The International Crisis Group's response

[Suldaanka]

Why the International Crisis Group's Reputation is at Stake:A response

 

Dear Mr. Duale,

 

Thank you for bringing to our attention your article of 11 March 2006, "Why the International Crisis Group's Reputation is at Stake". We welcome such constructive feedback from our readership and gladly accept your invitation to reply.

 

Let me begin by clarifying Crisis Group's editorial policy: each report is a corporate endeavour, not the work of a single individual . Drafts are subject to rigorous internal review and editing involving the Africa Program me , Vice Presidents and Crisis Group President , Gareth Evans . Drafts are also subject to review by concerned members of our Board prior to publication.

 

Please forgive me for not engaging in a point-by-point rebuttal of your factual critique of our 2003 report, Somaliland: Democratisation and its Discontents. It is Crisis Group's policy to publicly acknowledge factual errors and to correct them where possible. However, with respect to the Dervish movement, I would refer you various authoritative accounts including those by Touval (Somali Nationalism, 1963), Beachey (Warrior Mullah, 1990), and Abdi (Divine Madness, 1993), all of which make reference to opposition to Mohamed Abdallah Hassan and his followers. Our analysis of the situation in Sool region and the attachment of some *********** to the TNG (among them former Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galaydh) is based on numerous interviews in Las Anod with intellectuals, political figures and traditional elders, many of them cited in the text.

 

More generally, Somaliland is only one of several cases of separatism that Crisis Group has addressed over the years. I would invite you to examine as well our reporting on Kosovo and Montenegro, Sudan, and Aceh as well as a forthcoming report on Western Sahara / Sahrawi Republic . Although each case is unique, we nevertheless attempt to apply a consistent analytical approach.

 

Exercise of the right to self-determination does not automatically imply boundary change or secession. When being pursued by an ethnic or similar defined group within a sovereign state, the most appropriate solution is usually some combination of legal and political strategies involving autonomy, power and wealth sharing, and human rights protection within that state. International law does, however, permit boundary change by peacefully negotiated agreement, and some countries' constitutions provide for secession (usually after some high-hurdle referendum process), but the achievement of independence through such processes is the exception rather than the rule.

 

Only in very exceptional cases is the international community prepared to contemplate changes to boundaries against the will of one or more of the relevant players (with our without conditions being attached) and result in recognition of a new sovereign separate

 

 

entity: the 'Badinter Commission' republics in the Balkans were one such example, and Kosovo is another. Somaliland may prove to be another exceptional case - for the familiar combination of reasons involving the circumstances of its birth (having a. separate sovereign identity when it entered the union), the protracted crisis in southern Somalia and ihe evolution of Somaliland towards de facto statehood, despite the absence of international recognition .

 

In this context, we have consistently made reference to Somaliland's progress in restoring peace, security and democratic governance in a region once devastated by war. These achievements have been applauded not only by Crisis Group, but also by various Somali leaders, the international media, respected scholars, visiting diplomats, aid agencies, the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations .

 

Likewise, we have noted both the evident level of public support within Somaliland for the separatist platform , as well as the opposition to this agenda within sections of the population and in southern Somalia. From a conflict prevention perspective, this is clearly a deeply divisive issue with the potential to generate serious violence..It is our mission to highlight such disputes before they escalate and to propose policy options to concerned actors, domestic and foreign. Given the nature of deep-rooted conflict, it is not unusual that our prescriptions are perceived in some quarters as controversial.

 

It is Crisis Group's belief that peaceful settlement of the question of Somali unity will require open debate and dispassionate analysis of the issues and options - not by ignoring the problem, ostrich-like, in the hope that it will disappear. For this reason we have decided to make Somaliland the topic of a forthcoming report - a report we hope will advance public debate and further clarify the options for policy-makers.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Suliman Baldo

 

Africa Program Director

 

International Crisis Group

[Suldaanka]

If this is not a big slap on the face of the nobodies, I don't know what it is.

