Somaliland Is Harboring a Fugitive-- Minister of Interior

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Somaliland Is Harboring a Fugitive

 

The actions of the Minister of Interior are a liability to Somaliland (SL), so is his presence. Rather than strategizing a vision to economically and politically grow and develop; rather than planning and implementing public policies that foster good governance and capacity building; rather than harmonizing the communal relationship; Somaliland is burdened by managing the crisis the Minister engenders, and managing poorly. The unfortunate illegal arrest and the detention of Jama Mohamed Qalib (JMQ) were the latest of a spate of egregious incidents. What is more egregious is that the Minister entrusted to enforce law and order is a fugitive and SL is not only knowingly harboring him but has also anointed him. How would that reflect on SL?

 

 

The death, the injury and the property damage that resulted from the attack of the vigilante were unfortunate. The detention of JMQ has disrobed the beleaguered administration of Rayaale. It has unearthed, the endemic systematic disregard of human rights, the inconsistency, and the inability of Rayaale to lead, to take charge, to assert himself and to rein the reckless Minister of Interior, known in Sweden as the fugitive.

 

 

Additionally, it has unearthed the thinness of Somaliland’s democracy. It wasn’t the rule of law and due process that triumphed in the end; it was the elders and the traditional negotiations, that Somaliland was distancing herself from, which overtook the constitutional process. And that is double jeopardy.

 

What was the charge of detaining, kidnapping rather of JMQ? Freedom of expression and the freedom of choice are fundamental human rights inscribed in the annals of United Nations, protected by the international law, practiced by the civil society throughout the world. That endows Jama and like-minded others to exercise that right: to choose to work towards the realization of Somaliweyn political entity over that of Somaliland. This is unfortunate, criminal isn’t. JMQ is credible; he is a person of immense integrity, of conviction, a warrior, and a law-abiding citizen that every group would like to count on his support. These are attributes that can’t be ascribed to the top echelon of Somaliland authorities. Be it the President, the speaker of the house, or the Minister of Interior. As a Somalilander, I lament and deplore the fact that JMQ is on the other camp.

 

Duplicity and disinformation are the hallmark of Rayaale’s administration but consistency and fairness aren’t. Publicly, few other Somalilanders share and practice Jama’s view of Somaliweyn. Among them is Abdirahman Ahmed Ali (tuur), the first President of Somaliland. The red carpet treatment Abdirahman has received the first time he returned to Somaliland after he denounced the legitimacy of Somaliland’s withdrawal is a stark contrast to Jama’s arrest and detention. That is duplicity, that is tribal profiling and that is enraging. That isn’t all; the Minister of Interior has stated in his B.B.C interview that others who committed similar crime have requested a pardon before arriving Somaliland. In this context, others meant including Abdirahman Tuur. But, according to Abdirahman Tuur, there was never such a request, nor a need to do so in a letter received by Jamhuuriya. In democracy, only courts of law can deliberate the innocence or the guilt of the accused. And only after one is convicted, one becomes eligible for Presidential pardon. I stand corrected. Unless Abdirahman Tuur was secretly convicted in absentia, there was no ground to pardon. If Abdirahman Tuur was convicted without due process, that is lynching. Otherwise, this proves that the Minister has knowingly lied as the representative and the speaker of the government in the international media; that is criminal and he should be prosecuted.

 

The Minister is out of sync. The primary functions of the Ministry of interior, as I see it, are two: a) to lay out the groundwork for sustainable peace, consult closely with the traditional leaders, avert, intervene, reconcile and monitor communal and tribal conflicts and b) coordinate, supervise the intelligence gathering agencies and act upon intelligence that either disturbs the peace or subverts the nation. In fulfilling this mission, the qualified person should be skillful in conflict resolution, diplomatic, human rights and civil liberties protector, cool headed, trustworthy but most of all he/she should have the capacity to critically evaluate the evidence, explore and exhaust options before taking action.

 

Compare and contrast that with the record and the temperament of the current Minister of interior. Hargeysa is under unannounced and illegal curfew, the right to peacefully demonstrate is suspended, and the independent media is constantly intimidated and prosecuted, citizens are detained, denied due process, and political opponents harassed and freedom of expression criminalized. These are his policies and that of the President he serves. Personally: he is a gun-ho, trigger happy, quick-tempered, drug addict and alleged drug trafficker.

