Briton, 23, accused of working with terror group secretly quizzed by CIA for three months in African prison

By Robert Verkaik

PUBLISHED: 6 January 2013

Mahdi Hashi, who vanished last summer in Somalia, turned up in a New York courtroom just before Christmas, charged with terrorism offences

Charged: Mahdi Hashi, 23, from London, who vanished last summer in Somalia, turned up in a New York courtroom just before Christmas, charged with terrorism offences

A British man controversially stripped of his citizenship last year by the Home Secretary has spent three months being interrogated by US agents in an African prison.

Mahdi Hashi, 23, from London, who vanished last summer in Somalia, turned up in a New York courtroom just before Christmas, charged with terrorism offences.

His sudden appearance in America five months after his family had reported him missing has prompted claims that he is the victim of international kidnap or ‘rendition’.

Now it has emerged that between August and the middle of November he was being questioned by teams of agents from the CIA and FBI while being held by the secret intelligence service of Djibouti, a small African state that borders Somalia.

The former care worker lost contact with his family while staying in Somalia last year. When they began looking for him, they were told by Foreign Office officials that the British Government could not provide assistance because the Home Secretary Theresa May had issued an order depriving him of his UK citizenship over allegations of Islamic extremism.

A few weeks later he was detained by Djibouti’s secret police, who it is claimed raided a house in which he was staying in the capital, Djibouti City.

A source close to the case said Mr Hashi was taken to the intelligence service headquarters, where he spent nearly four months before being sent to America for trial.

‘He was sojourning in Djibouti when he was picked up by Djibouti’s secret intelligence officers and thrown in a cell in solitary confinement,’ said the source.

‘Soon after he was visited and interrogated by FBI officers and then later by the CIA.’

The American interrogations were continuous and all the time the Djibouti security officers were present, said the source.

‘It was as if they were telling him that if he didn’t fully co-operate with the Americans, he would be left to the special interrogation skills of the Djiboutis,’ the source added.

On November 15, he was shackled and put on a plane for the US.

His case has been picked up by the US media as evidence of President Obama’s new rendition programme, where suspects who are deemed to pose a threat to the country are secretly held in African states allied to America.

Mr Hashi, who came to Britain from Somalia when he was five, is accused of working with the terrorist group al-Shabaab, which is at war with the government of Somalia. If convicted, he faces a life sentence.

His family deny that he has ever been involved in terrorist activities and say he was planning to return to London to complete his education.

He left Britain in 2009, firstly for Somalia where he married a local woman. He has a grandmother in Djibouti. Mr Hashi is now being held in solitary confinement in a top-security prison in New York.




 

Ethiopia on track to complete first mega-dams by 2015-minister

Mega dam along Nile River to generate 6,000 MW

- Plans to spend over $12 bln and produce 40,000 MW by 2035\

- Hopes to become Africa's biggest power exporter

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's energy minister played down concerns on Monday about how it would finance the first of an array of mega-dams due to revolutionise east African power markets, saying it was on track to have three plants on line by 2015.

The Horn of Africa country has laid out plans to invest more than $12 billion in harnassing the rivers that run through its rugged highlands to generate more than 40,000 MW of hydropower by 2035, making it Africa's leading power exporter.

Energy chief Alemayehu Tegenu said the plan's centerpiece - the $4.1 billion-Grand Renaissance Dam along the Nile River in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region - was on course to be completed on time in 2015.

Two other smaller dams should also come on line by that point, he said, generating a total of more than 8,000 megawatts of power at full capacity.

"Everything is going according to plan. It (the Grand Renaissance) is on good status," Tegenu told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an energy conference in Addis Ababa.

"So far we have achieved 13 percent of the total construction."

The dam - Africa's largest - will generate 6,000 MW at full capacity.

It is just the latest of a series of ambitious infrastructure projects launched by Ethiopia following years of solid economic growth. The government says funding will come from both domestic and foreign sources.

Worried about the state's ability to raise the billions needed, however, some experts have called on Addis Ababa to sell off state firms and assets they say could rake in a potential $9.6 billion.

Alemayehu said the country has raised more than 5 billion birr ($277.1 million) for the construction of its Grand Renaissance Dam to date, the vast majority of it from sales of government bonds.

