HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — Somaliland main opposition leader, Mr. Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo has arrived in Hargeisa’s Egal International airport on a private plane a moment ago to a warm reception.
Mr Silanyo who flew from the Ethiopian capital, after returning from the United States, was welcomed back to the country by the Vice-Chairman of Kulmiye Party, Mr. Musa Bihi Abdi and hundreds of thousands of his supporters who were waving Kulmiye Party flags, cheering and whistling as they greeted the leader.
This is the biggest turn out for any Somaliland leader since it restored it’s nationhood as a result most of the main roads in the capital are jammed as they rallied to welcome Silanyo and his wife, Amina Waris.
Radio Hormuud (Somali language):
[audio:silanyo_back.mp3]
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Photos by Abdirasak Sh. Elmi & Muktar Irro/GNN-Hargeisa, courtesy of WaryaTV.
SAN FRANCISCO (Somalilandpress) — The three refugees from Somalia came to the Bay Area several years ago to escape the violence of their homeland, to put the terror behind them. But they were shocked to learn in 2002 that a former Somali official they believed responsible for brutality against their family was living freely in the United States.
To Bashe and Omar Yousuf, who are brothers, and their cousin Amina Jireh, that did not seem right.
“I was really mad,” said Omar, a Caltrans engineer who now lives in Hercules. “The person who destroyed the country and killed thousands and thousands of people was in the United States, and we couldn’t do anything about it.”
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In fact, they could. They met in a friend’s living room in Oakland with lawyers from the Center for Justice and Accountability, a small San Francisco nonprofit. Since 1998, the little-known center, based on Market Street, has been filing suit on behalf of human rights victims seeking to hold their tormentors accountable. With the center’s assistance, Bashe and four other Somalis filed suit against the official, a former Somali prime minister living on the East Coast.
Now the case is before the United States Supreme Court, a legal contest that is a test of whether former officials of foreign governments who are accused of committing war crimes before they moved to the United States have immunity from civil lawsuits. Oral arguments are scheduled for March.
“The issue is whether government officials who come to the United States and seek safe haven are above the law,” said Pamela Merchant, the center’s executive director. “The court will decide whether foreign government officials who use their powers to cause torture and rape and the killing of innocent civilians can be held responsible for their actions.”
The Center for Justice and Accountability was founded by Gerald Gray, a San Francisco psychotherapist who began treating victims of torture in 1985 and soon made it his exclusive practice.
In the mid-1990s, Mr. Gray received an urgent call from San Francisco General Hospital seeking help for a newly arrived Bosnian refugee. When he got to the hospital, he found that the refugee was distraught because he had discovered that his torturer was living in San Francisco.
Mr. Gray feared that the man might kill his tormenter, but instead the traumatized refugee fled to the East Coast. His torturer was never held accountable.
After that experience, Mr. Gray resolved to find a way to help victims bring their abusers to justice. With the assistance of Amnesty International, he established the center.
“The law gives us a chance to do something in a civilized way,” said Mr. Gray, who serves on the center’s board and has founded other groups to aid torture victims. “If we didn’t have the law, or if it didn’t work, we would be stuck back in that primitive place of flight or fight.”
With a staff of 10, the center has carved out a niche among human rights groups by suing alleged human rights violators for damages. Since 1998 it has filed suits on behalf of human rights victims from five continents, winning every one of them that has gone to trial.
The center is unusual among rights organizations because it is based in San Francisco, rather than New York or Washington, where most have their headquarters. It typically recruits law firms around the country to work on cases without charge.
“They’ve been amazingly effective, especially given their small size and limited resources,” said Vienna Colucci, the managing director of Amnesty International USA.
William Aceves, an associate dean at the California Western School of Law in San Diego, said the lawsuits give victims a forum to confront their abuser.
“It’s never about money,” said Mr. Aceves, who sits on the center’s board. “It’s about an opportunity to present a case before a judge and jury, to be able to point a finger at the perpetrator and say, ‘What you did was wrong.’ ”
About 500,000 torture victims live in the United States, Ms. Merchant said. Amnesty International estimates that 1,000 people who committed human rights abuses also live here, sometimes in the same communities as their victims.
The Somali suit was filed in 2004 against Mohamed Ali Samantar, a defense minister and prime minister during the 1980s. Bashe Yousuf, who had been tortured and imprisoned in Somalia, became the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, which says Mr. Samantar is responsible for the killings, torture, rape and unlawful detention carried out by military forces under his control.
