Les nouvelles d’Addis
interview by
COLETTE DELSOL and ALAIN LETERRIER
December 2009
Les nouvelles d'Addis. – What is the FRUD all about?
Mohamed Kadamy. – One should perhaps first ask what the FRUD stands for, that is to say its nature, its objectives. FRUD did not come out of the blue. Undoubtedly, it is the product or the result of multifaceted popular struggles for freedom and democracy, which punctuated the lives of citizens over the past three decades. Since its inception, some eighteen years ago, FRUD has been involved in a movement for the emancipation of our people with a strong desire to bring about change. FRUD has made huge sacrifices in the struggle for the future always trying as it is doing here and now, to sow the seeds of a better future for this country and its people.
Of course, any endeavor of such nature, any project of this magnitude is no picnic. It encounters obstacles and objections. It also generates its own contradictions. That is why FRUD has been weakened by the use of the enormous resources at the disposal of the incumbent regime and its allies on the one hand and by its internal divisions and defections on the other. We have maintained, against all odds, the political-military structure, thanks to our determined fighters, cadres and some leaders.
FRUD evolved in very difficult circumstances, often going against the current. Due to our steadfast adherence to our positions on the one hand, and the continued deterioration of the situation of the country and the people on the other hand, we were able to overcome the ambient hostility and indifference and to generate more and more allies for our movement.
After being reduced to a force of proposition, FRUD - not withstanding numerous analyses which here and there announce its demise - has today become a major player in Djibouti. As incredible as it may seem, the FRUD now controls a territory larger than the one controlled by the president of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who enjoys the support of the International Community. Given this FRUD will contribute to efforts aimed at bringing democratic change.
LNA. – Who supports your organization? Ethiopia, Eritrea, an Islamist movement…
MK. – Generally political movements answer this question by saying they rely on their own forces. Regarding the FRUD, the slogan "Rely primarily on one’s own forces" is not a jargon, but one which accurately reflects the reality of our situation.
Historically, the FRUD is known as the movement that had librated and controlled two-thirds of the territory of Djibouti from November 1991 to March 1993. This was done without the support of any movement or any State. Added to this picture there are no gold or diamonds or precious stones in areas where FRUD operates.
As we speak, no movement, no State and no business interest supports FRUD. Our advantage consists of the human resources that we muster. Our wealth is the Human element which for us is invaluable. We strive above all not to create enemies, neither among organizations nor States or the neighboring powers.
LNA. – You told LNA that FRUD does not rule out any hypothesis concerning its activities, except terrorism (1). Where do you stand on the question of the political path and/or the armed struggle?
MK. – The French comedian Raymond Devos once said: «Sometimes I used to give ear to a deaf. But he did not hear any better." Since independence we had to deal with completely deaf leaders neither able to hear any reasoning, nor to heed to warnings and who are in a permanent headlong rush. But with the current president the deafness is total. He even went as far as trampling the last peace agreement solemnly signed on May 21, 2001 with the late Ahmed Dini, who as we repeatedly said, did not question the President’s omnipotent power. This man, who draws his legitimacy only from being a relative of former President Gouled and stays in power by unleashing a savage repression against the Democrats and the Afar community, and who has never received the anointing of the polls (because in 1999, his opponent Moussa Ahmed Idriss prevailed and in 2005 he was the only candidate with only 10 to 13% of voters going to the polls), has demonstrated an incredible arrogance. He tore down the peace agreement which was his only card to enter into politics.
The peace agreement is not a privilege that one party gives to another. It is neither a disposal of properties belonging to the government nor a gift that a Reigning Prince grants to a segment of the population or to its subjects: It is a sacred obligation of the signatories to honor their commitments in order to achieve the fundamental objectives of peace.
The decrees, laws and even the fundamental act that is the Constitution must be adapted to the clauses of the peace agreement, which is not just a piece of paper but a fundamental commitment binding the parties for the future and laying the basis of a common life for all the citizens of a State.
We are very surprised that the powers who have military presence in Djibouti did not see the need to criticize the violation of the peace agreement by Ismael Omar Guelleh , when they know very well that it is fraught with serious consequences.
The policy followed for thirty-two years is extremely suicidal for the state of Djibouti. This is an opinion shared by most of the country’s people and many observers because without the Afar region, there is no Republic of Djibouti. Not only the issues raised by the conflict have not been resolved, but they have been aggravated and even become taboo.
Faced with the permanent violence of this regime which is based solely on the use of force and which turns its back to the task of creating a national democratic State, the resistance (understood both as a fight against oppression and as a process of creating a new alternative) is a legitimate, just and necessary struggle. We, as FRUD, scrupulously respected the people in areas where we conduct our actions.
We have never taken a single civilian as a target. We groomed, and fed, the prisoners of war we held. One must be aware of the fact that our fighters, who are trying to write a new page in the history of our country by refusing comfort in the cities, are fighting for the interests of all the people, and must be supported by all those who want change.