"This dam may not be constructed only by selling bonds, but the (power) utility can finance some part of the financing," he said.

"The option we have designed is financing by the people of Ethiopia, the utility and the government."

The other major near-term project the government hopes to complete is the Gilgel Gibe III dam along its southern Omo river, set to generate 1,870 MW from the end of 2013 at a cost of $1.8 billion.

Alemayehu said over 65 percent of construction on that dam had been completed.

Another 254 MW project is being built in the Oromiya region and is due to be ready in two years. Together the three projects will churn out 8,124 MW, compared to Ethiopia's existing capacity of around 2,167 MW of hydro and wind power.

EXPORT TO NEIGHBOURS

Egypt fears that the Nile dams will reduce the flow of the river's waters further downstream and Addis Ababa has long complained that Cairo was pressuring donor countries and international lenders to withhold funding.

An international panel of experts is set to announce its findings on the impact of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile's flow in May 2013.

Analysts suspect that any shortfall in funding of such projects could draw further Chinese capital to Africa, where Beijing has begun to accumulate natural resources and volumes of trade.

Critics have already slammed China's willingness to lend money for Gilgel Gibe III's turbines over concerns the dam would create serious environmental damage.

Addis Ababa is already providing more than 50 MW to Djibouti, while Kenya's border town of Moyale is importing a small amount.

"We have started exports to Sudan, as well as the border town of Moyale. We will gradually expand to Sololo (in eastern Kenya) and plans for Somaliland are also going well," Alemayehu said.

Newly-independent South Sudan has also signed a memorandum of understanding to construct a transmission interconnector to import power, he added.

Another project - a 3,000 km 500 kV line linking Ethiopia with Sudan and Egypt, is also in the pipeline, while the construction of a 1,300 km 500 kV transmission interconnector with Kenya will start soon.

"We have secured the finances (for the project linking with Kenya) and the design has been complete. For construction the tender has also been floated," Alemayehu told Reuters.

"The project is expected to start in less than two months." (Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Patrick Graham)

For CIA chief, Obama taps adviser who defended drone strikes

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) stands next to John Brennan, (R), during the announcement for his nominations for a new secretary of defense and new CIA director at the White House in Washington January 7, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

By Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON | Mon Jan 7, 2013

(Reuters) - In White House councils, John Brennan has been privy to the most secret U.S. intelligence programs. Outwardly, he has been the administration's most public defender of one of President Barack Obama's most controversial practices - the expanded use of armed drone aircraft to kill terrorism suspects overseas.

This is the second time that Obama has sought to put Brennan at the helm of the CIA, and his confirmation process is likely to revisit old controversies over U.S. counterterrorism measures undertaken by the administrations of Obama and George W. Bush.

Brennan, a 25-year CIA veteran, withdrew his name from consideration as Obama's first director of the agency in November 2008 following liberals' criticism that he had done too little to condemn the use by the Bush administration of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, widely considered torture.

This time around, Brennan's defense of targeted killing by drones is likely to provide additional fodder for critics, although barring new revelations, he appears likely to be confirmed.

Deprived of the CIA post four years ago, Brennan, 57, became instead one of Obama's closest advisors on counterterrorism and homeland security. That proximity has made him a more powerful figure in the administration than the director of national intelligence - who will become his boss if he is confirmed.

Brennan, who grew up in New Jersey, is described by those who know him as a "straight arrow" and man of high morals.

"The word for John is ‘intense'," said A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, a former top CIA official who was once Brennan's boss there. "John's all about commitment."

His long working hours at the CIA and the White House are legendary. Obama, in announcing Brennan's nomination on Monday, quipped: "I'm not sure he's slept in four years."

Brennan pledged, if confirmed, to "make it my mission to ensure that the CIA has the tools it needs to keep our nation safe and that its work always reflects the liberties, the freedoms, and the values that we hold so dear."

PICTURE OF CLOSENESS

Brennan was at the president's side during some of the most significant security incidents during his first term.

The White House last week released a photograph of him briefing Obama on the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. He is also visible in an iconic photo of top officials at the White House monitoring, in real time, the U.S. commando raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

Brennan is praised by former CIA officials who have worked with him. "John is a great choice - highly experienced, extremely dedicated, a person of integrity," said John McLaughlin, former acting CIA director.