For the center, the question is whether torture victims should have the chance to confront their abusers in court.
“Samantar should not be above the law,” said Ms. Merchant, the center director. “The United States should not be a safe haven for war criminals.”
Mr. Samantar, who came to the United States in 1997 and lives in Fairfax, Va., argues that he is protected from lawsuits by a federal law that grants immunity to foreign nations. He disputes the charges against him but declined to be interviewed.
“Mr. Samantar vigorously denies the particular allegations in the suit, none of which have ever been determined to be true by any court of law,” said one of his lawyers, Shay Dvoretzky.
Ms. Jireh and Omar Yousuf are members of the Bay Area’s small Somali community, which numbers about 1,500, mainly in San Jose and the East Bay. Bashe Yousuf now lives near Atlanta.
Unlike Somali refugees in other parts of the country, most in the Bay Area came from the northwestern part of Somalia, now known as Somaliland, which suffered some of the harshest abuses in the 1980s under the government of Maj. Mohammed Siad Barre, who seized power in a 1969 military coup.
The Barre government was notorious as one of the most brutal in Africa, and used summary execution, rape, torture and imprisonment without trial to control the population, particularly in Somaliland.
The government collapsed in 1991, and the country descended into chaos. Today, Somalia is a base for pirates who attack commercial vessels and for Al Qaeda, which recruits fighters and suicide bombers there.
Mr. Samantar served under Barre as defense minister and first vice president from 1980 to 1986 and then as prime minister until 1990. He fled to Italy before coming to the United States.
Mr. Samantar’s lawyers argue that any actions he took were in his official capacity. Some refugees, particularly those from southern Somalia, view Mr. Samantar as a leader who fought to keep the country united.
Bashe Yousuf was a successful businessman in Hargeisa, Somaliland’s largest city. He was arrested in 1981 after leading an effort to clean up a hospital and obtain medical supplies from foreign charities.
The government falsely accused him and his colleagues of fomenting rebellion and conspiring with foreign agents. Mr. Yousuf was subjected to electric shocks, water boarded and held in solitary confinement for six years. He received political asylum and is now a United States citizen.
Four other Somalis joined the lawsuit: a man who survived execution by firing squad and hid under dead bodies until he could escape; a woman who was arrested, repeatedly raped and held for years in solitary confinement; a man whose two brothers were arrested and executed, and a man whose father and brother were killed when the military attacked civilians.
A district judge ruled in 2007 that Mr. Samantar had immunity and dismissed the suit. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned the decision, ruling that the law applies to foreign states, not individuals. Mr. Samantar then appealed to the Supreme Court.
“This case will set a precedent for a lot of countries that are ruled at gunpoint,” said Ms. Jireh, an insurance sales representative who lives in Brentwood. “He’s a war criminal who is living like you and me. That shouldn’t be O.K.”
HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — Somaliland presidential candidate, Ahmed Silanyo, who is currently in Ethiopia after a successful trip to the United States is expected to return to Hargeisa today on board a private jet.
Mr Ahmed Mohamoud Silanyo, the leader of Kulmiye party, is currently in Addis Ababa after returning from the United States, where he met with number of American officials from State Department, Congress, aid agencies and lobby groups.
The supporters of the ruling party, UDUB, are also expected to demonstrate against Mr Silanyo upon his arrival. Some of the government officials accused Mr Silanyo of being part of the pro-Somalia camp.
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Mr Silanyo, who was to fly back to Hargeisa today on a Daallo commercial airliner is believed to be boarding a private plane supplied by the Ethiopian government and the American Embassy in Addis Ababa according to sources close to the Kulmiye leader.
This is the first time a Somaliland leader was supplied with his own private jet, president Rayale traveled to Ethiopia on number of occasions and never received a private plane.
While in the Ethiopian capital, Mr Silanyo met with senior officials from the British and American embassies and Ethiopian officials.
Mr Silanyo accompanied by his wife, Amina Waris, is expected to arrive in Hargeisa in the next few hours and thousands of his supporters are currently at Egal International airport waiting to welcome him.
HARGEISA, (Somalilandpress) – The Vice-Chairman of the Somaliland’s House of Elders, Sh. Ahmed Sh. Nuh resigned from his post after submitting his letter of resignation during yesterday’s parliamentary session.