 

The Minister’s presence in Somaliland is in contempt of international law. In Sweden, as has been reported elsewhere, the Minister of Interior is wanted for trafficking drugs between States. That is a felony. For the record, Somaliland has been publicly advised of this serious allegation. Rather than complying with the international investigation and cooperating with the Interpol, Somaliland has honored him with impunity. Legally, harboring an alleged criminal is an accessory; and that Somaliland is guilty of. The Somaliland government should act responsibly and handover the fugitive to the Interpol. Harboring alleged drug trafficker is a serious offense and that itself could hinder Somaliland’s aspirations. This stains Somaliland’s international record.

 

The Minister is polarizing and provocative. Showing respect and paying homage to each and every tribe of the community, is not only the right thing to do but also it is part of the engrained culture and anything else that doesn’t conform to is a taboo. Conforming to that is the duty of the Minister but the Minister patronized the tribe JMQ is hailing from by stating that the government wouldn’t back down in fear of Jama’s tribe. This was unfortunate, the tribe wasn’t the issue; the issue was JMQ v Somaliland. This remark was distasteful, responsible, insensitive and censurable. It is more disdainful that the President of the country didn’t disassociate himself with this inciting remark. In light of the policies he has enacted, his disregard of human rights, his alleged criminal record, not to mention his “faqqash” background, Ismail Adan is morally unfit and unqualified to hold any ministerial position, much less that of interior.

 

Again, the Minister lied, this time about his education and qualifications. During his confirmation hearing, he submitted knowingly, under oath, an inaccurate resume to the parliament and the President. In bold letters, he claimed that he is an engineer. An engineer he isn’t. Worse yet, he signs official documents as an engineer. That isn’t an honest error, that isn’t embellishing, that is pure fabrication. In spite of all this, the Minister is enjoying the confidence of the President, so much so that he was nominated for another term. Rewarding misconduct is a reflection of the moral decay that permeates on the UDUB Administration.

 

Kidnapping is illegal. Unfortunately, the casualty wasn’t only JMQ, it was democracy, it was good governance, and it was the truth. Somaliland should bank and articulate the merits of her case, which is indeed formidable. She should debate, encourage discourse and diversity of opinions, cajole and win her opponents in the realm of public relations. After all, Somaliland wouldn’t win this war by physically silencing her critics. That is a mafia tactic, not worthy of a government in need of international sympathy.

 

The question is, who is in control? The perception that Rayaale is nominal, and a figurehead, is becoming less questionable as the days pass by. Whether it is a perception or reality, others seem to be in control. Supporters and critics of this administration agree on one thing: that the Minister’s behavior merits summary discharge. But, who would show him the door?

 

Ali Gulaid

Hargeysa.org

[BN]

The Somaliland Minister of Interior’s Misjudgments or calculated actions

 

M. A. Mohamed

Hargeysa Online

 

 

The decisions of the Minister of Interior of Somaliland and his cohorts; the Somaliland Police chief and the Airport Immigration Officer; to remove and arrest a passenger on transit to Mogadishu has been transmitted through the media like a wild fire. Any conscious Somalilander will ask himself/herself what are the merits of an act like that and how much can it damage the prospects of Somaliland to achieve what it has been fighting for the last thirteen years to gain international recognition. It is one of the aspirations of Somaliland to project and prove itself as an example of a nation emerging from the ruins of devastated civil wars and transforming into a democratic state. The recent municipal and presidential elections are testimony to that. But every action done by the Minister of Interior has been contrary to what was expected of a young nation fighting hard to disassociate itself from the failed state of Somalia. To the dismay of concerned citizens of Somaliland, early signs of creating a police state in Somaliland are seen lately. The challenge is not how you turn your country into a totalitarian state but how you develop your country. I think the Minister does not understand that we fought Siad Barre to free ourselves from a clan based dictatorial regime. There is popular Somali proverb that says:” Magac bilaash uma baxo”, The characteristics of a person can be read from one’s nickname). Ismail Faqqash still lives in the faqqash era.

 

Faqqash Mentality

 

Yes, the remnants of Faqqash (Siad Barre’s regime) only know how to intimidate, imprison and torture physically, mentally and morally people whom they think are not with them or have different opinions of how they run their autocratic system. Let alone people who differ with them in their beliefs and express their views. This is the legacy of the clan system inherited from the late President Egal after the Somali National Movement failed its people and descended into clan politics and could not establish government institutions after they ousted the Siad Barre regime. Because of the shortsightedness of SNM and after plunging the country into several civil wars, the remnants of Faqqash regrouped themselves and took over the power taking advantage of the weakness of clan politics by manipulating the elders and eliminating visionless SNM colonels and politicians.

