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A man
accused of murder is being shot by a relative of the
victim in Afgoye, Somalia (File) |
London, UK, January 23, 2010 – Amnesty International has
called for arms transfers to the Somali government to be
suspended until there are adequate safeguards to prevent
weapons from being used to commit war crimes and human
rights abuses.
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Washington, D.C, January
23, 2010 – On Wednesday (January 20, 2010), the Center for
Justice and Accountability (CJA) filed a brief with the
United States Supreme Court on behalf of the respondents in
the case of Samatar v. Yousuf, NO. 08-1555.
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Image
of a Shabaab
fighter from the
terror
group's website. |
By Daniele Raineri,
January 23, 2010
Speaking to a crowd in Ufurow district in the Bakool region,
Mahad Omar Abdikarin, Shabaab’s governor for the Bay and
Bakool regions in southwestern Somalia, recently announced
that the al-Qaeda-backed group will attack Puntland, the
semi-autonomous state, and the breakaway republic of
Somaliland.
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Many Await Freeport Bidding
Process Result |
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Monrovia, Liberia, January 23, 2010 – With the massive
publicity over the Freeport of Monrovia bidding process,
many are awaiting the result from the committee reviewing
proposals presented by two companies.
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Many
Somalis were involved in a protest in Nairobi last
week |
Nairobi, Kenya, January 23, 2010 – Kenya has warned MPs from
Somalia to stop using Nairobi as a safe haven from the chaos
in their own country.
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Members of
Somalia’s hardline Islamist rebel group, al Shabaab,
marching with weapons during a graduation ceremony in
Mogadishu. Inset, Somalia President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
REUTERS |
By Steve Mbogo (email
the author)
Nairobi, Kenya, January 23, 2010 – Countries bordering Somalia
are planning to coordinate a major assault against positions
held by al- Shabaab militia in Somalia, using ethnic Somali
military officers being trained in their respective boundaries.
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Nairobi, Kenya, January 23, 2010 — While the Al-Shabaab
militia enjoys little support among the Somalis, they have
vowed not to negotiate with Transitional Federal Government
(TFG) or lay down arms until the entire country is under
Islamic law.
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London, UK, January 23, 2010 – Peter Tatchell has won
Liberal Democrat Voice's third annual Liberal Voice of the
Year award for his "tireless and fearless international
human rights campaigning."
The runner-up was author and journalist Ben Goldacre. Other
contenders were Joanna Lumley, Rory Stewart, Terry Pratchett,
Henry Porter, Guy Herbert and Alan Rusbridger.
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ITS
ETNA Refueling Pakistan Navy Frigate PNS KHAIBAR |
Gulf of Aden, January 23, 2010 – While patrolling in the
Gulf Of Aden, EU NAVFOR Flagship ITS ETNA, with COMEUNAVFOR
RAdm Giovanni Gumiero embarked, provided the Pakistan Navy
Frigate PNS KHAIBAR with fuel and water, thus enhancing the
spirit of cooperation among coalition Naval forces operating
on anti piracy patrol in the gulf of Aden.
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Somali Terror Suspect Out
Of Jail
Seattle
resident is cooperating in the investigation of Minneapolis
men who left to fight in Somalia. |
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By JAMES
WALSH
Minneapolis-ST.Paul, Minnesota, January 23, 2010 – A Somali
man who admitted that he trained with terrorists in Somalia
and helped construct a terrorist training camp was released
from jail on Thursday pending sentencing.
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full text...
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Sweden To Strengthen Its
Commitment In Somalia |
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Stockholm, January 23, 2010 – The Government will today
submit a Government Bill to the Riksdag, in which it is
proposed that HMS Carlskrona be made available for
participation in the EU maritime operation off the coast of
Somalia (Operation Atalanta).
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full text...
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AP Interview: Interpol
Hunting Pirate Money |
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LYON,
France, January 23, 2010 – Interpol has seen no proof so far
that terror groups like al-Qaida are profiting from
big-money ransoms paid out to pirates operating off eastern
Africa, the international police group's No. 2 said Tuesday.
