August 17, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia Hires Lawyers For Its Citizens Accused Of Piracy In India
17 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 250 Words
Somali government has said it has hired lawyers for its citizens under arrest in India suspected of involvement in piracy amid reports some have died in custody over poor conditions. Speaking to Goobjoog News, Foreign Affairs Minister, Abdisalam Omar Hadliye said the government had hired the lawyers who will defend the rights of its citizens currently in Indian jails.
“Somali embassy in India has hired lawyers for the alleged Somali pirates detained in India. The government of Somalia is also aware of the death of one of the Somalis in jails of India,” said Hadliye. In April this year, some of the parents whose sons are jailed in India told Goobjoog News that their sons were in critical health conditions and some of them had been diagnosed with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
More than 1,000 Somali pirates are in prisons around the world. Some of them have been already convicted while others are still waiting to be prosecuted. Somali pirates were actively involved in seizing ships especially in 2011 and secured hundreds millions of dollars for ransom, until the European Union sent an anti-piracy force that ended the boundless piracy attacks in high seas.
Piracy at sea has declined massively since 2011, falling by 40 percent for the first time in six years, according to Maritime reports. The drop in piracy incidents is a relief to shipping companies using the Indian Ocean that have been the target of pirates.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Hires Lawyers For Its Citizens Accused Of Piracy In India (Goobjoog News)
- Khatumo State In Talks With Somaliland (Shabelle News)
- Puntland Plans To Impose Ban On Cutting Trees (Goobjoog News)
- Al-Shabaab Recruiters In Kenya Target New Regions (Daily Nation)
- Challenges Facing Somali Athletes In Rio (Al Jazeera)
- Second Book Festival To Open In Mogadishu Founder Says 2015 Fair Inspired New Writers (Goobjoog News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Khatumo State In Talks With Somaliland
17 August – Source: Shabelle News – 145 Words
The Deputy minister of interior of the self-declared Khatumo in northern Somalia Abshir Abdulaziz Sheikh has pointed out that they have opened direct talks with Somaliland. The minister said Khatumo state had withdrawn confidence from the federal government of Somalia after Mogadishu has denied rights of people in Sool, Sanag and Ayn provinces.
“Somali Federal Government has neglected our rights of the power-sharing deal of the upcoming government which is expected to be elected later 2016,” the minister said. Continuing, the deputy minister has underscored that Khatumo state has decided to reach an agreement with Somaliland to create peace and co-existence atmosphere in the region.
Last week, Khatumo State sent a team of traditional elders to Sarar town in the Ayn region to negotiate with Somaliland administration, expressing disappointment with the federal government. The Somali Federal Government however does not recognize Khatumo as a federal state.
Puntland Plans To Impose Ban On Cutting Trees
17 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 216 Words
The government of Puntland is carrying out initiatives to impose a ban on tree felling to try and slow the rate at which the country’s trees are being steadily decimated for firewood and charcoal. Puntland Deputy minister for Agriculture, Farah Ali has sent stern warning to those who are cutting down trees saying his ministry would no longer tolerate cutting of trees and would take legal action against them.
Ali said Puntland forces confiscated several vehicles loaded with bags of charcoals and the owners were brought to justice. He underlined that the Puntland is making the fight against deforestation and burning of charcoal a priority. “The increased deforestation and overexploitation of trees has put them at risk of extinction” Ali said.
Somalia’s once-vast acacia forests now cover only nine percent of the nation and the ambitious reforestation campaigns of the previous administrations of Siad Barre and Gen. Mohammad Farah Aided are history. The harvest is denuding the savannah and making portions of southern and central Somalia unsuitable for human habitation by accelerating soil erosion, reducing the arability of the land, depriving cattle and goats of shade in the savannah’s intense heat, reducing foliage for grazing camels, and killing tree root systems once capable of retaining moisture in the soil.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Recruiters In Kenya Target New Regions
17 August – Source: Daily Nation – 454 Words
Al-Shabaab recruiters in Kenya have shifted their activities from Nairobi and Mombasa to Rift Valley and the western region while also operating within the prisons system, a new report says. In addition, the terrorist group’s agents are placing “growing emphasis on recruiting girls and young women”, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) says in the report.
Along with these efforts, sympathisers are organising themselves via social media, it says. Titled Al-Shabaab as a Transnational Security Threat, the study traces the group’s spread beyond Somalia in the six years since it bombed World Cup viewing parties in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people.
