Ref. SF/EC-016-2000
July 4, 2000
It has become commonplace these days for the UN political appointee on the Somali affairs, Mr. David Stephen, to spread propaganda for the so-called Somalia conference in Djibouti. His latest unorthodox diplomatic tactics have, for example, confused the Security Council members of the UN in their recent session on the Somali issue. As a result, the large majority of the Third World rotating members of the council in that session adopted Mr. Stephen’s mantra of “Greater Somalia!”
Fortunately, however, the keen observers of the Somali Affairs in the Council, most notably the representatives of the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have departed from the UN officially sanctioned script in the discussion, prepared by Mr. Stephen for this extraordinary session of the UN Security Council and read by its under-secretary for political affairs. These three important countries have shown courage and leadership by putting forth the true and undistorted political picture of the Somali peninsula over the last decade. The true picture is, as the representatives of these great powers have so aptly explained in the session, that Somaliland is a peaceful, stable, and politically responsible nation, which should not be mixed with the southern Somali warring factions. In addition, as the American representative in the
session, Ms. Susan Sodenberg, also stated anything that would disturb the peace in Somaliland and other stable parts of the former Somali republic would create war, not peace. Indeed, it is the lasting-peace that the Somaliland people made among themselves, that the world community should be proud of, rather than undermining it by heeding Mr. Stephen’s latest round of political deception and misleading statements on the Somali issue at the international level. But how did the Somaliland’s peaceful environment come about?
“It came about after the SNM had relinquished power to its people in 1993, and Somaliland clan families undertook a long and very methodical peace process at Burao, Borama, and Hargeisa; Somaliland. This process, which was based on our social and cultural mechanisms, has created an acceptable political framework for the country, including a national charter. Ironically, the international community is now clamouring about what may or may not come out of Arta, while at the same time ignoring Somaliland’s national charter conference that has already come to fruition”, said Amina Malko, the Chair of the Somaliland Forum.
In this regard, the people of Somaliland are no longer part of Somalia as much as Eritrea is not a part of Ethiopia, or Ukraine is not a part of Russia. But the people of Somaliland support peace for Somalia.
Now a few known facts about the Arta conference, which has been organized by President Guelleh of Djibouti:
1. The conference attendants, many of who are overseas Somalis and tourists, have given themselves such sweeping powers of representation that they are calling for the abrogation of the sovereignty of Somaliland. They have also given themselves the task of usurping the rights and the sovereignty of the people of Somaliland without having consultations with their elected representatives. This is tantamount to a declaration of war, which can engulf with flames of war the whole region of the Horn, including the Republic of Djibouti itself.
2. The conference organisers and their host, Mr. Guelleh, are stating that the people of Somaliland are represented at the conference through the presence of a few dissidents. Thus, they are equating Somaliland with a few dissidents. But, the people of Somaliland have already made their political choices, and it is quixotic and illogical to just suggest that they, the 3 million people of Somaliland, are represented in Djibouti.
3. Even for the people of Somalia proper, the conference is not representative by any measure of traditional leaders or of civil society. Worse of all, some of the personalities meeting in Djibouti include General Mohamed Hashi Ganni, the first butcher of Hargeisa, who paradoxically has been entrusted with the committee for disarming the populations of the ex-Somalia! Indeed, Gen. Ganni is a war criminal who should be brought before an international war crimes tribunal, instead of being rewarded with a chairmanship of a committee for disarmament. “How is it that Bosnia’s notorious war criminals such as Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are under World Court indictment, whereas Gen. Ganni and Gen. Morgan are being asked to form a state for the same people whose lives they had destroyed?” said Amina-Malko, the Chair of the Somaliland Forum. “Or, is it because Somalilanders are Africans”, she continued to say, “and the inhumane crimes committed against them don’t really matter, in the same way that Rwandan genocide was not that of a big deal at UN headquarters!”
The people of Somaliland have severed their unworkable political ties with Somalia after thirty-one years of a stormy relationship between the two. Somaliland has since embarked on development and peace. The UN has not helped the people of Somaliland in any way, since they have reclaimed their independence, while it has spent billions of dollars in trying to bring peace and governance to Somalia. Furthermore, the Somaliland people have established peace and governance without any expenses to the world community. They have also rebuilt their homes, restarted new and old business enterprises, schools and social services.
In sum, all we ask of the world community and the UN is recognition. Even if that is not forthcoming, all we ask now is to be left alone, so we can prosper at our own pace and on own terms. We ask that the world body should come to its senses; the UN has been set up to champion for the protection of human rights and the rights of the peoples of the world. However, some functionary ideologues, together with a few countries such as Djibouti are using it to take away the rights of the people of Somaliland. We, therefore, appeal to the UN to respect and protect our rights; our political and civil rights, that is, which have been enshrined in the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights whose first Article states that “All peoples have the right to self-determination.” We also know that the cost of war and destruction will affect everyone, and we hope that the UN will heed this advice.