Wednesday, July 27, 2011
SOMALIA: Is General Samantar partially responsible the State failure?
By: Omar Mohamud Dholawaa
Friday, February 25th, 2011
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| Mohamed Ali Samantar |
General Samantar and his colleagues had been running the country, from tea boy to president. Late 1969 they took over, and further strengthened, one of the strongest military army in Africa and the most highly trained and highly disciplined police force in the continent. All judicial and other governmental institutions were well established and functional. The masses, the Somali citizens, were desperate to be led and they pose no challenge against this regime. From 1969 to late 1989, Somalia
During the regime’s era they have practiced the legitimacy to rule the country in their own terms from south to north. During this time many injustices had been done; many people were killed with no legal ground, many were denied the rights of employment, many citizens’ property or assets were either destroyed or confiscated. Many foreign businesses were nationalized without taking the proper channels. The people’s concern of injustice, the proliferation of tribalism and favoritism had been ignored and allowed to prosper. The freedom of expression had been denied. The basic education had been neglected and abandoned. The wrongs had replaced the rights and the Somali citizens frantically struggled to find alternatives, in most cases, violently.
Ultimately, after years of death and destruction coupled by torturous and traumatic experience and the continuous failure of the leadership in all areas of government, the Somali State Somalia
Now the Question is who should be held responsible for this State failure and its consequence? Is it Qanyare, Suudi Yallahow, Aideed, or Omar Finish and alike. No. None of these individuals are, in my view, responsible to what happened in Somalia
Now, to come to the point of the discussion, is General Samantar at least partially responsible to what happened to us and our land?
In short, Ali Samantar, as I said earlier, was a member of the Politburo (the sole decision makers of the nation), first vice-president, and the Minister of Defense. The Ministry of Defense was responsible for the execution of all illegal and evil actions that the Somali government has carried out against its people. Ali Samantar and his apparatus in the army had the implicit mandate to kill, destroy, arrest and carry out all the terrorizing acts that the Somali people had experienced during Samantar’s era in the Ministry. The military machine carried out all the summary executions that took place in Somalia Somalia
One may ask and argue about the difference between Ali Samantar and Yallahow, one of the notorious Somali warlords, who is now enjoying his new title, so-called the ‘Member of Parliament’. The simple answer is Ali Samantar was educated, trained, employed, crowned with the Somali flag, empowered and sworn in to serve the Somali people by a Somali Government. In other words, Samantar had statutory authority. In contrary, Suudi Yallahow has emerged from the dust and the debris that Ali Samantar and his colleagues had left behind, and he unskillfully struggled to survive in that mayhem. However, that will not absolve him (Yallahow) from any wrong doing, even though no one has entrusted him any responsibility and he never received a mandate or directive from anyone.
Therefore, legally and rationally General Mohamed Ali Samantar should be held responsible not only the crimes that his lieutenants committed in his Ministry but what happened to Somalia
Confusingly, despite all this empirical evidence, some people are defending Ali Samantar and helping him financially to challenge against the people whose loved ones he (Ali Samantar) has killed. If history has any significance in this context; Milosevic, Pol Pot, Hitler, and the Rwandese perpetrators have not pulled the trigger, but they were legally hunted down purely because of their statutory authority and what their lieutenants had committed in their respective countries. Is General Samantar different from them!!! Or are the defenders just victims of Stockholm
Sadly, this defense exercise, in favor of the General, will have colossal political and social dimensions in Somalia
The political dimension concerns the facts that the union of the South and the North was based on brotherhood and common interest. If the southerners are so openly defending a man who is seen by the northerners the killer of their children, mums and dads unlawfully, then obviously the northerners will be left nothing but to conclude that this is a conspiracy against northern inhabitants. And it will definitely, in the long term, diminish the trust, if any, between the two parts.
The social dimension, applies the rights of the citizen and what someone can or cannot do in Somalia Somaliland ) are so adamant to secede once and for all. I also wonder why many people are killed by Somalians and no one is held accountable!!!
In conclusion, I sincerely believe, that anyone who has been victimized should have the opportunity to take his alleged villain to the court without any obstruction, where the defendant has the right to respond to the raised allegations. Anything different from this process will surely make us a jungle-society that should apply the law of the jungle.
