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Puntland
State of Somalia Rejects
The
Outcome of “Arta
(Djibouti) Process”
As
It was undemocratic, unrepresentative and illegal
By
Ahmed
M. Haji-Jama
Email:
ahajijama@globalserve.net
Nov
2000
The
failed peace mission of 1992-1995
A
black eye for Canada was the title Tim Harper of The
Toronto Star chose for his article that appeared on
Sunday September 5, 1993 in the Insight Section of The
Toronto Star. In this analytical piece Tim tries to
highlight the many unanswered questions about Somalia that
continued to dog the then Prime Minister Kim Campbell on the
eve of her election call. The issue here was several incidents
involving Canadian Peacekeepers in which Somalis died.
The veteran Canadian journalist explains how the Somalia
Affair of 1993 become an embarrassment to the government
of Kim Campbell and how the Canadian peacekeeping reputation
was tarnished. Kim Campbell lost the election of 1993, the
Canadian Airborne Regiment involved in this incident was
discredited and eventually disbanded, and the reputation of
the highly professional military had taken a beating.
It was not only
the Canadian Forces that had problems in the 1992-1995
operations in Somalia. After spending about 5 billion US$,
losing 200 peacekeepers, getting thousands of Somalis killed
or maimed in the process, the
United Nations shamefully abandoned the mission in
Somalia in 1995.
What
went wrong? It is simple. It was lack of understanding what
the problem was and applying the wrong medicine.
A rta
(Djibouti) Process - another doomed process
The
international community is on the verge of making the same
mistake again. The UN again sponsored a seriously flawed
process concluded in Djibouti recently.
The
Djibouti/Arta Process that was organized by the government
of Djibouti and advised by the Office of the UN Secretary
General, made frequent claims that participants were from
the civil society; that clan elders from all regions of
Somalia supported the proceedings, that the process was
democratic, that both “parliament and President” were
chosen legally and that the Arta outcome was legitimate. The
truth is very different:
1.
The “Arta Conference” participants were not elected by
the civil society and administrations in the districts and
regions of the country.
2.
Clan elders were invited before the actual conference
started and they were specifically to advise President
Guelleh on (a) the timing of the start of the conference and
(b) methods of selection of participants from the districts
and regions. The majority of elders advised to delay the
opening of the conference to allow sufficient time for
delegate distribution and their election by their respective
constituencies in the regions. Djibouti government refused
to consider these proposals of the elders.
3.
The election of the so-called “Parliament” and
“President” in Djibouti can neither be democratic nor
legal when the participants of the “Arta Conference” are
not democratically or legally elected from their respective
constituencies. In fact, many of the “participants”,
especially those supposedly from Puntland, rejected the
“Arta Charter” which they said ignored the agreed
principle of agreement by consensus.
4.
The people who gathered in Djibouti for the
“Conference”, mostly consisting of remnants of the
butchers of the discredited
Siyad Barre regime who are directly responsible for the
Somali tragedy itself, were largely self-appointed,
hand-picked by Djibouti and without any official mandate by
the Somali communities who were not given the chance to
choose them.
5.
To further complicate the subject, the Djibouti government
rejected all advice from Puntland, Somaliland and other
political and traditional leaders and from the international
community on ways and means to make the process more
practical, democratic and equitable. It is a common
knowledge that the Djibouti government excluded important
Somali, regional and international actors from the process
for reasons only known to itself.
6.
The “Arta Peace and Reconciliation Process” was, thus,
undemocratic, unrepresentative and illegal. It was neither
transparent nor all-inclusive and its outcome is
unacceptable.
Therefore
the Puntland State of Somalia Rejects The Outcome of
“Arta (Djibouti) Process” As It was undemocratic,
unrepresentative and illegal.
The
present situation in the country
Somalia
has been experiencing a process of re-birth, re-making of a
nation by constituent building blocks.
This natural process will take time to crystallize
and get established.
Much
has been achieved in the Northern Recovery Zones - Puntland
and Somaliland in
the last 10 years, when much of the rest of the country was
experiencing lawlessness.
Governance structures based on the participation of
the local people at the grassroots level has been setup in
both areas. The normal government institutions are slowly,
but surely taking hold.
