Giving Voice to Somali Mothers

Abdikani Hussein International Women’s Day is a global opportunity to celebrate and promote the rights of women. It is a chance for all of us, men and women, to unite under a single, common aim – gender equality. This is particularly pertinent in Somalia. Everyone in Somalia has suffered from decades of often unrelenting conflict. But Somalia’s collapse has had a disproportionate impact on the lives of women and girls, with Somalia often referred to as one of the worst countries in the world to be a woman. I am often told that Somalia has been carried on the backs of women for the past twenty years; they provide much of the labour required for the family’s survival, and are often the main breadwinners and entrepreneurs. Somalia’s women have also played a key role in promoting and securing greater stability, bringing different factions together in efforts to stop the fighting – as at the Arta conference in Djibouti in 2000. However, after decades of violence, and despite the recent political progress and the security improvements, Somalia’s women are facing another, largely untold, crisis: the alarming increase in sexual violence against women and girls. This has to stop. Women’s security – and that of the households and communities they build, support and protect – has to be prioritised. The recent Appeal Court verdict exonerating a woman convicted in February of insulting the Government, after she alleged she had been raped by Government security forces, was welcome; but there is still a long way to go. The Government of Somalia is taking some initial – and positive – steps to tackle this issue, including the Prime Minister’s recent announcement of a new human rights taskforce; and their plans to strengthen the police and justice system. Somali communities need stronger law enforcement and legal support; they also need stronger and more outspoken leadership from Somalia’s political, civic and religious leaders. Preventing sexual violence, improving gender equality and strengthening the role of women in Somali society cannot be done overnight. It will take time, commitment and patience. Most importantly of all, perhaps, it will take leadership and courage, including from the international community. The UK is committed to improving women’s rights in Somalia. As well as helping strengthen the police and judicial systems, we have also agreed with the Somali Government to develop pilot programmes under the Foreign Secretary’s Prevent Sexual Violence Initiative – an objective that will form a key part of the Somalia Conference in London on 7th May 2013. Everything I have seen in Somalia has showed me that women must play a critical role in Somalia’s continued recovery. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, the UK is prepared to support Somalia’s women and children now and for the long-term, as we hope others will. To celebrate International Women’s Day, I want to sign off this blog with a short extract from a poem by Liban Obsiye: “While her brothers prepare to eat, She is cooking their meal. While her brothers are away playing, She helps her mother. She is a girl. A Somali girl. While her husband is shouting and screaming, She is teaching her children. While her husband sleeps, She is studying. She is a wife. A Somali wife. While the men fight, She is making peace. While the men disappear, She is providing a living for her family. She is a mother. A nation’s mother.”

Somali's Roadblocks Business Boom

The boom in Somalia’s roadblocks

 

Since the collapse of Siad Barre’s government in 1991 roadblocks controlled by unscrupulous men have been the hallmark of Somalia, especially South Central Somalia. It was only during the short-lived tenure of the Union of Islamic Courts that this part of the country experienced life without roadblocks. When the Courts had disappeared, anarchy returned and roadblocks started to appear.

Ethiopian forces drove the Islamic Courts out of power in December 2006 and South Central Somalia regained its lawlessness. According to Swiss Peace, six months after the Islamic Courts was defeated 238 roadblocks appeared in South Central Somalia alone and after one year that number reached almost 340. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted in Dec 2007, “Ad hoc roadblocks that charge taxes ranging from US$70 – US$500 to move in and out of Mogadishu have caused huge hindrances to the humanitarian community in accessing vulnerable people. In November, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) reported delays and payment of taxes of up to US$ 475 at eight roadblocks on the Mogadhishu/Afgooye road – a major area of humanitarian operations. The highest number of roadblocks since the beginning of 2007 – 336 in total – was recorded in November.” OCHA produced the following chart which shows the increase of roadblocks in Somalia in 2007.

Mogadishu spun out of control after Ethiopian forces supporting Somalia's interim government took control of the city. Hundreds of thousands of its residents fled the city. Most of the fleeing residents initially sought refuge in a near by town called Afgooye. Others still live in makeshift shelters on the road between Mogadishu and Afgooye. Steve Bloomfield of the Independent writes, “More than 600,000 people fled Mogadishu last year. Around 200,000 are now living in squalid impromptu refugee camps along a 15km- stretch of road outside the capital. According to UN officials it is the largest concentration of displaced people anywhere in the world. Those same officials now consider Somalia to be the worst humanitarian catastrophe in Africa, eclipsing even Darfur in its sheer horror.”