The reason behind the resignation is not clear, however when number of reporters try to question the outgoing elderly, he was reluctant to answer any questions. He insisted the press should direct their questions at the Chairman but the Chairman, Mr Suleiman said he cannot give any details at the moment but he plans to discuss the issue with the members of the House.
The House of Elders locally known as Gurti, is Somaliland’s own version of Upper house of government.
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“The session is closed for the day as there is a very important issue need to be solved” announced Mr. Sulaiman Mohamoud Aden, the Chairman of the Elders.
The resignation comes when there is a growing dispute within members of the house since the past few weeks.
WASHINGTON, DC (Somalilandpress) — CJA announced today that nine amicus curiae briefs were filed with the United States Supreme Court yesterday in support of the respondents in the case of Samantar v. Yousuf, NO. 08-1555. In this case, the Court will decide if former foreign government officials – who, after using their power to order torture, rapes, and killings of innocent civilians – can choose to live in the United States while refusing to submit to its laws and refusing to accept responsibility for their actions.
The key issue under review by the Supreme Court is whether Fairfax, Virginia resident and former Somali Defense Minister Mohammed Ali Samantar can be held accountable under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) – or whether he is immune under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act from civil suit in the U.S. for human rights abuses committed in Somalia. The TVPA, passed by Congress in1991, provides that the U.S. will not be a safe haven for perpetrators of the worst human rights abuses and that foreign government officials who chose to come to the United States after torturing and killing cannot claim to be above the law and will be held accountable for their actions in U.S. courts.
[ad#Google Adsense (336×280)] » All of the amicus briefs filed today are available here.
Some of the briefs filed in support of the respondents include:
Members of Congress: Senator Arlen Specter (PA), Senator Russ Feingold (WI), and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX) state that Congress intended for the Torture Victim Protection Act to apply to individuals and that the legislative record shows that Congress considered the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) when the TVPA was written, and determined that the FSIA would not bar suits under TVPA. Sen Specter authored the TVPA, which was signed into law in 1991.
Military Officials: The brief from retired military officials, including three star generals, states that the military prohibition on torture and stringent accountability measures encourage reciprocity with other countries by, among other things, allowing the U.S. to demand better protection for its servicemen and women. In addition, military officials write that human rights violators like Samantar create unstable countries that lead to U.S. military involvement. They question why – after putting U.S. troops in harms way to battle people like Samantar – the U.S. would turn around and provide Samantar with a safe haven years later.
Career Foreign Service Diplomats: Ambassador Thomas Pickering is among the career diplomats who state that withholding immunity will not harm U.S. foreign policy. The brief argues that human rights violators must be held accountable and that sheltering former foreign officials behind an impenetrable wall of sovereign immunity is inappropriate.
Holocaust Survivors and Darfur Groups: Holocaust survivors and Darfur groups – including SaveDarfur.org which represents over 130 million people — argue that the world learned from the Nuremberg trials that individuals can be held accountable for their bad deeds and that they cannot hide behind government immunity.
U.S. Government: The United States Government writes that foreign officials’ immunity should be governed by the principles of immunity articulated by the Executive Branch – not the FSIA. The brief states that the FSIA sets forth a general rule of immunity for a “foreign state,” but makes no reference to the immunity of individual foreign officials. The Government states that the FSIA’s text, structure and legislative history demonstrate that Congress did not intend the FSIA to govern such determinations or to displace Executive Branch principles governing the immunity of current and former officials. The brief raises the question of whether an individual like Samantar who engages in torture and extrajudicial killing and then chooses to reside in the US would merit immunity under common law.
Additional amicus curiae briefs were filed yesterday by:
Somali academics/historians including I.M. Lewis, Lee Cassanelli, Peter Pham, Gerard Prunier, and Dr. Hussein Bulhan
Somaliland Foreign Minister Mr. Abdillahi Mohamed Duale
Human rights groups, including Human Rights First, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and religious organizations
International and Comparative Law professors, including Frederic Kirgis, Ved Nanda, Leila Sadat, Mathias Reimann, Steven Ratner, Mary Ellen O’Connell and David Bederman
Professors of International Dispute Resolution, including Burbank, Richard Bixbaum, David Caron, Kevin Clermont, William Dodge, Thomas Lee, Michael Ramsey and Edward Swaine
The Center for Justice and Accountability is working with lead Supreme Court counsel Patricia Millett of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and co-counsel Cooley Godward Kronish LLP on this matter. This case is part of Akin Gump’s pro bono human rights & refugee practice.
