Civil Society Meetings on Reconciliation

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 001041

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/E AND A/S FRAZER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER ASEC MOPS SO ET
SUBJECT: Civil Society Meetings on Reconciliation

REF: Nairobi 1004

Classified by PolOff Hodan Hassan. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) Civil Society groups, and the Hawiye/Haber Gedir/Ayr
clan, have met and discussed specific recommendations for
the planned National Reconciliation Congress. In the
meantime, the Transitional Federal Government is proceeding
with plans for the Congress. President Yusuf announced a
start date of April 16 for a two month Congress to be held
in Mogadishu. End Summary.

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Civil Society on the Reconciliation Congress
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2. (SBU) Three major civil society umbrella organizations
met in Mogadishu to discuss the upcoming national
reconciliation congress. The groups participating in the
meetings included Civil Society in Action (broad range of
local NGOs),Inxaa (network of human rights organizations),
and COGWA (network of women?s groups). After three days of
discussion and debate facilitated by the Mogadishu-based
Center for Research and Democracy (CRD),the groups agreed
upon a series of recommendations on the planning, convening
and envisioned outcome of the congress. Jabril Ibrahim
Abdulle, the Mogadishu-based Director of the Center for
Research and Development, provided Post with a read-out of
the meeting.


3. (SBU) The groups agreed upon the following items:

-- All participants must recognize the legitimacy of the
transitional federal government (TFG);

-- The overall goals of the congress should include social
reconciliation among clans/communities in conflict, the
creation of a functioning representative government at all
levels, and an agreed upon methodology for disarmament and
demobilization campaigns;

-- There should be a preparatory meeting with key
stakeholders to come to consensus on issues including
delegate selection, guiding principles, and agenda items
for the congress;

-- There may be the need to amend the transitional federal
charter to address issues such as power-sharing
arrangements and role of parliament;

-- Former members of the Islamic Courts should be allowed
to participate in the congress;

-- A successful congress should pave the way for the
departure of international peace-keepers from the country.

The final recommendations from the civil society meetings
will be sent to the TFG Ministry of the Interior. The
document will subsequently be disseminated to the wider
public.

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Hawiye/Haber Gedir/Ayr Blueprint for Reconciliation
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4. (SBU) Members of the Hawiye/Haber Gedir/Ayr community in
Mogadishu held a series of consultative meetings on the
upcoming national reconciliation congress. The Ayr
Political Leadership Council organized the meetings and
compiled the recommendations in a document titled ?Proposal
for Genuine Somali National Reconciliation and Power-
Sharing?. The document was emailed to Post by the chairman
of the council, Dr. Mohamed Uluso.


5. (SBU) According to the document, the Ayr political
interests can best be served "in a broader framework of
genuine reconciliation process for power-sharing and
mechanism for dispensation of justice, respect of human
rights, accountability and transparency. Therefore, it goes
beyond unilateral, clan-based conflict resolution context
and it focuses on holistic approaches in which we think
that can best be achieved through a genuine reconciliation
process.?
The council put forward the following recommendations:

-- A consultative meeting, to take place no later than the
second week of March, is urgently needed to convene in
order to agree on the roadmap for the reconciliation
process. The meeting should consist of well-known and
respected members of civil society and business community.

-- Mogadishu is not the ideal venue for the congress
because of the presence of TFG and Ethiopian forces;

-- A neutral UN mediator/facilitator should be appointed to
lead the reconciliation process. The individual should be
supported by assistants from the African Union and Arab
League;

-- Each community should have the right to select their
representatives in the congress;

-- The congress should produce a blueprint for establishing
public administration and security institutions/forces at
all levels of government;

-- Specific articles in the transitional federal charter
should be reviewed to ?close loopholes and eliminate
contradictions and ambiguity."

-- Guidelines should be developed to determine the work of
the TFG for the remaining two and one half years of its
mandate.

-- TFG should allow for reasonable accommodation of
moderate members of the Islamic Courts.

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Mood in Mogadishu
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6. (C) Jabril Ibrahim Abdulle, the Mogadishu-based Director
of the Center for Research and Development, told PolOff the
people of Mogadishu have an "appetite and desire" for
reconciliation. According to Abdulle, people are
desperately in need of leadership, but it is not there.
People want to give the TFG a chance. They are not saying
"we hate the TFG," but rather "this government cannot
deliver?. Abdulle stated President Yusuf?s claims that he
will ?pacify? Mogadishu in the next three weeks have
heightened people's security concerns in an already tense
atmosphere. Given the increasingly publicized movements of
a large number of Puntland militia into the south, such
talk has lessened the public?s confidence that
"reconciliation" will take place anytime soon.

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TFG Plans for Reconciliation Congress
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7. (C) The TFG is proceeding with its planning for a grand
reconciliation congress, seemingly with little regard for
input of civil society and clans. On March 2 President
Yusuf announced in Baidoa before the Parliament that the
reconciliation congress will be held in Mogadishu starting
on April 16 and will continue for two months. Both Yusuf
and Prime Minister Gedi have publicly said the conference
will include about 3,000 people. According to PM Gedi, the
congress will address issues of social reconciliation, with
the expected outcome being "forgiveness." Gedi told the
international community in Nairobi that political
reconciliation took place in Kenya in 2004, and therefore
it will not be part of the agenda.

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Comment
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8. (C) The recent flurry of meetings taking place in
Mogadishu reflects the desire among various communities to
provide their recommendations and input on the planning and
convening of the national reconciliation congress. The
meetings are also a response to the general lack of
concrete information, or at times conflicting information,
on the congress by the TFG. Possibly because the TFG is
proceeding with its own agenda, recommendations from both
the civil society and Hawiye/Haber Gedir/Ayr groups include
a strong plea for the international community to play a
robust role in supporting and monitoring the planning and
convening of the congress.
RANNEBERGER