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SOMALITALK
- ZAMZAM
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RAAQIYA OOMAAR OO QORAAL KALE KASOO SAARTAY XARIGA SAMSAM
Qoraal ka soo baxay Raaqiya Oomaar ayaa shaaca ka qaaday in
hay'ada xuquuqda aadamiga u dooda ee African Rights ay aad
ula yaabeen, ugana murugoodeen xabsiga lala beegsaday gabadha da'da yar,
Samsam Axmed Ducaale, oo 5 sano oo xarig ah lagu xukumay.
Raaqiya Oomaar waxa ay sheegtay in haba yaraatee aan la soo bandhigin wax
cadaynaya dembi ay gashay Samsam.
QORAALKII RAAQIYA EE 16/12/2004 HOOS KA AKHRI:::
AN UNFAIR TRIAL, A HARSH JUDGEMENT
ZAMZAM AHMED DUALEH SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS
16 December 2004
For additional information contact:
Rakiya Omaar in Hargeisa: Mobile (252 2) 428 330 or (252 2) 30 25 00
African Rights is shocked and saddened that 17-year old Zamzam Ahmed Dualeh
was sentenced yesterday, 15 December, to five years in prison by the
regional court of Hargeisa, four years for “espionage” and one year for
allegedly lying about her name, identity and clan. The sentence was handed
down in the absence of her four defence lawyers, who had themselves been
imprisoned for two weeks, and released on Saturday after they received
one-year sentences and paid a fine in lieu of imprisonment. Zamzam’s
co-defendant, Omer Jama Warsame, the driver who brought her from Bosasso to
Hargeisa on 15 August, was acquitted, a decision which accurately reflected
fundamental flaws in the prosecution case, flaws which apply equally to the
case against Zamzam. This is a further indication that political rather than
judicial concerns informed the decision of the judge, Abdirahman Jama Hayaan.
It raises questions about whether direct or indirect pressures were brought
upon judge Hayaan in a case which has awakened national and international
attention and which became politically significant on several levels. From
the first day Zamzam was brought to court, on 4 October, to the judgement
yesterday, the trial has been characterised by a profound lack of fairness,
justice and professionalism.
Zamzam is accused of visiting the residence of the Vice President of
Somaliland on 15 August, accompanied by Omer, in order to meet with him, and
gather intelligence about his family and security arrangements. She was,
argues the prosecution, sent by a certain Mohamed Ali Farah, said to be a
member of Al Itihaad based in Bosasso, who paid her a modest amount and
promised her considerably more money on completion of her mission. The
notion that a politician intent on murdering the Vice President would
entrust such a sensitive and politically delicate matter to a 17-year old
girl who had never visited Hargeisa, and who did not even have the money to
pay her fare from Bosasso to Hargeisa, is difficult to take seriously.
But more importantly, the prosecution has not produced a single piece of
substantial evidence to back the argument that Zamzam had links with
politicians in Puntland or with Al Itihaad. The allegations are supposedly
based on written “confessions” which both Zamzam and Omer repeatedly stated
in court had been extracted under torture and coercion. Contrary to the
statements from the government, neither defendant has ever admitted guilt in
court. The prosecution’s entire arsenal of evidence to proof a connection
with Al Itihaad was the production of a jilabiya, the Islamic cloak worn by
more than half the female population of Somaliland.
The location of the Vice President’s residence in Hargeisa is a matter of
public knowledge. According to testimony from the police officers on guard
duty that day, Zamzam never entered the house, and so had no opportunity to
carry out surveillance of the residence, let alone to damage, in any way,
the interests of the Vice President. Moreover, the question of whether
Zamzam changed her name and clan identity cannot legitimately be deemed a
separate issue meriting a one-year sentence; its significance depended
entirely upon whether there was any substance to the espionage charge.
Zamzam has consistently denied all the charges against her.
With their lawyers in jail, and their supporters discouraged by the
intimidating, and often violent behaviour of the police guarding the court,
Zamzam and Omer never had a chance of a fair trial. Despite the serious
charges of espionage they faced, and the prospects of a ten-year prison
sentence, they were not given the opportunity to call any witnesses to the
stand. The judge and the prosecutor involved in jailing the lawyers, who
should have been disqualified from the case, were retained and continued to
interrogate and hear the case both in camera and publicly.
