OPEN MEMORANDUM TO THE AU & MEMBER STATES
Somaliland
Forum SLF:
MRG R: #3
Immediate Release 10 July 2006
OPEN MEMORANDUM TO THE AU & MEMBER STATES
TO: H.E Mr. Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairman, African Union
Cc: H.E. Mr. Patrick Mazimhaka, Deputy Chairman, African
Union
SOMALIAND: The AU must accept
Independent Somaliland
AU
Mission to Somaliland
1. In May 2006, the Republic of Somalilandwelcomed the
African Union’s fact-finding Commission, led by His
Excellency Patrick Mazimhaka, Deputy Chairman. Since the
Commissions departure, Somaliland has celebrated the 15th
Anniversary of its resumption of independence declared in
May 1991. This was also the 46th anniversary of
the birth of the independent State of Somalilandin June
1960. Somaliland Forum believes, just as all Somalilanders
do, that the time has come for African nations to finally
understand the reality of the Republic of Somaliland. This
is an opportunity to welcome back into your fold a unique
African independent state whose recognition poses no threat
to Africa and will strengthen peace and security in the
region. As the AU’s fact finding mission learnt in its
visit to Somaliland, we would like to reiterate the facts
about Somalilandwhich have long been hidden under
misconceptions and misleading statements. We urge the AU
and all its member countries to consider the unique position
of the Republic of Somaliland and to look favourably at the
recent application for membership submitted by the
Somaliland Government.
The Independent State of Somaliland
2. Somaliland was a separate British Protectorate, with clear
internationally delineated boundaries until 26 June 1960
when it became the independent State of Somaliland.
Of the 18 African countries, which became independent in
1960, Somaliland was the fourth country in that year and was
welcomed by 35 nations including 5 United Nation Permanent
members. Somalia[1]
(former Italian trusteeship) was the seventh African country
to become independent that year (with Madagascar and the
Democratic Republic of Congo receiving their independence in
between).
3. The people of the independent State of Somaliland were at
that time imbued with a desire to create a union of the
Somali inhabited territories, which were French Somaliland
(now the Republic of Djibouti), the Ethiopian regions
inhabited by Somalis, Italian Somalia and the Northern
Districts of Kenya. The State of Somaliland therefore
promptly and hurriedly, without any pre-conditions, formed a
union with Somalia on July 1st, 1960 presuming
the affection they had for Somali nationalism would be
reciprocal.
The ill-fated union
4. The folly of this ill thought and precipitate union became
clear to the Somaliland people almost immediately when the
legal formalities of the union were never completed
properly; a constitution which was unacceptable to
Somaliland was pushed through by the in-built majority of
Somalia; and Somaliland was quickly reduced to the status of
a far flung region in a country governed by and from the
Somalian capital city of Mogadishu.
5. Worse was to come, however, when a Somalia dominated
dictatorship ruled the whole country with an iron fist and
set out to obliterate what was left of the distinct nature
of Somaliland well before it started the torture and killing
of the Somaliland people. Other Somalis have suffered under
the Dictatorship, but the Dictatorship declared a war on the
Somaliland people which led to, as documented by Amnesty
International in 1990, “ the deaths of 50,000 people, the
aerial bombardment of major cities and the exodus of nearly
million people to desolate refugee camps.” To this day,
the seasonal rains expose the mass graves of Somaliland
women, children and men.
The end of the union
6. With the collapse of the dictatorship and the clear
attempts by Somalians to carry on business as usual, the
people of Somaliland exercised their right to
self-determination in the light of the genocide that was
visited upon them. In May 1991 the union of the two states
ceased to exist after Somalilanders waged a liberation front
to reclaim their independence. All the communities (clans)
in Somaliland were represented at the meeting in which the
decision was made and at the subsequent peace making
conferences organized by Somalilanders on their own. History
is replete with examples of unions of states that have not
worked. The people of Somaliland therefore reasserted their
sovereignty and the second independent Republic of
Somaliland was re-born.
Building a peaceful & democratic country
7. For the last 15 years, Somalilanders have established
peace in their country, and without much help from outside
have built a democratic state with a two House legislature,
an executive headed by a President elected on a national
vote, and a Judiciary. Somaliland held a popular national
referendum in 2000, which endorsed the Constitution,
nation-wide local councils election in 2002, presidential
elections in 2003 and parliamentary elections in 2005. There
is a free press and Somalilanders value and exercise their
rights of __expression and assembly in a region where such
rights are not so readily allowed.
