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Barakat Hotel, Nairobi Kenya, June 28, 2009
Since 1991, the search for a post-Siad Barre State has taken many forms with mixed results. The contest for power between the different forces continues to exert its toll in humanitarian terms. A large segment of the Somali Society is dispersed around the world while the other continues to wallow in uncertainty characterized by mutating forms of violence. The International Community continues to employ a number of strategies that have so far failed to give birth to a viable state. Among the Intellectuals and civil society at large, the cycle of violence continues to raise apprehension. That the Somali society is suffering from dislocation has never been in doubt. What is perhaps the question of the moment is what it will take to reconcile this society.
The National Civic Forum- an independent non-profit Organization – founded in 2004by respected Somali Professionals and Scholars has engaged creatively in all the processes that have been conceived to explore peace and reconciliation. The NCF therefore supports all stakeholders in their efforts to establish and advocate for an effective mechanism for local, regional, national authority and international community and for the respect of human rights and development.
The NCF sought to explore the issue of reconciliation within the Somali Society and therefore convened roundtable in Nairobi on June 28th in order that the participants – drawn from diverse sectors and networks to debate the meaning and the process of reconciliation. The panel also had the aim of carrying out an analytical overview of what ails Somalia.
The panel defined reconciliation as ‘restoring broken relationships and maintaining them’. Clan loyalties, poor leadership, outside intervention and individual and regional interests were identified as among the factors undermining the Somali journey to statehood. The panel found the question of legitimate representation of the Somali people to the reconciliation processes very challenging as ‘legitimacy’ seemed to be determined by clan or economic dominance.
An ‘Institution’ according to the panel discussion, is ‘an entity with a stated purpose, which has organs and mechanisms to achieve the purpose’. In the case of Somalia, the ideal institution may be public or private. Where they are public, they could be governmental or cover Governance issues in general. In terms of functions, the institutions necessary for Somalia they ought to perform the functions of regulating public conduct, rehabilitation and re-integration, and empowerment of citizen actions. The ideal institutions must address the citizens’ concerns for safety and relevance. In this respect the Somali State itself is an Institution,
The participants recommended that:
1. More efforts should be enlisted to work for the Somali Statehood through dialogue and reconciliation;
2. Impunity in Somalia is one of the greatest challenges and without tackling it, the attempts for reconciliation in Somalia will remain illusive;
3. Strategies must be developed and programs carried out for the mass and civic education of the populace in order to strengthen and boost the concept of societal coexistence among communities;
4. Genuine reconciliation from bottom-up of local grass roots level approach on the basis of district and region wise with close cooperation of intellectuals, religious and traditional elders, diasporas, youth groups, civil society organizations etc should be the better way to exercise homegrown reconciliation peace processes without external influences.
5. The introduction of functioning local Institutions into Somalia on district and regional basis must be done progressively and should be provided capacity building programs and develop the concept of peace and development.
6. A mid-term vision for Somali state must be developed, popularize and pursued urgently
7. Public awareness campaigns on key concepts such as ‘nation’ and ‘Institutions’ and on the need for sustainable peace must be enhanced.
It has also further emphasized on the role of the civil society and the appropriate mechanisms to be employed for civil society’s effective contributions to the reconciliations for Somalis.
1.0 Background/Over view
Somalia has been without functioning state authority for eighteen years. Steeped in internecine violent confrontations, the premium of life has been severely undermined. The population of Somalia is almost evenly distributed between those who remain within in an existence that has few parallels in the world and those in the Refugee camps and the Diaspora at large. A new phase and fresh campaign of insurgency now led by Al-shabab and Hisbul Islam re-started following the withdrawal of Ethiopian military and continues to claim victories against the forces of the newly set up Transitional Federal Government and the AMISOM forces. The African Union maintains a token Peace Keeping Force in the Country with almost no hope that an International Force will be deployed in the near future to maintain, if not make peace for Somalis. A Band of Pirates – believed to be Somalis continue to capture vessels plying the Gulf of Aden and demand ransoms in escalating proportions. Already the global maritime economy is reeling under this new phenomenon while a number of Navies from almost all the continents are taking positions that may, if not checked in good time, see one of the deadliest war games in the regional waters which will inevitably compound the existing helplessness of the majority of the Somali people.