Source: The Center of Justice and Accountability (CJA), 28 January 2010
STATUS OF SEIZED VESSELS AND CREWS IN SOMALIA (ecoterra)
Summary: Today, 01. February 2010, 12h00 UTC, at least 11 foreign vessels plus one barge are kept in Somalia against the will of their owners, while at least 250 seafarers – including an elderly British yachting couple – suffer to be released.
CASES NOT COMPLETELY CLOSED:
MS INDIAN OCEAN EXPLORER and S/Y SERENITY – presumed sunken, wrecks not secured.
BARGE NN – an unnamed barge is held at Kulule (near Bendar-Beyla) since mid march. Ownership and circumstances not yet clarified. In the meantime local people have developed some ailments. Community awareness campaign was carried out, barge is secured.
S/Y JUMLA or YUMLA ? – a mysterious yacht with three Africans on board was kept since a long time near Dinooda.
MT AGIA BARBARA: INDIAN AND SYRIAN CREW STILL WANTED FOR MURDER – vessel escaped from Somalia after the murder of a TFG policeman and the attempted murder of another to the UAE – unhindered by international naval forces. See our respective updates.
Legal Dispute: MV LEILA – The Panama-flagged but UAE owned Ro-Ro cargo ship of 2,292 grt with IMO NO. 7302794 and MMSI NO. 352723000, is held at the Somaliland port of Berbera since September 15, 2009 at gunpoint and under a court order in a legal dispute between Somaliland authorities, cargo owners and the ship-owner. Somali company Omar International claims cargo damages caused by fire on MV MARIAM STAR who caught fire on the upper deck while at Berbera port in early September of 2009. MV MIRIAM STAR – a fleet-sistership – is likewise still at Berbera, but without crew.
The roll-on-roll-off vessel MV LEILA is owned by AL ALEELY GMGH in Dubai. The crew has not been paid by UAE-based ship-manager Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding since five month and consists of 14 seafarers – 7 from India, 3 (incl. Captain) from Sri Lanka, 2 from Pakistan and 2 from Somalia. The crew and vessel are not covered by an ITF Agreement.
“The crew of ill-fated ro-ro ship MV LEILA is being held hostage at the port of Berbera by Somali businessmen owing to a deal which has gone sour. Captain and crew are desperate and pleaded for international assistance,” Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarer’s Assistance Programme confirmed by telephone from Mombasa, Kenya. The 1973 built rust-bucket is apparently in a very bad shape too and the condition of vessel and crew are deteriorating. The crew asked for urgent international intervention and assistance. ECOTERRA Intl. is now giving assistance to provide relief and ensure the safe repatriation of the crew. The crew had run out of food and one crew member had to be taken already to Hargeisa for medical treatment. The harbour master of Berbera is helpful, but the court order to hold the ship still stands. Meanwhile the diplomatic missions of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have now also been involved and are active to solve the case.
CASES IN NEGOTIATIONS:
Genuine members of families of the abducted seafarers can call +254-733-633-733 for further details or send an e-mail in any language to office@ecoterra-international.org
[ad#Google Adsense (336×280)] FV WIN FAR 161 (aka WIN FAR NO.161 or 穩發161) – The 56 m long, 696 GRT Taiwanese fishing vessel with the registration CT7-0485 and call-sign BI-2485 was seized April 6, 2009 near the Seychelles. The tuna long-liner is said to have been observed earlier to fish illegally in Somali waters. It had after the sea-jacking been involved in the attack on MV ALABAMA. Though Taiwan foreign affairs spokesperson Henry Chen refuted the report, the vessel had been used also for further attacks.
