribal extermination is not for them and would prefer a more logical moderate Majertens leader instead, if they should get one of the top two leadership positions. They maintain that Marehan is not at war with the Majertens and are working hard for the protection of their lives from Abdullahi and Morgan. Hawiye are striving to get Somalia’s leadership. When they get it, they will forget whatever Siyad has done to anyone. Marehans called the Isaqs “ Gob jabtay” in return they will be called “Gob ay la rogmatey.” When Isaqs get away with the assertion of the annexed independence of Somaliland, they will forgive Somalia and extend a brotherly hand to the Marehans. In return Marehan, of all Somalis, will distinguish themselves as the staunchest supporters of Somaliland, of course after an inclusive government is formed in Somalia and the dust settles. That is safe and a small price to pay! The Hawiye can rule Somalia without the Isaqs and in cooperation with other moderate clans. They must not let their faithful friends, the Marehans, down!
Reported By: Omar Japan Toronto,Canada
Email: omarn692@sympatico.ca
SIRAG ARCHIVE
It’s Our Curriculum by Somaliland Times
It’s Our Curriculum
EDITORIAL by Somaliland Times
Issue 107 Feb.9-15, 2004
Though Mr. Winston Tubman was appointed more than 2 years ago as the UN Secretary-General’s representative and head of the UN Political Office for Somalia, we will be surprised if the number of Somalilanders who could recognize his name or know about his job exceeded a dozen individuals. It is not only that Somalilanders don't know him, he too does not know Somalilanders or their country for he has never set foot here. That is why it is amazing that someone so removed from our reality would have a say on what our children study.
Somalilanders who are used to unreasonable demands and claims by overpaid and underachieving UN bureaucrats, were shocked by the extent of mean-spiritedness and hostility shown by Mr. Tubman toward them, as evidenced by his letter of Oct 21, 2003 which called for the removal from the Somaliland curriculum of:
- All topics related to the historical background of how Somaliland regained its independence on May 1991
- All the maps showing international boundaries between Somaliland and its neighboring countries as well as such purely physical features as hills and mountains.
One can also detect in Mr. Tubman's letter an implied threat that unless all the unwanted materials are omitted, funds earmarked for printing the school textbooks would be blocked. To justifiy his move, Mr. Tubman claimed that the syllabus of social studies textbook for grade 5 students “advocates for Somaliland’s secessionist policy”, as if he were responsible for the preservation of the unity of Somalia, a state that ceased to exist more than 13 years ago. But even if we assume that Mr. Tubman acted out of genuine concern for Somalia’s unity, it is not a good excuse for depriving Somaliland's children from essential learning tools such as textbooks.
The school kids that Mr. Tubman ostensibly wants to protect from “secessionist infection” could hardly grasp what he means by the term "secession". For these children who were born during the post-liberation and independence era, the once unified Somali republic only existed in history books or in the minds of irrational people like Winston Tubman.
UN bureaucrats could go on deceiving themselves with the fiction that the state of Somalia still exists and Somaliland doesn’t. But they shouldn’t penalize Somalilanders for refusing to accept such fiction. In a country where every new year, thousands of school age children are forced to remain without basic education, mainly due to severe shortages in the number of classrooms and teachers available, it will be an unforgivable crime to deny textbooks to those already enrolled. Perhaps a better policy would be for Mr. Kofi Annan to disband the useless and costly UNPOS. The UN will doubtless save a lot of money if it got rid of Mr Tubman and the UNPOs. It could then spend that money on education in places where it is desperately needed. The salary of Mr Tubman alone could pay for the schooling of hundreds of kids.
SIRAG ARCHIVE
EDITORIAL by Somaliland Times
Issue 107 Feb.9-15, 2004
Though Mr. Winston Tubman was appointed more than 2 years ago as the UN Secretary-General’s representative and head of the UN Political Office for Somalia, we will be surprised if the number of Somalilanders who could recognize his name or know about his job exceeded a dozen individuals. It is not only that Somalilanders don't know him, he too does not know Somalilanders or their country for he has never set foot here. That is why it is amazing that someone so removed from our reality would have a say on what our children study.
Somalilanders who are used to unreasonable demands and claims by overpaid and underachieving UN bureaucrats, were shocked by the extent of mean-spiritedness and hostility shown by Mr. Tubman toward them, as evidenced by his letter of Oct 21, 2003 which called for the removal from the Somaliland curriculum of:
- All topics related to the historical background of how Somaliland regained its independence on May 1991
- All the maps showing international boundaries between Somaliland and its neighboring countries as well as such purely physical features as hills and mountains.
One can also detect in Mr. Tubman's letter an implied threat that unless all the unwanted materials are omitted, funds earmarked for printing the school textbooks would be blocked. To justifiy his move, Mr. Tubman claimed that the syllabus of social studies textbook for grade 5 students “advocates for Somaliland’s secessionist policy”, as if he were responsible for the preservation of the unity of Somalia, a state that ceased to exist more than 13 years ago. But even if we assume that Mr. Tubman acted out of genuine concern for Somalia’s unity, it is not a good excuse for depriving Somaliland's children from essential learning tools such as textbooks.
The school kids that Mr. Tubman ostensibly wants to protect from “secessionist infection” could hardly grasp what he means by the term "secession". For these children who were born during the post-liberation and independence era, the once unified Somali republic only existed in history books or in the minds of irrational people like Winston Tubman.
UN bureaucrats could go on deceiving themselves with the fiction that the state of Somalia still exists and Somaliland doesn’t. But they shouldn’t penalize Somalilanders for refusing to accept such fiction. In a country where every new year, thousands of school age children are forced to remain without basic education, mainly due to severe shortages in the number of classrooms and teachers available, it will be an unforgivable crime to deny textbooks to those already enrolled. Perhaps a better policy would be for Mr. Kofi Annan to disband the useless and costly UNPOS. The UN will doubtless save a lot of money if it got rid of Mr Tubman and the UNPOs. It could then spend that money on education in places where it is desperately needed. The salary of Mr Tubman alone could pay for the schooling of hundreds of kids.
SIRAG ARCHIVE
Nairobi UN Political Office Censors Somaliland Textbooks By SOMALILAND FORUM
SOMALILAND FORUM
PRESS RELEASE: Immediate Date: 10 February 2004 (Ref: SLF/EC/32/2003/4)
Nairobi UN Political Office Censors Somaliland Textbooks
The constructive re-engagement in Somaliland by some United Nations agencies detected over the last few years is being undermined by the Nairobi based United Nations Political Office (UNPOS), whose occasional forays into Somaliland affairs have always been counterproductive, in contrast to the work of other operational UN agencies such as UNCHR, UNICEF, WHO etc.
