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Somalia

Somaliland clears last hurdle, approves Constitution

Somalia, Jun 20, 2001 -- Ten years ago the people of Somaliland, after a decade-long liberation war that lasted from 1981 to 1991, reclaimed their statehood and sovereignty by pulling themselves back from a disastrous and unratified union with Somalia --- before even Somalia attained its independence from Italy, Somaliland was a sovereign state that had received its independence from Great Britain on June 26, 1960.
At that time, the people of Somaliland were mostly refugees coming back mainly from camps in Ethiopia, where they had fled in 1988 after the Somalia government of Siad Barre unleashed a genocidal campaign against them; the land they were coming back to was a scene of destruction: their cities had been napalmed and bombed to rubble and no roadway was safe from the millions of mines left behind by Siad Barre's army.

At that time, declaring an independent state in a country riddled with land mines and without any standing infrastructures or homes seemed to all observers a great challenge and an impossible act to be taken on by such a destitute people returning to a country laden with mines. But the people of Somaliland had always fought against great odds---when they were being decimated by Siad Barre's pogroms, the world watched in silence as they died by the thousands; worse yet, international money, including UN, Arab and Western aid, continued to flow into the coffers of the Barre regime to be used for their killing. Despite these great odds however, they won the war through self-sacrifice only to find that the task waiting them was also a daunting one, for they had to reconstruct from scratch both state and country. They asked for international help so they could at least get some roofs over their heads but the world in general, the UN, the Arab countries, as well as Western countries, in particular, became busy with getting Somalia, this time, out of its state collapse and man-created famine. Somaliland became forgotten in the cacophony of finding expensive solutions for Somalia.

Undaunted and as resilient and tenacious as they were in the war against Somalia's government, the people of Somaliland decided to help themselves and started reconstructing not only the structures of a state but the whole country, including the rubble cities left behind by the Somalian regime--- their youth again sacrificed their lives by pulling mines by hand, one at a time.

For the next 10 years that followed the declaration of the resumption of a sovereign state, the people of Somaliland rebuilt everything from scratch--- their capital, described in 1991 as a modern Pompei by the devastation wrought on it by the Somalia army, is today a thriving city and has been described as "one of the safest cities in the continent." (BBC World Service, Somaliland Votes on Independence, May 31, 2001). Even the prominent Kenyan parliamentarian, the Honorable R.A. Odinga, had to admit that the capital of Somaliland is safer then the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, where a huge UN bureaucracy for Somalia sits in glass towers and churns out biased reports on Somaliland (The Republican, Kenya and Somaliland Share Historic Ties, May 19, 2001)

By any measure, the efforts of the people to rebuild home and country are heroic, and all the more so in the absence of any tangible help from the outside world. Unluckily, not everyone has welcomed these heroic efforts of the people of Somaliland and for the last ten years since the restoration of their statehood and sovereignty they have been subjected to a ferocious assault by an invisible army bent on reversing all the political gains, freedom and sovereignty for which they had given their blood by the thousands. That invisible army consists of a few top bureaucrats in the UN and the OAU, as well as Somalia's former colonial master, Italy, and the tiniest country in the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, where the dictatorship of Guelleh mistakenly believes Somaliland's economy is hurting that of his country when in fact Djibouti has enormously profited from the boom in Somaliland. Together, this invisible army of top international Bureaucrats and few countries with special interest in the region have done everything to block the full international recognition as a sovereign state with all available power and means including acts of sabotage aimed at disturbing peace in Somaliland and starting a civil war among the people of Somalia.

However, the people of Somaliland have persevered and have managed to reinforce their unity and peace again, against all odds.

To further consolidate their statehood and avail themselves of a democratic system, the people of Somaliland instituted a parliamentary system of two chambers and a constitution, again without any help. Then they called for a referendum to be held on May 31, 2001. But the UN, OAU and Arab league bureaucrats would not help them with holding the referendum; they were busy installing the Djibouti-appointed government of Somalia, presided over by Abdulqassim Salat Hassan, whose "government" fictitiously claims ownership of the territory of independent Somaliland while it does not even control the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu. Undaunted, the people of Somaliland went ahead with preparations for the referendum on their constitution and to pay for the cost, since no one would help, every citizen paid what he or she could give either in time or money.

Today, the people of Somaliland have cleared the last hurdle: they have overwhelmingly ratified the constitution of their state with a 97% majority vote. This constitution guarantees the rights of Somaliland citizens and provides a democratic system of government.

It is evident that Somaliland fulfills all the criteria of statehood as set out in article 1 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. Somaliland has a permanent population; a defined territory (the former British Somaliland) with clear international boundaries of which it has an effective control; a democratic government, and a capacity to enter into relations with other states. What is more, although they have not been applied outside Europe, Somaliland even meets all the guidelines for the recognition of new states set out by the European Community in 1992.

We emphasize that the case of Somaliland is not one of secession from another state, and the OAU principle of the inviolability of colonial boundaries is not applicable as the boundaries of Somaliland, since they are of colonial origins, are internationally delineated.

We remind the world that the people of Somaliland have determined their destiny and are asking for an acceptance of their right to self-determination, which in this particular case, does not in any way affect the territorial integrity of any other state.

We are now saying to all responsible governments and leaders of the world: Sovereignty resides with the people and the people of Somaliland have been patient for a decade; they have worked hard for peace, development and constitutional democracy at no cost to the international community. They rightfully deserve their place in the community of nations. Today, all they are asking for is to be recognized as a sovereign state.

SLF Backgrounder: The Somaliland Forum (SLF) is an international organization that brings together Somalilanders from all parts of the world mainly, through the medium of the Internet. The primary objective of the Forum is to work with the Somaliland communities around the world in order to provide some lasting solutions to the needs of the Republic of Somaliland and its people. For more information, Please visit forum's web site at: http://www.somalilandforum.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT The FOLLOWING SPOKESPERSONS FOR The FORUM::

North America: Farah Ahmed Hersi Toronto, Canada Tel: (416) 630-3728 E-mail: fhersi@chass.utoronto.ca

Europe: Dahir Abdi Jama London, U.K. Mobile(cell): 07960 173 184, Tel: (0)208 347 8529 Email: Dahir@dahir.freeserve.co.uk

Middle East Mr. A.Ismail Kuwait, Kuwait City Email:nero@ncc.moc.kw Tel: 965 2630592