An estimated 350,000 Somalis died from war, disease and starvation that year. [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. Within British Somaliland the Isaaq constituted the majority group within the protectorate[40] with Dir and Harti groups also having sizeable populations to the west and east of Isaaq respectively. 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. [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. We were told that private property was taken from homes by the military in Hargeisa. 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. Extensive looting has taken place even though the military has controlled the city since late July 1988. [151] The report denounced the "lack of basic freedom and human rights" in Somalia, which resulted in the agency's decision to leave Somalia due to what it described as a "drastic decline in security and human rights". Massacres followed, as did the killing of livestock, the use of landmines to blow up reservoirs, the burning of huts, arrests and detentions. Siad Barre's forces deliberately mined wells and grazing lands in an effort to kill and terrorize nomadic herders whom the army viewed as protectors of the SNM. [123], A curfew was imposed on 27 May starting at 6:00 p.m, the army began systematic house-to-house searches, looking for SNM fighters. Hundreds of civilians were killed,[147] and SNM forces did not reach that part of the country until 1989. The government started a program of creating paramilitary groups among the Ogaden refugees as well as conscripting them into the national army, it also encouraged the creation of armed militia groups among members of the Darod (the clan of Siad Barre). "[85] In addition, he called for "the reconstruction of the Local Council [in Isaaq settlements] in such a way as to balance its present membership which is exclusively from a particular people [the Isaaq]; as well as the dilution of the school population with an infusion of [Ogaden] children from the Refugee Camps in the vicinity of Hargeisa". One of them was Jean Metenier, a French hospital technician in Hargeisa, who told reporters upon arrival at Nairobi airport that "at least two dozen people were executed by firing squad against the wall of his house and the corpses subsequently dumped on the streets to serve "as an example. [125], The SNM attack on Hargeisa started at 2:15a.m. on 31 May. [154] There were also widespread arrests of Isaaq men in the area, they were usually detained at a nearby military compound. Amnesty International confirmed the large-scale targeting and killing of civilian population by Somali government troops. [123], Anticipating fighting to start, people stock-piled food, coal and other essential supplies. [72] The testimony of Aryeh Neier (co-founder of HRW) explains the context in which the SNM was formed: Since 1981, with the formation of the SNM, northern Somalia has seen the worst atrocities. [37] The Somali government also planted one million land mines within Isaaq territory.[38]. [33][34] Rape was also used as a weapon against Isaaqs. In describing the government's response to the SNM offensive, the report observed: The government response to the attack has been particularly brutal and without regard to civilian casualties in fact there is ample evidence that civilian casualties have been deliberately inflicted so as to destroy the support base of the SNM, which is composed mainly of people from the Isaaq tribe. [142] Those confirmed to be Isaaq were taken to the Hangash compound where their belongings and money were confiscated. ""[127] The attacks on civilians were the result of the military's realisation the local Isaaq population of Hargeisa welcomed the SNM attack. One example of this is the case of Abdi Rageh, an Isaaq former military officer, was forcibly removed from a flight leaving for Frankfurt. [158][159] These men included professionals, businessmen, and teachers. [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. You might wanna slow your roll dude Imao, you must have been hella drunk. "[59], Barre was essentially ensuring the loyalty of the Ogaden refugees through continued preferential treatment and protection at the expense of the local Isaaq who were not only bypassed for economic, social and political advancement but also forcefully suppressed by both the Somali Armed Forces and the Ogaden refugee militias.