May 6, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.
US Reopen Embassy In Somalia
06 May – Source: VOA – 721 Words
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Somalia on Tuesday with promises of reopening the U.S. embassy in the capital, Mogadishu, and broadening Washington’s assistance to Somalia’s security forces. Kerry’s unannounced visit, the first by a U.S. secretary of state, reflects Washington’s efforts to push back the Al-Shabaab terrorist group and strengthen its presence in the Horn of Africa. “We all have a stake in what happens here in Somalia. The world cannot afford to have places on the map that are essentially ungoverned,” he said during his brief stopover. Somalia has spent a decade fighting the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab. The clan-based group has been behind numerous piracy attacks and gun-and-bomb assaults, both in Somalia and in neighboring Kenya. Somalia’s internal political divisions had crippled its fight against al-Shabab. Kerry said the Mogadishu government, with the help of the U.S., the United Nations and the African Union force, had made progress on unifying the nation and pushing al-Shabab out of major population centers.
“Somalia’s return to effective government is a historic opportunity for everybody to push back against extremism and to empower people in a whole country to be able to live the promise of their nation,” the secretary said. Kerry met with Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as well as Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. The meetings were held inside an airport complex protected by walls of sandbags. The United States pulled its diplomatic presence and forces out of Somalia in 1993, after militiamen shot down a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter, killing 18 soldiers whose bodies were then dragged through the streets. The Al-Shabaab extremists emerged out of the civil war chaos of that time. But there is concern that the Somali government is floundering, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a public policy research group in Washington. She said Kerry’s visit underscored Washington’s desire to not only push back the militants who have been on the offensive, but also to consolidate regional counterterrorism efforts and spur Somalia’s political leadership toward better governance.
Key Headlines
- Clans Reach Peace Agreement At Beledweyne Reconciliation Conference (Goobjoog News)
- MPs From Federal Somali Parliament Arrive In Adaado (Wacaal Media)
- Wounded Victims Of Mogadishu Attacks Airlifted To Qatar (Goobjoog News)
- Hundreds Of Somali Refugees From Yemen Receive Warm Reception In Puntland (RBC Radio)
- Freedom Of Expression Under Attack In Somalia Says Rights Group (Radio Dalsan)
- Illegal Fishing in Somalia Threatens Resurgence Of Piracy (Somali Current)
- US Reopens Embassy In Somalia (VOA)
- Blaming The Victims Of Rape In Somalia (AFP/Yahoo News)
- Three To Be Charged With Joining Shabaab (The Star Kenya)
- Kerry in Djibouti To Discuss Security Aid To Yemen And Somalia
- From Somalia To Sweden: The Refugee Forced To Live Apart From His Wife And Child (The Guardian)
- When Somalia Was Cool (Observer)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Clans Reach Peace Agreement At Beledweyne Reconciliation Conference
06 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 98 Words.
Reports from Hiraan indicate that the reconciliation conference held for brotherly clans in the region has led to a peace agreement.The chairperson of the technical committee at the Beledweyne reconciliation conference has confirmed that progress was made at the meeting and that some of the clans have reached an agreement. He welcomed the agreement and applauded representatives of the clans for their commitment to resolve their differences. The chairman said the conference was intended to foster a peaceful environment which will in turn lead to development and prosperity in the region.This comes after intense fighting between clans living in Hiraan region erupted in recent months.
MPs From Federal Somali Parliament Arrive In Adaado
06 May – Source: Wacaal Media – 134 Words
Several members of the Federal Parliament of Somalia arrived in Adaado town yesterday where a conference on the formation a regional state for Mudug and Galgadud regions is underway. The delegation, which left Mogadishu, was headed by Hon. Asho Haji Elmi and comprised of Hon. Bisharo Abdi and Hon. Fatuma Ali Hassan. On arrival at Adaado airport, the delegation was received by officials from the Himan and Heeb administration among other dignitaries.They were later taken to the Himan and Heeb administration’s headquarters where a welcome party was held for them. Hon. Asho Haji Elmi thanked the regional administration for its warm reception, and expressed optimism over the success of the conference. Adaado is currently hosting hundreds of delegates attending the conference which seeks to form a central state for Mudug and Galgadud regions
Wounded Victims Of Mogadishu Attacks Airlifted to Qatar
06 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 122 Words
The Somali Federal Government has airlifted 25 wounded Somali citizens who survived attacks occurred in Mogadishu to Qatar for further treatment. Somalia’s Health Minister Osman Mohamed Abdi has thanked the current Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and prime minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khaliifa Al Thani for aiding the victims of the attack including seriously wounded victims.“We convey our gratitude to our brothers from Qadar for their act of kindness today,” he said.“We hold a sincere appreciation for the offer to treat the injured of the heinous attacks.” Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia earlier airlifted others who sustained critical injuries for further medical attention.
