The central government in Somalia has reacted angrily against a report by the U.S. based Human Rights Watch that alleges the Somali government is complicit in violations of humanitarian law and crimes against humanity in ongoing conflicts there. The report cites a counter-insurgency campaign launched by Somali and Ethiopian troops, who launched bombing campaigns in heavily populated urban areas. While the Human Rights Watch report cites violations on both sides – insurgent and government forces – it weighs the brunt of its allegations against the central government. The Somali prime minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, responded by accusing Human Rights Watch of “abusing” his government, siding with the Islamic radicals comprising the insurgency, and ignoring ongoing peace conferences and humanitarian aid. “I completely reject what they’ve said,” Gedi stated in an interview yesterday with the Reuters news agency.
Gedi also noted that the report ignored the crimes committed by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), who controlled Somalia in various forms from 2000 – 2006. The ICU, a radical Islamist group seeking to impose Islamic law in the Horn of Africa, are accused of imposing a Taliban-style government in Somalia, banning cinema and sports. According to the Somali prime minister, the group also used child soldiers and murdered thousands of civilians.
After much deliberation, the United Nations passed a mandate establishing an 8,000 strong peacekeeping force in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. So far, however, the force exists as a 1,600 unit of Ugandan soldiers. Gedi noted that while the U.N. is backing a 26,000-strong force in Darfur, he feels “reluctance” from the Security Council. The U.N. recently extended its mandate in Somalia by six months, however, Gedi notes the U.N. is laying the majority of responsible on Mogadishu; “In New York, they were saying ‘make peace and we will come to keep it’ “, Gedi noted. However, the U.N. has yet to send an assessment mission to monitor developments and the peacekeeping force there is severely understaffed.
The United States has also expressed an increased interest in the Horn of Africa as a key front in its so-called “war on terror.” In January, the U.S. launched several bombing raids against Islamic insurgents in southern Somalia and has recent established an African Command to monitor and coordinate military activities in the region.
While failing and Third World nations provide an environment for radical groups to thrive, it is not a military problem. The U.S. seems unaccustomed to the new paradigm in warfare; guerilla warfare. The U.S. was ran out of Somalia in response to a guerilla response led by radicals there, and the al Qa’ida leader, bin Laden, notes the military response as a reflection of U.S. intentions and failing political will.
The economist Milton Friedman notes that aspirations for power are always cloaked in benevolence. The strategy against the new-war paradigm does not have a military solution which brings colonial memories to the surface, but an economic and political one. In Somalia, the situation continues, as Gedi notes “[we need] peacemaking, not peacekeeping.”