Beyond the charges against Zamzam and Omer, the case was important because
it marked an attempt to put suspected torturers and rapists within the CID
on trial. An extremely worrying precedent was, therefore, set when the court
threw out the accusations that CID officers had tortured both defendants,
and that six CID officers had raped Zamzam. Citing medical reports compiled
by doctors in government service, which have never been shown to the
victims, their relatives or their lawyers, and the testimony of two of these
doctors given in court in the absence of the defendants’ lawyers, the judge
ruled that neither torture nor rape had taken place.
Yesterday’s proceedings in Hargeisa regional court constitute an injustice
which has damaged the lives of two individuals and their families, but
beyond this they demonstrate just how superficial institutional reforms in
Somaliland in recent years have been. The administration of justice in
Somaliland was under the spotlight and its weaknesses and vulnerability to
political pressure were all too painfully apparent. The acquittal of Omer
Jama Warsame illustrates the contradictions and confusion at the heart of
this trial. The judge’s explanations for “espionage” involved not only
Zamzam but also Omer. Yet he was released and she was condemned for four
years for espionage. Omer told the court that he was set free after two days
of interrogations in mid-August, and then re-arrested and tortured on the
orders of the deputy head of the CID, Saeed Mohamed Absiye, after he accused
him of damaging his car and demanded compensation. The court did not address
this serious allegation against a senior police officer who remains above
the law, to the detriment of all the citizens of Somaliland and the
prospects of institutionalising respect for the rule of law.
It is deeply unfortunate, above all for Zamzam and her family, that this
case has become highly politicised and caught up in the emotions of the
current tension between Somaliland and Puntland. Given the intensity of the
propaganda that has been unleashed about the case both within and beyond
Somaliland, many people lost sight of what matters most: the right of a
young girl to a fair hearing and humane treatment in detention.
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Faafin: SomaliTalk.com |
Dec 17, 2004
Kulaabo bogga
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 Waxaa
la soo ogaadey in Axmed Yassin -waa madexwyne ku xigeenkee- uu yahay
dadka lagu tilmaamo FOOXLAYAASHA, oo si wayn u neceb dadka ku dhegan
xijaabka, sidaas awgeedna uu ka argagaxay Samsam oo xijaabnayd sidaas
darteedna uu ugu dalbaday askar, askartiina ay Samsam fara-xumeeyeen
Oct 20, 2004
 Maxamed
Cige Cilmi, Taliyaha Booliiska Somaliland ayaa yiri: "Horta gabadhu
Carruur ma ahan, waa naag xaas ah oo nin leh oo 20-jir iyo siyaado ah,
16-jir ma'ahan shaqona kuma laha... Dhakhtarka waa la geeyay waxna
waa laga soo waayey... Waa la i kufsaday ma ay dhehin.. Wasiirka
wasaarada dhallinyada iyo isboortiga ayaa abtigeed ah... Maxkamad sharci
ayaanu geyn..." waxana uusidaas sheegay waraysi uu la yeeshay Yuusuf
Garaad..
Oct 22, 2004
 "Samsam
Axmed Ducaale waa ardayad 16-jir ah oo Dugsiga Sare ee Imaamu Nawawi,
Boosaaso, hargeysa waxay u aadey Abtigeed" sidas waxaa yiri Axmed
Maxamud Ducaale "Duuje"..
Nov 5, 2004
 Gabar-ta yari
waxa ay si khalad ah ugu dagtay guriga Madaxweyne ku xigeenka Axmed
Yuusuf Yaasiin oo ay hareer joogan boolis tiro badan
Nov 18, 2004
 Waxaan
kamid ahaa askartii Samsam ku ilaalin jirtey saldhigga Dhexe
magacayguna waa Xuseen Dalmar Ismaaciil, No. Askarnnimo waa 4483.
Nov 19, 2004
 Looyarradii
Difaacayey Samsam ayaa Maxkamaddii Ay Uga Doodayeen Iyagii Ku Xukuntay
Midkiiba 3 Sanadood Oo Xadhig Ah, Xabsigana Loo Taxaabay...
Nov 24, 2004
 Raaqiyo
Oomaar ayaa shaaca auu la yeeshay VOA ku cadaysay in "Samsam ay Sheegtay
in 6-nin oo ah Ciidanka nabad sugida ay Kufsadeen"
Nov 25, 2004
 Amnesty
International oo aad uga Walaacsan Dacwada iyo Kufsiga Loo Geystey
Gabadha 16-jirka ah...
Nov 30, 2004 |
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