OPEN LETTER TO SOMALI PRIME MINISTER, HASSAN KHEYR

OPEN LETTER

About the Arms Embargo On Somalia.

TO:    The Honorable Prime Minster of Somalia, Hassan Ali Khyre.

Sept 30, 2017

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

We write to you today as human right activists and members of Somali Peace And Human rights Centre mainly operating in lower Shebelle region of Somalia, in order to express our deep concern regarding your request from the United Nation Assemble to uplift the long term arms embargo on Somalia, because of, the human right violations being directly involved by the SNA and clan militias by using the government weapons in lower Shebelle region of Somalia.

On 22^nd September 2017, Mr. Prime Minister, you have participated the General assembly of the United Nations representing our great nation and your speech to the assembly session was fascinating and great meaningful to the Somali people for restoring the hope of our nation again. And also it was giving the audience a better image from our great nation, and we hope that speech will leave with a positively impact in the Somali minds and as well the world.

Mr. Prime minster, your speech to the assembly was eighteen minutes, six of the minutes you have talked about the significance of the uplifting the arms sanction from the Somali government in order to defeat AL-SHABAB and how your government has got its capacity of taking that full responsibility now.

Mr. Prime Minster, it is well and good that, and we agree with you that Somali government will have challenges of defeating AL-SHABAB so long that there is an arms embargo existing in Somalia, but we would like to remind you that some of the plights that our country underwent and still undergoing since after the central government collapsed in 1991,and unless these plights being solved by your government, advocating right now for the removal of the arms embargo will not help the human rights conditions in Somalia because of the following violations existing in Somalia, particular, lower Shebelle region;

• After the collapse of the Central government in 1991, Somalia fell into turmoil, and, the collapsed government weapons and arms also fell into the hands of the big clans, then, the minorities and those communities who were not armed in lower Shebelle had suffered enough under clan militia subjugations with different kinds of violation like; killing, displacing, rapping, grapping their land, looting their properties and intimidating, and still currently these violations are going in the region and the same clan militias during warlord’s era branded with SNA are the play leaders in these human right
• Prime Minster, in your government, the SNA and other security agencies are fully dominated by the big clans in the South-central Somalia and the SNA under clan militias with the current government weapons and at the same time under political influence are displacing the indigenous communities in lower Shebelle region and the government is aware but just keeping silent about the worsening situations.
• Prime Minster, AL-SHABAB has got affiliation with some very powerful clans in Somalia, particular, the lower shebelle region for their own clan based interests, and that affiliation had increased the sufferings of the people living in the region and also it worsened the whole human right conditions in the area, and also made the life cycle of AL-SHABAB longer because this affiliation allows AL-SHABAB to have access to your government weapons through affiliated clans and automatically AL-SHABAB is benefiting.
• Prime Minster, SNA Officials and other security agencies in your government have low profile working with AL-SHABAB which is based on selling government weapons to AL-SHABAB, and so long that existing this, you will not be able to defeat AL-Shabab, and the Human Rights Violations will keep continueing ever

Mr. Prime Minster, for the above reasoning, we, as Local Human rights Actors would kindly like to request from you to look for solutions of the current human rights violations going in the lower Shebelle region since the collapse of Siyad-Bare regime on 1991 before you appeal for the uplifting of the arms embargo on our country from the United Nations, because we strongly believe that the reasons that initially caused for our country to have underwent arms embargo still are there, and even more worsen than that time because of the numbers of violations occurring in our country.

Mr. Prime Minster, on the other hand, the government has got weak institutions or even none in some places, and large portion of the South Central Somalia is in the hands of the affiliated Al- Qaida group AL- SHABAB, and also there are semi autonomous states in Somalia which independently deal their own issues with the world, so, we have an afraid that the arms would go in to the wrong hands and Violations of human rights to get increased and Minorities to suffer more.

For more evidence of the violations happening, which are, displacing and killing the indigenous communities in lower Shebelle region by the SNA under the shirt of clan militia, particular, in MERKA district, we have attached the links of videos that demonstrate some human rights abuses, and so, please find them, copy and pasta to your browser to watch..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_pg1kK_waw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vJubwtRPrA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mla45_ECztE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TanN8pPmNgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez5kQWFeMt8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPOZ2UKROiw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKYD9VGBdUA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTteJPq0vTM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIAMVu6Shkw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7vRnHReyWo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qyyGXrCtrk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vJubwtRPrA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK8zicmDcqo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJWxt0k3MxA

Dear Prime Minister, after you scrutinize the above videos, we would like to ask you to answer the following questions for us in the next coming future.

• Prime Minster, Are you now clear with the violations going in lower Shebelle at Merka town? Because what we believe is that your government officials behind these violations.
• Would you promise us that you will act on those who behind these violations?
• How would you confirm that the government arms will NOT be used to subjugate the minorities in lower Shebelle region?

Thank you in advance, Mr. Prime Minster for giving chance to read our open letter.

 

Faisal Abdullahi,

Director & Violations researcher; Somali Peace And Human rights Centre