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Hargeysa, April 20, 2009 –
Large crowds defying government ban on demonstrations showed up at
rallies across the country to support the opposition KULMIYE party.
The Interior minister of Riyale administration, Mr. Cirro, has
repeatedly threatened to use force to stop political rallies by the
opposition parties.
The police which also turned out in large numbers could not stop the
rallies. However, some people say they expect more arrests to follow
akin to those that followed previous rallies organized by the party.
During the past two weeks a number of people were detained across the
country for participating in political rallies or expressing their
political views through the independent media.
Mr. Omar H. Rabi, an intellectual from the western city of Borama, is
spending his 7th day in prison after he was jailed by Awdal regional
authorities following an open letter he wrote to Riyale appealing to him
to refrain from the type of “policies” that create political crisis.
Assassination attempts
The two opposition parties, KULMIYE and UCID, in a joint statement
released recently accusing the administration of conspiring to
assassinate their leaders. The statement in which the parties reiterated
their constitutional rights to hold peaceful political rallies, pointed
out several incidents in which they said the lives of their leaders were
threatened.
The statement mentioned an incident at Somaliland-Ethiopian border town
of Tog Wajaale where a police commander threatened to kill Faisal Ali
Farah, UCID chairman. It also mentioned a similar incident at a rally in
front of KULMIYE headquarters in Hargeisa, where a man carrying a
pistol, fired on the crowds as KULMIYE leaders were addressing them. No
one was injured in that incident and police were able to apprehend the
suspect. KULMIYE accuses a senior member of Riyale administration to be
behind the “attempted assassination”.
Requests for a full investigation by the party leaders did not receive a
response from Riyale administration. Other reports say the suspect was
released by the criminal investigation department (CID).
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