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Ministers Attending Summit
Expected To Press For Release Of Canadian |
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, January 23, 2010 – The African Union
summit, which is being held in Ethiopia later this month, is
raising hope that senior Canadian politicians will get a
chance to press the case of a former Torontonian who has
been sentenced to life in prison in Addis Ababa.
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full text...
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French FM Rallies Support
For Somali President |
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Paris, France, January 23, 2010 – French Foreign minister
Bernard Kouchner on Tuesday urged the international
community to support the president of the Somali
transitional federal government, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, saying
the fight against terrorism strongly depends on such a
support.
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full text...
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Somali Rebels Deny
Threatening To Attack Nairobi |
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By Sahra Abdi
Nairobi, January 22, 2010 – Somalia's hardline al Shabaab
rebels denied on Friday they had threatened to attack Kenya
following a crackdown on Somalis in its capital Nairobi, and
said a recording posted on the internet was a fake.
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full text...
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'European Union Will Not
Block Rebel-Held Somali Ports' |
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Brussels, January 23, 2010 – The European Union (EU) will
not organize an operation to block rebel-held ports in
Somalia, an EU official said in Brussels on Tuesday.
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full text...
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Scots Firm's Laser Gun To
Foil Somali Pirates |
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By Alastair
Dalton
Dunoon, Scotland, January 23, 2010 – A LASER that dazzles
and disorientates has been developed by a Scottish firm to
help ship-owners ward off pirate attacks.
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Prime Minister Gordon Brown Will
Work With Somaliland On Combating Terrorism |
British Prime Minister,
Gordon Brown.
Photograph: Andrew
Parsons/PA
London, UK, January 23,
2010 (SL Times) – Alun
Michael, a member of the
British Parliament with
strong interest in
Somaliland issues asked
Prime Minister Gordon
Brown this week if he is
going to “continue the
Government's engagement
with the Government of
Somaliland”? The Prime
Minister replied, “We
will work with all
Governments against the
terrorist threat.”
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Al-Shabaab Trying To
Slip Into Somaliland |
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Hargeysa, Somaliland,
January 23, 2010 (SL Times) – A contingent of al-Shabaab
terrorists have recently left Mogadishu and arrived at an area
between Dhahar in eastern Sanag region and Puntland. They are
now trying to enter Somaliland so they could carry out terrorist
operations.
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British
Delegation Visits Somaliland |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, January 23, 2010 (SL Times) – A
delegation from the British embassy visited Hargeysa this
week. The delegation was led by the British Deputy
Ambassador to Ethiopia, His Excellency Mr. John Marshal.
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KULMIYE’s Top Diplomat Speaks Of
His US Visit |
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London, UK, January 23, 2010 (SL Times) – After meeting with
the United States officials and the Somaliland Diaspora,
KULMIYE’s top diplomat, Dr. Mohamed A Omar, has today arrived in
London and said his party is best placed in advancing Somaliland
interest internationally.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, January 23, 2010 (SL Times) – Somaliland
President Dahir Rayale Kahin held a press conference on Tuesday.
Speaking about the election, he said the issue is settled and
there will not be an extension of his term in office. He added
that the only remaining question is for the Server to be fixed,
and for the election commission to set a date for the election,
and that whoever is raising the issue has ulterior motives.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, January
23, 2010 (SL Times) – Somaliland President, Dahir Rayale
appointed Mr Abdirahman Osman Aden as minister of state for
foreign affairs. Mr Abdirahman Osman Aden filled the position
left vacant by the previous minister of state, Mr Said Muhammad
Nur, who passed away.
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Third Member Of Puntland
Parliament Slain |
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Bosaso, Somalia, January 23,
2010 (SL Times) – A member of Puntland’s parliament, Mr Ahmed
Abdi Jibril (Dakhare) was shot this week in Bosaso. He was
rushed to a hospital but passed away there.
