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Somalia: "Most Neglected Crisis"
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Apr 6, 2008 (080406)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
Forty humanitarian agencies appealed to the international community
late last month to pay attention to the crisis of some one million
displaced on ongoing fighting in Somalia. Refugees International
termed it currently "the most neglected crisis in the world," And
Donald Payne, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on
Africa told the New York Times (http://tinyurl.com/yo8avl), "We're
Baghdad-izing Mogadishu and Somalia."
One might question the rhetorical practice of labeling a crisis
"Most neglected crisis." How does one really compare crises,
thinking of northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
or even (in terms of action if not news coverage) Darfur. But there
is no doubt that the worsening conflict in Somalia has attracted
relatively little international attention, even while featuring not
only humanitarian crisis, but also occasional U.S. air strikes,
Ethiopian troops bogged down more than a year after a U.S.-
encouraged invasion, and a government that the New York Times
characterized as "teeter[ing] on collapse." .
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains reports and recommendations on
the current situation from Refugees International and Amnesty
International, as well as a statement by 40 humanitarian agencies
involved in Somalia.
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Somalia, and links to
additional background information and news, see
http://www.africafocus.org/country/somalia.php
New feature: This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a new feature,
"Editor's Picks," This will appear occasionally to call readers
attention to an interesting article, book, website, or other
resource that does not fit as an AfricaFocus Bulletin on its own,
for reasons of copyright, length, or lack of relevance to the topic
in the current Bulletin. In the case of long URLs, which may get
broken in e-mail messages, a "tinyurl" is also provided for
convenience,
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++++++++
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Editor's Picks: Newspaper Article@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Title: 'Flow' - Out of Africa, Whatever Africa May Be
Author: Holland Cotter
Source: New York Times
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/arts/design/04flow.html
Tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/yu32k7
Lead/Excerpt:
"Afropolitanism is the modish tag for new work made by young
African artists both in and outside Africa. What unites the
artists is a shared view of Africa, less as a place than as a
concept; a cultural force, one that runs through the world the
way a gulf stream runs through an ocean: part of the whole, but
with its own tides and temperatures.
This idea, or something like it, lies behind "Flow" at the Studio
Museum in Harlem, a fine-textured survey of 20 artists who, with
a few exceptions, were born in Africa after 1970 but who now live
in Europe or the United States."
Related links: http://www.studiomuseum.org
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@End Editor's Picks: Newspaper Article@@@@@@@@@@@
Somalia: Most neglected crisis in the world; one million
internally displaced lack basic assistance
March 31, 2008
Refugees International
http://www.refugeesinternational.org .
Contact: Vanessa Parra 202-828-0110 x225
Somalia: Most neglected crisis in the world; one million
internally displaced lack basic assistance
Report Says U.S. Must Condemn Human Rights Violations by
Ethiopian Military Forces
Washington, D.C.-- A report released today by Refugees
International calls Somalia the most neglected crisis in the
world. In order to stabilize Somalia and keep the crisis from
spreading further, the report calls on the UN Security Council to
approach the use of UN peacekeepers with extreme caution and asks
the US Congress to investigate the conditions under which
military support was provided to Ethiopia. The UN also needs a
larger number of Somalia-based staff in order to increase its
capacity to monitor and deliver impartial assistance to
vulnerable Somalis.
The report describes "a staggering scale of need" for the one
million people now displaced. Based on recent figures from the UN
Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the report says that malnutrition rates
for children under 5 are alarmingly high. In the first three
months of 2008 alone, 60,000 people fled Mogadishu due to ongoing
conflict, including 'search and sweep' operations conducted by
the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the Ethiopian
military. Displaced Somalis told Refugees International of the
indiscriminate killing of civilians and the shelling of entire
neighborhoods. Refugees International spoke to some of the
200,000 civilians who have settled on the road to Afgooye, a
village approximately 30 km west of Mogadishu. That area is now
the most densely populated settlement of internally displaced
people in the world.
