Somalia’s citizens can get Identification Cards

 

 

By Somalicurrent 

 

For over two decades, getting any form of official identification for Somali citizens was done through the back alleys of the infamous Bakara market, a system known as “Abdallah Shideeye” or the counterfeiter. Without a functioning government and institutions during the two decades of civil war, many Somalis had to acquire fake identity cards and passports to travel as they sought refugee status in neighboring countries.

The country now has a functional government with institutions working at protecting the Somali identity.

At this centre in Mogadishu, hundreds of Somalis brave the scorching sun, queuing to get their new national identity cards.

Setup up by the regional administration in December last year and with funding from US Aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the center sees traffic of between 200 and 500 people each day.

“In this country we had what they called “Abdallah Shideeye” for the last 23 years you can find in Bakara Market whatever ID card you would like to have, everyone could take citizenship before;” Says Mohamed Yusuf, Spokesman of Mogadishu Municipality and Office of the Mayor, “but now we wanted to reach the digital system in the world that’s why we brought the latest technology here. “

With just 13 workstations and locally trained staff, these men and women are rolling out Somalia’s new and improved IDs fitted with a smartcard. The electronic chip contains biometric data collected at the centre and has some of the latest security features to protect against forgery.

“So we are not going to start where we were in 1991, but we are going to start…Today the world is digital, that’s why we bring the chip Sim-card for the security issue. It is also a very good idea because not everyone can get it and we have the figure prints of whoever takes it in the database as well as every necessary document. That’s why we selected the latest version for the national identity card.” Adds Mohamed Yusuf.

The legal age for one to acquire an ID card in Somalia is 15. There are three steps to the process; first one has to get a letter from their district commissioner’s office that confirms that they are Somali and are from that particular area. They then go to Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to have a criminal background check conducted and seek clearance. When that’s complete, they head to the bank and pay USD 17.50 for the card before coming to National ID card Processing Centre.

After filling in their details and giving their bio data, it takes between 4 to 7 days to receive the ID card.

“It has a lot of benefits for me, it verifies who I am and my position in the community and this is written on the ID card.” Says Ugasa Lahi Hashi, an elder and Community Leader in the city. “To the rest of the world it’s a way of identifying one’s nationality and place of birth. With security if something happens with a person, you can get all his details and information from the ID card. So it’s very important.”

In 2007 the then Transitional Federal Government had tried to implement a similar biometric ID and passport system, but the process was marred by corruption and lacked the checks and balances on who qualifies for documents.

Although the new process is working, the centre is clearly overwhelmed. It’s the only centre in the country catering for Mogadishu’s estimated 3 million plus people and Somalis in other parts of the country have to travel to the capital to apply for the service. The Somali Federal Government says it will soon open other centres across the city to meet the demand.

“It took me about a month of moving back and forth, but now I am finally here to sign for my ID card.” Says Samiha Jeilani Kasim, a medical Student hoping to travel to the USA for further studies. “There was a mistake with the spelling of my name on the ID card; where there was single S, they had put a double S. I came back several times but today, thank God, that I have finished the process. Now I want to get my passport so that I can travel with it.”

An excited first time ID card holder and student Zakaria Aweis Sayid had this to add. It’s the first time, because as we know Somalia, we have been at war for 22 years. Now we are going into development, this is part of the development, so I am so happy.”

Somalia has taken a huge leap with technology and they are among the first five African countries to use the smart cards ID system. The government hopes that with the data collected, it can create a national database of its people, and that will help in the fight against extremism and groups like al Shabaab.

The new ID cards are a prerequisite for getting Somalia’s new biometric passports as well, measures the government has put in place to not only safeguard its people but to once again reconnect them as global citizens, and give them an identity lost to years of war.

This is among the many strides that country is taking, as it enjoys relative peace facilitated by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) that have helped liberate major cities of the country from the terror perpetrated by the al Shabaab militants.

Monthly Updates on the Covert War January 2014 Update: US covert actions in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia

Noor Khan’s legal challenge to drones in the English courts was rejected this month (Photo: Reprieve).

by Jack Serle and Alice K Ross

January was the first month in two years without a drone strike in Pakistan.

The first civilian casualty of the year was reported in a possible drone strike in Yemen.