The latest reported edict from this office (UNPOS) was a written instruction (dated 21/10/03) to UNESCO to .desist from printing. a Grade Five Social Studies Schools textbook for Somaliland because it .advocates for Somaliland.s secessionist policy.. How it does that is listed in a page to page examination which points out the following items in the textbook that are considered by UNPOS to be .sensitive. and unacceptable:
The map of Somaliland and its international boundaries.
The map of Somaliland showing its regions and cities, which are of course different from the ones set in the dictatorship era of the .Somali Democratic Republic. before 1991 when Somaliland reasserted its independence.
Maps of Somaliland showing main roads, airports, ports, mountains, hills, vegetation, winds, rainfall, agricultural areas etc.
References to any issues relating to the re-assertion of Somaliland independence in 1991.
Picture of the Somaliland flag, national emblem, and reference to the national anthem.
The textbooks, which UNESCO has agreed previously to publish and ought to have been in use in Somaliland schools from 2002, are still beeing withheld.
The Nairobi based UNPOS, which was set up in 1995 after UNOSOM II says, in its website, that .Somalis often call on UNPOS requesting assistance in pleading their respective cases with other UN Agencies. UNPOS provides such assistance based on the merit of each request.. The Somaliland Forum and the Somaliland people are making this request to UNPOS:
. You can continue denying the existence of the Republic of Somaliland, if you so wish, but please do not interfere with the other United Nations agencies which are delivering much needed assistance and help on the ground. Textbooks are essential for rebuilding the education system of Somaliland and no one can tell the Somaliland people not to teach their children about their own national history, geography and political and social development..
We would remind the Nairobi based UN officials that education should be directed at developing the child's personality and talents and is .to prepare the child for responsible life in a free society, develop respect for the child's parents, basic human rights, the natural environment and the child's own cultural and national values and those of others." (Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of Children - our emphasis). We are left wondering how the censorship of Somaliland school textbooks by UN officials squares with these lofty aims.
Last week (on 4th February), in a far-reaching debate on Somaliland at the United Kingdom Parliament, the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Mr Hilary Benn, confirmed his view that .the issue of recognition (which was raised by the honourable members of UK Parliament) should not get in the way of development and assistance.. This is a lesson that the United Nations Political Office (UNPOS) needs to learn, particularly more so, at this juncture when, it will, as it has done after the Djibouti Conference a few years ago, be pulling out all the stops to support whatever new .government. the Somalia warlords and factions produce at their meeting in Nairobi. Somaliland has never been a party to these talks and, for that matter to the 14 or so others that preceded it, and no amount of schools textbook censoring or other UNPOS machinations will change the reality that Somaliland has been and will continue to be a separate, sovereign, independent country.
BACKGROUND:
1. For the background of UNPOS, see (http://www.unsomalia.net/UNPOS/index.htm). UNPOS was created in 1995 as a small political office in Somalia in the post UNOSOM II period. UNPOS came into existence on 15 April 1995 and is supposed to .try and maximize the efforts of the international community with respect to peace initiatives on Somalia.. The terms of reference of UNPOS (Agreed upon by the Security Council - S/1997/756) are said to be monitoring developments in Somalia as a whole; assisting the people of Somalia in their efforts to achieve national reconciliation; liaising with the neighbouring countries and concerned organisations on political developments relating to Somalia.
2. UNPOS and its predecessors UNOSM I & II have consistently denied the existence of Somaliland since 1991 and, at times, have been suspected by Somalilanders of working towards undermining their independence.
3. UNPOS is currently headed by Mr Winston A Tubman who, according to the Somaliland newspaper, Haatuf, is the author of the instruction to UNESCO to desist from printing the Somaliland schools textbook.
4. UNESCO runs a world-wide Programme for Education for Emergencies & Reconstruction (PEER), which started in 1993. PEER is aimed at meeting .the educational needs of vulnerable groups such as children traumatised by crisis situations.. and identifies as its basic principle the rapid establishment of basic education in line with Article 28 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child which stipulates .universal, free and compulsory primary education.. The textbooks project was a PEER project, and the UNPOS instruction referred to above was directed at the Head of the project in Nairobi. For more information about PEER, see www.ginie.org/ginie-crises-links/Peer/pdf/per_exp.pdf (an article written by, among others, the Head of PEER).
5. The Somaliland Ministry of Education completed the preparation of appropriate textbooks for elementary schools in 1997/98 and after UNICEF completed their publication, the new syllabus was adopted, as planned, from 2001. In contrast, the textbooks for intermediate school grades were prepared by the Ministry in 1999/2000 and passed on to UNESCO PEER for publication, and are still awaited. The planned date for their use in the schools was early 2002.
6. The United Nations General Assembly declared 2003 to 2012 .the Literacy Decade., and UNESCO was asked to prepare an international Plan of Action to be co-ordinated with governments, NGOs and the civil society. In Somaliland, primary school enrolment is only 17% and enrolment at intermediate/secondary school level is lower. The government and the people are working hard to increase enrolment, but require considerable assistance. For more statistical information about Somaliland, see .Somaliland in Figures. at www.somalilandforum.com
7. For details of the UK Parliamentary debate on Somaliland, see (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/cm040204 ).
8. Somaliland was a UK protectorate from 1884 to June 1960, when it became the independent .State of Somaliland.. This state had internationally delineated boundaries, including the ones it shared with French Somaliland (now the Republic of Djibouti) and Somalia (Italian colony and later Trusteeship territory). In an effort to form a .Greater Somalia., The State of Somaliland formed a union with Somalia, which became independent on 1 July 1960. After the end of the .Greater Somalia. dream and years of neglect, long term suppression and near genocide of the Somaliland people, Somaliland re-asserted its independence in May 1991 . a decision which was since also endorsed through a national Referendum. Somaliland has since built up a democratic state with a bi-cameral parliament, a functioning judiciary and an executive headed by an elected President. Local government elections were held last year and parliamentary elections will be held later this year.
.The Somaliland Forum is an independent organisation that brings together the Somaliland Diaspora. We believe in a sovereign, prosperous and independent Somaliland. Working together with Somaliland Communities and Somaliland friends around the globe, we believe that we can contribute to the betterment and development of the Republic of Somaliland. It is said that a nation's greatest asset is its human resources - hence, the importance of the contributions of the Somaliland Diaspora..