[53]. Before fleeing, many residents buried their valuables in holes dug in the floors or courtyards of their homes. There is no doubt that the unity of these people will restore the balance of the scales which are now tipped in favour of the Isaaq. [Non-Isaaq territory]. As soon as news of the SNM's attack on Burao reached government authorities in Berbera, the city was completely blocked and hundreds of people were arrested. [144] Some of these villages included Da'ar-buduq, which lies half-way between Hargeisa and Berbera; Dara-Godle, which lies 20 kilometers southwest of Berbera; Sheikh Abdal, near the central Mandera Prison; Dubato; Dala, located east of Mandera Prison; and Lasa-Da'awo. Other aims of the policy included arming other clans in the region[88] and encouraging them to fight the dominant Isaaq: "Since it has become evident that the Isaaq were, by act and intent, with the SNM; and since we could not see them giving up the line they have pursued so deceptively for some time; and in order to forestall them; we arranged for the other inhabitants of the North continuous meetings and a mobilization campaign designed to rouse them to action and to raise their level of awareness. [124], The government, upon hearing of the SNM attack on Burao, began rounding up Isaaq men fearing they would assist an SNM attack on Hargeisa. Bush ordered emergency airlifts of food and. The scale and character of the collective clan-based violence committed against Isaaq civilians who, although they were not the only civilians brutalized by the government, were especially targeted suggest that this dimension of state-violence in the Northwest [Isaaq territory] indeed amounts to clan cleansing. 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. What was not destroyed was looted.[137]. [53] Somalia's defeat in the Ethio-Somali War caused an influx of Ethiopian refugees (mostly ethnic Somalis and some Oromo)[54] across the border to Somalia. [90] On every encounter between the SNM and government forces, "the army would conduct a sweep of the area where the incident occurred. Many other Somali communities, such as the Umar Mahmud sub-lineage of Majeerteen also became the victims of the violence and war. [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. [106], The Siad Barre government adopted a policy that "any able-bodied Isaaq who could help the SNM had to be killed. 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. Residential properties which were near important government offices were also blown up. Human Rights Watch reported that the refugees often "rampaged through villages and nomadic encampments near their numerous camps and claimed the lives of thousands of others, mostly nomads". The Guardian reported the brutal campaign by the Somali government against the Isaaq: Hundred of Thousands of people have been killed, dispersed or bombed out of their homes in northern Somalia after government military operations which Western aid workers say are little short of genocide. Many of the houses are boarded up because of the small anti-personnel mines scattered by Gen Siad Barre's forces when tens of thousands of Hargeisa residents fled. The city itself was destroyed. Some 50,000 people are believed to have lost their lives there as a result of summary executions, aerial bombardments and ground attacks. A quarter of these, and possibly as many as 300,000, were now struggling to survive in wretched conditions in refugee camps in Ethiopia while a similar number had been forced to leave Africa. They were deported due to accusations by Saudi authorities of irregularities in their residence documents. [76] This was especially harsh as food aid accounted for nearly half of all food consumption in Somalia in the 1980s. [141], Government attacks on Berbera included mass arrests, wanton killing of civilians, confiscation of civilian property, especially cars, luggage and food at the city's port, which were taken to Mogadishu. [50] The Soviet Union, which at the time was allied to both Somalia and Ethiopia turned against Barre,[51] and (with their allies) provided enough support to the Ethiopian army to defeat the Somali forces and force a withdrawal from the Somali region of Ethiopia. A group of Hargeisa elders were also seized to witness the 'proceedings' of the court, so they would 'talk sense' to the residents of Hargeisa. Some of the "remedies" he discussed included: "Balancing the well-to-do to eliminate the concentration of wealth [in the hands of Isaaq]. . As for the looting, the Ogaden refugees from Ethiopia ransacked homes that were vacated by Isaaq civilians out of clan hatred. 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. [161], The Ogadeni refugees formed militant groups that hunted Isaaq civilians around Bioley, Adhi-Adais, Saba'ad, Las-Dhureh, Daamka and Agabar refugee camps. The brutal nature of the Siad Barre government response was unprecedented, and led to what Robin Cohen described as one of the "worst civil wars in Africa". An emblematic aspect of Siad Barre's government's "policy of genocide towards the Issak group of clans" was the laying of "over one-million unmarked mines, booby traps and other lethal devices in the Northern Region"[171] over the duration of the conflict. This combined with poor security, made primary health work impossible and endangered the lives of staff, leading to a withdrawal by the agency. In 2001, the United Nations commissioned an investigation on past human rights violations in Somalia,[18] specifically to find out if "crimes of international jurisdiction (i.e. [172], The anti-personnel mines were used to target Isaaq civilians returning to cities and towns as they were planted in "streets, houses and livestock thoroughfares to kill, maim and deter return". During the period of unrest in the north of the country, the government started arresting civilian Isaaq residents of the capital, Mogadishu. One observer remarked that Hargeisa is being dismantled piece by piece. The brutal response of the Siad Barre government did not stop there, in discussing the systematic way in which the government targeted Isaaq people with aim to inflict as much loss in property and life, Waldron and Hasci published the following account: General Mohammed Said 'Morgan', one of Siad Barre's sons-in-law, [was given] the opportunity to put into operation further elements of a pacification plan he had drawn up earlier. The caption read: "The Hanging Woman". The armed Ogaden refugees, together with members of the Marehan and Dhulbahanta soldiers (who were provoked and encouraged by the Barre regime) started a campaign of terror against the local Isaaqs[61] as they raped women, murdered unarmed civilians, and prevented families from conducting proper burials. The UN team reported that, with the Somali Army's encouragement, the Ogadeni refugees carried out extensive looting in several northern towns. Bazookas, machine guns, hand grenades and other weapons of mass destruction were also directed against civilian targets in Hargeisa which had also been attacked as well as in Burao."[117]. In January 1989, Oxfam Australia (at the time known as Community Aid Abroad), an aid agency which was based in Erigavo and ran a primary healthcare program for the Sanaag region, withdrew its program after operating for eight years in Somalia. [123], As news of the SNM advance on Burao reached government officials in Hargeisa, all banks were ordered to close, and army units surrounded the banks to prevent people from approaching. The south proceeded to dominate all of the important posts of the new state, this included the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, Minister of Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs posts all given to politicians hailing from the south. An instrument of oppression, the Ogadenis and the regular Somali army were viewed as alien forces sent to oppress the Isaaq. [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. [67] Burao, then the third largest city in Somalia[23][62] was "razed to the ground",[120] and most of its inhabitants fled the country to seek refuge in Ethiopia. According to Human Rights Watch's Africa Watch, hundreds of Isaaqs have been executed and subjected to other reprisals on the basis of such suspicions. On 21 June a ship called 'Emviyara' had docked at the port of Berbera. The campaign had completely destroyed Hargeisa, causing its population of 500,000 to flee across the border and the city was "reduced to a ghost town with 14,000 buildings destroyed and a further 12,000 heavily damaged". 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]. People were apparently shot even inside mosques. A United States Congressional General Accounting Office team reported the Somali government's response to the SNM attack as follows: The Somali army reportedly responded to the SNM attacks in May 1988 with extreme force, inflicting heavy civilian casualties and damages to Hargeisa and Burao.The Somali military resorted to using artillery and aerial shelling in heavily populated urban centres in its effort to retake Burao and Hargeisa. I left Erigavo on 23 July. Modes of transport belonging to Isaaq civilians were confiscated by force, only military transport was allowed in the city. With regards to atrocities specific to Erigavo the report noted: The military occupation of Erigavo has resulted in widespread suffering for the people of that area forcing many people flee to the bush including most of the population of Erigavo. A Somali woman and her emaciated baby in 1992. [90] The military was operating under the assumption that if the SNM was active in a particular area, local residents must be supporters of the rebels. Kingofjojoland Answer: The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) recorded a total of 1,154 civilian casualties by mid-November. [99] The Siad Barre regime targeted civilian members of the Isaaq group specifically,[100] especially in the cities of Hargeisa and Burco and to that end employed the use of indiscriminate artillery shelling and aerial bombardment against civilian populations belonging to the Isaaq clan.