A rare drone strike – the second in three months – hit Somalia.

Pakistan

January 2014 actions

Total CIA strikes in January: 0
Total killed in strikes in January: 0

All actions 2004 – January 31 2014

Total Obama strikes: 330
Total US strikes since 2004: 381
Total reported killed: 2,537-3,646
Civilians reported killed: 416-951
Children reported killed: 168-200
Total reported injured: 1,128-1,557
 

For the Bureau’s full Pakistan databases click here.

January was the first calendar month without a strike since December 2011, when US-Pakistan relations hit a nadir.

At the end of 2011 the CIA stopped strikes in Pakistan amid a diplomatic crisis caused by a series of incidents. The year had seen the arrest of a CIA contractor in Lahore, the secret US raid to kill Osama bin Laden, and the death of 24 Pakistani border guards in a botched Nato airstrike in November. At that point strikes paused for 55 days.

This month, the Bureau published a leaked Pakistani document showing details of more than 300 CIA attacks between 2006 and late 2013. It is the most complete official record of the covert campaign to be placed in the public domain. Although overall casualties closely match independent estimates such as the Bureau’s, the routine recording of civilian casualties stops suddenly at the start of 2009. And several entries in the document appear to contradict the rare public statements on individual strikes released by the US.

January 23 marked five years since the first drone strike of the Obama presidency. A Bureau analysis shows that under Obama the US has launched over 390 drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, killing 2,400 – six times more than his predecessor President Bush. However the number of people killed on average in each strike has fallen during Obama’s two terms.

The Pakistan Taliban (TTP) carried out a series of attacks in January. The bombing of a military convoy killed more than 20 soldiers – the bloodiest single Taliban attack on the army, according to the Financial Times. Three polio workers were killed in Karachi. And a suicide bomber killed 13 people in a market near the Pakistan army headquarters in Rawalpindi.

The Pakistan military has carried out strikes around Miranshah and Mir Ali in North Waziristan. Pakistan Air Force attacks have reportedly killed dozens of alleged militants, including three Germans and 33 Uzbeks in one incident. There have been reports of civilian casualties and thousands more fled the region.

Prime minister Nawaz Sharif dispatched a team to negotiate with the Taliban, despite having indicated earlier in the month that he was ready to take the fight to the militants. To date, the Pakistan military has not launched an all-out assault in North Waziristan like the 2009 attacks on Swat and South Waziristan.

Imran Khan’s opposition party PTI continues to block a key supply line into Afghanistan, despite warnings from US defence secretary Chuck Hagel in December that Pakistan could lose billions of dollars in military aid if the blockade continues.

Also this month, the Court of Appeal in London stopped a Pakistani citizen’s legal challenge to discover if UK officials are complicit in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan. For two years, Noor Khan has been trying to get English courts to examine whether UK officials at GCHQ share information about targets in Pakistan with the CIA, and whether this could therefore make British spies complicit in murder or war crimes.

Yemen

January 2014 actions

Confirmed US drone strikes: 0
Further reported/possible US strike events: 4
Total reported killed in US operations: 0-7
Civilians reported killed in US strikes: 0-1

All actions 2002 – January 31 2014*

Confirmed US drone strikes: 59-69
Total reported killed: 287-423
Civilians reported killed: 24-71
Children reported killed: 6
Reported injured: 74-185

Possible extra US drone strikes: 87-106
Total reported killed: 306-486
Civilians reported killed: 24-47
Children reported killed: 6-8
Reported injured: 79-110

All other US covert operations: 12-77
Total reported killed: 144-377
Civilians reported killed: 59-88
Children reported killed: 24-26
Reported injured: 22-115
 

Click here for the full Yemen data.

* All but one of these actions have taken place during Obama’s presidency. Reports of incidents in Yemen often conflate individual strikes. The range in the total strikes and total drone strikes we have recorded reflects this.

At least four possible US drone strikes hit Yemen in January, all in the first half of the month. An unnamed farmer was reportedly among the 6-7 killed in these attacks.