The crew of 30 (17 Filipinos, six Indonesians, five Chinese and two Taiwanese) is in awful condition. The ship’s skipper and first engineer are Taiwanese nationals and the 700-ton long-liner is apparently owned by HSIEN LUNG YIN of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan and operated under the management of WIN UNI MARINE by the Taiwanese company WIN JYI FISHERY CO. LTD. (WIN FAR FISHERY GROUP/Xiamen) from KAOHSIUNG, which regularly sent their vessels into Somali waters from the Seychelles – a key transshipment point for poached tuna from the Indian Ocean to Japan. Taiwan is not a party to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and their agreements and thereby feels not bound by its regulations. The Government of the Philippines finally found the manning agency, who lured the 17 Pinoy sailors into the fish-poaching operation – STEP UP MARINE from Singapore. Armed response damaged the vessel when it attacked a naval cargo ship but it could return to Garad, where it was moored.about 7 nm from the beach at the north-eastern Indian Ocean coast for a long time. She lost all her oil but it could be replaced with help from sea-jacked Theresa VIII and though limping she was able to sail again and to Hobyo and Harardheere at the Central Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. The vessel can be moored on the heavy anchor obtained from another, former sea-jack hostage – the MV Hansa Stavanger. The governments of the crew members have now stepped up their efforts to push the owner to come to terms. The crew is still in a horrible state and Selon Edward Huang, the general secretary of the Taiwanese Association of Tuna exporters went quiet. “Let’s all concentrate on getting the crew of WIN FAR 161 free,” commented a spokesman from ECOTERRA Intl. and added “that crew suffers at the moment the longest and the most, whereby the observing US naval vessel close by is not helping in any way to ease the plight of the sailors from five nations.” The vessel is now held 5nm off Garacad and the group holding it apparently made efforts to get a new interpreter for proper negotiations. The ransom demand has been reduced significantly, but it is feared that the owner might want to abandon ship and crew to cash the insurance sum in full.
Sea-jacked British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, aged 58 and 55, were abducted from their 38-ft yacht S/Y LYNN RIVAL, seized October 22, 2009 en route to Tanzania, and are still held in Somalia. The yacht was recovered by the crew of UK naval vessel Waveknight, after they witnessed the transfer of the Chandlers to commandeered MV KOTA WAJAR. The yacht was brought back to England. The elderly couple is now held on land close to Harardheere, sometimes separated for fear of a commando attack
. The case is turning more and more ugly with pirates becoming brutal, politicians ignorant and financially incapable family intimidated by several sidelines, whose money-guided approach is undermining bids by local elders, human rights groups and the Somali Diaspora to get the innocent couple free. Some humanitarian efforts, however are now under way. – updates can also be found on: http:www.//savethechandlers.com
MV AL KHALIQ: Seized on Oct. 22, 2009. The Panamanian-flagged 22,000 dwt handymax bulker MV AL KHALIQ was abducted around180 miles west of the Seychelles. The crew consists of 24 Indian sailors and two Burmese nationals. EU NAVFOR patrol aircraft confirmed the hijacking, with 6 pirates seen on board and two skiffs in tow. A third, the ‘mother ship’ had apparently already been winched onto the ship’s deck. The vessel is managed by London-based Holbud Ship Management
. The vessel with over 35,000 metric tons of wheat grain is now moored 6 miles offshore at the coast near Harardheere and the crew is on board. Negotiations are said by the ship manager to have nearly concluded. However, families are very worried.
FV THAI UNION 3: Seized on Oct. 29, 2009. Pirates on two skiffs boarded the tuna fishing boat with a crew of 27 with 23 Russians, two Filipinos and two nationals from Ghana about 200 nautical miles north of the Seychelles and 650 miles off the Somali coast. During the attack the Russian captain was shot in the left elbow. The Russian and US navies tried to provide medical aid to the captain, while the captors themselves took him to hospital, had him treated and returned him to the vessel. The fishing vessel and its crew were held just around 1.5nm from where FV ALAKRANA was held at the central Somali coast of the Indian Ocean and is held
at Ga’an, north of Harardheere, south of Hobyo. Negotiations were said already earlier not to go ahead well, too many sidelines got involved and the talks have apparently have now stalled.
MV FILITSA: Seized on Nov. 10, 2009. The 1996-built, 23,709 dwt cargo-ship has a crew of 22, including three Greek officers, 18 Filipino seamen as well as one Romanian officer. The Marshall Islands-flagged ship had been heading from Kuwait to Durban in South Africa when it was attacked 513 nautical miles north-east of the Seychelles as it was sailing from Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the port of Durban in S. Africa loaded with fertilizer. The ship belongs to the Greek company Order Shipping Co. Ltd., who has not provided the full crew-list, and is held near Hobyo/Haradheere. Negotiations have allegedly been concluded and release operation is awaited. Situation on board very tense due to naval threat.
