Background on Somaliland

[Jacaylbaro]

The Somali Catastrophe: 1991-2009

 

For most of Somalia, the fall of Siad Barre ushered in an era of war and lawlessness that still persists today. The clan-based civil war of the 1990s gave way to the rise of militant Islamist movements that oppose the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). In 2001, the U.K. home office issued a report on human rights conditions of Somalia:

 

“Human rights problems in the absence of a recognized central authority since 1991 have included the lack of political rights, harassment and abuse of minority groups, denial of fair trial and excessively harsh punishments given by courts set up by some faction administrations, arbitrary detention, societal discrimination against women and the almost universal practice of female genital mutilation.” [1]

 

 

In 2009, the outlook is no less bleak. Amnesty International reports that 17,000 people have been killed in renewed warfare since 2007. [2] There are an estimated 1.2 million internally displaced Somalis in Southern Somalia, while hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees have sought haven throughout the Horn of Africa. Faced with a upsurge in Islamist militia violence, the TFG declared a state of emergency in June 2009, and requested international military aid and regional armed intervention. In August 2009, the U.S. State Department confirmed that it had shipped 40 tons in arms and ammunition to the TFG. [3] According to human rights monitors, all parties to the conflict have committed serious breaches of international humanitarian law and carried out human rights abuses. In light of these abuses, Amnesty International has called for increased accountability and other safeguards on arms transfers to the TFG.

 

 

The Somaliland Experiment: 1991-2009

 

In contrast to south and central Somalia, the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in the northwest has enjoyed relative stability. Somaliland declared independence in May 1991, with a rebuilt Hargeisa as its capital. As of 2009, its sovereignty remains unrecognized by the international community. Nonetheless, Somaliland has undertaken to build a functional constitutional democracy and it seems to be moving closer to gaining recognition by the African Union and the European Union.

 

Somaliland's tenuous peace was disrupted in October 2008, when suicide bombers believed to be fundamentalist Islamists attacked a UN compound, the President's residence and the Ethiopian trade mission in Hargeisa, killing 20 people and wounding another 30.

 

 

Mass Graves: Unearthing Evidence of Barre-era War Crimes

 

Somaliland’s transition has also brought painful reminders of the devastation the region suffered under the Barre regime. In the late 1990s, flooding outside of Hargeisa unearthed evidence of mass graves in the vicinity of the former headquarters of the 26th division of Barre’s army. [5] On April 11, 1997 Physicians for Human Rights, under the auspices of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, conducted an on-site forensic assessment of the mass graves. The forensic team examined over 100 gravesites and reported finding skeletal remains of victims connected by rope ligatures into a chain, with their hands bound behind their backs. [6] The report is available here. [PDF] Images of the forensic investigation are available here. [7] [Warning: graphic content]

 

In 2000, the OHCHR and Somaliland authorities established a War Crimes Investigation Committee for Hargeisa. The following year, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Somalia reported that former Somali military personnel suspected of wartime atrocities had found safe haven in Canada, the U.K. and the United States.

 

In an effort to hold these human rights abusers to account for their crimes, and to seek redress for Somali survivors of violence under Barre, CJA has brought two civil cases against former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Mohammed Ali Samantar and against the notorious torturer, Colonel Yusuf “Tokeh” Abdi Ali.

[Jacaylbaro]

Attorney Tara Lee of Cooley Godward Kronish LLP interviews representatives of the War Crimes Investigation Committee in Hargeisa, Somaliland

[Juje]

JB it is a nice topic but why bring it forward when there is misery in the south of the border, are you to proof something?

[Jacaylbaro]

No i'm not proofing anything unusual here ,,,,, are the other topics banned ???

[xiinfaniin]

the timing is off

[Jacaylbaro]

I was not considering any timing ,,,,,, it is the routine thing ,,

[xiinfaniin]

^^I know you are inconsiderate about somali stuff

[Jacaylbaro]

I do .......... unlike some

[xiinfaniin]

^^Confirming the inconsiderate nature, maaha?

[Jacaylbaro]

That was yesterday waaryaa ,,,,,,,,,,,

[xiinfaniin]

Xaggeenna weli dhaawacu waa qoyyanyahay,

Riyaale & Siilaanyo qudhuudo maantay hadleen

 

It's a national tragedy

[Jacaylbaro]

It is more than a national tragedy ,,,, it is a human tragedy ....