Issue 57 February 22, 2003
| SPECIAL |
Somalia and Survival in the Shadow Of the Global Economy
Special Guest Writer for the Somaliland Times, Prof. William Reno, Northwestern University
"Somalia was once considered one of Africa’s few real nation-states, based upon a shared Somali language and single ethnic culture.... As of 2002, the closest thing to a central government in Mogadishu was a precarious administration that controlled a small area of the city, a result of protracted negotiations in neighboring Djibouti."
| FEATURE |
The Biggest Gathering Of Civil Society Organizations
Hargeisa (SL Times): A symposium on civil society in Somaliland and Somalia will be launched today at the Ambassador Hotel in Hargeisa. The symposium will be in session until Feb 26, 2003. During this symposium, participants are expected to discuss studies on the status of civil society in Somaliland and Somalia as well as donor assistance to development in these two countries. The reports on these two topics have been undertaken by the international NGO, NOVIB.
Censorship Introduced at Government Owned Media
Hargeisa (SL Times): President Rayale’s government has introduced censorship at the two media outlets it controls.
Although it has been the norm for managers at government-owned media to suppress all information deemed by them as critical of, or embarrassing to the incumbent Administration, the government has more recently embarked on a policy of complete censorship of all material issued by the official media.
20th Feb School Children Uprising Observed
Hargeisa (SL Times): The 20th anniversary of the 20th February school children uprising was observed on Thursday. It was 21 years ago when thousands of high school students went to the streets in protest against the imprisonment of members of the UFFO group by the dictatorial regime of Siyad Barre. UFFO was a self-help group whose members were mainly university graduates. They were arrested by Siyad Barre’s secret police for embarking on a scheme for cleaning Hargeisa’s only public hospital. After they were charged with acts of subversion and belonging to an illegal organization, members of the UFFO group were brought to Hargeisa regional court to stand trial.
Somaliland/Somalia: Human Rights Defenders Issue Declaration
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty, 21 February 2003
As the four-month-long Somali Peace and Reconciliation Conference resumes at a new Kenyan venue and with a new chairperson, Somali human rights activists have issued an important declaration founded on their many years of mostly unacknowledged and risk-fraught human rights defense work.
Somaliland Denies Supporting Anti-Puntland Forces
Nairobi, February 19, 2003 (IRIN): The authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have denied accusations by the neighbouring self-declared autonomous region of Puntland of supporting and arming dissident forces.
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MORE PICTURES FROM THE SYMPOSIUM ON CIVIL SOCIETY |
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| EDITORIAL & OPINION |
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Is the Ministry of Information Needed? The Somaliland government has many ministries that it neither needs nor affords to maintain. One of these unnecessary and costly bureaucracies is the Ministry of Information, headed by the controversial minister, Abdillahi Mohamed Duale. With a staff of over 100 people, the Ministry runs a radio station whose transmission barely covers Hargeisa and 3 newspapers (The daily Maandeeq and the two weeklies, the Horn Tribune and the Arabic Qarnul Afriqi) that usually nobody bothers to read due to their lack of credibility. |
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Political Mudslinging Campaign Against Rayale It is common knowledge that the false charges of 'war crimes' being leveled against President Rayale by supporters of Silaanyo are nothing more than political mudslinging of the basest kind. It is a well known, if rather dirty, fact of political life that when a certain kind of candidate cannot find any positive factor with which to enhance his electoral prospects, he or she will resort to mud-slinging in desperation. This is the politics of "win by any means, fair or foul." |
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Somaliland Forum On IRIN’s Reporting On Somaliland A study undertaken by Amina A. Jama and Dr. Abdishakur Jowhar on IRIN’s reporting on Somaliland and Somalia has revealed a consistent pattern of bias against Somaliland (See attached report). That pattern of bias against Somaliland consists of consistent under-reporting that ignores the major events, which have marked Somaliland over the past few years, and in particular over last year. |
| PEACE TALKS |
Anger Over Somali Talks Move
The controversial relocation of the National Reconciliation Conference for
Somalia from the Kenyan town of Eldoret to Nairobi led this week to the
airing of many grievances and complaints in various African media outlets.
Interview With Kenyan Bethwel Kiplagat
"It Is Implied That Somaliland Is Included In Somalia"
Nairobi, February 17, 2003 (The East African): Retired Ambassador Bethwel
Kiplagat took over from Elijah Mwangale as Kenya's Special Envoy to
Somalia on January 18. He comes in just as Phase II of the Somali
Reconciliation Conference is winding up. He spoke to Special Correspondent
Cathy Majtenyi on the challenges and progress at the talks.
AL Committee On Somalia Meets
Arabia News.com - The Arab League (AL) committee in charge of Somalia held
a meeting yesterday at the headquarters of the Arab League headquarters in
Cairo with the participation of the permanent representatives of the Arab
states members in the committee during which they discussed the Arab
efforts made to achieve reconciliation among all Somali groups and
following up the resolution of the special Arab Beirut summit on Somalia's
supporting Fund.
| INTERNATIONAL NEWS |
African Leaders Back France On Iraq
PARIS, France, February 21, 2003 (CNN) - African leaders have backed France's position on Iraq and urged the United States not to use force without first obtaining the blessing of the United Nations.
War On Terror Africa-Style
Frank Gardner - BBC security correspondent in Djibouti
The Pentagon and the CIA have opened up a new front in the war on terror. It is not in the Gulf, but in the Horn of Africa.
From a hi-tech command ship in the Indian Ocean and a secretive base in Djibouti, Washington is collecting information on al-Qaeda and preparing to mount covert operations against its operatives in seven countries.
General John Sattler Comments To Journalists In Addis Ababa
ADDIS ABABA, 21 February (IRIN) - US Major General John Sattler is commanding the US-led anti-terrorist task force based in Djibouti, known as the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF). Following are his comments to journalists in Addis Ababa on Friday after a three-day visit to Ethiopia.
| CULTURE |
Abdirahman Hassan (Raas): The Singer/Songwriter Who Died Of Love
Abdirahman Ahmed Shunuuf, Mohamed Ahmed Shunuuf and Mohamoud Ahmed Shunuuf
| HEALTH |
UNICEF Identifies Key Issues In Somalia
Nairobi, February 20, 2003 (IRIN): The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has
said that the survival and protection of children and women will remain
key issues in Somalia over the next five years.
Child Rights Report 2002
Introduction
The Center for Children’s Rights (CCR) is a small activities
organization, which is child rights research and action center. It works
to enhance adherence to the rights of the child, as expressed in the
United Nations Convention on the rights of the child (UNCRC).
| NOTICE |
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UNIVERSITY OF HARGEISA The university of Hargeisa has the following two (2) vacant positions.
Each applicant must have a recognized degree and must have two (2) years of administrative experience in a similar senior post. |
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Stop Polio! The Somaliland Ministry of Health and Labor is pleased to inform all inhabitants of Somaliland’s urban, rural and nomadic settlements that the first round of the National Immunization (NIDs) will commence on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of this month (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). During these NIDs all the under-5 children will be vaccinated against the lethal poliomyelitis disease. The Ministry Of Health and Labor therefore, hereby requests fellow Somalilanders to vaccinate their children and in the meantime extend their utmost support and collaboration to the vaccination teams who are to visit homes and settlements during the 25th, 26th and 27th of this month, for polio vaccination. |
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