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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Fri Mar 18 2011 - 07:47:16 EST
Djibouti evicts US vote group ahead of election
(AP) – 21 hours ago
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Djibouti's government has kicked out an American
election monitoring group less than a month before the nation's presidential
election, a vote opposition politicians are boycotting because they say the
president is repressing dissent.
Djibouti is a tiny East African nation that hosts the only U.S. military
base in Africa. Situated on the Gulf of Aden between Somalia, Ethiopia,
Eritrea and Yemen, the city-state is a major shipping hub in a volatile
region.
The country is nominally democratic, but events leading up to the April 8
presidential election appear to show a hardline approach by President Ismail
Omar Guelleh at a time when democracy movements are upending
administrations.
Democracy International, a U.S. group that works on democracy and governance
programs, was halfway through a two-year, $2.2 million U.S.
government-funded contract when it was accused of assisting opposition
politicians and barred from the country earlier this month.
The head of the group's observation mission, Chris Hennemeyer, said the
accusations are not true.
Djibouti saw an estimated 6,000 people turn out to an opposition political
rally on Feb. 18. The rally turned violent when riot police moved in, and
opposition politicians said dozens of people were wounded and five killed. A
second rally planned for March 4 didn't happen after security forces filled
the streets.
Hennemeyer said many countries in the region are nervous during a time of
popular protests, and that the February rally surprised Djiboutian leaders.
"They were not expecting such a large turnout, and I think those two factors
— regional nervousness and the protest — were enough to lead at least some
people in the government to conclude that this was not the kind of program
that they wanted to support," Hennemeyer said of the reasons Democracy
International was kicked out.
Calls to Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf were not answered, and the
government spokesman said he couldn't immediately talk. But Youssouf told
the Financial Times this week that Democracy International exhibited
"concerning" behavior and that the U.S. could nominate another observer
group. He said the EU, African Union and Arab League have been invited to
send observers to the vote.
The U.S. has outsized influence in Djibouti, a country of only 750,000
people. On the outskirts of Djibouti city, across from its international
airport, lies Camp Lemonnier, the only U.S. base in Africa. The base — which
sits just miles (kilometers) from Somalia — is one of Djibouti's major
employers.
The U.S. ambassador met with Djibouti's prime minister over the Democracy
International expulsion, but the group was kicked out anyway, Hennemeyer
said. A U.S. Embassy spokesman said the embassy was not prepared to comment.
Guelleh, the president, has served two terms already. His critics lament
changes he made to the constitution last year that scrubbed a two-term limit
from the nation's bylaws. Guelleh will face one opponent on April 8, one not
expected to win many votes.
Last Friday Djibouti authorities arrested four opposition politicians and
detained them several hours, according to the opposition leaders. The group
said it "can no longer tolerate the repressive and deadly fury of this
moribund regime.
"We warn the illegal candidate against his irresponsible actions at the risk
of seeing radicalization of our actions, which have up to now been
peaceful," the group said, referring to Guelleh. "The opposition can no
longer continue to respect the law when the ruling power itself tramples on
it."
Hennemeyer said he believes Djibouti — which has been controlled by the same
family since independence in 1977 — is moving toward democracy, including
having allowed past demonstrations and carrying opposition messages in state
media.
"There were signs of progress in important areas," he said. "What will
happen to those now I honestly don't know. I don't see Djibouti moving
backward, but I'm not sure I see it moving forward in a democratic sense
either."
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