Djiboutian Opposition to Protest Against President [Dictator Omar Gulleh to face the Music]

[General Duke]

Djiboutian Opposition to Protest Against President

 

Bloomberg

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

 

 

President Ismail Guelleh

 

Opposition parties in Djibouti, the Horn of Africa nation that hosts the only U.S. military base on the continent, plan to demand the resignation of President Ismail Guelleh in a protest scheduled for Feb. 18.

 

At least 1,000 people are expected to attend the “peaceful” demonstration that may continue through the weekend, Ismail Guedi Hared, president of the Union for a Democratic Alternative, said in a phone interview today from the capital city, also called Djibouti. The coalition group represents at least three opposition parties, he said.

 

“People are angry,” Hared said. “The people will say we want the president to leave. We shall stay Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.”

 

Anti-government protests across North Africa since January ousted the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, while similar demonstrations have occurred in Algeria and Libya. In Djibouti, Guelleh’s People’s Rally for Progress party has ruled the country since independence in 1977. The 63-year-old leader, who was elected in 1999, amended the constitution in March to allow him to extend his rule by two more six-year terms.

 

 

“Guelleh has been president for 12 years and he wants to continue, but we are saying we don’t want you,” Hared said. “It is because he doesn’t do anything for the people or the country. He takes all the money.”

 

A spokeswoman for Guelleh said she couldn’t immediately comment when contacted on her mobile phone today. Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Yousef didn’t answer his phone when Bloomberg called him seeking comment.

 

U.S. Base

 

The U.S has had a base in Djibouti since 2001, while former colonial power France also has 3,000 troops stationed in the country, which is smaller than the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The republic borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and is seen as a strategic location in the U.S.-led fight against terrorism and piracy.

 

Last month, exiled Djiboutian opposition leader Abdourahman Boreh called for elections scheduled for April to be delayed by as much as a year and for international monitors to oversee an electoral roll that includes 130,000 to 140,000 of the population of about 865,000.

 

Boreh was the chairman of the Djibouti Port and Free Zone Authority from 2000 to 2009, when he left the country following a dispute with the government. He was subsequently given a 15- year prison sentence following accusations he was involved in a grenade attack in Djibouti that didn’t leave any injuries.

 

Boreh denied all charges and said the case was politically motivated and unfair because his lawyers were prevented from representing him.

 

Djibouti ranks 148th out of 169 countries ranked in the United Nations Development Program’sHuman Development Index, which measures life expectancy, education and living standards.

 

To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa via Nairobi atpmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

[Che -Guevara]

Good on them!

[The Zack]

 

Dawladda Jabuuti oo Xidhay Madaxii Ururka Xuquuqul Insaanka Jabuuti.

 

Feb 15, 2011 (QOL) Waxa xabsiga weyn ee Jabuuti habimadii 14/02/2011 loo taxaabay Madaxii Ururka Xuquuqul Insaanka Dalka Jabuuti Mudane Jean Paul Abdi Noel oo bishii hore warbixin ka qoray qabqabashadii iyo dhiibistii loo geystay Muwaadiniin Soomaaliyeed oo ka soo jeeda dhulka Ogadeenya.

 

Warsaxaafadeed ay shalay gelinkii hore soo saareen Ururka Xuquuqul Insaanka Jabuuti ayaa lagu cadeeyey in saqdii dhexe ee habeen hore gurigiisa lagala baxay Jean Paul Abdi Noel.

 

Qabashada Mas’uulkan ayaa waxa ka qeyb-qaatay sida war-bixinta lagu sheegay 5 nin oo madax ka kala ah ciidamada kala duwan ee dalkaas, waxaana kamid ah, Wasiirka difaaca iyo madaxa ciidamada madaxtooyada.

[General Duke]

It's a good move for the people to reclaim their country.

[General Duke]

Protesters in Djibouti rally to replace president [/]

 

 

Friday, February 18, 2011

 

 

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the tiny East African nation of Djibouti on Friday to demand that the president step down after two terms, the latest in a series of rallies modeled after political demonstrations across Africa and the Middle East.

 

President Ismail Omar Guelleh has served two terms and faces an election in April, but critics lament changes he made to the constitution last year that scrubbed a two-term limit from the nation's bylaws. Guelleh's family has been in power for more than three decades.

 

Djibouti is a city-state of 750,000 people that lies across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen. It hosts several military bases, including the only U.S. base in Africa.

 

Guelleh, who looks poised to win re-election, didn't face any opponents in 2005. One potential challenger this year, Abdourahman Boreh, is supporting the series of anti-Guelleh demonstrations but lives overseas and is currently in London.

