Document #1107235
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
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.