For almost 14 years the country was the arena of war-lords. After thirteen failed attempts, the international community has succeeded in creating agreement between the tribal heads. Thus in October a president was elected and, since December, Somalia has a new government
by Davide Malacaria and Giovanni Cubeddu
On 10 October last Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was elected president of
Somalia
Nairobi: the new Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, right in the photo, with Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, president of the Somali Parliament
On 10 October last Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
was elected president of Somalia. And what news is that? In effect in the
clamor shaking the world, where terrorist fundamentalists and antiterrorist
fundamentalists confront each other without any quarter given, the news passed
almost unobserved. And yet there is novelty, and it is one of those that offers
a glimmer of hope in a crazy world. Indeed, because it has been almost 14
years, since the fall of the regime of Siad Barre, that this state on the Horn
of Africa had not had a president. Or rather, it wasn’t a state, and along with
the usual disasters that normally devastate African countries, was added that
of being a perennial theater of fightingbetween the local warlords, intent on disputing to the rattle of machine
guns (a commodity that in the poor countries is never lacking) a street, a
bridge, an airport. A scenario of chaos and anarchy that made the country a key
territory for illicit traffic of all kinds and a possible breeding ground for
Islamic fundamentalism the presence of which has often been signaled by
international observers and media. For Monsignor Giorgio Bertin, Bishop of
Djibouti and Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu, the danger of fundamentalism
played an important role in the success of the lastest peace process, which got
underway about two years ago. We met him in Rome in the Casa del Clero in Via
della Scrofa. Bertin explains: «This time there’s a greater hope because the
world seems to have realized that to leave Somalia in this situation is
dangerous for everyone. Last year I was in the United States, thanks to the
good offices of the former ambassador of Djibouti and I spoke to the team which
had the task of preparing the documentation for the US administration. They
were obsessed by terrorism. And someone even aired the hypothesis of a
“surgical intervention” in the country. I objected that among the Somalis
religion and politics have always been separate and the people had never looked
favorably on fundamentalists. Of course there has been some infiltration, but
they are isolated elements. But, if they’d attacked them they’d have welded
them together with the rest of the population. I explained that a unified state
needed to be backed, one that would be able to fight the threat more efficiently.
The election of Yusuf took a lot of work but it’s a step in the right
direction. Let’s hope it’s the good one». A laborious peace process which
succeeded when armed US intervention in 1992, at the time of Bush senior,
failed, as did the unfortunate – over-hasty perhaps – mission Restore Hope, which was followed by the long
engagement of UN soldiers, under the aegis of Unosom, that ended in 1995, though
notwithstanding everything it did save thousands of lives. Later came other,
vain attempts backed by the UN. William Tubman, United Nations representative
for Somalia, claims «we learned something from all the previous failures, we
and the Somali people and the other countries in the region. The lastest
attempt was born under a luckier star: in fact, for the first time in the
peaceprocess not only the various
local leaders but all the countries of the region became involved. Naturally
some tribal leaders are still unhappy but they won’t find backing from the
bordering nations».
Somali refugees in Mandera, Kenya
The long road to peace The reconciliation process was encouraged
by the countries of IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a
regional body geared toward the development of the countries of East Africa, to
which Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda belong), in
turn supported by other countries and international bodies, what are known as IGAD
partners, including the
European Union and the Arab League but also, one of the oddities of politics,
Japan. Italy, Tubman says, made a big contribution (and for that matter ties
with the former colony have never been completely cut). The United States on
the other hand stepped aside, limiting themselves to merely observing. But the
peace process went ahead anyway. In the first place internal points of contact
were identified, given that Somali society is divided into a variety of tribes,
clans and factions difficult to make sense of. So four large traditional tribes
were identified, to whom minor sub-tribes and factions were joined. These were
asked to elect their own representatives in Parliament, the site of which, for
reasons of security, was provisionally established in Nairobi, in Kenya. The
275 parliamentarians took up office on 22 August and, after having elected a
president of the Assembly, Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, they proceeded to the
elections for the nomination of the Somali president. There were two
contenders: Abdullhai Yusuf and the defeated Ahmed Addou, former ambassador to
the United States. According to the analysts, what worked in Yussuf’s favor was
his past as an opponent of the regime of Siad Barre, as well as the prestige he
derived from being president of the Somali State of Puntland, a region of the
Horn of Africa which, in 1998 declared itself autonomous. Tubman observes: «A
definitely positive fact is that the candidates for president signed a document
at the time of the elections in which they committed themselves to disarming
their clans and to support whoever got elected». In effect the disarming of the
militias is the first point on the order of the day for the new president.