MV THERESA VIII: Seized on Nov. 16, 2009. The chemical tanker was hijacked in the southern Somali Basin, north-west of the Seychelles. The 22,294 dwt tanker has a crew of now only 28 North Koreans, since the captain of the tanker died from gunshot wounds sustained during the hijack. The vessel went sometimes to Garacad but then returned to Harardheere. The exact content of the vessel is not known and the case is shrouded in secrecy. Apparently a conflict has developed among pirates on board and their masterminds on land. Negotiations concluded and release operation near.
MV NESEYA : Seized Dec. 6, 2009: Indian-flagged cargo vessel with 13 sailors of Indian nationality aboard. Abducted off the coast of Kismayo in southern Somalia. The incident took place some 170 nautical miles northeast of Mombasa / Kenya. It is assumed that the vessel is at the moment used as mother ship for further pirate activities. The present location of the vessel is not known.
MV SOCOTRA 1: Seized December 25. 2009. The vessel carrying a food cargo for a Yemeni businessman and bound for Socotra Archipelago was captured in the Gulf of Aden after it left Alshahr port in the eastern province of Hadramout. 6 crew members of Yemeni nationality were aboard, in the archipelago.
MT ST JAMES PARK: Seized December 28, 2009 at position 12°58’4N-48°34’1E which is in the Gulf of Aden International Recognised Transit Corridor (IRTC), while on voyage from Tarragona, Spain to Tha Phut, Thailand. The registered owner PHILBOX Ltd. is fronting for the management company ZODIAC MARITIME AGENCIES LTD in London, while the beneficial owners are the Ofer Brothers – the Israeli brothers Sammy and Yehuda (Yuli) Ofer
. There are 26 crew members on board including the Russian captain and their nationalities are: 6 Indian, 5 Bulgarian, 3 Russian, 3 Filipinos, 3 Turkish, 2 Romanian, 2 Ukrainian, 1 Polish, 1 Georgian. The ship was registred with MSC HOA and was transiting north west towards the International Recommended Transiting Corridor that she was expected to enter 3 Jan. The UK-flagged chemical tanker sent a security alert 14:20 GMT (17:20 Local Time) she also sent an unspecified distress message which was received by RCC Piraeus. The St James Park loaded at Assemini and Tarragona her cargo of 13,175 tonnes of 1,2-dichloroethane – commonly known by its old name of ethylene dichloride (EDC) and used in the manufacturing of plastics and not dangerous in normal carriage conditions. However, 1,2-dichloroethane is toxic (especially by inhalation due to its high vapour pressure), corrosive, highly flammable, and possibly carcinogenic. Its high solubility and 50-year half-life in anoxic aquifers make it a perennial pollutant and health risk that is very expensive to treat conventionally, requiring a method of bioremediation. The vessel’s last port of call was Jeddah, where she stopped for Bunkers on 24th December 2009. The tanker is now held near Garacad at the North-Eastern Somali coast. Negotiations have become difficult.
MV NAVIOS APOLLON: Seized December 28, 2009. The Panama-flagged 52,000 dwt, Greek-owned bulker has 19 member crew (presumedly Greek captain and 18 Filipinos) and was captured at around 17h00 (14h00 UTC) in the Indian Ocean near the Seychelles en route from Tampa, Florida/USA to Rozy / India with a cargo of fertilizer. The vessel is held off Danaane at the North-Eastern Somali coast and negotiations started but are not serious.
MT PRAMONI: Seized January 01, 2010. The Singapore-flagged and Indonesian-owned MT PRAMONI, a chemical/oil-products tanker, was sea-jacked in the morning of the New Years day in the Gulf of Aden at position Lat 12º 30’N Long 47º 17’E while en route from Genoa, Italy eastbound.to Kandla – India. The 24 crew of the 19,998 dwt vessel consists of 17 Indonesians, 5 Chinese 1 Nigerian 1 Vietnamese and is reportedly safe. The vessel is held off Dinoowda at the North-Eastern Somali Indian Ocean coast. Negotiations have been commenced.
