Scientists and Human Rights in Somalia Report of a Delegation (1988) / Chapter Skim
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BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Pages 1-14
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For several years the committee and the Institute of Medicine sent repeated requests for information and appeals for the release of these prisoners to President Siad Barre and other government officials in Somalia. The only response ever received was a 1983 letter from the Attorney General of Somalia, Dr.
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Ambassador Addou was very cordial, agreed to arrange the proposed mission, and said that the delegates would meet with President Siad Barre during their visit. Ambassador Addou requested, as a formality, that the committee send him a written request to undertake the mission to Somalia.
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The committees decided that the mission should nevertheless be undertaken at the scheduled time. TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE MISSION The purposes of the mission of inquiry to Somalia, as set forth below in the delegation's formal terms of reference, were submitted to Ambassador Addou on October 5, 1987, and subsequently to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Justice and Religious Affairs in Mogadishu: -- to open lines of communication with governmental authorities in Somalia regarding human rights concerns; -- to express the concerns of the human rights committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, many members of the two organizations, and the international scientific community to the authorities in Somalia regarding the continuing imprisonment of eleven scientific colleagues; -- to gather information on the background, charges brought, and current legal status and physical well-being of each of the cases of the eleven imprisoned scientists; -- to visit the eleven scientists in their prisons; -- to present the information obtained during the mission to the members of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine;
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Mohamoud Omer Hashi, economist Farah Hussein Ahmed, engineer Osman Abdi Megag, medical doctor Aden Warsama Said, economist Mohamed Aden Sheikh, medical doctor Mohamoud Sheikh Hassan Tani, medical doctor Abdi Ismail Yunis, mathematician Abdillahi Ali Yusuf, veterinarian In developing countries many individuals who have been formally trained as scientists, engineers, or health professionals work in governmental, administrative, or commercial positions. Conversely, individuals who do not have formal academic training may work and be recognized in their countries as scientists, engineers, or health professionals.
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Hussein Sheikh Abdirahaman, Attorney General Maj. General Ismail Ahmed Ismail, Commander of the Custodial Corps The committees also requested formal meetings with the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross and with prison officials and physicians at the National Security Service prison in Mogadishu, the Labaatan-Jirow prison, and the Lanta Bur prison (if any of the eleven specified prisoners were being held there)
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When the delegates expressed surprise that the minister did not know one of the prisoners, Mohamed Aden Sheikh, a medical doctor who had been a government minister, he responded that he knew of him but that it would take some time to get the information on where he and the other prisoners were being held. The minister said that he would transmit such information, when available, to the delegation through Ambassador Addou in Washington.
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. On their own initiative the delegates met with several officials of other countries and the International Red Cross: Ambassador Mohamed Shafig Sadiq Ragab, Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt Sherif Rikan, First Secretary, Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt Ambassador Jeremy Varcoe, British Embassy Roger Huxley, First Secretary, British Embassy Ambassador Frank Crigler, Embassy of the United States Ambassador Mario Manca, Embassy of Italy Richard Anderegg, head of delegation, International Committee of the Red Cross The members of the delegation also met with Somali lawyer Ismail Jumale Ossable for an explanation of Somali laws.
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Department of State entitled Somalia, A Country Study.1 Somalia is one of the world's poorest countries, suffering from a lack of natural resources and chronic drought. To these natural conditions are added inflation, unemployment, shortages of skilled laborers, large external debt, weak infrastructure, severe conflicts over territorial integrity with neighboring countries, and, at various times, the presence of up to a million refugees from southern and eastern Ethiopia.
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At the time of independence, a democratic, parliamentary government was established, political parties were formed, and elections were held. While Somalia maintained formal relations with most Western countries and professed to be nonaligned, it promptly established close ties with the Soviet Union and China.
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10 SUDAN ETHIOPIA Mogadishu INDIAN OCEAN Map of Somalia
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The study goes on to say that, while systematic study of the clan-family situation is not available:4 There is some anecdotal material on the continuing importance of clan or lineage affiliation in obtaining jobs, services, and favors, and there are indications that even those who try to ignore clan favoritism as much as possible sometimes find it necessary to use their lineage connections. President Siad Barre has strictly forbidden opposition to and criticism of the government.
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In 1975 Siad Barre formally recognized the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) , the main Somali guerrilla group fighting for military control of the Ogaden.
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, the most recent in June 1987, and it accepted the presence of an IMF resident representative in Mogadishu. However, according to Western diplomatic sources in Mogadishu, the IMF's representative has been ignored by President Siad Barre and its stabilization plan is being disregarded.
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