[Suldaanka]

Oodweynow walahi ayaga ku dhib qaba. Ma in loo joojinaayo ayay moodeen?

[N.O.R.F]

Waryaaraheen, could you please elaborate on the reasons for the response and who Mr Duale is?

[-Lily-]

Hey I am up for independent Somaliland, on the condition that every person of Somali origin would have the automatic right to live there (minus warlords and criminals of course). Then people would not be loosing anything but gaining a new country .

[Gabbal]

Please take this doctured document out of here. Anyone could have written a piece such as this and until proven otherwise, I stand by my belief that this is a fake.

[GarYaQaaN]

Originally posted by Mr. Oodweyne:

[QB] My Dear Mr. Suldaaanka,

 

"It had always strike me as a perverse notion for some to accuse the International Crisis Group(ICG), as a self-serving interesting party to Somalis Institutional dilemma; given that it is a premier think-tank institution, that has the unsurpassed reputations in dealing with the international crises across the world; not just Somalia/Somaliland or even in the much of Sab-Sahara Africa; but in every part of the world, their analytical arguments towards the various troubled spots around the world seemed to be recieved with worthy considerations from the international policy-makers."

 

 

Self-serving?

 

Suldaanka do you really believe that ICG is "working to prevent conflict worldwide", as they claim? They also claim to be non-governmental organization even though more than 40% of their funding comes from WESTERN GOVERMENTS, Japan, and Taiwan (which is secessionist entity that has little diplomatic recognition outside tiny nations in the Pacific and Africa). Also its board is filled with people who formerly served in these same governments, so how could they claim to be objective in their work? Do you actually believe that ICG would recommend policies that in any way negatively affect its supporters? Or is it just “highly respected think-thank†that simply acts as a smoke screen and mouth peace for Western interests in conflict zones?

 

In summary ICG definitely has ‘conflict of interest†problems both in its funding and board members. Also it lacks independent scholarship, and the absence of an objective standard theoretical framework.

 

Check out its website:

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1086&l=1

 

A different viewpoint:

http://www.transnational.org/pressinf/2005/pi219_IntCrisisGroup.html

[GarYaQaaN]

Oops! I meant oodweyne...suldaanka iga raali ahow...Peace

[-Lily-]

I would be weary of anyone, no matter how grand a NGO or government that is willing to help you out of the good will of their heart, or to put it otherwise 'to prevent terrorism in the region, to spread democracy etc'. There is always a price to pay.

[Saaxil]

I wonder what is behind Odweyne's question of who is a Somalilander. If Somaliland’s rebirth is believed to be found on the bases of its experience with the Union of the South, then, what is his position on the present Admin headed by Rayaale a former INS officer as recent as in the late 1990s, Ismail AKA..., guulwade in the 1990s, and Cawil a very personal friend of former dictator Siyaad Barre. All these have participated in the former dictatorship in one way or another when supposedly the rebirth of Somaliland was ensuing and on its merry way. Is Odweyne blind or purposely suffering from a self-inflicted amnesia and selective memory?

 

How do those self serving lot fit on the whole question of who is a Somalilander, those who pursued their own self serving ways until they became born again hard-liners based on their corruption, self interest and abuse of power on the backs of those who really fought for the struggle.

I hope next time Odweyne would not write a thesis that misses the point and reveals nothing but the lone world where he apparently reigns. A great man is one who is objective and analysis situations while not blinding himself tenaciously

[Suldaanka]

Adeer Somaliland is not about indivituals. Indivituals can change their political orientation and can reinvent themselves which ever way the wind goes, but the collective strugle of a people is something quite different. Somaliland is about the collective strugle of its people.

 

It doesnt matter who is in power today, what matters is what they stand for, and as far as that is concerned, it reflects the general view of the people of Somaliland. Rayaale is in power because the people voted for him. Hard to understand??

[NASSIR]

OOdweyne, no one suggests that ICG, similar organizations or political experts of the Horn of Africa region are on the payroll of a clan entity but they work to the division of our people and country. They hold no favor to you or to us, for the outsiders will have been keen on the independence of your country long time ago.

