SNM Executive Committee Memorandum

Somaliland: On the Restoration of Its

Sovereignty and Independence

Hassan Essa ama! SNM "cting Chairman
May #$$$

IN%RO&'C%ION
In the checkered history of the old Somali Republic (July 1960-June
1991) t!o facts need not be for"otten# Somaliland created that
Republic and Somaliland brou"ht it to an end$ %he former occasion
!as indeed euphoric the latter remains !ritten in indelible blood$
&n both occasions Somaliland !as !ell !ithin its ri"hts$
Somaliland's ill-started dream of a "reater Somalia dates back to the
close of the Second (orld (ar$ )s that famous and fateful !ind of
chan"e be"an to s!eep across )frica the people of Somaliland
found themsel*es consumed by a *ision of a +reater Somalia i$e$
the unity of the ,*e Somali's comprisin" the -ritish protectorate of
Somaliland e.-Italian trusteeship territory of Somalia /astern
/thiopia 01ibouti and 2orth-/ast 3enya$

)s the ,rst Somalia territory to !in outri"ht independence in June
1960 Somaliland could hardly !ait for the independence of the
other Somali territories$ %he second to "ain independence !as e.-
Italian Somalia on 1st July1960$ Somaliland o4ered them immediate
and unconditional unity$ (hen Somalia appeared hesitant
Somaliland allo!ed them to take the 5residency 5remiership the
ma1ority of seats in the cabinet and the ne! )ssembly as !ell as the
command of both the army and police$ Such pro6i"acy !as to pro*e
portentous$

%he third Somali territory to "ain independence !as 2orth-/ast
3enya in 1961$ In a plebiscite held by the -ritish colonial authority
they *oted o*er!helmin"ly to 1oin the Somali Republic$ It took t!o
international telephone calls bet!een an /mperor a 5resident and a
5remier to put paid to the !ishes of these Somalis as !ell as the
career of one -ritish 7olonial Secretary$ /mperor 8aile Selassie of
/thiopia phoned 5resident 3ennedy in (ashin"ton !ho in turn dialed
his friend 5rime minister 8arold 9acmillan in :ondon and Ian
9acleod the then -ritish 7olonial Secretary !ho countermanded
and resi"ned$ Somaliland's dream of a +reater Somalia su4ered its
,rst e.ternal blast$

%he fourth Somali territory to achie*e statehood !as 01ibouti in
19;;$ 01ibouti had a "ood look at the by no! dysfunctional unity of
the Somali Republic and declined to 1oin it$ %he ,fth attempt to!ards
a "reater Somalia came in 19;;-;< !hen the Somali dictator
9ohamed Siad -arre decided to take /astern /thiopia by force and
in*aded that country$ %hat too pro*ed to be a failure$ (ith
Somaliland's ori"inal *ision of a +reater Somalia "eopolitically in
tatters the inner !orkin"s of the mer"er of the e.-Italian Somalia
!as itself to pro*e another misad*enture$ %he nai*ety of the
political leaders of Somaliland in allo!in" the Southerners to occupy
almost all the hi"h o=ces of state ine*itably resulted in a political
takeo*er rather than a mer"er of e>uals$ Soon Somaliland !as
treated as an administered pro*ince and later as an occupied
territory$ %hus Somaliland's "rand dream of Somali unity !as sunk
by the t!in currents of e.ternal "eopolitical o4ensi*e re-enforced by
the cold !ar and an internal breakdo!n of political e>uity$

%HE &I()OM"%IC RECO*NI%ION O+ SOM")I)"N&

%he refusal thus far by the international community to reco"ni?e the
ne!ly reborn Republic of Somaliland is based on a) disreputable
politics and b) a false representation of international la!$