Hundreds Of Somali Refugees From Yemen Receive Warm Reception In Puntland
05 May – Source: RBC Radio – 158 Words
Hundreds of Somali refugees from Yemen, a nation sliding into lawlessness and anarchy, reached Bosasso, Puntland’s main port town, RBC Reports. A boat carrying 832 people arrived in Bosasso port, seeking refuge in Somalia’s relatively stable autonomous, Puntland. Puntland officials reportedly welcomed these refugees, providing food, shelter, and aid in partnership with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Medical teams have also evacuated individuals who are in poor health. The majority of Somali refugees have sought refuge in the Puntland region, but some have continued onto to other parts of the country. Yemen slipped into chaos after the legitimate government was ousted by Iran-backed Houthi militias.
Freedom Of Expression Under Attack In Somalia, Says Rights Group
05 May – Radio Dalsan – 515 Words
State authorities in Somalia must ensure swift, thorough and lawful investigations into a spate of recent attacks on journalists, and rescind a recent government order that undermines freedom of expression, said the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project in a statement released today. Daud Ali Omar, a journalist for Radio Baidoa, and his wife were shot dead inside their home in Berdale village, Baidoa by unidentified men on 29 April 2015. Another person, reported to be Daud’s neighbor, was also killed. The armed group Al-Shabaab are widely suspected to be responsible for the killings, although they have not claimed responsibility. The perpetrators remain at large.
In December 2014, two journalists were killed and three others wounded after an attack on a restaurant in Baidoa by Al-Shabaab. In the last few weeks, a photographer in Mogadishu was shot on his way home. Farhan Suleiman Dahir, a photographer for the websites of Radio Mogadishu and the state-run Somali National Television, reportedly covered clashes between government troops and Al-Shabaab militants and may have been targeted by the group for working for state-run media. According to the latest World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders, Somalia remains one of the deadliest countries for media workers in Africa. Whilst Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for a series of recent appalling human rights violations against journalists and media workers, the Somali government itself appears to be entrenching its own unacceptable restrictions to the right to freedom of expression. In April 2015, twenty-five journalists were reportedly detained and two radio stations closed down, following their coverage of Al-Shabaab’s attack in Garissa, Kenya. According to research carried out by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the media network had only re-commenced broadcasting in mid-March, after authorities raided its offices in August 2014 and arrested three journalists.
It was widely reported yesterday, the day after World Press Freedom Day, that the Somali government has now banned Al-Shabaab’s name from all media and ordered media workers to refer to them as “the group that massacres the Somali people.” An Al-Shabaab spokesman reportedly told Al-Jazeera, “[a]nyone who calls us names, we will respond appropriately.” The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project is deeply concerned about this wholly impractical move by the Somali government, which will make sensible and lawful news reporting and public debate about matters of genuine national concern, virtually impossible. “Journalists in Somalia continue to face acute risks from both state and non-state actors, including Al-Shabaab”, said Hassan Shire, EHAHRDP’s Executive Director. “In this context, the Somali government must initiate thorough investigations, in accordance with regional and international legal standards. We also call on the Somali government to repeal its recent directive that could endanger the lives of journalists, and further restrict the right to freedom of expression”. EHAHRDP welcomed today’s historic visit to Somalia by US Secretary of State John Kerry, and called upon Secretary Kerry to ensure that respect for freedom of expression is placed high on the agenda for discussions with the Somali government.