Omar Mohamud Farah (Dhollawaa)
Dhollawaa@yahoo.com.au
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Ex-Somali PM to be deposed in war crimes suit
Updated: July 20, 2011, 5:46 PM
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Aziz Deria has waited seven years to confront the former Somali leader he blames for the deaths of his father, brother and thousands of his countrymen. He could have his chance this week.
Somalia's former prime minister Mohamed Ali Samantar is scheduled to begin a deposition Thursday in a federal lawsuit accusing him of war crimes. The northern Virginia resident pulled out of previously planned questioning by citing ill health, but a judge has ordered him to cooperate this time unless extraordinary circumstances arise.
His accuser is skeptical of his efforts to avoid the deposition.
"This man knows what he has done. He will try to do anything to be away from the court system," said Deria, a 47-year-old businessman in Bellevue, Wash.
In 2004, a human rights group helped Deria and another man sue Samantar under a U.S. law that allows civil action against foreign officials responsible for torture or wrongful killings. They allege Samantar, a one-time top lieutenant to dictator Siad Barre, commited war crimes against northern Somalia's Isaaq clan in retribution for what he perceived as efforts to split Somalia in two.
Deria's father is among those who killed in a crackdown on the clan, the lawsuit alleges. The Barre regime collapsed in 1991, and there hasn't been a strong national government there since.
Samantar was once one of the most important men in Africa, a power broker who used Somalia's strategic position on the Horn of Africa to gain alternating favor from the United States and the Soviet Union. He served from 1980 to 1986 as defense minister, building one of most formidable armies in sub-Saharan Africa. He served as prime minister from 1986 to 1990.
He now lives in a split-level in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, surrounded not by presidents and potentates but by large extended family. He is still well-known among Somali diaspora.
His illnesses aren't contrived, says his lawyer Joseph Peter Drennan, explaining that Samantar is on dialysis and has become weaker in recent weeks. He has filed emergency motions with an appeals court seeking to halt the lawsuit. But a judge has ordered that Samantar submit to three days of depositions this month.
For Deria, who is represented by the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability, the opportunity to question Samantar is the primary reason he has pursued a lawsuit for so many years. The lawsuit was once tossed out by a federal judge who said Samantar had diplomatic immunity, but the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed and reinstated it.
Samantar isn't wealthy, so Deria does not expect to profit financially. Holding him accountable is the real goal.
Yet many Somalis, even those victimized by the Barre regime, don't understand why Deria is pursuing Samantar through the U.S. court system.
"They don't know how to hold people accountable," Deria said, referring to Somalis and others throughout the developing world, where political leaders are typically above the law. "I want my people to learn about accountability."
"For him to pretend he is innocent, and that nobody can touch him, it is insulting to our intelligence," Deria said.
The Somali diaspora has mixed feelings about Samantar and others from the Barre regime, said Ahmed Elmi, chairman of the Somali American Community Association in Silver Spring, Md. Many don't understand the need to dredge up the past when bad conditions in Somalia still need attention, he said. And while most recognize that atrocities occurred under Barre, others also remember years when schools were built and the country flourished.
Elmi said Somali immigrants generally respect surviving elders from the Barre regime.
For his part, Elmi understands and supports victims' desire for justice.
"That's why we have a court," Elmi said. "If he did these things to my family, I would do the same."
The lawsuit is deeply personal to Samantar. In 1988, he was a college student in California when Somalia began to deteriorate. His father, Mohamed Deria Ali, operated a large import-export business and planned to move the family from Hargeisa to the capital of Mogadishu. Before he could, though, the military attacked the town the town where many Issaq clan members lived.
Back in the U.S., Aziz Deria lost contact with his family. He eventually learned that his father and younger brother, Mustafa Deria, were taken from the family home and never seen again.
Still, Deria gives Samantar credit for his role in Somalia's wars against Ethiopia early in his career. He feels sorry for Samantar in some ways and doesn't consider him evil.
"He became ruthless to survive," Deria said. "I don't think he's a bad person at all. It's just the nature of dictators."
