From: Eri News (er_news@dehai.org)
Date: Sat Mar 06 2010 - 14:58:53 EST
Djibouti
Interview with Mohamed Kadamy
Leader of FRUD (Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy)
Les nouvelles d'Addis
Interview conducted BY
COLETTE AND ALAIN DELSOL LETERRIER
December 2009
LNA: What is the FRUD all about?
MK: One should perhaps first ask what the FRUD stands for, that is to
say its nature, its objectives. FRUD did not come out of the blue.
Undoubtedly, it is the product or the result of multifaceted popular
struggles for freedom and democracy, which punctuated the lives of
citizens over the past three decades. Since its inception, some
eighteen years ago, FRUD has been involved in a movement for the
emancipation of our people with a strong desire to bring about
change. FRUD has made huge sacrifices in the struggle for the future
always trying as it is doing here and now, to sow the seeds of a
better future for this country and its people.
Of course, any endeavor of such nature, any project of this magnitude
is no picnic. It encounters obstacles and objections. It also
generates its own contradictions. That is why FRUD has been weakened
by the use of the enormous resources at the disposal of the incumbent
regime and its allies on the one hand and by its internal divisions
and defections on the other. We have maintained, against all odds,
the political-military structure, thanks to our determined fighters,
cadres and some leaders.
FRUD evolved in very difficult circumstances, often going against the
current. Due to our steadfast adherence to our positions on the one
hand, and the continued deterioration of the situation of the country
and the people on the other hand, we were able to overcome the
ambient hostility and indifference and to generate more and more
allies for our movement.
After being reduced to a force of proposition, FRUD - not
withstanding numerous analyses which here and there announce its
demise - has today become a major player in Djibouti. As incredible
as it may seem, the FRUD now controls a territory larger than the one
controlled by the president of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who
enjoys the support of the International Community. Given this FRUD
will contribute to efforts aimed at bringing democratic change.
LNA: Who supports your organization? Ethiopia, Eritrea, an Islamist
movement...?
MK: Generally political movements answer this question by saying they
rely on their own forces. Regarding the FRUD, the slogan "Rely
primarily on ones own forces" is not a jargon, but one which
accurately reflects the reality of our situation.
Historically, the FRUD is known as the movement that had librated and
controlled two-thirds of the territory of Djibouti from November 1991
to March 1993. This was done without the support of any movement or
any State. Added to this picture there are no gold or diamonds or
precious stones in areas where FRUD operates.
As we speak, no movement, no State and no business interest supports
FRUD. Our advantage consists of the human resources that we muster.
Our wealth is the Human element which for us is invaluable. We strive
above all not to create enemies, neither among organizations nor
States or the neighboring powers.
LNA: You told LNA that FRUD does not rule out any hypothesis
concerning its activities, except terrorism (1). Where do you stand
on the question of the political path and/or the armed struggle?
MK: The French comedian Raymond Devos once said: Sometimes I used to
give ear to a deaf. But he did not hear any better." Since
independence we had to deal with completely deaf leaders neither able
to hear any reasoning, nor to heed to warnings and who are in a
permanent headlong rush. But with the current president the deafness
is total. He even went as far as trampling the last peace agreement
solemnly signed on May 21, 2001 with the late Ahmed Dini, who as we
repeatedly said, did not question the Presidents omnipotent power.
This man, who draws his legitimacy only from being a relative of
former President Gouled and stays in power by unleashing a savage
repression against the Democrats and the Afar community, and who has
never received the anointing of the polls (because in 1999, his
opponent Moussa Ahmed Idriss prevailed and in 2005 he was the only
candidate with only 10 to 13% of voters going to the polls), has
demonstrated an incredible arrogance. He tore down the peace
agreement which was his only card to enter into politics.
The peace agreement is not a privilege that one party gives to
another. It is neither a disposal of properties belonging to the
government nor a gift that a Reigning Prince grants to a segment of
the population or to its subjects: It is a sacred obligation of the
signatories to honor their commitments in order to achieve the
fundamental objectives of peace.
