SomaliaGreat Example for and Worst Failure of Humanitarian Intervention

Historical Background: Geography

Somalia, known as the Somali Republic lies at the Horn of Africa.

It lies along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, bounded by Djibouti in the northwest, Ethiopia in the west and Kenya in the southwest.

It was formerly colonized by Italy, France, Britain and Arabia.

Historical Background: Language/Culture Most of the Somalian people share

language, culture, and religion (Muslim Suni).

Though there are different accents many experts divide the language in to two main dialects:

1.Maay and 2. maxaa tiri which both also means: what did you say?Despite the slight differences in language

culture and religion are the same

Historical Background: Social Structure

Almost the entire population are Muslim Suni, but there are some Islamist groups, who tried to rule each other out, establish government and put the country under strict Sharia law. (Islamic law)

e.g. first Islamist group who tried to rule the country was Al Itihad. Many say they officially formed in the early 80s and became popular in the 1990s after they invaded part of the capital Mogadishu. They functioned for a while as local government using their own military force but they could not preserve power for a long time.

On the other side there has been a long tradition of families belonging to clans, that have had many disputes over the years.

Historical Background: Road to civil war Since 1996 the country had been ruled by Siad

Barre who came to power by a military coup. His dictatorship left many of the clans

unsatisfied leading to them becoming hostile over the time.

When Barre could not hold his power in Mogadishu any longer he fled (1991) and the system collapsed, leaving the country in chaos.

The clans, as well as the Islamistic groups formed militias and Warlords took over the power over certain territories.

Actions taken by the International Community

The USC (United Somali Congress) took the power after Barre fled and set up a provisional government led by Ali Mahadi.

Soon after that he got challenged by General Mohamed Farah Aidid, who also wanted the power over the country

The international Community got first involved when Mahadi got expelled from the city and asked the United Nations to dispatch PKO (peace keeping operation) forces to sort out the situation.

Some African governments tried to reconcile but failed

Actions taken by the International Community the United Nations and the

Organization of African Unity attempted to calm down the conflict

According to the survey conducted during this period, around 4.5 million Somalian people were in danger of their lives due to famine and malnutrition-related disease

April 1992: UNOSOM I 1992,  Resolution 751 was adopted in April,

which provided security forces to supervise cease-fire.

Security forces consisting of 50 personnel were planned to be dispatched to Somalia.

Since the resolution allowed to expand the size of the troops, the number of the security forces became 500 in early July 1992. Security forces were sent to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

Only allowed to support ceasefire and give humanitarian aid (food, medical supplies)

In August 1992, the United Nations Security Council agreed to send another 3000 troops to secure safety

The situation in Somalia became worse and worse, the peace-keeping-forces were often shot at and cargo convoys were raided with great frequency.

General Aidid requested the withdrawal of security forces as well as declaring hostile intent against the UN.

December 1992: UNITAF and Resolution 794 The United States Bush Administration showed

its motivation to establish multi-national forces for humanitarian securing operation.

What was significant to UNITAF (United Task Force) was that it was allowed to use "all necessary means" to secure humanitarian relief.

At this time UNISOM was gradually merged with UNITAF and later, the combination of these two operations were called UNISOM II.

The majority of UNISOM II was US forces, which consisting of highly trained special forces. 

Retreat

Because US task forces took up most of UNOSOM II, after the retreat of US forces in 1994, UNOSOM II could not handle the situation and the whole operation was shut down.

In 1995, the last of UNOSOM II security forces retreated. At that time, Somalia did not have a central government or anything similar.

