MOGADISHU, 22 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The insecurity in Somalia is fast turning into a global issue as Al-Qa’idah support transforms the once disorganized Al-Shabab insurgents into a “super terrorist group,” the African Union Mission in Somalia has warned.
“The situation is getting out of hand. It is going to affect everybody in this region, not only Somalia. But it looks like neighbouring countries are waiting for Al-Shabab attacks before they treat the situation as very serious,” said Wafula Wamunyinyi, deputy African Union representative to Somalia. He said Al-Qa’idah is increasingly turning to Somalia as NATO troops intensify pressure on its bases in Afghanistan.
Already, Al-Shabab has issued threats to bomb Kampala and Bujumbura, the only two countries with a peacekeeping force in Mogadishu. Sources close to Amisom [African Union Mission in Somalia] said that, with Al-Qa’idah logistical support at their disposal, the attacks could happen at the least expected time. Unlike previous and current militia factions in Somalia, Al-Shabab is not based on clans.
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A radical faction that emerged from the remnants of the Union of Islamic Courts routed by the Ethiopian forces that invaded Somalia in 2006, the group has with Al-Qa’idah’s help acquired the financial muscle to recruit globally. Amisom peacekeepers in the country say many Somali Americans, Somali Canadians, American nationals, Pakistani nationals, Afghan, Ugandan and Kenyan youths have been recruited into Al-Shabab and are receiving training from Al-Qa’idah commanders in suicide bombing, remote control roadside bombings and bomb manufacturing.
USA and Canadian intelligence, investigating a spate of recent disappearances of their Somali nationals, are concerned that these individuals, who hold genuine passports, will return home to spread terror after having received training from Al-Shabab. Reports show that already three American nationals have been killed fighting alongside Al-Shabab.
Pledges
In a recent confidence-building workshop for peacekeepers held in Kampala, Amisom called on AU members to fulfil their pledges made in 2007 to deploy their troops immediately. The countries had pledge to raise up to 8,000 troops but only Uganda and Burundi came through with 5,000 troops, leaving a shortfall of 3,000 troops.
“If we had 8,000 troops on the ground, the situation would have been quite different, because we are still in the first, Mogadishu phase. We are supposed to graduate from Mogadishu to Kismayo, and proceed to other areas in the north, but we are constrained by lack of troops; the solution to this problem lies in building local capacity,” said Amisom Force Commander Maj-Gen Nathan Mugisha.
Troops
Maj-Gen Mugisha said it will require at least 20,000 troops to maintain peace in a country where Al-Qa’idah has found a safe haven and Al-Shabab controls most of the 3,000-km long coastlines.
“They are now putting in training camps managed by Al-Qa’idah leaders. Till recently, they were an undisciplined lot, untrained, inexperienced. But now, they are being trained by experienced fighters, they are being trained in combat; they are being trained in terrorism – kidnappings and suicide bombings”. Mr Wamunyinyi said.
At the meeting, it was announced that Djibouti, a country with less than a million people, is ready to deploy troops while Uganda will add more men. If Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone also deploy quickly, it could make a crucial difference.
“The work that can be done by 20,000 now, if you leave it for two years, it will require 100,000,” Maj-Gen Nathan Mugisha said. As countries continue to delay deployment, the insurgents are becoming more organized on the ground and on the water as piracy increases by the day.
Said Maj-Gen Mugisha, “Unless we get stability on the land, a government that is fully in control, we cannot fight piracy effectively – the coastline of Somali is over 3000km, so where are you going to start from? You need the co-operation of local people who know who is who, who can tell us who is on the water, because they have to come back to land,” he said.
He said Amisom’s limited achievements so far include making internal entry ports safer, with commercial flights now landing; securing over 440 ships and dhows from pirates; and facilitating peace talks.
Indeed, he said, being in Mogadishu itself is an achievement – should the Amisom troops pull out, it will be extremely difficult for any other force to deploy in Mogadishu.
Dear Naima Adan,
I read your article entitled, “Response to Portrait of the Canadian As Warya by Mohamud S. Togane” published on wardheernews website.
While I encourage you to write more, giving you constructive criticism and feedback will only transform you into a powerful writer. And it is these invaluable inputs which will reshape your thinking and perhaps influence your next paper which I look forward to reading.