The decrees, laws and even the fundamental act that is the
Constitution must be adapted to the clauses of the peace agreement,
which is not just a piece of paper but a fundamental commitment
binding the parties for the future and laying the basis of a common
life for all the citizens of a State.
We are very surprised that the powers who have military presence in
Djibouti did not see the need to criticize the violation of the peace
agreement by Ismael Omar Guelleh , when they know very well that it
is fraught with serious consequences.
The policy followed for thirty-two years is extremely suicidal for
the state of Djibouti. This is an opinion shared by most of the
country's people and many observers because without the Afar region,
there is no Republic of Djibouti. Not only the issues raised by the
conflict have not been resolved, but they have been aggravated and
even become taboo.
Faced with the permanent violence of this regime which is based
solely on the use of force and which turns its back to the task of
creating a national democratic State, the resistance (understood both
as a fight against oppression and as a process of creating a new
alternative) is a legitimate, just and necessary struggle. We, as
FRUD, scrupulously respected the people in areas where we conduct our
actions. We have never taken a single civilian as a target. We
groomed, and fed, the prisoners of war we held. One must be aware of
the fact that our fighters, who are trying to write a new page in the
history of our country by refusing comfort in the cities, are
fighting for the interests of all the people, and must be supported
by all those who want change.
This does not prevent us from embracing the quotation from Antonio
Gramsci who said: "One must be perfectly conscious of one's own
limitations especially if one wants to enlarge them
LNA: There are clashes in northern Djibouti, between armed elements
of FRUD and the Djiboutian National Army (NDA). It seems that the DNA
is not so eager for battle and avoids contact ... Can you confirm our
information? If
yes, what is the reason?
MK: There were several clashes between FRUD and the DNA in the
districts of Obock and Tadjourah. The two most important ones took
place around Ali Moussa and Sismo in Mable. In the last
confrontation which took place on August 30, 2009, attacks by the
army- which suffered losses - were repulsed despite the use of
helicopters. But each time, commanding officers are obliged to visit
the soldiers in an attempt to persuade them to go and fight FRUD. It
is true that most of the time, the Army avoids contacts.
Several problems have been shaking the DNA in recent years. Faced
with the fall of their purchasing power, resulting in part from
rising staple foods prices, the
soldiers based in the North have organized a movement of rebellion in
February 2008. They demanded wage increases and especially the
alignment of their salaries with those of the Presidential guard. To
this serious crisis within the army, which almost degenerated, was
added - at a time when the military was expecting to receive the wage
increases promised in April 2008 - the so-called border war with
Eritrea, which was triggered by the head of state Ismail Omar Guelleh
and the Joint Chief of Staff, Sheikh Zakaria Ibrahim. Many soldiers
involved in the mutiny were sent to the front where they paid a heavy
price in deadly clashes between the two countries in June 2008. Some
officers expressed doubts about the wisdom of this operation and were
punished. These two events were a blow to the moral of the soldiers
and led dozens to defect.
This malaise was exacerbated by the ouster of the businessman
Abdurahman Boreh (a prominent personality in the economy but whose
property was confiscated by the fait du prince) who seems to be
influential within the army. The DNA was also facing increasing
difficulties with the ex-FRUD elements incorporated after the two
peace agreements. As they were never really accepted, many of them
left due to the harassment and ostracism they had suffered. Three of
them were executed on the orders of the military hierarchy: Aboubakar
Ayoub, on May 7, 2008, in Galilee near the Ethiopian border, Mahmud,
in Balbala, in mid-December 2008, and Mohamed Halloyta or Reedo, on
August 18, 2009, in Boli (50 km from Tadjourah). Since the death of
Halloyta, who was very popular among his
comrades, former FRUD elements feel unsafe and incidents have been on
the rise. Five of them are imprisoned because they opposed the abuses
against civilians: in Assagueila following the explosion of a tank
wagon on October 15, 2009; or at Galella, the same week, because they
tried to prevent the rape of two young girls one of whom was the
daughter of an elder. There was yet another abuse against civilians
on November 10, at Dawdaya.
