#Somalia: New Confedaration of Somali states? Wait and see

#Somalia: New Confedaration of Somali states? Wait and see: The U.K government must take the " Bulls by the Horns" if they would like Somalia to have peace and stability.If the groupin...

New Confedaration of Somali states? Wait and see

The U.K government must take the " Bulls by the Horns" if they would like Somalia to have peace and stability.If the groupings of Ethiopia and IGAD are not told to "not meddle " in the internal Affairs of Somalia ,there will never be peace and stability in the Horn.This neighboring states have run the show for the last 25 years in the internal affairs of Somalia.Ethiopia with al-Ittixad movement is one of the main causes of the "collapse" of the Somali state in 1991.Clans have been used to do the "job" but the main sponsors were those two groups.Today Ethiopia under the guise of IGAD would like to remake the Political , Economic,Cultural map of Somalia using Clans as a means to their end.How? Somali clans have been told to claim "sovereignty" in the regions they inhabit and declare their own "governments" like already has been done with Somaliland and Puntland.Now other regions- clans would like to proclaim their own " sovereign" governments while they are assisted and helped by IGAD.The two new regions are Bay/Bakol and the regions of JUbba.Therefore any conference for Somalia will be a failure if those groups are not told the  truth that the Somali Republic is sovereign to Rule its own regions and its people-citizens.The idea behind this new Sovereign-Clan regions is to remake the territorial boundaries and map of Somalia so to have a new Confederation of Somali states with each one with its own "sovereignty". This is the main reasons in this days of the Clashes between the Somali Clans who inhibit Kismayo ,Lower Jubba. In that way the sponsors of this new political map for Somalia Ethiopia -IGAD can have their own hegemony and be able to sell the Somali national resources to China,France and Italy who with Iran are supporting the current policies of IGAD.Wait and see

Somalia Conference 2013 - Inside Government - GOV.UK

www.gov.uk

The Governments of the UK and Somalia will co-host an international conference on Somalia on 7 May in the UK. The conference aims to provide international support for the Government of Somalia as they rebuild their country after two decades of conflict.

#Somalia: "Rule of The Law or Rule of the Salfist?" Wait and...

#Somalia: "Rule of The Law or Rule of the Salfist?" Wait and...:    Tuesday(05/02/2013) was one of the darkest days for Somali "Legal institutions". That morning the so called Somali criminal Court sitti...

"Rule of The Law or Rule of the Salfist?" Wait and see.