With that in mind, I must say Mohamud Siad Togane or the educated Mooryaan (anachronistic) is outrageous. He is offensive, daring, provocative, and audacious. He is also hilarious, creative, intelligent, and thoughtful. Furthermore, he is a devoted religious man yet so devilish. Never have I heard before someone so outrageous yet as righteous as Mr. Togane.
However, his article entitled, “Portrait of the Canadian As Warya” was far from offensive. If anything, it in fact showed how people could succeed despite the nightmares they went through. It was an inspiring piece for those of us who want to succeed. A case in point: the success story of Isaac, Mr. Togone’s buddy, was impressive.
Surprisingly, Mr. Togane didn’t mention the mindless Mooryaans wrecking havoc in Canada and U.S. Let me give you an example: 20 years ago when you see a young Somali man you would approach him and say: “Warya”. Today when you see one, you would duck in as if you were dodging a silver bullet inscribed with your name.
Canada gives these Somali men an opportunity to better themselves. And what do they do instead? Act like gangsters and shoot one another. A month doesn’t pass that you don’t hear: “Another young Somali man is shot dead”. Guess who is killing them: it is not the H1N1; it is not the KKK; and it is not the Aryan Nation or the Neo Nazis either. It is none other than other Somali men who are murdering these young Somali men.
Now, some cash-hungry social workers, community leaders, and animal rights groups might say: “These are just young men who have been brought up in a single-mother home. They never have had a male role model in their life”. That is baloney! Why? The truth is: this missing male role model is not in Somalia. He sits in the Tim Horton coffee shops in Canada for endless hours as Mr. Togane himself pointed out in his article.
Additionally, some Somali fathers—politician wannabes—who spend most of their time at the Tim Horton coffee shops may argue that the system doesn’t offer their sons an equal opportunity and these young men are marginalised. Well, what goes around comes around, doesn’t it?
In all the Somali regions of East Africa, we marginalize and discriminate our own Somalis because of their tribes; so why would I feel sorry for any Somali that the white man discriminates. Perhaps, we Somalis are having a test of our bitter medicine. As Somalis say, “Dacar ninkii walaaqaa layidhaahdaa dha dhami; or you ask the person who stirs the liquid from poisonous wild plants (Dacar) to have a test of the poison.” So for any Somali person in the Diaspora who whines about discrimination—I shed no tears for you. Xejiso waa markaagiiye; or it is your turn to face discrimination, so stay strong.
That is, to a certain degree facing discrimination and marginalization are true. But if they [young Somali men] feel alienated what incentives do they get from bludgeoning one another to death? The challenges they face supposed to give them the extra energy to push harder.
Let’s not blame the system; but, ourselves. For example, today I am not a millionaire. It is not because the system has been holding me back, but it is because I chose not be a millionaire; I don’t have a PHD either because I chose not have it. I settle for jobs that don’t pay well because I chose to do so. I don’t worry about discrimination because I discriminate my own people based on their tribal lineage. If I could chose my destiny and my evil acts so could everybody else. Life is all about choices.
Just as my success associate with me—not with the system—so too my failure stay with me. The system will only fail me if I allow it to do so.
Also, the Somali young men back home have never seen peace. On the other hand, the ones in Canada who have never witnessed a war murder one another at will. Some of them are over 30 years old. In fact, a 36 years old Somali man shot dead a 21 years old Somali man in Edmonton because a drug deal went wrong.
Also, in 2006 I met a group of Mooryaans acting like gangsters in Toronto. To my surprises, one of the Mooryaans used be a captain in the Somali National Army. He was around 40 years old; yet he was acting like a gangster and hanging around with 17 years old boys. Wonder what the excuse would be for this middle-age man to become a menace to himself and to society! For reasons that baffle the sane people, the 40-year-old man was trapped in a 17 year-old boy’s mentality.
Just watch this video clip which demonstrates how mindless Mooryaans act when they get an opportunity to better themselves. The video will appear after the advertisement is finished.
http://www.lasanod.com/details.php?num=3112
Coming back to the drawing board, I am disappointed with Mr. Togane that he has not addressed these mindless raccoons that are turning the streets of Canadian cities into a warzone. Shame on you: Mr. Togane!
