Drysdale, John (1991). Somaliland 1991: Report and Reference. Hove, UK: Global-Stas Ltd.

 

Somaliland: Information on the relationship between the government, the Somali National Movement (SNM) and other northern militias, and on the authority to which the militias are accountable

Publisher	Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Author	Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada
Publication Date	1 June 1994
Citation / Document Symbol	SOM17560.E
Cite as	Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somaliland: Information on the relationship between the government, the Somali National Movement (SNM) and other northern militias, and on the authority to which the militias are accountable, 1 June 1994, SOM17560.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac6614.html [accessed 14 April 2022]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

 

The first government of Somaliland, announced on 4 June 1991 was composed of 16 members of the Issak clan and its subclans and six members of minority clans (Drysdale 1991, 45). According to a Somali professor of African studies at the University of Florida in Gainsville, the first head of government and chairman of the Somali National Movement (SNM) was Ahmed Ali "Tur," an Issak of the Habar Yoonis subclan. He was later replaced by President Ibrahim Egal, a member of the Habr Awal subclan of the Isse Musa, which in turn is a subclan of the Issaq (4 May 1994). Ahmed Ali Tur has since renounced the secession and now advocates the reunification of Somaliland and Somalia (Reuters 30 Apr. 1994). The Somali professor explained that Somaliland is composed of five regions: Awdal, North West, Togdheer, Sool and Sanag

(4 May 1994). The last three regions are located west of Hargeisa. Sources knowledgeable on Somalia agree that each of these regions is controlled by a different clan each with its own militia. Togdheer is under the control of the Isaaq, Sanag is a territory of the Warsangeli, the Dulbahante and the Isaaq, and Sool is controlled by the Dulbahante (ibid.; OFDA 4 Mar. 1994).

Since they are reportedly opposed to the current government of Somaliland, the Warsangeli are not represented in the Somaliland parliament (ibid.). According to Le Nouvel Afrique Asie of March 1994, there is no sign of the Somaliland Republic administration in Las Khorey, which is their stronghold. On the contrary, the Warsangeli's sultan reportedly displays Somalia's national flag in front of his house. Nonetheless, the Warsangeli were initially represented at the meeting of elders, customary chiefs, academics, politicians and soldiers that took place at Borama in February 1993 (The Horn of Africa Bulletin Mar.-Apr. 1993, 27). According Gilkes, in a report entitled "Ethnic and Political Movements in Ethiopia and Somalia," the Warsangeli were represented in the initial government of Somaliland when the Somali National Movement (SMN) assumed power in 1991:

The constitutional commission was very carefully balanced to represent all northern clans ... There are two Gadabursi, one Issa, one Warsengeli together with thirteeen Isaaq (July 1992, 52).

Relations between the Warsangeli and the Issaq appear to be tense. The head of the Warsangeli militia is quoted as saying that his clan would

deal with Somaliland ... when its presumed president Ibrahim Egal, has extended his authority at least to the airport of his capital Hargeisa. At present, when he uses this airport, he has to pay a transit tax to the Isaaq clan (a clan different from his own) which controls the runway (Le Nouvel Afrique Asie Mar. 1994, 13).

According to a Somali professor of African studies at University of Florida in Gainsville, the majority of the Dulbahante are opposed to the secession of Somaliland, and although there are Dulbahante in the government of Somaliland, they do not represent the rest of the Dulbahante subclan (4 May 1994.). According to Bricker and Leatherbee, the interests of the Dulbahante and the Warsangeli are represented by the United Somali Party (USP), and they tend to oppose the secession of Somaliland from the rest of Somalia (Leatherbee & Bricker Jan. 1994, 29). According to Gilkes the Dulbahante are a subclan of the Darod and relations between them and the Marjeteen are "traditionally poor, largely because of feuding over land and water ... [and because of] the Dulbahante role in Siad's [Barre] operations against the clan after the creation of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF)" (July 1992, 51). According to Bricker and Leathebee,

there are powerful checks on the power of the executive in Somaliland. The power of the clans, demonstrated in their reluctance to turn control of the national airport in Hargeisa and seaport in Berbera over to the national government indicates that these are independent and diffused loci of potential resistance to the state, (Jan. 1994, 31).