As a result, the road between Mogadhishu and Afgooye has become an artery for internally displaced people, humanitarian organisations and others. Unfortunately, this road is fraught with difficulties as it is peppered with roadblocks. Let us take a virtual tour of this road from Mogadishu to Afgooye and see the major roadblocks but first let us start with some operational details.

Groups that run roadblocks have certain rules that are strictly adhered to. Disobedience can be fatal. All road users are expected to pay according to the vehicle they are driving and at the main roadblocks there is no room for bargaining. However, there is room for negotiation at minor roadblocks. Regardless of the nature of the roadblock, anyone who fails to pay may be turned away or worse may be incarcerated or their car keys confiscated. According to the government, some roadblocks are legal while others are illegal. If the collected money goes to the government, that roadblock is considered to be legal. Otherwise it is considered to be illegal but it is impossible for road users to tell which is which. The government controls several roadblocks within a distance of less than 30 kilometres of Mogadishu and the following ones are legal in the eyes of the government:

Ex-Control

This roadblock, known as Ex-Control, is about 7 km from Mogadishu. It used to belong to a militia loyal to Osman Atto, a former warlord who is currently a Member of Parliament of the Transitional Federal Government. Now the Police manage this roadblock. Ironically, the commander of the Police Force is Abdi Qeybdiid, who is a former warlord and an archenemy of Osman Atto. This roadblock is manned by 20 to 25 policemen equipped with light weapons. There are also Ethiopian troops nearby as the roadblock is situated between two Ethiopian army positions, one in KM6 and the other in the Correctional Division’s former headquarters. The following table shows how much a vehicle is charged every time it passes the roadblock. The exchange rate at the time of writing 1USD (one US Dollar) equals 21,000 Somali Shilling.

Biil

Biil is another roadblock, situated just before Siinka Dheer. This roadblock also belongs to the Police and they charge the same amount as at Ex-Control. Fewer policemen control this one.

Siinka Dheer

This roadblock is about 15 km from Mogadishu and used to belong to Abdi Qeybdiid, the current commander of the Police Force. This roadblock is staffed by three separate groups – one from the Ministry of Finance, another from the Ministry of Transport and a third from the Mogadishu Administration. The mayor of Mogadishu is a former warlord. There are about 50 to 60 men at this roadblock and they charge different rates. The following table shows how much each group charges.

KM 16

KM 16 is another roadblock controlled by the Administration of Lower Shabelle Region. There are about 50 to 65 men equipped with light weapons and two gun mounted vehicles. The following is their tax chart

Hotel Ismaacil

This roadblock is about 28 km from Mogadishu and is also controlled by the Administration of Lower Shabelle Region. Before the Islamic Courts, Indha Cade, a former warlord used to run it. This roadblock is located at the junction of two major roads, one from the Juba area and one from the Baydhabo area. Vehicles are charged the same amount as at KM 16. There are about 80 to 100 men operating at this roadblock equipped with light weapons and 3 to 5 gun mounted vehicles.

Luckily, this virtual tour does not cost us anything. Had we been travelling from Mogadishu to Afgooye driving a typical pickup vehicle, we would have paid about 250,000 So Sh, which is equivalent to $12. And if we were delivering humanitarian supplies using a Fiat truck, we would have paid 1,090,000 So Sh or $52 assuming that there were no other roadblocks. Finally, just imagine how much it would cost to travel from Mogadishu to Kismayo, a city which is 500 km south of the capital Mogadishu. As the number of roadblocks increases the harder it is going to be for economic activity to continue and for humanitarian organisations to serve the needy.