Also, associating the Mogadishu terrorists and warlords’ savage behaviours to anachronism and cannibalism is an underestimation. Why? I have more respect for those who practice cannibalism than mindless Mooryaans in Mogadishu. To portray Mooryaans’ shameless destructive role as cannibalism is outrageous and a total disrespect to those who practice cannibalism around the world. Mr. Togane owes an apology to the communities around the globe that still practice cannibalism. How dare you compare the reckless Mooryaans’s behaviour to cannibalism
On a positive note: I salute the countless hard-working young Somali men—the ambassadors of our society and their devoted parents who won’t take their eyes off their kids. Equally, the courageous Somali women—the breadwinners of our society back home—and the jewels of our Diaspora communities deserve standing ovation.
Luckily, Somali girls in Diaspora remain successful. Somehow the “system” does not discriminate them; nor do they bludgeon one another to death. While they enrol in Universities, their male counterparts spend time in the notorious prisons in North America.
By the way, see some of my articles and my opposition to the terrorists and Mooryaans of Muqdisho or Muuqdisho.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/4458
Thank you,
Dalmar Kaahin
dalmar_k@yahoo.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial
New York, December 21, 2009—Mortar shells destroyed the Radio Voice of Democracy building this morning in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing Amal Abukar, 22, the wife of the director of the station, Abdirahman Yasin. Abukar died instantly after three mortar shells landed on the station’s building in northern Mogadishu at 10:30 a.m., local journalists told CPJ. Yasin and a producer, Adam Hussein, were injured in the attack.
Yasin was hit by shrapnel in his right leg and Hussein sustained a kidney injury; both journalists received treatment at a local hospital and are recovering, local journalists said. No one claimed responsibility for the shelling. Local journalists told CPJ they believe the station was caught in crossfire between insurgents, government soldiers, and African Union peacekeepers after insurgents fired mortars near the parliament building, according to local news reports.
On Sunday, mortar shells hit the newly constructed satellite dish and antenna for Shabelle Television, a new station, the management of Shabelle Media Network reported. It is unclear whether the shelling was a targeted attack, local journalists said. The station has remained off the air since.
“We send our deepest condolences to the director of Radio Voice of Democracy, Abdirahman Yasin, and to all the staff of both media outlets,” CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes said today. “CPJ calls on all sides of the conflict to be aware of the presence of journalists and to ensure their safety.”
In the northeast semi-autonomous region of Puntland, the Puntland Intelligence Service arrested Voice of America correspondent Mohamed Yasin and took him to the capital city, Garowe, according to local journalists. Roughly 30 security agents visited Yasin’s home in Galkayo Sunday evening, local journalists said. He is now being held at the Puntland Intelligence Service offices, they told CPJ. The reason for the arrest is still unknown although local journalists said they suspect it may be due to Yasin’s report on displaced Somali citizens who complained of mistreatment in Puntland. A police officer fired at Yasin’s car on November 17 at a checkpoint in front of the regional governor’s office, according to the Media Association of Puntland.
CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.
HARGEISA, Somaliland — A Somali just home from eight years in the US jail at Guantanamo Bay told AFP Monday the prison was “hell on Earth”, and alleged torture there had scarred some of his fellow inmates.
Mohamed Saleban Bare, who arrived in his hometown of Hargeisa on Saturday, said he was innocent of any charges that would have caused security forces to arrest him in Pakistan in 2001 and transfer him to the US jail via Afghanistan.
“Guantanamo Bay is like hell on Earth,” he told AFP in the town, capital of the breakaway state of Somaliland.
“I don’t feel normal yet but I thank Allah for keeping me alive and free from the physical and mental sufferings of some of my friends,” he said.
Bare, 44, was among a dozen Guantanamo detainees from Afghanistan, Yemen and the breakaway Somalia region who were sent home at the weekend, bringing the number of detainees at the “war on terror” prison in Cuba to below 200.
He and another Somali, 45-year-old Osmail Mohamed Arale, were handed over to their relatives in Hargeisa by the International Representative Committee of the Red Cross in the presence of Somaliland authorities.
“Some of my colleagues in the prison lost their sight, some lost their limbs and others ended up mentally disturbed. I’m OK compared to them,” he said.
Bare said he was picked up in the Pakistani port city of Karachi in December 2001, weeks after the United States launched its “war on terror” following the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York.