Besides Somalia, Al-Shabaab has carried out attacks in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Djibouti. The study is dated March 2016 and does not cover developments this year such as the attack on a Kenya Defence Forces camp at El Adde in Somalia. Al-Hijra, Al-Shabaab’s Kenyan affiliate, has “experienced growing pressure from the security services and suffered a steady attrition of its leadership,” the report says. This has prompted al-Hijra to set up safe houses in Eldoret, Naivasha, Nakuru and other centres.
Challenges Facing Somali Athletes In Rio
17 August – Source: Al Jazeera – Video: 2:22 Minutes
Somalia has competed in the Olympics for more than four decades, but for the last three Games, it has sent just a couple of athletes and never won a medal. It’s Olympic history is a tragic one. Sprinter Samia Yusuf Omar, who ran at the Beijing Games, drowned four years later as a refugee, when the boat she was in, capsized off Libya. And at this year’s games, Somalia’s two athletes are competing despite the most difficult of circumstances back home. Al Jazeera met with Mohamed Daud Mohamed, a Somali runner, who recounted challenges he faced home and in Rio.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“We are interested in establishing a writer’s award for young people. We are in the process of doing so. We would like as Mogadishu Book Fair/New Horizon to do a prestigious competition among young writers, publish a couple of books for the top three. That’s in the works.”
Second Book Festival To Open In Mogadishu, Founder Says 2015 Fair Inspired New Writers
16 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 1,105 Words
For the second year running, the Mogadishu Book Fair, renamed and rebranded is back (August 17-19). The inaugural 2015 Book Fair has inspired young writers while reading clubs are gradually emerging in Mogadishu. Former BBC Africa correspondent, Andrew Harding will be launching his book, The Mayor of Mogadishu. Goobjoog News Editor had a review with Mohamed Dini, the director of New Horizon which founded the Book Fair.
We are gearing up for the second Mogadishu Book Fair, what’s in for book lovers this year?
One major change, last year we were Mogadishu International Book Fair but this year we’ve dropped international to remain with MBF and we will be so forever. We are bringing in authors, scholars and professors from all over the world, Somalia and the larger East Africa. We have one none Somalia guest this year; his name is Andrew Harding. He is the ex BBC Africa correspondent and he took a break from his job last year to write a book called The Mayor of Mogadishu and that’s going to be launched at this year’s book fair.
Is there an increase in the number of books on display this year?
Last year we had about 2000 to 2500. We hope to have around 3000 this year. It may not be more by much. We are taking baby steps, we really want take our time and grow to become bigger and bigger.
What informed the renaming of the Book Fair?
We wanted it to match our website and twitter account name. And also the word international is used for so many things in Somalia. We wanted to simplify. It does not add so much value. A big part of it is giving it a Somali, Mogadishu local identity. We do want to invite international authors and guests every year but they are not the first priority. The first priority is that this is Mogadishu book fair; the Somali literature and culture is the heart of it. That is the identity and all our guests from all over the world will come knowing that this is the premier Mogadishu book festival.
GN: One of the objectives you outlined last year is to promote a reading culture in Somalia. Looking back, are we seeing some movements in that direction?
With much confidence I can say we are seeing changes since August 2015. For one there are a few reading clubs in Mogadishu. Some of them existed before, perhaps they needed some push. We see the Mogadishu readers book club doing things left and right, we see Ifiye Cultural Centre right here across the street, I am very proud of their work.
TOP TWEETS
@MogBF : #MohammedHajji “I want my book to be mainstreamed in the current curriculum of the education in#Somalia“ #MBF2016
@Abdi_AlSheikh : 9 UPDF soldiers in Somalia sentenced to prison terms for misconduct – NTV Uganda http://dlvr.it/M3H2DG #Somalia
@Fadhilgooner11: Maryam muse congratulations for representing our nation #Somalia the only true nation in Africa in#RioOlympics2016
@Suheyfa: Mogadishu Int’l Book Fair event kicks off at City Palace Hotel in #Mogadishu. #MBF2016 #Somalia.
@amisomsomalia: Together with the Somali National Security Forces, AMISOM has facilitated an environment where#Somalia‘s politics has positively evolved.
@UKinSomalia : Join the @MogBF today & be part of #Somalialiterature & culture #BookFair #MBF2016 @HarrietLMathews
@Aadandaahir1: #Somalia #Police officer survives attempted#BOMB blast in Bardere town
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somalis flocked to the 2nd annual Mogadishu Book Fair held at the City Palace Hotel in Mogadishu.
Photo: @IntegrationTV