%HE C"SE "*"INS% RECO*NI%ION

@irstly the disreputable politics is no secret that many countries in
)frica and the )rab (orld ha*e an inordinate fear of themsel*es
breakin" up into separate states$ )nyone and anythin" redolent of
secession dri*es them berserkA they automatically blackball any
state remotely resemblin" a secessionist in case it sets up a
precedent$ %his deep fear is no! bein" played upon by a number of
countries !ith *arious a.es to "rind in the Somali a4air$ Some
)frican and )rab countries do not see a stron" /thiopia as bein" in
their interest$ %hey are beholden to the 19th century theory of the
balance of the po!er of states and are obsessed !ith a united
po!erful Somalia pro*idin" a deterrent to unbridled /thiopian
options$ /*en little 01ibouti is frantic in its anti-Somaliland campai"n
under the smoke screen of its so-called Somalia reconciliation
conference$ 01ibouti cannot put up !ith the prospect of a reco"ni?ed
prosperous Somaliland$ %hey are desperately tryin" to pre*ent this
from happenin" by askin" the international community to push
Somaliland back into the >ua"mire that is in 9o"adishu$

Secondly false application of international la! is e*ident$ 7ountries
!ith such suspect political moti*es ad*ance t!o ar"uments a"ainst
Somaliland in terms of international la! - unacceptable secession
and the in*iolability of the borders inherited from colonial rule i$e$
inherited territorial inte"rity$ -linded by unprincipled political
moti*es these countries for"et that neither the concept of
secession nor the notion of the in*iolability of the colonial
boundaries applies in the case of Somaliland$

%HE C"SE +OR RECO*NI%ION

%he concepts of territorial inte"rity and secession are t!o sides of a
cumbersome le"al-cum-political coin$ @irst you ha*e to be inte"ral
to a thin" before you can be accused of secedin" from it$
Somaliland simply has ne*er been an inte"ral pro*ince of e.-Italian
Somalia$ Somaliland has been a separate state !ithin its o!n
internationally reco"ni?ed boundaries before durin" and after the
colonial period$ 5rior to the /uropean colonial sta"e Somaliland
!as ali"ned !ith the &ttoman /mpire re"ime$ 0urin" the /uropean
colonial era the country !as kno!n as the -ritish 5rotectorate of
Somaliland$

Bpon independence on C6th June 1960 the country !as reco"ni?ed
as the so*erei"n state of Somaliland$ 8ence the current use of the
name Somaliland intended to allude to its earlier separate identity$
%he reason !hy Somaliland could not be accused of bein" a
secessionist state is because Somaliland had ne*er been part and
parcel of e.-Italian Somalia$ @or e.ample 3atan"a !as part and
parcel of the 7on"o durin" and after the colonial a"e$ -iafra !as
part and parcel of 2i"eria durin" and after the colonial period$
Somaliland on the contrary !as a separate state before durin" or
immediately after colonial rule$ 8o! could they be dra""ed to"ether
into a bindin" common territorial inte"rityD %he notion is absurd$
(ithout territorial inte"rity in place the >uestion of secession does
not arise$ Eou ha*e to ha*e somethin" that is !holly inte"rated ,rst
before you can complain of a part of it breakin" a!ay at a later
sta"e$ %he present boundaries of Somaliland are the same as on
Independence 0ay C6th June 1960 therefore the restoration of the
so*erei"n and statehood of Somaliland is neither in contra*ention of
the &r"ani?ation of )frican Bnity (&)B) policy of adherence to
colonial boundaries nor is it contrary to any territorial inte"rity of
any rele*ance$

%he rele*ant precedent for the restoration of the so*erei"nty and
independence of Somaliland is the temporary mer"er of Syria and
/"ypt in the si.ties$ 8ere as in the case of Somaliland and Somalia
t!o so*erei"n and independent countries decided *oluntarily to
mer"e and form a united state !ith a ne! name$ 8o!e*er their
unity pro*ed un!orkable and the t!o ori"inal states re-emer"ed$
/.actly the same thin" happened in the case of Somaliland and
Somalia$ &nly in this case it took a bloody ci*il !ar to re*ert to the
status ante$