Samantar has refused multiple interview requests, but his lawyer said he didn't persecute the Isaaq clan while in power.
"Samantar, above all, is a fervent nationalist who believes all Somalis should live under one flag," Drennan said. "He is proud of his service to his country."
Drennan said the lawsuit is about clan grievances among the Isaaq, many of whom have pursued establishment of an independent state in northern Somalia.
"Certainly, there were human rights abuses under the Barre regime. It was not a democratic regime. But is it worse than al-Shabab?" he asked, referring to the radical Islamic militia that now controls large swaths of the country and is aligned with al-Qaida.
Deria knows that the lawsuit alone won't provide closure. He's also been traveling back to the region surrounding his home city to help provide proper burials for remains from hundreds of mass graves dug during the Barre regime. In the rainy seasons, bones sometimes wash up from the river beds.
"It is so disgusting to see the skeletons come out. Those skeletons could be my father, my brother, my cousins" Deria said. "For me to have any closure, those people need to have a proper burial. ... It bothers me whenever it rains. It really makes my heart sink."
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Aziz Deria has waited seven years to confront the former Somali leader he blames for the deaths of his father, brother and thousands of his countrymen. He could have his chance this week.
Somalia's former prime minister Mohamed Ali Samantar is scheduled to begin a deposition Thursday in a federal lawsuit accusing him of war crimes. The northern Virginia resident pulled out of previously planned questioning by citing ill health, but a judge has ordered him to cooperate this time unless extraordinary circumstances arise.
His accuser is skeptical of his efforts to avoid the deposition.
"This man knows what he has done. He will try to do anything to be away from the court system," said Deria, a 47-year-old businessman in Bellevue, Wash.
In 2004, a human rights group helped Deria and another man sue Samantar under a U.S. law that allows civil action against foreign officials responsible for torture or wrongful killings. They allege Samantar, a one-time top lieutenant to dictator Siad Barre, commited war crimes against northern Somalia's Isaaq clan in retribution for what he perceived as efforts to split Somalia in two.
Deria's father is among those who killed in a crackdown on the clan, the lawsuit alleges. The Barre regime collapsed in 1991, and there hasn't been a strong national government there since.
Samantar was once one of the most important men in Africa, a power broker who used Somalia's strategic position on the Horn of Africa to gain alternating favor from the United States and the Soviet Union. He served from 1980 to 1986 as defense minister, building one of most formidable armies in sub-Saharan Africa. He served as prime minister from 1986 to 1990.
He now lives in a split-level in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, surrounded not by presidents and potentates but by large extended family. He is still well-known among Somali diaspora.
His illnesses aren't contrived, says his lawyer Joseph Peter Drennan, explaining that Samantar is on dialysis and has become weaker in recent weeks. He has filed emergency motions with an appeals court seeking to halt the lawsuit. But a judge has ordered that Samantar submit to three days of depositions this month.
For Deria, who is represented by the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability, the opportunity to question Samantar is the primary reason he has pursued a lawsuit for so many years. The lawsuit was once tossed out by a federal judge who said Samantar had diplomatic immunity, but the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed and reinstated it.
Samantar isn't wealthy, so Deria does not expect to profit financially. Holding him accountable is the real goal.
Yet many Somalis, even those victimized by the Barre regime, don't understand why Deria is pursuing Samantar through the U.S. court system.
"They don't know how to hold people accountable," Deria said, referring to Somalis and others throughout the developing world, where political leaders are typically above the law. "I want my people to learn about accountability."
"For him to pretend he is innocent, and that nobody can touch him, it is insulting to our intelligence," Deria said.
The Somali diaspora has mixed feelings about Samantar and others from the Barre regime, said Ahmed Elmi, chairman of the Somali American Community Association in Silver Spring, Md. Many don't understand the need to dredge up the past when bad conditions in Somalia still need attention, he said. And while most recognize that atrocities occurred under Barre, others also remember years when schools were built and the country flourished.
Elmi said Somali immigrants generally respect surviving elders from the Barre regime.
For his part, Elmi understands and supports victims' desire for justice.
