Somalia: FEIT and IEDRM planning coordinated action against serious electoral malpractice (24.11.2016)

feit-statement-24-11-2016

AMISOM and SNA Senior Commanders agree on new plans for joint operations against Al-Shabaab (23.11.2016)

ALJAZEERA Somali AMISOM

Mogadishu, 23 November 2016Senior military officers of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Army will undertake major military operations to liberate areas still under Al-Shabaab control.

The plans for the offensive against the militants were firmed up during a three-day meeting in Mogadishu, chaired by AMISOM Force Commander Lt. Gen. Osman Noor Soubagleh.

In attendance was the Deputy Chief of Defence Forces of the Somali National Army (SNA) Maj. Gen. Ali Bashi Mohamed. “We are going to plan and come up with a common operation, fighting side by side against Al-Shabaab,” Lt. Gen. Soubagleh said.

The SNA Deputy Chief of Defence Forces said the meeting had further strengthened cooperation between the join forces, in countering militant insurgency. “We agreed to work closely to flash out the enemy from the country. There has never been a better time for SNA and AMISOM to come together like now,” General Ali Bashi noted.

The commanders will reconvene soon to finalize plans for joint operations.

Key issues discussed in the three day meeting included strengthening the SNA, in preparation for AMISOM’s exit from Somalia in 2018.

Dr. Omar Abdulle Alasow, the senior International Humanitarian Law/ Human Rights Advisor to AMISOM made a presentation to the senior military officers on the international rules governing the use of force in AMISOM and SNA military operations including the implementation of the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP) on UN support to non-UN security forces.

AMISOM has put in place mechanisms for preventing, mitigating and strengthening compliance of International Humanitarian Law, to reduce the risks of grave human rights violations by troops. “It also has policies designed to investigate and take necessary disciplinary measures against erring uniformed personnel,” Dr. Omar noted.

UN human rights body appoints Commission of Inquiry on Burundi (24.11.2016)

burundi-cartoon-p2-0

The Commissioners appointed today include Fatsah Ouguergouz (Algeria), Reina Alapini Gansu (Benin) and Francoise Hampson (United Kingdom). Mr. Ouguergouz will serve as the Chair of the three-member Commission.

NEW YORK, United States of America, November 24, 2016 – Following a decision of the United Nations Human Rights Council, in which it setup a commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations and abuses in Burundi, including whether they may constitute international crimes, the President of the body has appointed the Commission’s Chair and members.

According to a news release, the Commissioners will “provide the support and expertise for the immediate improvement of the situation of human rights and the fight against in impunity.”

Established for a period of a year at the Human Rights Council’s 33rd session (September 2016), the Commission has also been mandated to identify the alleged perpetrators of violations and abuses, since April 2015, with a view to ensuring full accountability.

The Commissioners appointed today include Fatsah Ouguergouz (Algeria), Reina Alapini Gansu (Benin) and Francoise Hampson (United Kingdom). Mr. Ouguergouz will serve as the Chair of the three-member Commission.

In discharging its duties, the Commission has been authorized by the Human Rights Council to engage with national authorities, UN agencies, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) field presence in the country, as well as other stakeholders, including the civil society, refugees, authorities of the African Union (AU) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The Commission will be present an oral briefing to the Human Rights Council at its 34th and 35th sessions, in March and June 2017, respectively, and a final report at an interactive dialogue at the Council’s 36th session in September 2017.

Burundi was thrown into fresh crisis more than a year ago when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term that he went on to win. To date, it has been reported that hundreds of people have been killed, more than 250,000 have fled the nation, and thousands more have been arrested and possibly subjected to human rights violations.

Joint Statement on the Roadmap Agreement for Sudan (21.11.2016)

Peacekeeper Sudan

Norway joins international partners in welcoming signatures of the AU Roadmap for peace talks in Sudan.

KHARTOUM, Sudan, November 21, 2016 – “The representatives of the Troika (Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States), Germany and the European Union welcome the signing of the Roadmap Agreement by the Justice and Equality Movement, the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), and the National Umma Party. In signing the Roadmap Agreement, these groups have taken an important first step in ending the conflicts in Sudan and moving towards a process of dialogue as a basis for lasting peace in their country. We welcome the support of the Roadmap by other members of the Sudan Call alliance of opposition groups.

We also commend the Government of Sudan for signing the Roadmap Agreement on 16 March 2016, and subsequently clarifying its commitments regarding the inclusion of other relevant stakeholders in the National Dialogue and to continue to uphold any decisions reached between the opposition signatories and the 7+7 Mechanism, the steering committee of the National Dialogue.

We recognize that the opposition expressed valid concerns which have been noted by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). We believe these constitute legitimate agenda items for any preparatory meetings.

The Roadmap Agreement constitutes a valuable step towards ending the wars in Sudan. We urge the signatories to lose no further time in agreeing to a cessation of hostilities and modalities for humanitarian access in Darfur and the Two Areas.