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Mass Arrests Of Somalis In Kenya |
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Anti-riot
policemen beat up a Muslim demonstrator near the Jamia
Mosque in Kenya's capital Nairobi |
Nairobi, Kenya, January 23, 2010 (SL Times) – Kenyan police made
a security sweep throughout Nairobi and other parts of Kenya in
which they arrested hundreds of Somalis. Among those arrested
were Somali politicians and parliamentarians who had left their
country’s insecurity for the relative safety of Kenya.
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ONLF Kills And Injures Civilians |
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Daroor,
Ethiopia, January 23, 2010 (SL Times) – The Ogaden Liberation
Organization (ONLF) killed one civilian and injured four others,
including a woman. The name of the man who was killed by the
ONLF is Ahmed Yusuf Jama.
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Hundreds Of Thousands Flee Haiti’s
Capital |
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A Haitian
worker (L) inspects the port in Port-au-Prince on
January 22, 2010 following the massive 7.0-magnitude
quake that shattered the country. Desperate Haitian
quake survivors braved new aftershocks Friday to get the
first major food hand-outs in the capital, as rescuers
switched from searching for buried victims to helping
the living. |
PORT-AU-PRINCE,
Haiti, January 23, 2010 – Haitians are fleeing their
quake-ravaged capital by the hundreds of thousands, aid
officials said Friday, as their government promised to help
nearly a half-million more move from squalid camps on curbsides
and vacant lots into safer, cleaner tent cities.
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Rihanna to Perform 'Stranded' in
Haiti Telethon
Rihanna, Bono, Jay-Z to perform
new song titled 'Stranded' at Haiti telethon |
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The artist
Rihanna during her visit to Norwegian Broadcasting to
record the talk show "Skavlan" |
OSLO January 23, 2010 – Rihanna says she will perform a new song
called "Stranded" with rapper Jay-Z and U2's The Edge and Bono
at Friday's "Hope for Haiti" telethon in London.
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Zhang Xuping poses for a photo
outside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, in this Aug. 1, 2007 file
photo. Zhang became something of a local hero for killing Li Shiming, a
hated party secretary of the Xiashuixi village, in September 2008. |
BEIJING, January 23, 2010 – When Li Shiming was stabbed through the heart by a
hired assassin, few of his fellow villagers mourned the local Communist Party
official many say made their lives hell by seizing land, extorting money and
bullying people for years.
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"I Don’t
Want Him, Save Me!"
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Benjamin Joffe-Walt
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 23, 2010 – Saudi women's rights advocates are
outraged after a 12-year-old girl was sold by her father into marriage with an
80-year-old man.
A Saudi father, whose name has not been released, sold his 12-year-old daughter
to his 80-year old cousin for the equivalent of $22,600. The elderly man, who
lives in the city of Buraidah, stands accused of raping the girl after the
wedding. He has previously married three other young girls.
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“When we cannot protect our own
lands from terrorists, how can we guarantee for India,” Gilani told
Gates. |
By Aamir Latif
ISLAMABAD – Angry with the Obama administration’s position on arch-rival India,
Pakistan’s Army has rejected a US request to launch a new offensive against
Taliban in the northern tribal belt.
“Our resources and situation on ground do not allow us to open a new battlefront
against militants in North Waziristan or any other area,” Major General Ather
Abbas, director general of inter services public relations (ISPR), told
IslamOnline.net.
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Tristan McConnell and Narayan Mahon, Photographer
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Virginia Quarterly Review
January 23, 2009
As
we sped through the dusty heat of rural Somaliland on one of the
country’s few paved roads, an armed escort behind us and the
hills of Ethiopia ahead, Dr. Adan Abokor told me his story.