But, by choosing him, Obama has given both liberals and conservative Republicans an opportunity to re-open the debate over Bush administration interrogation policies.

In a 2007 CBS television interview, while Brennan was out of government, he appeared to assert that enhanced interrogation techniques had produced useful information. "There have been a lot of information that has come out from these interrogation procedures that the agency has in fact used against the real hardcore terrorists. It has saved lives," he said.

Inside the CIA, where career intelligence officers consider it a point of pride to be above politics, employees will want to see whether Brennan's time at the White House has made him a more political figure.

"He will have to overcome the impression that he has become a political player who overachieved in spinning things to favor the president at the expense of the agency," a former CIA official said on condition of anonymity.

Shortly after the Navy SEAL raid that killed bin Laden, Brennan briefed the press, telling them that the al Qaeda leader had been killed in a firefight and had tried to use one of his wives to shield himself from the attackers.

"Here is bin Laden, who has been calling for these attacks, living in this million-dollar-plus compound, living in an area that is far removed from the front, hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield," he said at the time. "I think it really just speaks to just how false his narrative has been over the years."

The White House later retracted this account but said Brennan was speaking on the basis of the best information available at the time.

Although he rose through the ranks of the CIA's analytical wing, Brennan also worked on the agency's operational, spying side, and at one point served as the agency's chief of station in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Said to be conversant in Arabic, Brennan played a hands-on role in Obama's Yemen policy, which was aimed at easing President Ali Abdullah Saleh from office while ensuring counterterrorism cooperation stayed on track. He traveled to Sanaa several times.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee that will hold a hearing on the nomination, said Brennan would make a "strong and positive director" of the CIA. In a statement, the California Democrat said that she would discuss with Brennan CIA detention and interrogation operations.

DEFENDER OF DRONES

In April 2012, Brennan publicly defended the U.S. campaign of lethal drone strikes as legal under international law. It was a rare public justification for classified operations that government officials infrequently discuss in public and that the CIA does not officially acknowledge.

In June 2011, Brennan alluded to drone strikes more opaquely, saying that over the prior year "not a single collateral death" had resulted from counterterrorism operations that were "exceptionally precise and surgical." Rights groups challenged the assertion that no civilians died during that period as a result of drone strikes.

The earlier comment came three months before a CIA drone killed Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an American born member of al Qaeda, in Yemen. Another drone strike killed his 16-year-old U.S.-born son.

U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have been a source of tension with the United States. One national security official familiar with Brennan's White House record said he is expected to favor aggressively moving forward with drone operations, even at the expense of offending Pakistani sensibilities.

The CIA and the U.S. military in recent years have been working more closely together, as in the bin Laden operation, which was run by the CIA but executed by the SEALs.

"Everybody looks at the CIA as insular, as sometimes difficult to establish relationships with, and so the degree to which the director can be one of the key forces for reaching out and breaking down those walls is really helpful," retired General Stanley McChrystal said in an interview with Reuters. "I think he can certainly be one of those types of leaders."

(Additional reporting By David Alexander and Patricia Zengerle.; Editing by Warren Strobel and Christopher Wilson)

Front Line Defenders Human Rights Defender at Risk Award Finalist: Rafiq...

Malawian human rights defender Rafiq Hazat short listed for 2012 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk

Rafiq Hajat, Director of the Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI), is one of the leading human rights defenders in Malawi where the Government has been seeking to repress protests and silence all critical voices.


Rafiq Hajat has been publicly acccused by President Bingu wa Mutharika of being an enemy of the state and he has been forced to go into hiding. However, in spite of the threats against him he has continued to speak out about human rights violations in Malawi.

On 3 September 2011, at 1 am approximately, a petrol bomb was thrown through the window of the IPI office in the Chichiri area of Blantyre, following which the front room of the building caught fire resulting in extensive damage.

