December 15, 2014 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Government forces and AMISOM apprehend dozens of suspects in Hamar Weyne district

14 Dec – Source: Radio Goobjoog/Radio Mustaqbal/Radio Mogadishu – 124 Words

Federal government forces together with African Union peace-keeping troops have launched dawn security operations in Hamar Weyne district, Benadir region. During the security crackdown, the forces conducted door-door search in all the villages of the district. Hamar Weyne district commissioner Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir confirmed to Goobjoog FM that at least 200 people were arrested during the crackdown. He stated that most of the arrested people were freed after investigation except six men who are suspected of being Al-shabab members. The commissioner reiterated that the security of the district is quite stable and the security forces vigilant to put to stop the security threats. He called the public to collaborate with the security forces and give valuable tip-offs that will lead to promotion of security.

Key Headlines

New national agency for refugees and IDPs launched in Somalia (Radio Goobjoog/Radio Mustaqbal)
A delegation from the international community visits Kismayo (Radio Dalsan/Radio Muqdisho)
Government forces and AMISOM apprehend dozens of suspects in Hamar Weyne district (Radio Mustaqbal/Radio Muqdisho)
Puntland administration and Ethiopia due to intensify the fight against Al-shabab (Radio Goobjoog)
Director of Somali Ministry of women and human rights freed from jail ( Radio Bar-kulan)
Parliament summons AG Today (Radio Dalsan/Radio Muqdisho)
Tribalism extremism hinders security in Somalia (Daily Sabah)
Mogadishu residents launch vigilantes against militants (Star Africa)
UN expert urges Government to ramp up efforts in securing human rights legislation (UN NEWS)
Somali Shabab journalist ‘killer’ to face trial: govt (AFP/Yahoo news)
15 killed as govt forces militants clash in Somalia (World Bulletin)
Kenya: security bill tramples basic rights (HRW)

SOMALI MEDIA

New national agency for refugees and IDPs launched in Somalia

14 Dec – Source: Radio Goobjoog/Radio Mustaqbal – 441 Words

The Federal Government of Somalia through its Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs is pleased to announce the launching of a new national agency for refugees and IDPs (ARI). The agency is formed as a national institution that will anchor the future development of legal frameworks, response planning, implementation and advocacy of matters of internal displacement and returning refugee affairs. Somalia continues to face immense and complex challenges related to the large-scale protracted displacement within and around the country. Today, more than 2.1 million Somali citizens are displaced within the country and in the near region – caught in what was once their rescue but what has turned into unsustainable, unprotected, and fearful lives with little or no hope of change.

The launch of the agency under the Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs is a significant step on the path of state-building in Somalia. It is further a part of a process whereby the responsibility of commitment to find solutions to displacement need to be addressed as strengthened and national obligation. “Today, 2.1 million of our citizens live in displacement in our own country or as refugees in asylum in neighboring countries. The challenge we face to assist them to find real and lasting solutions, to be able to return to normalcy and to establish sustainable livelihoods, is immense. We are, however, committed and ready to take the responsibility and ownership of the further process of assisting the most vulnerable among our people,” says the Minister of Interior and Federal Affairs, Mr. Abdullahi Godah Barre, and emphasizes on the need for continued support and partnerships ‘It is our vision and ambition that the new Agency for Refugees and IDPs launched today will become a central platform for new and concerted efforts to address protection needs and in the search for solutions to displacement. We will continue to work with our national and international partners and stakeholders, to identify and support real and lasting solutions for our people,” he added.

The Agency for Refugees and IDPs is launched at a time where new and positive development are seen with people returning from displacement within the country as well as with recent voluntary returns from Kenya. The recently launched Pilot Project supports voluntary refugee returns from Kenya through comprehensive assistance to ensure sustainable return and reintegration in Somalia.

A delegation from the international community visits Kismayo

14 Dec – Source: Radio Dalsan/Radio Muqdisho – 83 Words

Security in Kismayo was beefed up today following a visit by ambassadors from the international community among other dignitaries. The delegates included the EU Ambassador to Somalia and the British Ambassador to Somalia. Sources say, a curfew was imposed on the town today and that additional troops were deployed there. The delegates were received at the state house of Jubaland Interim Administration in Kismayo. The objective of the visit is to ensure the speeding up of the setting up of Jubaland State Parliament.