The unique case of Somaliland
8. Somalilanders therefore emphasize that the case of
Somaliland is unique and the recognition of Somaliland will
not set any precedent or infringe any AU/OAU rules. There
is no other former independent state in Africa, which
is now wishing to leave that union. There were territories,
like the Cameroon and Eritrea, governed by different
colonialists that may have merged or were annexed before
or at independence, but that is not the case of
Somaliland. However brief the life of the independent State
of Somaliland was, it was juridical and, as a matter of
fact, a separate state with a constitution, a prime
minister, an elected parliament, which under the
Constitution was to serve for 3 years (see Article 18),
a judiciary and a fully functioning police and civil
service. More importantly, Somaliland entered into international
agreements with Great Britain that deposited at the
United Nations under Article 102 of the UN Charter.
Even the final Act of Union which was passed by the
national assembly of the Somali Republic a year and half (31
January 1961) after the union of Somaliland and Somalia took
place makes it clear that the only treaties and obligations
that will be adhered to by the Somali Republic are the
obligations set out in sections 57 and 58 of the State of
Somaliland Constitution and the treaties entered into by the
independent governments of Somaliland and Somalia. As
Somalia had no independent government before 1 July 1960,
this clause applied only to treaties entered into by the
independent State of Somaliland, yet, time and time again,
this simple fact is unknown to many Africans and is
deliberately overlooked by Somalians opposed to Somaliland
independence.
Somaliland boundaries
8. The significance of the existence of the independent State
of Somaliland in 1960 is also that its international
boundaries became, on its independence on 26 June 1960, the
boundaries, which were in accordance with the OAU’s 1964
Cairo Declaration calling for respect for international
boundaries on independence. This principle of
"respect of borders existing on achievement of
independence" is again enshrined in Article 4(b)
of the Constitutive Act of the African Union. It
is a re-statement of the principle of uti
possedetis which simply provided that states emerging
from de-colonization shall presumptively inherit the
colonial administrative borders that they held at the time
of independence. An argument advanced by Somalia is that the
borders referred to in the 1964 Declaration are those of the
united Somali Republic in 1964, but that flies against
common sense and the simple words of the Declaration and
Article 4(b) the Constitutive Act
unequivocally say boundaries on independence i.e. in
the case of Somaliland, on 26 June 1960. In
any case, it is ironic that the
Somali Republic never accepted this Declaration because of
its irredentist policies towards all its neighbors, and it
is so incongruous that those in Somalia who are now against
the recognition of Somaliland pray in aid the Cairo
Declaration which is not applicable, at all, to the border
between Somaliland and Somalia and was not even accepted by
Somalia. In contrast, the Somaliland position is that it
supports fully the Cairo Declaration and the doctrine of uti
posseditis for not only its boundary with Somalia, but
also, for its other international boundaries with Ethiopia
to the south and the Republic of Djibouti to the east.
Boundaries in unions of states
9. Indeed the international boundary between State of
Somaliland and Italian Somalia remained as an internal
administrative border
[2]
during the democratic period of the Somali Republic, when
the territory of Somaliland became known as the
"Northern Region" which was sub-divided into
Hargeisa and Burao regions, the latter covering the eastern
parts of Somaliland right up to the international boundary,
beyond which was Majertenia, the first of six regions
comprising the "Southern Region" or Somalia. This
boundary at the 48th Meridian continued to remain
as the administrative line that separated the Sanaag Region
of Somaliland and the former Majertain region of Somalia,
which was renamed "Bari" (I.e. Eastern) region
until the end of the Siyad Barre regime and the re-assertion
of Somaliland sovereignty in 1991. The importance of the
continued use of the international Somaliland/Somalia border
as an internal administrative border during most of the
period of the existence of the union, is that the practice
of the Eastern European states (in the former Yugoslavia,
Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union) on their dissolution
and emergence of new states has been to extended the
doctrine of uti possedtis[3] to
the former internal administrative lines of the dissolved
unions or states as international borders of the new states[4].
10. The Republic of Somaliland is committed to peaceful
co-existence with its African neighbours, and having laid to
rest the irredentist Greater Somalia tendencies, believes
that genuine co-operation and closer relations between the
states in the Horn and also within the wider region and
throughout Africa is actually better served by the
recognition of the Republic. Somalilanders are painfully
aware that the Greater Somalia dream died when the Northern
Districts remained with Kenya on its independence and French
Somaliland remained an independent country on its
independence from France in 1978. Somalis as an ethnic group
now live in five different countries and that is no
different from other ethnic groups, like Arabs who, for
example live in a number of North African countries. The
fact that in some of the countries, ethnic Somalis are a
minority, whilst in others they are a majority is no
different from the situation in many other African
countries, where some ethnic groups are
scattered over a number of neighbouring countries. Recognizing
Somaliland formally will, at one stroke, lay to rest,
for ever, Somali irredentism which has brought so much chaos
and bloodshed to the Horn, and will send a message to those
in Somalia who are still hankering after Greater Somalia
that their efforts will be better spent in building peace
and stability in their own country.
Somali Clans and boundaries
11. Just in the same way that people of Somali ethnic origin
straddle the boundaries of the countries of the Horn, it
remains the case that Somali clans in each country are also
likely to straddle the borders of two or more countries.
Somalilanders in the far west of the country have kinsfolk
in the neighboring Republic of Djibouti and almost all
Somaliland clans live and move across the
Somaliland/Ethiopia border. In the same way, in the east of
Somaliland, some of the clans have kinship links with others
across the border in Mijertenia (Puntland). These links do
not, in any way diminish the sovereignty of either
Somaliland or its neighboring countries over their
respective territories and indeed Somaliland’s commitment
to peace and co-operation with its neighbours will ensure
that these kinship links and traditional nomadic(s) are
dealt with in a modern and conflict free manner. Recognition
of Somaliland is more likely to engender such cross
border co-operation than an inevitable fall back to
"Greater Somalia" nightmare. The invasion and
occupation of parts of eastern Somaliland by the current
non-elected Somalia President Colonel Yusuf, when he was
President of "Puntland" is an illustration of what
is in store for other neighboring countries if Somaliland is
restrained from exercising her right to defend its borders.
Allowing such naked aggression to succeed or to diminish the
right of Somaliland to recognition and its territorial
integrity will send a wrong message to all the ethnic/clan
groups that straddle the many "colonial" borders
of Africa.
Criteria for statehood & non-recognition
12. Above all, Somaliland has shown clearly that it fulfils
all the international requirements for statehood
[5].
The Republic has a permanent population of approximately 3.5
million; a clearly defined territory over which it has and
had control for the last 15 years (bar for an small area
which has been illegally occupied by militia from Punland
for the last 3 years); and despite the lack of formal
recognition, Somaliland has and continues to enter formal
and informal relations with other states and international
organizations. Also, despite all the constraints brought
about by lack of recognition and the imposition of
unjustified ban on livestock exports, Somaliland is building
its democracy and respects human rights and the rule of law.
13. Some International jurists have argued that if a state
fulfils all the criteria for statehood that this raises an
obligation for other countries to recognize Somaliland.
Clearly in reality, recognition depends on the practice and,
often, the interests of specific states. Withholding the
recognition that Somaliland justly deserves is not a neutral
act because it has serious implications for the people of
Somaliland. Besides the denial of the right to self
determination, non-recognition for 15 years also meant that
continue to be denied direct access to financial
institutions, direct aid between countries, freedom to
travel and to expand the entrepreneurial skills, and among
other things access to markets, education etc. It is also
means that there are extremely limited resources for
re-building a country that has gone through a war and
consequently more unnecessary deaths of young and sick
people that might well be saved with more investment in
basic services. Somaliland has weathered the benign neglect
of the majority of the international community, but it is
has and continues to face continually the deliberate
undermining of its sovereignty by a few countries, which are
pursuing their own interests.
Questions posed by the International Crisis Group
14. In their recent report titled "Somaliland: Time for
an African Union Leadership" (Africa Report N°110 –
23 May 2006), the International Crisis Group posited "four
central and practical questions" which we address
briefly:
-- Should Somaliland be rewarded for creating stability
and democratic governance out of a part of the chaos that is
the failed state of Somalia?
Surely, the answer is yes. This would be very much in line
with the principles of NEPAD and would be also be an
incentive to those countries that fall into disorder and
anarchy that Africa rewards democracy and good governance
and abhors the opposite situations given the Continents
state of anarchy this past Century.
-- Would rewarding Somaliland with either independence or
significant autonomy adversely impact the prospects for
peace in Somalia or lead to territorial clashes?
No. The prospects of peace in Somalia lie with the efforts
and actions of the Somalian people. Whether or not
Somaliland is recognized is not going to bring peace to
Somalia – peace can only come to that country when its
people decide that enough is enough and work together for
conciliation and consensus. Peace cannot be imposed from
outside and the cause of Somaliland has no bearing
whatsoever on the attainment of peace in Somalia. If
anything, it is a distraction to them and sometimes the only
thing Somalians appear to agree upon is their position on
Somaliland – perhaps if that distraction is removed, they
may become more serious about peace-making.
The ruling elements in neighboring "Puntland" whose
militia currently occupy parts of eastern Somaliland are
unlikely to remain when Somaliland is recognized as the
inhabitants of the region has had long and lasting links
with the rest of Somaliland and would want to benefit from
the fruits of a recognized and a democratic country. In our
humble view, clashes are more likely if the situation is
allowed to drift the way it is now and "Puntland"
and the rest of Somalia decide to use force as they have
done before.
-- What are the prospects for peaceful preservation of a
unified Somali Republic?
None, whatsoever, as indicated by not attending a single one
of the many reconciliation conferences held for Somalia
Somaliland will never surrender its sovereignty again as
Somalilanders agree on the creed that says “fool me once
shame on you; fool me twice shame on me!”.
-- What would be the implications of recognition of
Somaliland for separatist conflicts elsewhere on the
continent?
We have explained above that the case of Somaliland is
unique. We do not believe that there are any
"separatists" with a similar claim who have the
historical facts Somaliland has. Somaliland’s
chronological events are documented.
The ICG warning
15. The ICG’s Africa Director
[6]
puts the challenge before the AU thus:
"The African Union's challenge is to provide timely, neutral
leadership in order to ensure a just, peaceful and enduring
settlement, before confrontation and violence become the
only option imaginable by both parties."
We add, will the AU and the African countries rise to this
challenge or will the few countries who have an interest in
re-creating a greater Somalia for their own strategic
considerations encourage whatever government that succeeds
to establish itself in Somalia to use force against
Somaliland? Somaliland would rather see the peace and
prosperity in a region that deserves both, but would defend
its independence and territorial integrity at al cost, as it
has once before.
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SOMALILAND FORUM
Somaliland Forum is an independent Diaspora think-tank
that advocates for the Sovereignty, Democracy and
socioeconomic development of the Republic of
Somaliland. We work with Somaliland communities,
supporters, governments and NGO's. For more information
please contact: chair@somalilandforum.com
or www.somalilandforum.com
_____________________________________________________
[1] References to Somalia in this note denote the territory of
"former Italian Somalia" in direct comparison to
Somaliland. The term "Somali" denotes ethnicity
and covers all ethnic Somalis who live in the various
countries of the Horn or abroad. Somalis who are citizens of
Somalia are referred to as "Somalians" in contrast
to "Somalilanders" .
[2] See Presidential Decree No: 218 of 20 August 1963 and the Law on
the Territorial Organization of the State adopted by the
National Assembly on 10 January 1967.
[3] Based on the Roman Law edict of Uti Possidetis, ita possidentis
– "As you possess, so may you possess".
[4] See, for example, Ratner S, Drawing a Better Line: Uti
Possidetis and the Borders of New States, American
Journal of International Law. Vol 90, pp 590 – 623.
Also Conference on Yugoslavia (Badinter Commission), Opinion
No:3 (11 Jan 1992), 31 ILM 14999 (1992).
[5] As set out in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties
of States
[6] Baldo S Africa Insight - Somaliland: The other Somalia with no
War Daily Nation 6/30/2006
Source: SIRAGhttp://www.sirag.org.uk/Open_Memorandum_To_the_AU_And_Member_States_SomalilandForum.htm
Related information:
somaliland: time for african union leadership - International Crisis Group
http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/africa/horn-of-africa/somalia/Somaliland%20Time%20for%20African%20Union%20Leadership.pdf