Once considered a country where civil society could express itself freely, Malawi has descended into a spiral of authoritarianism in recent years. The situation deteriorated further in early 2011 when civil society reacted to corruption scandals and high commodity prices with demands for reform and good governance. The Government, mindful of events in North Africa, reacted with force. The authorities made statements inciting violence against human rights defenders and civil society leaders. The President repeatedly called on supporters to fight all those opposing his views or criticising the Government, stating he would “smoke them out”. In reaction to demonstrations, local authorities banned protests in the main cities. Mass protests on 20 and 21 July were violently suppressed by the police and resulted in the death of 19 protesters and injuries to hundreds. The day before, members of the ruling party took to the streets waving machetes, threatening members of the public not to participate in the demonstrations.

Rafiq Hajat, is one of the leading figures of the civil society coalition behind the pro-reform protests and convenor of the Southern Region Demonstration Group. IPI is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-religious and non-governmental institution which was formed in 2001 to promote enhanced participation by all Malawians in the processes of political, economic, and social decision-making at all levels, within a fully participatory democratic framework. At the international level, Rafiq Hajat is Chair for the International Alliance on Natural Resources in Africa, a network that is advocating for justice in the use and extraction of Africa`s natural resources and has helped steer the development of the network to a level whereby it is recognised by the AU, NEPAD and the African Commission.

As a result of the threats he has faced Rafiq Hajat has been forced to constantly change where he is staying in order to evade Government supporters who are reported to be seeking him. Virtually all HRDs involved in the pro-reform movement have received serious threats, including phone calls to family members asking for the location of the offices or homes of their HRD relative. This situation has placed great stress on Rafiq Hajat's family as well as on his health, exacerbating his existing heart condition.

On 25 August, the President of Malawi Bingu wa Mutharika had publicly stated that he was ready 'for war' with his critics. Human rights defenders in Malawi believe that such hostile statements by government representatives have incited government supporters to target civil society and human rights defenders. Reacting to media queries on the IPI petrol bombing, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's spokesperson Hetherwick Ntaba reportedly stated that the Government had received information which led them to believe that NGOs were deliberately burning down their offices in order to destroy evidence of misuse of funding.

HELP US PROTECT RAFIQ HAJAT -- SHARE THIS VIDEO OF HIS STORY WITH ALL YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
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The Front Line Defenders Award

THE NOMINATION PROCESS FOR THE NINTH FRONT LINE DEFENDERS AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT RISK IS NOW OPEN...

Front Line Defenders is currently accepting nominations for the Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk 2013.

The annual Front Line Defenders Award was established in 2005 to honour the work of a human rights defender who, through non-violent work, is courageously making an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human rights of others, often at great personal risk to themselves.

The Award seeks to focus international attention on the human rights defender's work, thus contributing to the recipient’s personal security, and a cash prize of €15,000 is awarded to the Award recipient and his/her organisation in an effort to support the continuation of this important work.

If you would like to nominate a human rights defender for the Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk 2013, please click on the following link to access a secure online nomination form (in English):

Online Nomination Form 2013 or you can found the online nomination form at : http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/front-line-award-human-rights-defenders-risk

Please note:

• Incomplete nominations will not be considered.

• Nominations can be submitted by organisations or individuals.

• Individual nominees may not play a prominent role in a political party and must be currently active in human rights work (the Front Line Defenders Award is not intended to recognise a historical or posthumous contribution).

• Nominees should be active human rights defenders, and must not be living in exile.

• Self-nomination is not permitted. 

• All nominations must be accompanied by 2 referees.

• The nomination process will remain open until midnight (12am GMT) on Sunday, 20th January 2013.

Recipients to date include the following human rights defenders:

2012 - Razan Ghazzawi, Syria

2011 - Joint Mobile Group, Russian Federation

2010 - Soraya Rahim Sobhrang, Afghanistan

2009 - Yuri Melini, Guatemala

2008 - Anwar Al-Bunni, Syria

2007 - Gégé Katana, Democratic Republic of Congo

2006 - Ahmadjan Madmarov, Uzbekistan

2005 - Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, Sudan

Somaliland: Reviewing the 2012 Local Council Elections

Hasan Omar Horri

By: Hasan Omar Horri

 

HARGEISA - This article examines the pre and post 28th November local council elections which remain one of the most memorable events in the country during 2012.

 

The initial steps towards the local council elections were initiated by the president H.E Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo when he established a committee of prominent personalities to collect public views on the opening of political group's registration which was one of the president's campaign pledges.