Since the ouster of the Siad Barre Regime, many localized governance systems have emerged with interspersed attempts for the re-establishment of the Somali State through Peace Talks and Conferences. The Arta talks produced the Transitional National Government (TNG) which was unable to stamp its authority beyond part of Mogadishu. The Eldoret/Nairobi Peace and reconciliation process culminated in the formation of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) whose mandate was drawing to a close without having succeeded to operate effectively beyond Baidoa town and eventually weakened due to internal drifts among its top leadership and later on went under pressure by international community to engage peace talks with one of its opponents in Djibouti. And further, the newly extended Transitional Federal Government formed in Djibouti in January this year came back to Mogadishu and has been under continuous fierce attacks and completely cramped into few areas in the capital Mogadishu.
A vibrant Civil Society and an innovative Market Sector, have by and large, maintained the semblance of continuity within the Somali Society ensuring the supply and flow of goods and services in a manner that neither the TNG nor the TFG could ever be relied upon to fulfill. Indeed, Education, Health care, Telecommunication, water supply, electricity, Relief supplies for the poorer sections of Society and above all, connections with the outside world, have been provided to the credit of the ingenuity and resilience of the Civil Society and the business community. While the civil society continues to relentlessly campaign for peace, it does not have the where-with-all to provide security and guarantee the safety of the individual Somalis going around their every day business. Hence, the Civil Society through a number of its front-line Organizations and Institutions have continued to work tirelessly towards the attainment of a viable Somali State by providing intellectual back-up to the many peace initiatives that have been undertaken towards this end. But, unfortunately, the attempts for Somali reconciliations have never been distortion free and that is why they all lost their momentums.
3.0 Introduction
The National Civic Forum (NCF) was founded in September 2004 as an independent non-profit Organization by respected Somali Professionals and Scholars who met during that month from 20th to 24th to ponder on the situation in Somalia and to creatively provide the necessary support to the on-going peace process. The NCF set for itself the Mission to generate creative ideas that will assist in the establishment of a democratic political order, durable peace, justice, rule of law, and sustainable development.
Further more, the NCF aims to:
a. Generate ideas relevant to the Transitional Federal Government’s mandated period and beyond; and to make the ideas the basis for new public debates and discussions on the welfare of the Somali people.
b. Disseminate these ideas through the mass media and publications
c. Persistently and positively engage the Transitional Federal government, the Somali Society, and International community, particularly those interested in the welfare of the Somali Republic.
The NCF therefore supports all stakeholders in their efforts to establish and advocate for an effective mechanism for local, regional, national authority and international community and for the respect of human rights and development.
4.0 Methodology
4.1 Objectives
For the one-day round table, the NCF set the one objective to ensure that the discussion participants conveniently debate and contribute their ideas in a peaceful atmosphere and intellectual manner. The NCF took a number of deliberate steps to ensure that the objective was a achieved. The steps included the following:
4.2 Panel Discussion Participants
All the participants invited were professionals with a strong standing in the civil Society with diverse experiences from both within Somalia and the Diaspora. Indeed the collectively, represented several generations of Somalis and brought to the table diverse yet very useful perspectives. Indeed the contrast was, as ably put by one participant of, ‘those who believed that reconciliation was only possible when parties sat under a big tree to thrash out issues for as long as it takes and those who communicate by internet and Short Message Service (SMS) and are capable of forming a sound opinion over any issue just after a brief chat on the internet’. In short, the participants easily represented most voices in Somalia, which included, women, men, the young, the elderly, those still living within the country and those in the Diaspora. What was common between them was that they were intellectuals and committed to the civil society agenda.
4.3 The Venue
The Meeting Hall in the Barakat Hotel in Eastleigh – Nairobi, where the Roundtable took place afforded the participants a peaceful and quiet atmosphere for intense discussions and was easily adaptable to other functions such as the Salah when the time came. The room was ample for the number of participants invited and well set. Though close to the road, it is well shielded from the traffic noises outside and the participants were able to speak with and hear one another without any form of acoustics such as public address systems. The hotel being close to the road and with ample parking space ensured that participants could access it both by private and public means. The fact that the Sessions started at 10:00 A.M and ended at 4:00 P.M also relieved the participants of the undue pressure that would have been the case if different time schedules had been adopted.