 

Boreh, 51, said that if he returned to Djibouti he would be thrown in prison and possibly tortured. He said Friday's rally was attended by thousands and was peaceful in the early goings. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators earlier in February.

 

"In the wake of events like Tunisia and Egypt the president's instinct will almost certainly lead him to violence to counter the rising confidence of the demonstrators," Boreh said. "What we really want is a peaceful demonstration where the people can express their feelings for freedom, their feelings for a democratic transition of the government, because this government has been in power for the last 34 years. The people want change."

 

No foreign journalists work in Djibouti, and few international organizations have a presence there. One international group in the country is Democracy International, which is working on a U.S.-funded project to monitor the April vote.

 

The head of the group's observation mission, Chris Hennemeyer, said Djibouti is slowly and cautiously opening its political space but that it lacks alternative media outlets, civil society groups and mature political parties.

 

Hennemeyer said anyone in Djibouti expecting the popular groundswells that Egypt and Tunisia saw will be disappointed. He said a turnout in the low thousands at Friday's rally would be "moderately significant" by Djiboutian standards.

 

"I think the government has a firm grasp on the levers of state and I don't think that you will see a popular insurrection in Djibouti," Hennemeyer said. "But I do think that people in government will pay close attention if the opposition is able to bring out large numbers of people."

 

He said Djibouti deserved credit for allowing the protests to take place.

 

Djibouti's first political rally broke out after the Muslim country's Friday prayers on Jan. 28. Democracy International estimated that 2,000 to 3,000 people attended.

 

More demonstrations happened in early February, and police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a demonstration on Feb. 5, according to Human Rights Watch.

 

Then, the president of the Djiboutian League of Human Rights, was arrested on Feb. 9 after reporting on the arrests of students and members of opposition political parties following the demonstrations, according to Human Rights Watch.

 

Human Rights Watch on Thursday wrote to Guelleh and said it was deeply concerned that Jean-Paul Noel Abdi has been charged with participating in an insurrection movement "even though there appears to be no evidence to corroborate the charges."

 

Djibouti can be stiflingly hot, and activity grinds to a halt in the afternoons when men find shade and chew the stimulant khat. Per capita income is just $2,800 a year, and the unemployment rate is near 60 percent. The country lies at the nexus of Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

 

Hennemeyer said there are high-ranking government officials open to change.

 

"The government itself is not monolithic in Djibouti and a variety of opinions exist on whether political evolution is happening fast enough, and I think there are people who would like to see it accelerate," he said.

 

Source: AP

[General Duke]

Waxaa maanta oo ku beegnayd 18ka Feberaayo ka dhacay magaalada Jabuuti ee caasimada Jamhuuriyada Jabuuti mudaharaad balaaran oo ay isugu soo baxeen kumanaan dad ah oo kasoo horjeeda Xukuumada Madaxweyne Ismaaciil Cumar Geele.

 

Mudaharaadkan ayey ku dhawaaqeen maanta oo Jimce ah inay shacabka isugu soo baxaan Xisbiyada Mucaaridka ah ee dalkaasi Jabuuti.

 

Wararka soo baxaya ayaa sheegay in todobaadkan ay Dowlada Jabuuti xabsiga u taxaabtay qaar kamid ah hogaamiyaasha mucaaridka iyo dadka u ololeeya arrimaha Xuquuqda aadanaha ayadoo dowlada ka hortageyso mudaharaadyada maanta lagu waday inay dalka Jabuuti ka dhacaan.

 

Mudaharaadka maanta ka dhacay Magaalada Jabuuti ayaa waxaa isugu soo baxay dad kumanaan kun ah oo lagu qiyaasay inay ka badnaayeen 20 kun oo dad ah ayadoo ciidamada Booliiska ee dowlada ay rasaas ku fureen dadkii mudaharaadayey sida ay sheegeen hogaamiyaasha mucaaridka ee maanta ka qeyb qaatay mudaharaadka.

 

Waxaa sidoo kale loo diiday inay dalka soo galaan saxaafada Caalamiga ah, khaas ahaan telefishonka Aljazeera ayaa la sheegay in suxufiyiin ka socotay laga soo ceshay markii ay dalka geli lahaayeen.

 

Ismaaciil Geedi Xareed oo ah Hogaamiyaha xisbiga UDJ ahna hogaamiyaha dalada xisbiyada mucaaridka ee loo yaqaan UAD oo kamid ah xubnihii soo qaban qaabiyey mudaharaadka maanta oo Horseed Media Wareysi gaar ah siiyey ayaa sheegay in banaanbaxan ay shacabka dalka Jabuuti ku muujinayaan sida ay uga soo horjeedaan xukuumada Ismaaciil cumar Geele oo uu sheegay inay si kalis talisnimo ah ku dhaqmeyso.

