|
SHHRF 0035/2005
Friday, 27 May 2005
Rt Hon
Tony Blair MP, Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA
Re: Our
concern with treating a warlord in Britain
Dear Prime Minister
Sultan Hurre Human Rigthts Focus is
concerned with the medical treatment which Britain has been giving to
warlord Col. Abdullahi Yusuf. From time to time, warlord Col. Abdullahi
Yusuf Ahmed comes to London for medical check as he had a liver transplant
at Cromwell hospital in 1996. It is deplorable men like Abdullahi Yusuf to
get treatment in Britain.
In October 2004, Col. Abdullahi Yusuf
has been selected as interim Somali president following two years of show
off in an IGAD sponsored conference. Currently Somalia is in a hopeless
situation given the colonel’s human rights records and his loyalty to
Ethiopia. Col. Abdullahi Yusuf has a long and worrying past in Somalia known
for his disrespect to democracy and human dignity.
Col. Abdullahi Yusuf was responsible for
curbing the nascent grassroots-based democratic institutions, which
flourished in Puntland State of Somalia following the collapse of the Somali
state in the early 1991.
We believe that human rights abuses were
one of the main reasons for the collapse of the former Somali Democratic
Republic. Similarly, taking no account on human rights issues and
humanitarian law in the Somali peace negotiations are some of the main
reasons for the failures of Somali peace conferences including the 2004 IGAD
sponsored conference, which resulted giving Somalia a warlord government.
Col Abdullahi Yusuf has blood in his
hand as he is responsible for the killing of many prominent and traditional
Somali leaders. Among the prominent figures he is accused of killing include
Sultan Ahmed Hurre, Abdirahman Aideed and Farah Dheere
It is regrettable that a man such as Col Abdullahi Yusuf to get medication
in Britain as he will go back to kill and displace many more. A warlord
should be send to prison and not to hospital.
Britain should not be a heaven where
warlords get treatment.
Sultan Hurre Human Rights Focus (SHHRF) |