4.4 Theme Under Discussion
The theme of “Somalia: Genuine Reconciliation - the better option” - for the Somalis conflict resolution resonated very well with the participants for as was observed by one participant: ‘the entire Somali Society is wounded and bruised in one way or another and needs conducive environment and the necessary support systems to heal’. Under this theme, the participants agreed on a common definition of ‘Reconciliation’, shared perspectives on what they thought was wrong with Somalia, closed ranks on the question of legitimate representation of the Somali people in the reconciliation efforts, defined ‘institution’ and discussed the kind and functions of institutions needed in Somalia if reconciliation and healing has to take effect and finally made recommendations on what could be done to prevent further suffering of the people of Somalia.
4.5 Facilitation
A team of skilled facilitators was retained on a consultancy basis to guide the discussions, take notes, and to produce a report of this round table panel discussion. The team summed up (and presented to the participants for validation) the gist of the discussion at the end of each session and, according to the general consensus of the participants, discharged the first part of their mandate successfully. The approval and acceptance of this report by the organizers will signify the successful execution by the Consultants of their entire Mandate.
5.0 Conclusions
5.1 Opening remarks
The National Civic Forum (NCF) develops position papers on various aspects of the current realty in Somalia, facilitates debate, and collects information and produces publications. The NCF held its most recent discussions on the theme of the challenges of Leadership in Somalia. The current round table is on reconciliation and the theme of the next discussion round will be made known to you at the end of the Sessions today. You are all welcome to participate.
5.2 Attempts at Reconciliation and Disarmament efforts in Somalia
The downfall of the central government in 1991 was followed by years of conflict among and between forces of clan militias led by warlords, Islamist movements, the UN, Ethiopian forces, as well as so-called mandated AMISOM and government forces. Let us view chronologically the attempts at reconciliation and disarmament efforts in Somalia since 1991:
· 1991: Djibouti – Manifesto Group
· 1992 – 1995: UN Mission to Somalia – Humanitarian Peace keeping/peacemaking
· 1993: Conference on National Reconciliation – Adis Ababa Agreement
· 1997: National Salvation Council – Sodere, Ethiopia
· 1997: Cairo Peace Conference/Cairo Declaration
· 1998: Baidoa Conference – Attempt Failed
· 2000: Somalia National Peace Conference (SNPC) – Arta Djibouti
· 2001: National Commission for Reconciliation and Property Settlement
· 2002 – 2004: Somali Reconciliation Conference – Eldoret/Mbakathi-Nairobi
· 2007: Somali National Peace Conference - Hosted in Banadir by the TFG
· 2008 – 2009: UN led Initiative of the Djibouti Peace Process (TFG-ARS)
· 2009 – Indefinite: On…and On…..and On………
By definition, Reconciliation involves mutual acknowledgment of past suffering (between former enemies); it involves the changing of destructive patterns of interaction between former enemies into constructive relationships, in attitudes and behavior. Therefore, reconciliation is a process toward sustainable peace
In the first place, it needs to be stressed that reconciliation is not an event that can be legislated or governed by a law, rather it is an art-fact of building common understanding, trust, conducive atmosphere between or among conflicting parties that will lead involved parties a means to reach rigid agreements. Secondly, the spirit that underpins any conceptualization or theory of reconciliation attempts to capture and communicate the idea of bringing together of divergent and opposing views and opinions. It incorporates the re-uniting of people, of groups, or of society in harmony. This is to be understood, minimally, as tolerance and forbearance of differences and divergences at the individual as well as the collective and national levels.
In this sense, reconciliation suggests a set of rules or a legitimate societal “pattering” in which all (or the great majority) of the players agree that such rules are in their common interest and must therefore be abided by. An overall distinction is made between two forms of reconciliation; that is:
- Between individual reconciliation and national, and
- Societal or so-called political reconciliation.
In the context of Somalia where there has occurred a grievous social dislocation with classmates becoming enemies, many people were wounded in many senses and are in need of treatment. Reconciliation needs to happen at the Social and political levels. Past mistakes need to be corrected and parties involved need to forgive one another. There is need to focus on the future and the fact that people require to live together and under the right assumptions and process, show the willingness to forgive one another, come together and become a family once more. Reconciliation therefore, means ‘Restoring broken relationships and maintaining them.
What went wrong with Somalia?
Somalia is consumed by war fought on clan and political-interest bases. But, the worst and on going mistakes since 1991 in terms of reconciliation efforts are the conspiracy and the external influences driven by either the regional countries or the so-called international community. As you can see from all the above mentioned attempts were held outside of Somalia and ended up fruitless. The reason being, those warlords supposed to be held countable for the atrocities committed in Somalia have been leveraged and rewarded throughout the reconciliation processes in Somalia which in turn encouraged the fractions, the birth and replacement of warlords after warlords. While on the hand, the structures created out of peace and reconciliation processes have demonstrated a complete lack of capacity to implement the agreements reached. And the fact that the practical example is that of both the transitional administrations (TNG and TFG) was formed from outside and eventually failed completely.