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions to make, the SL Forum Executive Committee will be eager to hear them.
Somaliland Forum
SIRAG ARCHIVE
PRESS RELEASE: Immediate Date: 10 February 2004 (Ref: SLF/EC/32/2003/4)
Nairobi UN Political Office Censors Somaliland Textbooks
The constructive re-engagement in Somaliland by some United Nations agencies detected over the last few years is being undermined by the Nairobi based United Nations Political Office (UNPOS), whose occasional forays into Somaliland affairs have always been counterproductive, in contrast to the work of other operational UN agencies such as UNCHR, UNICEF, WHO etc.
The latest reported edict from this office (UNPOS) was a written instruction (dated 21/10/03) to UNESCO to .desist from printing. a Grade Five Social Studies Schools textbook for Somaliland because it .advocates for Somaliland.s secessionist policy.. How it does that is listed in a page to page examination which points out the following items in the textbook that are considered by UNPOS to be .sensitive. and unacceptable:
The map of Somaliland and its international boundaries.
The map of Somaliland showing its regions and cities, which are of course different from the ones set in the dictatorship era of the .Somali Democratic Republic. before 1991 when Somaliland reasserted its independence.
Maps of Somaliland showing main roads, airports, ports, mountains, hills, vegetation, winds, rainfall, agricultural areas etc.
References to any issues relating to the re-assertion of Somaliland independence in 1991.
Picture of the Somaliland flag, national emblem, and reference to the national anthem.
The textbooks, which UNESCO has agreed previously to publish and ought to have been in use in Somaliland schools from 2002, are still beeing withheld.
The Nairobi based UNPOS, which was set up in 1995 after UNOSOM II says, in its website, that .Somalis often call on UNPOS requesting assistance in pleading their respective cases with other UN Agencies. UNPOS provides such assistance based on the merit of each request.. The Somaliland Forum and the Somaliland people are making this request to UNPOS:
. You can continue denying the existence of the Republic of Somaliland, if you so wish, but please do not interfere with the other United Nations agencies which are delivering much needed assistance and help on the ground. Textbooks are essential for rebuilding the education system of Somaliland and no one can tell the Somaliland people not to teach their children about their own national history, geography and political and social development..
We would remind the Nairobi based UN officials that education should be directed at developing the child's personality and talents and is .to prepare the child for responsible life in a free society, develop respect for the child's parents, basic human rights, the natural environment and the child's own cultural and national values and those of others." (Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of Children - our emphasis). We are left wondering how the censorship of Somaliland school textbooks by UN officials squares with these lofty aims.
Last week (on 4th February), in a far-reaching debate on Somaliland at the United Kingdom Parliament, the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Mr Hilary Benn, confirmed his view that .the issue of recognition (which was raised by the honourable members of UK Parliament) should not get in the way of development and assistance.. This is a lesson that the United Nations Political Office (UNPOS) needs to learn, particularly more so, at this juncture when, it will, as it has done after the Djibouti Conference a few years ago, be pulling out all the stops to support whatever new .government. the Somalia warlords and factions produce at their meeting in Nairobi. Somaliland has never been a party to these talks and, for that matter to the 14 or so others that preceded it, and no amount of schools textbook censoring or other UNPOS machinations will change the reality that Somaliland has been and will continue to be a separate, sovereign, independent country.
BACKGROUND:
1. For the background of UNPOS, see (http://www.unsomalia.net/UNPOS/index.htm). UNPOS was created in 1995 as a small political office in Somalia in the post UNOSOM II period. UNPOS came into existence on 15 April 1995 and is supposed to .try and maximize the efforts of the international community with respect to peace initiatives on Somalia.. The terms of reference of UNPOS (Agreed upon by the Security Council - S/1997/756) are said to be monitoring developments in Somalia as a whole; assisting the people of Somalia in their efforts to achieve national reconciliation; liaising with the neighbouring countries and concerned organisations on political developments relating to Somalia.
2. UNPOS and its predecessors UNOSM I & II have consistently denied the existence of Somaliland since 1991 and, at times, have been suspected by Somalilanders of working towards undermining their independence.
3. UNPOS is currently headed by Mr Winston A Tubman who, according to the Somaliland newspaper, Haatuf, is the author of the instruction to UNESCO to desist from printing the Somaliland schools textbook.
4. UNESCO runs a world-wide Programme for Education for Emergencies & Reconstruction (PEER), which started in 1993. PEER is aimed at meeting .the educational needs of vulnerable groups such as children traumatised by crisis situations.. and identifies as its basic principle the rapid establishment of basic education in line with Article 28 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child which stipulates .universal, free and compulsory primary education.. The textbooks project was a PEER project, and the UNPOS instruction referred to above was directed at the Head of the project in Nairobi. For more information about PEER, see www.ginie.org/ginie-crises-links/Peer/pdf/per_exp.pdf (an article written by, among others, the Head of PEER).
5. The Somaliland Ministry of Education completed the preparation of appropriate textbooks for elementary schools in 1997/98 and after UNICEF completed their publication, the new syllabus was adopted, as planned, from 2001. In contrast, the textbooks for intermediate school grades were prepared by the Ministry in 1999/2000 and passed on to UNESCO PEER for publication, and are still awaited. The planned date for their use in the schools was early 2002.
6. The United Nations General Assembly declared 2003 to 2012 .the Literacy Decade., and UNESCO was asked to prepare an international Plan of Action to be co-ordinated with governments, NGOs and the civil society. In Somaliland, primary school enrolment is only 17% and enrolment at intermediate/secondary school level is lower. The government and the people are working hard to increase enrolment, but require considerable assistance. For more statistical information about Somaliland, see .Somaliland in Figures. at www.somalilandforum.com
7. For details of the UK Parliamentary debate on Somaliland, see (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/cm040204 ).
8. Somaliland was a UK protectorate from 1884 to June 1960, when it became the independent .State of Somaliland.. This state had internationally delineated boundaries, including the ones it shared with French Somaliland (now the Republic of Djibouti) and Somalia (Italian colony and later Trusteeship territory). In an effort to form a .Greater Somalia., The State of Somaliland formed a union with Somalia, which became independent on 1 July 1960. After the end of the .Greater Somalia. dream and years of neglect, long term suppression and near genocide of the Somaliland people, Somaliland re-asserted its independence in May 1991 . a decision which was since also endorsed through a national Referendum. Somaliland has since built up a democratic state with a bi-cameral parliament, a functioning judiciary and an executive headed by an elected President. Local government elections were held last year and parliamentary elections will be held later this year.