The government of Somaliland has a fragile economic base and is reportedly financed by remittances from Somalis abroad (Drysdale 1991, 47). Additionally, "the port of Berbera, and the customs collection point, is the only potential source of central government revenue until some other source of budget support is forthcoming" (ibid. 1991, 47). Drysdale states that there are small police forces in the cities and towns, but they do not wear or carry firearms, and reportedly receive a rations in lieu of salaries (ibid., 49).

Africa and the international community have not recognized Somaliland's sovereignty (Reuters 30 Apr. 1994), which means that Somaliland cannot rely on other countries for assistance. President Egal reportedly apppealed to Britain for international recognition, without which his country does not qualify for bilateral aid (The Herald 12 Feb. 1994). According to the Herald, Clearly there is a vicious circle in Somaliland involving lack of resources for demobilisation and recovery, lack of security, and lack of international recognition." U.S.@led troops did not operate in Somaliland and it reportedly received a meagre fraction of the U.N. funds (Reuters Feb. 1994).

Owing to the lack of international recognition, Kenya withdrew President Egal's visit to Nairobi in December 1993:

President Moi let it be known that he had been subject to pressure, both domestic and international, for him not to receive president Egal. One objection put forward had been that the Kenyan head of state could not receive officially the head of a country which is not yet recognised by the international community (The Indian Ocean Newsletter 18 Dec. 1993, 4).

 This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Dricker, Dale and Lea Leatherbee. 6 January 1994. Balancing Consensus and Dissent: The Prospects for Human Rights and Democracy in the Horn of Africa. New York: The Fund for Peace.

Drysdale, John. 1991. February 1994. Anne Johnstone. Somaliland 1991: Report and Reference. Hove, UK: Global-Stas Ltd.

The Herald [Glasgow]. "Somali Caught In a Cycle of Terror."(NEXIS).

Gilkes, Patrick. July 1992. "Ethnic and Political Movements in Ethiopia and Somalia."

The Horn of Africa Bulletin [Uppsala]. March-April 1993. Vol. 5, No. 2. "Grand Shir at Borama."

The Indian Ocean Newsletter [Paris]. 18 December 1993. "Somaliland: Nairobi Kills Egal Visit."

Le Nouvel Afrique Asie [Paris]. March 1994. No. 54. Pietro Petrucci. "Somalie: Oublier Mogadiscio?" pp. 12-13.

Office of United States Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), Washington, DC. 4 March 1994. Situation Report No. 25. "Somalia-Civil Strife."

Reuters. 30 April 1994. BC Cycle. "Somaliland Leader Renounces Seccession." (NEXIS)

Somali professor of African studies, University of Florida, Gainsville. 4 May 1994. Telephone interview.

 Attachment

Drysdale, John (1991). Somaliland 1991: Report and Reference. Hove, UK: Global-Stas Ltd.

The Herald [Glasgow]. "Somali Caught In a Cycle of Terror." (NEXIS).

The Indian Ocean Newsletter [Paris]. "Somaliland: Nairobi Kills Egal Visit."

Reuters. 30 April 1994. "Somaliland Leader Renounces Seccession." (NEXIS)

Copyright notice: This document is published with the permission of the copyright holder and producer Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The original version of this document may be found on the offical website of the IRB at http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/. Documents earlier than 2003 may be found only on Refworld.

Africa Confidential. 14 June 1991. "Somalia: One State or Two?"

 

Somalia: Information on SNM policies pertaining to non-Isaaq clans in northern Somalia

Publisher	Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Author	Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada
Publication Date	1 December 1991
Citation / Document Symbol	SOM9931
Cite as		Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Information on SNM policies pertaining to non-Isaaq clans in northern Somalia, 1 December 1991, SOM9931, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac42c.html [accessed 14 April 2022]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

 

According to information received from the London office of the Secretariat for Foreign Relations of the Somali National Movement, the current government includes six non-Isaaq members: two Gadabursi, two Dulbahante, one Issa, and one Warsangali. In addition, a Somaliland legislative assembly has been formed in which 30 percent of the members are non-Isaaqs, according to the SNM (Somali National Movement, 10 December 1991).

At least three reports in June 1991 contradict the SNM statistics on government ministers in that they do not account for an Issa minister (Africa Confidential, 14 June 1991; Le Monde, 8 June 1991; Délégué aux Réfugiés, July 1991, 23). Most reports on the legislative assembly, also referred to as the "constituent committee," actually indicate that the proportion of non-Isaaqs is about 55 percent (Jeune Afrique, 18 June 1991; Indian Ocean Newsletter, 25 May 1991).

