23 Nov 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- US support Kenya Ethiopia joining Amisom forces (Source: the Standard)
- Somali parliament urges to stop looting the humanitarian aid (Source: Shabelle Universal TV)
- Al Shabaab poison Water Wells in Lower Jubba(Source: Radio Mogadishu)
- Mombasa court to hear Somali-passport importation case on February 2012(Source: Radio Bar-kulan)
- Drone strikes hit al Shabaab in Gedo region (Source: Somali National News Agency SONNA)
- Kenyan military denies troops captured executed by Somali Islamists (Source: KBC Radio)
- EU faces warship shortage for Somali piracy mission (Source: Reuters)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali parliament urges to stop looting the humanitarian aid
22 Nov – Source: Shabelle, Universal TV – 234 words
A Special meeting attended by a number of lawmakers and officials of the TFG was held in Mogadishu on Tuesday to discuss how to stop the repeated looting of the humanitarian aid and intimidations against the IDPs in the camps.
Mohamed Omar Dalha, one of the TFG lawmakers spoke angrily of the daily hardships and the looting of aid committed by soldiers dressed in Somali military uniforms. He said that such acts will never be tolerable.
Several Representatives from the internally displaced people in Mogadishu camps were also among the meeting, who demanded to the Somali government to stop those bad actions against the drought and famine victims to repeat again.
“It is for the Somali government to take strict measures against those people who are accustomed to harm frequently the IDPs and loot the international aid intended for displaced families living in the government controlled areas in Mogadishu,” said Asha Mohamed Warsame, the IDPs representative at the meeting.
http://www.shabelle.net/
Al Shabaab poison water wells in Lower Jubba
23 Nov – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 127 words
Al Shabaab extremist’s militants have on Wednesday contaminated boreholes and catchment areas in Buur Gaabo district of Lower Jubba.
At least 50 civilians, mainly women and young children, have been hospitalized in local hospitals in the area. Doctors in the affected region told SONNA that the health of the poisoned victims is being monitored.
The health of some of the victims has deteriorated and reports indicate that the most serious cases have been transferred to Kenyan. Area residents are puzzled by the latest al Shabaab action of poisoning the innocent civilians. Area residents who sought anonymity claim that the al Shabaab militants have converted their harsh way of punishing area residents from their nasty acts of terrorism to water poisoning as a part of their ongoing harassment on the Somali people.
Ethiopian troops abduct vehicles from central Somalia
22 Nov – Source: Radio Shabelle – 224 words
Ethiopian troops recently reached parts of Hiiraan and Galgudud regions in central Somalia and have confiscated rocks from the Kalabeyrka intersection in the same region yesterday, according to locals and witnesses.
Witnesses told Shabelle radio that the Ethiopian troops had taken by force several lorries from and to Guriel town of Galgudud region and Beledweyne town of Hiiraan in central Somalia, adding that the vehicles carried animals from both regions.
The reasons behind the abduction of the trucks are unknown as the event took place days after the Ethiopian troops accompanied by battle wagons entered into Somalia, causing the Al Shabaab fighters controlling parts of central Somalia to be ready for fighting against the Ethiopian troops.
“What I can tell you is that the Ethiopian troops took 6 trucks. The cars were travelling to Guriel town and the others were heading to Hiiraan region, mainly Baledweyne town. They carried more animals, we do not know why they had forced the trucks and we do not know what they want indeed,” said eyewitnesses.
Mombasa court to hear Somali-passport importation case on February 2012
23 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 158 words
A Mombasa court has yesterday postponed a ruling on Somali passports importation case on an Indian man called Sanjet after the Somali ambassador in Nairobi moved to court over illegal shipment of Somali documents. Sanjet allegedly imported Somali passports in Kenya while he was not contracted by the Somali embassy in Nairobi.
The lawyer of Sanjet dismissed the case against his client even after the court has presented testimonial documents related to the case.
The Mombasa court judge heard the case and postponed it to February 2012. Somali ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali alias Ali America and Abdulahi Gafow, advisor to the immigration department of the TFG yesterday told the press in Mombasa that they hope the Kenyan authorities will discipline the man for engaging in the illegal passport importation activity.
