SOMALIA - JOINT SECURITY COMMITTEE TRAINING IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 002369 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/E AND A/S FRAZER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID PINS SO SUBJECT: SOMALIA - JOINT SECURITY COMMITTEE TRAINING IN SOUTH AFRICA Classified By: PolOff Jessica Davis Ba. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. The joint TFG-ARS Joint Security Committee (JSC) is participating in a conflict management workshop in South Africa from October 11-17. The training session was organized by the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) to prepare the JSC members for the next round of meetings of the High Level Committee and the JSC in Djibouti, currently scheduled for October 25-26. Since the last session in Djibouti closed without a cessation of hostilities/cease-fire agreement, this effort is to build confidence among the participants and to lay the groundwork needed to work toward a cease-fire agreement. End Summary. -------------- Building Confidence -------------- ¶2. (C) Approximately 30 representatives of both the TFG and ARS delegations to the Joint Security Committee (stood up through the Djibouti Agreement),are currently participating in a one-week training in Capetown, South Africa. The training session, scheduled from October 11-17, was organized by UNPOS with the goal of preparing the JSC members for the next round of meetings in Djibouti, slated for October 23-26. Since the last round of discussions in Djibouti closed without a cessation of hostilities/cease-fire agreement, we understand that this effort is to build confidence among the participants and to provide materials and expertise to educate them on what will be required in a cease-fire process. ¶3. (C) Some important leaders are not at the training. The majority of the JSC is in attendance, yet key individuals from the TFG, including Director of National Security Service Mohamed Warsame Farah "Darwish", Chief of Police Abdi Awale Qeybdid, and the head of the Custodial Corps, are absent. On the ARS side, JSC delegation leader Omar Hashi, along with one of his deputies, is also absent. Finally, neither of the JSC co-chairs, Colonel William Bryan Norman, the American Director of Military Planning in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, or the Burundian AMISOM Deputy Force Commander Major General Juvenal Niyoyunguruza are at the training. However, UNPOS told us that even without these individuals, the group represents an influential majority of the JSC. ¶4. (C) UNPOS officers reported that, while the meeting got off to a slow start, now in its third day the group has made good progress and is finally getting into concrete issues relating to the cessation of hostilities. The training is being conducted in four modules with the first dedicated to group confidence building. The South African facilitators began discussions on the importance of compromise, good leadership, and human rights. They drew from the South African example and the economic inequities that persist, but emphasized South Africa's national decision to move forward with reconciliation and a political process. We understand that the participants have become much more open, walls have come down, and they are engaged on substantive planning. -------------- Preparing for a Cease-Fire -------------- ¶5. (C) Three days into the training, the JSC representatives began tackling the specifics of what would be necessary in any cease-fire arrangement. A Zimbabwean "former freedom fighter," who later worked with the Carter Center on mediations during several other conflicts, is offering case studies from several countries to provide expertise and food for thought. The group has reportedly now begun to discuss sub-committees that will be needed to implement a cessation of hostilities. Thus far, they have suggested the following sub-committees: - cease-fire; - monitoring and notification; - transitional security structures; and a - JSC secretariat to discuss powers, structures, etc. ¶6. (C) While the participants immediately started NAIROBI 00002369 002 OF 002 volunteering names for specific positions, the training organizers requested that they step back and focus on structure rather than personality. The JSC recommended that each of these committees should be meeting on a daily basis to exchange information. They would be responsible to produce tangible results and documentation that could be presented to the larger JSC or HLC. ¶7. (C) The group also discussed the need to have more autonomy and be a decision-making structure in itself. One of the UNPOS officers told us that at the last round of discussions in Djibouti, the JSC made enormous progress and was ready to sign when the HLC blocked this step. Some of the JSC members reportedly suggested that the JSC and the HLC meet at separate times to avoid giving one group veto power over the decisions of another. -------------- Reservations About Training Outcomes -------------- ¶8. (C) With a significant Somali community living in South Africa, word got out that the JSC was in town. The diaspora Somalis are reportedly keen to meet with the group to discuss the peace process and encourage their countrymen to stop the infighting and focus on progress on the ground. Many Somalis in South Africa hope the Djibouti agreement will yield peace so they can return to their homeland. (Note: Somalis living in South Africa were targets of recent xenophobic violence). ¶9. (C) While UNPOS presented a very positive perspective, an EU diplomat expressed his strong doubts about the training, calling it a waste of time and money that is not addressing central issues. The diplomat told us UNPOS organized the training on short notice, hiring "experts" from a South African firm they found on the Internet. According to the EU official, truly useful training would have been conducted by a well-known, credible international expert on cease-fire negotiations, DDR, and related processes. The EU diplomat did not expect to see any concrete outcomes from the training. Nonetheless, from the initial feedback we received, the training seems to be productive. If so, the JSC's progress will immediately be evident in the next round of Djibouti meetings. RANNEBERGER