VC ASIAN GLORY: Seized January 02, 2010. The UK-flagged, UK-owned car carrier was taken around 620nm off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean, while after leaving the South Korean port of Ulsan en route from Singapore to the Gulf of Aden and Saudi Arabia. The 25 crew members — eight Bulgarians, including the captain, 10 Ukrainians, five Indians, two Romanians are said to be unharmed. DAYER MARITIME INC fronts as registered owners for
the management company ZODIAC MARITIME AGENCIES LTD and the real owners, the Ofer Brothers – the Israeli brothers Sammy and Yehuda (Yuli) Ofer. The vessel is held near Hobyo at the Central Somali coast. From there it was commandeered towards the Sychelles during the last week of January to aid and refuel a pirate mothership.
2 YEMENI BOATS: Missing since 11. January 2010 from Warsha Island in Alaraj area in Yemen’s province of Hudaida (not yet counted on list of pirated vessels – but mentioned here as alert).
~ * ~
With the latest captures and releases now still at least 11 seized foreign vessels (12 sea-related hostage cases since yacht SY LYNN RIVAL was abandoned and taken by the British Navy) with a total of not less than 250 crew members (incl. 55 Filipinos and the British sailing couple) are accounted for. The cases are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed too. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) had been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases for Somalia and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by the Indian naval force. For 2009 the account closed with 228 incidences (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 68 vessels seized for different reasons on the Somali/Yemeni captor side as well as at least TWELVE wrongful attacks (incl. one friendly fire incident) on the side of the naval forces.
For 2010 the recorded account stands at seven attacks and two sea-jackings.
The naval alliances had since August 2008 and until December 2009 apprehended 613 suspected pirates, detained and kept or transferred for prosecution 351, killed 44 and wounded 20 Somalis. (New independent update see: http://bruxelles2.over-blog.com/pages/_Bilan_antipiraterie_Atalanta_CTF_Otan_Russie_Exclusif-1169128.html).
Not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (although not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail – like the S/Y Serenity, MV Indian Ocean Explorer.Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: GoA: RED / IO: YELLOW (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but very likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = possible, Green = unlikely). Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon starting from mid February and early April every year. In the moment the heavy Kazkazi wind is blowing on the Indian Ocean, which makes the operation of the little skiffs problematic.
“Oh my country! When right, keep it right; when wrong, set it right!” – Carl Schurz
THE REPUBLIC of Somaliland has been a ‘new’ country in the midst of hostile region for the last nineteen years. For almost these two decades, several praiseworthy work have been brought to fruition. Our petty differences are no longer unbreakable barriers. Thanks to Almighty Allah for He has kept us peace and unity when so many others are still in sorry state.
Our strength as a nation is found in unity, not division. Yes! With unity we are better-off. Many have admired that we at least managed to bring ends meet while there is no remarkable foreign assistance. That they call it miracle! We are optimistic about the foreseeable future though we do not know how long it will hold true for us.
But today the Somaliland I see is not the one I used to be proud of. It seems something has gone wrong in the middle. Right now, our motion is like that of tortoise! We are dragging our feet everywhere. Our tyres are punctured for a reason unknown! So let this essay be a wake-up call for Somalilanders. I dare to comment such scenario positively before it gets too late even though the word positive may sound differently among us.
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This country has longed for a visionary leadership who would not lead us astray. I dream of a leader that is elected not because of the clan he happens to be; nor the mere promises he makes during election campaigns, but because the wisdom of his political character and maturity. We are desperately in search of a leader that no more gets hectic about the worldly things but instead thinks seriously about the means of taking services closer to where life is impossible. A leader that stays awake to act in response to demands of the voiceless society.
My concern today is whether we will stop importing the extraneous political ideologies which we swallow as they are. If those ideologies worked well for another country; it may not be fine with us at this defining moment. Uniqueness is very imperative, so let it be for that country. Unquestionably we are obliged to discover what we really stand for and then set new dimensions.
I dream of such a country, where transparency is the catchphrase for governance. We desire a country whereby the police improve their work ethics and become people-friendly, a country where teachers are respected and well-paid. A country where useless degrees and examinations will be done away with and only students with an aptitude and talent will go in for higher education.
More so, I look forward to a country where people get serious about the value of education and understand that schools are the platform where tomorrow’s religious scholars, doctors, engineers, civil servants, to mention but a few, are trained. If our students are not well taken care of today, needless to say they will end up in a dark future.