"Somalis perceive the United States as supporting the Ethiopian
presence and the reprehensible behavior of Ethiopian troops in
their country. The heavy-handed bombing of individual targets in
Somalia and other military actions fuels this anti-American
sentiment," said advocate Patrick Duplat. "By condemning human
rights abuses and holding the Ethiopian military accountable for
their actions, the U.S. can go a long way towards defusing
tensions in the Horn of Africa. We hope that Congress will
investigate the military support that was provided to Ethiopian
forces."
The report also focuses on the feasibility of a peacekeeping
force in Somalia and highlights the current political culture in
Somalia as an impediment to progress. Interviews with local
Somalis made clear that the transitional government is largely
viewed as an externally-imposed and illegitimate body. Abusive
behavior by security forces and the Ethiopian military further
erodes support. Under these circumstances, the report argues that
a peacekeeping force is unlikely to fill the security vacuum,
protect civilians, or allow for safe delivery of humanitarian
aid. The report urges the UN Security Council to seriously
consider the Secretary-General's own assessment that the
deployment of peacekeepers in Somalia can only succeed when there
is a peace to keep.
"The UN risks repeating the mistakes it made in the early 1990s.
The Security Council is considering a peacekeeping force without
sufficient discussion over whether this is a viable solution to
the ongoing crisis in Somalia," said peacebuilding advocate Erin
Weir. "Peacekeepers should only be deployed if minimal political
benchmarks are met and if UN member states are willing to provide
the troops, equipment and mandate to confront armed resistance
and address the root political causes of the Somali conflict."
Refugees International also urges the UN to increase the number
of field-based staff inside Somalia, instead of relying primarily
on senior staff in Nairobi. The report describes how some senior
staff have been unable to go to Mogadishu for months and argues
that remote staff are often "out of touch with the fast changing
realities on the ground." The recent targeted kidnapping and
killing of aid workers proves the difficulty and danger of
operating in Somalia, but the UN Refugee Agency, in particular,
should dramatically increase its Somalia-based staff to enable
ongoing protection work through periods of high insecurity.
Refugees International is an independent, non-profit Washington,
DC-based organization that advocates to end refugee crises. In
February and March 2008 advocate Patrick Duplat and peacebuilding
advocate Erin A. Weir assessed the conditions faced by displaced
Somalis in parts of Lower Shabelle, Mogadishu, and along the
Mogadishu-Afgooye road. During the mission, they interviewed
representatives from UN agencies, local and international NGOs,
government and local authorities, as well as Somalis who have
been affected by the conflict.
Somalia: UN Security Council Arria Briefing
Briefing Paper
Amnesty International
http://www.amnesty.org
31 March 2008
AI Index: AFR 52/003/2008
The dire inter-linked human rights and humanitarian crises in
Somalia require far greater attention by the UN Security Council
(UNSC) and its member states. While Amnesty International notes
the strategic and coordinated planning in security, political and
programmatic areas of engagement on Somalia, as presented in the
recent report of the Secretary General, serious abuses of human
rights and violations of international humanitarian law remain
largely undocumented, unpunished, and ignored by the
international community. These violations arise from a surge in
attacks affecting civilians, committed by all parties to the
conflict in 2007 and early 2008, including by Transitional
Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopian armed forces.
More than 6,000 civilians have been killed, and some 600,000
displaced within southern and central Somalia since the beginning
of 2007, resulting in over one million internally displaced at
this time. The UN has estimated that nearly 60% of the population
of Mogadishu has fled. Entire neighbourhoods have been emptied by
armed conflict and an absence of functioning institutions of
justice and basic governance has resulted in near-total impunity.
Journalists, other media workers and human rights defenders have
been and continue to be specifically targeted; women and girls
have been subjected to increasing levels of rape and other forms
of gender-based violence; and all Somalis remain at risk of
beating and unlawful killing, arbitrary arrest and detention, and
theft and looting, including at some 400 check points and road
blocks throughout the area.