Several media sources reported that the farmer was walking home early on the morning of January 15 when US drones targeted a vehicle carrying alleged members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Although the car’s passengers were injured, the farmer – or bystander – was reportedly the only person killed. This account was later contradicted by a ‘well-informed source’ who told al Hayat the strike killed alleged al Qaeda member Abdel Majid al Shahry – a Saudi national.

Two men injured in the first reported US strike of January were civilians, according to their parents. The wounded men were identified as Adnan Saleh al Taysi and Ibrahim Hussein al Aarif. As many as 10 members of the al Taysi family reportedly died in a drone strike that hit a wedding convoy in December. Up to 15 civilians were killed in this US attack on December 12. This month US officials confirmed an investigation into the claims of civilian deaths is underway.

The final reported strike this month, also on January 15, killed 3-4 people in Wadi Abeeda. Mohammed Saeed Jardan, an alleged militant and local to the area, was reportedly among the dead.
Also this month, three peers from the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats tabled amendments to the Defence Reform Bill that would increase scrutiny of US forces based in the UK.

The draft reforms include establishing scrutiny groups to ensure US operations in Britain comply with domestic law. The proposed changes were prompted by reports that bases in the UK are part of the US drone war in Yemen and Somalia.

Somalia

January 2014 actions

Total reported US operations: 1
Total killed in strikes in January: 2-9

All actions 2007 – January 31 2014

US drone strikes: 5-11
Total reported killed: 11-39
Civilians reported killed: 0-16
Children reported killed: 0
Reported injured: 2-24
All other US covert operations: 8-15
Total reported killed: 48-150
Civilians reported killed: 7-42
Children reported killed: 1-3
Reported injured: 13-21
 
Click here for the Bureau’s full data on Somalia.

The US military launched its first drone strike of the year in Somalia, killing 2-9 people. It was the first reported US action in the country since October 2013.

The attack targeted al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, according to anonymous US officials. But a source in the African Union peacekeeping force said Godane survived the attack. Several sources said Sahal Iskudhuq, a senior al Shabaab figure, was killed. He may have been meeting Godane ‘right before the attack‘.

Unnamed US officials told CNN the US had targeted Godane in the strike. One of them said he posed a threat to US interests in the region. As Sarah Knuckey reported, this appeared to contradict a restriction on drone attacks set out in a summary of President Obama’s new rules, released in May 2013. The summary read: ‘The United States will use lethal force only against a target that poses a continuing, imminent threat to US persons.’

Also this month, the UN-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) announced more than 4,000 Ethiopian soldiers had become part of the peacekeeping force. Ethiopia unilaterally invaded Somalia in 2007, and remained in the country for two years, nominally supporting the central government against the Islamic Courts Union, a loose affiliation of clans and groups that governed most of the country. Al Shabaab was a peripheral member of the ICU at the time.

During Ethiopia’s presence in the country, its troops were accused of war crimes, notably by Amnesty International. The addition of Ethiopian troops to Amisom ‘will not be popular in Somalia’, EJ Hogendoorn, a Somalia expert at the International Crisis Group, told the Bureau.

Hogendoorn said: ‘Al Shabaab was able to use the Ethiopian “occupation” for recruiting and fundraising. They received a lot of support from the diaspora not because of their ideology but because they were seen as the most effective force fighting “Ethiopian colonisation”. They will seek to do the same thing this time around.’

Naming the Dead

It emerged that US drones killed a German last year. The man, whose name has been anonymised as Patrick K, came from was from Hesse, near Hamburg and was reportedly killed in a strike on February 16 2012.

Previous reporting on the strike only mentioned unnamed Uzbeks dying. But a video purportedly produced by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan claimed Patrick died alongside Uzbek fighters. He was reportedly approached to become a source for German intelligence before leaving for Pakistan.

Follow Alice Ross and Jack Serle on Twitter.

To sign up for monthly updates from the Bureau’s Covert War project click here.

Western Sahara: Christopher Ross Returns to New York Empty Handed

The UN mediator for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, who has just wound up a new tour in North Africa, returned to New York empty-handed.
 
While in Algiers and the Tindouf camps, Ross was hoping to convince the Polisario to engage in direct negotiations with the Moroccan side. But the UN mediator was deeply disappointed by the stubbornness of the Algerian Authorities and the Polisario leaders who continue to cling to the non-operational option of a self-determination referendum, commented a Western diplomat based in Algiers.
 
