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Is this the end of the warlord era or the end the Somali republic? Part 1 By Mahamud Muse Tarey ayuub10@yahoo.com Mogadishu residents and the international community interested in the Somali affairs were surprised by the quick victory of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) over the union of 10 war-lords in a 4 month devastating war. Those warlords held whole Somalia captive for 16 years. The claim by the warlords that their war was part of war on terror urged the United States government to provide economic and logistic support to them. Islamic courts on the contrary solely relied on the unquestionable support of the general public. A closer review of this war will reveal that from the onset, there was a strong public commitment to free Somalia from the grip of those greedy and cruel warlords. The people’s spirit was tremendously high and unshakable. Many in Somalia considered this war as a holy war and thus a real rebellion against evil that bearded the fruit. An eye-witness recalled his experience as follows “I’ve never seen such an enormous steadfastness, motivation and feeling of unity among the public beyond their kinship like the war for the independence in the 50s.” As a result of the long-lasting civil war, every semblances of infrastructure was destroyed and more than half million civilians have been killed. In addition, more than two million have been forced to flee the country and are now scattered all over the world. The country has been divided into fiefdoms controlled by cold-blooded, war-mongering and brutal warlords. No words can express the magnitude of the destruction but some of the legacies of that horrible war could be summarized as follows: - 72% of Somalis have no access to basic healthcare (Save the Children, UK) - Mother-baby mortality rates are among the highest in the world (World Bank) - More than 50% of all child deaths are linked to diarrhea and respiratory infections (Trocaire) - 88% of childbirths take place without adequate medical care (world bank) - Overall primary school enrolment rate is only 17% (UNICEF, 2005) - Infant mortality rate (under 1 year) is 133 per thousand (UNICEF, 2005) - Under five mortality rate is 225 per thousand (UNICEF, 2005) - Only a third of the population has access to safe drinking water, and due to this cholera is a national epidemic. - 5.6 million Somalis live without or limited medical services and are highly vulnerable to preventable diseases (UNICEF,2005) - Malnutrition above 20%, exceeding internationally accepted rate of 15% (UNICEF, 2005).
All the above mentioned realities are directly or indirectly imposed by the warlords. Other warlord havocs on the people include:
- Creation of situations where hundreds of thousands of people lead a miserable life while they themselves enjoy lavish live - Forced migration of whole communities from their country of origin and caused death of over a half million people, more than 2 million refugees are scattered around the world and millions are internally displaced. - Caused separation of loved ones e.g. families and friends. - Practiced ethnic cleansing, indiscriminate killing, torture, rape, daylight robbery and constant intimidation. - Depleted all renewable and unrenewable natural resources - Destroyed everything considered public property like schools, universities, hospitals, roads, bridges and vandalized all national heritage institutions like museums, libraries and national archives. - Contracted with foreign companies to dump hazardous nuclear and non-nuclear wastes in mainland Somalia and its territorial waters. As a result of these unlawful practices, unknown animal and human diseases that could be linked to those wastes were for the first time recorded in Somalia. - Transformed the best arable lands into drug plantations. The high revenues from the drugs produce was for running their war machinery. - Established temporary seaports and airports and levied high taxes on clients. Those ports were also used for smuggling weapons importation and drugs exportation - Each warlord made himself an army of gangs for public torture, annihilation, constant intimidation and humiliation. - Warlords hijacked the public’s will by sabotaging and failing every effort for reconciliation and the creation of a government capable of restoring law and order. - Warlords divided the country into small fiefdoms each controlled by one warlord. Everything in that fiefdom including people was considered his private property. Mogadishu alone had dozens of these fiefdoms.
Many people strongly believe that if there could have been an effective international court of justice and all United Nations conventions were being followed and implemented, those warlords would have faced justice and would have held accountable for their crimes. Certainly, they are not less criminals than John Taylor of Liberia, Milosevic of Serbia, Karadzic of Bosnia, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and many others charged with crimes against the humanity. The paradox is instead of those dangerous warlords being put on trail; they are respected and sometimes rewarded with economic assistance and political support. What led to the creation of the Islamic Courts? Pondering over the aforementioned socio-economical and geo-political devastating affects of the civil war and the war-mongering warlords and their brutal reign over the last 15 years, the Somali people were in state of tremendous despair and frustration. Warlords were just interested in filling up their own wallets and keeping their human slaughtering markets or fiefdoms under their tyranny. It can be argued that the emerging of ICs are therefore the direct and inevitable consequences of state failure but also the cruelty of the warlords and the consequent anarchy. Constant horrific violence, human rights abuses, economical and social destruction, and also the lack of future perspectives reached an unbearable point. Failing to address these issues adequately by the warlords or other internal and external actors necessitated an action. In essence, someone has to fill such a power vacuum. Arguably for many and fairly for others, the ICs emerged from such an impasse and acted accordingly. Initially, at the end of the 90s some victimized local communities in Mogadishu organized themselves to protect themselves from the looters/gangs and other criminals. This was the birth of the Local Courts based on the Sharia law. To reinforce the courts rule, local militias belonging to the Courts were established. Consequently, in areas under their control, the Security issues have improved significantly. This encouraged other tribes and/or sub clans in many parts of Mogadishu to follow suite and within very short period the local courts became increasingly popular. Many attempts to discredit the courts were employed by the warlords but instead they gained the public sympathy as there was no other alternative. The publics strong support for the Islamic Courts did not necessarily mean that they associated themselves with the religious leaders or shared their views, but their only concern with their safety and security. In this regards, anyone who could have met these basic rights