 

Human Rights Violations

 

This is not the first time that the Somaliland Minister of Interior has ordered to detain innocent citizens illegally, but was preceded by similar cases that were addressed by Human Rights organizations. The African Watch and the Somaliland forum have appealed to the Somaliland President to release the prisoners that have been in jails since the last presidential election without trial. These prisoners are those who expressed their opinion when there was a mishandling of counting of votes in the last elections. If they are not brought before a court and kept in prisons without trial, then they should be classified as prisoners of conscience. Since Somaliland has put itself in the spotlight, it would invite the Amnesty International and other International Human Rights Organizations to intervene in the illegal detention of prisoners of Conscience.

 

What was the purpose of abducting a passenger on transit and cause the unrest that followed afterwards and endangering the stability of the city and the state. The detention of general Jama M. Ghalib had no merit at all nationally and internationally, except locally to agitate the clan in which Jama hails from. If that was the objective of the Minister of Interior, I think he really achieved what he wanted. But what was the cost of his action? The answer is, the loss of life and property that was not really necessary. The death and injury of some citizens who slept in peace the night before the General was detained is regretful and need to be investigated.

 

Double standard

 

There are mixed feelings about the detention of the General who doesn’t share his belief with the main stream Somalilanders, but exercises his freedom of expression and advocates Somali unity. It is up to what each believes The question one has to ask, is he alone in his unified Somalia agenda or are there many others who share his belief? How big can he damage Somaliland’s quest for recognition? Is he really a threat to Somaliland’s existence?. Experience shows that those who preached Somali Unity and declared our independence null and void have failed in their endeavor. Unlike those who sought the highest office in Somaliland he had never changed his color, but was consistent in his belief. Somalilanders witnessed chameleon type behavior from individuals who switch gears in different forums to gain their political goals. It is not that far away when O. Arteh traveled from Kula Lumpur in the east of the globe to New York in the west campaigning for the unity of Somalia. After that he ran for the presidency of Somaliland twice and was defeated. The late president Egal was the co-chairman of the 1991 reconciliation conference held in Djibouti. We all know how he came into power in 1993. The first president A. Tuur after his defeat has jumped on the federal band wagon and was welcomed heroically when he returned to Somaliland days before the presidential election. He denied presidential pardon, though it was rumored that there was a deal between him and Riyaale. Non of them has ever renounced publicly their earlier campaigns for the unity of Somalia. Another recent similar case, was the TNG Minister who was in the same situation as the General, but was treated differently. He was welcomed and accommodated in one of the best hotels in Hargeisa. The TNG Minister continued his travel the next day and no body accused him of involvement in hostile activities against Somaliland as was in the case of Gen. Jama. That is what is called a double standard.

 

Creation of Clan Tensions

 

A lot of people see or interpret the series of unwise decision made by the Minister lately as nothing but creating friction, tension, animosity and rift between the clans of Somaliland. We are building a new Somaliland to be run by a government of institutions. Democracy in our country is at it’s infant stage. Every action taken by any Minister will be translated as targeting or singling out a clan until the Populace mature enough to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. Clan politics is very fragile and vulnerable to be misused by people who hate Somaliland to become an entity of it’s own. Incidents should be handled wisely. The arrest of the Sultans who took part in Arta conference like Sultan Mohamed Abdulqadir and Sultan Abshir Kahiye, angered a lot of people. Similarly, the threat to revoke the landing license of the Somali chartered aircrafts if they fly Mr. Ismail Buba to Hargeisa is another example quoted by the critics of Somaliland government. Bad and provocative language by politicians aimed at particular individuals or clans like the remark by the Minister of Interior when asked about the detention of General Jama “Qudh iyo Qabiil midna uga baqan mayno” ; We can’t be intimidated because of his clan or his position; adds the fuel to tensions and escalates the uneasiness that is created by the incident.

 

In conclusion it is justifiable to infer from the actions and remarks of the Minister that he is a burden to the stability and peace of Somaliland and It would be a grave mistake if actions of some key players in Somaliland political arena are left unaccountable. Somaliland deserves to prevail in this era of turmoil and confusion in the Horn of Africa and we hope that president Riyaale would not let one person derail the independence we fought hard for.

 

Hargeysa.org

 

M. A. Mohamed