.The Somaliland Forum is an independent organisation that brings together the Somaliland Diaspora. We believe in a sovereign, prosperous and independent Somaliland. Working together with Somaliland Communities and Somaliland friends around the globe, we believe that we can contribute to the betterment and development of the Republic of Somaliland. It is said that a nation's greatest asset is its human resources - hence, the importance of the contributions of the Somaliland Diaspora..
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions to make, the SL Forum Executive Committee will be eager to hear them.
Somaliland Forum
SIRAG ARCHIVE
Monday, 14 June 2010
African and Asian nations are most at risk for genocide, international forum is told By Amiram Barkat
African and Asian nations are most at risk for genocide, international forum is told
By Amiram Barkat
29.01.04
STOCKHOLM - The danger of genocide exists in five countries in Africa and Asia, according to an American expert who yesterday addressed the Stockholm International Convention on the Prevention of Genocide.
Barbara Harp, of the U.S. Center for Conflict Management, said there was a high risk of genocide in Sudan, Myanmar, Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
She told the forum that eight other countries - Somalia, Uganda, Algeria, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Ethiopia - were also at risk.
Asked by Haaretz about the dangers in Israel, Harp said that experts at the center did not believe there was a strong likelihood that Israel would carry out genocide against the Palestinians. Some of the central indications for genocide and, in particular, the ideological basis, did not exist in Israel, Harp said.
"Israel behaves badly at times, and even very badly," she said, "but it is a normal country."
Zimbabwe is the most likely candidate
The question of where genocide was likely to take place in the world today was the main concern of the experts at the Stockholm meet. Samantha Powers of Harvard University and the U.S. Center for Conflict Management said that in her opinion, the most likely candidate was Zimbabwe. Most of the experts agreed that at present, the African continent was the most likely breeding ground for genocide.
The international forum concluded its deliberations yesterday with a resolution taken by the 55 participating countries.
At Israel's request, incitement to genocide was added to the phenomena mentioned in the resolution on the prevention of genocide. Israel did not object to the Swedes' request to include Islamophobia alongside anti-Semitism and xenophobia in the resolution.
The Swedish media reported yesterday that the United States and Israel had prevented an initiative to have the resolution include a mention of the International Criminal Court at The Hague as the main body designed to prevent genocide. Israeli delegation sources denied this.
The court was currently studying complaints of genocide in five countries, its chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, told the gathering. He said one of the countries was Congo, but refused to reveal the other names.
Israeli delegates expressed satisfaction with the international forum's outcome. The fact that there was no criticism of Israel at such a large international gathering was unusual, Foreign Ministry official Nimrod Barkan said.
Ministry officials also praised the Swedes for not inviting prominent pro-Palestinian speakers such as Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
Israel was especially pleased that Prof. Yehuda Bauer, the academic adviser to the forum, and Dr. Yigael Carmon had been invited as genocide experts.
A call by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to set up a special UN supervisory mechanism to prevent genocide was not included in the final resolution, which spoke in general terms of examining the various options to prevent genocide, including the one raised by Annan.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/african-and-asian-nations-are-most-at-risk-for-genocide-international-forum-is-told-1.112370
SIRAG ARCHIVE
By Amiram Barkat
29.01.04
STOCKHOLM - The danger of genocide exists in five countries in Africa and Asia, according to an American expert who yesterday addressed the Stockholm International Convention on the Prevention of Genocide.
Barbara Harp, of the U.S. Center for Conflict Management, said there was a high risk of genocide in Sudan, Myanmar, Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
She told the forum that eight other countries - Somalia, Uganda, Algeria, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Ethiopia - were also at risk.
Asked by Haaretz about the dangers in Israel, Harp said that experts at the center did not believe there was a strong likelihood that Israel would carry out genocide against the Palestinians. Some of the central indications for genocide and, in particular, the ideological basis, did not exist in Israel, Harp said.
"Israel behaves badly at times, and even very badly," she said, "but it is a normal country."
Zimbabwe is the most likely candidate
The question of where genocide was likely to take place in the world today was the main concern of the experts at the Stockholm meet. Samantha Powers of Harvard University and the U.S. Center for Conflict Management said that in her opinion, the most likely candidate was Zimbabwe. Most of the experts agreed that at present, the African continent was the most likely breeding ground for genocide.
The international forum concluded its deliberations yesterday with a resolution taken by the 55 participating countries.
At Israel's request, incitement to genocide was added to the phenomena mentioned in the resolution on the prevention of genocide. Israel did not object to the Swedes' request to include Islamophobia alongside anti-Semitism and xenophobia in the resolution.
The Swedish media reported yesterday that the United States and Israel had prevented an initiative to have the resolution include a mention of the International Criminal Court at The Hague as the main body designed to prevent genocide. Israeli delegation sources denied this.
The court was currently studying complaints of genocide in five countries, its chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, told the gathering. He said one of the countries was Congo, but refused to reveal the other names.
Israeli delegates expressed satisfaction with the international forum's outcome. The fact that there was no criticism of Israel at such a large international gathering was unusual, Foreign Ministry official Nimrod Barkan said.
Ministry officials also praised the Swedes for not inviting prominent pro-Palestinian speakers such as Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
Israel was especially pleased that Prof. Yehuda Bauer, the academic adviser to the forum, and Dr. Yigael Carmon had been invited as genocide experts.
A call by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to set up a special UN supervisory mechanism to prevent genocide was not included in the final resolution, which spoke in general terms of examining the various options to prevent genocide, including the one raised by Annan.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/african-and-asian-nations-are-most-at-risk-for-genocide-international-forum-is-told-1.112370
SIRAG ARCHIVE
A brilliant work co-ordinated through many continents by Rhoda A. Rageh
A brilliant work co-ordinated through many continents”
by Rhoda A. Rageh
A Note On My Teachers Group is about a historical epic that has changed the lives of the people of Somaliland forever. The drama was a mammoth, which became prelude to a systematic genocide, annihilation of cities by an incumbent government, the end of a deceitful republic and a diaspora that has severed the core of nuclear families.