According to this diplomat, Algerian authorities are worried about the health condition of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on the eve of the parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for April. They have other priorities and little time to devote to the Sahara issue.
 
Also, the Head of State, although he is seriously sick, still holds the reins of power through his close aides, paralyzing thus all state institutions and jeopardizing the country’s political future.
 
In Tindouf, stronghold of the Polisario in south western Algeria, the Polisario leaders, who have been facing for several weeks the turmoil of protest movements, were waiting to receive instructions from Algiers. But as the Polisario chief, Mohamed Abdelaziz, and his lieutenant received no orders they repeated to the UN mediator the obsolete leitmotiv of a self-determination referendum.
 
In this context, Christopher Ross had no other choice than to bring to a halt his shuttles until June 2014, awaiting to see the domestic situation in Algeria clarified, said the diplomat who added that everybody is fully aware that Bouteflika’s candidacy to a fourth presidential term could engulf the entire country.
 
Several opposition parties have already announced their decision to boycott the upcoming polls. Meanwhile, tribal and ethnic conflicts erupted in some parts of the country, especially in the city of Ghardaia, where local authorities, supported by army units, are struggling to restore order in the region.
 
The situation both in Algeria and in the Polisario-controlled Tindouf camps does not seem to quieten down anytime soon.

9 Differences Between Disney World and Djibouti

By RACHELPIEHJONES

You might not believe me, but Disney World and Djibouti aren’t exactly the same, in fact, they are quite different from each other. If you’ve never been to one or both places, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

In December my Djibouti Jones family had a Pieh family reunion in Florida. My parents, three siblings and their spouses and children, and my own family had a fantastically fun week in Disney World together. We had Lego competitions and talent shows (our family performed the 12 Days of Djibouti Christmas, written by ourselves) and fudge feasts and rocking Christmas carol singing times plus all the experiences and rides at the Disney Parks. There were, naturally, a few tears as we tried to keep everyone from teenagers to infants happy but what is a week at Disney World without at least a few tears? Perhaps that is onething the two places do have in common…

All of that, however, is beside the point. The point is that Disney World and Djibouti are different and if you want to know why, click here to read (and see) just how different they are: 9 Differences Between Disney World and Djibouti

My Djibouti (D)Jones family traveled to Disney World for a family reunion during Christmas vacation this year. Every time we travel internationally we encounter culture shock and I enjoy keeping track of the funny things our kids say, the interesting perspective we each bring to what will blend into normalcy in just a few days.

So, going to Disney World was sure to bring some interesting observations from each of us. I have noticed that some expats like to complain and sometimes we can come across as judgmental or critical of our home cultures.

Sometimes it would be easy to fall into that trap of comparing and complaining, of judging excess or differences. Long, long ago, another expat gave us invaluable advice before we headed to the US for our first trip back.

“Enjoy it,” he said. “Be thankful. It might seem like excess, it might feel overwhelming. Be thankful and have a good time.”

We go back and forth around the world now fully conscious that we are making this choice of gratitude. Disney World was no exception. Minnesota feels like Disney World to our family, when we come straight from the developing world. That must make the real Disney World…Disney World Gone Wild?

We did notice some things. Here are a few of our family’s observations regarding the differences between Djibouti and Disney World. Truth be told, there are more than ten differences, in case you were wondering. And if you have never been to one or either of these places, you will just have to take my word for it.

Djiboutians in Disney World=(If you look closely, the green t-shirt with the camel on it even says Djibouti down the side.)

Different Kinds of Rodents
Disney World has clean, sanitary,
well-dressed mice trained to talk and sing

Real Rodents

Our rodents don't sing and dance and we try to keep them out of the house. Sometimes that takes going on special hunting missions, armed with brooms and buckets and traps. We also don't dress our rodents in clothes.(this is "Bunny," no photos of our mice or rats)

Less Garbage

Disney World has less garbage. We saw a woman carrying a broom and dustpan and my youngest asked what she was doing. “Picking up garbage,” I said. “No, she isn’t,” Lucy said. “There isn’t any.”