"That's why we have a court," Elmi said. "If he did these things to my family, I would do the same."
The lawsuit is deeply personal to Samantar. In 1988, he was a college student in California when Somalia began to deteriorate. His father, Mohamed Deria Ali, operated a large import-export business and planned to move the family from Hargeisa to the capital of Mogadishu. Before he could, though, the military attacked the town the town where many Issaq clan members lived.
Back in the U.S., Aziz Deria lost contact with his family. He eventually learned that his father and younger brother, Mustafa Deria, were taken from the family home and never seen again.
Still, Deria gives Samantar credit for his role in Somalia's wars against Ethiopia early in his career. He feels sorry for Samantar in some ways and doesn't consider him evil.
"He became ruthless to survive," Deria said. "I don't think he's a bad person at all. It's just the nature of dictators."
Samantar has refused multiple interview requests, but his lawyer said he didn't persecute the Isaaq clan while in power.
"Samantar, above all, is a fervent nationalist who believes all Somalis should live under one flag," Drennan said. "He is proud of his service to his country."
Drennan said the lawsuit is about clan grievances among the Isaaq, many of whom have pursued establishment of an independent state in northern Somalia.
"Certainly, there were human rights abuses under the Barre regime. It was not a democratic regime. But is it worse than al-Shabab?" he asked, referring to the radical Islamic militia that now controls large swaths of the country and is aligned with al-Qaida.
Deria knows that the lawsuit alone won't provide closure. He's also been traveling back to the region surrounding his home city to help provide proper burials for remains from hundreds of mass graves dug during the Barre regime. In the rainy seasons, bones sometimes wash up from the river beds.
"It is so disgusting to see the skeletons come out. Those skeletons could be my father, my brother, my cousins" Deria said. "For me to have any closure, those people need to have a proper burial. ... It bothers me whenever it rains. It really makes my heart sink."
Sunday, July 24, 2011
How Broadband will get to Somalia
Last week, I interviewed Mohamed Ahmed Jama, CEO of Dalkom Somalia and board member of Frontier Optical Networks Ltd (FON) in Kenya. Jama described four potential Broadband cables that could be a part of a terrestrial backbone throughout East Africa, including in Somalia. A fifth was announced yesterday in Somaliland.
Though all three of these proposed links are just that—proposals—they are indicative of the rapid growth of Broadband connectivity in the region. Most East African governments are actively engaged in rolling out backbone terrestrial networks, while four years ago the World Bank called East African connectivity the world’s only “missing link.”
South Sudan is working with the CTO to develop an ICT strategic plan; Burundi recently received funding from the World Bank; and Uganda has also invested as well. And private companies are facilitating the expansion of Broadband cables as well as they are working with the national governments to lay the cables and to fund the projects.
The East African Backhaul System was recently announced as a combined $400 million partnership between Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo governments and a variety of private telecoms. The unique partnerships between the public and private sector make the ICT space in East Africa distinct from other regions.
Potential backbone networks in Somalia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan are outlined below:
* Somalia’s Connection to EASSy Cables
According to Jama, Dalkom Somalia has built two cable landing sites in Somalia from the EASSy submarine cable, one in Somaliland and the other in Mogadishu, Somalia. Unfortunately, the government of Somaliland revoked Dalkom’s license last year before the cable was completed (scheduled to be finished in October, 2010).
The Somaliland government claimed that they had already signed an agreement with a local company, SomCable. However, no additional work has been carried out since last year, leaving construction at a stand-still and the region unconnected. In Mogadishu, on the other hand, the landing cable lays ready to be used, but remains unconnected due to security issues at the site. To make matters more frustrating, Dalkom has funding, contracts awarded and the regulatory approval to extend the cables from the landing site inward, creating a national terrestrial backbone. Security issues in the area are the only contingency.
* Mombasa—Nairobi—Moyale, Ethiopia Cable
The EASSy submarine cable has been extended inland previously from Mombasa to Nairobi. For the past year, discussions have been underway been the Kenyan and Ethiopian government on possibly constructing a terrestrial cable from Nairobi to Moyale, on the Ethiopian border. However, with FON’s assistance, the cable has been built, but is yet to be lighted. The only remaining holdup is to sign an agreement of understanding with the Ethiopia government, which has historically been reluctant to work with private sector ICT companies.