The author’s flashback is often surreal and daunting to revisit, sometimes distressing to read and occasionally comical to believe. In an attempt to place the suffering of his teachers with the destruction of his role models and the fictitious allegations that put them in cruel prisons, he resurrects the proceedings of spurious courtrooms, bewildered witnesses, ineffectual lawyers, fearless youth and a society betrayed by its government. Among many personal testimonies of the victims, the book includes vivid images of the group’s enthusiasm, torture, and survival instincts. In spite of a nerve of steel needed to get through the severity encountered, one must read to learn from it.
The defendants are 28 vibrant young men who have come back to a derelict home city. They took the idyllic path rarely followed by other Africans. Instead of insurgence, they focused on rebuilding vital institutions by tapping into their own academic backgrounds and work experiences. At a time when economic, educational, social and cultural institutions of the entire northern regions were depressed by Siad Barre’s restrictions, the only resource available to them in their dilapidated city was their mental energy. They pioneered a vision of self-help for people too tired and afraid to create one. Their vital energy, which had awakened Siad Barre’s worst fears of mutiny, was the beginning of a long nightmare for some of Somaliland’s brightest young men. The culmination of which was total destruction of the Somali Democratic Republic.
Dr. Jama Musa Jama, an intellectual living in the disapora was an impressionable young adult when all of these happened in his hometown of Hargeisa. The treachery of a ruthless government and the insecurity he felt through this incident mold him into a serious a researcher of truth. The book remembers those who suffer in the hands of cruel tyrants. It is a tribute to history, a psychological healing for Somalilanders, who have been terrorized by these events and a treasure for posterity. Above all this book is an honour to the strong will of serious intellectuals still active in their vision of self-help. Dr. Jama’s relentless research preserves us an experience, which could not have been possible without his patience, dedication and seriousness of purpose. A brilliant work co-ordinated through many continents.
For more information, visit: http://www.redsea-online.com
SIRAG ARCHIVE
War Crimes committed against the people of Somaliland
Presentation of Somaliland Research Society & SomalilandNet.Com at the Somaliland International Meeting, London UK
War Crimes committed against the people of Somaliland
By Somaliland Research Society & SomalilandNet.Com
Contents
- Introduct…………………………………………………………..
- When is “a war Crime” Being Committed?………………………....
- Foundation of War Criminals Committee…………………………...
- Unique Question to Abdiqaasim Salaad Hassan………………….....
- Special Note to British Somalilanders……………………………...
- Recommendations………………………………………………...
- Conclusion………………………………………………………..
Introduction
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Article 5 Universal Declaration Of Human Rights
In 1960, with a great expectation, Somaliland had voluntarily formed union with Somalia. The aim of this Union was to bring together the Somali speaking peoples of the Horn of Africa.
It was a courageous move that brought together two nations, who had no political and social contact before. This was also a moment that Somali speaking people of this region felt that they are about to be given the likelihood of having what they longed - creation of Greater Somalia, when the other three regions join.
However imperfect and hurriedly this union was done, this two nations have hopped together for 9 years, where many cultural and political difference surfaced. When NFD was passed to Kenya, Somaliland urged the union to leave the Common Wealth countries, a privilege that Somalilanders have given away, in order to show sympathy to their fellow Somali speaking people of NFD.
On 21st October 1969, a military coup detat replaced the civilian government with a junta, led by police general, who worked with the Italians, during the colony epoch. This has brought dark clouds upon the hope of the Somali Speaking people.
Instead of encouraging the integration of the two nations and working about the best logical way in which to help those who had the hope of joining the union, the military dictator embarked upon a campaign that made possible the torture and killings of tens of thousands of Somalilanders.
Maybe he thought this was the best reward for Somaliland. For some unknown reason, maybe he saw them as his enemy. May be this was due to his horrendous wild imagination, or maybe this was due to his inhumane believes. Whatever the motivation of his act was, the destruction that he inflicted upon the people of Somaliland, in terms of life and wealth, was so tremendous that it drive them to come to the conclusion that “we cannot share a flag, country and government, either federal or central, with the people who assisted his campaign of ethnic cleansing and mass destruction.”
The crimes he and his staunch men committed, during the 21 years that he held the reign of his Socialist dictatorship, were not only a crimes that had been committed against Somalilanders, but it was also a crime committed against the entire mankind. And if we allow the men and women who committed these inhumane crimes to get away with this, then we [Somalilanders] are going to let down not only the victims of this atrocity, but also the entire mankind.
If the NAZIs were allowed to get away with the carnage that they had committed and run their corners of Germany, then today the Europe that we know would never have existed.
1-This presentation will be highlighting the War Crimes committed against Somaliland, while appealing to the international communities to assist us to get what they have done for Rwandans, citizens of the Ex-Yugoslavia and many other people of this world.
2- It would be calling upon the leaders of the Arab world to abandon that idea of speaking for the people of Somaliland and saying, “the war crimes should be forgotten”. This is a privilege that belongs to the people of Somaliland, but not the leaders, who either assisted, or, indeed, did not care when this crime was being carried out.
3- It will be asking Somalilanders in the Diaspora to set-up the most possible organisation that could bring about the method with which the decadent men and women, who thrived on the looting, killing and torturing of our people, could be brought into justice.
This presentation will be using the following names for Somali speaking people of the Horn of Africa:
- a) Somalilanders: citizens of Somaliland.
- b) Somalians - citizens of Somalia proper.
- c) Somalis - all Somali speaking.
- d) Djibutians - people of Djibouti
- e) Kenyan Somalis - NFD Residents
- f) Ethiopian Somalis - Somalis in the Fifth region of Ethiopia
Please note that the above naming is open to debate, but there is a need to distinguish the groups that I will be talking about.
Although this presentation will be highlighting the human rights abuses that took place, it would not go into details, as this is a job being carried out by the War Criminals Committee. It is very imperative to note that the integrity of this information is very important and so it should be left with this committee.
When is “a war Crime” Being Committed?
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”
Article 3 Universal Declaration Of Human Rights
During the Barre era, Somalilanders were subjected to campaign of looting, arresting, and extra judicial executions. This was intensified when the Ethiopian-Somali war failed.
Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF), predominated by the dictator’s clan and in-laws, had operated in the Reserve Area with a ruthless campaign that brought about the revolt of Afraad wing of this front (not the recent Afraad). Thousands of people were forced to give up their properties and then killed. The front that was meant to liberate Somali Ethiopian ended being the terror machine that ended the lives of thousands of Somalis in a very violent fashion.
