Appeal to the International Community to Support Somaliland’s Human Rights Defenders

[Jacaylbaro]

Somaliland International Recognition Action Group(SIRAG)

 

London, UK

 

05/November/2007

 

Press Release - Appeal to the International Community to Support Somaliland’s Human Rights Defenders

 

SIRAG condemns the recent interference of Somaliland Government to close down the office of SHURO-NET. This outstanding human rights defender organisation has gained the recognition and respect of the Diaspora aswell as friends of Somaliland through their conscientious and dedicated work in defending the fundamental rights of the citizens of Somaliland. The government has targeted to sabotage SHURO-NET organisation which is a shining beacon for Somaliland’s democracy and human rights. The Diaspora and the International Community must defend the rights of SHURO-NET in order to rescue Somaliland’s democracy and recognition before it is too late.

 

This year the current administration of Somaliland has made it their mission to destabilize Somaliland’s democracy from within by weakening the very foundations that the nation’s democracy is built on. This administration has shown no respect for the nation’s justice and rule of law setting a bad example to the rest of the country which can only bring chaos and confusion.

 

The Diaspora is the muscle behind Somaliland’s leadership and success and their contribution should never be undermined. The government so far has refused to be accountable at many levels and is totally detached from supporting Somaliland’s democracy at the grass root level. Most of the leaders in ministerial posts are self appointed by the president who are not only incompetent but also lack the qualifications and the experience needed for effective decision making which is desperately needed for Somaliland’s thriving democracy.

 

There seems to be a huge gap between the expertise of the civil society and that of the government. Most of the civil society organisations are well ahead of the government when it comes to implementing the tools of democracy that is needed to establish the democracy and human rights of Somaliland. Instead of the government seeing this as a positive step and learn from these experiences they somehow translated this success as a threat to their leadership which is creating a lot of paranoia to say the least. That is why the government is using force and other tactics to silence the voice of the human rights defenders which is shocking to say the least.

 

This year Somaliland’s democracy and human rights has been damaged before where media journalist as well as political prisoners of conscious were imprisoned. As this was not enough the government has even gone further and made their duty to interfere with the internal issues of civil rights organisations who are totally independent of the government. This shows that the government of Somaliland has turned a blind eye to the democracy and recognition of Somaliland.

 

We urge the Elders of Somaliland, civic organisations and the Intellectuals of Somaliland to campaign for the rights of SHURO-NET and demand accountability from the government. SIRAG fully supports the voice of the Elders, Lawyers, Diaspora and the intellectuals of Somaliland who are the beacon of Somaliland’s democracy and justice. In this new age of democracy and technological advance we would like to advice the intellectuals of Somaliland to work with the Elders of the nation and give them the support they need to lead the nation especially in the areas of justice, rule of law and human rights.

 

SIRAG would like to finally remind the parliament, intellectuals, civil society and the Elders of Somaliland that they must heed the advice of Lord Avebury and fully understand the implications that these recent incidents will bring to Somaliland’s democracy and recognition. The government of Somaliland must also heed the voice of the International Community and should respect the rights of SHURO-NET as an independent organisation and should not interfere with their internal affairs.

 

God Bless Somaliland.

 

Marwo Lulu Farah

 

Chair of SIRAG