* Somalia—Kenya Connection
According to Jama, there is 560 km remaining between fiber optic terrestrial backbone cables in Somalia and the state of Mandera in Northeastern Kenya. Jama proposes that the Kenyan government bring the fiber to the border, and then Dalkom Somalia would complete the Somali side.
This connection would connect Somalia to the African backbone network. However, there has been intermittent violence on the Kenya-Somalia border in Mandera, with the most recent issue being a land mine blast that killed eleven Kenyan officers. The volatility of the border could potentially lead to another security standstill before lighting the fiber, like in Mogadisho. Dalkom and the governments, then, need to concern themselves not only with the technical issues and construction of the remaining fiber, but also on the political instability of the region.
* Juba—Lokichogio Link
Southern Sudan and Kenya plan to construct a fiber optic cable link between the two nations as part of a larger project entitled “four-in-one.” The project includes the construction of a railway line from Lodwar-Lokichogio to Juba, road rehabilitation, an oil pipeline, and fiber optic cables. Currently, the governments need to conduct a feasibility test given the mountainous nature of the route, especially the Great Rift Valley. In all likelihood, the project will not be finished before 2015.
* Djibouti—Somaliland SomCable
SomCable, supported by the interim government in the territory of Somaliland, reportedly signed an agreement to buy the necessary buildings and licensing in Djibouti to route the EASSy cable into Berbera and throughout Somaliland. The President of SomCable, Mohammed Gueti, announced his recent acquisitions just yesterday.
Gueti has strong ties with the president of Djibouti’s family, arguably giving his company an advantage over Dalkom Somalia at winning the contract. However, as Jama points out, construction has yet to begin on this cable line, possibly suggesting that the announcement is merely a political move by the government of Somaliland as Gueti does has any rights to extend the EASSY Cable. Neither purchases any capacity from the members of the Consortium.
Jeffrey Swindle, Global Broadband & Innovation
Facts about Somaliland Outcast Minority Groups
Despite the relative success of the 2010 Somaliland election, tensions remain high in the Sool, Sanag and Cayn regions claimed by both Somaliland and Puntland administrations. June 2010 saw increasing tension between clans and competition over resources, leading to the displacement of thousands of civilians from these regions.
The maltreatment of minorities in Somaliland remains a significant problem. Somaliland's Gaboye minority held protests in Burao, Somaliland and London, UK in 2010, in order to 'raise awareness [of] the continual suffering of Somaliland, and the minority tribes in Somalia'. In particular, the protests focused on the unwarranted detention and abuse of two Gaboye men and a Gaboye woman in the Aynabo district of Somaliland. According to the protesters, Gaboye lack legal representation and access to justice, and also face violence in the Somaliland courts. Most notably, the Gaboye Minority Organization Europe highlighted an incident involving the abuse and kidnapping of two Gaboye women during a trial, in the presence of a judge and police officers.
In a July 2010 article published by the African Press International, Gaboye clan elder Ahmed Shide Jama identified some of the problems facing Gaboye, including discrimination in the labour market, and lack of political representation and access to healthcare. Moreover, he identified inter-marriage between clans as something treated as a problem, 'despite the fact that [Gaboye] are Somalis and Muslims' as well.
source: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,,SOM,,4e16d362c,0.html
The maltreatment of minorities in Somaliland remains a significant problem. Somaliland's Gaboye minority held protests in Burao, Somaliland and London, UK in 2010, in order to 'raise awareness [of] the continual suffering of Somaliland, and the minority tribes in Somalia'. In particular, the protests focused on the unwarranted detention and abuse of two Gaboye men and a Gaboye woman in the Aynabo district of Somaliland. According to the protesters, Gaboye lack legal representation and access to justice, and also face violence in the Somaliland courts. Most notably, the Gaboye Minority Organization Europe highlighted an incident involving the abuse and kidnapping of two Gaboye women during a trial, in the presence of a judge and police officers.
In a July 2010 article published by the African Press International, Gaboye clan elder Ahmed Shide Jama identified some of the problems facing Gaboye, including discrimination in the labour market, and lack of political representation and access to healthcare. Moreover, he identified inter-marriage between clans as something treated as a problem, 'despite the fact that [Gaboye] are Somalis and Muslims' as well.
source: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,,SOM,,4e16d362c,0.html
State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011 - Somalia
Many Somalis regularly experience serious human rights violations, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or clan affiliation. These violations become more severe for both women and members of minority groups, resulting in the multiple discrimination that has come to characterize the lives of Somali minority women.
In September 2010, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) resigned and was replaced by Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. The year 2010 also saw the TFG lose more territory to insurgent groups, dominated by Islamist group al-Shabaab, who now control most of south-central Somalia. In mid August, the TFG's Constitutional Commission (IFCC) submitted a new draft Constitution to the Somali parliament and the cabinet for scrutiny. This was followed by a wider consultation process, with official launches in Galkayo, Galmudug, Garowe, Mogadishu and Puntland. However, by the end of the year minority communities remained largely unaware and excluded from the consultation process.
The '4.5' formula – designed to include minorities in political participation by allowing half a seat for all minorities for every four seats granted to members of the 'majority' clans – further limited the scope for the political participation of minorities in 2010. Although the exact size of the minority population in Somalia is unknown, population estimates are far greater than the proportion reflected in the 4.5 formula. And even with this system in place, the government is disproportionately dominated by members of 'majority' clans.
Having been postponed for two years, Somaliland's second presidential election took place on 26 June 2010, resulting in the victory of opposition candidate Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo. HRW reported that the election was 'reasonably free and fair' with the exception of one incident in the Sool region, where an individual was killed.
Large areas of both south-central Somalia and Puntland were affected by droughts in both early and late 2010. In March, the UN Security Council reported that over half of UN aid was not reaching civilians, due to it being diverted en route, although this was denied by the UN World Food Programme. According to news reports, al-Shabaab has banned more than 20 aid agencies from working in south-central Somalia. Taken in the context of Somalia's brutal and ongoing civil war, it is unsurprising that the UN Independent Expert on Somalia, Shamsul Bari, concluded from his visit that in 2010 that: 'Somalia continued to slide deeper and deeper into humanitarian crisis'.
South-central Somalia
South-central Somalia is populated by a number of different minority groups, who face considerable discrimination. These include Bantu, Benadiri and Bajuni fishing people. All these minority groups are diminishing in size, as thousands move to camps for internally displaced people's (IDPs) camps in Somaliland and Puntland and refugee camps in Kenya, where they face renewed discrimination.
Victims of multiple discrimination, minority women across south-central Somalia encounter barriers in every aspect of life, including access to education, health care and employment. One Bantu woman living in south-central Somalia told MRG:
'Ethnic minority women don't play a significant role on the social, [economic] and political platforms in mainstream communities. Most are illiterate and have no capability to improve their quality of livelihoods; most do household chores and other domestic errands mainly in the major clans' homes. Due to high poverty [levels] and discrimination against ethnic minority women, they do not have access to quality health care as compared to women from major clans who usurp all relief or other medical facilities.'
Fighting between militant Islamist groups and the TFG's forces, the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM), gave rise to gross human rights violations and discrimination in Mogadishu in 2010. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported an average of at least 20 weapon-related casualties per day in Mogadishu, with intensified fighting during Ramadan, marking 2010 as the worst year for fighting in over a decade.
The version of Shari'a law that al-Shabaab enforces severely breaches international standards and includes a number of 'morality laws', such as dress codes for women, the systematic closure of cinemas, and bans on smoking, khat, music, television and sport. Both Amnesty International and HRW reported that girls in Mogadishu and other al-Shabaab-controlled regions, as well as in IDP camps and refugee camps in Kenya, were being forced to cook and clean for al-Shabaab soldiers, and were also forced to marry them in some instances. MRG and Al Arabiya also reported that al-Shabaab conscripted Bantu and Madhiban children into their militia.