In parallel, we encourage opposition parties in Sudan to seize this opportunity to come together inside a process of dialogue to achieve a political settlement addressing the challenges that continue to face their people. And we appeal to the Government of Sudan to take all necessary steps to ensure a conducive environment for this process to succeed.

We wish to underscore the significant efforts of the AUHIP in helping to achieve this Roadmap Agreement, and we call on the signatories to engage constructively and sincerely to build on the Roadmap in order to realize a peaceful and stable Sudan.”

Burundi: Footage allegedly shows Imbonerakure militiamen marching in a parade (Youtube-Clip)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kXuX2J84vg

US Ambassador Stephen Schwartz letter to H.E. Mr. Adbikarim Hussein Guled on the Electoral Process in the Galmudug (20.11.2016)

guled-letter-20-11-2016

Thousands of Somali children displaced and out of school due to Galkayo fighting (15.11.2016)

puntland-forces

All schools in the town of Galkayo have been closed, affecting more than 20,000 children and young People.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, November 15, 2016 – More than 90,000 people, including at least 20,000 children who were in school, have been displaced by fighting between factions in the Galkayo region of Central Somalia, which began a month ago.

UNICEF Somalia is gravely concerned about thousands of Somali children who are missing school due to the weeks of fighting. All schools in the town of Galkayo have been closed, affecting more than 20,000 children and young people. Teachers have been injured, four schools in Galkayo were damaged, and five schools outside the town are closed as they are now used to house some of the displaced. Any schools still functioning are severely overcrowded.

UNICEF and partners are setting up safe temporary learning spaces for the displaced children to allow them to continue their education and are working to ensure that the teachers receive their incentive allowances.

“This is a very serious situation for the children of Galkayo and is bound to have a major impact on their education and their lives,” said Steven Lauwerier, UNICEF Somalia Representative.

“We must ensure that there are places for children to learn in a safe environment either in temporary spaces or in schools outside town. The children must be given catch up classes and their schools must be protected from further damage.”

Many of the displaced children who have fled Galkayo are particularly vulnerable, as a large number were already displaced from their original homes and were living in settlements. UNICEF and its partners are also concerned with the continuing physical and emotional stress the forced displacement and fighting may put children and their families under.

A child’s right to an education is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Somalia in October 2015.

Horrendous bleak situation right now in East Africa/Horn of Africa: Genocide Warnings, Army used against Civilians, Opposition harassed and a surge of refugees between the nations (November 14.2016)

East-Africa

That there is civil-war like activity in Ogaden and Amhara regions in Ethiopia, that there continues internal skirmishes between Burundian security forces and civilians, that the Rwandan Opposition are silenced, In the Democratic Republic of Congo as there guerrillas fighting and killing while the FARDC and MONUSCO doesn’t act against civilians in North and South Kivu; As there are internal fighting between Somaliland, Galdumug, Al-Shabaab and AMISOM. This is all happening as we flick between the channels on the telly.

There we are discussing who’s the next racial biased brother Donald J. Trump thinking of hiring to his executive branch staff at the White House. This is happening while there continue bloodbath, there been genocide warnings for Burundi in October 2016 and South Sudan November 2016. South Sudan are skirmishes happening in Yei State, South Kordofan, West Bahr El Ghazal between SPLM/A and SPLM/A-IO, which is President Kiir and former FVP Machar. There are battles still in Darfur as the Khartoum regime under President Omar Al-Bashir are attacking the SPLM-N and other rebels who fight themselves in the past, but has no written an agreement while the Khartoum has said they will continue to fight them.

Rice in Market

These are killings of civilians in with the mind of staying in power. It is happening with bullets that imported and exported from the rich nations, through back-channels that none of us want to discuss, because it implicates the nations of peace are involved in profits of the death of civilians. This is happening as we go to buy bread at the supermarket, markets for selling cassava and rice are blown to bits, water-sources are getting scarce as these nations are hurt by droughts and dire need of secure agricultural productions, but that is not happening while the big-men are explicitly doing what they can to kill each other for POWER.

The innocent is dying at rapid speed. The livelihoods are dwindling away because the Presidents and Government together with rebels are destroying the nations in their reach of staying with titles, businesses and feeding their elites of the donor funds. This is the situation in Ethiopia, Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.

Adjumani Refugee Camp

We cannot let this happening while the fleeing civilians are going from one bad situation into another. If the Somalis think of fleeing to Ethiopia, they get into new trouble and Kenyan Government are busy deporting them to PoC sites inside Somalia. If you’re fleeing Ethiopia you have to cross the South Sudan and Sudan. Where the battles between the rivals continue and are bloody. The place of refuge right now is Northern Uganda, the war-torn parts that has had a decade of peace, but the locals are not getting land, but the refugees and businessmen. The reality is that the Government doesn’t have funds to allocate the Refugee camps in Adjumani where the UNICEF organization is lacking funds for support.

Together with the issues of Burundian refugees in Rwanda and Tanzania; the Burundian ones are safe in Tanzania, but still the UN operations doesn’t have the sufficient funds as there are more worry of what the Rwandese authorities do, as they want to send them away because the Burundian Authorities are claiming that Rwandese Government are training rebels to coup d’état against President Nkurunziza.