After about four months he was transferred to US military prisons in Kandahar and Bagram in Afghanistan, he said.
“At Bagram and Kandahar, the situation was harsh but when we were transferred to Guantanamo the torture tactics changed. They use a kind of psychological torture that kills you mentally,” he said.
This included depriving prisoners of sleep for at least four nights in a row and feeding them once a day with only a biscuit, he said.
“And in the cold they let you sleep without a blanket. Some of the inmates face harsher torture, including with electricity and beating,” he said.
Bare said the US authorities had never told him why he was arrested.
“They used to ask many questions, most of them relating to my background like what I was doing in Somalia and about the people I know. It was all about suspicions and not a clear case,” he said.
“I was in prison for about eight years and two months without being guilty. But praise be to Allah, I’m free now and back home, wishing to overcome the ordeal.”
Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels control southern Somalia and authorities in northwestern Somaliland, which broke away in 1991, in October called for war against them.
US President Barack Obama has vowed to close down the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention facility by January with some of the inmates to be moved to a maximum-security prison in the state of Illinois.
GAROWE, 21 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The Parliament speaker of the semi-autonomous Somalia’s region of Puntland narrowly escaped a roadside bomb in Garowe. Reports say his driver died and others were wounded as the result.
Some sources told Somalilandpress that the Speaker was slightly injured along with two of his bodyguards but nothing has been confirmed so far. That attack happened in the center of Garowe, the capital of Puntland state.
The town was put under curfew during the night and the police are investigating the incident.
Puntland official told Somalilandpress this morning that the town will remain under curfew as the business is closed and no movements are allowed in the town. The main market also remains closed for the day.
Sources said the roadside bomb was a remotely controlled and was targeting the speaker.
No one claimed the responsibility of the attack and there is no official statement from the government.
This is the first of its kind in Garowe which remained calm throughout the last few years. This indicates the increasing attacks targeting Puntland officials in the region.
In August, the Puntland’s Minister of Information was assassinated in Galkayo while he was on an official trip to the city. Other Puntland officials were killed in Bosaso and Qardho in the past few month.
The attack comes only one day after the Puntland parliament voted for a new amendments of the oil exploration deal which the government is willing to sign agreements with foreign oil companies.
KAMPALA, 21 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The UPDF has been shaken by the discovery that some of the battle-hardened Al Shabaab militants it is fighting in the volatile Somalia were trained here at home.
Highly placed military sources have told The Observer that the commander of the Ugandan peacekeeping contingent in Somalia, Maj. Gen. Nathan Mugisha, has advised the Commander of the Lands Forces, Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala, to put the UPDF and other security agencies on “extra alert” as the Ugandan-trained Islamists could plan a terrorist attack in the country.
The UPDF has been secretly training Somali forces at Bihanga Military Training School in the Western Uganda district of Ibanda. The Observer has been told that the UPDF was shocked when it discovered that one of the Al Shabaab fighters killed in the recent fighting near Medina Hospital in Mogadishu was one of those trained by the Ugandan army at Bihanga.
Another Islamist fighter who was injured in the same fighting was also Uganda-trained, raising fear that the UPDF was unknowingly training fighters for Al Shabaab, a suspected extension of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.
“AMISOM has discovered that one [of the Islamist fighters] who died and one of the injured were trained by UPDF,” our source in Somalia said.
He added that this had confirmed fears that some of the Somalis trained in Uganda had turned their guns on the peace-keeping troops. According to this source, the injured Al Shabaab fighter who is now undergoing treatment at the UPDF’s field hospital in Mogadishu, would be interrogated after his recovery.
Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye, the Army Spokesman, told The Observer that he was not surprised that some of the Somali forces trained in Uganda had defected to Al Shabaab and turned the guns against their trainers. “If Jesus was betrayed by his own disciples, how about human beings?” he asked.
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Kulayigye explained that the Somalis are being trained at Bihanga under the African Union mandate. Since 2007, one and a half battalions have been trained there.
“It is to build capacity for the peace team. We have trained Somali police and so has Kenya and other neighbouring countries,” Kulayigye said in a brief phone interview on Saturday.
The development comes hot on the heels of another revelation by the African Union Special Representative for Somalia, Wafula Wamunyinyi, that some of the Al Shabaab fighters were actually Ugandans.