According to the estimates given to his staff there are about two million
weapons, counting light and heavy, circulating in Somalia. Difficult to think
of a minimum of safety with so many instruments of death around. That is why it
was decided the new government would remain provisionally in Nairobi and why
Yusuf asked the African Union to send a contingent of 15-20 thousand soldiers.
Tubman continues: «The UN Secretary, Kofi Annan, made a similar request to the
Security Council. But that must go ahead hand in hand with the creation of
internal security forces to flank the foreign troops in a very difficult
undertaking. In Somalia there are many ex-members of the security forces who
could be trained and fitted to the purpose. Of course this is only the first
step. The country needs to find order and stability again, so as to create the
conditions for attracting investments and implementing new opportunities for
work». The succeeding stages are already fixed:
the current transitional government will remain in charge for five years, years
during which there will be an attempt to create within the society political
parties to participate in the succeeding elections. Further, the international
community will support and sustain the initiatives of the new government
through a special committee. The question of Somaliland must also be sorted out
– a region of the north more or less corresponding to the territory of the
former English protectorate – which, in 1991, declared itself independent and
which did not join in the process of reconciliation. In order not to further
complicate the process of normalization of the country, the question of the
relations between the government of Mogadishu and Somaliland was wisely postponed
to a second stage, and will be dealt with autonomously by the respective
governments.
Monsignor Giorgio Bertin
The Church and the chaos In the wait for order to return to
Mogadishu some of the warlords are flexing their muscles, those who want it
understood that they don’t accept the peace, those who want to put up the
stakes. And the gristly accountancy of the murdered must be brought up to date
daily. At the UN they say the actual number of victims of this conflict will
only be known with the return to normality. But various unofficial estimates
suggest that between 1991 and today the dead number between 300,000 and 500,000
and the refugees 2 million, without counting those dead of starvation and
disease which in this chaos have increased out of all proportion. A slow draining
away which the bishop of Djibouti, who has been in Somali for years, has
watched from close up. «One time here the Church was an imposing and visible
presence: it ran schools, health services and much besides … Then in 1969 came
Siad Barre’s coup and the birth of the Democratic Republic of Somalia,
socialist in tendency. Its revolutionary proclamation was printed by the
Catholic press … Well, it was the best». He smiles thinking of the whirlagig of
destiny. And he recalls that regime without resentment. Basically, he explains,
it was like the others, with its lights and shadows. Among the lights,
certainly, was the introduction of the written Somali language and the
alphabetization of the country. Then came the nationalization of schools and
all the private school buildings, including Catholic ones, were expropriated.