Government forces and AMISOM apprehend dozens of suspects in Hamar Weyne district

14 Dec – Source: Radio Goobjoog/Radio Mustaqbal/Radio Mogadishu – 124 Words

Puntland administration and Ethiopia due to intensify the fight against Al-shabab

14 Dec – Source: Radio Goobjoog- 93 Words

The semi autonomous regional state of Puntland and the republic of Ethiopia are expected to meet in Addis Ababa. Puntland president Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas addressed the media before departing to Addis Ababa earlier today. He said his meeting with Ethiopian leaders will focus on strengthening their relations, security and intensifying the fight against Al-shabab. His trip to Ethiopia will last three days.

Director of Somali Ministry of Women and Human Right freed from jail

14 Dec – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 75 Words

Somali Ministry of Women and Human Rights has said its director who was arrested was freed from prison. Mohamed Omar was arrested and taken into custody by Somali national intelligence agency in the capital Mogadishu. He was arrested following an order from the judiciary department office. The ministry’s public relations and communication officer Abdifatah Mohamud has confirmed the release of the director to Bar-Kulan without giving further details.

Parliament summons AG today

14 Dec – Source: Radio Dalsan/Radio Muqdisho – 146 Words

The Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir and the Auditor General Dr. Nuur Jimaale are due to be summoned to the parliament today. On Saturday, in a parliamentary session, 12 members of parliament submitted a motion against the Attorney General (AG).The MPs who tabled the motion are against the AG’s recent statement wanting the PM and other members of his government not to leave Somalia without accountability. This followed when the MPs of the federal parliament voted for no confidence in the government of PM Abdiwali. The AG told the media that in the past when former prime ministers were forced out of government, there was lack of accountability hence valuable government assets such as bullet proof vehicles remained in the possession of former ministers. He added that there is suspicion that such a trend may be repeated as the premier and some of his cabinet ministers may leave the country following the vote of no confidence.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Tribalism, extremism hinders security in Somalia

13 Dec – Source: Daily Sabah- 711 Words

Once one of the strongest and wealthiest countries in East Africa before the wars with Ethiopia and the civil war, Somalia has now been totally destroyed. For decades there was no central government capable of controlling the country. Tribalism, which is prevalent across the country, has created intractable problems following a civil war that broke out among tribes fighting for power. In the last decade, as part of a global movement, Bayt al-Shabaab, allegedly linked to al-Qaida, appeared to control the southern part, and attempted to implement a strict religious jurisprudence system. Al-Shabaab was partially successful in controlling territories, including, for a brief period, Mogadishu.

Since 2011, the country, which also needs humanitarian aid to cope with famine and drought and military aid to provide security, has been receiving a large amount of aid from Turkey. After successfully launching humanitarian aid by delivering food, digging wells, building hospitals and schools, and renovating the infrastructure, Turkey’s Somalia policy moved beyond humanitarian aid with the launch of a training program for Somali troops. At the same time, Turkish businessmen began operating the port and airport.

Mogadishu residents launch vigilantes against militants

14 Dec – Source: Star Africa – 261 Words

Residents of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday launched a so-called neighbourhood vigilante programme to enlist the help of citizens to stave off attacks by Shabaab militants and activities by criminal gangs.Hassan Mohamed Hussein the Mayor of Mogadishu presided over the launch, calling on residents to play their part in the war against the insurgents who have stepped up attacks in the city recently.He said popular participation in the effort to improve security across Somalia will go a long way to effectively complementing what he called the large-scale defense reconstruction projects undertaken by Somali forces.

The initiative known as the Fostering Neighbourhood and Social Integration Programme, is underway in the Hamar Weyne, Hamar Jajab, Waberi, Dherkenley, Bondhere, Wadajir, Huriwa and Howlwadag districts of Mogadishu.“We are planning to expand the project to all districts so that security is strengthened,” Mayor Hussein told journalists.Under the programme, each district is divided into blocks of 50 houses and assigned a block leader who is responsible for reporting to the police any activity in his neighbourhood that looks suspicious.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

UN expert urges government to ramp up efforts in securing human rights legislation

13 Dec – Source: UN NEWS – 504 Words

Somalia’s Government and the international community must work to strengthen the country’s rule of law institutions and safeguard its full transition to peace, stability and democracy, a United Nations human rights expert urged today. “The Federal Government together with the international community need to allocate adequate resources to strengthen the rule of law institutions and ensure that the interim regional administrations benefit from the New Deal Compact for Somalia,” Bahame Tom Nyanduga, a UN independent expert on the situation of human rights in the East African nation, said in a press release as he ended his first official visit to the war-ravaged nation.