The law and order prevails in both areas (states).
Plans are underway to establish another 'state' - the
South Western State - in the Bay, Lower Shabeele and
Jubba Areas
The
actions of the international Community so far has been
directed at stopping or slowing down this evolutionary
process by proposing unworkable political solution to the
Somali crises. Much
efforts were devoted to the application of the wrong
medicine and very
little to understand the real problems.
A dozen reconciliation conferences have failed in the
last 8 years. The
1993 UN intervention failed.
And Djibouti, with the blessing of the UN systems,
had just produced a ‘government’ to be headed by
"president" Abdulqasim
Salad Hasan- an18-year loyal servant of the late
dictator General Mohamed
Siad Barre.
What
came out of Arta (Djibouti) is a throwback to the failed,
repressive, centralized governance structure that led to
the failure of the Somali State in 1991.
Many have hoped to see the reinforcement of the
"building Block" and peace dividend approach where
clearly the Recovery Zones in the North would be the corner
blocks on which the rest of the country would be pulled up
to reconstitute the nation again.
It
is possible, indeed probable, that the net result of
Djibouti Peace Process would be the destabilization of the
Recovery Zones in the North without really achieving peace
and governance in the South.
The
role of the international community
The
international community should try to put the Somali issue
in its proper historical perspective to understand the
underlying root causes of the Somali crises. The
international community can help if it realizes that the key
to the solution of the Somali Crises are the Somalis
themselves. The
on-going evolutionary process should be left to take its
natural course. A
New Somalia has been taking shape for some years now.
The interference of some regional powers in the
internal civil conflicts in the country, and the confused
actions of the international community will only serve to
perpetuate the civil conflict.
We
caution the international community that a central
government set up on the premises of the Djibouti process
will most likely not work, as the process does not reflect
the reality in present day Somalia. Care and sound informed
judgment should be exercised by the international community
to examine and establish the facts on the ground in the
country, and not to be misled by the media
campaigns and official statements.
The
reaction of the international community to the outcome of
Arta (Djibouti) process has been a mixed bag. Countries like
Sudan and the Djibouti - the author of the process - have
given outright recognition to the new 'president' and
Parliament, while many others, presumably fed up with the
lack of central government for 10 years, are ready to jump
on the bandwagon and recognize the Arta (Djibouti) process.
We
stress here that the Somali clan politics is treacherous and
can be extremely frustrating for those who do not know the
Somali clan structure and how the delicate balance of power
is maintained. To understand the intricacies of the politics
in the Horn of Africa, a short historical perspective of the
Somali Nation is in order
FACTS
ABOUT PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA
Puntland
is stable, peaceful, self-governing regional State with a
well functioning public administration firmly in place. It
consists of 5 of the 18 Somalia regions and contains over
one-third of the land surface and one-fourth of
the population of the Republic of Somalia. The 2-year Old
State has democratic constitution, elected State President,
Legislative Council and independent Judiciary. Within its
limited resources, it undertakes to promote justice, good
governance, and to protect human rights and the environment
in Puntland.
PSS
was the outcome of 8 painful years of quiet deliberations on
the failures of all efforts on national reconciliation and
the need for local political and administrative structures
in Puntland. A series of Consultative and Constitutional
Conferences attended by 600 representatives of these 5
regions of Puntland took place over a period of 12 months
from October 1997 to August 1998. These representatives from
all sectors of Puntland society came together and jointly
established, on their free will, the Puntland State of
Somalia on 1st August 1998.
Puntland
State of Somalia is an integral part of the Somali Republic
and strongly stands for the preservation of the unity,
integrity and sovereignty of Somalia. It urges and appeals
to the national and international communities to respect and
uphold these fundamental principles. PSS has been ready to
be one of the first pillars of a National Federal
government, which should be all-inclusive, equitable and
democratic that is untainted by involvement and influence of
former dictatorial regime. Puntland
have succeeded in establishing the basic government
institutions, and enacted laws that guarantee the basic human
rights and protect the environment. They have succeeded
in banning the burning of wood for charcoal production for
export, which was widely practiced before the government
came to office. They have also banned the export of wild
life from their area of
jurisdiction. They have removed from Puntland
Territorial Waters an estimated 3000 foreign vessels that
illegally fished in Somalia’s territorial waters, or
engaged in illegal activities like toxic waste dumping. In
the 2 years Puntland adminstration have been in office,
they have created a civil service and law enforcement force
of nearly seven thousand (7,000) men and women that oversee
the smooth functioning of the institutions. They have
scheduled an election in mid 2001 and a
new constitution when the term of 3-year interim period
will end.
CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
International
mediation efforts at Somali national reconciliation failed
12 times in the past. The 13th attempt at
Djibouti/Arta is also destined to fail, as it is presently
constituted. Many less publicized and less costly local
regional endeavors over the years have produced more
successful results in peace-making among many communities
and in the establishment of regional administrations. We
believe that there are very few people, if at all, who have
the will, trust and commitment to organize or fund a 14th
National Reconciliation Conference. A more realistic and
creative approach is required. A new process must be fully
Somali owned and address the real and priority concerns of
the Somali people. It should be well planned and based on
certain fundamental principles.
The
right approach, in our view, is to start
institution-building from the grass roots’ level where the
local and regional administrations could more realistically
cope with the vital and complex questions of peace,
stability, self-reliance and development.
In the
light of the past discouraging experiences, in view of the
sensitivities and the need for greater confidence building
discussed above, the Puntland State government proposes a
new initiative with different approach and composed of 4-phases:
PHASE-1:
A
local peace-making and conflict resolution process would be
undertaken by Somalis with contributions of logistical
assistance by the international organizations working in
Somalia as they have some form of presence in most regions
of the country. The local process would target areas and
regions in crisis to resolve clan conflicts and forceful and
illegal occupation of other communities’ territories.
During this phase, a political, legal and traditional Action
Plan would be put in place for the unconditional return of
illegally seized, looted or occupied public and private
property and assets to their rightful owners. A joint Somali
and international community severe sanctions would be taken
against aggressors, detractors and violators obstructing
these activities.
PHASE-2:
To
support the completion of the continuing process of Building
Blocks and the establishment of regional self-governing
States which is in line with the principle of
decentralization and inter-community trust-building. It
would also lay a solid foundation for a Federal System of
Government in Somalia on which system the majority of
Somalis agree. This process could, in part, develop in
parallel with PHASE-1. The relatively simple, effective,
unique, legitimate and unionist process that Puntland went
through in establishing its State serves as a practical
example.
PHASE-3:
On
the realization of PHASES 1 and 2, the elected legitimate
leaders of all the regional self-governing States would meet
in a National Conference to discuss modalities of forming
National Federal Government at the earliest convenient time,
possibly within a period of 6 to 12 months.
PHASE-4:
During
the transitional 6 to12 months period, the leaders of the
self-governing States of the day and one interim
representative from other zones, chosen on certain
creditable criteria, would form a National Care-taker
Council to act as the custodians of national unity and
sovereignty and for the coordination of regional and
national policies as well as to represent Somalia at
international forums. As new zonal States are established,
their leaders would automatically join the Council replacing
the interim representatives of their respective zones.
The
Puntland State Government would be ready to elaborate all
these ideas and submit more detailed proposals on necessary
mechanisms to organize and implement these processes. It is
our considered opinion that this proposition for a durable
solution to the Somali national crisis in consistent and
gradual steps deserves serious consideration.
We
have learnt a bitter, unforgettable and useful lesson from
the experience of our barbarous civil war: to concentrate
our energies and resources on the creation and maintenance
of efficient local institutions rather than blind dependence
on a centralized state and government.
It
should, perhaps, be added that, under the prevailing
difficult political and security conditions in the country,
the most the “Arta Group” could contribute is to
reign/control their untenable national ambitions and,
instead, limit themselves in assisting community and
political leaders in the Benadir region with conflict
resolution and regional institution building. Surely,
personalities who failed to make peace and reconciliation in
their own constituencies cannot be expected to the more
complex and intractable national strife.
Thank
you!
Ahmed
M. Haji-Jama, Co-founder
of first Somali-Canadian Association of Kitchener-Waterloo,
is also a Director of Daryeel
Relief, a Somali developmental charity group.
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