And also the houses of missionaries, if linked to the former. That was the
context that Bertin found when, after being in Somalia from 1969 to 1971, he
came back as a young priest in 1978. «There was a period of chaos. A great many
of us found themselves without work, or at least without that which they were
used to doing, and they left. It was a bad blow, but, even if an institutional
presence was over, the Catholic presence was not finished and in the new
situation it was called upon to be present in another way, as a service that
is. For me, who was a Franciscan, it was a return to what Saint Francis says in
the so-called unofficialRule where he explains that there are two ways of going on mission to
the Saracens, as they were then called: the first is not to quarrel with
anyone, to be subject to the authorities and declare oneself Christian. The
second, if and when it pleases God, is to announce openly that there is no
other savior apart from Jesus Christ. We struggled to make the transition, but
then, little by little, the nuns were reintegrated in the state hospitals and
public schools. A dynamic that was intensified after the unfortunate war with
Ogaden, when, in 1977, Somalia was defeated by Ethiopia. The years that
followed were difficult, also economically. Barre’s regime grew weak. In those
years there was an attempt at rebellion, under a young official then unknown to
me, Abdullahi Yusuf. The attempt went badly and Yusuf took refuge in Ethiopia
from where he continued the struggle. Then the distant effect of the Iranian
revolution hit the country, stirring opposition to the regime on a religious
basis. But the armed revolt against Barre came from the tribes: various centers
of rebellion came into being which little by little wore down the regime, until
its collapse in 1991». These last years were particularly hard
for the Church. On 9 July the bishop of Mogadishu, Monsignor Salvatore Colombo,
was killed. Bertin recalls: «At the time I was vicar apostolic. The murder was
blamed on the Moslems, but I’m in no way convinced of that. I believe it was a
sort of state murder: it’s probable that Barre, or someone in his entourage,
wanted to draw the eyes of the West to the danger of Islam. We carried on,
deluding ourselves that they wouldn’t bother us further. But then, in 1991 they
set fire to the cathedral and we were forced to leave. And along with us 90% of
the Christians, who were for the most part foreigners». The prelate recalls that,
for a certain period, some catechists remained in the country, and carried out
their pastoral work in relative tranquility. But they were soon overwhelmed by
the changing fortunes of the warring bands. Now about forty Christians are left
in Somalia. Monsignor Bertin tells of fleeting meetings during his apostolic
journeys, of exchanges of letter, of prayers in common snatched amidst a
thousand precautions. But the Church has not ceased its service to the Somali
people because of this. In Mogadishu the Missionary Sisters of the Consoled are
at work. He and other priests come and go from the country. «Given the
situation, it’s impossible to imagine an overt presence,» Bertin says: «But the
Church has remained close to the people, in ways dictated by measures of
prudence, because in that chaos it’s easy to become a target. For the most part
the Christian presence in Somalia is entrusted to lay people, people such as
Annalena Tonelli, killed in 2003, who was there inspired by her faith. Or like
Graziella Fumagalli, director of the humanitarian intervention of Caritas in
Merca, killed in 1995, on World Missionary Day itself. These are only the most
impressive examples of a Christian presence which has branched off into the
most diverse directions, especially through work within the international
organizations».
Above, Nairobi: a session of the Somali Parliament; below, Militia in Mogadishu
Fragrant flowers among the tribulations It may be the prospects opened up by the
peace process, it may be for contingent reasons, but the flow of refugees
returning to Somalia in recent times seems to be increasing. In this year alone
the United Nations has succeeded in repatriating 13,000 from Ethiopia and
Djibouti. The refugee camp in Hartisheik (one of the largest in the world), in
Ethiopia, which at its height housed more than 400,000 refugees, closed down in
June. The problem of the exiles is one strongly felt by Angelo Masetti,
responsible for the Italy-Somalia Forum for peace and reconstruction, which is
working behind the scenes to facilitate reconciliation. Masetti affirms: «The
civil war drove about 80% of the professionals, out of the country and now they
live mostly in Western countries. A huge loss in terms of human resources. Our
project is to identify, through elections, representatives of the diaspora who
can give support to the peace process, and who can give Somalia a contribution
in terms of economic, intelligence and know-how indispensable for the rebirth
of the country». There is an urgency in his words. Not least because, while
diplomacy laboriously attempts to rise up above the din of arms, people
continue to die in the Horn of Africa. The tragic humanitarian situation of the
country was registered in the last UN report, made public on 8 October.