[101][102]. Issaqis who survived the bombings are said to have been rounded up in the streets by Somali troops and summarily shot. Somalia: A Government at War with its Own People. By the last year of the Barre regime, there was not a single school functioning at full strength. [189], Exhumed skeletal remains of victims of the Isaaq genocide. Until about eight months ago, the urbanised population of Issaqi were concentrated in Hargeisa, Berbera and Burao. They were taken out of their homes in Mogadishu in the middle of the night of 19 July 1989. Foreign aid workers who fled the fighting confirmed that Burao was "emptied out"[121] as a result of the government's campaign. Seemingly ever-present on the front lines and respected by his soldiers as a man of courage, Mladic oversaw an army of . According to Human Rights Watch the city had suffered "some of the worst abuses of the war even though the SNM never attacked Berbera".[142]. They would shout, "Who is from Galkayo? [180] At Tur Debe, government forces destroyed wells by using mines as demolition explosives. 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. The scale of destruction was unprecedented, up to 90 percent of the city (then the second largest city in Somalia) was destroyed,[132][133][134] (United States embassy estimated 70 percent of the city was damaged or destroyed). Henceforth British Somaliland was referred to as the northern (or north western) region of the Somali Republic, whilst the former Italian colonial state was referred to as the south. "[41][pageneeded], In October 1969 the military seized power in a coup following the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke and the ensuing political parliamentary debate on succession which ended in a deadlock. [77], In January 1986, Barre's son-in-law and viceroy in the north General Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan, who was Barre's bodyguard before he married his daughter[78] reportedly told Isaaq nomads at a waterhole "if you Isaaqs resist, we will destroy your towns, and you will inherit only ashes". turned around. In December as the SNM's presence in the mountains around. However, for the Northwest [Isaaq], this and even stronger terms (such as genocide) are regularly used. [146], The army started its campaign in Erigavo soon after the outbreak of fighting in Burao and Hargeisa. "[145], Human Rights Watch's Africa Watch also reported the case of 11 Isaaq men, some of whom were nomads, being arrested by the government on the outskirts of Berbera. Bosnian Canadian Community have escaped the Bosnia Genocide . There were many others, but they claimed to be from other clans. They were all accused of assisting the farmer's wife to shelter the SNM fighter. Bosnian genocide (1995) Massacres of Hutus (1996-1997) Effacer le tableau (2002-2003) Darfur genocide (2003-) Yazidi genocide (2014-2017) Uyghur genocide (2014-) Rohingya genocide (2016-) Related topics Raphael Lemkin Anti-communist mass killings Indonesia 1965-66 Atrocities in the Congo Free State Compulsory sterilization Democide Ethnic cleansing Some families were said to be squatting outside their houses because they were afraid to enter. Between June and the end of September, government forces as well as armed Ethiopian (Ogadeni) refugees continued to raid the immediate vicinity of Berbera as well as the villages between Berbera and Hargeisa. These killings started after the SNM escalated its incursions into the Isaaq majority cities in the north. [57] The Barre regime exploited the presence of such a large number of refugees as means of seeking foreign aid,[58] as well as a vehicle to displacing those deemed hostile to the state, notably the Isaaqs, Human Rights Watch noted that: "Northerners [Isaaqs] were dismissed from and not allowed to work in government offices dealing with refugee affairs, so that they would not discover the truth about the government's policies. This particularly had strong support from the Isaaq clan who notably sent many volunteers, especially in 1976 as they joined WSLF guerrilla insurgencies and sent many volunteers a year before the war took place. Killings in Hargeisa started on 31 May. Their huts were burned and their animals killed. The Isaaq genocide (Somali: Xasuuqii beesha Isaaq, Arabic: ),[15][16] or Hargeisa holocaust,[17] was the systematic, state-sponsored genocide of Isaaq civilians between 1987 and 1989 by the Somali Democratic Republic, under the dictatorship of Siad Barre, during the Somaliland War of Independence. Civilian refugees fleeing towards the border were bombed and gunned indiscriminately. A scorched earth policy that involved the burning of farms, the killing of livestock, the destruction of water-storage tanks and the deliberate poisoning of wells, has been pursued actively by the military. From there the SNM successfully launched a guerrilla war against the Barre regime through incursions and hit and run operations on army positions within Isaaq territories before returning to Ethiopia. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) recorded at least 596 civilian casualties, including 296 killings, by early August. The countryside was an area of operations for the government-armed Ethiopian (Ogadeni) refugees. The small hotels of Mogadishu were searched by the government at night and their guests were sorted into Isaaqs and non-Isaaqs; the Isaaqs would then be subsequently detained. This resulted in entire villages being depopulated and towns getting plundered. The settlement of Ogaden refugees in Isaaq territory, and the arming of these groups (which effectively created a foreign army in the north[60]), further antagonised local Isaaq population. Afraad's objective was to push the WSLF out of their strongholds (Isaaq territory) whereas the WSLF responded by retaliating further against Isaaq civilians living in the border region.[62]. It published a report "to draw attention to recent events in Somalia which have resulted in civil war, a huge refugee problem, persecution of a large section of the population along tribal lines and widespread human rights violations". They appealed to the non-Isaaks to leave so they could burn the town and all those who remained behind. "[87][self-published source]. Much of Hargeisa appears to be a "ghost town," and many homes and building are virtually empty. Another factor behind the strong support from the Isaaq was the fact that the border that was drawn between Ethiopia and Somalia cut off important grazing grounds for Isaaq tribesmen. A United Nations inspection team that visited the area in 1988 reported that the Ethiopian refugees (Ogaden) were carrying weapons supplied by the Somali Army. In February 1992, Physicians for Human Rights sent a medical team to the region to examine the scale of the problem of land-mines left over from the 19881991 conflict, they have described the situation as follows: They [mines] are most prevalent in the countryside surrounding two of Somaliland's principal cities, Hargeisa and Burao, and in the pastoral and agricultural lands west of Burao. According to a foreign aid-agency official who was in the north after the fighting broke out: the Siyad Barre government was so eager to arm the Ogaden refugees that it enlisted workers of the civilian National Refugee Commission which administers the Ogaden refugee camps to help distribute weapons 'Now all the camps are heavily armed' an experienced western aid official said. [52], All of Somalia felt the impact of the Ogaden War defeat, however the northern region (where Isaaqs live) experienced the majority of the physical and human destruction due to its geographical proximity to the fighting. war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide) had been perpetrated during the country's civil war". The government's victimisation of the Isaaq was not limited to northern regions susceptible to SNM attacks. The incident occurred when Kenyan government forces, acting on the premise of flushing out a local gangster known as Abdi Madobe, set fire to a residential village called Bulla Kartasi . The Somali Government has bombed towns and strafed fleeing residents and used artillery indiscriminately, according to the officials. 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]. [36] Dabar Goynta Isaaqa would later turn into a system of governance where local officials would put the most hard-line policies into effect against the local Isaaq population. Their counter-attack started with use of heavy weapons. 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]. [185] The shelling, aerial bombing and associated mass deaths in many communities particularly targeted the members of the Isaaq clan, states Richards, and this systematic state violence was linked to the belief that these groups were obtaining assistance from the Ethiopian government. The cash-strapped government spends $50,000 on the war crimes commission each year, and is building a $300,000 museum to showcase. [126], Artillery shelling of Hargeisa started on the third day of the fighting[128] and was accompanied by large-scale aerial bombing of the city carried out by aircraft of the Somali Air Force. In order to deprive the SNM of a civilian base of support in their area of operation, those living in rural areas between Hargeisa and the Ethiopian border have suffered particularly brutal treatment. [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. A Bosnian court found a member of the Republika Srpska police force, eljko Lelek, guilty of crimes against humanity in Viegrad, including rape and sentenced him to sixteen years in prison. "[176] In describing the prevalence of land-mines especially in the countryside surrounding cities inhabited by Isaaq, the Somalia Handbook states, "Large patterned minefields, exceeding 100,000 mines have been emplaced in sections surrounding the city. BRUCE OR D MAKE IT EMIT WAVES OF AWEEK. A mobile military court sentenced 26 Isaaqs to death. [135] The testimony of Aryeh Neier, the co-founder of Human Rights Watch, confirms the large-scale nature of government attacks against civilians: In an attempt to dislodge the SNM, the government is using artillery and air bombardment, especially Hargeisa and Buroa, on a daily basis, aiming particularly at civilian population targets.

Stafford Solid Waste Holiday Schedule, Darius Sessoms Go Fund Me, Colette Cunningham Wife, Articles S