Several minority groups, including Bantu, Benadiri and Christians, have been targeted by al-Shabaab for practising their own religions. MRG's 2010 report on Somalia revealed that Bantu women have been forced to wear the hijab, and that some have faced attacks from al-Shabaab members. In January, Compass Direct News (CDN) reported the murder of Christian community leader Mohammed Ahmed Ali, whose wife was subsequently forced to flee the country following death threats. CDN also reported the murder of 17-year-old Christian convert Nurta Farah in the Galgadud region. The teenager was shot dead after fleeing her family, who had beaten her and shackled her to a tree when they discovered she had converted from Islam to Christianity.
A 2010 HRW report also revealed severe restrictions placed upon women by al-Shabaab, including the continued obligation to wear the abaya, a garment supplied by al-Shabaab, which covers the entire body. Due to its expense, families can often only afford one per household, which in turn limits freedom of movement, as only one woman can leave the house at a time.
As in Somaliland and Puntland, minority women experience sexual violence in IDP camps in south-central Somalia. In one camp, three to five cases of rape were being reported every one to two weeks. However the actual number is likely to be higher, as many women do not report attacks due to stigma and fear.
Somaliland
Despite the relative success of the 2010 Somaliland election, tensions remain high in the Sool, Sanag and Cayn regions claimed by both Somaliland and Puntland administrations. June 2010 saw increasing tension between clans and competition over resources, leading to the displacement of thousands of civilians from these regions.
The maltreatment of minorities in Somaliland remains a significant problem. Somaliland's Gaboye minority held protests in Burao, Somaliland and London, UK in 2010, in order to 'raise awareness [of] the continual suffering of Somaliland, and the minority tribes in Somalia'. In particular, the protests focused on the unwarranted detention and abuse of two Gaboye men and a Gaboye woman in the Aynabo district of Somaliland. According to the protesters, Gaboye lack legal representation and access to justice, and also face violence in the Somaliland courts. Most notably, the Gaboye Minority Organization Europe highlighted an incident involving the abuse and kidnapping of two Gaboye women during a trial, in the presence of a judge and police officers.
In a July 2010 article published by the African Press International, Gaboye clan elder Ahmed Shide Jama identified some of the problems facing Gaboye, including discrimination in the labour market, and lack of political representation and access to healthcare. Moreover, he identified inter-marriage between clans as something treated as a problem, 'despite the fact that [Gaboye] are Somalis and Muslims' as well.
Puntland
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Puntland is home to about 35,000 IDPs, many of whom belong to minorities from south-central Somalia, displaced by civil war. These minorities face further and renewed discrimination in IDP camps. A UN database cites '409 incidents of rape, attempted rape/sexual assault, forced prostitution and domestic violence' between January and June 2010, with much of this sexual violence occurring in IDP settlements. The women who experience sexual violence in these camps 'are generally of minority clan origin, bereft of clan protection and often forced to engage in risky coping mechanisms', according to UN Independent Expert Bari. A Somali researcher who interviewed women in the Puntland camps for MRG reiterated the dangers facing minority women: '[M]inority women said they seemed to be more vulnerable because there will be no revenge for [sexual violence], or there will be no justice at the end.' Indeed, the researcher suggested that these women are seen as 'easy prey'. As a result, there is a demand for a more robust legal system 'that is accessible to women of all groups' and that recognizes the specific needs of minority women and girls. This is particularly important considering that most cases go undocumented, either because minority women's rights are often neglected by the legal system or because of the stigma associated with sexual violence.
Human trafficking remains a serious issue for IDPs in Somalia. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) emphasizes the susceptibility of IDPs and other vulnerable groups to trafficking, with the Middle East, Sudan and South Africa identified as some of the destinations for human trafficking.
Copyright notice: © Minority Rights Group International. All rights reserved.
Gacan ku dhiigle Yousuf 'Tuke' oo badhtamaha magaalada Gabiley ku gubaya nin nool oo ka tirsan dadwaynaha reer Gabiley
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| Gacan ku dhiigle Yousuf 'Tuke' oo badhtamaha magaalada Gabiley ku gubaya nin nool oo ka tirsan dadwaynaha reer Gabiley |
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