4/4/09
Boundary-Making & Sovereignty in the Context of Unrecognised States, Emerging States & Sub-State Entities
A Sovereign State for Somaliland and What it Means for the Horn of Africa
Mr Abdillahi Mohamed Dualeh
Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister Abdillahi Duale will explain the situation of Somaliland.
Somaliland is regarded by the international community as a ‘self-declared independent state’ which remains part of the sovereign territory of Somalia. Somaliland is not recognised as a state in spite of the fact that it was a separate colonial entity (as a British protectorate), received its independence in its own right, voluntary joined in union with Somalia and, in 1991, voluntary re-constituted itself as an independent state.
Somaliland meets the established criteria for recognition as a state. It has a permanent population, a defined territory, a stable government and capacity to enter into relations with other states in the international community. It conforms with the African Union principle of respect for colonial borders.
Minister Duale will argue that the case of Somaliland is another illustration that decisions whether to recognise states are based on political, not legal considerations. In the case of Somalia key regional neighbours are seeking to further their own strategic interests and the wider international community is not prepared to challenge them.
He will point to the inconsistencies in the international community’s approach. Kosovo’s independence was championed by the West, in large part because of the oppression inflicted on the population by the Serb government of Slobodan Milosevic. But Somaliland’s independence has not been championed even though its people suffered far more gravely at the hands of the Somali government of Siyad Barre.
He will argue that Somaliland has earned the right to recognition through its creation of a stable and democratic state in an unstable neighbourhood. He will note the overwhelming backing that the constitution of Somaliland as an independent state received from the electorate in a referendum. He will point out that Somaliland cannot obtain meaningful consent to its withdrawal from the union with Somalia because of the absence of a government in Somalia.
Boundaries and the Exploitation of Natural Resources when States Fracture: Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland
Dr Derek C. Smith
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, USA
Boundary Arbitration of Substate Entities in Sudan: Impact of the Possibility of Independence for Southern Sudan
B. Donovan Picard
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, USA
Boundary Arbitration and Foreign Political Influence Under Conditions of Qualified Sovereignty: The Case of Bosnia
Edward B. Rowe
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, USA
These three speakers will address boundary making and sovereignty in the context of sub-state entities. A number of sub-state entities – political entities within a state that have a considerable degree of autonomy from the state in which they are located and possess attributes of sovereignty, including, in some cases, an asserted right of secession based on treaty or other theories of international law – have had a signficant and unappreciated role in redefining the concept of sovereignty. The existence of these sub-state entities raises numerous questions concerning their international legal rights and obligations. Boundary issues have figured prominently in this regard.
Three areas where the impact of boundary making on sovereignty in the context of sub-state entities is notable are the former Yugoslavia, Sudan, and Somalia. The district of Brèko owes its very creation as a separate entity within Bosnia-Herzegovina to an unusual boundary arbitration with the mandate simply of identifying the disputed portion of a boundary between two other entities of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Southern Sudan has its own government pursuant to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (“CPA”) between North and South Sudan, which provides for boundary delimitation in a number of important aspects. The determination of these boundaries are complicated by the existence of significant natural resources in the boundary regions. Similar issues could well arise with respect to Somaliland and Puntland in Somalia – two sub-state entities with operating, yet unrecognized governments within a recognized, yet failed state – if these sub-state entities assert greater degrees of sovereignty or are recognized by other states. The panel would use the sub-state entities in the former Yugoslavia, Sudan, and Somalia to address these and other important questions concerning boundary making and sovereignty.