Illegal Fishing in Somalia Threatens Resurgence Of Piracy
05 May – Source: Somali Current – 132 Words
United Nations and Somalia fishing officials have warned of a potential resurgence of Somali piracy should the illegal fishing from foreign nationals continue. Somali piracy initially started as an activity to defend Somalia waters from illegal foreign fishermen, whom they said had encroached on Somali territory. Ahmed Mohamed Iman, the General Director of the Ministry for Fisheries said piracy in Somalia is at its weakest point, but the recent increase of illegal fishing is threatening to reverse the trend. “We have enjoyed relative peace in Somalia waters in the recent years, but the ever increasing illegal fishing may give room for pirates,” the director said. Piracy in Somalia has been dwindling in the last three years, after international naval forces increased their presence on the Somali coast to diffuse piracy on the Indian Ocean and in the Gulf of Aden.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Blaming The Victims Of Rape In Somalia
06 May -Source: AFP/Yahoo News – 867 Words
After 14-year-old Fatima was raped by a tuk-tuk driver, she was arrested, detained for a month and raped repeatedly by a police officer, according to the child and her aunt.Sexual violence is widespread in Somalia and rarely prosecuted. If anyone is punished at all it is often the victim, not the perpetrator.”We are fighting to change that attitude of blaming the victims,” said Fartuun Adan, who runs the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre in the Somali capital Mogadishu, where survivors of sexual violence can find refuge, medical care and support.”There must be consequences for men who rape,” she said, but instead those who report rape are frequently arrested themselves.
When it comes to rape cases in the socially conservative Horn of Africa nation, blaming the victim is the norm — and there have been no consequences for Fatima’s uniformed attackers.A slight girl no more than five feet (150 centimetres) tall, she lives in one of the squalid camps for the uprooted that dot the city. The UN children’s agency UNICEF says young women and girls in the camps are “systematically preyed upon”, frequently by armed personnel.Last year the advocacy group Human Rights Watch accused some members of the 22,000 African Union force in Somalia of rape and sexual exploitation
Three To Be Charged With Joining Shabaab
06 May – Source: The Star Kenya – 167 Words
Three women arrested on their way to Somalia will today be charged with being members of al Shabaab. Khadija Abdulkadir, Maryam Aboud and Ummulkhayr Abdulla are being held on terror charges after being denied bail. They were arrested on March 27 at Elwak, Mandera county, on the Kenya-Somalia border. “Investigations are complete and we are ready to prefer charges against the suspects,” a senior police police officer, who sought anonymity, told the Star yesterday. On March 30, police requested the court to detain the suspects for 20 days to allow for thorough investigations. State prosecutor Eugene Wangila told senior resident magistrate Irene Ruguru the three are suspected members of a terrorist group. He said the three were attempting to cross into Somalia with intentions of joining al Shabaab. The suspects’ lawyer, Hamisi Mwadzogo, said the police can investigate his clients while out on bond. He told the court his clients are not accused persons and are entitled to their freedom.
Kerry In Djibouti To Discuss Security, Aid To Yemen And Somalia
06 May – Source: AFP – 432 Words
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti Wednesday, home to the main US military base on the continent and just across the sea from war-torn Yemen.Djibouti, a strategic former French colony and port that guards the entrance to the Red Sea and Suez Canal, is also a key contributing nation to the African Union force fighting Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab insurgents in neighbouring Somalia.”Djibouti is making a very significant contribution, helping to push back against extremism,” Kerry said during a visit to a mosque with Djiboutian officials.
Kerry is making the first visit by a Secretary of State to Djibouti, and officials said he will thank the government for its help in supporting some 500 US citizens fleeing the civil war in nearby Yemen.”He will be thanking the Djiboutian government for their efforts in Yemen in terms of the assistance to American citizens,” a US diplomat said. Djibouti is home to Camp Lemonnier, the US military headquarters on the continent that is used for anti-terror operations in Yemen, Somalia as well as for other operations across Africa.
OPINION/ANALYSIS/CULTURE
“Dadaab, in the local dialect, means “the rocky hard place”. It is a makeshift urban slum in the middle of Kenya’s baking hot northern desert, 70 miles from the border with Somalia. Unable to return to their war-ravaged country since its government collapsed in 1991 and forbidden from settling in Kenya proper, here nearly 400,000 Somalis have made for themselves the best home they can”
From Somalia To Sweden: The Refugee Forced To Live Apart From His Wife And Child
06 May – Source: The Guardian – 5, 463 Words
The way Amin Amey tells it, the romance began with a headache. He had gone to buy painkillers in the market of Ifo, one of the five camps that make up the complex of Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee settlement. The pharmacy was next door to a tailor, on a side street strung with sacking to soften the desert sun. Waiting on a bench outside was a beautiful girl who had a headache too. The tailor began to tease her. “Do you know this guy?” he asked. “No,” she said. “He is Amin Amey of Star FM,” said the tailor. The long-limbed boy had an afro and a winning smile. He was also a primary school teacher and news reporter – the first refugee journalist to be given a job on a Kenyan radio station, and in the camp he was something of a celebrity. “So he’s the one who has been disturbing our ears!” she replied. In the low light Amin caught a glimpse of dark eyes beneath strong eyebrows in a pretty, open face. What he remembers most though, is her soft voice, always laughing. “Since we are both Ifoans, how come we are not friends already?” she asked. In May 2010 Ifo housed 100,000 people in infrastructure built for 30,000, yet it remains a close-knit place. Amin made inquiries, and discovered her name was Farhiyo. She was 18 years old. She had been born in the camp and, like most, had never left.