Looting was norm, not only in the Reserve Area, but this was extended to the villages and towns along side the Somaliland-Ethiopia border. As the ranks of tortures, looters and killers swollen, the entire 26th Sector of the Somali National Army moved to implement the opposite of what they were originally set-up: instead of defending the nation from foreign enemy, they begun to become their real enemy.
Military officers and personnel were being recruited and transferred from Somalia proper, with the doctrine “we should replace the people of Somaliland”. Also, the WSLF, which later turn out to be an Ogaden front, was convinced that they should move their people from Ethiopia and should be used for the replacement of the Somalilanders.
This shocking decision needed a callous and inhumane act in order to ensure that an empty land has been created for the encouraged immigrants from the fifth region of Ethiopia. The best answer to this turn out to be ruthless ethnic cleansing that brought about the killings of tens thousands of Somalilanders.
Forlornly, WSLF failed to comprehend the fact that the only way that Somalis could get valued and achieve what they inspired was to promote peace among Somali speaking people and do not side with the aggressors. Instead, they saw this as panacea to their problem. No surprise that the higher ranks of the 26th Sector was filled with Ogadens and also their fellow tribesmen.
As the number of university graduates in Somaliland increased, this was seen as threat to the dictator’s legitimacy, thus, in 1981 the culling operation begun. An operation that put hundreds of Somalilanders into the Torture chambers of what was Known as the Military Intelligence Unit (Hangash) and the National Security Service (NSS).
Somalians (Somalis from Somalia proper) were given the right to behave as they liked in Somaliland, so as to frighten Somalilanders and facilitate the ethnic cleansing operation. This included shooting innocent citizens on the streets and roads of Somaliland’s cities, towns, villages and countryside.
While the educated and wealthy Somalilanders were being apprehended for no reason, tortured, sentenced to long imprisonments, and, sadly, some of them were being executed with 30 AK-47 bullets per person, the majority of Somalilanders, who lived in the countryside, were treated a way that our nation had never seen before. Their wives and daughters were subjected to random rape, looting of their livestock, extortionate tactics were employed, in order to extract as much wealth as possible, before they were forced to face their fate. Surely, no one of us should forget and steal the privilege of the victims of Mohamed Hashi Gani, Aamusane, Jehaad and so many others whom we cannot name now, as we are working on their cases.
As the Somalilanders were visited by a fear and destruction they had never foreseen, their students and pupils took to the streets, in order to get other Somalis understand their plight and help them to salvage the reason why Somaliland volunteered to form the voluntary Union with Somalia (Please see above).
Despondently, our Fellow Somali speaking people failed to comprehend this and responded with indifference. Thus, Somalilanders came to the conclusion that forming an organisation that salvages whatever is left of Somalia turned out to be the only way out left. This resulted the creation of Somali National Movement (SNM), which successfully made possible the toppling of a man and his cronies, who shed so many citizens’ blood and looted their properties.
During the period of the struggle, tens of thousands of Somalilanders were killed, while they were, in their homes, shopping, or on their way to work. During this period, every article enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was violated.
From my experience, the destruction and abuse that I witnessed, as young volunteer, was something that drove me to the conclusion that ‘maybe Somalis are better off to stay as separately governed people.’ This was a conclusion that reached by massive majority of Somalilanders, when, in 1991, the Somalians chose to exact revenge against each other.
If the raping of our people, destruction of our property, killing of our people and violations of all the articles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human rates are not a Crime committed against humanity, then what shall we call it? I leave the answer of this question to you, dear audience and readers.
But think about the young pregnant mother, who had 2 children and being shelled out of her wonderful house. She was chased by jet fighter, flown by Somali Air force. Bombed from one tree to next, till she broke her water and contraction begun. Without any assistance, she endeavoured to deliver the baby, while attempting to keep an eye on her other two children. As the bombs fall and 50 millimetre guns spread bullets around the vicinity where she was hiding, the child emerged and she felt into coma, as she did not even have a glass of water to drink. And then past away. While this was happening, Abdiqaasim Salaad Hassan was the Interior Minister of Somalia.
Think about the mother, who was living in the countryside, with her livestock, four children and husband. One morning, on 17th November 1984, a platoon of soldiers, from the 26th Sector of Somali National Army, paid a visit to their dwelling. Her husband was tied on thorn-Tree, her livestock slaughtered for no purpose, she was stripped off her cloth, thrown to the ground and raped by the men, who were wearing the Uniform of the Somali National Army, while her children were running around and crying for help.
When the rapists were asked why they have done this shameful act? With their strong accent, they said, “We were ordered to do this!!” Shall we allow the men who ordered them to live like any other ordinary human being in the western world, with the opportunity of decrying the existence of Somaliland?
Think about the 16 year old boy, who was taken from his bed 3 o’clock in the morning; tortured for three months; while lying in a dark cell visited by a man, who said “I am going to help you, boy. Just tell me whether you have done this crime or not.” As a teenager, who had not seen someone who talked to him with this tone for the last three months, busted with tears and responded “Uncle, I swear, I even do not understand what they are asking me…”
And then punched in the face by the very man, who said, “I would help you.”
The next morning, he was taken to the National Criminal Court. As he was chained to the dock, he saw in the Judges seat the man he met last night .
Imagine what went through the teenager’s head; think about the shiver and the shock. And sense what he felt, when the so-called judge passed a death sentence with the reason that the boy defied his government. The so-called judge, or may be torturer was Gelle, who is now residing in France, but uses Geneva as his address, when he is writing to the Somali Newspapers.
Ponder about the 50 years old man, who worked hard in the Arabian countries, as he was denied the opportunity of living in his homeland; who had not seen his family for very long time; spent his savings on a house, he thought he will retire to; and was suddenly told, his house was shelled into peaces, five of his children are dead; his brothers are missing and his wife was taken by the army. Unfortunately, he is not only denied the opportunity of retiring peacefully into his beloved quarters, but he was also been force to live in a lonely live, filled with the agony of thinking about what happen to the family, he looked forward to living with.
Think about the teenagers, who were led into gallows and tied on the pillars, fired at by the Somali National Army, while their parents were forced to watch this, and their bodies were left to decompose in the open, so others will see, in order to accelerate the ethnic cleansing. Mohamed Hashi Gani and Mohamed Hirsi Morgan, Adden Gabyow, Mohamed Ali Sammatter, and others were in charge when this act of terror was under way.
Think about the fathers and mothers, who were denied the opportunity of seeing their children grow and succeed. Think about the young men and women, who are now leaving with disability, because they either lost their limbs in the torture chambers or while facing the firing squads, either it be from an artillery, AK-47, BKM or from a jet fighters.