The London office of the SNM states, "The question of a policy by Isaaq towards other clans never arose and does not exist. All are in the same [Legislative] Assembly and have the same right (Somali National Movement, 10 December 1991). Nevertheless, in the early part of 1991, there were reports of fighting between the SNM and armed Gadabursi and Issa in northwestern Somalia, near the borders with Djibouti and Ethiopia (New African, May 1991; Africa Events, March 1991; The Indian Ocean Newsletter, 23 February 1991). On 5 February, according to the radio network of the SNM, the movement "launched a full-scale war on Boorama" against remnants of the Somali Armed Forces and followed up the next day with "mopping-up" operations throughout the region of Awdal. Boorama was "heavily shelled" in the attack and by the end of the month, 30,000 refugees, the majority of them Gadabursi, had fled to Ethiopia. The Gadabursi have been "traditionally at odds with the Isaak [as written]" clan. (Africa Research Bulletin, 1-28 Feb. 1991; FBIS-AFR-91-025, 6 Feb. 1991a; FBIS-AFR-91-025, 6 Feb. 1991b)

According to a March report of The Indian Ocean Newsletter, representatives of the Gadabursi-dominated Somali Democratic Association stated that four Gadabursi had been executed in Berbera. The report provides no further details as to the circumstances of their execution (The Indian Ocean Newsletter, 9 March 1991).

 Bibliography

Africa Confidential. 14 June 1991. "Somalia: One State or Two?"

Africa Events. March 1991. Wilson, Hamish. "Unsettled Dust."

Africa Research Bulletin. 1-28 February 1991. "Refugee Crisis Reaches pic Proportions." Vol. 28, No. 2. Délégué aux Réfugiés. July 1991. "ODR Bulletin d'Information: Somalie."

FBIS-AFR-91-025. 6 February 1991a. "SNM Fighters Destroy `Enemy' Force in Boorama," Radio of the Somali National Movement [Clandestine], 5 February 1991.

FBIS-AFR-91-025. 6 February 1991b. "SNM Conducts `Mopping-up' Operations in Awdal," Radio of the Somali National Movement [Clandestine], 5 February 1991.

The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 25 May 1991. "Somalia: Northern Somalia Proclaims its Independence."

The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 9 March 1991. "Horn of Africa: Federal Option."

The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 23 February 1991. "Horn of Africa: Repercussions of Somali Rebellion."

Jeune Afrique. 18 June 1991. "La sécession après la guerre."

Le Monde [Paris]. 8 June 1991. "Somalie: Les sécessionnistes du Nord ont formé leur gouvernement."

New African. May 1991. "Why SNM Spurns USC Overtures."

Copyright notice: This document is published with the permission of the copyright holder and producer Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The original version of this document may be found on the offical website of the IRB at http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/. Documents earlier than 2003 may be found only on Refworld.

Information on the government's attack on Hargeisa in May 1988 and an SNM assault on Mohammed Siyaad Barre Prison in July 1988

 

Somalia: 1) Detailed map of Somalia and map showing Somalia in the African continent; 2) Information regarding reprisals against Isaaq clan members throughout Somalia, particularly Mogadishu, and against Somali National Movement (SNM) members; 3) Information on the government's attack on Hargeisa in May 1988 and an SNM assault on Mohammed Siyaad Barre Prison in July 1988

Publisher	Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Author	Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada
Publication Date	1 September 1989
Citation / Document Symbol	SOM1801
Cite as	Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: 1) Detailed map of Somalia and map showing Somalia in the African continent; 2) Information regarding reprisals against Isaaq clan members throughout Somalia, particularly Mogadishu, and against Somali National Movement (SNM) members; 3) Information on the government's attack on Hargeisa in May 1988 and an SNM assault on Mohammed Siyaad Barre Prison in July 1988, 1 September 1989, SOM1801, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acf970.html [accessed 14 April 2022]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

 

1) Please find attached copies of the requested maps.