 

Mucaaridka ayaa sidoo kale horey ugu baaqay in dib loo dhigo doorashooyinka lagu wado inay ka dhacaan dalka Jabuuti bisha April ee soo socota. Maxamed Daauud oo ah madaxa xisbiga DPD ayaa sheegay in doorashooyinkaasi ay haboon tahay in dib loo dhigo inta Beesha Caalamka ay dalka uga soo direyso kooxo caalami ah oo isha ku haya habka ay doorashada ku dhaceyso.

 

Madaxweynaha dalka Jabuuti Ismaaciil Cumar Geele ayaa dalkaasi kasoo arriminayey illaa sanadkii 1999kii wuxuu dhawaan Madaxweynaha bedalaad ku sameeyey Dastuurka dalkaasi bishii Maarso ee sanadkii tagay 2010 si uu markale isugu soo taago doorashada Madaxweynimo markii sadexaad oo fursad u siineysa inuu dalkaasi sii maamulo muddo ah 6 sano oo dheeraad ah.

 

Xisbiga Ismaaciil cumar Geele ee PRP (People’s Rally for Progress party) ayaa dalka Jabuuti soo xukumayey laga bilaabo tan iyo intuu dalkaasi xoriyada qaatay ee 1977kii.

 

Mudaharaadyada maanta ka bilowday Jabuuti ayaa daba socda mudaharaadyadii iyo kacdoonkii shacabka ee ka bilowday dalka Tuuniisiya, Masar, Baxreyn iyo Yemen.

 

Wadanka Jabuuti ayaa waxaa sidoo kale ku yaal Saldhigyada ugu waaweyn ee dalalka Maraykanka iyo Faransiiska ay ku leeyihiin Bada cas iyo Qaarada Afrika.

 

(wixii faah faahin ah oo mudaharaadka Jabuuti kala soco Horseed Media haduu eebo idmo)

[Dhagax-Tuur]

That is a wonderful thing. Mar aan sidaa u fogeyna Mr Guelleh wuxuu bedelay dastuurka wadanka siduu u sii dheeraysto xukunkiisa. Su'aashu laakiin, marka dadka la kiciyo, qorshe cad oo xukun cadli ah oo dhisan ma hayaan mucaaradku? Djibouti kama bixi karto inay noqoto Soomaaliya kale.

[General Duke]

^^^One should not fear change.

[Dhagax-Tuur]

^If you mean positive change, of course, there is no reason to. However, recycling old, dirty politics is altogether different.

[General Duke]

^^^Yeah like inheriting the country from your uncle and then holding to power as if its your personal fiefdom. Old failed politics is what Mr Gulleh represents.

[Dhagax-Tuur]

Lol@ uncle. Isn't that exactly what you represent and vouch for day in, day out on these boards. Never had an uncle who was an authoritarian, and If I did, I would have been the first to oppose him, unlike you. I hate injustice, can't stand it.

 

And let's us not turn this into a tit for tat, admit that you are a closet pro-PL. You put the Somali interest out to dry before the interest of PL. Stop hiding behind the mirage.

[General Duke]

Dhagax-Tuur;696078 wrote:

Lol@ uncle. Isn't that exactly what you represent and vouch for day in, day out on these boards. Never had an uncle who was an authoritarian, and If I did, I would have been the first to oppose him, unlike you. .

Your lack of comprehension is scarry to say the least. Who was talking about you? The man who inherited from his uncle is none other than the despot in Djibouti. Kindly keep up will you.

 

Also I am not even familier with you and you have been here since 2003, you are memorable arent ya lad?

[Dhagax-Tuur]

There you go, boast as you might, but when you write in English, try and be clearer before you accuse others misconstruing you. Isn't it so damn obvious that you're touchy when one calls you who you really are, a PL devotee. Adeer, as they say it, call a spade a spade.

 

Your familiarity doesn't mean shit to me. And don't fill this place up with 'cantarabaqash' about PL day in, day out.

 

Why on earth would I want to be memorable here. Or am I wrong to say that you parade your PL persona here to be remembered? publicity-thirsty-syndrome sufferer, you are.

[General Duke]

^^^lol. Not sure why you are getting angry here son. Next time you want to make a point, undertsand the jist of the situation. As you were.

[Dhagax-Tuur]

Good Lord! What a personality!

 

I'm done with you, boy.