In the same spirit of patriotism, I look forward to a country where, its youth will genuinely interact in a meaningful way beyond their localities instead of quarreling about the ‘dirty politics’ and making stories about tribalism in streets.
I look forward to a country where people are no longer crazy about consuming Qaad but rather take books and go to schools, work for the well-being of their families and on the top of all, serve for their communities.
In this respect I call upon every Somalilander to put the interests of the common way above their personal interests. Fortunately, for all that I suggested, none requires a big conference to debate. They are all just do-it-matter! These dreams are built upon attainable pillars and for whose realization, many like me, are committed to the last drop of their blood. Let’s work for a time where we will be an example of peace, prosperity, progress and brotherly co-existence to our neighbors and world at large.
By Abdikadir D Askar, exclusive to Somalilandpress, 28 January 2010
___________ Abdikadir D. Askar is a youth activist based in Uganda. He writes about the political and social issues. He can be reached at siraskar@live.com.
Somalilandpress received a press release issued on the 28th of January of 2010 from Mr Bile Hersi, the Deputy General Manager of the port of Berbera, distancing themselves from the legal dispute regarding the stranded cargo ship, MV Layla-S, in the port of Berbera. Bile states a wealthy businessman wants compensation for merchandise worth $250, 000 destroyed in the Mariam Star fire.
He states:
We the Berbera port authority with dismay received a propaganda concerning with MV Layla from some websites.
The above vessel has been accused by one of the merchants (OMINCO) who his belongings burnt cargo on board her sister ship M/V Mariam Star.
On September 15, 2009 the MV Laila was detained by the local court Berbera after it was (M/V Laila) accused by the merchant for goods estimated $250,000.
There fore the question of being hijacked is null and void. the case is under High Courts.
The owner of both vessels, the burnt one and the other one is aware of his where-about of his vessels.
Bille Hirsi Eid
Deputy Geneal Manager of Berbera port
WUCHANG (SomalilandPress) — A delegation led by Somaliland’s Civil Aviation Minister, Mr. Ali Mohamed today broke a new ground by signing a contract with a Chinese firm to expand and refurnish Somaliland’s Egal International Airport. According to local reports, Mr. Waran Ade, who is also traveling with the mayor of Hargeisa are also expected to meet with numbers of Chinese firms from food processing to education industry.
The mayor of Hargeisa, Mr Hussein Ji’ir is also expected to sign a number of construction projects with the Chinese including the rehabilitation of Hargeisa’s neglected roads. The Chinese are also expected to deliver construction equipments to Somaliland.
Many analysts believe this is a new beginning for Somaliland-China ties and could lead to an era of solidarity and cooperation between Hargeisa and Beijing.
Mr Waran Adde is seen by most Somalilanders as one of the few competent and active ministers in the Rayale government. Since taking up the aviation portfolio he has rehabilitated most Somaliland airports and is currently working on expanding not only Egal International airport [Hargeisa] but also Berbera to ‘ease the pressure on Egal airport’ according to him. The minister and his delegation is expected to arrive back to Somaliland in the next few days so that they can set the ground for the arrival of the Chinese firm which is expected in the next few months.
A number of leading Somaliland companies have invested into the new construction of Egal International Airport.
Odweyne (Somalilandpress)- An anti extremism religious awareness was held in Odweyne Region last week by an Islamic Institute known as Islamic Propagation Center, which works on the spreading of exact understanding of the religion and it’s position of suicide attack ideas.
Hundreds of people and prominent Somaliland Sheikhs who have addresses and religious lectures attended big meetings that take place in the districts of Hara-sheikh and Oodweyne.
Sheikhs have widely explained Islam and it’s principles which based on peace and enter action of societies.
Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Yusuf (Moge), Chairman of Islamic Propagation Center, expresses the objectives of the meeting “Our main we come here is to only breach the people that Islam does not allow suicides and killing people, and also to improve people’s understanding in Islamic teachings,” he said.
“I am encouraging to the youth to learn and understand well Islamic religion, and as well as to known that who exploded themselves are ignore people for the Holly Qur’an, which deserves to be honorable,” he said.
Sheikh Hassan Quran, one of Sheikhs attended the meetings explained the resent evil actions that is sabotaged by the Islamic religion.
“Today what is new to us is people committed to kill themselves and others with out reason, that’s awful thing,” Sheikh Hassan said.
He added, “Suicide bombings are not enter our religion any were.”