Abokor is sixty-two years old with thinning, gray hair, and his
steady, measured voice can mask his emotions, but his energy is
undiminished, and his memories of 1982 are still raw. “I was a
member of the Hargeysa Group,” he began. The now-famous
organization of professionals started with the simple intent of
improving schools and hospitals in the northwest region when the
regime of General Mohamad Siyad Barre, then dictator-president
of Somalia, showed little interest in developing the area. But
as they held public meetings and launched a newspaper called Ufo—meaning
“the wind before the storm”—the group became increasingly vocal
in its criticism of the government’s neglect. Siyad Barre deemed
their opposition seditious and ordered the Hargeysa Group
leaders rounded up. Their incarceration was the spark for riots
still remembered every February as the Dayof Stone Throwing.
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By Jerry Mazza, January 23, 2010
Press TV reports that “There are . . . allegations of
US-sponsored bomb plots in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. As
of 12 Jan 2010, at least 18 people have been killed in clashes
between rival factions in southern and central Somalia, and
there are reports that Blackwater/Xe mercenaries have entered
the country.” That’s for starters.
What’s more, “A battle broke out between the pro-government Ahlu
Sunnah militia and Hizbul Islam fighters in the town of
Baladwayne on Sunday and went well into Monday, during which at
least 13 people lost their lives, witnesses said . . . There are
also allegations of US-sponsored bomb plots in the capital. The
bombings will be carried out in order to create a pretext to
launch a campaign against the [hard-line Islamist] Al-Shabaab, a
spokesman of the group, Sheikh Ali Mohammed Rage, told Reuters.
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By J. Peter Pham, Ph.D.
January 23, 2010
Exactly one year ago, Barack Obama's inauguration as the
forty-fourth President of the United States of America was
celebrated by millions of men, women, and children who,
quite literally, danced in the streets, even though they had
never met him, much less had no formal part in the historic
election that brought him to office. As I
noted the very morrow of Obama's victory over Senator
John McCain, the former's "unique personal history means
that he is the first son of Africa in the diaspora to be
entrusted with the leadership of any major power, much less
the chief magistry of what is still the world's political,
military, economic, and cultural superpower," and,
consequently, those millions of Africans not only have an
incredible emotional investment in his personal political
fortunes, but also cherish the hope that they believe it
represents for the relationship between America and Africa.
And, as I went on to argue, this set of circumstances would
give the new president "a rare opportunity to translate
effusive sentiments of good will into a windfall of
diplomatic capital which, if he husbands it prudently, can
significantly advance America's values and interests on the
continent while helping to achieve Africans' aspirations for
peace, stability, and development." So, how do things
look one year later?
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full text...
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Pamela Merchant
Executive Director, Center for Justice and Accountability
How would you feel if a man responsible for the rape,
torture and murder of thousands of people was living freely
in your community? That's right -- parking next to you at
Costco, sitting next to you at the movie theater, or waiting
in line behind you at the dry cleaner. If you live in our
nation's capitol, one of your neighbors is Mohamed Ali
Samantar, the former Minister of Defense for Somalia under
the brutal Siyad Barre regime.
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full text...
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1969 Military Coup In Somalia
Part IX |
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By Dr. Mohamed-Rashiid
Sh. Hassan
This is the ninth article of a series
of articles that Dr. Mohamed-Rashid analyses the military
coup and its legacy
The Regime’s Foreign Policy (Core Countries)
Since independence, Somali foreign policy was mainly built
around the question of seeking the unification of all Somali
territories under one state. This was the fundamental
premise of Somali foreign policy. The military regime made
the following six points their foreign policy guidelines:
1. Support for international solidarity and
national liberation movements.
2. Oppose and fight all forms of colonialism and
neo-colonialism.
3. Struggle to maintain Somali National unity.
4. Recognize strongly the principle of peaceful
coexistence between all peoples.
5. Continue the policy of positive neutrality.
6. Respect and recognize all international
commitments undertaken by this country.
