The villagers were not allowed to bury the dead men for five days. According to Ali, "with funds and clan appeals, he [Barre] was able to entice the bulk of SSDF fighters to return from Ethiopia and participate in his genocidal wars against the Isaq in the north and later against the Hawiye in the South, including Mogadisho".[186]. [68] These reports state that canisters of the nerve gases Soman and Sarin were unloaded from a Libyan Airlines civilian flight to Mogadishu on 7 October. The following are a selection of the numerous episodes of extrajudicial executions of Isaaq civilians collected by Human Rights Watch's Africa Watch: During the ongoing conflict between the forces of the Somali National Movement and the Somali Army, the Somali government's genocidal campaign against the Isaaq took place between May 1988 and March 1989. No soldier or member of the security forces has ever been disciplined or prosecuted for abuses, which highlights the general lack of accountability. In 1988, government forces shelled and bombed the capital of Hargeisa. [41][pageneeded] One example is cited by Hassan Megag Samater, the former director in charge of the Ministry of Education in Somaliland, he states that he had handed his post in 1966 with the northern region having "several hundred schools at all levels, from elementary schools to college. [178], The British mine-clearing company Rimfire, contracted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to conduct de-mining activities has identified land-mines from 24 countries in Somalia. This was intended to strengthen their unity and to surround Somali unity with a defensive wall. In describing the Somali government policies in the region, Peter Kieseker, a spokesman for the CAA commented: "Genocide is the only word for it. The regime's use of armed refugees against local Isaaq populations in the north is also referenced in an Africa Watch report: "[M]any Ogadeni refugees were recruited into the WSLF. The situation was further exacerbated by the appointment of Mohamed Hashi Gani, a cousin of President Siad Barre and fellow Marehan Darod, as the military commander of the northern regions with headquarters in Hargeisa in 1980. [62], The continued abuse of WSLF and the government's indifference to the suffering of Isaaq civilians and nomads prompted many Isaaq army officers to desert the army with a view to creating their own armed movement to fight Ethiopia, one that would also intimidate the WSLF and discourage further violence against Isaaq civilians. The people now living in the three towns are believed to be totally non-Issaqi or military personnel who have been deputed to guard what has been retaken from the SNM. The fate of those who can no longer be traced remains largely unknown. Among those inhabitants are: the Awdal people, the various sections of Western Somalis [including Ogaden refugees], the Las Qorey people, and the Daami people, etc. A US Country Study handbook describes the Barre regime retaliation against the Umar Mahmud following a failed coup attempt in 1978 which resulted in 2,000 Umar Mahmuud civilians dying in Mudug. [141], Immediately after the SNM attack on Burao, the government started a campaign of mass arrests in Berbera. In discussing the unusually frank tone of the report, Hassan Abdi Madar states: "The report is addressed to the President of the SDR, the Minister of Defence, and Minister of Interior. [41][pageneeded] The northerners, especially the majority Isaaq,and Harti believed that the unified state would be divided federally (north and south) and that they would receive a fair share of representation post unification. The Guardian reported the scale of destruction as follows: The civil war left Hargeisa in ruins: 80 percent of the building in the town were destroyed, many of them by the aerial bombardment of General Siad Barre's Zimbabwean mercenary pilots. Residential properties which were near important government offices were also blown up. African historian Lidwien Kapteijns describes the ordeal of Isaaqs refugees fleeing their homes as follows: Throughout this period, the whole civilian population appears to have become a target, in their homes and anywhere they sought refuge. Killing, rape and looting became common."[62]. [187] African historian, Lidwien Kapteijns in discussing the targeting of Isaaq people as a distinct group in relation to other groups also targeted by the Barre government states: Collective clan-based violence against civilians always represents a violation of human rights. "[142] The commander of the Hangash forces at Berbera and his deputy, Calas and Dakhare respectively, "sorted out the passengers according to their clan". List of massacres in Kenya - Wikipedia Srebrenica massacre, slaying of more than 7,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) boys and men, perpetrated by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica, a town in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in July 1995. Many Isaaq businessmen and elders were arrested as the government suspected they would support an SNM attack on Berbera.