This does not prevent us from embracing the quotation from Antonio Gramsci who said: « One must be perfectly conscious of one’s own limitations especially if one wants to enlarge them. »
LNA. – There are clashes in northern Djibouti, between armed elements of FRUD and the Djiboutian National Army (NDA). It seems that the DNA is not so eager for battle and avoids contact ... Can you confirm our information? If yes, what is the reason?
MK. – There were several clashes between FRUD and the DNA in the districts of Obock and Tadjourah. The two most important ones took place around Ali Moussa and Sismo in Mable. In the last confrontation which took place on August 30, 2009, attacks by the army- which suffered losses - were repulsed despite the use of helicopters. But each time, commanding officers are obliged to visit the soldiers in an attempt to persuade them to go and fight FRUD. It is true that most of the time, the Army avoids contacts.
Several problems have been shaking the DNA in recent years. Faced with the fall of their purchasing power, resulting in part from rising staple foods prices, the soldiers based in the North have organized a movement of rebellion in February 2008. They demanded wage increases and especially the alignment of their salaries with those of the Presidential guard. To this serious crisis within the army, which almost degenerated, was added - at a time when the military was expecting to receive the wage increases promised in April 2008 - the so-called border war with Eritrea, which was triggered by the head of state Ismail Omar Guelleh and the Joint Chief of Staff, Sheikh Zakaria Ibrahim. Many soldiers involved in the mutiny were sent to the front where they paid a heavy price in deadly clashes between the two countries in June 2008. Some officers expressed doubts about the wisdom of this operation and were punished. These two events were a blow to the moral of the soldiers and led dozens to defect.
This malaise was exacerbated by the ouster of the businessman Abdurahman Boreh (a prominent personality in the economy but whose property was confiscated by the “fait du prince”) who seems to be influential within the army. The DNA was also facing increasing difficulties with the ex-FRUD elements incorporated after the two peace agreements. As they were never really accepted, many of them left due to the harassment and ostracism they had suffered. Three of them were executed on the orders of the military hierarchy: Aboubakar Ayoub, on May 7, 2008, in Galilee near the Ethiopian border, Mahmud, in Balbala, in mid-December 2008, and Mohamed Halloyta or “Reedo”, on August 18, 2009, in Boli (50 km from Tadjourah). Since the death of Halloyta, who was very popular among his comrades, former FRUD elements feel unsafe and incidents have been on the rise.
Five of them are imprisoned because they opposed the abuses against civilians: in Assagueila following the explosion of a tank wagon on October 15, 2009; or at Galella, the same week, because they tried to prevent the rape of two young girls one of whom was the daughter of an elder. There was yet another abuse against civilians on November 10, at Dawdaya.
These increasing abuses against civilians are not isolated and spontaneous acts. In the military establishment there are people recruited from the entourage of the President and his close allies. These are people assigned to do the dirty job: They rage against innocent civilians and are used to provoke clashes between the army and the people and create tribal tensions.
LNA. – The Prime Minister of Djibouti has made very harsh remarks about your Movement. It was in the North and he spoke in Afar. Some of his comments were surprising: He said inter alia that the FRUD was paralyzing the region by blocking roads… Curious statement, right?
MK. – This statement by the Prime Minister is not isolated and is part of a vast governmental Communication drive. The speech which the Prime Minister delivered in Afar at Tadjourah on October 22, 2009 (on the occasion of the presentation of a ferry-boat donated by the Japanese cooperation), addressed the population of the North who knows the situation in the region and the importance of FRUD better than the Prime Minister. But he has surprised many by declaring that the FRUD had de facto paralyzed the districts of Tadjourah and Obock (that is to say half of the country). It was also a way to better convey the message of firmness of the Head of State addressed to the inhabitants of the region who are suspected of supporting our organization.
Another audience, another speech. In contradiction with the Prime Minister’s message, the Minister of Interior (who has a hard time within the government) was duped into playing the worst role. On November 2, he declared on the Somali service of radio Voice of America that FRUD is a bunch of bandits who mistreat the people.
Finally, the most difficult role was assigned to the Minister of foreign affairs. He was supposed to demonstrate that there is no internal conflict in Djibouti and that all the country’s misfortunes come from outside. At the time of the first confrontation between government troops and the FRUD which took place in November 1991, the later was accused of being an Ethiopian militia. This time around, it is Eritrea who is accused of training militias to destabilize Djibouti. The minister, who had no qualms about giving this statement to Al-Jazeera in Cairo on 25 October, knows better than anyone else that the FRUD is Djiboutian in its composition, in its demands and its objectives. He personally took measure of the importance of this organization when he visited Mable (his home region) in September 2009, when the notables accused the military of using local residents as human shield.
FRUD has existed and will exist, notwithstanding the turn of events in relations between the Djibouti regime and neighboring states (Ethiopia, Eritrea). In reality Ismael Omar Guelleh is himself desperately trying to confer a regional dimension to the internal conflict between Djiboutians. Since February 1992 he has recruited some 8000 former Somali soldiers from Ziad Barre’s army. Similarly, he tries to use the hundreds of Somali soldiers receiving training in Holhol (Southern Djibouti), in the fight against FRUD.