 

Timeline

 

• In 2001 and 35 years after the country's independence from Great Britain citizens voted 97% in a nationwide referendum for the first constitution of a sovereign Somaliland.

• December 2002: First democratic local council elections are held

• 2003: presidential elections held with the then ruling UDUB political party defeats the Kulmiye party's presidential bid with less than 100 votes. The graceful acceptance of the verdict by current president Silanyo become a democratic milestone touted every in Africa where a lot of countries were and are still embroiled in election violence i.e. Zimbabwe/2005, Kenya/2007, Ivory Coast/2010 & DRC/2011

• 2005: the local councils whose mandate had expired continue to hold office after differences between the then three national parties of UDUB, Kulmiye and UCID differ.

• 2010: Presidential elections are held and incumbent president Dahir Rayale Kahin of UDUB party who upon an overwhelming defeat at the polls hands over peaceful to current president Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo of Kulmiye party

• November 2012: local council elections contested by 7 political groups are held nationwide

While the electioneering process was conducted peacefully the results of the 28th November 2012 local council elections which were disputed by some political groups led to disturbances that ensued with a number of deaths and injuries.

Voters at a polling centre anxiously await supply of extra ballot papers by NEC 

In reference to these fateful events and subsequent opinions by many people on the pros and cons of the 28th November 2012 local council elections and in lieu of similar exercise in the future of free and fair elections it is imperative that a number of issues be addressed as I have highlight below:

1. For the conduct of free and fair elections its is mandatory that the National election Commission-NEC act impartiality as a prelude to establishing a level playing field for all contestants by utilizing lessons learned in past elections as well as cooperation with the government, parliament and experts both local and foreign.

•  Registration: the current NEC which received accolades from all quarters after its professional management of the last presidential elections held on 26th June 2010 failed in a number of issues during the local council polls especially as related to the utilization of available Data and manpower. There were 1,069,914 registered voters and 5000 trained election workers while past elections utilized 8000 field personnel. All contesting parties both winners and losers had various reservations with the impartiality of NEC after the election body went it alone without consultation with relevant stakeholders thus a dictatorial conduct which were exacerbated by the holding of elections devoid of a voters register, an anomaly that ensued for NEC after both houses of parliament approved an election law amendment that scrapped the then existing voters register. The holding of elections devoid of a voters register exacerbated matters. 

• Polls management: NEC having allowed the conduct of balloting without a voters register, it was then discerned that anybody could vote so long as his color was black. On election day long queues of voters among them under age children and incidences of people who had already voted overtly removing the paint from their fingers thus double/triple/quadruple voting were not only visibly to all but actually reported by the international election observers mission. This anomaly did not only infringe on the rights of citizens but cost the local council elections and NEC credibility as well.

•  Number of Contesting Parties: Though the high number of 7 contesting parties was more than double that of three that contested the last presidential elections, this was not sufficient reason for the voters tally to double as per those of 2010 elections. 

• Use of Candidate Numbers: The NEC decision, despite three contrary attempts by members of parliament (house of Representative) to use numbers instead of the usual symbols designated each candidate exacerbated matters further considering the literacy level in the country is low as rated at #199 worldwide. 

The literacy levels are 37% for male and 25% for women in Somaliland at position #199 worldwide which is ahead of Sierra Leone 35.1%, Chad 34,5, Mali 31.1%, Niger 28.7%, Afghanistan 28.1% and Burkina Faso 21.8%.

 

In reference to the literacy level in the country the change from candidate symbols to identification numbers infers that 75% of the voters were disfranchised.

2. The electioneering process by political groups and their candidates together coupled with their superb voter awareness raising was an action worthy of the apt democratization process in the country.

3. Votes Tabulation and Results: These important activities were in the domain of NEC which we believe did a poor job considering the number of blunders that led to disturbances and subsequent attempts by the election body to reverse them, thus negating all the good performance by the administration, legislators, parties and citizens with the subsequent fateful events.

 

To conclude it is imperative that the National Election Commission put its act together thus deter the conduct of similar elections in the future.

 

horri@somalilandsun.com

Somaliland: Today in History -370 Days Ago

Ownership of public property criminalized

• HRW Calls for an End to Forced Return of Refugees

HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) - Ownership of public property criminalized The president of Somaliland, H.E. Ahmed Mohammed Silanyo has warned against the fraudulent acquisition of public property for personal use.