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How Financers of Terrorist
Attacks Against Somaliland Enjoy Western Lifestyle |
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By Dalmar Kahin
Although Al-Shabaab terrorists’ horrific attacks steal
attention from the other deadly groups in Somalia, some
smaller group’s violent campaign also sends body parts
flying over rooftops in Somaliland. Yet hardly anyone pays a
scant attention to them. Worse yet, they orchestrated their
villain attacks not in Somaliland—but in the West.
Read full text....
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Book Launch: “The Politics Of
Cain” |
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Written by: Kaltun Osman,
UK
A new book named “Politics of Cain: one hundred years of
crises in Somali politics” written by Prof. Hussein A.
Bulhan was recently launched in London. The event which was
organized by Kayd Somali Arts and Culture was attended by a
number of people who came from different places.
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Focus On Somalia: Rethinking
The Paradigm For Conflict |
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By Ali Al Somali, A
Dubai based Somali businessman
It seems that ““Somalia is the new Afghanistan” has become
the new mantra amongst security professionals engaged in the
US-led Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). At first glance,
Somalia does seem to possess many of the key characteristics
that keep American foreign policy advisors and intelligence
analysts awake at night; a weak central government, an
Islamist insurgency affiliated with Al-Qaeda, proximity to
global shipping routes as well as unstable US allies in a
politically sensitive region. Despite the fact that none of
these conditions are new, the advent of piracy that has
propelled the Somali issue firmly back on to the
international community’s foreign policy agenda. Unless the
instability in Somalia is addressed directly, however, it
will continue to be difficult, if not impossible to clamp
down upon piracy and the threat of regional instability
posed by Somali-based Islamic radicals.
Read full text.....
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New Radio Station For The
Djiboutian Opposition: Could They Be Able To Use It
Responsibly? |
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Written by: Mohamed Awaleh, freelance writer
The other day a friend of mine sent me an email about a new internet-based Radio
station about two weeks ago: www.lavoixdedjibouti.com. (The voice of Djibouti).
The message of this Website announce: ‘a group of young Djiboutian Diaspora
opens up a free and independent Radio station. It doesn’t say where exactly this
Station based at and who’s financing it. To make the matter worse; it’s
difficult to reach them. But when I tuned in, though with their last two
programs the actual broadcast says otherwise –despite of what the young
Announcer claimed that la voix de Djibouti to be. It was indeed far from
impartial nor is the voice of all Djiboutians.
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Somalia's Instability Is Not Ethiopia's Fault |
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By
Ambassador Berhanu Kebede
Your
article "Violence,
fear and confusion: Welcome to the Horn of Africa" (World News) implied Somalia was
at peace before Ethiopia's
intervention in 2006. Assumptions used to criticize Ethiopia in relation to the
instability are unfounded and fallacious. Lack of peace and stability in Somalia
date from the overthrow of Siyad Barre in 1991.
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United Kingdom: Piracy Off
Somalia: Prosecutions, Procrastination And Progress |
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Article by John Knott,
January 23, 2010
This article looks at some of the legal and practical
problems involved in prosecuting suspected pirates detained
by warships off Somalia, and reports on the progress being
made towards enhancing the criminal justice systems in
regional states where trials are held, and in establishing
humane detention facilities in Somaliland and Puntland for
convicted pirates.
One striking feature of the various counter-piracy naval
operations in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden is that,
while warships of many nations have been successful in
preventing many hijackings, more pirates and suspected
pirates have been released—often being repatriated to
Somalia without any weapons but with fresh supplies of food
and clothes—than have been detained for prosecution. This
has happened even when pirates have been captured while
holding hostages. At first sight, this suggests that in such
instances there was either ample evidence of guilt, or the
naval forces were confiscating possessions in dubious
circumstances.
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The Forgotten Country,
Somaliland |
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By Soren Villadsen, January 23, 2010
Why do we have such a negative attitude to a society that
has broken with the violence and terror in Somalia?
Somalia
has repeatedly singled out as perhaps the worst place anyone
could imagine living. It is unfortunately the same message
coming from Somalis who are trying to scrape through life in
this reign of terror.
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