According to AMISOM Spokesman, Maj Ba-Hoku Barigye, the three Al Shabaab fighters he met spoke Luganda, Kifumbira and Ateso. He said one of the Ugandans told him he was a member of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group that operated in the Rwenzori Mountains along Uganda’s western border with the DR Congo.
Uganda and Burundi are the only African countries that have committed forces to the volatile Somalia that has not had a functional government since 1991 when President Siad Barre was overthrown. Although there is a transitional government in place today, its stint has been disrupted by tribal fighting.
Uganda’s presence in Mogadishu has caused some discomfort in Kampala, after one of the insurgents’ leaders, Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, threatened in a statement in October that Al Shabaab would attack Bujumbura and Kampala in retaliation for an incident involving the peacekeepers, in which about 30 civilians died.
In response, President Museveni warned that the Al Shabaab would regret its decision if it ever attempted to make good its threat.
“Those terrorists, I would advise them to concentrate on solving their problems. If they try to attack Uganda, then they will pay because we know how to attack those who attack us. Al-Shabaab wants to drag us into their war, they shell us and then they also shell Bakara, then they tell people there it was AMISOM (AU peacekeepers) who killed civilians,” said Museveni, said at the closure of the African Union summit on refugees.
More than 1.5 million Somalis are internally displaced and living in improvised camps, while hundreds of thousands of people have fled the country. According to reports, some three million people – half the population – are now in dire need of food aid.
ADDIS ABABA, 21 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – This week, the spiritual leader of [Somalia’s Islamist group] Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a, Shaykh Mahmud Shaykh Hasan Farah, accompanied by a 14-member delegation visited Addis Ababa, holding discussions with Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin last Sunday [13 December]. Shaykh Mahmud briefed Minister Seyoum on Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a aims and objectives. He pointed out the movement’s primary goal was for the different communities in Somalia to live in peaceful coexistence without any one group imposing its will on others. Ahlu Sunna believed in the absolute necessity of promoting good neighbourliness in the region. Shaykh Mahmud added that a necessary condition for peace and stability in Somalia and the region was the removal of extremist elements from Somalia, particularly Al-Shabab [radical Somali Islamist group fighting to overthrow the Transitional Federal Government].
Shaykh Mahmud emphasized that Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a fully accepted that the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has the recognition of the international community and it must, therefore, be the basis for all internal and external efforts to bring peace, stability and order to Somalia under the Djibouti [peace] agreement. Any government that excluded extremists is better than no government and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a was ready to work with the TFG. At the same time he noted that the agreement signed between Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a and the TFG in Nairobi in June has not worked as Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a had hoped. He said Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a had confronted Al-Shabab over 30 times during the last year and had been able to defeat it regularly. Full implementation of the Nairobi agreement would have created conditions to weaken and eventually wipe out Al-Shabab and Hisb al-Islam forces from most of Somalia. He added that Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a was now preparing to hold its first congress. Once this had been held, it would be able to devote all its energies to engage extremists more fully throughout central and south Somalia.
Shaykh Mahmud said he was dismayed by the apparent emergence of a parallel movement. He hoped the TFG leadership would assist in maintaining the unity of Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a to enable it to cooperate with the TFG more effectively. He appealed to Minister Seyoum for Ethiopian mediation to eliminate any minor differences between the TFG and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a and to help keep Ahlu Sunna united. Shaykh Mahmud emphasized that Ethiopia could help towards the fulfilment of the common objectives of all Somalis and assist the international community to understand more clearly where its own interests lie.
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Minister Seyoum, on his part, expressed his appreciation of the stance of Shaykh Mahmud and of Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a towards the TFG, the legitimate government of Somalia born out of the Djibouti process, with full support from the international community. He agreed with Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a on the absolute need to promote peaceful coexistence in Somalia and the region, and to remove extremist elements. The minister acknowledged the existence of problems within Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a and in its relations with the TFG but made it clear he thought these were not basic differences and that they could easily be resolved by negotiation and compromise. He said it was the philosophy of Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a, based on tolerance and moderation, which united all Somalis. The opposite view was that of Al-Shabab and Hisb al-Islam which not only promoted extremism but was also closely linked to international Jihadist movements and “spoilers”, in particular Al-Qa’idah. The ideology of extremism was the primary cause of the lack of peace and stability in Somalia today, and posed increasing threats to the region and beyond.