In a press statement President Silanyo said that he is aware that public property especially buildings have been grabbed by crooked individuals who acquire fake ownership documents of ownership.
Posted on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 18:18

http://somalilandsun.com/index.php/politics/77-ownership-of-public-property-criminalized

HRW Calls for an End to Forced Return of Refugees

The Somaliland authorities should cease forcibly returning refugees and asylum seekers to possible persecution in Ethiopia, Human Rights Watch said today. On December 28, authorities returned 20 Ethiopian refugees and asylum seekers in violation of the fundamental international refugee law prohibition against "refoulement," the forcible return of anyone to persecution or to a place where their life or freedom is threatened.

Posted on Thursday, 05 January 2012 19:32

http://somalilandsun.com/index.php/component/content/article/79-human-rights-watch-end-forced-return-of-refugees


source:  somalilandsun.com

Introduction to Stanfield's Somaliland Journey

Khilaafka Lahaanshaha Deegaan ee u Dhexeeyaha Beelaha Ciise & Gadabuursi waa Mid ka Qoto Dheer Natiijadii Doorashada Degmooyinka Saylac & Lughaya

Diridhaba - Hogaanka Dhaqanka Beelwaynta Ciise oo saluugsan natiijadii ka soo baxday doorashadii golayaasha deegaanka Gobolka Salal ee degmooyinka Lughaya iyo Saylac, ayaa go’aamo ka soo saaray shir ay maalmihii u dambeeyay uga socday Magaalada Diridhaba ee dalka Itoobiya.

Masjidul Qiblatay Saylac

Shirkan oo ay kaga tashanayeen go’aankii ay ka qaadan lahaayeen caddaalad daro ay ka tirsanayaan xukuumadda Somaliland iyo beesha ay dariska yihiin ee Samaroon oo qaadatay Maayarnimada Magaalada Saylac, ayaa soo saaray go’aano kama dambays ah oo ay ka qaateen natiijada ka soo baxday doorashada, waxayna sheegeen in doorashada Lughaya iyo Saylac ay yihiin xaaraan iyo wax aan doorasho lagu tilmaami Karin.

Shirkoodan Diridhaba, ayaa waxay ka soo saareen saddex qodob oo aad u adag, kuwaasi oo nuxurkoodu yahay In aanay aqbalayn natiijadii ka soo baxday doorashadii ka dhacday Lughaya iyo Saylac isla-markaana Maamul kasta oo labadaa degmo laga dhiso aanay aqblayn marnaba.

Sidoo kale, waxay soo saareen go’aan odhanaya in Beesha Ciise aqoonsan tahay xuduudaha beelaha Somaliland kala leeyihiin kuwii lixdankii iyo wixii ka horeeyay.

Go’aanka ugu dambeeya ee ay shirkoodan ka soo saareen ayaa waxay xukuumadda Somaliland ugu baaqeen inay inay faro-galiso muranka taagan degmooyinka Saylac iyo Lughaya, inta aanay halkaasi ka dhicin dhibaato amaan daro ama dhiig daadan.

Dhanka kale, Magaalada Saylac ayaa waxa si aad ah ugu qulqulaya dad badan oo beesha Ciise ah oo ka kala tagaya dhanka Itoobiya, Somaliland iyo Jabuuti, waxaana la filayaa in maalmaha fooda inagu soo haya uu Magaalada Saylac uga furmo shir ku saabsan murankan taagan.

Sidoo kale, waxa la filayaa in masuuliyiin ka tirsan xukuumadda Somaliland ay gaadhaan Saylac, si ay arintan xal ugu doonaan, iyadda oo dhanka kalena laga cabsi qabbo in labada beelood isku dhacaan.

Warar kale oo na soo gaadhaya ayaa sheegaya in deegaanada miyiga ee degmada Saylac ay isku urursanayaan ciidan beeleedo ka soo kala jeeda Beelaha Ciisaha iyo Samaroon/Gadabuursi.