[141]. [144] The attacks included the burning of villages, the killing of villagers, raping of women, confiscation of livestock and the arrest and detention of elders in Berbera. [65][66] The Isaaq movement of Afraad immediately came into conflict with the Ogaden clan's faction of WSLF in the form of a number of bloody encounters between the two groups. All vehicles (including taxis) were confiscated to control the movement of civilian population, this also ensured sufficient transport was available for the use of military and government officials. [117] The military used "heavy artillery and tanks, causing severe damage, both to civilians and to property. Following the SNM attacks on the major towns of Hargeisa and Burao, government forces bombed the towns causing over 400,000 people to flee the atrocities across the border into Ethiopia, where they are now located in refugee camps, living in appalling conditions, with inadequate water, food, shelter and medical facilities. Reports from eye witnesses speak of the town of Hargeisa as mere rubble, devastated to the point that it is barely recognizable even to its inhabitants.[136]. Two weeks later, on 25 January The Washington Post reported that the government of Gen. Mohammed Siad Barre "is stockpiling chemical weapons in warehouses near its capital, Mogadishu". Their huts were burned and their animals killed. [67] Gani's rule was especially harsh against Isaaq, he removed them from all key economic positions, seized their properties and placed the northern regions under emergency laws. Whilst human right have been deteriorating for some years in Somaliawe believe that the government must bear a particularly heavy responsibility for events over the last six months.[146]. [159], According to Claudio Pacifico, an Italian diplomat who at the time was the second in command at the Italian Embassy in Mogadishu and was present in the city at the time, it was the commander of the armoured division of the Somali army, General Ibrahim Ali Barre "Canjeex", who personally oversaw the midnight arrests of the Isaaq men and their transfer to Jasiira beach.[160]. The government's victimisation of the Isaaq was not limited to northern regions susceptible to SNM attacks. Clan animosity intersected with class hatred as rural Ogadeni clansmen harassed Isaaq entrepreneurs with a visceral hatred, convinced that their wealth and urban commodities were undeserved. A majority of the refugees we interviewed stated that their homes were destroyed by shelling despite the absence of SNM combatants from their neighbourhoods.The refugees told similar stories of bombings, strafings, and artillery shelling in both cities and, in Burao, the use of armored tanks. This page was last edited on 11 April 2023, at 15:09. [162], Atrocities committed by the Barre's forces against Isaaqs included the strafing (i.e. Later, civilians would be killed inside mosques. Years of sustained state violence have created a serious level of political unrest in the region. The existence of the SNM has provided a pretext for President Barre and his military deputies in the north to wage a war against peaceful citizens and to enable them to consolidate their control of the country by terrorizing anyone who is suspected of not being wholeheartedly pro-government. The report noted one case where a 13-year-old girl from Erigavo was raped by six government soldiers, it also stated that "looting, raping and bashing are commonplace. [96] Ethiopia was in agreement and a deal was signed on 3 April 1988 that included a clause confirming agreement not to assist rebel organisations based in each other's territories. [68], By early 1978 the Barre regime had full control of the Somali state's economic apparatus, including large amounts of foreign aid which were deployed "using selective redistribution to ensure loyalty to the regime". somali child massacre bosniangriffin park demolishedgriffin park demolished The caption read: "The Hanging Woman". Most of the people from these towns left; the government provided them with transportation.[119]. [144], Like Berbera, Erigavo was an Isaaq inhabited city that the SNM did not attack, it has experienced no armed conflict between the SNM and the Somali army for at least several months, yet civilian Isaaqs have suffered both killings and arrests there at the hands of the army and other government forces. I left Erigavo on 23 July. Detainees were taken to a number of locations including Birjeeh (a former military headquarters of the 26th Sector of the Somali Armed Forces), Malka-Durduro (a military compound), the Central Prison of Hargeisa, the headquarters of NSS (National Security Service), the headquarters of the Military Police as well as other secret detention centres. [72], By 1982 the SNM transferred their headquarters to Dire Dawa in Ethiopia,[73] as both Somalia and Ethiopia at the time offered safe havens of operation for resistance groups against each other. They will only be released from detention centers, even after being raped, if the family pays a ransom. Civilians living in Buroa and Hargeisa have frequently been forbidden to hold funerals for relatives shot dead by the military and curfew patrols until they have paid a ransom. Many other Somali communities, such as the Umar Mahmud sub-lineage of Majeerteen also became the victims of the violence and war. ""[127] The attacks on civilians were the result of the military's realisation the local Isaaq population of Hargeisa welcomed the SNM attack. Civilian refugees fleeing towards the border were bombed and gunned indiscriminately. In spite of promises made to the Isaaq elders the violence against civilians and nomads by WSLF continued. Tens of thousands of internally . People were apparently shot even inside mosques. However, when its goal is to exterminate and expel large numbers of people based on their group identity alone, it becomes clan cleansing. A Human Rights Watch testimony before the United States Congress' Africa Subcommittee on 14 July 1988 stated that the actions of the Barre government have "created a level of violence unprecedented in scope and duration in Somalia".
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