Amnesty International recently travelled to the region to
interview survivors of armed conflict and witnesses to human
rights abuses and humanitarian law violations in southern and
central Somalia. Their testimonies described horrific attacks
against individuals and families during house to house raids and
searches by TFG and Ethiopian armed forces, rocket and mortar
attacks by TFG and Ethiopian forces in heavily populated urban
neighbourhoods, as well as threats and attacks by non-state armed
groups. Amnesty International repeats its call to all parties to
the conflict in Somalia to immediately abide by international
human rights and humanitarian law.
As the UN Security Council moves forward with plans to provide
security and support political dialogue in Somalia, Amnesty
International calls on UN Security Council member states to
urgently, consistently and directly confront the inter-linked
human rights and humanitarian crises. Specifically the ongoing
violations against rights to physical integrity, freedom of
expression and association, the rights of the displaced, and
violations of international humanitarian law, some of which may
include war crimes. There must be no further delay in
establishing mechanisms to end a decades-long environment of
impunity that serves to encourage violations against civilians by
all parties to the conflict.
There is nothing to be gained by the international community
remaining silent in relation to abuses currently being committed
in Somalia. Impunity will not contribute to a Transitional
Federal Government more capable of protecting the rights of
Somali civilians, nor will it end insurgency. To the contrary,
impunity only deepens the conflict and drives communities apart
as there is no deterrent against committing human rights
violations and abuses. The current lack of attention to serious
human rights violations in Somalia gives the damaging impression
to all parties to the conflict that these conditions are somehow
acceptable and that the international community will not act to
prevent them.
In light of these grave and urgent concerns, Amnesty
International calls on the UN Security Council and its member
states to:
- Strengthen the capacity of the UN Political Office for
Somalia (UNPOS) and allocate sufficient resources to the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to
effectively monitor and report on human rights conditions,
provide technical assistance and advice to the Transitional
Federal Institutions (TFI), and support human rights defenders
throughout Somalia;
- Support an International Commission of Inquiry or a similar
mechanism established by the Security Council to investigate
violations of international human rights and humanitarian law
committed in Somalia in 2007 and 2008, and to map violations
since 1991 which may be considered war crimes or crimes against
humanity. This mechanism could be assisted by the International
Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, established under article
90 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions;
- Strongly encourage that the African Union's Peace Support
Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) and any succeeding UN peacekeeping
mission be mandated to protect civilians - particularly women,
children, discriminated Somali minorities and internally
displaced persons, and include a strong human rights component
with the capacity to monitor, investigate and publicly report
human rights violations;
- Strengthen the UN arms embargo on Somalia, by increasing the
capacity of the Panel of Experts to monitor and report
violations, enforcing the requirement of application for
exemptions, and considering imposing a ban on aircraft, ships,
and land vehicles owned by individuals, companies or countries
reported to have breached the embargo;
- Publicly and privately insist that TFG and Ethiopian armed
forces cease extra-judicial executions and other unlawful
killings, including all direct or indiscriminate attacks against
civilians and civilian objects in violation of international
humanitarian law.
- Strongly urge the TFG and the Ethiopian government to fulfil
their obligations under international law to investigate and
bring to justice armed forces commanders and other personnel
suspected of violations of international human rights and
humanitarian law;
- Use all available diplomatic means to ensure that the TFG and
other parties to the conflict remove all obstacles to the
delivery of humanitarian assistance, and take effective measures
to ensure the safety of local and international humanitarian
workers;
- Ensure that all diplomatic initiatives toward national
reconciliation make human rights and access to humanitarian
assistance central to inclusive dialogue in Somalia.
Somalia crisis deteriorates, aid agencies warn
Concern Worldwide
http://www.concern.net
March 31, 2008
The United Nations Security Council was briefed today in an Arria
Formula meeting in New York on the worsening humanitarian
situation in Somalia.
The Security Council was given details of the growing threat to
ordinary civilians caused by conflict and impending drought and
the increasing difficulties faced by aid agencies operating in
the country who are trying to bring assistance to the victims.
