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The organisation may destroy the country's political autonomy if there is no immediate pro-Somali intervention. Mogadishu, Somalia - The Somali people have suffered a great deal and are heading towards oblivion unless dramatic action is urgently taken. Somalia's condition is the product of internal and external actors' attempt to realise their respective political agendas. The cumulative effects of the military dictatorship, cold/terror warriors, faction leaders, warlords, client Somali regimes, Ethiopian and Kenyan invasions, and most recently, Uganda and the United Nations interventions have all contributed to Somalia's devastation. The MG was established to undertake investigations that would expose countries, groups and individuals that contravened the UN's arms embargo on Somalia. The group's reports are submitted to the UN Security Council's Sanctions Committee which then has the authority to impose penalties on those who have breached the arms embargo.
My aim in this essay is to expose some of the fraudulent reports the MG has produced, which have illegitimately marred the reputation of Somalis and which have been used by the Sanctions Committee to impose penalties on Somali economic entities without due process. Three instances clearly show that the MG's reports were politically motivated to allow dominant powers to achieve their political ends in Somalia. Fraudulent reportsFirst, in its report of 2006[PDF], the MG claimed that the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) which had defeated the warlords and pacified much of southern Somalia had a terrorist agenda. The authors falsely asserted that UIC sent several hundreds of its militia members to Lebanon to assist Hezbollah. No trace of evidence has been discovered since the assertion was made, but the accusation provided a pretext for the West and its Ethiopian ally to attack the UIC.
Second, MG's March 2010 report [PDF] callously politicised humanitarian assistance. One of the most astonishing claims it made was that Somali transport contractors employed by the World Food Programme (WFP) were in cahoots with "terrorist groups" or diverting food aid to the black market, thus enabling contractors to earn hundreds of millions of dollars, while local WFP operatives looked the other way. This incredibly sensational report, which named several Somali individuals as culprits, was leaked to the media before it was officially adopted by the Sanctions Committee. These leaks triggered a cascade of media reports which damned those individuals and that led to the United States restricting its substantial financial support of the WFP. The reports virtually crippled the WFP's capacity to deliver food to Somalis in areas controlled by Al-Shabaab. WFP immediately dropped the named contractors without careful examination of the claims against them in order to please its donors. Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab reacted to the claims and banned many humanitarian agencies, including WFP, from operating in its areas. Such politics produced the worst famine in the country since 1992. Two years on, the MG's claims have yet to be supported by any independent investigation. Third, MG's July 2011 report [PDF] made yet another unfounded accusation that a number of Somali businessmen were assisting Al-Shabaab. Using the aforementioned report, the Sanctions Committee imposed penalties on Somali personalities. Among the most problematic of those named was one Ahmed Ali Jimale. Jimale was the largest shareholder of the defunct Somali money transfer agency, Barakat, which was shut down by the US government shortly after 9/11. He and the company were accused of supporting al-Qaeda, but so far, US investigations have uncovered no evidence to nail Jimale.
The MG report provides no evidence, linking Jimale to Hormud. But naming Hormud in association with Jimale means that the largest employer in Somalia could be brought under UN sanctions and such an act will devastate more than 5,000 employees, as well as business associates and dependents estimated at 150,000 people. More critically, it will unjustly destroy a firm that has not committed any crime.
Finally, the irony is that on October 19, 2010, Al-Shabaab - which Hormud supposedly supports, via the imagined Jimale connection - has accused the telecomms company of engaging in businesses that aid the West (October 19, 2010). 'Creating its own facts'From the available evidence in the three instances cited, it appears the MG does not take its responsibilities seriously, instead it seems to be an operation that collects rumours and innuendo to support its political objectives. After several years of making claims about WFP, its contractors and other Somali businesses, the MG's assertions about these entities is yet to be corroborated by independent investigation. Read the complete article at Al Jazeera ____________________________________________ We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com |
![UN agencies are under fire for allegedly undermining Somali efforts to rebuild the country [EPA]](../../../Somalia/Mogadishu/Mog_IDPs.jpg)