According to Gafow, the Somali government previously had a contract with the company ran by Sanjet from 2004 before the project ended 2010.
Disabled Somalis finally get relief
23 Nov – Source: Somalia Report – 101 words
Often unable to walk and treated like beggars, disabled Somalis face more severe living conditions than average citizens because there is simply nobody or any agency to help them, particularly in the war-ravaged capital of Mogadishu.
Duale Hashi, the deputy director of the newly established feeding centre, told Somalia report they provide breakfast and lunch to more than 1300 disabled people from Mogadishu in internally displaced camps, according to Duale. The centre also distributes dry food twice a month.
“Turkish aid agencies give us the main support, including the food and the transportation of our employees”, the deputy director said.
Al Shabaab: We destroy Kenyan, Somali forces in southern Somalia
22 Nov – Source: Mareeg Online – 164 words
The spokesman of al Shabaab for military operations, Abdi Aziz Abu Mus’ab, claimed victory over the conflict opposing them and the TFG backed by the Kenyan forces on Monday in southern Somalia.
Abu Mus’ab said that they killed a number of Somali forces and Kenyan army in Qoqani village around Afmadow district in Jubba region.
A government official in Jubba region speaking to local F.M stations in Mogadishu yesterday said they killed four al Shabaab fighters in the battle and that only two government soldiers were wounded only.
Spokesman of al Shabaab Abdi Aziz spoke to the Ethiopians present in Guri’el district of Galgudud region, central Somalia, saying that they did not withdraw from Somalia completely, adding that al Shabaab are aware of their movement.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Drone strikes hit al Shabaab in Gedo region
23 Nov – Source: Somali National News Agency SONNA – 121 words
Drone strikes have in the past two days targeted al Shabaab bases in the Gedo region, South of Somalia where key extremist bases are located.
The areas targeted are al Shabaab’s nerve centre for operations and a main source of funding. The recent Somali government capture of Afmadhow has caused a deadly blow to the extremists’ group in the Lower Jubba regions.
Drone strikes in the past have targeted key al Shabaab bases, killing top al Shabaab leaders and further weakening the terrorist group. Several al Shabaab commanders have been killed in aerial bombardments by planes in Kismayo, Gedo and other regions of Somalia.
Teenagers killed in the Somalia capital Mogadishu
23 Nov – Source: Radio Shabelle, Radio Bar-kulan, Mareeg Online – 71 words
Armed men have on Tuesday night killed two teenagers in Laba-dhagah village of Wardhiglay district in Mogadishu, as residents confirmed to the press.
Reports say that al Shabaab is behind the attack. This is part of an insecurity situation in Mogadishu and it comes at a time when the Somali government controls major part of the city.
Angolan police forcefully deport Somali detainees
23 Nov – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 102 words
The government of Angola has forcefully deported 56 Somali prisoners from its country according to the spokesperson of the Somali community Diaspora in Angola.
The spokesperson of the Somali community Diaspora in Angola, Dahir Ugas Mire confirmed to Bar-kulan that the Angolan police officers have deported Somali prisoners to Congo’s border area.
The spokesman added that the Angolan soldiers forced the immigrants to enter Congo and leave the Angolan soil in what he described a violation of human rights. Reports from the region indicate that 16 of the deported Somali refugees have reached Congo, while other deportees have yet to be traced.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Kenya and AMISOM plan joint onslaught
22 Nov – Source: Daily Nation – 372 words
Kenyan military commanders and African Union peacekeepers in Somalia on Tuesday met to discuss new strategies in the fight against al Shabaab.
African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) spokesman Lt Col Paddy Ankunda told Daily Monitor that the meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia discussed the modalities of a joint operation between the Kenya Defence Forces and Amisom to rout the militants.
The meeting, Lt Col Ankunda said, was a follow-up on last week’s agreement by the leaders of Kenya, Uganda and Somalia to launch a joint onslaught against the militants.
Presidents Kibaki, Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (Somalia) met in Nairobi last week and agreed to join forces in the war against the militants.