Xogaha taariikheed ayaa iftiiminaya Khilaafkan ku salaysan lahaanshaha deegaanka xeebaha galbeedka Somaliland in uu yahay mid ka qoto dheer mid natiijooyinka ka soo baxay doorashadii golayaasha deegaanka Somaliland ee ka dhacday degmooyinka ku teedsan xeebaha galbeed ee Somaliland, waxana uu khilaafkani soo jiitamayay tan iyo markii ay xoriyada siiyeen Somaliland iyo Djibouti wadamadii gumaysan ee Ingiriiska iyo Faransiisku, iyadoo la rumaysan yahay beesha Ciisaha Somaliland in ay baneeyeen deegaano badan oo ay ku lahaayeen Somaliland kadib markii ay xoriyada qaadatay jamhuuriyada Jabuuti, iyadoo ay Beesha Samaroon ka faaiidaysanaysay hayaanka beesha Ciise ee dalka Jabuuti iyo  fursado ay ka heshay maamuladii siyaasadeed ee soo maray dalkii la isku odhan jiray Soomaaliya iyo sidoo kale xukuumadihii soo maray Jamhuuriyada Somaliland. 

Beesha Samaroon oo xoogeedu 60% dago dalka Ethiopia halka 40% ka dago Somaliland ayaa deegaan ahaan isku balaadhisay dhulka miyiga ah iyo xeebaha waqooyi galbeed ee Somaliland ee ay banaysay Beesha Ciisuhu. 

Siyaasiyan rabitaanka Beesha Ciise ee ku aadan deegaanadii ay ka haajireen ee Somaliland ayaa dib waxa u cosboonaysiiyay kadib markii uu Madaxwaynaha Djibouti maalgalin xoogleh ku bixiyay Caleemo Saarkii ugu dambeeyay ee Ugaaska Ciise oo degmada Saylac lagu boqray taasi oo noqotay Munaasibadii Dhaqan ee ugu balaadhnayd ee abid ka dhacda Geeska Afrika. 

Isku soo duuduub oo haddii aanay Xukuumada Madaxwayne Siilaanyo xal siyaasi ah u helan khilaafka u dhexeeya Beelaha Somaliland ee Ciisaha iyo Samaroon/Gadabuursi ayaa la rumaysan yahay in ay labada beelood dhexmaraan dagaalo sokeeye oo dhaawaci kara nabadgalayada Somaliland iyo tan guud ahaan mandaqada, waxa kale oo ka faaiidaysan karaa dagaalo sokeeye oo dhex mara labadan beelood ay keeni karaan kor u kaca dambiyada isaga gudba xuduudaha ee abaabulan. Waxana ay fursad u noqon doontaa kooxa xagjirka ah oo ka faa'iidaysta qalalaasaha iyo amaan darada.

Somalia: Rape flourishes in Mogadishu’s IDP camps

Having fled violence in their home regions, Somali women remain at risk from sexual predators while in temporary homes.

Many homes in informal IDP encampments are not secure in any meaningful way [Laila Ali/Al Jazeera]

By: Laila Ali
Aljazeera.Com

Mogadishu, Somalia – After a protracted conflict that has lasted more than two decades, there’s now a sense of relative calm and security in Somalia. The unidentifiable gunmen that patrolled the streets have been replaced by men in smart uniforms.

Road blocks that once divided the city between government and al-Shabab controlled areas have been removed; traffic flows freely. Somalis are flocking to the beach, old houses are being renovated and are glistening with fresh coats of paint.

But not everybody enjoys the newly found sense of security.

Camps filled with Internally Displaced Persons – people forced to flee the violence and insecurity of their home regions – are still a common sight. But for the women who live in them, violence and insecurity are still pertinent issues.

Nura Hirsi is a 27-year-old widow living in the Burdubo IDP camp in the Tarabunka neighborhood of West Mogadishu. She says she was raped by seven government soldiers when they forced entry into her home on Saturday, December 29.

“It was 1am, my children were sleeping when these men entered my house,” she told Al Jazeera. “Some of them were armed with AK47s. They slapped me, ordered me outside and raped me. They did all kind of things to me. I couldn’t fight them or defend myself. How could I against seven armed men?”

Nura said that nobody would come to help her during the attack.

“People are afraid to leave their houses at night to come see what is happening. Everybody is afraid; they are scared for their lives.