Minister Seyoum emphasized the need for Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a to work with the TFG. The government of Ethiopia, he said, would assist in any way to bring unity to Ahlu Sunna, and encourage cooperation with the TFG so they could face the common challenge from extremism together. He noted that if existing minor differences between the TFG and Ahlu Sunna were allowed to widen, it would create more opportunities for Al-Shabab and Hisb al-Islam and also lead to further difficulties for Ethiopia, the region and the international community, making it harder to assist Somalia to reach peace and stability.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Addis Ababa & BBC Monitoring
Democracy is the best possible system of government, but there is a dangerous disease that eats its body alive bit by bit. Corrupt elite worldwide poison the system with ill gotten money, buying votes in a different level of the society. In election they do bribe the public with fictitious programmes if not direct cash; in Parliament they silence the critic with its venom. Families are adulterated and children lose their decency. It is a sordid and cancerous disease that leaves no one untouched.
Corruption is the master key to injustice. It allows innocent citizens jailed, while despicable criminals fill seats of authority. Judges serve not justice but deliberate according to the price offered. Police are bought as well as all security apparatus. Drugs and weapons are stored in ministerial offices and residence and in many times under the bed of presidency itself. No nation can prosper nor enjoy persistent peace without eradicating corruption. It is a slow killer but surely a killer that misses no target, as the target is so big to miss. It aims the entire nation.
Democracy as a safeguard of human rights can function, where rule of law prevails. That guarantee is non-existent in most developing nations. The Western Democracies rather than helping to nurture the essential institutions of democracy, engage greedy local politicians in transactions that are illegal to say the least and mostly of criminal in nature. They offer aid, grants and loans to despotic governments and in many times earn kickbacks in the process. It is that which cements a system of bribery and sleaze in developing states. Most grants and loans earmarked for the poor ends in the mouths of tyrants and their entourage.
President Obama is right to address corruption in Afghanistan, but that should entail all countries. Let us reward good governance and democracy and punish the rotten regimes that stick to the chair of satanic authority. They defend their illegitimate power ruthlessly and nothing to contribute to the well-being of their people. They rule by denying all basic human rights, turning the masters of their power into slaves. They loot people’s properties, as they did to people’s power. Ban them to travel, never giving them the chance to enjoy the courtesy of civilised nations. Trace their ill gotten wealth and prohibit them to taste purchase of a single penny they stole.
Climate change challenges cannot be mitigated without addressing the widely spread corruption in the developing states. No convention or treaty will be pending where everything is for sale, where deals have no restrictions, except the higher bidder gets all. World security is at risk where that kind of thinking is practised. Terrorists can find safe haven in corrupt states. They buy their way in and out. There is no more urgent and severe challenge to us all than corruption.
Building democratic institutions is the most effective remedy to crippling disease of corruption.
Here I illustrate some of the areas that call for immediate cure:
1. Capacity building of Parliaments as people’s representatives is extremely needed. Even financial help to members can be justified .The more we spend on Parliament; the more we can make the legislative corrupt regimes to account.
2. Equally, the Police and Judiciary should be given a helping hand.
3. Elections should be monitored and supervised by independent forums.
4. Their fairness depends on the impartiality of nation’s media. No state should be allowed to ban independent and free Medias. The West should provide direct help to build free media worldwide.
5. The need of a democratic opposition should be secured in international convention, pending to all nations.
A recent phenomenon damages the essence of democracy in old democracies. Democracy has its shortfalls. Lack of enthusiasm reduced citizens’ participation in politics. The abundance of freedom and tranquillity reduced the urge to involve in politics. That is witnessed in ever decreasing number of voters in national elections. It undermines the soul of democracy and gives un-proportional share of power to extremist few. If that tendency is not reversed, the rights of minorities will be at risk. We saw the referendum of banning Islamic Minarets in Switzerland. The vote of approval of this Stone Age subjugation of minority rights is passed by 57% of 53% of the registered electorates. That means 30% of the eligible voters. It is clear that the Swiss extremists manipulated and massaged their system to their advantage.
Democracy rather than majority rule is nowadays a minority rule. Well focused minority kidnaps the Western democracy and if that bias is unrestricted, we will lose all the rights associated with democracy bit by bit.