It was not clear whether Amisom troops would team up with the Kenyan forces and Transitional Federal Government fighters to uproot al Shabaab from their bases in Southern Somalia. Currently, Amisom troops are fighting al Shabaab in Mogadishu while Kenyan troops and Somali federal government fighters are concentrating on Southern Somalia.
Lt Col Ankunda said an offer by Kenya to send soldiers to Amisom would be considered. He warned that the militants had intensified attacks on Amisom positions in Mogadishu but said they would be defeated. This comes is after Ugandan and Burundian Amisom troops killed 25 al Shabaab militants in fresh battles in Mogadishu on Sunday.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/
EU backs Kenya’s war against al Shabaab
23 Nov – Source: the Standard – 481 words
The European Union (EU) has backed Kenya’s war against al Shabaab, as the diplomatic offensive continues to gain support.
Speaking in Brussels, 27 Foreign Affairs ministers — who make up the EU Foreign Affairs Council — also strongly condemned terror attacks in Kenya by members of al Shabaab.
The unprovoked attacks, which also violated Kenya’s territorial integrity has seen, among others, the kidnapping of European citizens. On Tuesday, the EU called for their immediate release.
“Such attacks threaten not just neighbouring countries but the international community as a whole,” said the statement. US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnnie Carson also asked Kenya and Ethiopia to work together with Amisom troops to defeat al Shabaab.
The EU Foreign Affairs ministers welcomed efforts to counter al Shabaab’s threat, which were consistent with international law.
They also called for the protection of civilians and safeguarding of humanitarian access in accordance with international humanitarian principles. The EU move comes a month after the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) launched an onslaught in Somalia in the hunt for members of the militia group following attacks on its citizens and kidnapping of tourists.
A recent appeal to the international community by the KDF and TFG to give humanitarian assistance — ranging from food to medication in towns liberated from the grip of Al Qaeda-linked group — was also discussed.
“The EU appeals to all concerned that international humanitarian actors should be given free and safe access to all in need of assistance. The EU will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable population and encourages others to do so,” said the joint statement.
The EU called for further efforts to streamline and strengthen the co-ordination of all actors and international donors in Somalia.
http://www.standardmedia.co.
Kenyan military denies troops captured, executed by Somali Islamists
23 Nov – Source: KBC Radio – 189 words
The Kenya Defence Forces, KDF, in Somalia now says they have information that the Al-Shabaab militants are planning to release a video showing an execution of people alleged to be members of the troops.
Military spokesman Maj Emmanuel Chirchir has assured Kenyans that none of the KDF troop members has been captured or is missing since the onset of Operation Linda Nchi.
Speaking to KBC on phone, Chirchir said Kenyans troops are safe and still in hot pursuit of the militants. Chirchir further called on media practitioners to ignore any such clips send to their media houses to avert creating unnecessary panic among Kenyans.
Maj Chirchir said We want to draw attention to what Al-Shabaab is likely to release either today night or tomorrow; this is based on the intelligence report. We have received credible information that Al-Shabaab are planning to release a video clip showing the execution of a person or people alleging to be KDF troops captured during Operation Linda Nchi.
Maj Chirchir added that no Kenyan troops have been captured by Al-Shabaab and no Kenyan soldier is in the hands of Al-Shabaab, since the onset of that Operation Linda Nchi.
US support Kenya, Ethiopia joining Amisom forces
23 Nov – Source: the Standard – 453 words
The US has commended the decision by Kenya and Ethiopia to join the African Union force fighting Al Shabaab militants in Somalia.
US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs Johnnie Carson said on Tuesday in a teleconference with Kenyan journalists, from Washington DC, that Kenya and Ethiopia should strengthen the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) and use it to fight the militants in Somalia.
“The best way to deal with Al Shabaab and address the security threat in Somalia is to use Amisom as the core element in the fighting and to work from Mogadishu in helping the Transitional Federal Government extend its authority,” he said.
The 7,000-strong African Union force, composed mainly of Ugandan and Burundian troops, is locked in an intense battle with Al Shabaab in Mogadishu and seeks to extend the authority of the Transitional Federal Government throughout Somalia.
http://www.standardmedia.co.
