Somaliland's Political Veterans must be released immediately.

Somaliland International Recognition Action Group(SIRAG)
London, UK
3rd/August/2007

Press Release

SIRAG demands from the government of the Republic of Somaliland for the immediate release of Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gaboose, Eng. Mohamed Hashi Elmi and Mr. Jamal Aideed Ibrahim the Executive Leaders of Qaran Political Association. The government of Somaliland has acted illegally by depriving and denying these citizens of their constitutional rights to appoint a Political Association that will represent their democratic rights as laid down in the constitution of Somaliland. The government of Somaliland should free these political veterans without further delay so that they can get on with their work and complete their milestones within the time frame work that is available for registering political associations. Delaying their
work will only affect the elections and can cause serious results towards the milestone set for Somaliland’s democratic achievements and recognition.

We would like to remind the government of Somaliland, the parliament, Guurtida and Opposition parties of Somaliland that depriving the citizens of Somaliland of their liberties and constitutional rights and jailing them on top of that without a due process of law will only further damage Somaliland’s democratic achievements and recognition. The illegal imprisonment of these politicians have been carried out by the unconstitutional so called Security Committees which should have been
abolished long ago time ago to safeguard the stability and security of the nation.

We stand in Solidarity with the Association of Somaliland Lawyers(SOLLA), SHURO Net Human Rights organizations Network, the Diaspora, members of Parliaments & Opposition Parties and Somaliland’s Political Veterans to free these political prisoners without any further delay.

Year 2007 has been a challenging one for Somaliland’s democracy including the latest imprisonment of Haatuf Journalists where such injustices were protested against both in Somaliland and in the Diaspora along with friends of Somaliland who have been very instrumental in making sure that Somaliland’s democracy goes from strength to strength. The history of
Somaliland will under no circumstances be dragged back to tyranny and the abuse of freedom of speech where ordinary people are subjected to a state where they keep their private thoughts to themselves for fear of disrupting peace. Such actions are the early signs of dictatorial regimes and should not be tolerated. The way forward for Somaliland is to maintain peace and respect of humanrights for all individuals as laid out in the Constitution of Somaliland.

Let us also not forget that these Political Veterans are the icons of Somaliland’s history, liberation, independence and their case of imprisonment should not be taken lightly. It is sad and unfortunate that such Veterans of high status to have been put to such a test where their imprisonment was rushed without balancing it with a common sense. 28th of July 2007 would be a day that will haunt the history of Somaliland for centuries to come. There was a time when these Political Veterans along with their veteran comrades dreamed of reaching the day that they will liberate Somaliland from the tyranny of Siad Barre’s regime persevering with patience against all odds. Somaliland has luckily become the Oasis of Success and Stability in the Horn of Africa as a result of their fruits. These leaders we believe would not sabotage their hard earned vision for a just and
democratic society.

For the record these Political Veterans have chosen to exercise their freedom of speech as free citizens of Somaliland. The Association of Lawyers of Somaliland(SOLLA), SHURO Net Human Rights Organisation, members of Opposition Parties and Parliament, the Diaspora and Somaliland’s Veteran Politicians have all declared their imprisonment as illegal. We believe that their imprisonment has been rushed which only highlights the weakness of the government’s leadership. Sadly such actions will also jeopardise the democratic achievements of Somaliland including our campaigns for the recognition of Somaliland.

We would like to remind the government of Somaliland that the citizens of Somaliland have chosen democracy over tyranny so that they can live in a free society where any one can state his/her own views wherever they may be in an office or open space without fear of any punishment whatsoever. Historically over the centuries Somaliland has enjoyed freedom of speech
through their pastoral culture which compliments the spirit of Democracy in Somaliland in a unique way in a nation where illiteracy is over 95%.

We would like to remind the citizens of Somaliland that the coming elections are the only means they can exercise their democratic rights peacefully. We advise the citizens of Somaliland to always safeguard their security and stability and never comprise their hard earned efforts and achievements towards democracy and peace over the last 16 years.

Somaliland is at a cross road and in order to safeguard the security and stability of the Republic of Somaliland the government of Somaliland must free the Political Veterans of Qaran Political Association without any further delay. The International Community will be watching the progress of this case very closely and turning a blind eye to freeing these politicians would only jeopardize the coming elections and delay the recognition of Somaliland.

God Bless Somaliland.

Marwo Lulu Farah
Chair of SIRAG
www.sirag.org.uk