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.
No comments:
Post a Comment