11/16/07
11/15/07
The 2 states solution was based on rumors and full of cheap shots
Meles Proposes a Two-State Solution for Somalia
According to a source with intimate knowledge about the affairs of the hilltop palace of Meles Zenawi, the prime minister of Ethiopia, who is not willing to be quoted due to the sensitivity of the issue, Meles has commissioned a committee of Somali specialists early this year to come up with a strategic analysis and a menu of options with respect to Ethiopian national interest towards Somalia. The committee chaired by Ethiopia’s foremost expert on Somalia, Dr. Alemu Tekede, minister of state for foreign affairs, comprised senior officials of the ruling EPRDF, several military generals and security and intelligence officers. According to the source, after five long months of deliberations, the committee submitted to Meles a well-thought-out “red” dossier containing confidential policy proposals in last August. The committee of experts persuasively argued that the reconstitution of Somalia to its pre-1991 status would not serve the national interest of Ethiopia. Furthermore, the committee emphasized the possibility of landlocked Ethiopia becoming “sandwiched” between two hostile countries, i.e. Eritrea in the north and Somalia in the south, underlining Ethiopia’s vulnerability to gruesome civil-war and disintegration if the current Ethiopian efforts in Somalia fail and the country fall back to the hand of ousted Islamic forces. The committee further emphasized the possibility of Ethiopian Muslims becoming influenced or radicalized by Somalia’s Islamists which could ultimately ignite a devastating religious war in the country. The committee recommended the following propositions:1 A two-state solution for Somalia along the pre-independence colonial boundaries. The committee suggested the Ethiopian government play a lead role in advocating for the international recognition of the breakaway republic of Somaliland. 2 Southern Somalia (former Italian Somaliland) to be divided into four federal regions in line with ethnic based Ethiopian federal system, namely, Puntland, Hawiyeland, Jubbaland and Rahanweinland. 3 The Somali region of Ethiopia to be “isolated” from the rest of Somalia, and limit to the extent possible commercial and traffic links between the Somali region and Somalia. According to the source, Meles has discussed the proposed two state solutions with Rayaale Kahin, the president of Somaliland, Abdillahi Yusuf, the president of the TFG, and with Mohamed Gedi, the prime minister of the TFG, in separate meetings held in September in Addis Ababa. While Mr. Yusuf rejected any discussion on the subject, Mr. Rayaale has praised the initiative and committed to deploy ten thousand Somaliland troops in Mogadishu to work with Ethiopian military forces to help quell the growing insurgency in the Somali capital. Mr. Rayaale also assured Meles that Somaliland will help Ethiopia in subduing the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a Somali rebel group based in the Somali region of Ethiopia. According to the source, Mr. Gedi began to entertain the two-state notion after the rift between him and Mr. Yusuf reached to a point of no-return, though he reportedly rebuffed the idea in the initial discussion back in September. The relationship between Yusuf and Meles has deteriorated since, according to this knowledgeable source.Subsequent to the September discussion between Meles and Rayaale, a Somaliland delegation comprising ministers of foreign affairs and finance and chief of staff of Somaliland army held several meetings in Addis Ababa with Dr. Tekede and the chief of staff of Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF). The two sides discussed the role Somaliland can play in quelling the growing insurgency in Mogadishu and part of the Somali region of Ethiopia, deployment of Ethiopian troops to Berbera to protect Ethiopian military hardware coming through the Somaliland controlled Red Sea port and Ethiopia’s support to Rayaale’s re-election for another five years term. The Somaliland delegation highlighted the fear of Somaliland drifting towards Eritrea if the KULMIYE opposition party wins the presidential election scheduled to take place mid next year. The Somaliland delegation also tabled a number of evidences accusing Puntland of providing sanctuary to ONLF and Oromo dissident groups.The Somaliland delegation has agreed to send an advance team of military officers to Mogadishu to pave the way for the eventual deployment of Somaliland troops in Mogadishu and to extradite to Ethiopia members of the Ogaden clan residing in the territory of Somaliland. Ethiopian government believes that the ONLF is drawing support from Ogaden businessmen and some segments of the Issaq clan who largely hail from the Togdheer region of Somaliland. In light of these discussions, Somaliland was given the green light to secure the borders of the former British Somaliland.According to the source, Meles has taken into confidence members of the Ethiopian opposition parties who have fully endorsed the proposed two-state solution for Somalia.With the blessing of the Bush Administration, Ethiopian troops invaded Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia in last December. They were successful in overthrowing the radical Islamist dominated regime of the UIC and in installing divided and unpopular TFG.His troops bogged down in the messy quagmire of Mogadishu where the remnants of the ousted Union of Islamic Court (UIC) continues to wage Iraq-style bloody insurgency, Meles is understandably frustrated with the apparent failure of the internationally recognized but toothless fledgling Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in pacifying the tumultuous Somali capital. The Somali experts in Addis Ababa view the two-state solution as a vital long-term strategy for Ethiopia’s national interest. Tamrat NegaFreelance JournalistAddis Ababa E-Mail:Tamrat.nega@gmail.com
http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/1355/kopiavkhariiraddiisoomamk0.jpg
11/13/07
Does Somali name came from an Ethiopian poem?
Historically, Before colonials, it had been a grouping of tribally-oriented states which had come into existence in the 16th century, following the disintegration of the Sultanate of Adel in 1542.In the time of the Egyptians, the region now called Somalia was believed to be the Land of Punt. A bas-relief from the tomb of Queen Hatsheput (1516-1481 BC) depicts the King of Punt, Parihou, with his bizarrely-shaped wife, Queen Ati, commemorating an expedition to bring spices and herbs from the region.One indigenous people of the Horn of Africa region, who have lived there for thousands of years, are the Oromo, who speak a Cushitic language. In the 11th century, the Darood Somali arrived from Arabia, under the leadership of Sheikh Ismail Jabarti. In the 13th century, Sheikh Isaaq arrived from Arabia, founding the Isaaq clan. The Darood and Isaaq gradually displaced the Oromo from the region now known as Somalia and Somaliland as they grew in numbers. The first mention of the name "Somali" comes from an Ethiopian poem from the 15h century.
By. Waraabe fiid
11/8/07
11/5/07
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