Document #1123848
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Despite the rhetoric on eliminating Somali
tribalism since the early years of his rule, Siad Barre has
effectively used clan politics in order to maintain his hold on to
power, by placing members of his Marehan clan in key government
positions. [Colin Legum, African Contemporary Record Annual
Survey and Documents 1986-1987, (London: Africana Publishing
Company, 1987), p.408., Laitin, David D. and Said S. Samatar,
Somalia: Nation in Search of a State, (Boulder: Westview
Press, Inc., 1987), pp.91-92.]
In the wake of the 1978 unsuccessful coup
attempt, reportedly by some Majerteen officers, and the subsequent
formation of opposition groups such as the SSDF and the SNM, the
Siad Barre regime has identified virtually every dissenting
political action with clan affiliations and inter-clan rivalries.
[ibid. pp.93-94.]
While the SSDF reflected the hubris of the
Majerteen whose power ascendence has been eclipsed by Siad Barre's
Marehan power, the SNM articulated Issaq grievances ranging from
inadequate political representation, neglect in development
projects, and the frustration of local business people over the
government's economic control. [3. Lewis I.M. A Modern History
of Somalia. Nation and State in the Horn of Africa, (Boulder:
Westview Press Inc., 1988), p.252.]
Since 1978, the Somali government has
arbitrarily detained or killed many members of certain clans,
particularly of the Issaq and the Majerteen, on the assumption that
they support armed opposition movements. [ A Long Term Human
Rights Crisis, (London: Amnesty International Publications
Ltd., 1988), p.2.] According to the U.S. General Accounting Office,
the Issaq clan has been the target for several years of a wide
range of abuses by the government, due in part, to its support for
the SNM. [United States General Accounting Office, Somalia:
Observations Regarding the Northern Conflict and Resulting
Conditions, (Washington: U.S. Government Printers 4 May 1989),
p.2.]
Particularly since the outbreak of civil
war in May 1988, government troops have killed thousands of
innocent Issaq civilians in genocidal attacks and have destroyed
their lands to deprive survivors of their basic means of
livelihood. [Human Rights Watch, Human Rights In Somalia:
Testimony of Holly Burkhalter before the U.S. House Banking
Subcommittee, (Washington: U.S. Government Printers, 20 June
1989), p.8., Simmons, Michael, "Thousands of Somalis Reported Dead
in Genocide Attacks", The Manchester Guardian Weekly, 15
January 1989.] According to Gersony's report, Why Somalis
Flee, "...the appearance that victims were selected for these
killings principally because of their ethnic identity is
unmistakable". [Gersony Robert, Why Somalis Flee: Synthesis of
Accounts of Conflict Experience in Northern Somalia by Refugees,
Disabled Persons and Others. Bureau for Refugee Programs, U.S.
Department of State, August 1989, p.60.]