Developmental Dictatorship in the Making - Editorial

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Developmental Dictatorship in the Making

WardheerNews Editorial

February 24 , 2007

 

On January, 2005, only one month and two weeks after the establishment of WardheerNews, we took special interest in tracking the Rayaale administration, its unprecedented corruption, abuses of human rights and its chronic incompetence that plagued what could have been an example of efficient and good governance in one of the most peaceful regions of Somalia. Early on, the editorial board of WardheeNews detected multiple signs of developmental dictatorship in the making in Rayaale’s rule and the pending demise of the Somaliland experiment-a possible autonomous region under a reorganized Federal Republic of Somalia.

 

With the arbitrary arrest of Haatuf journalists and the announcement on February 11, 2007, that the anti-climax trail of what could be called “prisoners of conscience,” inside the Mandhera jail, prompting the resignation of the defense attorney, our editorial board decided to recap contemporary political development in Somaliland and our position visa-a-vi the Rayaale administration.

Emperor Rayaale

 

On January 25, 2005, WardheerNews has run a piece on Rayaaale under the heading of “A Report Card to Rayaala,” to which, we may add, the board gave him a failing “F” grade.

 

In assessing the Rayaale rule, we wrote the following:

“There has been a growing concern over the deterioration of the human rights situation in Somaliland under Rayaale's stewardship. Reliable reports confirm the constant harassment and intimidation of civil society; gross abuse of power; the arbitrary arrest and detention of peace and human rights activists, defense attorneys, concerned local NGOs, etc; disrespect towards community elders and prominent traditional leaders as demonstrated by the un-ceremonial arrest and detention of Boqor Buur Madow on January 27, 2004. According to some observers, these and other recent similar incidents have generated a sense of fear and anxiety among the civil population who worry about the future of their country and prospect of renewed clan conflict in Somaliland God forbid, with severe implication for the peace and stability in the state.

 

We also carefully followed the politics of fostering inter-community conflict that the Rayaale administration pursued. By targeting civilian members of the Oggaden clan and businessmen, who for generation had come to the twin livestock trade centers of Hargeysa and Burao, as terrorists and illegally handing them over to foreign authorities, this administration has helped erode the region’s hard-won peace and security.

“Then there is the irresponsible act of handing over Oggaden civilians, some of whom were long term Hargaisa residents to the Ethiopian authorities which also had the unintended but expectable negative impact on the economy of the region.”

 

Consequently, Inter-regional commerce (between the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia (SRSE) and northern Somalia), which has worked effectively for many years in the past, has been significantly hurt.

 

By doing so, it negatively contributed and fanned the Issaq-****** conflict, the consequences of which have been the death of several civilians and the loss of significant wealth.

 

Those who blindly refused to smell the coffee, but instead sought to minimize the importance of human rights and corruptions in favor of other transcendental goals such as the search for recognition, did not spare any effort to attack our editorial board. Alas, we refused to be dissuaded.

Democracy Under Rayaale

 

On May 13, 2005, an abhorrent act took place in Hargaisa at the hands of the Somaliland police forces against innocent Gobooye civilians. This type of violation of human rights is undoubtedly a reminder of the Jaziira incident in Mogadishu in the late eighties, when the late dictator's soldiers rounded up individuals of the ***** clan and shot them at point blank. This time, the soldiers, who ironically claimed to carry the mantel of the victims of the Jaziira massacre, carried out the shootings against the Gabooye community in Hargeysa.

 

On that eventful morning of May 13, 2005, “hundreds of weary eyed Gabooye mothers, youngsters and children, carrying on their shoulders the visible weight of centuries-old discrimination and racism, yet undeterred by the intimidation of Hargaisa police, peacefully demonstrated to seek explanation of the senseless shooting of the 23-year-old Khaddar Aden Osman (Dhanbar.). But the Rayaale administration with a blatant prejudice of “ how dare you do , of all people, challenge us ,” shot at them, beat them and then rounded up about a hundred of innocent civilians and kept them for days in various undisclosed locations.”

And the reaction of a May 18, Amnesty International report said the following:: "We consider the detained demonstrators and others arrested later to be prisoners of conscience who are imprisoned on account of their peaceful opinions and defense of the human rights of Gabooye minority."

 

Such a time was when a young man from the minority clans was irresponsibly fatally shot by unrestrained armed government police officers.

 

That action against the Gabooye community was the culmination of the worsening and disturbing human rights record in Hargeysa, where innocent civilians are jailed, tortured and shot at if and when perceived to question this administration's abysmal human rights situation.

 

Rayaale's administration undoubtedly has a Siyadist orientation that has early on banned freedom of speech and jailed journalists who are accused to carry what his minister of interior calls anti government journalism, and banned private ownership radio stations which is a sad indication of where Hargeysa's human right's record lies.

 

Just like in fascist regimes, where populist and autocratic rulers woe the mass by invoking the touchy slogan of “everything to the defense of the fatherland,” both in Hargeysa and abroad, supporters of the Rayale administration wanted to camouflage and postpone the deep sore of this region and the constant abuses of basic human rights for all sectors of the society in favor of secession goals. In covering human rights abuses, we could tell with confidence that it was a matter of time for Rayaale to come and purge the rest of the society’s social groups. And the cruel purge of the editorial board of the Haatuf news paper is the calm before the storm of a dictatorial regime in the making.

 

All these cast a dark cloud on the fate of Hargeysa to which we gave the following commentary.

 

“The political landscape is bleak and rather gloomy marred by rampant corruption, persistent human rights violations and continuing war in the disputed Sool region.

The core problem facing Somaliland today is the inability of the current leadership to perform the fundamental task of good governance in the main areas of national concern, which include public administration, judicial services, maintenance of law and order.

 

After a series of coverage of where Rayaale is taking Hargeysa to, we could only and loudly say the following words:

 

“Poor Somaliland! In the short span of two years this beautiful country has been transformed from an ‘oasis of peace and stability' to a state in crisis and conflict. If this trend is not reversed, Somaliland may slip to the abyss of civil war with serious repercussions for the future of the country and peace and stability of the region.”

 

We feel vindicated by how our critics finally reached down to the bright depth of their souls and assembled the courage to assail this Siyadist autocrat who is steadily eroding the little gains made by the Somali people in that region.

 

Read our Earlier Editorial

 

 

Report Card for Riyaale: A Failing Grade

 

Source: WardheerNews.com