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Somalia Must Strengthen the rule of Law and Investigate Sexual Violence

Abdikani Hussein Somalia has come a long way, but its people deserve nothing less than full investigations into claims of sexual abuse and rape. On February 5, 2013, a court in Mogadishu handed down a one year imprisonment sentence to a Somali journalist and a woman he had interviewed who claimed she had been raped by members of the Somali security forces. The case itself is most troubling on many levels. Human rights and women's groups, international legal organisations, media outlets and the donor community at large pointed to a number of irregularities including lengthy pre-trial detention without charge, gaps in access to legal assistance even during interrogation and reliance on Sharia law for sentencing but not for charging the suspects. Monitoring groups also suggested that the trial judge rejected hearing the evidence of three witnesses who were due to testify for the defence of the journalist. The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) said the trial was an attack on press freedom in the country and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay issued a statement stating that the sentence risked seriously undermining the fight against sexual violence. The UN Secretary-General was among the first leaders of the international community to express his deep disappointment over the one-year sentences handed down in Mogadishu. He also expressed the organisation's alarm over reports of pervasive sexual violence in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps in and around Mogadishu, saying "These crimes are under reported because of risks to victims, witnesses and family members, as well as of intense stigmatisation. It takes extraordinary courage for survivors to come forward." "Somalia is emerging from a long and difficult period of instability, with representative institutions and a new government that has made a commendable commitment to uphold human right and the rule of law for all. This journey must begin with a solid foundation based on respect for human rights, freedom of expression and fair judicial process," said the UN Secretary-General in his statement on the trial and sentencing. The Somali government has also reacted. A human rights task force has been established to investigate human rights abuses in the last 12 months and the Somali Prime Minister, Abdi Farah Shirdon, has publically reiterated the Somali government's commitment to upholding human rights and freedom of expression, reiterated the government's support for press freedom and stressed his commitment to security sector reform. The Prime Minister and President Hassan Sheikh Mahamoud also pointed out the criticality of an effective, independent, transparent and well-resourced judiciary. These are all positive signs, but a first step is to ensure that all allegations of sexual violence are investigated fully and perpetrators are brought to justice. Likewise, freedom of expression is a keystone of a democratic state and as Somalia continues its journey towards democratic elections in the next four years, it will be critical to ensure that Somalis can voice their opinion without fear of reprisals. Somalia has made remarkable progress in a short period of time and the UN Political Office remains committed to working with the government of Somalia to strengthen the rule of law and protect human rights, even as we work to facilitate the strengthening of the security sector and promote accountable and transparent governance and promote the dignity of the Somali people. Somalia's long suffering people deserve nothing less.