   Tuesday(05/02/2013) was one of the darkest days for Somali "Legal institutions". That morning the so called Somali criminal Court sitting in Mogadishu ruled on the now infamous case of the "Somali journalist and the raped woman"who were arrested and 'accused to have lied and made to dishonor the State and its officers" .
           This case was the first of its type for the last 22 years and from when the Somali courts have been reestablished in 2004 in Mogadishu and later in 2009. I mean a rape case brought to trial-what the accused person was alleging-and the journalist who interviewed her accused to lying and dishonoring the State.
           I followed the case from my base in Nairobi and followed it in the BBC Somali and VOA Somali radio programmes plus those international stations like Al-Jazeera  TV which is the most watched station by the Somalis together with the Somali TV stations.
           This case got an international resonance which was in part done by the Somali journalists which one of their colleagues was in the docket and by some women organizations who were against violence on Women..The journalists were frustrate and angered by the continuous killings by Al-Shabaab and harassment/arrests by the state authorities.In this comment/analysis i will not get the merits of the case which are not important to this writing but on the " legal issues of which Laws were applied by the Legal operators like judges".
           The biggest miscarriage of Justice,abuse of the law and false interpretation of the norms of the Somali legal system has happened in that day at the so-called Somali court.First there has not been any trial of any meaning on that day but the most"dangerous" act occurred  when we arrived at the reading of the sentence by the so-called judge. The sentence was read using as a legal basis some of the Suras( verses) of the Holy Qur'an( at lest four Suras) and also quoting some articles of the Somali Penal Code( at least three articles without saying why he used them and the legal rationale behind it. The format of the sentence sanctioned by the Penal Procedural Code was all missing and all other important legal procedure which must be used.
           When I first  heard on the radio here I got amused by the audacity of these so- called judges to "Change" by the stroke of their pens the Laws of the Somali Legal systems in the books  and its procedure.The Somali legal system is the Continental type-codified norms- which were promulgated in Codes and laws passed by Somali parliaments from the 60',70',80', and myself studied at the University.-Faculty of Law. The Holy Qur'an and the Islamic religion in general are the religion of our Nation-State as is sanctioned in the provisional Federal Constitution of Somalia art.2 C.(1) says"Islam is the Religion of the State" and C (2) says" No religion other than Islam can be propagated in the country" and in C (3) says"No law which is not complaint with the general principles of Shari'.ah can be enacted.". More to that in the same Constitution art 3 (1) says the Constitution of the federal Republic of Somali is based on the foundations of the Holy Qur'an and the Sunna of our Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) and protects the higher objectives of the Shariah and social Justice." in the same article 3 C.(3) says "The Constitution of the federal Republic of Somalia promotes Human Rights,The Rule of Law,general standards of International law,Justice etc.
           What this judges were doing was not sanctioned in the Law,was not in our new Federal Constitution and was not in our penal system written or used for the last 52 years when the Somali Republic was legally established as a sovereign Nation -State. There is not any Law approved by the parliament or even a Decree law signed by the president or the Councils of Ministers which authorizes this kind of "Mixing i a Hybrid way Suras of the Holy Qur'an and the Somali Penal Code.
            The Question which comes to mind is 'how they can do it"?Quite simple.The former President was a Salafist which did not believe in the Rule of the Law and the passing of laws even Islamic by the parliament to Change the Penal Code or any other Law.. Therefore from his days in power without the consent of the parliament or changing/amending of any Law the so-called Somali Courts started using what I call  this "Hybrid system" of so-called sentencing and applicable law : Mixing of the codified laws and quoting some verses of the Holy Qur'an as basis for judgement.
            This was a tactical legal maneuver in which the Salafist /Militant/Jihadist in the Somali government wonted to subvert the Legal system " without" any legal amendment" or law passed by the parliament.This was instigated,promoted also by the Al-Ittixad Business Cartels/Organized crimes groups which are a  pseudo-salafist group allied with Ethiopia-IGAD who controls as a monopoly  the Somali economy all over Somalia which the former President represented.
            There are other Islamist groups in Somalia like the Ahlu-Sunna -Waljameeca  which is a Sunni-Sufi affiliation which the majority of Somalis belong and the Al-Islaah groupings who are modeled like the Muslim Brotherhood. Both of this two  Islamic groups approve the Somali legal system and its democratic principles written in the new constitution.
            The other important factor which makes these judges so thick is they have been trained only on Islamic law for two or three years by so-called Colleges run by the Salafist Al-Ittixad business cartels and do not have any knowledge of the Somali legal system and in particular the Somali penal code,the Somali procedural code,the Somali constitution all related laws.
           If we came particularly to this case to be atrial Judge you need to have a good knowledge of the procedural penal code-the norms which explains and rules how must be the procedure of the case including the evidence and the witnesses-and even the workings/acts of the Judge and the courts itself.This judges have never taken thst kind of courses and had not the scant knowledge of the legal system of the Somali Republic.
           The lawyers themselves have the same training of the Judges and have a knowledge based only on Islamic law by the so-called colleges which have sprouted in Mogadishu and all over Somalia without any regulation  and state control on the legal education they were giving.Just like any commercial shop you can open your own college and give a degree of Islamic studies/Sharia law to unaware young men which will call themselves lawyers and judges,public prosecutors in a matter of time after they have been employed by the Ministry of Justice.Maybe even some of the so-called lawyers,judges have never had any legal education including the Sharia Law but just Islamic studies  in general.
          The reasons behind this so-called "Hybrid system" is another way to bring from the window acts which have not been done through the parliament and in thst way implement the political Agendas of the pseudo-Salafist Al-ittixad business cartels. The Al-Ittixad business cartels would like to use their" Salafist interpretation of Islam as a political  weapon" to subjugate the Somali people-citizens and their undemocratic Agendas in the Political and Economic spheres of Somali society and state.This young men are ding what they have been told to do by this groups.
          What I call the" Hybrid system" is not sanctioned by the new Somali federal constitution or any other   Law of the Land of the Somali Republic.What are the solutions to this legal conundrum made by the Salafist?
            I think first of all the Somali President ,prime minister and the speaker of the House must have a meeting with the Supreme court chief,the Ministry of Justice Minister and the appellate court chief Judges and tell in a clear way to change this new" legal  model" in applying the Law in lower courts.Because even this groups now that what they are doing is not sanctioned by the Law. secondly those young men who have been made judges on the basis of clan quotas and do not have any legal training as the Law says they must be redeployed to other duties and their appointments revoked immediately.Also this mess of conducting trials and applying the law in the wrong way must be stopped immediately .And then  the few judges who know the law including some of my former colleagues who are sitting in the supreme Court and appellate court to be redeployed at the district courts. To start a new salary system like those of the parliamentarians for judges,Prosecutors  who have the needed knowledge of the Law(university degree from the Somali national university or equivalent) and give other incentives and the security protection needed. This are my suggestions in the short term and with immediate effect.
       In the medium term we need a complete re-evaluation of what went wrong and how to repair it starting also for the planning for a School of law which even some of the these young  men with the right degree and courses could be re-trained and refresher courses for the older lawyers and judges.But the most important is the reopening of the Faculties of Law and Business-management of the Somali national university.This must me done in the next two years.I know my Somali lecturers at the Somali national university are all unemployed and sitting idle in London,and other European,Canadian ,American cities.Why we cannot recall them and restart  the legal education needed for our courts and our public and private institutions?
      Last but not least the Ministry of Justice must be revamped specially the department of justice and all the those Salafist groups who are there for political reasons must be checked out.Also the department of Rule of Law and justice at the UNDP- Somalia must be revamped and everybody there for more that three years its contract must be rescinded  because they are part of the problem.. They are the ones who  were giving  a salary to this Salafsit trained judges and were wasting the money of the international community .Wait and see