According to the document, various Somali regions have been gripped by drought
for the last four years: there are about 670,000 people in need of immediate
help. Also, a conflict between tribes in the lower valley of the river Juba has
forced different aid workers to get out, despite the fact that a shortfall in
harvests has been reported. Soon the population of the area will be starving:
the survival of more than 165,000 people is at stake. Nor can the report
measure the psychosomatic suffering weighing on children. The document limits
itself to recording that Somalia has one of the lowest schooling levels in the
world. Various international organizations try as best they can to check the
disaster and bring a minimum of relief to the exhausted population. One of the
agencies is the COOPI (International Cooperation), an NGO from Milan founded by
Father Vincenzo Barbieri and entirely run by lay people. COOPI has been
operating in Somalia for about twenty years. Efrem Fumagalli supervises the
activity. He explains: «To offer aid in a territory where no state exists is
more difficult than elsewhere. To begin working one has to reach an agreement
with the local faction heads, and the work undertaken is always at risk. This
year we had to evacuate our staff four times. However in Somaliland, where we
concentrate our work, the situation is more tranquil. Here we run various
hospitals, among them that of Borama, and recently we’ve also concluded an
agreement to run the aid center for those suffering from tuberculosis, set up
by Annalena Tonelli. But in a place like this there’s need of everything. For
example we’ve begun two projects, one in the south and one on the shifting
border between Somaliland and Puntland, for vaccination and veterinary care of
livestock and for the creation of watering places along the cattle routes. It
is a way of giving sustenance to many families who live from droving. Our aim
is to set up projects the benefits of which do not end in themselves: so our
health and administrative personnel work in with locals, to help their training
and, at the same time, where possible, we try to get our medical supplies from
local traders so as to encourage the revival of business». The five Sisters of
the Consoled also work for an NGO, the SOS Kinderdorf aid organization. Sister
Marzia, the superior, has been in Somalia for 36 years. Her voice, at the other
end of the line, is soothing. She says that one of the sisters is now outside
the country, in Nairobi, where the Congregation runs a school for nurses with
eighty students. «They are very good», she adds happily, and goes on: «Here in
Mogadishu we have a village for orphan children and a hospital with maternity
and pediatric units.We hep women and children.It’s the only hospital in the area. People travel even five
hundred kilometers to come here. We give treatment and medicine free. There’s
much to do and the emergencies are continuous». She tells us that they wear the
religious habit without it causing any distrust, on the contrary. People are
used to seeing sisters in hospitals, they say that it’s thanks to them that the
hospital works. For them, who only see a priest when conditions permit, it’s
difficult to attend mass. So every day they meet to pray, read the Holy
Scriptures and worship the Eucharistic. That’s how it is in such difficult
situations. She says that the nomination of the president has raised a wave of
hope among the poor, but without international backing this effort also is
doomed to failure. «These people have been through unspeakable suffering», she
goes on. «But if they had work, a job, an alternative, everything would change».
We are cut off, we call back. Sister Marzia continues and politely scolds us,
we journalists; only concerned, she says, with sensational things: «Whereas no
one ever talks about the goodness of heart of these people. If Somalia is still
holding up, it’s indeed because of mutual help among the poor. It’s
heartwarming… if a particularly needy person comes to us, the others make a
collection, they scrape together something from their few possessions and slip
it into the hand with delicacy … For example yesterday there was a woman here
and the others gave her some shillings to buy something. She got up, went out,
and immediately returned. I asked her why she hadn’t bought anything and she
explained that she had given those shillings to someone else who had more need
than her. There, these things don’t make news, but they are fragrant flowers,
which are easy to see being here». «They say I am a warlord»,the president declared in his first
official speech: «From today you will know me as a man of peace.» On 1 December,
the Somali prime minister, Ali Mohammed Gedi, nominated by Yusuf, announced a
government of national unity in Nairobi. Certainly, the reconstruction of the
country will not be an easy business. But today, in Somalia, the small,
tenacious hope has a new fragrance.