2) Since the Somalia National Movement (SNM), an Isaaq-dominated rebel group, launched a major offensive in May 1988, human rights abuse perpetrated by Somali authorities, mainly against members of the Isaaq clan, has reportedly increased. ["Somalia: Showdown in the North", in Africa Confidential, 29 July 1988, pp. 1-3; Somalia: Imprisonment of Members of the Isaaq Clan since Mid-1988, (London: Amnesty International, 1988).] Amnesty International reports that being a member of a particular clan can be enough to arouse suspicion among Somali authorities, who work on the assumption that many clan members support particular opposition groups. [ Somalia: Imprisonment of Members of the Isaaq Clan since Mid-1988, and Somalia: a long term human rights crisis, (London: Amnesty International, September 1988), various pages.] Thousands of people have been arrested for political or unspecified reasons in the last years, prisoners frequently being subjected to torture or being summarily executed. [ Country Reports for Human Rights Practices for 1988, (Washington: U.S. Department of State, 1989), p. 308; and Critique (of the U.S. Department of State's Country Reports for 1987), (Washington: Human Rights Watch, June 1988), various pages.]

The arrest of Isaaq members in Mogadishu and throughout Somalia has been widely reported by Amnesty International, particularly in the document Somalia: Imprisonment of Members of the Isaaq Clan since Mid-1988, (London: Amnesty International, 1988), a copy of which can be sent upon request. This document, as well as the attached articles, "Of war and warriors" (Africa Events, June/July 1988, p. 10) and "Fighting in the North" (Africa Research Bulletin, 15 July 1988, p. 8919), report that large numbers of Isaaqs were arrested in Mogadishu following the SNM attacks in the North in May 1988. As indicated in the attached Issue Paper, Somalia and the Hawiye Clan (IRBDC, July 1989), the Isaaq clan is opposed to the Siyaad Barre regime, and the government links its members with insurgent groups, particularly the predominantly-Isaaq Somali National Movement. The government has been based on an alliance between the Mareehan, Ogaden and Dolbahanta clans, commonly referred to as the MOD alliance, although there are indications that this alliance has been strained since the middle of 1989. ["Sacrificial Lambs", from Africa Events, August 1989, p. 8; and "Death in Mogadishu", in Africa Confidential, 28 July 1989,

Military reprisals for SNM attacks have included the

indiscriminate bombing of Isaaq civilian populations. [ Somalia: Imprisonment of Members of the Isaaq Clan since Mid-1988, (London: Amnesty International, 1988), p. 2. ] A recent case took place on March 16 1989, after a three-hour occupation of the town of Erigavo by SNM forces. After the SNM had left, the army reportedly bombed the town and later went in, killing about 500 remaining members of the Isaaq clan, in spite of an agreement between authorities and Isaaq elders that the Somali military would not engage in reprisals against the civilian population. [Africa Confidential, 14 April 1989, p. 8.]

3) Hargeisa, a town in northern Somalia with a predominantly Isaaq-clan population, was attacked by the Somali armed forces after the Somali National Movement (SNM) occupied it in May 1988. Various reports indicate the armed forces attacked the city with heavy artillery and aerial bombardment, indiscriminately hitting civilian targets. [ Somalia: Imprisonment of members of the Isaaq Clan since mid-1988, (London: Amnesty International, 1988), p. 3; Somalia: observations regarding the northern conflict and resulting conditions, (Washington: U.S. General Accounting Office, May 1989), p. 5.] Much of the surviving population fled to Ethiopia, reportedly suffering aerial attacks by the Somali air force while gathering outside the city in order to flee the region. Some refugees were allegedly robbed and, if under suspicion, summarily executed by the army and militias. [Somalia: Observations, p. 6.] Somalis of the Ogaden clan were reportedly encouraged to occupy the abandoned city and widespread looting is reported to have taken place. Many of the looted items were identified by their owners in Ethiopian markets. [ Ibid, p. 7, and Africa Confidential, 29 July 1988, p. 2.] For a summarized report on the fighting which took place in Hargeisa, please refer to the attached copy of Africa Research Bulletin, 15 July 1988, p. 8919 and 15 August 1988, p. 9048.

Information on an assault by the SNM on the Siyaad Barre prison in July 1988 could not be found among the sources available at present at the IRBDC.

Copyright notice: This document is published with the permission of the copyright holder and producer Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The original version of this document may be found on the offical website of the IRB at http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/. Documents earlier than 2003 may be found only on Refworld.

https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acf970.html