Garbage

Djibouti isn't as spotless as Disney World. There is a garbage truck and we dodge the trash that falls out the back of it while it bumps over the roads. There are also women who sweep the streets at night and in the early morning. They do a truly heroic job fighting back the dust and trash.

Lines
There are actually lines for rides, food, bathrooms, and character visits at Disney World. People stand in them, patiently. This is borderline miraculous.

No Lines

I'm not sure how Americans become so adept at waiting in lines. Does it start in Kindergarten? It seems rather ingrained. Sometimes I like the organization of lines but sometimes I prefer the interesting chaos of no lines, the ability to maneuver through a crowd, the knowledge that asserting myself is not offensive but desirable.

Packed Buses

Djiboutian buses don't leave until they are filled, or over-filled.

Empty Buses

Disney buses don’t know how to pack people in like sardines. Even if you are standing, it is likely that the person behind or in front of you will not be standing on your toes or breathing in your face. There are no live goats on buses at Disney World and no feather boas or decals of Michael Jackson's face pasted on a female model's body.

Cost of Food

Food in Disney World is delicious and expensive.

Fresh Food

In Djibouti, food is also expensive but we don't sit in our tea cups or dance with our utensils.

No Pushing

No elbowing your way to the front of those lines in Disney World. If you do, beware the cool and strong uncle who might swoop you up.

African mining conference opens in Cape Town: Somaliland attend

Ministerial forum

Alhaji Fuseini will on Wednesday participate in a ministerial forum alongside his counterparts from Zambia, Tanzania, Angola, Rwanda, Mali, Somaliland, and Botswana where he is expected to tell Ghana's success story, challenges and the way forward in the mining industry in Ghana.

Ghana's Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini is leading a government delegation to this year's Investing in African Mining Indaba conference which opens Tuesday in Cape Town.

The conference is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year as the world's largest mining investment event.

Officials of the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Minerals Commission and other mining agencies in the country are also expected to attend the conference.

South Africa's Minister of Mineral Resources, Madam Susan Shabangu, would deliver the opening address.

Ministerial forum

Alhaji Fuseini will on Wednesday participate in a ministerial forum alongside his counterparts from Zambia, Tanzania, Angola, Rwanda, Mali, Somaliland, and Botswana where he is expected to tell Ghana's success story, challenges and the way forward in the mining industry in Ghana.

The forum will be on the theme "The Challenge of Opportunity of Sustainable Development in Mining."

Impact

For 20 years, the Mining Indaba has positioned African mining on the global scene drawing the attention of highly influential stakeholders, investors, financiers, governments and other partners to learn about the investment climate on the continent.

According to the Managing Director of Mining Indaba LLC, Mr Jonathan Moore, the conference has been at the forefront of advancing and channelling foreign investment into African mining.

For him although the event is now larger and more encompassing than its early years, its mission remains true to work with partners in Africa to continue to capitalise and develop the African mining value chain.

Focus of 2014 conference

This year’s conference will focus on two important themes. First, highlighting how Africa continues to have attractive and excellent investment opportunities with special focus on South Africa.

This presentation will span expert commentary from economists coupled with presentations from leading mining organisations and presentations from about 16 ministerial delegations.

Secondly, to increase the amount of Mining Indaba bursary programmes from $20,000 to $30,000 to support students pursing mining education. It will also seek to invest additional funds to its Rural Education Access Programme (REAP) to provide underprivileged children with the basic necessities of life.

Organisers

Organised by Mining Indaba LLC, it is an annual professional conference dedicated to the capitalisation and development of mining interest in Africa.

More than 7,800 delegates from about 110 countries are expected to attend the event.

For the past 20 years the conference organisers with their South Africa and continent-wide partners, have voted billions of dollars into the African mining value chain.

Source: ghanaweb.com

Terorism in North Africa and the Sahel in 2013

The International Center for Terrorism Studies at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies published in January 2014 an assessment titled "Terrorism in North Africa and the Sahel in 2013" by Yonah Alexander, director, Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.  The document provides a regional threat assessment, chronology of terrorism in North, West and Central Africa and case studies on Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Mali.

