The Voice Of Somaliland: The Somali Islamist Are Fueling Hate Between The People Of Faith

Friday, October 06, 2006

The Somali Islamist Are Fueling Hate Between The People Of Faith

ADDIS ABABA -- At least nine Muslims and a number of Christians were killed this week in religious riots in western Ethiopia, the country's main Islamic group said Thursday, as police confirmed the clashes for the first time.

The Islamic Affairs Supreme Council of Ethiopia said that the nine were killed and numerous houses burned in several days of violence that erupted Sunday near the town of Jimma, following a seasonal Orthodox festival last week."About nine Muslims have been killed in clashes with Christians," said council vice-president Elias Redman, adding that most of the Muslims in the area practice the ultra-conservative Wahhabi brand of Islam."I know some Christians have also been killed, but I don't know how many," he said, adding that it was not yet clear what actually prompted the violence.

Elias said that a team from the Islamic affairs council was traveling to the village of Dembi, northwest of Jimma, which is about 490 kilometers (305 miles) west of Addis Ababa, to investigate the clashes.Meanwhile, Ethiopian Federal Police acknowledged the violence in Dembi for the first time Thursday. "I can confirm there was some incident in that area, but we don't know the origin," police spokesman Demsach Hailu said, adding that he had no further details and that an investigation was underway.

On Wednesday, diplomatic and Orthodox church sources said that the violence flared after Orthodox Christians last week celebrated the annual Meskel festival, which Muslims object to, and that at least four people had been killed.They said that in addition to deaths and multiple injuries, two churches had been burned down and more than 100 people had fled the area during the violence after the celebration of Meskel.

Meskel, which means "cross" in Amharic, is an Orthodox festival marking the arrival of spring that is celebrated by the burning of giant cross. It comes shortly after the Ethiopian New Year, which this year began September 11.An Orthodox church official said that ecclesiastical authorities were also headed to Dembi to look into the violence and were growing increasingly concerned about conflict between faiths.

In May, Islamic youth in the eastern town of Jijiga, about 720 kilometers from the capital, stoned the homes and businesses of Christians after taking offense at what they said was the desecration of the Koran.Jijiga is the capital of Ethiopia's Somali region. It lies on the border with lawless Somalia, where a powerful hardline Islamist movement has taken control of much of the south and center of the country. Ethiopia's Somali region is predominantly Muslim but the majority of the Horn of Africa nation's 77 million population, about 60 percent, are Orthodox Christians.

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The New Somaliland Press & Publications Bill 2007

The Somaliland Government has recently sent to the House of Representatives a new Bill on press and publications. The provisions of this bill (based almost entirely on the Yemen Law No: 25 of 1990 on the Press & Publications) run contrary to international norms relating to freedom of expression and the independence of the press and are not in line with the Somaliland constitution.
The considerable powers given to the Minister of Information (and other ministers) include even deciding on appeals from anyone whose writings have been turned down for publication by a newspaper’s editor (Article 46). These ministerial powers over the press and publishers/printers/distributors etc, the compulsory registration of all press and publication activities, including the practice of the profession of journalism, and the extensive criminal sanctions which add to the existing array of criminal offences in the 1962 Somali Penal Code contrast sharply with the current Somaliland Press Law (2004), which contains no criminal sanctions and is based on codes of conduct. Unfortunately the Somaliland Government has repeatedly made clear its dissatisfaction with the current press Law and has used the Penal Code and extra-judicial powers to detain and imprison journalists. It is no surprise, therefore, that the Somaliland Government is not putting forward amendments of the current Press Law, but is now proposing its wholesale replacement by this new Bill which introduces considerable criminal sanctions, such as fines and imprisonment (Article 99) for the infringement of its numerous provisions, as well as prohibition of continued practice of journalism or publication or even circulation of printed materials; confiscation of property, including printing presses (Article 101) and seizure of printed materials (Article 102)..........Full Text

The Isaq Somali Diaspora And‎ Poll-Tax Agitation In Kenya, 1936-41‎

Poll-tax agitation has been a fairly common phenomenon in Africa. On most occasions it has involved little ‎more than vocalized protest. In a few instances, however, it has led to resistance that has been both serious ‎and violent; the earliest example of the latter is probably to be found in the widespread Fante uprisings that ‎occurred immediately after the introduction of the Gold Coast Poll Tax Ordinance of 1852; a later example is ‎the Natal uprising of 1906 which has been attributed in large measure to the introduction of poll tax at the ‎end of the previous year. Yet the agitation by the Isaq Somali in Kenya did not follow either of these two ‎patterns. In several respects it was a highly unusual movement: first, the Isaq were campaigning to pay higher ‎taxation; secondly, in order to secure their aims they attempted to mobilize the whole Isaq diaspora, so that ‎Somali in Uganda, Tanganyika, British Somaliland and Britain were all involved in this agitation, (see map )‎.....Read the rest

The "Letter-of-Death" by General "Morgan" January 23, 1987

(Waridaad) - Following is the famous "Letter-of-Death" as translated into English by Mohamoud Sheikh Ahmed Musa, former President of the Supreme Court, including his explanatory notes as footnotes:1
The report is addressed to the President of the SDR, the Minister of Defence, and the Minister of Interior. The latter, Major-General Ahmed Suleiman Abdalla, is also a son-in-law of the President, and Third Deputy Prime Minister. Since President Barre is also the Minister of Defence -- the previous holder of that portfolio, General Mohamed Ali Samatar, having been promoted Prime Minister on January 30, 1987 -- the report is seemingly confined to family members. This would explain its extreme frankness in specifying certain clans as targets for implemented and recommended punitive action.
The target is the Isaaq Clan Family. The term "clan family" was first coined by Professor I.M. Lewis, Professor Social Anthropology at the London School Economics, to describe the collective name for each of the several major divisions to which Somali clans traditionally divide themselves. The Isaaq clan family sub-divides into four main clans.
Top Secret.......Read the rest