These increasing abuses against civilians are not isolated and
spontaneous acts. In the military establishment there are people
recruited from the entourage of the President and his close allies.
These are people assigned to do the dirty job: They rage against
innocent civilians and are used to provoke clashes between the army
and the people and create tribal tensions.
LNA: The Prime Minister of Djibouti has made very harsh remarks about
your Movement. It was in the North and he spoke in Afar. Some of his
comments were surprising: He said inter alia that the FRUD was
paralyzing the region by blocking roads. Curious statement, right?
MK: This statement by the Prime Minister is not isolated and is part
of a vast governmental Communication drive. The speech which the
Prime Minister delivered in Afar at Tadjourah on October 22, 2009
(on the occasion of the presentation of a ferry-boat donated by the
Japanese cooperation), addressed the
population of the North who knows the situation in the region and the
importance of FRUD better than the Prime Minister. But he has
surprised many by declaring that the FRUD had de facto paralyzed the
districts of Tadjourah and Obock (that is to say half of the
country). It was also a way to better convey the message of firmness
of the Head of State addressed to the inhabitants of the region who
are suspected of supporting our organization.
Another audience, another speech. In contradiction with the Prime
Minister's message, the Minister of Interior (who has a hard time
within the government) was duped into playing the worst role. On
November 2, he declared on the Somali service of radio Voice of
America that FRUD is a bunch of bandits who mistreat the people.
Finally, the most difficult role was assigned to the Minister of
foreign affairs. He was supposed to demonstrate that there is no
internal conflict in Djibouti and that all the countrys misfortunes
come from outside. At the time of the first confrontation between
government troops and the FRUD which took place in November 1991, the
later was accused of being an Ethiopian militia. This time around, it
is Eritrea who is accused of training militias to destabilize
Djibouti. The minister, who had no qualms about giving this statement
to Al-Jazeera in Cairo on 25 October, knows better than anyone else
that the FRUD is Djiboutian in its composition, in its demands and
its objectives. He personally took measure of the importance of this
organization when he visited Mable (his home region) in September
2009, when the notables accused the military of using local residents
as human shield.
FRUD has existed and will exist, notwithstanding the turn of events
in relations between the Djibouti regime and neighboring states
(Ethiopia, Eritrea). In reality Ismael Omar Guelleh is himself
desperately trying to confer a regional dimension to the internal
conflict between Djiboutians. Since February 1992 he has recruited
some 8000 former Somali soldiers from Ziad Barres army. Similarly,
he tries to use the hundreds of Somali soldiers receiving training in
Holhol (Southern Djibouti), in the fight against FRUD.
LNA: What is the specificity of FRUD, compared to the legal
opposition in Djibouti?
MK: FRUD is a politico-military organization and that gives it a
special place in the political landscape of Djibouti. We believe that
the primary phase of the formation of the national state is not yet
completed in Djibouti. Because of this, we say that the monopoly of
violence held by the regime for thirty -two years has no legitimacy.
That is why the FRUD has been challenging this monopoly for the past
eighteen years. There is a dialectical relationship between the
strengthening of FRUD and the widening of the democratic space, and
its corollary, which is the creation of political parties.
The first achievements and early victories of FRUD have forced the
regime to adopt a constitution which provides for a quadripartite
system. But this was quickly discarded and the arrangements emptied
of their contents. Then as a second phase, the advances made by FRUD
led to the introduction of a multiparty system in September 2002.
There are now four opposition parties, three of which are regrouped
in the coalition UDA (Union for democratic Alternative). Not only
these parties dispose of limited resources for their activities but
they can also lose their legal status at any time as was the case for
the MDR (Movement for Democratic Renewal), dissolved by presidential
decree on a futile pretext.
"Never two without three", this time around we hope to realize our
objectives with the participation of all forces standing for change.
