Somaliland Forum
Monday, November 13, 2000
Ref. SF/EC-024-2000
The top United Nations officials engaged on the Somalia case, who sit in safe glass towers in Nairobi, Kenya, recently released a document titled “UN Agencies unveil new action plan to help Somalia capitalize on peaceful transition.” (31October, 2000) The plan is based on the premise that the conference held in Djibouti has resulted in a national government for Somalia. The assumption made by the UN mandarins that the Djibouti conference led to a national government is just that, an assumption, and not the reality that most Somalis know. Truth is, far from creating a national government; the Djibouti conference was a foreign-financed exercise, which only succeeded in adding a new faction to the Somalia politics (the former Italian Somalia). Although the UN’s report does not mention, this new made in‑Djibouti faction, commonly known among Somalis as the Arta faction, is composed of many of the war criminals and corrupt officials of the late dictator Siyad Barre.
The plan does make a small concession to reality when it mentions Somaliland, but it is quick to categorize it as a regional administration. The report does not only distort the status of Somaliland as a sovereign state, but also engages in doublespeak when it blithely and without differentiation, refers to Somaliland, Puntland, the southern faction leaders, and the many Somalis who refused to participate in the Djibouti conference as “those parties which remain outside the existing peace and reconciliation process.” Thus according to the perverse logic of this report, the people of Somaliland, who worked hard for maintaining an exemplary peace and stability for almost a decade now, are outside the peace process, whereas Abdiqasim Salad Hassan and Ali Khalif Galaydh, two former ministers who spent most of the last ten years abroad have suddenly become the embodiment of peace.
The plan does occasionally drop its pro-Arta faction bias when it uses such terms as “the transitional government and existing counterparts,” implying that the Arta faction is not a national government. But the overall thrust of the report is based on the judgment that the Arta faction is not only a government but also a national government. The purpose of the report becomes clear beginning with the second page which details how the UN plans to assist the Arta faction stand on its feet and become a government. Eight of the nine pages (2-9) give the exact details on how this is going to be achieved with a cost analysis. However, although the report uses the term Somalia to give the impression that it is going to cover all of what used to be the former Somali Democratic Republic, the summary table (p.5) shows that these programs are designed to help the Arta faction secure such vital assets as ports and airports presumably by bribing those who control those facilities. Otherwise what is the point in appropriating $400,000 for the emergency rehabilitation of the Mogadishu seaport, and $800,000 for the rehabilitation of Mogadishu airport, when everyone knows that the Arta faction which is going to receive this money does not control those facilities. This will not be the first time that the UN handed funds to the Arta faction with the advance knowledge these funds will be used to bribe others, as happened during the Arta conference.
The bad faith of the plan toward Somaliland is obvious from the execution dates of the various phases. The plan is divided into three phases. The first two phases will last until 2001. Because Somaliland has enjoyed peace and stability for over a decade now, it has already been through the first two phases, (and virtually without any tangible UN assistance).
Therefore, according to the plan, Somaliland people are again to be held hostage in a limbo status until the Arta faction has met these two conditions, in order to take part in phase three which involves negotiating with the Bretton Woods and International partners.
The plan also suffers from many contradictions. For instance, although it claims to uphold good governance, it seems undisturbed by the fact that the UN’s partnership with the Arta faction, who have a reputation for corruption, has further tarnished the image of the UN in the eyes of many Somalis. An even more serious contradiction in the report, is its championing of human rights while at the same time supporting the Arta group whose list contains war criminals and long time Barre ministers, the very people who are supposed to explain some of the worst human rights abuses in Africa, in particular Somalia and in Somaliland.
We understand the UN mandarins are under pressure from the UN Headquarters in New York to come up with a solution for Somalia. That is the only reason why they characterized Somalia as being already in a “post-conflict” situation. Somalia proper is not certainly in a “post-conflict” situation and as everybody knows the violence in Mogadishu has dramatically increased, if anything, since the creation of the Arta faction and its new warlord, Mr. Hassan. The new violence is partly the result of the creation of this new faction, and was triggered by the new armaments that Mr. Hassan brought into Mogadishu and as well as the planeload of fake money that he had printed overseas. This fake money was brought in solely for the purpose of purchasing services of the freelance militias who would then carve a new territory in Mogadishu for the Arta faction, whose “government” is now holed in a Mogadishu hotel known as Hotel Ramadan. The overall result of these actions has been to introduce fresh uncertainties and disturb the balance of power that had been achieved among the parties involved in the conflict in Mogadishu. That balance has been shattered again. Another bloodbath is now inevitable thanks in part to the sponsors of the Arta faction such as the UN and the government of Djibouti. Meanwhile, the task of solving the Somalia conflict has been set back again by the suspicions created by the new faction.
The people of Somaliland, who have reclaimed their sovereignty in 1991, after stepping back from a disastrous union with Somalia, have declared time and time that what is needed is a comprehensive peace plan that includes among other issues accepting the existence of Somaliland and the fact the Somali Republic of 1960, formed from the union of the State of Somaliland and Somalia, is no more and nonexistent. A comprehensive peace means also addressing the problems that led to the demise of the Somali Republic as well as the questions of particular concern to many regions and peoples in Somalia proper, especially the issue of a federal state which has been raised by the Digil and Mirifle people of the South-West and as well as by the Puntland Regional State; these issues concern the nature of a would-be Somalia state. In short, the problems of Somalia are far more complicated than the UN mandarins would like the world to think: The central issues are not about clans or militias at war; they are issues about state formation and conflict resolution.
SOMALILAND FORUM
SLF Background:
The Somaliland Forum (SLF) is an international organization that brings together Somalilanders from all parts of the world mainly, through the medium of the Internet. The primary objective of the Forum is to work with the Somaliland communities around the world in order to provide some lasting solutions to the needs of the Republic of Somaliland and its people. For more information, Please visit the Forum’s web site at: http://www.somalilandforum.com