Worsening conflict could affect Somalia aid
22 Nov – Source: Al jazeera – 2:31 min
The drought in Somalia has eased due to recent rains as well as an increase in aid, but Kenyan troops are advancing in the south and Ethiopia is considering its own military offensive against al- Shabaab fighters.
The prospect of more violence could harm humanitarian efforts warns the United Nations. Currently, the famine rating in three areas have been revised to an emergency status, but three other areas – including the refugee communities of the capital Mogadishu – remain categorised as famine zones. Al Jazeera’s Nazanine Moshiri reports from Dollow district, at the Somalia-Ethiopian border.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Ethiopia stands resolute to work with Somalia: HPR Speaker
22 Nov – Source: Ethiopian news Agency – 128 words
Ethiopia is committed to work closely with the people and government of Somalia, the House of Peoples Representatives (HPR) Speaker Aba Dulla Gemeda said.
While conferring with Somalia Transitional Parliament Speaker Hassen Sheik Aden here on Tuesday the Speaker Aba dula said Ethiopia would maintain the long standing relations with Somalia.
The Speaker urges the Somalia government to intensify efforts to avert the terrorist act by Al-Shabaab. He said Somalia should support the efforts of peacekeeping forces and peace loving neighbours to ensure durable peace in the country.
The Speaker said Ethiopia would extend support for the aspired reform in the country and rehabilitation work for the displaced Somalis. Speaker Hassen Sheik Aden on his part lauded the support of the people and government of Ethiopia to Somalia.
http://www.ena.gov.et/
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
EU faces warship shortage for Somali piracy mission
23 Nov – Source: Reuters – 261 words
The European Union is short of warships for its counter-piracy mission off Somalia and is unlikely the fill the gap until March given economic constraints, the top EU military officer said on Tuesday.
Swedish General Hakan Syren, chairman of the EU Military Committee, said the shortage would be a “problem”, without going into further details.
An EU military official later played down the challenge, saying the shortfall would coincide with a period when pirate attacks normally declined and the bloc would be able to sustain the mission.
Pirates operating from the Somali coast have raked in millions of dollars in ransoms from hijacking ships and a total of 243 hostages and 10 vessels are currently being held, according to figures from EU Navfor, the EU’s anti-piracy task force.
A report earlier this year estimated maritime piracy costs the global economy between $7 billion and $12 billion through higher shipping costs and ransom payments.
Syren said the EU operation, codenamed Atalanta, had a normal minimum force requirement of four to six warships, depending on the time of the year, and this would not be met in the period from December until March.
“The … commander has a minimum level of both maritime patrol aircraft and ships; and during quite a limited time … the number of ships is below the red line,” he told a news conference after a meeting of defence chiefs of the 27 EU states.
“It’s a problem. I am telling you the facts and it is really a problem … and we have faced this before,” he said.
http://af.reuters.com/article/
Many Somali famine victims afraid to return home
22 Nov – Source: AP – 875 words
Lush patches of green dot this once-barren land, allowing goats and camels to graze. A nearby field is full of large, purple onions thanks to a U.N.-funded project.
Four months after the U.N. declared famine in much of Somalia, some regions are beginning a slow recovery from a disaster that has killed tens of thousands of people.
But many Somalis — women, mostly — living in a stick-hut camp in this border town say they won’t return home because they’re afraid of hard-line Islamist militants stalking the country, and of being unable to feed themselves and their children.
The U.N. last week reduced the number of famine zones in Somalia from six to three and said the number of people at risk of starvation has dropped from 750,000 to 250,000.
Since the July 20 famine declaration, the U.N. has received $800 million in aid for Somalia, and the U.S. has provided $650 million to drought-stricken Horn of Africa nations, including Somalia. Still, the fate of 13 million people affected by East Africa’s worst drought in decades remains in doubt. Officials say aid deliveries must continue or recovering regions will plunge back into famine.
“We are just at the beginning of a phase of a potential recovery if everything goes well,” said Luca Alinovi, the head of the Somalia office of the U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization. “We are very far away from the end of the famine,” he stressed, saying it will likely be a year before anyone is sure the danger has passed.