Several non-governmental organizations, including Concern
Worldwide, will attend the session.
Today's special 'Arria Formula meeting' (an informal arrangement
that allows the Council greater flexibility to be briefed about
international peace and security issues) follows a joint
statement issued on March 26, 2008 by more than 40
non-governmental organizations to highlight the plight faced by
hundreds of thousands of Somalis.
The statement marks the second time in less than six months that
agencies such as Concern Worldwide have chosen to speak out
collectively to draw attention to the alarming humanitarian
situation in Somalia that has the potential to become a complex
crisis on the scale of the country's devastating famine in 1992.
Full text of the March 26, 2008 NGO Joint Statement on Somalia:
'On Oct. 30, 2007, 39 NGOs warned of the rapidly deteriorating
situation in Somalia and an impending humanitarian catastrophe.
Since then, the crisis engulfing Somalia has deteriorated
dramatically while access to people in need continues to
decrease; 360,000 people have been newly displaced and an
additional half a million people are reliant on humanitarian
assistance.
There are now more than one million internally displaced people
in Somalia. Intense conflict in Mogadishu continues to force an
average of 20,000 people from their homes each month. This,
combined with record high food prices, hyperinflation and drought
in large parts of the country is leaving communities struggling
to survive. Extreme water and food shortages are expected to
worsen across the country if the seasonal rains (April - June)
fail as they are predicted to.
As the crisis worsens, Somali and international aid agencies are
unable to respond adequately to the needs. Attacks on, and
killings of, aid workers, the looting of relief supplies, and a
lack of respect for international humanitarian law by all parties
to the conflict have left two million Somalis in need of basic
humanitarian assistance.
For too long, the needs of ordinary Somalis have been forgotten.
The undersigned agencies are asking the international community
and all parties to the conflict to urgently focus their attention
on the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Somalia. They must
ensure access for humanitarian supplies, live up to their
responsibility to protect civilians and address the environment
of impunity. The humanitarian crisis will become more and more
complex and will continue to deepen in the absence of a political
solution to the current crisis.
Agencies Signatory to the Statement
- Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED)
- Adventist Relief Development Agency (ADRA)
- African Relief and Development Program (ARDP)
- Caritas Swiss Group (CARITAS Swiss Group)
- Cooperative Assistance for Relief Everywhere (CARE)
- 6.Concern Worldwide (CONCERN)
- Coperazione Internazionale (COOPI)
- Diakonie Emergency Aid Bread for the World (DBG)
- Diakonia Sweden (Diakonia Sweden)
- Development Initiative Access Link (DIAL)
- Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
- Gedo Health Consortium (GHC)
- Global Organisation for Health and Development (GOHED)
- Gothenberg Initiative (GI)
- Gol Yome Rehabilitation & Development Organization (GREDO)
- Humanitarian Action for Relief and Development Organization (HARDO)
- Himilo Foundation (HIMILO)
- HISAN - WEPA (HISAN)
- Horn Relief (Horn Relief)
- International Aid Services (IAS)
- Institute of Education for Disabled People in Somalia (IEDSOM)
- International Medical Corps (IMC)
- International Rescue Committee (IRC)
- Interpeace/ War Torn Societies (Interpeace)
- Medicins du Monde (MDM)
- Mercy Corps Somalia (Mercy Corps Somalia)
- Merlin (Merlin)
- Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
- Oxfam International (OXFAM International)
- Progressio (Progressio)
- Relief International (RI)
- SAACID Australia (SAACID Australia)
- Saferworld (Saferworld)
- Save the Children UK (SC-UK)
- Terra Nouva Association for international Cooperation to Development (Terra Nouva)
- Education Small Scale Enterprise Food Security & Resource Emergency Response (TROCAIRE)
- VETAID (VETAID)
- WETHULNGERHILFE/ German Agro Action (GAA)
- World Concern International (World Concern)
- .World Vision (World Vision)
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication
providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues,
with a particular focus on U.S. and international policies.
AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by William Minter.
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