Other experiences show that the governance structures set up were usually not inclusive leading to the conclusion that probably there is need to reconcile the leadership itself. And this had to happen both at the political and social levels.
Therefore, both the positive and the negative role of the regional and the outside world in Somalia cannot be ignored. There has been a great deal of foreign intervention in Somalia which had also contributed to the current situation. Indeed the current state itself is not formed from the grass roots –up but has been imposed from above. The capacities for problem analysis are demonstrably very low. Some individual and regional interests have undermined the national Somali interests and the efforts towards statehood. It is also possible that the Somalis are not just ready for peace and reconciliation. The emphasis on process at the expense of all else, by the outside powers facilitating peace initiatives for Somalia, may also be contributing to the current situation - especially since their focus is only on the reports to be generated and not on genuine relations repaired and friendships sustained.
Legitimate representation in reconciliation Processes?
Who represents whom? The political leaders that have been part of the peace and reconciliation processes since the ouster of Siad Barre can claim to be the true representatives of the Somali people. Indeed with the monies currently flowing into their coffers, the pirates may soon make a similar claim. The War-Lords emerged and filled the existing vacuum of representation. With the absence of fool proof procedures to ensure the participation of all sectors of society and hence their genuine and effective representation, this question will remain the undoing of peace processes. Perhaps the problems are not caused by misrepresentation but by misunderstanding of the peace and reconciliation processes itself. A shift from clan-based agenda to a nationalist-based agenda is what is needed urgently. To this end, comprehensive criteria that go beyond the mere belonging to a clan ought to be developed for those to take part in the reconciliation processes.
On Necessary Institutions
An Institution is an entity with a stated purpose, which has organs and mechanisms to achieve the purpose. In the context of the Round table, the reference to Institutions encompasses both Governmental Institutions specifically and institutions of governance generally. They may be public or private but have to address citizen’s concerns for safety and relevance -which are the inevitable results of good governance. They ought to perform the functions of regulating public conduct, rehabilitation and re-integration, and empowerment of citizen actions. In this respect the Somali can rebuild their State itself from grass roots level while understanding the meaning of institution.
On what must be done for peace and Justice?
If it’s true that the so-called international community has got any sympathy for the poor Somalis, and then there is no doubt about a strong and compelling need to handle the impunity in Somalia and introduce into the Somali society those who were responsible crime against humanity. The second is to introduce basic governance institutions from local and grass roots level perspectives that are necessary for the functioning of any modern and democratic entity. The reality on the ground however is that at least two whole generations of the people currently living within Somalia have had no contacts with any institutions of the state. This means that even after designing and introducing the institutions their effectiveness will depend in a major way on a thorough regime that must be established to socialize the populace into the institutions and their purposes. Having organized themselves around local structures, most Somalis may find it difficult to conceptualize a ‘nation’. The localized character of institutions that exist in Somalia today, drastically restrict their capacity to meet the challenges imposed upon us by globalization etc. Public institutions with the capacity for accountability must be graduated from bottom-up.
6.0 Recommendations
6.1 More efforts should be enlisted to work for the Somali Statehood through dialogue and reconciliation;
6.2 Impunity in Somalia is one of the greatest challenges and without tackling it, the attempts for reconciliation in Somalia will remain illusive;
6.3 Strategies must be developed and programs carried out for the mass and civic education of the populace in order to strengthen and boost the concept of societal coexistence, peace among communities;
6.4 Genuine reconciliation from bottom-up of local grass roots level approach on the basis of district and region wise with close cooperation of intellectuals, religious and traditional elders, diasporas, youth groups, civil society organizations etc should be the better way to exercise homegrown reconciliation peace processes without external influences.
6.5 The introduction of functioning local Institutions into Somalia on district and regional basis must be done progressively and should be provided capacity building programs and develop the concept of peace and development.
6.6 A mid-term vision for Somali state must be developed, popularizes and pursued urgently;
6.7 Public awareness campaigns on key concepts such as ‘nation’ and ‘Institutions’ and on the need for sustainable peace must be enhanced.