#Somalia: Rule of Law or Rule of Militant Salafist?Wait and ...

#Somalia: Rule of Law or Rule of Militant Salafist?Wait and ...:           Tuesday(05/02/2013) was one of the darkest days for Somali "Legal institutions".That morning the so called somali criminal Court ...

#Somalia: Rule of Law or Rule of Militant Salafist?Wait and ...

#Somalia: Rule of Law or Rule of Militant Salafist?Wait and ...:           Tuesday(05/02/2013) was one of the darkest days for Somali "Legal institutions".That morning the so called somali criminal Court ...

Rule of Law or Rule of Militant Salafist?Wait and see.

          Tuesday(05/02/2013) was one of the darkest days for Somali "Legal institutions".That morning the so called somali criminal Court sitting in Mogadishu ruled on the now infamous case of the "Somali journalist and the raped woman"who were arrested and 'accused to have lied and made to dishonor the State and its officers" .
           This case was the first of its type for the last 22 years and from when the Somali courts have been reestablished in 2004 in Mogadishu and later in 2009. I mean a rape case brought to trial-what the accused person was alleging-and the journalist who interviewed her accused to lying and dishonoring the State.
           I followed the case from my base in nairobi and followed it in the BBCSomali and VOASomali radio programmes plus those international stations like Al-Jazeera  TV which is the most watched station by the Somalis together with the Somali TV stations.
           This case got an international resonance which was in part done by the somali journalists which one of their colleagues was in the docket and by some women organizations who were against violence on Women..The journalists were frustrate and angered by the continuos killings by Al-Shabaab and harassament/arrests by the state authorities.In this comment/analysis i will not get the merits of the case which are not important to this writing but on the " legal issues of which Laws were applied by the Legal operators like judges".
           The biggest miscarriage of Justice,abuse of the law and false interpretation of the norms of the Somali legal system has happened in that day at the so-called Somali court.First there has not been any trial of any meaning on that day but the most"dangerous" act occurred  when we arrived at the reading of the sentence by the so-called judge. The sentence was read using as a legal basis some of the Suras( verses) of the Holy Quran( at lest four Suras) and also quoting some articles of the Somali Penal Code( at least three articles without saying why he used them and the legal rationale behind it. The format of the sentence sanctioned by the Penal Procedural Code was all missing and all other important legal procedure which must be used.
           When I first  heard on the radio here I got amused by the audacity of these so- called judges to "Change" by the stroke of their pens the Laws of the Somali Legal systems in the books  and its procedure.The Somali legal system is the Continental type-codified norms- which were promulgated in Codes and laws passed by Somali parliaments from the 60',70',80', and myself studied at the University.-Faculty of Law. The Holy Qur'an and the Islamic religion in general are the religion of our Nation-State as is sanctioned in the provisional Federal Constitution of Somalia art.2 C.(1) says"Islam is the Religion of the State" and C (2) says" No religion other than Islam can be propagated in the country" and in C (3) says"No law which is not complaint with the general principles of Shari'.ah can be enacted.". More to that in the same Constitution art 3 (1) says the Constitution of the federal Republic of Somali is based on the foundations of the Holy Qur'an and the Sunna of our Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) and protects the higher objectives of the Shariah and social Justice." in the same article 3 C.(3) says "The Constitution of the federal Republic of Somalia promotes Human Rights,The Rule of Law,general standards of International law,Justice etc.
           What this judges were doing was not sanctioned in the Law,was not in our new Federal Constitution and was not in our penal system written or used for the last 52 years when the Somali Republic was legally established as a sovereign Nation -State. There is not any Law approved by the parliament or even a Decree law signed by the president or the Concils of Ministers which authorizes this kind of "Mixing i a Hybrid way Suras of the Holy Qur'an and the Somali Penal Code.
            The Question which comes to mind is 'how they can do it"?Quite simple.The former President was a Salafist which did not believe in the Rule of the Law and the passing of laws even Islamic by the parliament to Change the Penal Code or any other Law.. Therefore from his days in power without the consent of the parliament or changing/amending of any Law the so-called Somali Courts started using what I call  this "Hybrid system" of so-called sentencing and applicable law : Mixing of the codified laws and quoting some verses of the Holy Qur'an as basis for judgement.
