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Puntland
Back on Track After Six Years in Mayhem
(SHHRF 0027/2005, 12 January 2005)
We praise Puntland people who have exercised
their constitutional rights following the presidential election of January
2005. Marking an end of an era and the beginning of a new one, this is also
a good restart where Puntlanders have demonstrated once again that they can
put their mouth and action in the same direction. The political class has
finally delivered after nearly six and half years of ups and downs.
As political socialisation is a continuous and
cumulative process of learning, the stimulation of political attitudes as a
basis for political participation is of special importance in a fragmented
society. The degree to which the people cooperate in the social and
administrative domain will depend on the sincerity of the administration and
how it will apply Puntland’s notion of bottom-up approach. Principally,
bottom-up process of political decision-making requires the administrative
structures to be accountable to the local communities. Greater cooperation
with the society may lead to less conflict at the political level. This
would also lead to a commitment to restoring credible governance and
democracy.
As Puntland is still in an era of post-conflict
reconstruction, one aspect which the new administration should focus is
social rehabilitation. Social rehabilitation in post-conflict reconstruction
cannot be achieved without an emotional healing that puts an end to
individual and group mourning. Another aspect is confidence building where
past mistakes would be exploited as lessons for the future. Those who had
committed crimes against people should sincerely outreach their victims.
All conflicts disrupt the balance of social
order. In such atmosphere, it is commonly maintained that there is a need to
develop a ‘culture of prevention’ that addresses the underlying causes of
conflict. One of this is to put more effort into preventing the violation of
human rights and rule of law.
SHHRF welcomes the recent election of Gen.
Mohamud Muse Hersi (Adde) and his deputy. Although a challenging work lies
ahead, initial reactions seem positive. Calling for peaceful resolution of
the regional conflict and imposing accountability restrictions are both
important priorities. These two points address the previous administration's
fault-lines – war-mongering mentality, and lack of financial accountability
(qaataye-qaado).
The last but not the least
advice of SHHRF to the new administration is to bar corrupt individuals and
people with bad human rights record from the senior government positions.
Suldan Hurre Human Rights
Focus
suldanhurre@suldanhurre.org
www.suldanhurre.org
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