Drought wiped out much of Somalia’s crops, and herds of camels and goats perished, or were forced out of low-rain regions.
Somalia: Unemployment fuels youth exodus from Somaliland
22 Nov – Source: IRIN News – 861 words
A high unemployment rate in the self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland, especially among school-leavers and university graduates, has fuelled an increase in migration, with hundreds of young people embarking every month on a perilous journey to Europe through the Sahara Desert, officials said.
“In the months of August, September and October, about 3,500 young men and women from Somaliland went through Ethiopia, to Sudan, then to Libya and on to cross the Mediterranean Sea on their way to western Europe,” Abdillahi Hassan Digale, chairman of the Ubah Social Welfare Organization, who works for the International Office for Migration (IOM), told IRIN.
According to Somaliland’s National Development programme – which was launched in October – total employment (comprising self-employment and paid employment) among the economically active population is estimated at 38.5 percent for urban areas and 59.3 percent for rural and nomadic areas. The weighted average national employment rate is estimated at 52.6 percent.
Unemployment among the youth, which stands at 75 percent, is much higher than the average. Unofficial estimates show that at least 65-70 percent of Somaliland’s 3.5 million people are younger than 30.
A study carried out in December 2010 by the Somaliland National Youth Organization (SONYO), with Oxfam-Novib, indicated that out of 800 people interviewed, only 25 percent were employed.
“On the issue of employment, participants were asked if they had any type of employment, paid or unpaid; 75 percent indicated that they had none,” according to the study.
“This was, in a way, to be expected because youth between the ages of 15-22 could still be in school or university… Only 25 percent of the youth stated that they had some employment. Some 43.1 percent of the employed group were engaged in business, 40.6 percent were employed in the private sector, whereas 14.4 percent were employed in the public sector. Of those employed, 77 percent were confident that they had job security.”
The study identified the business sector as the biggest employer of the youth, noting, however, that the sector was not well formalized or regulated.
http://www.irinnews.org/
Is wellbeing a relevant concept?
23 Nov – Source: Guardian – 33 words
People from Somalia, Bangladesh and China tell us whether the concept of wellbeing holds any relevance for them.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS
There are legal consequences of war
22 Nov – Source: the Standard – 736 words
Kenya went to war for the first time ever in October. Prompted by the Al Shabaab menace and the happenings in our territorial waters, thousands of our troops are presently fighting for the country in Somalia.
The effects of war are not being felt in most parts of the country. Soon the devastating economic results of going to war will surface but for the present it will help to appreciate the legal consequences of going to war.
Since 1945 going to war is governed by the UN Charter which limits the use of force to self defence and whether Kenya has followed the protocol of going to war is likely to become a factual & legal issue.
War — hostile conflict by means of armed forces carried on between nations or states — brings into play, for the duration of the war, a different set of laws and invokes hybrid regulations, treaties and international obligations which, fortunately, Kenyans have not had to live with or experience since Independence.
Fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals are enshrined in our Constitution but all these rights are derogated under Articles 83 and 85 of the Constitution.
These freedoms are not absolute when Kenya is at war. The President can bring into force provisions of the Preservation of Public Security Act for such time that Kenya is at war and different set of laws and regulations begin to be applied during the period Kenya is at war. For the present, no such rules have been promulgated. All the regulations must be approved by the Parliament.
During wartime the President has absolute and wide ranging powers. He can restrict the movement of Kenyans, diplomats and all aliens, curfews can be imposed, diplomatic privileges removed, censorship and control of communication ordered and processions and assemblies and meetings restricted.
Even compulsory acquisition of moveable and immovable property or undertaking is permitted. Kenyans can be made to join armed forces, and mandatory conscription of persons into any of the disciplined forces is permissible. Prices of goods and services can be controlled.
All the laws, except the Constitution and the Preservation of Public Security Act, can be suspended, amended, and applied with or without modifications at the sole discretion of the President.
In the present circumstances, any Somalia citizen residing and living in the country becomes an ‘alien enemy’ which term indicates a subject of a state with which the country is at war but in considering the enforcement of civil rights the test is not nationality but residence or place of business.