In conclusion let me leave you for your perusal conventional and essential rights glorified in the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. Learn them and gauge your government with them. How many of these rights are spoiled, how many are never heard in your state, and how many are known to the public. It will tell you where your nation is at the world league of good governance, transparency and democracy, all crucial ingredients of basic human rights.
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UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. END.
I hope this bird’s eye view highlighted how it is essential to build on good governance and justice worldwide, in order to bolster world security. Terrorism and injustice go hand in hand, and no corrupt system can defeat terrorism. Get rid of corrupt regimes, punish despots, nurture democracies, and establish free and independent media. These steps will bring about a peaceful world, where humanity co-exists in harmony, entertaining diversity in culture and religion.We will all enjoy our basic common need for justice and peace.
Written by:
Ahmed Arwo
Political Analyst
Muslim World and Africa
samotalis@gmail.com
SAMOTALIS GROUP:
Mogadishu (Somalilandpress)-The prime minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG], Umar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, said that unless the TFG is given the support it needs, the security situation in the country will get out of control.
Speaking at meeting in Nairobi on the situation in the country he affirms that there are senior Al-Qa’eda officials in Somalia, who are supporting the armed opposition groups that are fighting the government.
‘’these groups have now developed the capability to take full control of the country’’ Sharmarke said.
‘’And they can now take over TFG offices, if the international community and donor countries fail to give the support they have so far pledged to the TFG’’ he adds in a low voice tune.
There are many countries that have been giving military support to the TFG. These countries are now concerned that the arms to the TFG might have fallen into the hands of militant group in the country.
Analysts say this had made difficult for the TFG to get any kind of military support from Western nations.
The prime minister said they have tried re-establishing the armed forces and have since trained many of the new recruits. He added that these new forces need support from the international community so that they can effectively conduct their operations.
“As donors, you are expected to honour the pledge you made at the conference at the European Union headquarters. It is inevitable that the TFG be supported in order to avert a difficult situation that is likely to affect the whole of East Africa,” he says.
He accused the donor countries to have slowed in releasing the salaries of the TFG forces. The TFG is said to be facing serious cash shortage and thus the reason many of its officials have been recently travelling abroad in search of additional funds. Somali government officials are said to have received a lot of money and because of lacking accountability, no one knows how this money has been spent.
Donor countries have expressed serious concerns about lack of accountability in the TFG which has failed to provide a detailed audit of how the funds were spent and the widespread corruption, which are the two main reasons as to why the pledged funds are yet to be released.
Mr. Sharmarke is expected to attend a meeting in Saudi Arabia on the reconciliation process in Somalia at the 17th of December. The main agenda in the meeting will be ways of supporting the TFG and reconciliation among various groups in Somalia as well as the current financial difficulties being faced by officials of the TFG.
HARGEISA, 20 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Islamic militants fired mortars into Mogadishu’s police compound as the force was celebrating its 66th anniversary Sunday, sparking a battle that killed at least 12 civilians and a police officer, officials said.
One police officer was killed and three others were wounded in the fighting, which began after the mortar landed near the compound during the ceremony, police official Aden Ahmed said.
He said that government soldiers and the African Union forces returned fire, shelling Mogadishu’s rebel-controlled district. Most of the shelling hit near the Bakara market, a busy shopping area, Ahmed said.
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Ali Musa, the head of the Mogadishu ambulance service, said at least 12 civilians were killed and 15 others were wounded in the retaliation.
Somalia’s capital sees near-daily bloodshed as a powerful insurgent group with links to al-Qaida tries to overthrow the fragile government and push out 5,000 African Union peacekeepers.
Somalia has been ravaged by violence since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each other. A moderate Islamist was elected president in January amid hopes he could unite the country’s feuding factions, but the violence has continued.
Suicide bombings, unheard of in Somalia before 2007, have also become increasingly frequent and the lawlessness has raised concerns that al-Qaida is trying to gain a foothold in the Horn of Africa.
Earlier this month a suicide bomber attacked a university graduation ceremony in Mogadishu, killing 24 people, including three government ministers, medical students and doctors. The government blamed al-Shabab, which has denied responsibility. The group is part of an Islamic insurgency trying to topple the government.