%he unity of Somaliland and Somalia had other ma1or faults$ %he act
of union !as ne*er rati,ed by a 1oint session of the t!o le"islati*e
assemblies$ (ith the folly of unconditional unity soon apparent to
the people of Somaliland youn" military o=cers in the 2orth
attempted a coup d'etat the follo!in" year$ In their subse>uent trial
the court ac>uitted all the o=cers precisely because of the lack of
an act of union 1oinin" the t!o Somali states and because of an oath
of alle"iance to the ne! united Republic of Somalia$ %he same year
a draft constitution of the ne! Somali Republic !as put to a
referendum in both states$ %he people of Somaliland re1ected the
draft constitution by a 2o *ote of the lar"e ma1ority$ -ut the
constitution !as adopted and implemented apparently le"itimi?ed
solely by southern appro*al$

%he concept of the self-determination of nations put to such
po!erful e4ect in the e.-So*iet Bnion and e.-Eu"osla*ia is indirectly
rele*ant$ Self-determination is normally directly applicable in a
colonial settin" or in a situation !here there is *alid territorial
inte"rity but a pro*ince still !ants to secede$ %he Somaliland case is
neither$ 2e*ertheless the e.press !ishes of the people of
Somaliland !ould ha*e to command respect$ &nce they decided to
restore their so*erei"nty and independence that decision precludes
anybody else's say in their destiny$ %he people of Somaliland
e.ercised their ri"ht under international la! to rebel a"ainst a
"o*ernment "uilty of e.ceptionally hideous *iolations of human
ri"hts$ %he Bnited 2ations o=ce on "enocide and ethnic cleansin"
e.pressed its reco"nition of the massacre of the population of
Somaliland by the old Somalia re"ime$ %herefore the people of
Somaliland are entitled under international la! to e.ercise inter-
alia their ri"ht to determine their destiny$ %he political reality of the
current separation of Somaliland and Somalia and the bitter
e.perience of the decade lon" national liberation stru""le by the
population of Somaliland a"ainst the totalitarian re"ime of Somalia
clearly rule out any immediate resumption of the unity 1ust
demolished$ %he intensity of the !ar of liberation !as such that it
left no sin"le family in Somaliland unscathed at the hei"ht of the
cold !ar$

%he Somali 2ational 9o*ement (S29) set out to challen"e the
stron"est military force in black )frica and !on this decade lon"
national liberation stru""le$ It has had t!o ma1or abidin" e4ects on
the population of Somaliland# bitterness a"ainst the brutality of
Somalia's oppression and o*er!helmin" national con,dence
en"endered by the people's *ictory o*er such incredible odds$ %he
masses in Somaliland are not in the mood to allo! anyone else to
stand in their !ay let alone little 01ibouti$

,"- O'% O+ %HE (RE&IC"MEN%

)ccordin" to the 19FF 9onte*ideo con*ention's classic de,nition of
a state !ith re"ard to reco"nition a state should possess a
permanent population a de,ned territory a "o*ernment and
capacity to enter into relations !ith other states$ Somaliland
ob*iously possesses these >uali,cations$ &nce a state satis,es such
criteria of statehood as Somaliland clearly does there is no
>uestion in la! that it becomes a sub1ect of international la!$
%herefore it is incumbent on the international community to
proceed !ith the full diplomatic reco"nition of Somaliland !ithout
further delay$ Somaliland on its part should prepare to hold a
plebiscite on the >uestion of the restoration of national so*erei"nty
and independence$ %he international community !ould be in*ited to
!itness that the referendum is held in a free and fair manner$ %he
result of this plebiscite should be reco"ni?ed as settlin" the matter$
S29 belie*es this !ill result in a resoundin" national *ote in fa*or of
the restoration of so*erei"nty and independence Insha )llah$ &nce
Somaliland attains the full diplomatic reco"nition it deser*es S29
proposes a further step$ (e recommend to the countries of the 8orn
of )frica to set up a re"ional economic cooperation leadin" to e*er-
closer political cooperation alon" the lines of the /uropean common
market and /uropean Bnion$ (e belie*e this !ill lead to re"ional
economic de*elopment and to political harmony not 1ust amon"st
the Somalis but also for the people of the re"ion as a !hole