UN Eases Somali Arms Embargo

By:Abdikani Hussein Somalia: Arms race vs arms embargo? We examine how the unrest in the Horn of Africa is being exacerbated and who stands to gain from it. As the US pushes for an end to the arms embargo on Somalia, a United Nations monitoring team reports that a growing number of arms is being smuggled to al-Qaeda-linked fighters in the Horn of Africa. It points fingers at what it calls networks in Yemen and Iran. "Somalia is a country caught between a transition from a war economy, dominated by warlords and other criminal networks, and a peace economy which is now beginning to evolve around the new government in Mogadishu. So what you see is not a coordinated process of exporting arms to Somalia, it is basically a way of networks of Somali warlords finding sources of arms and this is where Iran becomes one of the major sources. Iran is facing global sanctions and it naturally looks for whichever way is available to make a dollar or two in order to keep its economy soaring ... It's a natural trend by countries facing embargos or sanctions." - Peter Kagwanja, the director of the Africa Policy Institute The weapon shipments reportedly include machine guns and components for Improvised Expolsive Devices (IEDs).Yemen has become an important hub for smuggling arms into Somalia. According to the latest findings by the monitoring group, which tracks compliance with UN sanctions on Somalia and Eritrea, most weapons deliveries are coming into northern Somalia - that is, the autonomous Puntland and Somaliland regions - after which they are moved south into areas controlled by the al-Shabab movement. Yemen is proving to be of central importance for arming al-Shabab, the monitors' reporting shows, both because it is feeding arms into northern Somalia and because it has become a playing field for Iranian interests in Somalia and elsewhere. Last month, Yemeni coast guards and the US Navy seized a consignment of missiles and rockets that the Sanaa government says were sent by Iran, and it asked the UN Security Council to investigate the matter. The Yemeni government continues to fear rebellion by groups in both the north and the south of the country, while the US fears that there are also large factions linked to al-Qaeda sheltering in the conflict zones. So, can ending the 20-year-old UN arms embargo on Somalia be a solution or yet another problem in an emerging arms race in the region? And who stands to benefit from the turmoil? Inside Story, with presenter Mike Hanna, discusses with guests: Peter Kagwanja, the director of the Africa Policy Institute; Roland Marchal, a senior research fellow at the National Centre for Scientific Research, at the Paris Institute of Political Science; and David Shinn, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia, and a professor of international affairs at George Washington University. "It's a region which has been awash in arms for many decades. The difference today is that the source of the arms is changing somewhat. But you've had a long standing flow of arms from Yemen and particularly contact between al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the al-Shabab organisation in Somalia; that part is not particularly new. What seems to be wrong is the Iranian involvement; although I think there has been some Iranian engagement in the past, the focus on Iran now is definitely different from what I've seen in the last decade or two." David Shinn, a professor of international affairs at George Washington University THE HORN OF AFRICA CONFLICT Somalia has experienced more than two decades of uninterrupted conflict and has for much of that time been without a functioning, central government In 1991, President Mohammed Siad Barre was ousted by rebels and fled the country; civil war broke out across Somalia Between 1992 and 1995, the United Nations intervened in a bid to restore peace; the largely US-led mission ended in failure More than than 10 years later, and following the September 11 attacks, the US opened a base in neighbouring Djibouti amid fears that Somalia was becoming a safe haven for al-Qaeda fighters In 2006, the US backed an Ethiopian invasion to topple militia forces that had taken control of much of southern Somalia In 2007, an African Union force was deployed in Somalia In 2012, Ethiopian and Somali troops began a coordinated offensive against al-Shabab; the group's grip on the south was largely broken In August 2012, Somalia's first formal parliament in more than 20 years was sworn in In January 2012, the US formally recognised the new government - and now we see diplomatic moves underway to end the arms boycott Security Council agrees to lift decades-old embargo for one year to help in its fight against armed al-Shabab group.The UN Security Council has agreed to partially lift a decades-old arms embargo on Somalia for one year, allowing the government in Mogadishu to buy light weapons to strengthen its security forces to fight the armed al-Shabab group. The 15-member council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a British-drafted resolution that also renewed a 17,600-strong African Union peacekeeping force for a year and reconfigured the UN mission in the Horn of Africa country. Somalia's government had asked for the arms embargo to be removed and the US supported that, but other Security Council members were wary about completely lifting the embargo on a country that is already awash with weapons, diplomats said. "What we have tried to do is draw a balance between those who wanted an unrestricted lifting of the arms embargo and those who felt it was premature to lift the arms embargo," Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's UN ambassador, told reporters after the vote. "It is a good and strong compromise." Feuding warlords The embargo was imposed on Somalia in 1992 to cut the flow of weapons to feuding warlords, who a year earlier had ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and plunged the country into civil war. Somalia held its first vote last year to elect a president and prime minister since 1991. "Yes there are major challenges, but we are now ... moving away from international trusteeship of the situation in Somalia towards supporting the government's efforts to address its own problems," the British diplomat said. The UN resolution would allow sales of such weapons as automatic assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, but leaves in place a ban on surface-to-air missiles, large-calibre guns, howitzers, cannons and mortars as well as anti-tank guided weapons, mines and night vision weapon sights. It also requires that the Somalia government or the country delivering assistance notify the Security Council "at least five days in advance of any deliveries of weapons and military equipment ... providing details of such deliveries and assistance and the specific place of delivery in Somalia". 'Vote of confidence' The Somali government believes lifting the embargo will help it strengthen its poorly equipped, ill-disciplined military, which is more a collection of rival militias than a cohesive fighting force loyal to a single president. "The support is a vote of confidence for the government of Somalia given the improvement of the security situation in that country," Argentina's UN Ambassador Maria Cristina Perceval told the Council. The AU peacekeeping force - made up of troops from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Ethiopia - is battling al-Shabab fighters on several fronts in Somalia and has forced them to abandon significant territory in southern and central areas. The group, who affiliated themselves with the al-Qaeda in February last year, launched their campaign against the government in early 2007, seeking to impose sharia, or Islamic law, on the entire country. Amnesty International, Human rights group, on Monday called on the UN not to lift the embargo, describing the idea as premature and warning that it could "expose Somali civilians to even greater risk and worsen the humanitarian situation".