The Somali nation has evolved from a pastoral society divided into six main clan-families, which are, in turn, divided into many more sub-clans (see attached chart). The Majerteen is one of Somalia's major clans. The Majerteen held the main pre-colonial kingdom, the Sultanate of Boqor Ismaan Mahamoud, on the East coast of the country. [Somalia: Nation in Search of a State, (Boulder: Westview Press, 1987), p. 48.] As an Italian protectorate, the clan continued to hold a predominant position [Ibid, p. 52]. During the civilian rule preceding the present dictatorship, which seized power in 1969, all clans participated and were represented in government; this participation reportedly tended to ease clan rivalries and conflicts. [Ibid, pp. 90-91.]
Since the early years of his dictatorship, General Siyaad Barre has limited the participation in government of members of the Majerteen clan, the predominant group during the civilian era. This has led to a confrontation, with Barre alluding to the Majerteen as his enemies, and ultimately identifying enemies to his regime according to clan membership. [Ibid, p. 91.] Barre is, according to a report, particularly paranoid of the Majerteen, mostly because of their past influence. [Ibid, p. 156.]

In retaliation for a coup attempt in 1971, Barre executed members of the three leading clans (Majerteen being one of them) and has since institutionalized clan membership as the predominant feature of Somali politics. [Ibid.] Barre has also reportedly promoted interclan divisions and in-fighting to maintain himself in power. Members of the Majerteen, Isaaq and Hawiye clans have voiced uncertainty about their status under Siyaad Barre's rule as he has formed a ruling coalition of the Mareehan, Ogadeen and Dolbahanta clans (an alliance often referred to as MOD). [Ibid, pp. 91-92.] Presently, the Marehan clan, to which Barre belongs, dominates Somalia's political and economic system. [Critique to the U.S. Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1987, (Washington: Human Rights Watch, 1988), pp. 133-134.]

Tensions between the Somali government and the two main opposition groups, the Somali National Movement (SNM), a mainly Isaaq-clan organization, and the Democratic Front for the Salvation of Somalia (DFSS), linked to the Majerteen clan, arose about a decade ago. This apparently gave the government an excuse to increase its abuses, which reportedly have increased sharply since the start of the civil war. [Somalia: Imprisonment of Members of the Isaaq Clan since Mid-1988, various pages; "Somalia: Showdown in the North", in Africa Confidential, 29 July 1988, pp. 1-3, and Beyond the Headlines: refugees in the Horn of Africa, (American Council for Nationalities Service, 1988), p. 38.] At the present time, interclan enmity is reported to be worse and potentially more violent than in any period of Somalia's history. [Somalia: Nation in Search of a State, p.94.] Feuding clans often resort to reciprocal assassination of one another's elders in order to deprive a rival clan of its able leadership. [Ibid, p. 161.] The SNM has allegedly killed members of rival clans (non-Isaaq), often on the suspicion that they were opposed to the SNM. [Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988, (Washington: U.S. Department of State, 1989), p. 308.] Although a report states that many Majerteen military officers do not actively participate in clan politics, [Somalia: Nation in search of a state, p. 156.] the army has also been riddled with internal clan-based divisions, resulting in desertions and arbitrary detentions. ["Somalia; Generals fall out", in Africa Confidential, 23 September 1988, pp. 1-2, and "Somalia: Showdown in the North", 29 July 1988, p. 2.] Moreover, since the outbreak of the civil war, the government has increased its efforts to eliminate opposition throughout the country. [Amnesty International (1988): Somalia: A long term human rights crisis and Somalia: Imprisonment of members of the Isaaq clan since mid-1988; Africa Confidential, 16 December 1988, 6 January 1989, 20 January 1989.] Amnesty International reports that being a member of a particular clan can be enough to arouse suspicion among Somali authorities, who work on the assumption that many clan-members support particular opposition groups. [Somalia: A long term human rights crisis and Somalia: Imprisonment of members of the Isaaq clan since mid-1988, various pages.]

The Democratic Front for the Salvation of Somalia (DFSS; sometimes referred to as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front or SSDF), one of the two major armed opposition groups, is reportedly based in Addis Ababa and derives most of its support from the Majerteen clan. ["Somalia: Showdown in the North", in Africa Confidential, 29 July 1988, pp. 1-3; Somalia: Nation in search of a state, p. 157; Somalia: Imprisonment of Members of the Isaaq Clan since Mid-1988, (London: Amnesty International, 1988).] Ethiopian forces reportedly imprisoned the leader of the DFSS, Colonel Yuusuf, in 1987 after a power struggle within the DFSS which resulted in Yuusuf's executing of four high-ranking members of the Front. [Somalia: Nation in search of a state, p. 158.] The DFSS has been recently described as virtually inactive, in spite of having approximately 2000 fighters reportedly armed with Libyan-supplied weapons in bases which, according to recent reports, were still located in Ethiopian territory, [Africa Confidential, 29 July 1988, and 18 November 1988, p. 3.] despite an agreement in April 1988 between Ethiopia and Somalia to cut off support and bases in neighbouring countries for rebel forces. [Keesing's Record of World Events, (London, Longman Publishing Group), p. 36007.] Reports of recent DFSS actions could not be found among the sources presently available to the IRBDC.
For background information on the DFSS, please see the attached copy of Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (London: Longman Publishing Group, 1988), p. 324.