Artsakh wants to convoke Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ attention to provocative actions by Azerbaijan

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS:  It is not clear yet whether the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will visit Stepanakert, or not at the course of the visit to the region this time. Anyway, to this point, such a meeting is not planned. If the Co-Chairs pay a visit to Stepanakert, the President of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh Bako Sahakyan will react on the most modern problems and will pay a special attention to the situation in the border and the provocative actions by Azerbaijan. Press Secretary of the President of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh  Davit Babayan stated in a conversation with “Armenpress” that according to the tradition, Bako Sahakyan will introduce not only the current situation, political and military problems, but also the position of official Stepanakert.

 “The Co-Chairs have been introduced the position of Stepanakert for many times. First of all the full format of negotiations must be restored and Stepanakert should officially participate in all stages of the negotiation process, from beginning to end.  It should be clear to everybody that there is no return to the past, regarding both status, and boundaries. We can never put our independence and security under suspect,” Davit Babayan said. He added that Stepanakert is in favor of the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

 On February 2 the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs arrived in the region. Armenpress reports, citing the twitter note of the US co-chair James Warlick that the co-chairs intend to meet with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan during the visit. “We will meet with the presidents to find out if they are ready to make steps towards peace”, - wrote Warlick in his microblog.

As reported by the Azerbaijani APA News Agency, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs arrived in Azerbaijan. French co-chair Jacques Faure and US co-chair James Warlick arrived to Baku on February 2. On February 3 the co-chairs will meet the president and minister of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev and Elmar Mamedyarov. After Baku they will visit Armenia. The situation of the settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be discussed at the meetings.

On January 24 the ministers of foreign affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Edward Nalbandyan and Elmar Mamedyarov, met in Paris. The meeting was attended also by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. The sides agreed on the forthcoming visit of the co-chairs to the region. They intend to organize the meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev.

Eritrean Refugee dies in Negad detention cerntre in Djibouti

Add caption

Thomas Haddish, a 21 -year-old Eritrean, died yesterday evening in Djibouti Negad Detention Centre. Having fled from Eritrea three years ago, fearing serious persecution, he sought asylum in Djibouti. From the moment of his arrival in that country, he was illegally detained at Negad prison.

It is reported that he died from illnesses that he picked up in that prison, during the harsh  incommunicado detention, in the most unhygienic environment, lacking medical facilities.

Thomas Haddish was suffering from TB, but was for a long time denied treatment by the Djiboutian authorities. Following persistent lobbying by Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRCE), he and other detainees in the same detention centre were finally provided with medication. Unfortunately, in continuous detention in the same unhygienic environment, he later contracted Hepatitis. It is reported that, during his last hours, he was not taken to hospital in time for medical treatment to save his life. This is the second Eritrean refugee who has died in the Negad detention centre.

Elsa Chyrum, Director of HRCE said, “I am extremely saddened to learn the death of Thomas Haddish, a young man who came to Djibouti to look for safe heaven, but was unjustly held for years in incommunicado detention. He was no criminal, but a refugee needing protection. Our deepest sympathy is with his family and those closely affected by his death. However, this unnecessary death should not pass unnoticed by the world. I call upon Eritreans and all who care about justice to step forward and make your voices heard! Protest at Djibutian Embassies. Call for the release of all the 266 innocent Eritrean refugees who have been detained illegally for up to 6 years. All who care can stand by the detainees in this hardest of times to ensure that they receive the treatment they are entitled to under international treaties such as the UN Refugee Convention. Among these rights is the precious right to life, as well as the right to sanctuary and protection.”

Background information

267 Eritrean detainees have been held in Negad prison in Djibouti for up to 6 years. These are mostly deserters from the enforced military conscription in Eritrea. However, because there is a border dispute between Eritrea and Djibouti, and these refugees have military training, they have been treated as enemy combatants and a military risk. Detention conditions have been so bad that some of the detainees have been described by witnesses as “barely looking human”. Repeated appeals to the Djiboutian government demanding the immediate release of the detainees have yielded no results. The government has turned a deaf ear to all the appeals for just treatment, and an end to the plight of the detainees is nowhere in sight.

For further information please contact Elsa Chyrum, Director of Human Rights Concern – Eritrea on +44 7958 005 637 or email:hrc.eritrea2001@gmail.com, Website: www.hrc-eritrea.org,           Twitter: www.twitter.com/HRC_Eritrea