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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Mar 13 2011 - 07:28:23 EST
Djibouti suspends US election mission
By Katrina Manson in Nairobi
March 13 2011 02:32 |
Djibouti has told the United States that an independent election observer
mission is “illegal” and suspended its partnership with the US-funded
mission.
The news came amid reports that the <http://www.ft.com/dkreports/djibouti6>
north-east African coastal state had arrested two opposition leaders on
Friday.
Democracy International (DI), which has a $2.2m, eight-man team in the tiny
strategic state, provides the only international technical assistance and
observation group in the country, which has been ruled by the same dynasty
since independence.
The increasing visibility of the Djibouti’s anti-democratic leanings is
awkward for the US, which relies on the country for its only military base
on the continent and last year doubled aid to the country, funding DI’s
Djibouti operation. Many of its 3,000 troops are dedicated to fighting
piracy and terrorism in neighbouring Somalia.
President Ismail Omar Guelleh, who took over from his uncle in 1999, last
year scrapped a two-term constitutional limit to allow him to stand for
re-election on April 8.
His regime has several times arrested opposition leaders, and moved swiftly
to quell dissent following
<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/001f94f6-3d18-11e0-bbff-00144feabdc0.html>
popular protests in the city-state that sought to draw on uprisings taking
hold across north Africa. Facebook postings urged protesters to imitate
revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.
Djibouti’s foreign ministry sent a diplomatic note to the US Embassy dated
March 2 requesting the end of the partnership with DI, alleging it had
participated in and supported a violent February 18 opposition rally in
which at least one person was killed, accusations the group denies.
A January report from DI noted widespread voter apathy, adding that those
surveyed said Djiboutian politicians distribute money and khat, a narcotic
drug, to voters ahead of election day as an inducement for loyalty.
Sources say efforts to resolve the dispute with DI continue. “We have not
closed up our operations, (but) we are not undertaking any active
programming,” DI co-founder Glenn Cowan told the Financial Times, adding
that the group still plans to observe the elections.
Subsequent efforts to organise protests have failed. Critics attribute this
to heavy-handed tactics by the state, whose president once headed the secret
services.
Human rights activist Jean-Paul Noël Abdi, himself detained for 11 days last
month, told the Financial Times that two opposition leaders were arrested in
broad daylight on Friday, by state forces in 20 vehicles. He said he did not
know their whereabouts at the moment.
Calls and text messages to Djiboutian authorities went unanswered on Friday,
an official day off. Opposition leaders had vowed earlier on Friday to
boycott the elections, deliberately missing a nominations deadline. They
said they believed polls would be rigged and dangerous.
“If I, or any other opposition candidate had stood, we would have only been
adding to the perceived legitimacy of the election – a legitimacy that it
doesn’t deserve,” said Abdourahman Boreh, a self-exiled
businessman-turned-opposition politician. He said it would not be safe for
his supporters to campaign.
A US government spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
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