and restore law and order would have categorically qualified for their unlimited support. For instance, hundreds of thousands of Mogadishu residents took to the streets to welcome the transitional government established in Arta, Djibouti in 2000, hoping the government will provide and reinstall stability. The masses were ready to sacrifice everything to make that government functional. Unfortunately, that government failed and as a result forced the public to rally its support behind the Islamic courts once again. Failure of the Arta’s Transitional Government urged another reconciliation conference held in Kenya. After 2 years of tiresome negotiations, another transitional government in which the warlords got the biggest slice of the cake was agreed upon. The main reason for the inclusion of the warlords in this government was that they were real threat and obstacle for any proper functioning of the government as proven over the past years. A transitional government with a mandate period of 5 years and a 275 member parliament was established in Kenya in 2004. To pacify the warlords, all the delegates accepted that the warlords be included in both the parliament and in the government. Again, this was not because people had compassion for the warlords, but just to bring about the end of this long-lasting political stalemate and the following human disaster and loss of property. The warlords did not honor their part of the deal package and Mogadishu security became from bad to worse. Due to the security concerns, the Transitional Government was reluctant to make Mogadishu as its seat. Finally, Jowhar, a town 90km North of Mogadishu was chosen to temporarily host the transitional government. All promises by warlords to make Mogadishu a safe place for the government to function did not materialize. Instead they turned on each other and the security deteriorated further. All hopes of a functional government went down the drain and the public held the warlords accountable for this. As a result of this, public hate for warlords reached record highs. The warlords decided to maintain the status quo so long they were benefiting from the anarchy and the lawlessness. The public decided to somehow or the other deal with this impasse. The public and the warlords were bound for confrontation. It can be argued that the Somali crisis did not get the proper international attention. This lack of intervention encouraged the warlords further and further. The masses lost trust in the international community for failing to lift the warlord savagery on them. Unfortunately, among others, the high ranking American diplomats and think tanks have confirmed that the United States administration rewarded the warlords with financial support on the grounds that they were waging war on allege terrorist cells in Mogadishu. This did not only spark enormous public outcry, but also caused an overall public resentment. Furthermore, many questioned the morale over the decision by the United States government of allying itself with those who have been terrorizing the whole nation and kept under their cruel captivity for 16 years. This was the turning point of most Somalis. Everybody unilaterally decided to prepare himself for a war as they saw to revoke injustice and to see once again a life worth living. The war started spontaneously and without planning. People who never knew each other before were fighting side by side. One could see women bringing food, water and medicine to the war front. Some of the people transformed their homes into temporary hospitals to care for the injured. Some volunteered in the burying of the dead. It was a collective effort and a real rebellion against what they saw an inhumane and an unblessed lot. In less than 4 months, the public triumphed over the warlords and liberated themselves from 16 years of abuse, injustice and downright slavery. Those who were born in the agony of injustice and abuse were the ones who defeated those who ruined their future and that of their parents and other loved ones. As we’ve seen on the various TV-screens and read in press reports, people in Mogadishu and in other liberated areas were greeted by the breeze of freedom and security for the first time in 16 years. One Mogadishu resident confided in me, " I went out of my house for the first time in 16 years, not afraid for my life and for my property. I freely walked through Mogadishu streets without once seeing a street gang or paying a penny of the protection money they imposed on us." One could proudly say that it is the end of a black era and the return of hope for millions of Somalis humiliated by their own lot. Furthermore, within couple of months, Mogadishu international airport and the harbor have been refurbished and reopened for business for the first time in more than a decade. In addition, huge self-help programmes like cleaning the wastes infested city have been launched by the women organizations, school children and other civil societies. Another important point is that UICs leadership succeeded to return private property to their rightful owners (taken by force in 1991). Islamic Courts with their short stay in power and with their limited experience in civil affairs have shown a major progress in the area of security and infrastructure rehabilitation. The Islamic courts also opened a formal military and police training to their different militias so they can function as a unified entity that has a proper mandate on security. This further consolidated the belief that Islamic Courts are better alternative to the madness and mayhem of the warlords. All these efforts were highly praised and welcomed across the country. Last but not least, I would urge the international community despite their past negligence to stand firm with the Somali community in their struggle for survival and political stability. This will lead Somalia to once again become a useful member in the international community. This calls for a comprehensive approach of reconciliation and a constructive dialogue between the warring factions to pave the way for the establishment of a strong government capable of restoring law and order. If all the power brokers do not engage in serious and true negations and adopt holistic approach, there might be a chance that Somalia becomes a haven and a breading ground for the international criminals. Helping to create a capable government that has the public backing and the international support will ultimately bring about a bright future for Somalis and will bring back the confidence of the neighboring countries and the world at large that now have some serious security concerns about the current developments. As it became obvious in the past, any attempt of ad hoc – whim style will most probably end up with failure. Such a failure might result in a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the country and most certainly a far reaching political ramification in the region as whole. Maxamud Tarey Sii-hayaha Safaaradda Soomaalida ee Suuriya Any and all personal opinions expressed in the Dalmar.org are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily shared by Dalmar Afeef: Ma aha aragtida Dalmar ee waa tan qoraaga
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