Think about the nation, whose Airports were used for the place were jetfighters fuel, reload their guns and bombs, then take off and bombarded them.
Think about the sad six refugees, who fled to Djibouti, in order to escape a persecution and seek the help of their brethren Somali speaking Djiboutian; apprehended by the Djiboutian Security officers, tortured for 5 months, in order to extract as much information as possible; then taken out from their dilapidated cells and placed in front of the firing squad that terminate their lives in a miserable manner. Their blood was left on the beach, where they were executed, and their bodies were hastily buried, just by the edge of the Red See. No notification was given to their relatives.
The man who was in charge with this Security force was Ismail Omer Guelleh, the current president of Djibouti. Many of us may rememeber him for the number of refugees he handed back to the Somali Junta, who violently shot them to death.
If we allow the men who done this to enjoy their lives in this world, as representatives of Somali speaking people, then we must all concur with the undeniable fact that our complacency will amount to crime.
If Kofi Annan, the general secretary of the United Nations, finds okay to shake the hands of the men, who ordered and supervised the above atrocities, then let us remind him that ‘that is not the best way to set an example for the Horn of Africans.’ We must make him understand that he has demeaned the African values, as he encourages the idea that those who committed war crimes in Africa are okay, as Africans do not have any values.
We urge the General Secretary to talk to the victims rather than their perpetrators.
We must find out why the above victims and co-victims were treated the way they were treated. And that we should ensure this act shall never visit our people again. And to achieve this, we must pursue those men who did it. That is what we owe to our people and all the nations of this planet earth.
Foundation of War Criminals Committee
While Somalilanders were very busy in rebuilding their shattered land, bringing together the scattered families and building the institutions that would facilitate the development of Somaliland, the bones of the victims of the above massacre emerged from ground.
As the nation find very hard to comprehend why this had happened, the Government of Somaliland set up the War Criminals Committee, with the assistance of international bodies. Day after day skeletons with their hands tied at the back are being discovered from the eastern to the western regions of Somaliland.
So far, they have received $20,000.00 from the USAID, which they used for the computers and other equipments that made possible the functioning of this Committee. In the meantime, the government of Somaliland pays their salary, assists them in every way that they could. As a result of this they have gathered lots of evidence that horrified most of the people, who are working in this case.
However, they need an international help, which includes advocates of the Human Rights and those who specialist in War Criminals Investigations and prosecutions (please see below)
As this processes was under way, the decadent men, who committed the above atrocities met in Arta, Djibouti, in order to form what they called national government. This quadrupled investigations carried out by the War Criminals Committee.
Fortuitously, Somaliland Net started setting up a website, designed for the collection of as much information as possible about the where abouts of the men who did wreak havoc upon the dreams and aspirations of the Somali speaking nations; the men who committed untold atrocities during the Barre’s era.
This website is due to be launched very soon and that it will be in full operation. However, Somaliland Net seeks the help and assistance of Somalilanders, wherever they are. Also, this website is going to co-operate with Somaliland’s War Criminals Committee, so that the campaign to chase the War Criminals will run smoothly.
Therefore, volunteers are needed. I call upon every Somalilander, or humane person, who reads this presentation, to help us get these men punished for what they did. And to achieve this, please do contact www.Somalilandnet.com .
Unique Question to Abdiqaasim Salaad Hassan
“All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal against any discrimination in the violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination”
Article 7 Universal Declaration Of Human Rights
In July 1989, one night about 55 Somalilanders were forcefully removed from their houses, shuttled into Jazira, fired upon by the men whom you were supposed to utilise for the safety of the public. Read the names of the victims your men denied the right to exist as human beings. Ask yourself why you have allowed this to happened? Ponder about the pain they suffered, while their flash was being torn apart by the bullets bought with the money, collected from the Somali taxpayers.
As a believer of one god, do you sleep in sane, when you think about how they suffered? Here are the names:
1.Ibrahim Hasan Gelle( H.Y) US-OMC-somalia
2.Ibrahim H. Abdillahi Dirie(H.Y)Besinessman
3.Mohamed Ismail Ahmed(H.Y)Businessman
4.Yusuf Mohame Handulle( H.Y)USAID
5.Saeed mohamed Mumin( C.G) Ass.pro.Lafole S.N.U
6.Musa Abdi Gaas( C.G) Businessman
7.Hussein Ali Aden(H.J)Businessman
8.Saeed Nur Musa( H.J)businesman
9.Abdirahman Mohamed Bihi( H.J)Businessman
10.Abiwahab Farah Ahmed(H.Y) Student
11.Abdifatah Ahmed Jiir( H.J) Student
12.Matan Abdi Habashi( Arab)Student
13.Mohamed mohamud Abdi(H.Y) Businessman
14.Ali Mohamed Abdi(H.A) Student
15.Hassan Aw Nur Barud(H.Y) Businessman
16.Abdi Mohamed Abdi (H.A)Technician
17.Ahmed Yassin Omar Jama( H.A) Businessman
18.Mohamed Abdi Hassan( H.A)Businessman
19.Ibrahim Hassan Ege(H.A) Technician
20.Abdi Muhumed Daud (H.A) Businessman
21.hassan Abdi Muhumed (Arab) Businessman
22.Ali Mohamed Dirie(H.J) C.Serv
23.Jama Mohamed Abdi(H.A) Trader
24.Abdi Osman Dubad(H.Y)Trader
25.Husein Omar Husein(C.G) Trader
26.Mohamed Musa Mohamed(H.Y) Trader
27.Ahmed Hassan Elmi(Dheereeye) (H.A)Sportsman
28.Mohamed-Bashe Abdillahi Hebaan(H.A)Trader
29.Abdirahman Ahmed Dhimbil (H.A) Civil servent
30.Hussein Muhumed Farah (H.A)Civil servent
31.Mohamoud Bacadle (H.Y) Civil servent
32.Jama Aden (barosin)(H.J) Civil servent
33.Abdirahman Mohamed Osman(beledi)(H.A)Trader
34.Barre Osman Abdi (C.G) Trader
35.Abdirizaq Aydiid Mohamed (H.A) Student
36.Hussein Osman Jama (H.A)student
37.Khadar Mohamed Ahmed (H.A) Student
38.Bihi Ibrahim Ahmed (H.A) Student
39.Hassan Nur Hersi (H.A) Student
40.Abokor Mohamed Yousuf (H.A)Trader
41.Hassan Guure Abdi (H.A) Trader
42.Khadar nuur Jama (H.A) Trader
43.Ahmed Yusuf Ibrahim (H.A) Trader
44.Mohamed Osman Jama (H.A)Trader
46.Farah Ismail Awale (H.Y) student
47.Yusuf Abdillahi Roble (C.G) graduate Dr.