While the pulling out of ICC happens from Burundi, the Kenyan pulling troops from the UMISS, Ugandan negotiations in dialogue between the parties in Burundi and South Sudan; while the shallow relationships is to see how they all can grind monies out of the international community. The African Union complains to the European Union on payments for the soldiers, while the Ugandan and Burundian government eats of these funds, while the soldiers themselves thieving ammunition and gas to supply themselves with needed salaries.

All of this is happening while the Ethiopian Government has pulled out battalions out of certain areas in Somalia, as Kenyan have a strong force and feeling the pinch for being involved in the internal squabbles between Al-Shabaab, Government and Local-Government in war-torn nation. As Djibouti tries to live in peace, but get trained guerrillas from Eritrea and has built a railroad from Ethiopia so that the coastal state has giant ally on the Horn of Africa.

south-sudan-army-pic

So the civil wars, the skirmishes from governments towards civilians shouldn’t be happening without anyone doing something about it. The Ethiopian, Burundian, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and South Sudan are now all involved in similar business. The Troika of South Sudan is inactive and like a donor-friendly buddy to Kiir Government, but not certainly acting upon the violence and crimes against humanity. The Sudan government might be under sanctions and has issues with ICC charged President Bashir. Still, they are able to continue to fight civilians in the Darfur Region. The Somali Government feels more powerless as they are donor-friendly and need foreign support for basic operations, while the Al-Shabaab takes stake in every other region, as the Puntland, Galdumug and Somaliland has become more independent and making agreement on their own. As Somaliland have signed giant port-agreement to secure funding of the Civilian Government; also so they can function as nation on their own, though not respected as one from the international community.

This is just the beginning, and it’s not wonderful, it’s bleak… the warnings of GENOCIDE should worry the world in Burundi and South Sudan. But, the current silence, the mediocre attention and no-worries attitude. Is making me shiver and making me worried about the state of affairs in our time!

IGAD Plus

That there are such current state of affairs, the diplomatic works must be in tatters, the African Union is pointless, the East African Community is a Men’s Club for the Presidents, European Union are stooges for big-business, IGAD are Ethiopian skeleton for peaceful operations and the United Nations are powerless with no-mandate or real army to act upon the human rights violations or crimes against humanity if they are occurring.

It’s a reason why these nations want to withdraw from the Roman Statute if they can and still get donor-aid because the armies, laws and regulations of the civilians are massive breaches of international laws. The Geneva Conventions, the UN Charters and the other ones these Nations have signed into.

While the worst is having knowledge of the dying civilians in South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Burundi and Somalia as we speak, the silence and indifference… time to act; time for change and time get it on the agenda. Peace.

Burundi : “risque imminent de génocide” (Youtube-Clip)

“Le Burundi vient de quitter la CPI. On constate une évolution effrayante… Il parait qu’au Burundi, toutes les conditions sont là pour que soit mis en place un nettoyage ethnique par les autorités, il y a même un risque imminent de génocide.” (InternationalesTV, 2016).

President appeals for aid in the drought-stricken parts of Somalia (14.11.2016)

somaliland-drought

The president announced that the drought situation is very critical due to the delayed seasonal rains, drought has struck parts of Somalia, worst affected are Puntland and north western Somalia of Somaliland.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, November 14, 2016 –  HE Hassan Sheik Mohamud, the president of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), has appealed to Somali pubic and the international community to urgently help Somali people affected by the drought in parts of the country.

“I appeal to the Somali people, wherever they are all over the world to help and stand shoulder to shoulder with their suffering Somali people who lack food and water due to the drought in the country. The government will also take an important part. The Gu’ season has passed without rains with earlier rainy seasons failing. So, the Somali people need to help one another and help their brothers and sisterswith food and water.” said the president of the FGS, HE Hassan Sheik Mohamud.

The president has also appealed to the international community to aid the situation urgently as it is time for action.

“I also appeal to the international community to immediately come to the aid of the Somali people in the affected areas before the situation gets worsened, it is time that an actual interference is made and aid is delivered very urgently in particular drought stricken areas of the country.” The president has appealed.

The president said that the drought has widely affected the country, but some areas are worse than others. “the drought is everywhere but in particular the drought hardly hitthe north western and North Eastern regions of Somalia of Somaliland and Puntland, where many livestock have already been lost, with people starting dying, in both areas the drought is very critical” said HE Hassan Sheik Mohamud, the president the FGS.

The president announced that the drought situation is very critical due to the delayed seasonal rains, drought has struck parts of Somalia, worst affected are Puntland and north western Somalia of Somaliland.

Somali people all over the world had previously taken part in collecting donations to help Somali people affected by droughts and the Somali president expects the same donations by Somali people reaching out to their Somali brothers and sisters worst affected by droughts repeatedly hitting Somalia due to lack of seasonal rains. In addition, the international community should also take their part. The government will make every effort to ensure it contributes to the aid.