The Western powers, present in Djibouti and neighboring countries
have no interest whatsoever in supporting the life presidency of
Ismail Omar Guelleh. This regime, a factor of instability for the
country and the region, has already begun its descent into a kind of
Sombololoho (2), which in Afar evokes "a kind of track as slippery as
a toboggan.
LNA: ARE there interconnections between FRUD and other movements of
the democratic opposition? Does the opposition accept the possibility
of armed actions?
MK: In a context marked by a sense of hopelessness and helplessness,
FRUD is perceived with hope because it can weaken the military
omnipotence of the regime. Once looked upon with suspicion by a
segment of the population, FRUD is now encouraged in its actions by
various actors, including legalized parties, who consider our
organization as a factor of democratization. A stronger FRUD can
create a favorable balance of power for all democratic movements with
whom we have good relations. But the recurring question, that of
forming an alliance with our organization, which is being debated
within these movements, must be resolved quickly.
As far as we are concerned, given the current political context
characterized by the existence of many political trends, we try to
maintain with the opposition parties a relationship based on
equality. This situation calls for the formation of a broad front
based on a platform, which cherishes mutual respect and allows
autonomy and freedom of action for all democratic organizations. This
opens a different perspective and is opposed to practices of the
regime in power since Independence, which has cannibalized all groups
that have rallied to him as was the case with the dissenting faction
from FRUD or Aden Roblehs PND?
LNA: People also speak of insecurity, abuse of young people and about
thugs in Djibouti City. What is this all about and what are the
consequences of this climate in the capital?
MK: There are three levels of insecurity that affect the citizens of
the capital.
The first violence is that which is perpetrated by the security
forces themselves i.e. the Police and members of the presidential
guard, who attack those who defend their rights: the unemployed,
students, residents of neighborhoods considered as hostile to the
regime. Three people were killed in Balbala while resisting the
destruction of their homes in August 2009.
Secondly, Administrative buildings (Court of Auditors with
destruction of all its records, the offices of the Supreme Court,
those of the Ministry of Agriculture, etc..), and some homes are
targeted and put ablaze in a more or less organized manner. No
enquiries have been conducted and so one has been arrested.
Finally, youth violence, which consists of taking possession of
neighborhoods after 21:00, has emerged lately. This insecurity is
similar to what a Cameroonian political scientist, Achille Mbembe
described as lumpen-radicalism, that is to say violence without a
political project. It is fueled by the tensions arising within the
establishment following the announcement by the ruling party of the
possibility of a third term for the current president. This new form
of urban violence undermines the fiction of stability and risks to
worsen gradually as the system decays. It is also favored by the
dismantling of the political structures, unions and associations.
LNA: On the other hand, the food situation is serious in Djibouti, in
the North and the rest of the country. Is it generally a similar
problem as the one we have in the rest of the Horn of Africa?
MK: The food situation is worsening from year to year. In 2008, the
U.S. Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews.net) put at about
340,000 (i.e. half the population) the number of people suffering
from hunger and who needed urgent assistance. In 2009, this number
increased substantially. While Djibouti suffers the same cycle of
drought and famine that hits the rest of the Horn of Africa, the food
situation is aggravated by the diversion (up 90%) of international
aid. The situation is even more dramatic for the people of the
northern and south-western regions, who still don't have access to
aid and services from NGOs, and are exposed to a slow destruction due
to the policies of the regime.
The inhabitants of the border with Eritrea are hardest hit because
the Djibouti authorities have imposed an embargo. These authorities
also took the scandalous decision to prohibit travel in this region
by the Sultan of Rahaita, M. Abdoulkader Daoud, a customary chief
who is a highly respected personality among the population of
Djibouti, and by his brothers and other family members.
------------ ------------
(1) Interview with Hassan Mokbel, responsible for External Relations
FRUD:
http://www.lesnouvelles.org/P10_magazine/15_grandentretien/
15051_FRUD2006.html
(2) Title of a famous book by Mohamed Aden, dealing with the fall of
Ali Aref, vice Chairman of the Governmental Council of the colonial era
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