“After they left, I cried. In the morning I went to the hospital and they gave me some medicine to take, but I didn’t tell them of all that took place. They are Somalis and I don’t want people to know.”

Authorities do not take allegations of rape – even gang-rape – seriously, she said.

“I went to the police but they were not really interested. People get killed in Mogadishu; I didn’t die. To them rape isn’t so serious. Nobody is ever arrested. Even the person in charge of the IDP camp was not interested. He didn’t say anything when I told him. I would even like to speak to the radio stations – but who will give me that chance?”


Stigma of rape
Abdalle Muumin is a Somali journalist. He said much of the country’s media ignored sexual violence, leading to an enduring stigma faced by rape victims.

“There is a culture in Somalia, where a victim of rape will report that so-and-so attempted to rape them, but nobody is ever comfortable to come forward, speak up and say that they were raped,” he said.

“Another reason why you don’t hear anything about IDP-related news is because editors and media owners are not interested in that. When reporters file news regarding IDPs it is not aired; in fact it’s referred to as shuban biyood ["diarrhoea"].

“Editors and owners are more interested in political news; it cost money to produce a radio package. In politics, there is money.”

Fartun Abdisalaan Adan is a co-founder of Sister Somalia, an organisation formed in 2010 which opened the first rape crisis centre in Mogadishu.

Attitudes towards rape are slowly changing, she said. The subject is no longer taboo – but a lot more needs to be done to tackle it: “When we first started our work, there was a lot of denial from the government and men, and a lot of women were ashamed to speak up – but slowly we gained their trust. Now people in Somalia talk about it, no-one can deny that it is happening, although the response is still slow.”

Rape is still a huge problem, however, and as many as seven new victims arrive each week at Sister Somalia’s Mogadishu office alone.

“Women in the IDP camps are especially vulnerable. If you look at IDP camps, it is mostly lone women with children who live there,” she said. “[The camp] is not a house, there is no door. A man can come in any time and do whatever he wants to you, knowing he will get away with it.

“When [victims of rape] come to our office, our first reaction is to take them to a hospital to get medical help and pay their fees; then it’s back to our centre where the counselling begins. We also discuss whether they want to go back to their home, if they choose to move then we assist them with relocation. We have also established a safe house where they can stay temporarily until suitable accommodation is found. Currently, we are assisting around 400 women who have been raped or whose daughters were raped.”

The safe house is especially useful to young girls who have run away from their families after becoming pregnant as a result of rape.

“Younger girls, often 16 or 17, are usually afraid to tell their parents they have been raped and may now be pregnant, for fear they will not be believed, especially by their fathers; so they run away and stay at our centre. These younger victims are the ones who are most reluctant to report they were raped because they are also worried about their future and whether being a victim of rape will lessen their chances for marriage.”


‘Not a women’s issue’
Speaking via a telephone from Galcayo, south central Somalia, humanitarian activist and this year’s Nansen Refugee Award winner, Hawa Aden Mohammed, expressed concerns about the cultural reservation among victims to speak out, as well as the seeming culture of impunity for the perpetrators of sexual violence.

“It is not so easy to pursue legal action when the law is so relaxed or non-existent,” she told Al Jazeera. “In my experience, 90 percent of women who were raped are reluctant to go to authorities because they are afraid or they are not confident anything will be done. There is also a need to educate; a lot of these women feel ashamed, they view themselves as haram, spoiled, dirty – and are unwilling to talk about it.

“The government needs to do more to address the issue of violence against women in all its forms. This is not a women’s issue, it is a society issue.”

The new Somali government has only been in power for two months, but, according to the Director General at the Minister for Labour, Youth and Sports, Aweis Haddad, “the government is doing it best to prevent such things. One of the first things that president did when he came to office is speak out against rape and gender based violence.”

He concluded by shifting blame, denying state troops were primarily responsible for the sexual violence against women such as 27-year-old Nura.

“A lot of people are able to put on government uniforms and pretend to be the police or the army, but they are not. In some cases it’s the Shabab,” he said.

“We treat every crime seriously. If people in government are found to behind such things, action will be taken.”

Names of rape survivors have been changed to protect their identity.

Follow Laila Ali on Twitter: @LailaInNairobi

Source: Aljazeera