Key tipping points/ important events and decisions The Somalia case: unprecedented in

the history of humanitarian intervention

International community supported intervention without the formerly used justification, that movement of refuges could lead to other countries getting dragged into war and therefore the existence of a threat to the international peace

Key tipping points/ important events and decisions

Decisions made by the security council were clearly seen as an intervention in the domestic affairs of Somalia

Never the less no veto against an intervention

Some states (e.g. China) pointed out that this was an absolutely exceptional moment and that there would be no „norm“ of intervention developing on the ground of the Somalia case

Strong support

Media played the key role Ordinary people demanded

humanitarian aid for the Somali Mission was seen as being unlikely to

result in a high body count

Key decision: Resolution 794

3rd of December 1992 decided by Security council

Authorized the program “Restore Hope”/UNITAF, led by the USA

Mission to create a safe environment for humanitarian aid

Authorized to use “all means necessary”, therefore different from the UNOSOM

Key decision: Resolution 814 After the Addis Ababa Accords (January - March

1993)and a second conference, which was held to establish a ceasefire and disarmament, had failed, resolution 814 was passed.

UNITAF formerly had been only authorized to use force to secure humanitarian aid but under resolution 814 they were now allowed to use “all means necessary” to:

> create a secure environment throughout Somalia> promote political reconciliation> establish the rule of law> ensure compliance by all Somali parties

Key point: Battle of Mogadischu

After the attack of Aidid‘s troops on some Pakistani peacekeepers the mission changed into a hunt for Aidid

The Battle of Mogadishu was an attempt by UNITAF to find Aidid but was not successful and ended in a large body count

1000 Somalis, one Malaysian and 18 American Soldiers were killed

Afterwards the USA decided to pull the troops out

Failures of the international community Lack of understanding of local systems and

situations Therefore miscommunication with the local

people and misunderstandings on both sides Human rights abuse by Canadian and Italian

Soldiers> The initial sympathy by the civilians

towards the UN forces changed quickly into rejection. Some even feared to get occupied and loose political independence.

Failures of the international community Unable to effectively disarm the warlords

and militia groups large amounts of weapons were delivered

to these groups from Kenya and Ethiopia At the same time bargaining with the

main actors (Clans, Warlords) to gain their sympathies

> Some Clans feared if they gave up their weapons while the ones who got favored got to keep theirs it would end in a massacre for them.

Failures of the international community Probably the biggest failure in the mission

was to let it turn into the hunt for Aidid The massive attacks that took place in an

attempt to find/ kill Aidid were out of proportion and led to many civilian deaths

> Hate and fear for the UNOSOM/UNITAF grew and also the support from the home (the civilians, that had formerly cried out for humanitarian aid in Somalia) slowly vanished

Failure? After the death of 18 US Soldiers in 1993 the

international community pulled out every help they had formerly granted

UNITAF was gone by 1994 UNOSOM the original peaceful force that was

providing the humanitarian aid in forms of food, etc. had left by 1995

Somalia was left to itself and remains unstable until the present day.

Also the dead of peacekeeping forces (namely the 18 US Rangers) made the UN extremely careful about sending troops for humanitarian intervention in future cases. (e.g. Rwanda)

Wheeler‘s Minimum criteria

Supreme Humanitarian Emergency> YES Necessity/ Last resort> YES Proportionality> In the Beginning: YES, but when the

hunt for Aidid began: NO Positive humanitarian outcome> NO

Wheeler‘s Additional Criteria Humanitarian Motives> YES Humanitarian Justifications> YES Legality> YES

Current Situation Until the present day Somalia has no stable

government but had several provisional ones Over the last two decades, Somalia has been

characterized by armed conflict and lawlessness, and often associated with famine, extremism, piracy, kidnapping, internally displaced persons and refugees.

Several regions are fighting for autonomy and the recognization by the international community as an independent state but have not been successful. (e.g. Somaliland, Puntland)

Current course of action of the International Community

Since piracy is one of the problems other states have interest to solve in, the international community has been trying to find a solution but other problems are rarely addressed.

Other actions taken by the international community concerning Somalia are now with focus on the fight against terrorist groups (e.g. Al-Shabaab) rather than of humanitarian nature.

Your questions and/or comments

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