48.Dayib Abdi Burale (H.Y) Trader
49.Dahir Mohamed Jama Warfaa (H.Y) Trader
50.Ali Aw-Muhumed Mohamed (burale)(C.G) Trader
51.Fuad Abdillahi Ibrahim (Arab)
52.Daud SH. Ibrahim (H.Y).
53.Hussein Kheyre Abdi (H.J)
54.Rashid Mohamed Osman (H.A)
55.Abdi Barre Osman (C.G) graduate
After reading the names of the victims, who will be awaiting you and your cronies at the gates of the judgement day, ask yourself why would you like to repeat this once gain? Is it because enough was not done? Is it because Kofi Annan is poorly informed about Horn of Africa, or is it Because David Stephens is so greedy that he will let you have whatever exacerbates the sufferings of the Somali speaking people, as long as it legitimises the continuation of the vast sums of money that he receives from the UN?
Special Note to British Somalilanders
Many of us do remember very well, when 55 Somalilanders, in July 1989, were handpicked from their house in Mogadishu. They were simply brought into a meeting point near the Jazira beach. As the waiting party of the red berets noted that enough are there, they were ordered to fire at them and the massacre that ensued was something many of us may never forget.
The man who was in charge of this interior army was, as we all know, the Somali Interior Minster, Abdiqaasim Salaad Hassan, and who is know the so-called interim President, who claims to rule the country from isolated and ramshackle hotel in Mogadishu, where he is surrounded by those who are seeking his blood.
The man who supervised many untold inhumane killings of our people, a man who once said "it is right to bomb Somaliland from everywhere," has now a website, provided by the BBC World Service.
There is no doubt that this has come about by the help of his nephew, he is the head of the BBC Somali Section. But we should, for example, accept the fact that IRIN supports his views, because IRIN is not only run by his other Nephew, but it belongs to the UN, which is susceptible to many abuses.
But, and this a big but, why we should allow the British Broadcasting Corporation to support a man, who had so much blood on his hand, without it being made known to the British Government?
We should be reminding the Right Honourable Chris Smith that if UK is determine to seek the prosecution of those who committed atrocities in the Balkans, then the labour government should at least respect the feelings of the victims of Abdiqaasim Sallaad.
Recommendations
In order to ensure that War Criminals are pursued wherever they are hiding, there is a need to overhaul our activities, study as to where we are doing bad and how we could improve this and co-operate our efforts. Thus, the following recommendations are the points that we would like to recommend to this summit.
1- Since most of the War Criminals are now residing or hiding in the western world, as refugees, we should set up a Somaliland War Crimes Organisation that ensures that the above men are found and exposed, wherever they are.
2- In order to ensure the efficiency of this organisation and the existing War Criminals Committee in Somaliland, we should discuss, research and work out the best way that the two bodies could co-operate and work in tune of each other.
3- Since the majority of Somalilanders who are leaving in the west are now citizens of the countries in which they reside, this organisation should help them to seek legal assistance as to how they could get charged and prosecuted the War criminals that they saw in the Streets of cities and Towns that they live.
4- Everyone who has any information should pass this to both bodies.
5- This organisation should have branches in everywhere, where there is a Somaliland society. Thus, the structure of each Somaliland society should include a branch that is dedicated to assist and work with this organisation.
6- UK Somaliland Society should set up the best possible way in which they could advise the British government about the where abouts of this men, who are now residing in UK.
7- The purpose of this organisation should never be a machine of witch-hunt and blacklisting, but it should work in a manner that ensures no one gets away with what he/she had done to the people of Somaliland.
8- This organisation should work out the most possible way in which we could approach the members of the Arab League and explain to them its raison d'être. Most of the members of this league have appalling human rights record, but this should not be used as an excuse. Where there is a will, there is a hope. Let us earn their sympathy.
9- Although the contact between us and Somalians is very bad one, we should carry out a research as to how we could contact other Somali groups, who want to see the War Criminals Prosecuted.
Conclusion
As Somaliland has started a one year long campaign of presidential, legislative house and local elections, we call upon the citizens and residents of Somaliland to ensure that while everyone of us is exercising his right of campaigning for/or electing the men that they share with political opinion, we should not overlook the task of ensuring that the War Criminals shall not be allowed to repaint themselves as the savours of Somalia.
We call upon the Arab leaders, UN general Secretary and international community to respect the will of the People of Somaliland. We urge then to understand the fact that the legitimate persons that can forgive the War Criminals are their victims, but no the Yemeni Foreign Minister or any other person. This is a privilege of those who suffered under 21 years of brutal dictatorship, which endeavoured to implement unprecedented ethnic cleansing.
We seek the assistance of the international organisations to help us help those who suffered a lot in the hands of men, whose actions brought about the failure of a state, first created for the fulfilment of the aspirations of a nations that share one language.
Imagine how we will be terrified if we see the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, shaking the hands of the man who supervised the Jazira Beach Massacre of 1989, as Somali Interior Minister (Abdiqaasim Sallaad).
And that we shall never miss the opportunity of congratulating the Canadian Somalilanders, who exposed and then made possible the deportation of the men, who committed War Crimes in Gebilley. We should follow their example and learn from them as to how they achieved this. I believe they should be the ones who should be giving this lecture.
Mohamed-Aar Abdillahi Mohamed
Somaliland Research Society
SomalilandNet.com
SIRAG ARCHIVE
This is the sort of crime that does not have a statute of limitations
This is the sort of crime that does not have a statute of limitations
http://www.somalilandnet.com/somaliland_voice/graves/mass_graves.shtml
SIRAG ARCHIVE
Floods at the Malka Durduro site in Hargeisa's dry river bed unearthed a series of mounds containing the bodies, half a kilometre (mile) from the main gate of the headquarters of the 26th division of the late President Siad Barre's army.
The finding is the first of its kind and confirms rumours that mass graves existed in the Somaliland capital, but the identities of the bodies and their manner of death remain unclear
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http://www.somalilandnet.com/somaliland_voice/graves/mass_graves.shtml
SIRAG ARCHIVE
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