“The Government should also ratify key international human rights instruments including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and the Convention to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women [CEDAW],” the expert added.Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.

Somali Saebab journalist ‘killer’ to face trial: govt

13 Dec – Source: AFP/Yahoo news – 218 Words

A Somali journalist accused of murdering colleagues and working for the Al-Qaeda linked Shabab and arrested in Kenya has been extradited to Mogadishu to stand trial, Somalia’s information minister saidSaturday. A series of journalists have been killed in recent years in Somalia, one of the most dangerous countries in the world to work as a reporter. “Somali security forces helped the capture of Hassan Hanafi Haji who was hiding in Nairobi,” Somalia’s Minister of Information Mustafa Duhulow said in a statement. Hanafi, arrested in August, was extradited to Somalia on December 9 to “face justice”, the minister added, calling him “a well known senior Al-Shebab member who was responsible for the killing of Somali journalists.

15 killed as govt forces, militants clash in Somalia

13 Dec – Source: World Bulletin – 284 Words

At least 15 people were killed in clashes Saturday between government forces and members of the Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a (ASW) militia in the city of Dhusamareb in Somalia’s central province of Galguduud, a government official has said.”We have lost 5 soldiers on our side, [while] 10 Ahlu Sunna fighters were killed,” Galguduud governor Hussein Ali told The Anadolu Agency by phone. He said the fighting erupted late Fridaywhen Ahlu Sunna militants captured the neighboring town of Gureel from government forces.”Dhusamareb is now under the control of the Somali National Army. We will soon capture the rest of the towns,” he said. Ethiopian troops based in Dhusamareb did not participate in the fighting, according to the Somali government.

Kenya: security bill tramples basic rights

14 Dec – Source: HRW – 1448 Words

Kenyan lawmakers should reject far-reaching new security amendments that would add new criminal offenses with harsh penalties, limit the rights of arrested and accused people, and restrict freedoms of expression and assembly, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. On December 11, 2014, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Administration sent to the parliament the Security Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2014. The bill contains a wide array of amendments to 21 laws and could be adopted by parliament in the coming days. “The hastily offered security bill infringes on many basic rights and freedoms protected in Kenya’s constitution and international human rights law,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Authorities need to focus on how Kenyan security agencies have long violated human rights with impunity, and not empower these forces further.” The proposals follow two attacks on civilians in Mandera county, which borders Somalia, for which the militant Islamist Somali-based group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. On November 21, attackers stopped a Nairobi-bound bus and killed 28 passengers who could not recite an Islamic creed. On December 1, Al-Shabaab fighters raided a quarry in Mandera and killed 36 people, again apparently discriminating among people there on the basis of religion.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“Maj Gen Ali doesn’t face that problem. Amid the Shabaab’s vicious propaganda war in which it casts itself as champion and protector of Muslims against a phantom Christian enemy, appointing a Muslim on merit to such high office would be a masterstroke.”

Shortlist for IG should have only one name: Maj-Gen Hussein Ali

14 Dec – Source: Daily Nation – 722 Words
The panel that will decide who should be Kenya’s next police chief will not have to work very hard because there is one obvious, outstanding candidate. His name is Mohammed Hussein Ali. Who better? He has a track record no recent police commissioner can match. Before Maj Gen Ali came to Vigilance House, Nairobians could not use their phones in the streets. Every time you detected your mobile was ringing, you had to dart into a shop, answer the call inside, pretend you were window shopping, and walk back to the menacing streets.

Maj Gen Ali changed all that. He poured uniformed policemen and women into the streets, making life impossible for Nairobi’s many thieves. Soon enough, the streets were much safer (aided by town clerk John Gakuo’s accompanying clean ups and street lighting programmes) and the city in 2004/5 became unrecognisable from the crime ridden place it had been a few short years earlier. In fact, a new problem arose because news reports began to emerge that crime was on the rise in rural areas because all the crooks had fled the city.