 

Duale revealed the inner objectives of the ICG in imparting misinformation and biased image of the secessionist. Other wise, Bryden won't have expressed the views that Las Anod temporarily ended its what-was-to be part of Puntland after the nomination of Dr. ali Khalif Galeydh to the premiership of the last TNG.

 

“The honeymoon with Puntland did not last long, and a new focus for *********** loyalty emerged with the formation of a Somali Transitional National Government (TNG) at Arta, Djibouti.â€[/b]

 

 

Bryden says again,

 

“The Somaliland leadership, remembering what happened in the 1961 referendum, will insist that only the people of Somaliland have the right to cast ballots. Even so, a Somaliland-only ballot will not entirely resolve the problem: southerners will demand that the results be tallied on a region-by-region basis. This would permit the eastern Sanaag and Sool regions to opt out of the secession if a majority of the *********** and ********* populations so cast their ballots. However, since the loss of Sool and eastern Sanaag would mean forfeiting the boundaries received by Somaliland at the moment of independence, it would almost certainly disqualify it for admission into the AU, which would jeopardise the likelihood of it being granted international recognition.†(Italics ours).

 

[ April 07, 2006, 00:43: Message edited by: Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar ]

[Duco Qabe]

Dear Mr. Saaxil: Of course Odweyne and his cohorts are blind and selective in their memories. They talk as if the entire people of Somaliland/Northerners are monolithic in their political views and support the secession. But as we all know the facts on the ground state otherwise. They discount the views of the people of Sool, Eastern and Southern Sanaag regions and the many others in the rest of the territory (like me) who disagree with their narrow political agenda. They resort to name calling when confronted with facts. They rewrite history and make it conform to their virtual and imaginary world. To them the history of that part of the world starts from 1980.

 

So brother I would not loose a wink of sleep as to how Odweyne or any of his likeminded friends defines who a Somalilander is. I would let them continue building castles in the sky and dream on.

 

_______

Sir ma qabe Allaa u sahan ah.

[Xudeedi]

There is no Eastern , or Southern Sanaag region.

 

Tell me which areas are Southern and which areas are EAstern.

[Cabdiciise]

Seems that SOL politic forum has become a platform where junior somali politicians who support the secession’s camp or the unionst’s camp have taken over the place. On my monthly visits to the forum I accounted approximately 15 topic about Somaliland this month. Where is the world heading folks, Somaliland is far from the getting recognized by the international community and you folks are debating if it like a matter of seconds. Waryaada is dajiya

 

These organizations are somekind of lobby organizations who want to bring certain issues into the attention of the international media or another parties which are interested in Somali affairs. But the problem with these organizations like the most of their kind is that they don’t hardly have anyone who wants to listen to them. A lot of Somali politicians over estimate the real power of these organizations and I think we shoudn’t be wasting our valuable time on these quasi organizations.

 

And if we look at where ICG group enjoys the most support/power, then it must be Europe where their headquarters is stationed. Did the lobby of ICG work on european politicians? The answer is no, Italy is the boss when it comes to Somali affairs and they don’t support the secession’s camp.

 

If Italy doesn’t support Somaliland ,the US doesn’t support Somaliland and the big brother “Ethiopia†doesn’t support Somaliland, than who will. The reasons that all these countries don’t support them is internationally known. I don’t need to repeat them. But unless Somaliland chances its backward policy towards Sool and Eastern Sanaag. An another 15 years without recognition will be heading your way.

 

Matt Byrden summarized extremely good what the backward policy of somaliland is towards Sool and Sanaag:

 

This would permit the eastern Sanaag and Sool regions to opt out of the secession if a majority of the *********** and ******** populations so cast their ballots. However, since the loss of Sool and eastern Sanaag would mean forfeiting the boundaries received by Somaliland at the moment of independence, it would almost certainly disqualify it for admission into the AU, which would jeopardise the likelihood of it being granted international recognition.

 

[ April 07, 2006, 00:42: Message edited by: Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar ]