Monday, June 28, 2010

Riyaale’s government ended in disarray!

Like Orwell's animal farm government, Riyaale's government ended in disarray!

Riyaale's government of Remnants exceeded George Orwell's animal farm government in cowardice and indecency in their dying days! Many of Riyaale's people jump ship!

The animal farm government did not fight, did not spit on each others face in desperation and frustration in there last days! They just died away!

Riyaale's ministers and cabals started fighting, spit on each others faces and at times engaged each other physically! Vest fighting was reported in their last days! Some people were crying in the back-ground as reported! It is said that it was female voices! And all these happened in the presidential palace!

It all started when Riyaale asked them what to do? One cabal said, "We have to Raid and Rob and Rig the ballot boxes." "How?" asked Riyaale. "The same way we robbed the nation's funds and minerals" replied the cabal!

How they are true of (their culture) what they are! Follies and a bunch of idiots!!

Gorge Orwell's animal Farm started with a dream. A dream of old Major's which was for the animals of England specifically the Manor Farm to rebel against the humans, take over the farm, and live at peace, thereafter.

The second Republic of Somaliland started with a dream. A dream to stand up and repel against the late dictator, Siyad Bare and the unjust treatment he committed against the communities there. They defeated him. That happened with the grace of Allah.

The Somaliland people revolted against the clanistic dictatorial regime of Siyad Bare. The country was liberated, communities reconciled, and they formed a national inclusive government, thanks to SNM, but that did not live longer. Because of internal differences among the SNM leadership,their government did not last longer, and unexpectedly the Remnants some of them allegedly committed crimes against humanity grabbed power with their ignorance and corruption package with them!

The animal farm's dream soon became a reality for the animals of the Manor Farm as they defeated their master, Mr. Jones, in the Battle of Cowshed with their battle cry "Four legs good, two legs bad", and took over the farm which they renamed Animal Farm.

In Somaliland, Remnants dream became a reality and they took over Somaliland in a corrupted clan mythology and methodology as means to achieve their end!

The next leader Riyaale,who allegedly committed crimes against humanity took advantage with Somaliland communities' reconciliation blanket amnesty. He became president of Somaliland. He brought a whole new type of Remnants of Siyad Bare to his government! He broke every rule of decency and development!

On the animal farm side, the farm which was supposed to be equal and free of class had a distinct governing body or "upper class" with the pigs and a distinct "working class" or majority which was everyone, but the pigs. Eventually, the seven commandments which were set forth at the beginning were changed in to one commandment that read "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others". Indeed, the pigs had become like their worst, most hated enemy, the human, and Major's dream and the hard work of the majority of the animals on the farm had been wiped away. In the end the cheating animal farm government ended and did so in disorder!

On the Remnants side headed by Riyaale, the government which was supposed to be a government which services the people and protects the resources and the bonders of the nation turned to a different direction! They created a distinct governing body consist of Remnants of Siyad Barre's regime! That contradicted the commandments which were set by the preceded government and the hopes, anticipations, and aspirations of the people. Riyaale and Awil became more equal than the other Remnants!

In the animal farm the commandment was "two legs bad, four legs good." In Riyaales government it is "Remnants are good, ex- NSS agents better, all others bad"

The animal farm government cheated, lied, betrayed, committed deceit and deception and eventually ended in disorder and disarray! Like wise the Riyaale government cheated, betrayed the trust entrusted upon them! Their deceit and deception bordered out right treason in the highest order!

Riyaale's government consisted of the Remnants and the NSS of Siyad Bare ENDED and did so IN DISARRAY! By, By……………………

Peace, prayer and unity in purpose after all these

Ibrahim M Mead

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Rare Haven of Stability in Somalia Faces a Test

Rare Haven of Stability in Somalia Faces a Test
Jehad Nga for The New York Times
 
Enthusiastic crowds gathered last week for an election rally for the opposition Kulmiye Party in Burao, Somaliland. The presidential election is set for Saturday. More Photos »
 
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
 
 
BURAO, Somalia — The rallies usually start early in the morning, before the sunshine hurts.
 
 
Even the biggest towns, like Burao, are desperately poor. More Photos »
 
 
By 8 a.m. on a recent day, thousands of people were packed into Burao's sandy town square, with little boys climbing high into the trees to get a peek at the politicians.
 
"We're going to end corruption!" one of the politicians boomed, holding several microphones at once. "We're going to bring dignity back to the people!"
 
The boys cheered wildly. Wispy militiamen punched bony fists in the air. The politicians' messages were hardly original. But in this corner of Africa, a free and open political rally — led, no less, by opposition leaders who could actually win — is an anomaly apparently worthy of celebration.
 
The crowd that day helped tell a strange truth: that one of the most democratic countries in the Horn of Africa is not really a country at all. It is Somaliland, the northwestern corner of Somalia, which, since the disintegration of the Somali state in 1991, has been on a quixotic mission for recognition as its own separate nation.
 
While so much of Somalia is plagued by relentless violence, this little-known piece of the Somali puzzle is peaceful and organized enough to hold national elections this week, with more than one million registered voters. The campaigns are passionate but fair, say the few Western observers here. The roads are full of battered old Toyotas blasting out slogans from staticky megaphones lashed to the roofs.
 
Somalilanders have pulled off peaceful national elections three times. The last presidential election in 2003 was decided by a wafer-thin margin, around 80 votes at the time of counting, yet there was no violence. Each successful election feeds the hope here that one day the world will reward Somaliland with recognition for carving a functioning, democratic space out of one of the most chaotic countries in the world.
 
But this presidential election, scheduled for Saturday, will be one of the biggest tests yet for Somaliland's budding democracy.
 
The government seems unpopular, partly because Somaliland is still desperately poor, a place where even in the biggest towns, like Burao or the capital, Hargeisa, countless people dwell in bubble-shaped huts made out of cardboard scraps and flattened oil drums. Most independent observers predict the leading opposition party, Kulmiye, which means something akin to "the one who brings people together," will get the most votes.
 
But that does not mean the opposition will necessarily win.
 
In many cases in Africa — Ethiopia in 2005, Kenya in 2007, Zimbabwe in 2008 — right when the opposition appeared poised to win elections, the government seemed to fiddle with the results, forcibly holding on to power and sometimes provoking widespread unrest in the process.
 
"There's probably not going to be many problems with the voting itself, but the day after," said Roble Mohamed, the former editor in chief of one of Somaliland's top Web sites. "That is the question."
 
Many people here worry that if Somaliland's governing party, UDUB, tries to hold on to power illegitimately, the well-armed populace (this is still part of Somalia, after all) will rise up and Somaliland's nearly two decades of peace could disappear in a cloud of gun smoke.
 
"I know this happens in Africa, but it won't happen in Somaliland," promised Said Adani Moge, a spokesman for Somaliland's government. "If we lose, we'll give up power. The most important thing is peace."
 
Easily said, infrequently done. Peaceful transfers of power are a rarity in this neighborhood. In April, Sudan held its first national elections in more than 20 years (the last change of power was a coup), but the voting was widely considered superficial because of widespread intimidation beforehand and the withdrawal of several leading opposition parties from the presidential race.
 
Last month's vote in Ethiopia, in which the governing party and its allies won more than 99 percent of the parliamentary seats, was also tainted by what human rights groups called a campaign of government repression, including the manipulation of American food aid to starve out the opposition.
 
Then there is little Eritrea, along the Red Sea, which has not held a presidential election since the early 1990s, when it won independence. And Djibouti, home to a large American military base, where the president recently pushed to have the Constitution changed so he could run again.
 
South-central Somalia, where a very weak transitional government is struggling to fend off radical Islamist insurgents, is so dangerous that residents must risk insurgents' wrath even to watch the World Cup, never mind holding a vote.
 
So in this volatile region, Somaliland has become a demonstration of the possible, sustaining a one-person one-vote democracy in a poor, conflict-torn place that gets very little help. While the government in south-central Somalia, which barely controls any territory, receives millions of dollars in direct support from the United Nations and the United States, the Somaliland government "doesn't get a penny," Mr. Said said.
 
Because Somaliland is not recognized as an independent country, it is very difficult for the government here to secure international loans, even though it has become a regional model for conflict resolution and democratic-institution building — buzzwords among Western donors.
 
In many respects, Somaliland is already its own country, with its own currency, its own army and navy, its own borders and its own national identity, as evidenced by the countless Somaliland T-shirts and flags everywhere you look. Part of this stems from its distinct colonial history, having been ruled, relatively indirectly, by the British, while the rest of Somalia was colonized by the Italians, who set up a European administration.
 
Italian colonization supplanted local elders, which might have been one reason that much of Somalia plunged into clan-driven chaos after 1991, while Somaliland succeeded in reconciling its clans.
 
Clan is not the prevailing issue in this election. The three presidential candidates (Somaliland's election code says only three political parties can compete, and they take turns campaigning from day to day) are from different clans or subclans. Yet, many voters do not seem to care.
 
In the middle of miles and miles of thorn bush stand two huts about 100 feet apart, one with a green and yellow Kulmiye flag flapping from a stick flagpole, the other with a solid green UDUB flag.
 
Haboon Roble, a shy 20-year-old, explained that she liked UDUB: "They're good. They hold up the house."
 
But about 100 feet away, her uncle, Abdi Rahman Roble, shook his head. "This government hasn't done anything for farmers," he complained. "We can't even get plastic sheets to catch the rain."
 
He said he was voting for Kulmiye. "But I don't tell anyone how to vote," Mr. Abdi Rahman said. "That's their choice."
 
And like the other adults in the family, he proudly showed off his new plastic voter card, which he usually keeps hidden in a special place in his hut, along with other valuables.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Analysis: Somaliland poll fuels recognition hopes



Analysis: Somaliland poll fuels recognition hopes

HARGEISA, 25 June 2010 (IRIN) - As voters in Somaliland prepared to finally cast their ballots in a tight, oft-delayed presidential election on 26 June, there was one outcome for which almost everybody in the territory, regardless of political or clan affiliation, was rooting.

 Peaceful and well-conducted polls "will lead to international recognition of Somaliland", Mohamedrashid Sheikh Hassan, who is running for vice-president on the opposition Justice and Welfare Party (UCID) ticket, told IRIN.

 "The first task" of whoever wins "is getting international recognition. Everything else follows from there. Without it you cannot have development," said Said Ahmed Hassan, the president of Gollis University in Hargeisa.

 "It is difficult to do business without recognition, so the new government must strive for recognition so as to set up proper financial institutions which will ease a lot of transactions," said trader Khadar Ahmed.

 "My best hope is for a free, fair and transparent poll as the world is watching to see how Somaliland will hold its elections," said Mohamed-Rashid Muhumed Farah, a veteran journalist and chairman of the Saxafi Media Network.

 "If the poll is successful, this will inevitably lead to Somaliland's recognition by the international community," he added.

 Somaliland unilaterally declared its independence in 1991, but, despite its relative stability and the establishment of democratic institutions, it is still considered by the outside world to be part of Somalia.

 There is a degree of foundation for Somalilanders' optimism, according to E.J. Hogendorn, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, who noted that regional powerhouse Ethiopia recently upgraded the status of its consulate in Hargeisa to a "trade office".

 Recognition "is discussed at high levels in European circles, in [the UK's] House of Lords and the European Parliament, for example."

 "But there is a consensus that, if recognition were to occur, an African country would have to take the lead. If a major African state were to recognize Somaliland, pressure on others to do so would be significant, and could lead to a cascading effect," he said.

 Recognition reluctance

 The first international organization to extend recognition would have to be the African Union (AU). But the AU, noted Hogendorn, "is extremely nervous about setting a precedent of recognition for secession".

 Such recognition reluctance exists not only within the AU, but also elsewhere in Somalia, where many regard Somaliland as an integral part of the country.

 This is especially true of the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab, which has publicly called on Somalilanders to stay away from the polls. (The group is suspected of planning attacks designed to either disrupt the ballot or distract media attention from the election.)

 One close observer of the country's political scene said the assumption that a well-run election would boost chances of recognition were "fair" but that any development would likely be "an incremental process, rather than a one-off".

 One reason why these aspirations are unlikely to be satisfied in the immediate future is a fear that recognition would complicate efforts to put an end to the conflict ravaging south and central Somalia.

 A peaceful poll?

 This election was originally scheduled for April 2008. After numerous postponements, a bitter disagreement over the registration process almost degenerated into violence in 2009.

 A number of donor-funded measures, coupled with a sense that chaos would do the recognition cause no good, have helped to reduce the risk of unrest.

 There is a new election commission in place that enjoys the trust of all stakeholders. Political parties campaigned on alternating days so as to minimize confrontation. There has been a huge voter education campaign, involving religious leaders, elders, and NGOs. On election day itself, only polling officials and observers are permitted to travel by vehicle.

 "We are confident everything will go as planned," Commission spokesman Ahmed Hirsi told IRIN on 20 June.

 UCID's Hassan said: "I don't think anyone will try to rig it, but if that happens there are enough observers both local and international to call the culprits to account."

 There is widespread agreement that whoever wins, a clear margin and a graceful concession by the losers would help maintain calm.

 Riyale, who won a 2003 presidential election by a mere 80 votes at the head of the United People's Democratic Party (UDUB), appears ready to go quietly should things not go his way.

 "If UDUB loses, I am 100 percent sure we'll hand over power," his spokesman, Ali Mohamed Yusuf, told IRIN, insisting however that this outcome was unlikely.

 This election will resonate well beyond Somaliland itself, since democratic transitions of power are very rare in the Horn of Africa.

 "The election is carrying a huge burden of hope of Somali people [also in the Horn and the diaspora] for an alternative governance system, to show that another way is possible," said the political observer.

 "The stakes are very high," warned ICG's Hogendorn. "The election is quite likely to be very close and thus vote count will be very much contested. Close elections can prove to be very divisive, problematic and tense."

***
Presidential candidates

The incumbent Dahir Riyale Kahin leads the United People's Democratic Party (UDUB). Elevated from the vice-presidency in 2002 on the death of Mohamed Ibrahim Egal. Saw his presidency confirmed in a poll the following year by a margin of just 80 votes.

Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud, universally known as Silaanyo, leads the Development and Solidarity Party, or Kulmiye, and is considered the leader of the opposition. Served in various ministerial positions in Somalia before joining the armed opposition to Mohammed Siad Barre's government.

Faisal Ali "Warabe" of the Justice and Welfare party (UCID). An engineer who served as a senior civil servant in Barre's administration. UCID holds the third largest share of seats in the lower house of Somaliland's parliament.

Who's who in Somaliland politics: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86169

ah-js/am/cb[END]

SOMALIA: What Somaliland voters want


SOMALIA: What Somaliland voters want

HARGEISA, 25 June 2010 (IRIN) - Above all else, voters in Somaliland want the outside world to recognize their independence[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89616]. But the electorate has other demands of its next government. Here is a selection:

 Said Ahmed Hassan, president of Gollis University in Hargeisa

 "The new president has to deal with the country's economy. There is enormous poverty, lack of employment opportunities, particularly for the young."

 `Qat', a plant with stimulant properties that is widely chewed in the Horn of Africa "is destroying the fabric of our society. It affects the health; economy and family life of our people. It should be curtailed."

 Hodo Mohamed, internally displaced person (name changed)

 "It seems that our plight has been totally ignored. We hope the new government will help us settle by allocating land to those of us who have been displaced by drought and poverty."

 "Look at how congested our structures [an IDP settlement in Hargesia] are. If a fire was to break out, I dread the outcome, for many of us will surely die. The new government must at least improve our living conditions."

 Khadar Ahmed, businessman

 "People should accept the election verdict no matter who wins. You cannot do business without peace."

 "The incoming government should strengthen business laws. The ministry of commerce has to put in place better laws governing how business is done. If I am going to invest in the country, I need legal protection and security because I could be investing hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars."

 Anonymous businessman

 "The incoming government must ensure it reaches even the grassroots. You cannot have the government only in Hargeisa while in the countryside people have never seen the government, relying only on village elders. In fact the only time they see the government is during election campaigns when politicians traverse the countryside seeking votes."

 Mohamed-Rashid Muhumed Farah, journalist

 "In the course of our interviews with people, many complain of lack of good governance, corruption and that the government has not done much in terms of education and improving infrastructure."

 Amina Abdillahi Ahmed, academic

 "When people hold political office, they tend to stick there, not wanting to leave because Somaliland is a small country with a lot of resources which remain undiscovered. As it is, many people lack proper employment, the government doesn't pay its employees much."

 "People are looking forward to change but I fear the ruling party may not respect the people's verdict."

 "I can say democracy is taking root in Somaliland, although it may not be to Western standards. Slowly by slowly we'll get there. The incoming government must rethink what it can do for the people. It must address communities' needs and identify the gaps such as unemployment that need urgent solutions."

 ah-js/cb

[END]

Thursday, June 24, 2010

CODKAAGA KU CIIL BAX...DHAMMAAD IYO DARDAARAN

CODKAAGA KU CIIL BAX...DHAMMAAD IYO DARDAARAN
Ahmed Arwo

Waxay ahayd shan sano iyo dheeraad kolkii taxanaha CODKAAGU YAANU CADOW KUGU NOQON aan bilaabay. Waxay ahyd digniin muhiim ah oo ay ahayd in la hubsado si loo helo barlamaan tayo ah oo meel mariya masiirka ummadda, la xisaabtama xukuumadda. Waxa dhacday in reero loo soo xulay laguna doortay. Waxa dhacday in colkii UDUB halkay xukuumadda ka toosin lahaayeen noqdeen qaar gar iyo gardaraba ku raaca, oo ilooba muhimka ay leedaha la xisaabtanku.

Taasi waxay dhaxalsiisay in golaha Wakiiladu noqdo gole doodo keliya ooyna waxba ka soo bixin, xukuumaddina waxay noqotay gardarro garab og. Waxa soo raacay in xilka ay qabteen mas'uuliin Wasiiro leh, Aagaasimayaal leh, Madax boolis leh, Madax Ciidan leh oo iyana loola dhaqmo si ay u adeegaan xukuumadda ooy marar badan baal maraa xilka loo dhaarshay, iyagoo mas'uuliyaddii qaranku ku soo uruurtay difaaca xaq-darro ee Madaxweyne Riyaale. Awooddii oo dhammi waxay ku uruurtay gacanta Riyaale. Isagoon weli dibinta furin ayey kolka farto dhaqaaqdo wasiiradu kor u boodaan oo midba kan kale ka horarsadaa raaligelin aan weli waxay tahay ayna dhab u fahmin.

Dalku waxuu noqday guri qof leeyahay, qabnigii ummaddu sidoo kale. Haddaba kolka xaal halkaas maray ayaan bilaabay taxan kale oo ugu baaqay intii Codkoodu Cadow Ku Noqday inay guntadaan oo waxaan bilaabay CODKAAGA KU CIIL BAX...kaas oon halkan ku soo afmeeraayo manta.

Uma baahnid xusuus fog, oo waxa kaaga filan duruufaha iyo dhacdooyinka ayaamhan taagan. Maxay arkeen tiirarka UDUB ee ka daadanaa markabka sii degaaya. Waa astaan iyo saadaal wacan oo waa dhammaadkii mugda muddada dheer inagu habsaday Insha Allah. 

CAWRALEEY CAGO

Ku xusuuso ..Dhiilkeyga wax yar ayaa dhimman ee koodu wuu madhanyahay..macnahu waa codkaaga waxaan ku iibsanayaa lacagaada. Waxaan kugu karbaashayaa ushaada, waxaan kaa dhigi nin haraaddan oo ceelkiisa aan keli dhaansanaayo, waxaan haystaa rag gacamaha aan u caseeyey aan cid kale aqoon anigi mooyee. Mey noqon oo colkii uu gacamaha u caseeyey intii dareen ku sii hadhay wey garatay inuu markabku degaayo. Waxay la noqotay ka boodoo illeyn naftu orod ayey kugu aamintaa ee yaan laguuga dul iman. Waa Wasiiro cararaaya, waa Xildhibaano Wakiilo oo cararaaya, Waa Xildhibaano Degaan oo cararaaya, Waa tiirarkii xisbiga UDUB oo dhalin leh, oo haween leh, oo waayeel leh, waa salaadiin iyo cuqaal.  

Horaan u idhi Yaa ku hadhay UDUB. Maan filayn in ilaa maalinta doorashada UDUB soo dindimi doonto waxaan filaayey in ay leedhay rag iyo dumar ku adag oo tiro badan, wey jiraan weyse yaryihiin oo waa tan weli soo yaaceysa.

Xusuuso xukuumadda 55ka dhaaftay, xusuuso tayadooda, xusuuso qoraal la,aanta shirkooda, xusuuso ciidanka iyo booliska derejo ka maqantay, mushahar aan helin, xusuuso lacagta qiima jibtay oo dib u noqo oo eeg inta uu joogay koobka shaahu kolkuu xilka la wareegay iyo intuu manta maraayo, xusuuso Sool iyo Sanaag bari iyo inta lacag loo uruuriyey iyo halkay martay.Xusuuso biriij keliya ee Hargeysa lacagtii laga uruuriyey ciyaalo iskuulka ilaa tujaarta iyo halkay martay.

Diid UDUB OO KU DIID ARRIMAHAN:

  1. DIID DAACAD LA'AANTA
  2. DIID DAYACA
  3. DIID DALASIGA
  4. DIID DULAYSIGA
  5. DIID DULMIGA
  6. DIID DAROJO L'AANTA
  7. DIID DIBUSOCDNIMADA
  8. DIID DIRAA DIREYNTA
  9. DIID DIIFTA
  10. DIID DUURJOOGTA LA GUMAADAY
  11. DIID DARIIQ LA'AANTA
  12. DIID DARYEEL LA'AANTA
  13. DIID DAMQASHO LA'AANTA
  14. DIID XAALKA DEKEDDA BERBERA
  15. DIID BALAN BEEN AH
  16. DIID LAALUUSH IYO LA-XISAABTAN LA'AAN

Waa ayaan xornimo mid taariikhi ah oo ah ayaantii gumeysigii caddaa ka huleelay dalkeena, waa sharaf kale oo loo huwiyey ayaantaas 26 Juun 2010 waa maalinta masiirka ummadda aad u gurman karto, aad badbaadin karto, aad intaas oo diidmo mudan ee dusha ku qoran aad ka xorreyn karto dalka, Waa mustaqbalkii ummadda, waa adigoo u hura codkaaga, oo ku ciil baxa codkaaga. Sii KULMIYE oo noqo ruux ku dhiirada isbedelka dhabta ah. Ha khasaarin oo ha siin cid aan soo baxayn iyo meel aan jirin. Ha ka seexan oo yaan aamuskaagu inagu keenin UDUB. Ha noqon nin gacantiisa isku gawraca. Isagu gee awoodaada inaad hesho cod buuxa oo isbedel dhalin kara.

Mahad oo dhan Alle ayaa leh,

Waa inoo qormo kale iyo maalinteed, Insha Allah

 

 

Ahmed Arwo

 

samotalis@gmail.com

 

JOIN SAMOTALIS Page AT:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SAMOTALIS/238585618589?ref=mf#!/pages/SAMOTALIS/238585618589

http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

 

DALKAYGU WACANAA DADKIISU WANAAGSANAA DAWLADIISU WEECSANAA

DALKAYGU WACANAA DADKIISU WANAAGSANAA DAWLADIISU WEECSANAA
 
CODKAAGA KU CIIL BAX QORMADII (35)
 
Ahmed Arwo
 
 
 
Mahad Allaa leh, ILaaha i nabad geeyey dalkii aan muddada dheer ka maqnaa, dal ruuxaygu joogay oo aanan saacadna ka fikir la'aan, dad qalbigeygu la joogay. Waxaan ahaa qof ruux iyo jidhku kala maqanaa. Waxaan noqday qof dhan oo taabtay nolasha dhabta ah ee dadkeyga. Wax cusub ma arag oo dharaar iyo habeenba waan la socday dhib iyo dheef, barwaaqo iyo abaar omas ah, waan la qaybsanaayey dhacdooyinka farxad iyo murugu isagu jira. Intaan ogaa oon waxba ugu kordhin ayaan haddana si dhab ah u taabtay.
 
Waan ogaa samirka, nabad jaceylka, wax wada cunka dadkeyga, waan ogaa shaqo la'aanta, danyarta darxumeysan, dhalinta gidaar jiifka ah, qasriyada madhan ee buulasho hareereeyeen. Waan ogaa quruxda, bilicda, cunta wanaaga huteelada, sooryada guryaha. Waan ogaa in bilicda Maansoor ay agtaal buulasha hortiisa ah. Waan ogaa dadkeyga ku darxumeysan state house iyo dhammaan guryaha bacaha ka sameysan ee aqal Soomaligu qasrigu u yahay. Waa danyar darxumo u dhammaatya, ma haystaan daryeel noocnaba, caafimaad maa kuu, tacliin macnaheedaba ma yaqaaniin, hoyna waa u bac sumaysan. Waa dad samirkii Ayuub leh. Dedaal kuma yara, daacad wey u dhasheen. Waa se la doorshay. Waxa helay dad ay diir , muuqaal iyo magac wadaagaan, dhiig iyo walaalnimo u dheertay, ooy waliba ay u cumaamadeen, kuna noqday goofanayaal aan halka ay qabsadaan ka gu'in, aan dhergin, aan nixin aan lahayn jidh damqada iyo dareen aadminimo.
 
Duhurkii Jimcaha 18 Juun waxaan cagaha la helay dhulkii hooyo iyo Berbera. Madaar u eeg meel quruumihii lagu dagaalay waayeyna wax dhadhaba. Waa qolol iska daa rinji eh aan lahayn talbiis, daaqadahu waa gidaar madhan oo weli sugaya in laga dhigo daaqad. Gudaha waxa ka taagan buuq inta ku jirtaa wey ka badantay ita soo degtey. Waa dad ay ka muuqato dayac dhaqaale darro wax yar ayaa madaarka si rasmi ah uga shaqeeya. Waa dad eryanaaya quud maalmeed. Umay iman inay wax boobaan, umey iman inay tuugsadaan oo sharaftuuda u diiday. Waa inay helaan farsamo quud loo helo aan xaraan iyo ceeb xanbaarsanayn. Dhalinta askartu wey taqaan inay baahi keentay. Wey u naxaan oo  sharciga ayey jiifiyaan si ay dhalintu u gaadho hadafkooda ayna waxba uga hooseen dhadhamo ay ku qaboojiyaan calool ololeysa. Askarta iyo shaqaalaha ee goobta joogaa, darxumadu kama madhan. Waxa ka muuqda diif iyo nolol engegan. Musharkoodu waa qadhiidh aan kafayn baahiyaha asaasiga ah ee nafleyda. Waxay laftoodu dhowraan in ay wax soo gaadhaan. Waa duul xishood iyo khajilsan, sharaf badan bal se baahi
 
Waxa laga dhigay mushaharka shaqaalaha madani iyo ciidanba mid yar oo lagu kalifo inay sharciga jabiyaan. Waxa loo fasaxay laaluush, si ay u noqdaan dar u jilca sarkaalka ka sareeya oo isagu musuq kooda ka badan liishaanta. Ninba ninkuu ka sareeyo ka af weyn. Waxa helay ummadii xukuumad nidaamkii dawliga ahaa qulubaa gedidey. Waxay ka dhigtay askartii duul la kireeyo, oo ciddii doontaa kaxaysato. Sharaftii ciidan wey burburtay. Derejo ma leh, dharku waa duug dhowr meelood jidhku ka muuqdo, kabahu waa sandhal hadday isku noocba noqdaan ninka gashani Alle mahadiyo.  
 
Dariiqii cagta saarnay. Waa barwaaqo iyo mahad Alle meel waliba waa cagaar, waxa se wadnaha ku qabanaaya kidhkidh iyo hubaqlayn. Waa jid aan mitirna fayoobeyn, godood iyo bacaad aan karkar lahyn, waa kantaroolada oo calanka sharafta badan kaaramada ka qaaday. Kow kuma qornaa kalmedu tawxeed, dhammaan wey goo'goan-yiihiin. Waa astaan ku tilmaamaysa tamarta xukuumadda, xataa birta kontroolku waa amba mid daxal rudhay oo taabashadeedu cudur tahay, amba waa caleen yar oo la soo jaray. Dariiqa ilaa Hargeysa waa tuulooyin dadku iska-faraxsan yahay bal se nolashooda ay ka muuqato rafaad ay wax badan qabitameen.
 
Waxay ahayd maalin UDUB ololaynayso. Waxa anigoon Hargeysa gaadhin i horyimid markhaati cad oo fal danbiyeed doorasho ah. Waa baabuurtii xukuumadda gaar ahaan kuwa Dekedda Berbera oo raxanraxan ah uuna hormood u yahay Agaasimaha Guud. Waxa labada dhinac laga tuurayaa jawaano qaad ah, waxa kale oo kolkii aan is-taagnay naloo sheegay inay ilaa xalay lacag qaybinayeen. Waxa amakaag igu riday sida loo qabitimay iyo habacsanaanta ummadda. Waa iska caadi..waxay ka mid tahay ereyada aad wax badan maqlayso. Waxa markiiba maankeygu sajilay cinwanka maqaalkan...Dal wacan, dad wanaagsan iyo xukuumad weecsan. Waxa xukuumaddu ka leexatay marinkii xilkeedu tilmaamaayey. Lacagta danyarta, dibjirka, geeljiraha, adhi-raaca, lo-jirka, dilalka, baalashlaha, caanodiiqda, bacadlaha, biyoolaha, timirlaha, taajirka, shaqaalaha, sheikh, shariif iyo ruux kasta oo dalkan degan iyo mid soo cago-dhigtaba laga qaaday ayaa laga dhigay mid dano gaar ah oo danbi cad ah lagu galo.
 
Muwaadinku ma oga inuu shilin kasta oo uu wax ku iibsadaa qayb ka mid ihi tahay cashuur. Ma jiro qof nool oo aan cashuurta laga qaadini, waxaana looga qaadaa in loogu shaqeeyo. Laakiin waxay noqotaa mid loo isticmaalo si kale. Waa xukuumad weecsan oo marinkii loo igmaday baal-martay. Lacagta waxa loo adeegsadaa sidii dadka maskaxda looga addoonsan lahaa iyo sifooyin xaaraan ah.
 
Hargeysa ayaan soo gaadhay anigoo aad u faraxsan inaan dadkeygii ehel, qaraabo iyo asxaaba la kulmo. Jawigu waa wacan yahay. Baabuur iyo dad isku haysta marin yar oo dhagax iyo ciidi ku weheliso, ayaa ah waxa ugu xun ee indhahaaga iyo jidhkaaguba dareemaayo. Kidh-kidh aan kala joogsi lahayn oo beerku ku hiqleynaayo. Wey fiday ooy darafyada dhaaftay, waa la dhisaty qof iyo itaalkii, mid qasri aloosa, mid buul ka hordhista, mid sandaqad dhadhabta. Mansha Alla masaajiddu waa buux, makarafoonka wacdiga diimeed ma yara, haddana dhaqanka dadku waa ka durugsan yahay asluubta suuban. Been dul iyo hoos ah, balan la,aan, markhaati aan sax ahayn, laba-wajinimo, isku-dir, nifaaq la joogtaystay, ooy intaba u sal tahay laaluushka iyo xukuumad weecsan oo marinkii ka luntay.
 
Bilicda magaaladu waa dhaawac sakaraad ku dhow. Nalku waa teel-teel, nuurkiisu waa daciif, jidad la'aan lumisa waqti badan oo shaqo, dhaqaale badan oo baabuur burbur leh, oo halis dadka dariiqa ay maraan baabuurtu ugu tegtay dhe. Biyo yaraan joogta ah, Hargeysa oo intey leegtay la ogyahay ayaa waxay leedahay biriij keliya oo isku xidha labadeeda daamood. Kii lacagta ilaa caruurta laga guray waa mid aan fari ka qodnayn, kolkaad aragtana aad xusuusan balamadii is-dabo-joogay eey Wasiiradu meel walba ka akhriyeen. Si gaar ah waxaan u xusuustaa Wasiirka Hawlaha Guud oo ku baaqay inay Wasaarad ahaan dhammayn doonaan intaan sanadkii hore dhammaan.
 
Inagoon soo koobi Karin dareenkeyga farxadda iyo murugada isagu jira bal se ay farxaddu u badantay dhinaca shacbiga, anigoon idinka waramin dadka ku dhibaataysan state-house iyo meelo kale oo la mid ah, aan u jeesto dardaan iyo nuxurka weedhayda. Waxa muuqata in dadka maskaxda laga addonsaday., oo kuwa ugu dhibatada badani yihiin kuwa loo adeegsanaayo joogtaynta dhibta haysata. Waa dad u dhiibaaya mindidii lagu qali lahaa kii qalaayey..
 
Aan qodobo kooban ku gudbiyo fariin muhiim ah;
 
Miyaad jeceshay inaad cimrigaaga ku noolaato, ku dhasho ood ku barbaariso ubadkaaga buul bac ah, nolosha reer State-house ma tahay mid ay rabaan inay wax ka badalaan. Ma tahay wax habboon inaad mustaqbalkaaga siisato qadhiidh iyo quud maalmeed.
Haddaad tahay dhalinyaro shaqo la' ma rabtaa inaad ka korto baryo, qadoodi iyo silica an rajo lahayn
Haddaad waxbaratay, ma rabtaa in la tixgeliyo aqoontaada, sinnaan iyo cadaalad lagugu shaqaaleeyo. Rajo-xumida badaha saaxiibadaa ku dhinteen ma rabtaa inaad ka badbaado.
 Shaqaale dawladeed haddaad tahay, ma rabtaa inaad maskaxdaada u madaxbanaanaatid, inaad adiguu fikirkaaga u xor ah shaqada dawladdana haysid. Ma rabtaa inaad hesho mushahar kaaga filnaada duliga iyo dambiga laaluushka. Ma rabtaa inaad soo ceshoto karaamadada iyo tan qoyskaaga. Ma rabtaa inaad mushaharkaaga heshid xiligeeda.
Haddaad Bolis tahay amba Ciidanka ma rabtaa sharaf iyo maamuuskii ciidan lahaa, derejo garbaha kuu sudhan, direes bilicsan, badhan iyo kabo baalashaysan oo kolkaad laafyooto dhalintu ku daawato. Ma rabtaa mushahar kaa xoreeya in sida mihnadaha xun laguu kireysto.Sarkaal iyo askar leh xarumo lagu barbaariyo ubadkooda iyo agoontooda, lagu daryeelo caafimaadkooda.
Haddaad tahay ganacsade taajir weyn ah, bacadle iyo mid bacaad fadhiyaba, ma rabtaa ganacsi xor ah oon takoor lahayn, ma rabtaa cashuurta lagaa qaado oo dalka wax loogu qabto, adigoo hela jidad laamiyeysan, biyo aan gu'in, dhakhtaro casri ah, iyo waxbarsho ubadkaagu ka haqab beelaan.
Intaasba waxa ka weyn, ma rabtaa cadaalad, xoriyad af iyo mid dhaqdhaqaaq ah. Inaan xadhig iyo hanjabaad midna laguula iman muwaadin, inaan cidi ku xidhi Karin, albaabka gurigaagana lala bixi Karin, ma rabtaa in la baa'biiyo xukunka degdega ah iyo dulmigiisa. Ma rabtaa saxaafad xor ah oo idaacad iyo TV leh  dalkoo dhan gaadha.
 
Intaas oo dhan waxaad ku gaadhi waa adiguu CODKAAGA KU CIIL BAXA. Waa adigoo Xukuumadda weecsan ku bedela xukuumad kuu adeegta. Diid laaluushka mustaqbalkaaga lagu iibsanaayo. Diid inaad kaadhka aqoonsigaaga ee muujinaaya jinsiyadaada iyo nasabkaaga inaad iibiso. U kac oo u codee KULMIYE...KUNNA UU KU SIINE AHOW KULMIYE..SIDAAD U GAADHO MUSTAQBAL IFAAYA.
 
Masiirka ummadda weeyee codkaaga ha khasaarin, ha la seexan, ha siin CID AAN SOO BAXAYN, oo ha soo saarin CIDDAAD KA CARARTAY...CODKA KHASAARAA WAA MID TAAGEERO U AH UDUB IYO DULMI JOOGTA AH.  
 
 
 
Mahad oo dhan Alle ayaa leh,
 
Waa inoo qormo kale iyo maalinteed, Insha Allah
 
 
 
 
 
Ahmed Arwo
 
 
 
 
 
 
JOIN SAMOTALIS Page AT:
 
 
 
 

KENYA-SOMALIA: Fatuma Mohamoud*, "No one believed he was abused"


KENYA-SOMALIA: Fatuma Mohamoud*, "No one believed he was abused"

KAKUMA, 24 June 2010 (IRIN) - Ahmed Mohamoud* seems like a typical eight-year old boy. He is dressed in jeans and sneakers and wears a hat of the New Orleans Saints, the team that won the US Super Bowl this year. Mohamed fled from the Hawiye area of Banadir region, not far from Mogadishu, with his parents. IRIN met Ahmed in Kakuma, northwestern Kenya, where his mother Fatuma agreed to tell IRIN their story.

 "We arrived in Kenya in January 2009. We were first in Dadaab [refugee camp in northeastern Kenya]. After some time we were relocated to Kakuma. Mohamed, who is my only son, started going to the madrasa [Islamic school] inside the camp and not too far from our home here.

 "He loved it and always said his dream was to teach the Koran to others. In May 2009, Ahmed was coming back home from the madrasa when he met one of his neighbours in the street.

 "The man walked with Ahmed and when they were close to his house, he asked the kid to join him for a tea. The kid walked into the house with the man. After drinking tea, the man asked Ahmed if he wanted to see some toys he had in his room. The kid agreed and when they were sitting on the bed, he started touching him and later abused him.

 "Ahmed went home that day but did not mention anything of what had happened to me or his father. The following day, he went back to the madrasa and again met the man on his way back home.

 "The same abuse scenario went on for a week. Ahmed came home every day but never gave us a reason to think that there was something wrong with him - until one night, I heard him screaming and crying. I ran to his room and he told me he had pains in the abdomen and anus.

 "I took him immediately to the camp clinic and after visiting my son, the doctor came to me with tons of questions about who the child had been with, who his friends were, and where his father was. When I asked him what was going on, he told me Ahmed had been sodomized. I could not believe my ears. My only child, my seven-year-old boy, had gone through this and I had suspected nothing.

 "He gave me a medical report and told me I had to talk to the police. In the meantime Ahmed walked out of the room where he was with the doctor. He could not look me in the eyes. Ahmed came closer to me and, still avoiding eye contact, hugged me by the waist saying, `Mum, are you upset with me now?'

 "At that moment I could not hold whatever was in me any longer. I could not... The pain was too intense and I just burst into tears. I know I shouldn't have, not in front of my son, not at that moment, but I couldn't help it.

 "Ahmed and I went to speak to the police, to whom we showed the medical report. The man was detained for 15 days and after that, released on bail. You could not believe my disappointment when I passed him while walking near my house. I hoped Ahmed would never have to see him again. But there he was.

 "Ever since the news spread in the community, Ahmed could no longer go to the madrasa. People in the street started making fun of him, humiliating him and calling him a liar. No one believed he was abused. They all thought he made all this up. So after three or four times when he came home crying, I decided he should not go there any more. The thing is that not only can he not go to the madrasa but basically he cannot leave the house. We are constantly threatened, get jerry cans thrown at us and are spat upon. Ahmed has no friends; nobody talks to him other than the counsellor who comes to see him every week.

 "The authorities have asked us if we want to move to a different community but if we did, things would not change; people would still know, and the stigma would follow us.

 "After a year, the case is still wending its way through the legal system. My son's childhood has been ruined and his dreams spoiled but I hope at least justice will be done."

 *Not their real names

 cp/am/cb

[END]

Dhanxiir iyo Wasiirada Waaga intuu baryayo sugi waayay ee u .....

Dhanxiir iyo Wasiirada Waaga intuu baryayo sugi waayay ee u .....

Waaryaadhaheen, tii UDUB ahayd haragii beri horuu ka hooree, hadda jiidhkii baa gurmaya, bal eeg wasiiradan xalay u guday KULMIYE ee sugi kari waayey inta waagu ka beryayo, mise tallow toobadii siyaasadeed baa ka xidhmaysay oo nafla caari baa haysay, cajiib, meesha cidi kumay hadhine magacii UDUB-tuna wuu sii wasakhoobayaaye tallow Aw Rayaale xalay muxuu ku baryey, Cawil-na waxbaa lagaga sheeg sheegayee!!!

Weger; Adeer; UDUB noole kuuma joogtee waxaad ka warantaa weriyeyaashan kolba mid la leeyahay dalka ka baxa ee waa maxay farta ku godani, ilayn waatanoo maantana waxaan maqlayaaa koox BBC-da ah ayaa waraaqo loo jaree, ilaahayoow falfaliidhka UDUB naga badbaadi oo doorasho khayr qabtaa noo dhacdaa.



Jamhuuriya Online

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

SOMALI MIGRANT KILLED IN GUN BATTLE BETWEEN YEMENI FORCES AND SMUGGLERS – UN AGENCY

OMALI MIGRANT KILLED IN GUN BATTLE BETWEEN YEMENI FORCES AND SMUGGLERS – UN AGENCY
New York, Jun 22 2010 11:10AM
The United Nations refugee agency is working with the Yemeni Government to gain access to a group of Africans who were detained following a weekend incident in which one man was killed and two women were seriously wounded during a gun battle between the army and smugglers.

The Somali man and the two non-Somali women were among a group of African migrants that had just arrived in Yemen and were being boarded onto trucks bound for neighbouring Saudi Arabia, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The gun battle occurred on Sunday afternoon in Al Sabiel, which lies some 200 kilometres west of Aden and is the main entry point in Yemen for migrants crossing the Red Sea.

"According to survivors, military vehicles surrounded a smuggling convoy in the process of boarding passengers from the Horn of Africa. Shooting broke out when the smugglers tried to escape," UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a news conference in Geneva.

Currently, some 51 non-Somalis are in detention pending further investigation, while another Somali is reported missing and presumed to have fled. The army has handed over five Somali males to UNHCR's partner, the Yemeni Red Crescent, and they are being assisted at the Bab al Mandab transit centre.

The survivors told UNHCR that they were among passengers from a smuggling boat carrying some 60 Africans from the Horn of Africa that departed from Djibouti on Sunday and reached Yemen's coast later the same day.

According to the agency, nearly 19,260 people from the Horn of Africa have reached the shores of Yemen this year after fleeing their homes due to war, poverty, famine and drought.
Jun 22 2010 11:10AM

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Collapse of UDUB and the Seismic Paradigm Shift Sweeping Somaliland

The Collapse of UDUB and the Seismic Paradigm Shift Sweeping Somaliland

"people often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true, Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote-a very different thing."  Walter H. Judd

"After this president election, Somaliland recognition is no longer a request, it is an earned right which the world must endorse."
 The clouds of change for the better is hanging over Somaliland. The celestial bodies are showing the smell of a huge Kulmiye victory. Somalilanders are showing their tremendous thirsty for a peaceful transfer of power. Kulmiye's long struggle to effect change in the country is finally on the very verge of bearing fruit. Kulmiye is becoming the new kid on the block. Somaliland presidential election fever is moving in all cylinders. Kulmiye party is emerging as the leading party in the country. UCID seems also to be taking the 2nd slot, and UDUB party is taking a distant third position. In the election rallies thousands of people are turning out to support Kulmiye party. Kulmiye party supporters are coming out with huge energy, enthusiasm and excitement. During their presidential rallies through the country, they are coming out in the thousands waving Somaliland and kulmiye flags, election paraphernalia, and slogans. Some of the Kulmiye supporters draw elections slogans on their faces and some of them wear clothes decorated with Kulmiye insignia. The world is watching this great election contest with great enthusiasm. Last week many UDUB officials jump the ship and hastily joined Kulmiye. Kulmiye membership growth for the last month is unprecedented. Everyday a new Somaliland group are leaving UDUB and joining Kulmiye. Nobody may know the exact outcome of the election, but if what were are seeing the last few weeks is a guide, Kulmiye party may be heeding to a landslide victory. The day president Rayaale may have wish if he would have resigned long time ago is around the corner. What is happening in Somaliland is a great example for all the Horn and all of Africa for the matter. 

The presidential contest is taking place as it happens in the established democracies of the west. Somalilanders have shown their maturity and the transition from fragmental tribal society to a cohesive and pluralistic society is in full swing. The overwhelming Kulmiye support in Awdal, Salel and Gabiley speaks to a sign of political maturity. The time people vote for somebody simply because of his/her tribal affiliation is over. A new dawn is casting a bright day light in Somaliland. Following the successful holding of the coming 26 June elections, Somaliland will embark in an irreversible and irrevocable route where the so-called international community is forced to succumb to Somaliland demands for full recognition for their hard won sovereignty. Somaliland recognition is no longer a request it is an earned right which the world must endorse. With two successful presidential elections under her belt,  Somaliland will start a new dawn.   

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." Thomas Jefferson

Saylicpress Editorial

AFRICA: World Cup HIV campaigns


AFRICA: World Cup HIV campaigns

NAIROBI, 17 June 2010 (PLUSNEWS) - The 2010 FIFA World Cup is underway in South Africa and HIV/AIDS campaigners are taking advantage of the international focus on Africa to raise awareness about HIV. IRIN/PlusNews lists some of the campaigns running during the month-long tournament from 11 June to 11 July.

 Give AIDS the Red Card [http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/FeatureStories/archive/2010/20100607_WorldCap.asp]

 National football team captains, including South Africa, Nigeria and France, have thrown their weight behind a UNAIDS campaign to prevent mothers from dying and babies from becoming infected with HIV. According to UNAIDS, almost 80 babies become infected with HIV during the 90-minute length of a single football match.

 Brothers for Life [http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?Reportid=89329]

 International soccer superstars like Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi are joining this South African campaign, which encourages men to take a stand against gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS. The campaign promotes a national HIV testing drive on television, radio and outdoor advertising, launched by President Jacob Zuma in April.

 Public Viewing in Africa [http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/ForTheNextGeneration/contentslist/dreamgoal2010/publicviewing]

 Technology giant Sony is partnering with the UN Development Programme and the Japan International Cooperation Agency to bring 20 World Cup matches to poor communities in Cameroon and Ghana, and offering HIV counselling and testing at the same time.

 The World Cup in My Village

 A pilot project by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Children's Radio Foundation and other community partners, to give young people access to World Cup matches in areas of Rwanda and Zambia where there is no electricity or broadcasting service.

 Besides watching football, young people will be encouraged to participate in soccer games, educational activities promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, and other community events. They will also be able to share their experiences with a wider audience through the use of flip cameras, laptops and recording devices.

 South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS Condom Distribution Initiative [http://www.sabcoha.org/fifa-world-cup-2010/fifa-world-cup-2010.html]

 The initiative, in conjunction with the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa and other partners, will distribute condoms on a large scale to hotels and bed-and-breakfast accommodation, to be placed in more than 18,000 rooms.

 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Blog: Extra Time [http://msf.ca/blogs/extratime]

 While the world focuses on football, the international medical charity's blog will remind people that the AIDS pandemic is far from over, and give MSF doctors, nurses, lay counsellors, football supporters and those living with HIV/AIDS the opportunity speak out about the pandemic.

 The organization compared the diminished donor funding to fight HIVAIDS to "having the referee blow his whistle to stop the World Cup final match halfway through", and is encouraging the world to take a stand in support of universal access to treatment and care for all people living with HIV/AIDS.

 Africa Goal Campaign [http://www.africagoal.com]

 A team of volunteers are driving from Kenya through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland to South Africa, projecting live matches to poor communities along the way. Before every game, the team will show HIV and AIDS awareness videos selected to ensure that they are target specific and culturally sensitive.

 Kenya World Cup Testing Drive "Jitambue Leo" (discover yourself today, in Swahili)

 The National AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections Control Programme (NASCOP) plans to set up at least three screens showing live World Cup matches in every rural constituency in Kenya, during which NASCOP and partners will offer HIV testing and counselling. Jitambue Leo hopes to test at least 33,000 people per day on the 33 days of the World Cup.

 Football for Hope [http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/footballforhope/20centres2010/index.html]

 The official campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, aimed at creating 20 Football for Hope centres in disadvantaged communities across Africa to promote public health, education and football, and empower young people to protect themselves against the virus.

 One of the centres is located in the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha, which has one of the country's highest HIV and TB burdens; other centres are located in Mathare slum in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and Katutura in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.

 kr/kn/he

SOMALIA: Children in Somaliland deserve more - officials

SOMALIA: Children in Somaliland deserve more - officials
 
HARGESIA, 17 June 2010 (IRIN) - Children with disabilities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland are a forgotten lot, often not factored into the country's education, livelihood and health policies, child rights activists said on 16 June, during a ceremony marking the Day of the African Child.
 
 "The physical environment [access to buildings such as schools and hospitals], attitudes of people and lack of public awareness and sensitization are the real barriers to the development of these children and not their impairments," Ali Jama Hassan, the Disability Action Network (DAN), the largest NGO working with children with physical and/or psychological disabilities.
 
 This year's theme for the Day of the African Child is "Planning and Budgeting for the Well being of the Child: A Collective Responsibility".
 
 Speaking to IRIN at the DAN offices where activities to mark the day were held, Hassan said despite the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, Somaliland children with disabilities were not considered a priority, especially at the policy-making and funding allocation levels.
 
 "Policies on children with disabilities are not a priority in the country, be it in education, in health or livelihood support," Hassan said. "Some of the change we are looking for the mainstreaming of the needs of children with disabilities in education, healthcare and in livelihood."
 
 Ettie Higgins, the chief of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) field office in Hargesia, told IRIN the situation of children in Somaliland remained critical.
 
 "There are several thousand children living in Somaliland with physical and psychological disabilities - but only very limited facilities are available to cater for their needs," she said. "For example, deaf children come from as far as Mogadishu [Somalia's capital] to attend Hargeisa School for the Deaf, since these facilities are unavailable."
 
 Higgins said the Day of the African Child was a celebration of all children on the African continent.  "It is an opportunity for Somali communities, families, parents, local administrations, non-governmental organizations, donors and international organizations to come together and act on their collective responsibility to put the best interests of the child first."
 
 Somalia's infant and maternal mortality rates are amongst the world's highest, with the main causes of death being diarrhoeal diseases, malaria and respiratory infections, Higgins said.
 
 "Access to basic services such as primary education, proper healthcare, and safe drinking water is still a challenge in many areas," she said. "In such an environment, children living with disabilities are often further marginalised by communities in the effort to just sustain lives, and their special needs are not addressed, and they are not given the opportunity to contribute to society."
 
 This sense of responsibility, Higgins said, should be engrained in various planning and budgeting initiatives for the welfare of Somali children, "and this especially should also include those children most marginalised - including orphans and vulnerable children, as well as those living with disabilities."
 
 Regarding discrimination of people with disabilities, Hassan told IRIN Somaliland's constitution denies people with physical or psychological disabilities the right to run for public office, "a clause we have been fighting to have removed from the books".
 
 
 Hassan said: "We are hopeful that the next government [after 26 June presidential elections] will remove this clause from the constitution."
 
 According to DAN, children with disabilities include those with physical impairments such as wheelchair users; those with psychosocial conditions; those with intellectual impairments or learning disabilities as well as the deaf and the blind.
 
 Accurate data on the number of children with disabilities in Somaliland are lacking but DAN estimates that at least 10 percent of children in the country have some form of disability.
 
 In the context of Somaliland, the numbers of children with disabilities is growing as people who had been refugees in neighbouring countries return home and more Somalis who  get displaced by violence and insecurity in south-central Somalia migrate to Somaliland, according to DAN.
 
 "The basic services they need for social and economic inclusion are not yet available.An immediate action is required to mainstream development programmes aimed at them," DAN said.
 
 Hodan Mohammed, 30, mother of two - one of whom is blind and disabled - told IRIN she was attending the Day of the African Child ceremony in the hope that her child will in future be treated as any other so-called normal child.
 
 "DAN has been helping me to train my daughter to sit and stand but I need more support to explore the possibility of my child being able to see," she said. "Unfortunately, I am a widow and my family can barely afford to feed me feed my children let alone foot the bill for specialized treatment outside of Somaliland."
 
 Js-ah/

Somaliland: Co-ordinators of international election observers give cautiously positive assessment for the holding of election

  Co-ordinators of international election observers give cautiously
positive assessment for the holding of election

International development agency Progressio, the Development Planning
Unit at UCL and Somaliland Focus (UK) welcome the good progress being
made toward the holding of Somaliland's long-delayed presidential
elections on the scheduled date of 26 June 2010.

The three organisations, whose advance mission is now established in
Hargeisa, were invited in January 2009 by Somaliland's National
Electoral Commission (NEC) to act as coordinators of the international
observation mission for presidential elections in the
internationally-unrecognised Republic of Somaliland.

Given past difficulties, recent months have seen rapid progress
towards a free and fair election. The election looks set to take place
on the scheduled date. This is a clear indication of the effectiveness
of the new NEC, put in place after the parties agreed to a revised
timetable for elections.

Since campaigning started in early June, there have been no major
campaign-related incidents of violence. The agreement between the
three parties to hold rallies on separate days appears to be holding.
In security terms, an incident involving alleged political Islamists
in the town of Burco in early June regrettably resulted in the death
of a member of Somaliland's police force. This has given cause for
concern in the context of threats to disrupt the election, but also
demonstrates the preparedness of the Somaliland population and police.

 There are outstanding logistical issues to be resolved around the
security of observers, which are essential for the mission to proceed,
but we look forward to a speedy resolution of these. Michael Walls, a
joint co-ordinator, said "we hope to have around 70 international
observers from a wide variety of countries, along with 800 local
counterparts. Naturally, we are actively monitoring the security
situation in order to ensure that a balance is maintained between the
widest possible coverage of the poll and the personal security of the
observation teams."

His colleague, Dr Steve Kibble, said "we are encouraged by the
overwhelming desire of the people of Somaliland to see a peaceful
election, recognised as such both nationally and internationally. At
this stage, we expect that such an outcome can be achieved."

Notes to Editors

1.      For further information or to arrange an interview with a
member of the coordination team, contact Conrad Heine in Somaliland,
tel +252 2 409 5464 or by email at conradheine@gmail.com

2.      Somaliland's Presidential elections have been repeatedly
delayed. The poll has previously been scheduled for March/April 2008,
December 2008, March 2009 and September 2009.

 3.      Somaliland is situated in Somalia's northwest. It declared
unilateral independence from the failed Somali state in 1991 and has
since been a haven of relative peace whilst violence and instability
has characterised Somalia, its capital Mogadishu and more recently the
Gulf of Aden.

4.      Progressio's involvement in the mission follows its leadership
of the international monitoring team for Somaliland's inaugural
parliamentary elections in 2005, judged by observers as "basically
free and fair".

5.      Progressio is an international charity with Catholic roots
that enables poor communities to solve their own problems through
support from skilled workers. And we lobby decision-makers to change
policies that keep people poor. For further information, see:
www.progressio.org.uk

SOMALIA: Disabled children in Somaliland "must come first"


SOMALIA:  Disabled children in Somaliland "must come first"

HARGESIA, 17 June 2010 (IRIN) - Children with disabilities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland are a forgotten lot, often not factored into the country's education, livelihood and health policies, child rights activists said on 16 June, during a ceremony marking the Day of the African Child.

 "The physical environment [access to buildings such as schools and hospitals], attitudes of people and lack of public awareness and sensitization are the real barriers to the development of these children and not their impairments," Ali Jama Hassan, the Disability Action Network (DAN), the largest NGO working with children with physical and/or psychological disabilities.

 This year's theme for the Day of the African Child is "Planning and Budgeting for the Well being of the Child: A Collective Responsibility".

 Speaking to IRIN at the DAN offices where activities to mark the day were held, Hassan said despite the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, Somaliland children with disabilities were not considered a priority, especially at the policy-making and funding allocation levels.

 "Policies on children with disabilities are not a priority in the country, be it in education, in health or livelihood support," Hassan said. "Some of the change we are looking for the mainstreaming of the needs of children with disabilities in education, healthcare and in livelihood."

 Ettie Higgins, the chief of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) field office in Hargesia, told IRIN the situation of children in Somaliland remained critical.

 "There are several thousand children living in Somaliland with physical and psychological disabilities - but only very limited facilities are available to cater for their needs," she said. "For example, deaf children come from as far as Mogadishu [Somalia's capital] to attend Hargeisa School for the Deaf, since these facilities are unavailable."

 Higgins said the Day of the African Child was a celebration of all children on the African continent.  "It is an opportunity for Somali communities, families, parents, local administrations, non-governmental organizations, donors and international organizations to come together and act on their collective responsibility to put the best interests of the child first."

 Somalia's infant and maternal mortality rates are amongst the world's highest, with the main causes of death being diarrhoeal diseases, malaria and respiratory infections, Higgins said.

 "Access to basic services such as primary education, proper healthcare, and safe drinking water is still a challenge in many areas," she said. "In such an environment, children living with disabilities are often further marginalised by communities in the effort to just sustain lives, and their special needs are not addressed, and they are not given the opportunity to contribute to society."

 This sense of responsibility, Higgins said, should be engrained in various planning and budgeting initiatives for the welfare of Somali children, "and this especially should also include those children most marginalised - including orphans and vulnerable children, as well as those living with disabilities."

 Regarding discrimination of people with disabilities, Hassan told IRIN Somaliland's constitution denies people with physical or psychological disabilities the right to run for public office, "a clause we have been fighting to have removed from the books".


 Hassan said: "We are hopeful that the next government [after 26 June presidential elections] will remove this clause from the constitution."

 According to DAN, children with disabilities include those with physical impairments such as wheelchair users; those with psychosocial conditions; those with intellectual impairments or learning disabilities as well as the deaf and the blind.

 Accurate data on the number of children with disabilities in Somaliland are lacking but DAN estimates that at least 10 percent of children in the country have some form of disability.

 In the context of Somaliland, the numbers of children with disabilities is growing as people who had been refugees in neighbouring countries return home and more Somalis who  get displaced by violence and insecurity in south-central Somalia migrate to Somaliland, according to DAN.

 "The basic services they need for social and economic inclusion are not yet available.An immediate action is required to mainstream development programmes aimed at them," DAN said.

 Hodan Mohammed, 30, mother of two - one of whom is blind and disabled - told IRIN she was attending the Day of the African Child ceremony in the hope that her child will in future be treated as any other so-called normal child.

 "DAN has been helping me to train my daughter to sit and stand but I need more support to explore the possibility of my child being able to see," she said. "Unfortunately, I am a widow and my family can barely afford to feed me feed my children let alone foot the bill for specialized treatment outside of Somaliland."

 Js-ah/

[END]

CODKAAGA KU CIIL BAX QORMADII 34naad

CODKAAGA KU CIIL BAX QORMADII 34naad
NACASBAA WIXIISA LAGU LAALUUSHAA

Ahmed Arwo

Ahmed Arwo
 
Waxa la yaab leh sida macangagnimada ah ee Murashixiinta UDUB ay ayaamihii ugu dambeeyey u muujinayaan xishood la'aan iyo ixtiraam darro ay u hayaan muwaadinka iyo sharciga dalka. Waxa ay la hortegeen bulshada Galbeedka Hargeysa inay si badheeedh ah ugu yidhaahdaan...doqon baad tihiin oo waan naqaan in waxaan jrin oo sharci darro ah aydun noogu sacbisaan...Waxay la hor yimaadeen Arabsiyo waa degmo, Geedbalaadh waa degmo iyana waa degmo,,,waa bilow ee waliba qaar kale ayaa ilaa dhowrkan cisho la magacaabi doonaa, kolkaas ayaa lagu duceeeyey oo hantidaadii lagu bixiyey wanqal aadna waad sacbisay...Ma illowday todoba sano ka hor iyo balankii isla kolkii doorashada leydinka rabay ee ahaa Gabiley waa Gobal, Oodweyne waa gobal iyo iyo...haye. Miyeyna ahayn maqli jiray arki jiray
Murashixiintu lamay iman waxaasan qabanay sideedii sano aan hoggaanka haynay waayo waxaan isku-dir, musuq iyo xabsi xaq darro ahayn laguma xusuusan karo. Waliba waxa gobalada Gabiley iyo Awdal u dheer sida ay isagu dayeen inay timaha isagu xidhaan oo colaad aan meesha oolin loo dhexdhigo...ma aha labada gobal mid ku eeg ee Gabiley gudaheeda weynu ka warqabnaa dadkii isku jeeniga ahaa halkay kala marayaan. Awdalna ma fayoobe oo Saylac iyo Boorame kala kaxeeye Waa dhaqan isticmaar iyo  UDUB oon nidaamkaas waxba u soo raacin, waxay murashixiinta UDUB isbaaro dhexdhigeen Magaalo Cad iyo Dilla. Waxay iloobeen inayna ahayn isticmaar ee dalkan iyo dadkani yahay koodii. 
 
Waxaad ogaataa in Gabiiley iyo Oodweyne oo muddo dheer sugaayey gobalnimo halkii sida ay u kala mudan yihiin loo kala hormariyo, ay ka dhigteen in hab laaluush ah oo codkaaga lagu xado ay tiro weli xidhmin oo socota soo magacaabaan. Ogow in dastuurku si cad u muujiyey iyo sharciga degmooyinka iyo gobaladu inay xukuumaddu leedahay soo-jeedin sababaysan oo xadideysan, gobalka iyo degmadu xadkoodu cad yahay, deedna Golaha Wakiilada loo gudbiyo si ay amba u diidaan amba u ansixiyaan.Magacaabidina waa mid afka ah ujeedaduna tahay inaad noqoto xaabada dabka ay ku diirsadaan si shaqsi ahaan ah lagaaga dhigto. Waa khiyaamada ma ku baraa iyo cirka eeg.Waa kursiga igu celi, berrina sidaan doono ayaan yeeli. Hadda waa taqaan oo sideed sano ayuu kursiga ku fadhiyey. Aqoonu kuuguma laaban.  
 
Taas ooy ogyihiin ayey muraashixiinta waayey kalsoonidii dadweynahu ay badheedh ugu tumanayaan. Haddaba muwaadin ma dooran kartaa ragga iyagoo maanta kuu baahan oo codkaaga raba sharciga iyo dastuiurka sida macangagnimada ah ugu tumanayaan. Maxaad ka fileysaa kolkaad ushaada u dhiibto, sow si wacan jac kaaga siinmaayaan, sow intay indhaha kaa xidhaan kugu odhan maayaan, doqonow magacaa be', ma sheekadii ku dhisnayd riwaayadda nacas sidee waxiise loogu laaluushaa ayaad run mooday.....maalintaadii waad garan weyday ee afka laydha ka xidho...Waa jawaab aad filato hadday dabinka ay dhigeen madaxa la geshid.
 
Dib u noqo oo xusuuso balamadii hore, fakir oo xusuuso waxay kuu qabteen. Gobal mahadiyey ma jiro, degmo maqnaanshahooda tebeysaa ma jirto, magaalo isku-dirkooda iyo kala qoqobkooda ka bedbaaday ma jirto.Haddaan Hargeysa iyo galbeedkeed ka dhigto bir-tilmaameed. Ku xusuuso Murashaxa Madax/xigeenka balamadii iyo shirarkii tirada badnaa ee uu Wajaale, Allaabaday, Arabsiyo, Gabiley iyo dhammaan tuulooyinkooda uu kal hore iyo sanadkii ka horeeyey, iyo doorashadii barlamaanka iyo kuwii ka horeeyey uu isagoo ereyo diin ah ku qorxinaayaa uu kor iyo hoos idiinku sheegay, maxaa ka hirgaley. Ku xusuuso ciidankii iyo gaadhiyadii gaashaamnaa ee uu Isbitaalka Hargeysaa ku weerarey.....laba gaadhi gaashaman ayuun baan u diray ee wax badan mey ahayn...waa hadalo lagu xusuustaa. Ku xusuuso colaada idinka iyo walaaladiin reer Awdal ee ka dhashay talo xumidooda iyo go'aan la'aantooda. Imisaa si nacasnimo ah ugu naf waayey Ceel Bardaale kolkay waayeen xukuumad talo iyo go'aan qaadasho leh, imisaa ku baro kacay, imisaa abti iyo seedi iyo sodog is necey. Xusuuso tuulooyinka labaatanka ku dhow ee xaqooda doorasho waayey, iyagoo u jira caasimadda wax labaatan kilo ka yar, kolka ay ku faanayaan waxaan jirin iyo dalkoo dhan ayaanu maamul gaadhsiinay. Nimanka agagaarka caasimadda doorasho ku qaban li'i ma yihiin qaar laga sugaayo xukuumad tamar iyo awood fulineed leh. Waa maya iyo toban jeer maya.
 
Ku xusuuso labada murashax Sacaado Diin iyo beenta ku gadaaman. Xusuuso salaadiinta loo diiday inay cago dhigtaan dalkooda ee jasiiradda afaafkeed laga xidhay. Xusuuso wadhii Soomaliland ka raacday caleemo saarkii Ugaaska Ciise. Si wacan oo fiican oo maamuskeed leh ayaa oday dhaqameedka Soomaliland oo Ciise ka mid yahay arrintan u qabteen ooy cumaamad iyo gogol wacan u fidiyeen Ugaaskooda, waxa se kaga soo baxay ereyo siyaasadeed oo lagu wiiqay jiritaanka Soomaliland taas oo Wasiiradii joogay kari waaayeen inay sameeyeen waxaan ahayn madaxa ooy foorariyaan iyo dhegaha ooy furaystaan. Jawaab se waxaa baxshay bulshada Awdal iyo Salal ee Ciise iyo Samaroonba leh. Waa tilmaam kale oo ku tusaysaa jileeca, daacad darrada iyo karti la' aantooda. Ma yihiin qaar shan sano oo kale aad hoggaanka ku aamin karto? Maya oo boqol jeer maya.
 
Ku xusuuso dhagex dhigii seddexda wershadood ee Berbera. Waa fal adduunka u kow ah in Madaxweyne wershaddo aan jirin dhax-dhigo oo weliba ku booriyo dadweynahu inay u soo shaqo tagaan inta Oktoobar 2007 ka horreysa, waa seddex bilood ka dib dhagax dhigooda. Halkay mareen, weli jawaab murashixiintu ma kaa siiyeen. Ku dar oo xafladda waxa lagu baashaalay cashuurtii yareed ee hooyada Berbera ee milicdu dul joogtu laga soo uruuriyey. Waxa dhacday in xataa mushaharkii shaqaalhaha degmada Berbera meesha lagu bililiqeystay. Bil ka dib waxa la waayey waxshaqaalaha la siiyo. Musharixiinta UDUB  ma yihiin qaar u qalma dib-u-doorasho. Maya, oo maya kun jeer maya.
 
Gabiley, Awdal. Selel, Maroodijeex iyo Saaxil waa la ogyahay dareenkooda soo jeeda iyo wadaninimadooda adag bal se inta UDUBaysani ha gilgishaan oo ha raacaan asaageed. Ha taageeraan guddomiyihii UDUB ee Awdal ee runta ka sheegay kolkuu yidhi "Saaxiibbadii UDUB Waxaan Leeyahay Carrabkiina iyo Calooshiina Iswaafajiya" Guddoomiyihii degmada Boorama ee xisbiga UDUB ee iscasilay ...sii Akhri http://www.jamhuuriya.info/index.php?art_id=13872&categ=&expand=&file=view_article.tp .
 
Gabiley UDUB hayska jirto magac xumo iyo inay codkooda mar kale qoomameeyaan. Hore ayuu codkoodu cadow ugu noqday, maanta ha ku ciil baxaan oo ha qaataan dardaarankii ahaa Muumin god laba jeer lagamo wado qaniini..., ha fuliyaan talada bulshoweynta Soomaliland si gaar ah ha u hanuunsanaadaan taladii seddexda bilood loo fadhiyey ee danta beesha Awal loo arkay inay la mid tahay danta Soomaliland ee maamul-wanaag doonka ah, ha qaataan taladii iyo go'aamadii ka soo baxay sii akhri  http://www.jamhuuriya.info/index.php?art_id=13863&categ=&expand=&file=view_article.tp
 
Diid baaq qabiil iyo magac lagugu dago...Haddii lagu yidhi Gabileyeey Axmed Yaasiin u hiili oo ka hiili Saylici...sow ma aha inaad Axmed Siilaanyana u hiiliso ood ka hiiliso Daahir...waa fikir iska hor-imanaaya, ee diid oo murashixiinta ku qiimee kuwa UDUB waxay qabteen illeen barnaamaj ma lehee, kuwa Kulmiyena barnaamajka ay la yimaadeen iyo waxii ay maalin iyo habeen xumaan ay ka dirireen sideedii sano ee ushaada lagugu garaacaayey. UDUB waa taariikhda kow xisbi doorasho u taagan oo xukun haya oon lahayn branaamaj, aan lahayn Gole Dhexe, aan lahayn Gole Fulineed...diid oo diid oo maya dhe, maya 5 sano oo saxriirkii ina soo maray ah, maya dastuur ku tumasho, maya xabsi aan maxkamad lahayn, maya miisaaniyad aan xisaab celin lahayn...maya oo kumaakun jeer maya...Haa waa isbedel aan shakhsi ahayn ee nidaam ah, hab iyo dhaqan wanaag ah, ee U CODEE KULMIYEE, ISAGAA KU HABBOON HOGGAAN HIMMILADAADA KU GAADHSIIYA...  
 
Aan idinku dhaafo rajo xumada UDUB iyo huga-iska-tuurka hoggaankooda sida kaftanka ah ee Dhanjiir u sawiray. Waa xaqiiq si xarfad leh loo yidhi, Waan idiin baaqay idiina nasteexeeyey, Allena igu ogyahay inaan wanaag iyo barwaaqo idinla jecelay dhammaantiin reer Soomaliland. Somaliland waa dal wacan oo dadkiisu samir badan yahay, u baahan hoggaan aqoon, caqli iyo daacadnimo ugu ageeda. ILa qaado inaynu codkeena ku ciilbaxno, inaan kuwa talo ka yaqaan inay waxeena inagu laaluushaan ku nidhaahno maya oo maya, mano geyno....MUWAADIN MAANTA AYAAD MINDIDA DAABKEEDA HAYSAA EE HAYSKU QALOOCIN...DIID QAYBI OO XUKUN CODKAAGA KU CIIL BAX...WAA MAALINTA CODKA IYO HOGGAAN WACAN WAA 26 JUUN IYO ADIGOO CODKAAGA SIIYA KULMIYE...
 
Dhanxiir oo ka yaabay dacaayada ololaha doorashada ee UDUB

Waaryaadhaheen qoladan UDUB-ta ee hoonku kaga dhegay mucaaridbaa argagixiso ah iyo KULMIYE ayaa Al-shabaab xidhiidh la wadaaga tallaw yaa yidhaahda 'arrintu yaanay sheegaa ma dhaafto noqone maydin iska aamusi.' Mise taagga olole ayey ka dhex baadhbaadhayaan, Siciid Sulub baa la ogaa wacdarihii ka qabsaday mucaardibaa argagixisee waxaan ka baqaaya haday sii wadaan in UDUB-ta dhiiga lihi fara saarto.

Weger; Adeer; UDUB qoloftii sumcadaa ka dhacday oo cay iyo ammaan midna cod ku heli maysee waxaad ka warantaa wadaadkan Aw Rayaale ee Ceerigaabo iyo ceelka Hargeysa lug ku mari waayey ma bahalaa jooga lagu yidhi mise dhagaxaantii dhallanteeda ahaa ee uu meelaaha dhigdhigay ayuu is yidhi waad ku turaan turoon oo cirkaanad dhagax dhigine iska mar.

Xig: Jaamhuuriya

 
 
 


--
Posted By Samotalis to GARGAAR at 6/17/2010 10:42:00 AM

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

U.S. Department of State Daily Digest Bulletin


U.S. Priorities on sub-Saharan Africa


Johnnie Carson
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs
Remarks for the Diplomacy Briefing Series Conference
Washington, DC
June 14, 2010


Good afternoon. I would like to thank the Bureau of Public Affairs for organizing the Diplomacy Briefing Series and for inviting me to join all of you today to examine our key priorities in Africa.

I want to begin today by emphasizing the strong commitment of this Administration to working with our African partners to bring about a more peaceful, stable, and prosperous Africa. This Administration sees immense potential in Africa, and we are determined to work with Africans across the continent to help realize this promise.

Often, Africa has been overlooked as a top policy priority for the U.S. Government. I can tell you that this is not the case with this Administration. President Obama is not complacent about Africa, and is determined to forge a deeper and more lasting impact on our relationship with the continent, not just through words, but through concrete action.

As evidence of this commitment, Vice President Biden concluded just yesterday a week-long trip to Africa—a trip in which I participated. Some in the media focused on the World Cup as the centerpiece of this Africa visit, but this trip was more about substance than sport. The Vice President used this trip to focus on one of the Administration's highest priorities in Africa: the current situation in Sudan. In Egypt, the Vice President met with President Mubarak and other senior government officials to discuss Sudan policy. In Kenya, we met with Salva Kiir, the President of the Government of South Sudan and other South Sudanese leaders. And in South Africa, I accompanied the Vice President to his extended meeting with Thabo Mbeki, the AU's point person on Sudan.

The Vice President's trip was just the most recent example of high-level engagement by this Administration in Africa. The President's visit to Ghana last July, the earliest visit made by a U.S. president to the continent, underscored Africa's importance to the U.S. And last September, at the UN General Assembly, the President hosted a lunch with 26 African heads of state. Over the past year, he has also met in the oval office with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, President Kikwete of Tanzania, President Khama of Botswana, and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangarai of Zimbabwe. And during the Nuclear Summit in April of this year, the President also met with President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and President Zuma of South Africa.

All of the President's senior foreign policy advisors have followed his lead by traveling to Africa. The U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice visited five African countries last June, including Liberia and Rwanda. Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew traveled to Ethiopia and Tanzania in June 2009, and was in Mali and Nigeria just last month.

Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero headed the U.S. delegation to the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa in January 2010, where we discussed a range of issues, including democracy and governance, climate change, and food security. Last month, she led the U.S. delegation to Abuja to the first meeting of the Democracy and Governance working group of the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission. And last August, Secretary Clinton made an 11-day, seven-country trip across the continent.

These high-level visits are a testament to the importance this Administration places on Africa, and our commitment to meet and work with our partners to address the immense challenges facing the continent. Through our engagement and programs, the Administration is seeking to advance five key policy priorities on the continent.

First: We are working with African governments, the international community, and civil society to strengthen democratic institutions and protect the democratic gains made in recent years in many African countries.

Since the 1990's, we have witnessed an impressive wave of democratic transitions, during which dozens of African countries moved from dictatorship to democracy, in one of the most impressive political transformations in history. Recent democratic elections, including those in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius, and Ghana, have served to remind the world of the importance that Africans attach to democracy, as well as the values that underpin it. The recent elections in Ghana and Mauritius were especially impressive, as they have resulted in a peaceful, democratic transition between two political parties.

Nonetheless, we have seen worrying signs of backsliding in terms of democracy and good governance in a number of countries as a result of flawed elections, harassment of opposition groups, and attempts by presidents to extend their term limits. We have also seen a recurrence of military coups and interventions in several countries.

The political and economic success of Africa depends a great deal on the effectiveness, sustainability, and reliability of its democratic institutions. We are encouraging governments across the continent to get elections right. To level the playing field, clean up the voter rolls, open up the media, count the votes fairly, and give democracy a chance.

In that vain we have been deeply engaged in helping to resolve political crises on the continent, including in Nigeria, where we encouraged political leaders to follow their constitution and stay on a democratic path and where we encouraged the military to stay in the barracks and out of politics. We have been active diplomatically in Guinea-Conakry during its difficult transition period, as well as in Niger and Mauritania over the past year.

Second: The Administration is committed to working alongside African countries to promote and advance sustained economic development and growth.

Despite impressive economic growth in recent years, Africa remains one of the poorest regions of the world, and the continent has yet to be fully integrated into the global economy. Africa's share of world trade is less than two percent and Africa's tremendous wealth in natural resources has not translated into greater prosperity for its people.

Africa also faces a massive digital divide with the rest of the world, which further inhibits the ability of African companies to compete on the global stage.

The Administration is bringing significant resources and programs to the table to help address these challenges. We are actively working to promote economic growth and development, including through our new $3.5 billion dollar food security initiative, Feed the Future, which will assist 12 African focus countries that are engaged in growing and modernizing their agricultural sectors. The Obama Administration will continue to work with our African partners to maximize the opportunities created by the African Growth and Opportunity Act--AGOA. We will also continue to actively explore ways to promote African private sector growth and investment, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

Third: Historically the United States has focused on public health and health-related issues in Africa. We are committed to continuing that focus. We will work side-by-side with African governments and civil society to ensure that quality treatment, prevention, and care are easily accessible to communities throughout Africa.

From HIV/AIDS to malaria, Africans endure and suffer a multitude of health pandemics that weaken countries on many fronts. Sick men and women cannot work and they cannot contribute to the growth of their nation's economies or well being.

To help solve the health crisis that is occurring throughout the entire continent, Africans as well as the international community must invest in Africa's public health systems, in training more medical professionals, and in helping African countries fight diseases that simply should not kill people in this day and age.

The Obama Administration will continue the PEPFAR Program and the previous administration's fight against HIV/AIDS. In addition to combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, and polio, the Obama Administration has pledged $63 billion to meet public health challenges throughout Africa.

Fourth: The U.S. is committed to working with African states and the international community to prevent, mitigate, and resolve conflicts and disputes. Conflict destabilizes states and borders, stifles economic growth and investment, and robs young Africans of the opportunity for an education and a better life. Conflicts can set back nations for a generation. Throughout Africa, there has been a notable reduction in the number of conflicts over the past decade.

The brutal conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia have come to an end, and we have seen Liberia transform itself into a democracy under the able leadership of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female head of state. Liberia is an example of what can be accomplished in a short period of time and should give us hope for resolving other conflict situations in Africa.

Despite the successes, pockets of turmoil and political unrest persist in Somalia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as in Madagascar. These conflicts create both internal and regional instability and undermine Africa's chances for economic growth.

The Obama Administration has taken a keen interest in working with African leaders and African regional organizations to help resolve these conflicts. Over the past 18 months, Special Presidential Envoy for Sudan, General Scott Gration has been focused on ensuring the full implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which will permit the people of South Sudan to vote in January 2010 for independence or unity with the North. As part of our effort to ensure the referendum takes place, we are collaborating closely with the Special Envoys of the AU and UN, who will be in this building for talks on Wednesday. We are also enhancing our diplomatic presence in South Sudan by assigning ten new officers to our Consulate in Juba, including a very senior officer, a former ambassador, who will arrive in Juba in the next few days.

Former Congressman Howard Wolpe has been working intensely to bring peace and stability to the Eastern Congo and end the extreme violence against women. This remains a top priority for this Administration. In close coordination with Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Steve Rapp and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, Special Advisor Wolpe is working to address these and other pressing issues in the Congo, including stemming the trade of conflict minerals which continues to fuel conflict and instability.

We will also continue our cooperation with regional leaders to look for ways to end Somalia's protracted political and humanitarian crisis. We continue to call for well-meaning actors in the region to support the Djibouti Peace process, and to reject those extremists and their supporters who seek to exploit the suffering of the Somali people.

Additionally, the United States is proactive in working with African leaders, civil society organizations, and the international community to prevent new conflicts. In January of this year, we worked closely with the governments of Burkina Faso, Morocco, and France to put in place a transitional government in Guinea-Conakry. In a few weeks, the country will hold democratic elections which we hope will begin a democratic tradition in that country.

Fifth: We will seek to deepen our cooperation with African states to address both old and new transnational challenges. The 21st century ushered in new transnational challenges for Africa and the world.

Africa's poverty puts it at a distinct disadvantage in dealing with major global and transnational problems like climate change, narco-trafficking, trafficking-in-persons and arms, and the illegal exploitation of Africa's minerals and maritime resources.

Meeting the climate and clean energy challenge is a top priority for the United States and the Obama Administration.

Climate change affects the entire globe; its potential impact on water supplies and food security can be disastrous. As President Obama said in Ghana, "while Africa gives off less greenhouse gasses than any other part of the world, it will be the most threatened by climate change." Often those who have contributed the least to the problem are the ones who are affected the most by it, and the United States is committed to working with Africans to find viable solutions to adapt to the severe consequences of climate change.

The effects of climate change are clear: the snow cap of Mount Kilimanjaro is rapidly disappearing, Lake Chad is a fraction of the size it was 35 years ago and in recent years the turbines at some of Africa's largest dams have fallen silent because of reduced water flows. With our international partners, the United States is working to build a sustainable, clean energy global economy which can drive investment and job creation around the world, including bringing energy services to the African continent.

There is no time like the present to face this issue as it carries tremendous consequences for the future of our children, grandchildren and our planet.

As President Obama emphasized during his speech in Ghana, our policies are based on the premise that "Africa's future is up to Africans." With a corresponding commitment from African leaders to enact the reforms and policies required to bring about real change, we believe we can achieve our shared goal of a more peaceful, prosperous, and free Africa.

Thank you and I will be happy to take any questions.

Back to Top

The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.


Message: 2
From: U.S. Department of State <usstatebpa@subscriptions.fcg.gov>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:35:05 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Africa: U.S. Engagement With The ICC and The Outcome Of The Recently Concluded Review Conference

Africa: U.S. Engagement With The ICC and The Outcome Of The Recently Concluded Review Conference
Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:19:28 -0500

U.S. Engagement With The International Criminal Court and The Outcome Of The Recently Concluded Review Conference


Harold Hongju Koh
   Legal Advisor U.S. Department of State 
Stephen J. Rapp
   Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues 
Washington, DC
June 15, 2010


MR. DUGUID: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the State Department. We have a special briefing to lead off our daily press briefing today. Recently, there was an International Criminal Court conference in Kampala, Uganda. Our delegation was led by our Legal Advisor Dr. Harold Koh and Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp. We have them both here today to take your questions and tell you a little bit about the achievements of the U.S. delegation at the conference.

We'll start with Professor Koh.

MR. KOH: Thanks, Gordon. We just returned from a two-week review conference of the International Criminal Court's Assembly of States Parties in Kampala, Uganda, which we attended as an observer nation.

Ambassador Rapp and I headed an interagency delegation that included representatives from State, Justice, Defense, the Uniformed Services, and the National Security Council. Our delegation worked extremely hard to resume engagement with the court, the states parties, observer nations, and many private organizations involved in international criminal justice. And we engaged in countless hours of conversation in plenary private meetings, et cetera.

The conference completed three main tasks. It endorsed and supported the court's core work with respect to the traditional crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and highlighted issues of state cooperation, peace and justice, stocktaking, and participation of victims, about which Ambassador Rapp will say more. It also adopted two new crimes, prohibition and non-international armed conflict of certain weapons, the so-called Belgian amendment, and a crime of aggression whose elements will be reconsidered and affirmatively considered after seven more years.

We think that with respect to the two new crimes, the outcome protected our vital interests. The court cannot exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression without a further decision to take place sometime after January 1st, 2017. The prosecutor cannot charge nationals of non-state parties, including U.S. nationals, with a crime of aggression. No U.S. national can be prosecuted for aggression so long as the U.S. remains a non-state party. And if we were to become a state party, we'd still have the option to opt out from having our nationals prosecuted for aggression. So we ensure total protection for our Armed Forces and other U.S. nationals going forward.

Under the terms of the resolution adopted, any crime of aggression couldn't become operational unless it were affirmatively adopted after another review by consensus or a two-thirds decision of all states parties no earlier than January 1, 2017. It could not be exercised except for acts committed one year after 30 states parties accepted the amendment. And two ways of referring to the crime would be created – one channel that would go through an exclusive Security Council trigger, and a second channel which would go through a prior Security Council review subject to four conditions.

If the Security Council did not make a determination that aggression had occurred, the prosecutor would have to offer a reasonable basis for investigating the crime under a definition that's been clarified by understandings we suggested. The prosecution would have to get a majority vote of six judges of the court's pretrial division. The Security Council would still, at that point, have the authority to stop the prosecution with a red light Chapter 7 resolution disapproving the resolution. And as I said, the channel would not apply to nationals of non-state parties or any non-consenting state party who opted out.

This issue has occupied the states parties and, in some sense, diverted the court from its core human rights mission. Many states and Kampala expressed an impulse to finalize the crime. Now, a non-final approach has been tentatively reached which takes the issue off the table for the next seven years with a notional solution that can be reexamined in 2017.

The United States considered the definition of aggression flawed, but a number of important safeguards were adopted. Understandings were adopted to make the definition more precise, to ensure that the crime will be applied only to the most egregious circumstances. And while we think the final resolution took insufficient account of the Security Council's assigned role to define aggression, the states parties rejected solutions that provided for jurisdiction without a Security Council or consent-based screen. We hope that crime will be improved in the future and will continue to engage toward that end.

The big picture going forward, I think we should keep in mind, is that as the country of Nuremberg prosecutor Justice Jackson, we are the only country that has successfully prosecuted the crime of aggression at Nuremberg and Tokyo. Of course, we do not commit aggression and the chances are extremely remote that a prosecution on this crime will, at some point in the distant future, affect us negatively.

So to paraphrase Churchill, this is not the end, it was not the beginning of the end, but it did feel like the end of the beginning of the U.S's 12-year relationship with this court. After 12 years, I think we have reset the default on the U.S. relationship with the court from hostility to positive engagement. In this case, principal engagement worked to protect our interest, to improve the outcome, and to bring us renewed international goodwill. As one delegate put it to me, the U.S. was once again seen, with respect to the ICC, as part of the solution and not the problem. The outcome in Kampala demonstrates again principled engagement can protect and advance our interests, it can help the states parties to find better solutions, and make for a better court, better protection of our interests, and a better relationship going forward between the U.S. and the ICC.

And let me turn it over to Ambassador Rapp.

AMBASSADOR RAPP: Well, thank you very much, Harold. I think one of the main aspects of this conference in which I think our principal engagement was so positive was working with the court in the stocktaking exercises, which looked at issues like complementarity, which is this idea that you should have justice at the national level in preference to justice at the international level. And that means strengthening national systems so that they can prosecute war crimes and genocide and crimes against humanity, the need for greater cooperation with this court, greater recognition of the rights and the concerns of victims and affected communities, and making sure that we proceed with the process of justice in a way that benefits the search for peace.

The sessions that went on the first week, we participated in very actively. We, ourselves, together with the Norwegian Government and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, had a separate session on accountability in the DRC, which is, I think you all know, is a prime concern of Secretary Clinton with the enormous levels of atrocity that are ongoing there, the thousands of rapes that are committed every month. International justice alone, a few cases tried at The Hague, doesn't, even if there is full cooperation – an arrest of each of the suspects, and there's still one at large – doesn't have the kind of effect that you need to have on the ground if you're going to protect people from those crimes.

So we focused, in those sessions, on ways in which we as a donor state, and a very generous one, together with the EU and other partners, can strengthen justice on the ground. And that was a message that had a very receptive audience in Africa, where there is a strong desire to see these cases prosecuted in the national system, but with help in terms of capacity and independence to ensure that justice is done. This whole conference, I think, gave us an opportunity to engage with the ICC and work toward making this institution more effective.

The United States, as everyone knows, has been a leader in international justice, beginning with Nuremberg, that Harold mentioned, and in Tokyo, but particularly beginning, again, in 1993 with the establishment of the Yugoslavia Court, the following year with the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda where I worked, and thereafter with the Special Court for Sierra Leone and other international institutions where we were a large contributor to those courts, in which Americans played leadership roles, and in which, beyond even our formal role, we provided assistance to those courts and information sharing and witness protection and diplomatic support, and support and efforts to arrest suspects. And even while we don't become a member of the ICC, the opportunity to do some of those same kinds of things presents itself with the ICC, where that court is pursuing the same kind of cases that we prosecuted through these international institutions in Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

We've had a concern in the past that the prosecutor of the ICC could make – could undertake politically motivated prosecutions, could perhaps come after Americans who were engaged in protecting people from atrocity instead of emphasizing those that were committing the crimes. Thus far, this court has been appropriately focused. The cases that it has taken up in Northern Uganda involving Joseph Kony and the crimes of the Lord's Resistance Army in the DRC, the various militia groups that have engaged in campaigns of mass atrocity in Darfur, Sudan, and in the Central African Republic were cases that cried out for justice and accountability and for the protection of the victims.

And if it weren't for the ICC, the UN would have been having to go in and establish a special court for those kinds of situations. So as we recognized in March when we participated in the Assembly of States Parties in New York, it's in our interest to support those prosecutions – not at this time as a member of the ICC, but in kind with assistance as long as it's consistent with our law. And at the same time that we support those prosecutions, also work on the whole of the international justice system, the key part of which is that that is below the level of the international system, the massive amount of work that needs to be done at the national level. That message of our commitment and our support for appropriate prosecutions at this court, I think, resonated very well when we came to this issue of aggression, where those of us that have worked in international justice know how challenging it is to prosecute, to arrest, to obtain cooperation. Even when you're going after the cases that involve mass atrocity, people accuse you of being politically motivated.

But what's happened, as we've seen in the last 15 years, is that when a leader has been charged by one of these courts, and there's strong evidence of his involvement in mass atrocity against innocent civilians, eventually it becomes possible to dislodge that leader, as we saw with Milosevic and as we saw with Charles Taylor, and bring that person to justice. If the court, on the other hand, were to get into the political area and to deal with crimes not against individual civilians, as in war crimes or crimes against humanity or genocide, but crimes against states and the crime of aggression, it would find it even more difficult to obtain cooperation, and it would quickly find itself by haven taken one side or another, even accepted a case or rejected a case involving a border conflict, really stymied from the point of view of getting the kind of cooperation that it needs to deal with atrocity crimes.

And that was an argument that resonated very strongly, and 50 human rights organizations across the world agreed with us on that point and put out a letter to the foreign ministers of the ICC countries, saying it wasn't a good idea for this court to go there. What happened is, as Harold said, in the end is that we had a deferral, at least, of the ability of this court to move into the aggression area until 2017. Even then, it'll take a vote comparable to the vote we would have had in Kampala; a vote by an overwhelming majority or a consensus in favor of going forward. This gives the court seven more years to get it right in terms of going after atrocity crime.

As I think everyone knows, the Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals, even though they've not moved as quickly as some would have liked, and these cases have sometimes been difficult, the results show that almost 200 people have been prosecuted, including chiefs of state and heads of government and immediate leaders like those I prosecuted in Rwanda and others. Thus far, the ICC has only begun two trials and hasn't concluded them. And this court has a ways to go before it's as effective as the ad hoc tribunals were. This next seven years gives them an opportunity, I think, to be effective, and to the extent consistent with our law, at least in the situations that have been open so far, we're prepared to do what we can to assist those prosecutions to ensure that these crimes that shock the universal conscience result in accountability for those that bear the greatest responsibility.

So with that opening, I guess we can go to questions.

MR. DUGUID: Yes. Please, as you ask your question, direct it to either Professor Koh or Ambassador Rapp, Matt, and then – okay.

QUESTION: Yeah. Well, actually, this is for both of you. I guess I'm not exactly sure what you guys spent two weeks doing except for thwarting the idea – basically making sure that something that they wanted to do didn't happen and has been pushed down the road till 2017, and even then, it's going to take – there are so many conditions attached to this that it probably – it sounds as though it's almost impossible for – it will be almost impossible for the court to take up the crime of aggression. I'm wondering, what were you worried about? If you hadn't gone and engaged, did you think that they would have actually agreed on this and to start prosecuting this crime immediately?

And then second of all, you talked about how you've reset the default from hostility to engagement, but in fact, the Bush Administration was – cooperated in several notable instances, cases that – the LRA and in Darfur. So how exactly is this Administration different than the last one?

MR. KOH: Matt, we didn't thwart anything. We worked with the other countries who were there to reach a consensus outcome, which was reached. The first week was entirely about the core mission of the court – genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. We made presentations there; we participated in discussions about a set of issues going to ensuring successful prosecutions.

The International Criminal Court has not completed a case. And that's an important fact. The aggression issue is a second agenda. One prosecutor there said to me the challenge is how do you land on Mars when you haven't proved you can land on the moon? So the first week was all about strengthening the core agenda of the court. The second week was about trying to decide what kind of consensus outcome there could be with regard to the crime of aggression. And there were many different views on the table. I think everybody realized that more time was needed. And the consensus outcome, which was achieved on the last day was what I described, adopting a non-final outcome to be reconsidered. But seven years from now, the court may be quite advanced in other respects as a stronger institution with the development of U.S. engagement.

Now, you say that this was the strategy or policy of a previous administration. The fact of the matter is that in the early days, there was hostility to the court getting sufficient membership. There are now 111 states parties. It's not going to go away. The only approach that we think ensures our interests and ensure that the court accomplishes its core mission is a strategy of engagement. And so we think that after 12 years of back and forth on different approaches, that will be the default, and we think it's one that serves our interests and makes for a stronger court.

AMBASSADOR RAPP: I should note that, I mean, a number of resolutions were passed – high-level ministerial statement on cooperation and on mechanisms for increasing coordination between donors when it comes to strengthening the national justice systems. And so there were, I think, constructive steps taken by the court. And the cooperation indeed was also requested, as we suggested, of non-party states like ourselves. Because when I was in the Sierra Leone court, we sought assistance of states that weren't obliged to assist us, and they did. And so it's important that that occur.

On this whole question of engagement and what we accomplished, what we saw when this Administration took over in 2009 and – was that there had been this process of studying the crime of aggression for the last six or seven years – a working group that actually met in Princeton, New Jersey – and that came up with recommendations about how to proceed. And it reached a consensus outcome on defining the crime of aggression. Everyone seemed to think the definition was very good. We thought it very vague, a definition that would allow a court to be involved in any so-called manifest violation, without really defining what that was that could have gotten the court into border disputes, could have involved in it prosecuting people, or going in to protect civilians – as we did in Kosovo – from atrocities, from war crimes and crimes against humanity.

And because we weren't present, some things ended up in that process that I think probably wouldn't have been there if we'd been involved. We had to play catch-up with that. And as Harold said, we were successful in adding several understandings to that definition. Those understandings wouldn't have been there were it not for our participation that ensured that this court would not deal with but any of the most serious cases, that there would have to be not just character, gravity, or scale, but a combination of several of those factors, and that this wouldn't lead to national prosecutions of leaders for aggression by – alleged aggression by other states.

So I think it was successful because we raised issues, raised questions, not in a negative sort of way, but just simply said, "What about this, what about this, what about this?" And through our engagement, I think we accomplished quite a lot. We also raised this issue about the court needing, really, to become a bicycle. As Harold used the example, at the moment, it's just starting out and it's a bit wobbly; let's not overload it with this thing. And so the result was basically a deferral of this issue for seven years. But significantly, provisions have gone into the statute that can't be changed in 2017 by this process, which will protect the nationals of non-party states like ourselves, or states that opt out. So – and I don't think that would have occurred were it not for us sort of raising the issues in this conference.

But in all of the engagement that we had, we found states from each continent that considered our concerns very carefully, and worked to accommodate those concerns. And indeed, in the process of discussion, other concerns were raised by individual parties. And I think as a result, the process was much better and the result was much better, not just for the United States, but for this court itself.

MR. DUGUID: Thank you. Charlie and then Elise.

QUESTION: For Professor Koh, I'm intrigued by your use of the word "reset," because, not surprisingly, at least to me, it has a – more of a political tinge on the diplomatic – in the diplomatic dictionary in this Administration. And obviously, I don't think you used the word just out of the – out of thin air. And maybe I'm missing something. Is there a legal part to it as well? Or was, in fact, the main purpose of going to the conference, attending the way you did, to make things right or get on the other side with the ICC in a political sense?

MR. KOH: Well, Charlie, there are really three policies at work. One is our support for policies of accountability, international criminal justice, and ending impunity, which lead to our supporting international criminal tribunals ad hoc, of the kind – Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, et cetera.

A second policy is a policy of principled engagement with existing international institutions, whether it be the Human Rights Council, the Copenhagen process, the nuclear security process. And then the third point, which was illustrated by President Obama's Nobel lecture, is that in the 21st century, sometimes there are uses of force in which nations must engage that are lawful. And the question is how to make sure that they are not criminalized if they are lawful.

Now, I think one fundamental point is that the crime of aggression is different from the other three crimes in a couple of respects. As Steve pointed out, there have been hundreds of prosecutions for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. There have only been two prosecutions for wars of aggression, namely Nuremberg and Tokyo. Both of those happened before there was a UN system. There's been no successful prosecution for an act of aggression alone. And the question is, since we're making international criminal law for the real world, before you lock in the crime forever, you want to make sure that as a legal matter you've got it right.

And a lot of our focus on this was clarifying, as lawyers do, what terms mean, to make sure that it deters to the appropriate extent but doesn't over or under-deter; to talk exactly about what the jurisdictional filters and trigger mechanisms were going to be; and I think most important, to reaffirm the principle that when you have an organic change in an institution like this, it should be done on a consensus basis.

The other three crimes were adopted by consensus approaches at Rome. And we thought it was very important that if you're going to add to the criminal array available to this court, it should also be done by unanimity of view by the interested parties.

MR. DUGUID: Thank you. Elise.

QUESTION: Yes. For either one of you, maybe both – hi.

AMBASSADOR RAPP: How are you doing?

QUESTION: Nice to see you.

I'm just wondering what the end game is here with this Administration and the court. Are you trying to shape the court in a way that, ultimately, you can perhaps consider becoming a signatory to the court? Or are you just concerned necessarily about other crimes that you see and the way that they should be prosecuted to make sure that international justice is upheld?

Because I just – I do – it is kind of curious that an administration would become so engaged in shaping the kind of format of a court that it's not a signatory to. And what gives us the moral authority to do that if we're not becoming a signatory to the court? And in addition, are you conditioning any kind of future U.S. assistance with the court on some of the objectives that you proposed at the conference?

MR. KOH: Well, first of all, the other countries all wanted us to engage. Their recognition, as a historical matter, as international institutions and courts with which the United States is not involved tend not to be as effective. Secondly, they noticed that all of the ad hoc tribunals – the Yugoslav and Rwanda tribunal, the Cambodia tribunal – have been more successful by virtue of deep U.S. engagement.

Third, the other strategies that have been used, either isolation from the court or hostility from the court, appear to be non-starters. You have now a court that exists, it's functioning, it's hearing cases, and needs help. And it needs people who are both going to criticize things that it does that are less well thought through and to try to suggest directions in which it can go.

I don't think we're talking so much about an end game as we are talking about a process, the default --

QUESTION: A process by which eventually you hope that you can join?

MR. KOH: I think our basic conviction is a strategy of engagement is good for the court and good for U.S. interests. We might as well start that process and make a serious effort at it, which is what we did. And as I said, the reaction was favorable. On the last day, they said, "We're delighted to see a situation in which the U.S. is part of the solution for the court and not part of the problem."

AMBASSADOR RAPP: I mean, it's clear that joining the court is not on the table, as far as a U.S. decision at this time. But as you know, the United States takes a very long time to adopt international conventions and treaties, and sometimes doesn't. I mean, it took us 40 years to ratify the Genocide Convention.

I think what we're looking at here is how this court develops. We want to see it develop responsibly, to focus on crimes that involve truly massive intentional attacks on civilians, both in terms of the decisions made by its prosecutor on where to open investigations and also by its chambers, its trial chambers that have to decide whether, sometimes, to authorize those investigations or to issue arrest warrants.

And I think over time, there's a possibility that we may gain confidence in this institution and that would enable us to move forward. And who knows what the future may hold? But at this time, we recognize that this institution is the international court where justice will be delivered if it can't be delivered at the national or the regional level, that the United Nations is not going to step up and establish a Rwanda or Yugoslavia court and spend a hundred million or more a year on a court, as they have with those, when 111 countries are dues-paying members to this one.

And so this is where accountability is to be delivered. It's also recognized, as we've seen with Darfur, that the UN Security Council, of which we're a permanent member, has the ability to send cases to it involving not just the 111 countries but all 192. And so it's a tool in the international toolbox, so to speak, for achieving accountability instead of establishing a separate, one-off institution.

So, if for nothing else, because of that role, but also because we're so committed to achieving accountability for these cases and fulfilling the promise that we've made to victims when we went and convicted Jean Kambanda, the prime minister of Rwanda, for genocide, or brought Milosevic to trial or Charles Taylor to trial, there's been an expectation created that when people of whatever level commit mass atrocities against the innocent, there's going to be accountability. And we think that's appropriate. We want it done. We want it done fairly. We want it done effectively. And the ICC wants us to assist and to the extent it's consistent with our law and we do have some laws that we have to be careful about observing that are a little different in this area than they are with other courts. We want to go forward on this, and that's something that we'll be doing in the next several years and perhaps that will build an engagement and a confidence that will allow us to go further.

MR. DUGUID: Thank you. I believe we have time for one more question. Farah, please.

QUESTION: I was hoping you could tell us a little bit more about the discussions surrounding Sudan and the effectiveness – I mean, a lot of people watched with dismay and don't feel like the court has been positive – has gotten positive outcomes for people there. And I was hoping you could tell us a little bit more about the discussions there.

And my second question is about – you've talked a lot about strengthening national justice systems, and there's an awful lot of people who say, okay, the ICTR is the last time we're ever going to have the international community coming in and imposing a – sort of creating a justice system for a country, and more like they believe that we're going to see more like Sierra Leone and Cambodia, which is just assisting a national – I mean, do you feel that that's the future, or do you think that, in fact, there will be – the future really is in these international efforts?

AMBASSADOR RAPP: Well, first of all, on the Sudan issue – and Kampala -- it was a good thing that this conference was in Africa and 30 countries in Africa – more than – I think there are about 55 countries in Africa – but a substantial majority are members of the ICC. Uganda itself sent the first case to the ICC, the Kony case, by referral. And there were discussions, particularly in this Peace and Justice Forum, about the interplay of peace and justice, and the Sudan issue was there. But I think the bottom line of the conference is that everyone recognized that when there are cases before the court, states need to cooperate. And I think it strengthened the commitment of the African parties to assist in the cases in Africa and assisted the other countries in their resolve to ensure that arrests are made. So I think it actually was helpful to this challenging aspect of getting cooperation in Sudan.

In regard to the future of international justice, the possibility of ad hoc mixed courts at the national level – I mean, the Sierra Leone is an example of that, though more international than national – but where national judges sit with international judges, where there's international assistance to those courts, I think that remains very much an open possibility in the future. The ICC is never going to be able to prosecute more than three or four cases in each situation, and that – and there may be situations where it's better to have a court close to the people, as we had in Sierra Leone or you have in Cambodia, with international help and assistance to provide the capacity and the independence, rather than send those cases thousands of miles away to The Hague.

And that's consistent with complementarity, consistent with the idea that it's better to do it at the national level. So I think our American interest will be to look for alternatives close to the ground, as we did in Kenya for instance, where we very strongly supported the Waki Commission report and the initiative of former Secretary General Annan that urged there to be a national independent court to deal with the post-election violence and to provide, perhaps, an international prosecutor in that or other international personnel to ensure the independence to give assurance to the victims that they wouldn't – that they'd be properly treated because of some of the ethnic aspects of that conflict.

That's the best approach. Sadly, it didn't happen there. Because it didn't happen, it's gone to the ICC. But I think we'll always be working to try to do it there. And that was part of the message of the sessions on complementarity. There needs to be a continuum from the national level to the international, with the international level only handling a relative handful of cases and hopefully providing an incentive for countries to do it themselves so that it happens at the local level with their own people with assistance rather than thousands of miles administered by people that are unfamiliar with their culture and country.

MR. DUGUID: Thank you, Ambassador Rapp. Thank you, Professor Koh. Thank you for joining us, ladies and gentlemen. We'll begin with the daily press briefing shortly. That's all the time we have.