By Ismail D. Osman
It is time we recognize the administration of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo for what it is, a coercive central rule that attempts to control and direct all aspects of individual life through manipulation and repression. In its conduct and its action, this regime has operated as an uninhibited totalitarian rule that has sought to suppress all aspects of life and liberty to the authority of the state.
As a very minimum, this administration has been consistent in its illogicality. And at times it is not even clear if President Farmaajo is pulling the strings, or if his consigliore, former National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) Director Fahad Yasin, is the man behind the curtain who is conspiring to call the shots.
At this point we are well past any futile efforts to camouflage the fundamental failings we have all been witness to. The world must see what all Somalis see. The world must know what all Somalis know. The notion that our citizens are active participants in the political process is an illusion perpetrated by a collection of con men. Men who now must be removed in order to restore any semblance of a true democracy in our country and to restore any hope that our citizens have for a better life.
The carnage this administration has left in its wake has torn apart the social fabric of our society. In December 2017, Somali security forces arrested Abdirahman Abdishakur, an outspoken government critic, during an overnight raid on his home, killing five of his bodyguards in the process. Less than two weeks later, Somali security forces raided the home of sitting Senator Abdi Hassan Awale Qaybdiid in Mogadishu, ransacking every room, damaging property and confiscating family cell phones.
In June this year, 24-year-old Ikran Tahlil, a cybersecurity expert for Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), vanished just outside of her home in Mogadishu and the government, by some inside accounts directly complicit in her disappearance, have refused to answer the questions her family has raised after, what could only be deemed, a half-hearted investigation into her abduction.
In August, seven civilians were killed near the village of Golweyn, approximately 100 kilometers south of Mogadishu, by soldiers representing the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The civilians were blindfolded and forced to sit on an IED device that was purposely and brutally detonated, instantly killing all of them.
And, finally, according to a Human Rights Report released by the United States Department of State, “Military courts continue to try cases not legally within their jurisdiction and in proceedings that fell short of international standards. Federal and regional authorities sometimes executed those sentenced to death within days of the court’s verdict.” Human rights organizations have questioned the ability of the military to pass such swift and harsh punishment while preserving a defendant’s right to due process and appeal.
The incidents described above are cherry-picked from four years’ worth of brutalities committed either directly by or under the watch of President Farmaajo. These are not just assaults on those critical of a sitting President. These are material assaults on the very nature of a democracy, clear violations of the constitution that, if not stopped, will ultimately lead directly to civil war.
If President Farmaajo’s only failure was the appalling human rights failures, that would be plenty to categorize his tenure as an abject catastrophe. Unfortunately, it is not.
The al-Qaeda linked terrorist group Al-Shabaab continues to topple government forces and seize strategic military locations in order to impose its own harsh interpretation of Islamic law onto the local population; the most recent occurring at a military base in the town of Amara just last August. And as Al-Shabaab continues to gain back large swaths of territory, our politicians seem too concerned with expanding their own political influence then protecting the citizens they swore to protect.
And just as quickly as Somalis is losing land to Al-Shabaab, we are also slowly losing relationships with long-standing allies. Our diplomatic ties Kenya, Djibouti and our Gulf allies are at historic lows as our governmental leaders can’t seem to stay out of each other’s affairs and every leader is blaming the other for the disorder. A more pragmatic diplomatic approach is required to rebuild our relationships and President Farmaajo has proven himself incapable of developing that foreign policy.
His refusal to hold a legal and authorized presidential election has further divided an already fractured country and the resulting political uncertainty has led to further cycles of violence on our streets. A cycle that we can end with the removal of President Farmaajo.
Yet our governmental leaders, the leaders of the United Nations, and the leaders of democratic nations around the world, continue to look the other way, in effect supporting the existing regime by their refusal to condemn the litany of human rights atrocities committed by this government. And as we approach the 73rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the echoes of their silence ring loudly in the ears of our citizens.
For four long and violent years under the Farmaajo presidency, there has been an absolute disregard for the most minimal standards of principles in law and democracy. Misconducts that certainly fall at the feet of President Farmaajo and his administration.
It is now incumbent upon our world leaders, including those from the United Nations and the United States, to rise as one and voice an urgent denunciation with a single voice. Otherwise, by deliberately disregarding (or ignoring) accountability for human rights violations, our world leaders are implicitly contributing to perpetual violence and instability in our region and sending a clear signal to our citizens that they are not worthy of individual liberty.
Somalia’s citizens are demanding an accountability. Nations like the United States cannot continue to remain indifferent to the desires of Somali people while clearly aligning themselves in a geostrategic and geocentric position of power and influence. It is not right, and it is not just.
One day, President Farmaajo will have to answer for his criminality and corruptions, for it is certain that history will judge the complicit.
But know this. History will also judge the silent.
Osman, Former Deputy Director of Somalia National Intelligence & Security Agency (NISA) – Writes in Somalia, Horn of Africa Security and Geopolitical focusing on governance and security. You can reach him via [email protected]. Twitter: osmando