LNA. – What is the specificity of FRUD, compared to the legal opposition in Djibouti?
MK. – FRUD is a politico-military organization and that gives it a special place in the political landscape of Djibouti. We believe that the primary phase of the formation of the national state is not yet completed in Djibouti. Because of this, we say that the monopoly of violence held by the regime for thirty -two years has no legitimacy. That is why the FRUD has been challenging this monopoly for the past eighteen years. There is a dialectical relationship between the strengthening of FRUD and the widening of the democratic space, and its corollary, which is the creation of political parties.
The first achievements and early victories of FRUD have forced the regime to adopt a constitution which provides for a quadripartite system. But this was quickly discarded and the arrangements emptied of their contents. Then as a second phase, the advances made by FRUD led to the introduction of a multiparty system in September 2002. There are now four opposition parties, three of which are regrouped in the coalition UDA (Union for democratic Alternative). Not only these parties dispose of limited resources for their activities but they can also lose their legal status at any time as was the case for the MDR (Movement for Democratic Renewal), dissolved by presidential decree on a futile pretext.
"Never two without three", this time around we hope to realize our objectives with the participation of all forces standing for change. The Western powers, present in Djibouti and neighboring countries have no interest whatsoever in supporting the life presidency of Ismail Omar Guelleh. This regime, a factor of instability for the country and the region, has already begun its descent into a kind of Sombololoho (2), which in Afar evokes "a kind of track as slippery as a toboggan".
LNA. – Are there interconnections between FRUD and other movements of the democratic
MK. – In a context marked by a sense of hopelessness and helplessness, FRUD is perceived with hope because it can weaken the military omnipotence of the regime.
Once looked upon with suspicion by a segment of the population, FRUD is now encouraged in its actions by various actors, including legalized parties, who consider our organization as a factor of democratization. A stronger FRUD can create a favorable balance of power for all democratic movements with whom we have good relations. But the recurring question, that of forming an alliance with our organization, which is being debated within these movements, must be resolved quickly.
As far as we are concerned, given the current political context characterized by the existence of many political trends, we try to maintain with the opposition parties a relationship based on equality. This situation calls for the formation of a broad front based on a platform, which cherishes mutual respect and allows autonomy and freedom of action for all democratic organizations. This opens a different perspective and is opposed to practices of the regime in power since Independence, which has cannibalized all groups that have rallied to him as was the case with the dissenting faction from FRUD or Aden Robleh’s PND?
LNA. – People also speak of insecurity, abuse of young people and about thugs in Djibouti City. What is this all about and what are the consequences of this climate in the capital?
MK. – There are three levels of insecurity that affect the citizens of the capital.
The first violence is that which is perpetrated by the security forces themselves i.e. the Police and members of the presidential guard, who attack those who defend their rights: the unemployed, students, residents of neighborhoods considered as hostile to the regime. Three people were killed in Balbala while resisting the destruction of their homes in August 2009.
Secondly, Administrative buildings (Court of Auditors with destruction of all its records, the offices of the Supreme Court, those of the Ministry of Agriculture, etc..), and some homes are targeted and put ablaze in a more or less organized manner. No enquiries have been conducted and so one has been arrested.
Finally, youth violence, which consists of taking possession of neighborhoods after 21:00, has emerged lately. This insecurity is similar to what a Cameroonian political scientist, Achille Mbembe described as lumpen-radicalism, that is to say violence without a political project. It is fueled by the tensions arising within the establishment following the announcement by the ruling party of the possibility of a third term for the current president. This new form of urban violence undermines the fiction of stability and risks to worsen gradually as the system decays. It is also favored by the dismantling of the political structures, unions and associations.
LNA. – On the other hand, the food situation is serious in Djibouti, in the North and the rest of the country. Is it generally a similar problem as the one we have in the rest of the Horn of Africa?
MK. The food situation is worsening from year to year. In 2008, the U.S. Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews.net) put at about 340,000 (i.e. half the population) the number of people suffering from hunger and who needed urgent assistance. In 2009, this number increased substantially. While Djibouti suffers the same cycle of drought and famine that hits the rest of the Horn of Africa, the food situation is aggravated by the diversion (up 90%) of international aid. The situation is even more dramatic for the people of the northern and south-western regions, who still don’t have access to aid and services from NGOs, and are exposed to a slow destruction due to the policies of the regime.
The inhabitants of the border with Eritrea are hardest hit because the Djibouti authorities have imposed an embargo. These authorities also took the scandalous decision to prohibit travel in this region by the Sultan of Rahaita, M. Abdoulkader Daoud, a customary chief who is a highly respected personality among the population of Djibouti, and by his brothers and other family members.
(1) Interview with Hassan Mokbel, responsible for External Relations FRUD:
http://www.lesnouvelles.org/P10_magazine/15_grandentretien/15051_FRUD2006.html
(2) Title of a famous book by Mohamed Aden, dealing with the fall of Ali Aref, vice-Chairman of the Governmental Council of the colonial era.