            This was a tactical legal maneuver in which the Salafist /Militant/Jihadist in the Somali government wonted to subvert the Legal system " without" any legal amendment" or law passed by the parliament.This was instigated,promoted also by the Al-Ittixad Business Cartels/Organized crimes groups which are a  pseudo-salafist group allied with Ethiopia-IGAD who controls as a monopoly  the Somali economy all over Somalia which the former President represented.
            There are other Islamist groups in Somalia like the Ahlu-Sunna -Waljameeca  which is a Sunni-Sufi affiliation which the majority of Somalis belong and the Al-Islaah groupings who are modeled like the Muslim Brotherhood. Both of this two  Islamic groups approve the Somali legal system and its democratic principles written in the new constitution.
            The other important factor which makes these judges so thick is they have been trained only on Islamic law for two or three years by so-called Colleges run by the Salafist Al-Ittixad business cartels and do not have any knowledge of the Somali legal system and in particular the somali penal code,the somali procedural code,the Somali constitution all related laws.
           If we came particularly to this case to be atrial Judge you need to have a good knowledge of the procedural penal code-the norms which explains and rules how must be the precedure of the case including the evidence and the witnesses-and even the workings/acts of the Judge and the courts itself.This judges have never taken thst kind of courses and had not the scant knowledge of the legal system of the Somali Republic.
           The lawyers themselves have the same training of the Judges and have a knowledge based only on Islamic law by the so-called colleges which have sprouted in Mogadishu and all over Somalia without any regulation  and state control on the legal education they were giving.Just like any commercial shop you can open your own college and give a degree of Islamic studies/Sharia law to unaware young men which will call themselves lawyers and judges,public prosecutors in a matter of time after they have been employed by the Ministry of Justice.Maybe even some of the so-called lawyers,judges have never had any legal education including the Sharia Law but just Islamic studies  in general.
          The reasons behind this so-called "Hybrid system" is another way to bring from the window acts which have not been done through the parliament and in thst way implement the political Agendas of the pseudo-Salafist Al-ittixad business cartels. The Al-Ittixad business cartels would like to use their" salafist interpretation of Islam as a political  weapon" to subjucate the somali people-citizens and their undemocratic Agendas in the Political and Economic spheres of Somali society and state.This young men are ding what they have been told to do by this groups.
          What I call the" Hybrid system" is not sanctioned by the new Somali federal constitution or any other   Law of the Land of the Somali Republic.What are the solutions to this legal conundrum made by the Salafist?
            I think first of all the Somali President ,prime minister and the speaker of the House must have a meeting with the Supreme court chief,the Ministry of Justice Minister and the appellate court chief Jugdes and tell in a clear way to change this new" legal  model" in applying the Law in lower courts.Because even this groups now that what they are doing is not sanctioned by the Law. secondly those young men who have been made judges on the basis of clan quotas and do not have any legal training as the Law says they must be redeployed to other duties and their appointments revoked immediately.Also this mess of conducting trials and applying the law in the wrong way must be stopped immediately .And then  the few judges who know the law including some of my former colleagues who are sitting in the supreme Court and appellate court to be redeployed at the district courts. To start a new salary system like those of the parliamentarians for judges,Prosecutors  who have the needed knowledge of the Law(university degree from the Somali national university or equivalent) and give other incentives and the security protection needed. This are my suggestions in the short tem and with immediate effect.
       In the medium term we need a complete re-evaluation of what went wrong and how to reapir it starting also for the planning for a School of law which even some of the these young  men with the right degree and courses could be re-trained and refresher courses for the older lawyers and judges.But the most important is the reopening of the Faculties of Law and Business-management of the Somali national university.THis miust me done in the next two years.I know my somali lecturers at the Somali national university are all unenployed and sitting idle in London,and other European,Canadian ,American cities.Why we cannot recall them and restart  the legal education needed for our courts and our public and private institutions?
      Last but not least the Ministry of Justice must be revamped specially the department of justice and all the those Salafist groups who are there for political reasons must be checked out.Also the department of Rule of Law and justice at the UNDP- Somalia must be revamped and everybody there for more that three years its contract must be rescinded  because they are part of the problem.. They are the ones who  were giving  a salary to this Salafsit trained judges and were wasting the money of the international community .Wait and see