Dadaab, in the local dialect, means “the rocky hard place”. It is a makeshift urban slum in the middle of Kenya’s baking hot northern desert, 70 miles from the border with Somalia. Unable to return to their war-ravaged country since its government collapsed in 1991 and forbidden from settling in Kenya proper, here nearly 400,000 Somalis have made for themselves the best home they can. Trapped by the desert on all sides, their dreams of escape centre on the Horseed hotel: a restaurant made of corrugated iron sheets and wooden spars, the exterior of which is painted with exotic fruits unavailable inside. Every fortnight, lists of names are pasted on the walls, obscuring a mural of watermelons, chips and ice cream. These are the fortunate few selected by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to fill quotas for resettlement abroad, in North America, Australia or Europe.
“Somalia was also the last time “never again” was even remotely convincing. Even during the 2011 Iraq pullout, there was a general consensus that some sort of stay-behind force would be preferable to closing up shop entirely. In the wake of the ISIS revival and the return of US forces to Iraq for Gulf War III, it is probably safe to say that some element of American power will be staying. The Obama Administration has insisted it is pivoting to Asia, where the real problems are, but the desert wars keep pulling us back in.”
When Somalia Was Cool
05 May – Source: Observer – 842 Words
Just for a moment, John Kerry’s visit to Somalia on Tuesday – the first ever by a US Secretary of State – brought me back to 1993, when Somalia was it. Kurt Cobain and Vincent Foster were also it, which goes to show how long ago it was, and Mogadishu was certainly never as cool as Nirvana. But it was important once, really important, a place where eighteen Americans died in one battle trying to take down Somali clan chief Mohammed Farrah Aidid, who was the biggest of America’s problems. A long time ago. Black Hawk Down, which chronicled the climactic battle against Aidid’s forces in Mogadishu, marked the real end of American participation in the Somalia disaster. It started with a humanitarian catastrophe, grew into a weak humanitarian response, became a strong-yet-still-ineffective humanitarian response, added a hunter-killer capacity, and eventually ended in that famous shoot-out in the streets of Mogadishu.
We didn’t know it then, but Somalia was kind of an American prototype, a test run for the interventions of later decades. In retrospect it doesn’t look so different from Yemen, or Libya, or any of the three Iraqs, except maybe Empire; the only difference is that we didn’t know what we were doing. We had no counterinsurgency manuals; no knowledge of Sunni and Shia; no airbases in Kyrgyzstan. None of these has really helped us much, but we didn’t have them even so. For the generation that fought in and around the 9/11 wars, there’s nothing particularly interesting or unique about Somalia except that it was first. It was Afghanistan in 1993. It has been eclipsed by Iraq and the real Afghanistan, not to mention Libya and Pakistan, which were all bigger and meaner. In those the US was also more ambitious, more gung-ho about the sort of aid distribution/teach-a-man-to-
TOP TWEETS
@SomaliaJunkie: Really another blow to vision 2016 as Constitutional Review N implementation Committee Chairperson Asho Gelle resigns in Galkayo- #Somalia
@USNavyAfrica: ICYMI: A video message from Secretary of State John Kerry to the people of #Somalia http://ow.ly/MzLkr
@DroneReads: Key takeaways from US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to #Somalia –@SomaliaNewsroomhttp
@Miss_E_White: Kerry ignores #Kenya‘s closure of remittance services to #Somalia. Unsurprising given #US policy…#SomaliLifeline http://bit.ly/1zA7X3Q
@Hamza_Africa: Despite #AlShabaab withdrawing from#Mogadishu in 2011, CNN says it’s a terrorist stronghold
@MOALIMUU: Famous hotel Maka Almukarama is being re-opened shortly.Senior gov officials & former PM Ali Geedi attend the re-opening ceremony. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
“There is shared enthusiasm and hope that the situation in Somalia can only get better.” Maman Sidikou, SRCC AMISOM Photo: AMISOM