Pan-Somali Council for Peace and Democracy (ISRAACA)
1201 Pennsylvania Ave, NW #300 PMP #49 Washington, DC 20004
Telephone: (202) 661-4653 Email: [email protected]
www.israac.org

Your Excellency:

After fifteen successive failed peace conferences and sixteen years of pervasive lawlessness; after several months of bloody violence in the streets of Mogadishu that took the lives of several hundred of mostly unarmed citizens, a seemingly new day of hope is dawning for Somalia.

The unfathomable outcome has emerged amidst what seemed to be the most hopeless days since the peek of the Somali fratricide in early 90s- peace is restored in the streets of Mogadishu.

Cross-tribal jubilation is underway since last week when some of the most powerful and indeed most loathed warlords who perpetuated violence and chaos and rendered every peace agreement null and void have been chased out of Mogadishu at the hands of a coalition of the Islamic Courts (ICs) of Mogadishu.

While Islamic Courts was initially thought -at least by the U.S. who was operating on a “false intelligence” provided by Ethiopia- of being a terrorist coalition, its historical background affirms that it is nothing other than a clan-based Islamic courts that came together to fill a vacuum created by the absence of other legitimate authorities willing or capable to securing law and order in Mogadishu.

The ICs record might not be immaculate per its implementation and might be amateurish in its modus operandi, but, as its chairman Sheikh Sharif has indicated in a numerous interviews, the coalition, though it has an overwhelming popular support from the average Somali, the business community that has been the economic lifeline of the nation, and the civil societies, is neither interested in ruling Somalia nor in imposing their religious views on any one or nation. Furthermore, the Islamic Courts welcomed the U.S. expressed willingness to open official dialogue with the Islamic Courts and to recognize the Transitional Federal Government. 

With that background in mind, the Pan-Somali Council for Peace and Democracy (Israaca) strongly urges the Unites States, the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, The Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conference, and the international community to support the Islamic Courts in order to build on the current milestone and political momentum and to enact on the following in order to sustain the current fresh air of peace and hope:

I.                    No country should directly or indirectly support the warlords to continue their reign of terror

II.                 Support the ICs to maintain peace and order

III.               Assist and empower the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to fulfill its constitutional mandate

IV.              Respect and uphold UN Resolution 733 imposing arms embargo on Somalia

V.                 Refrain from providing any shelter or haven to the warlords 

VI.              Help set up a Somali War Crimes Tribunal

VII.            Help build institutions that would provide rehabilitation programs, maintain peace and sustain democracy

VIII.         Support legitimate civil societies with proven track records

IX.              Provide trainings in governance

That said: we would be remiss not to express special gratitude towards the EU which has been the largest donor since October 2002 when it started to fund the IGAD initiated Somali peace conference convened in Kenya, and has, in March 2006, in its 2718^th General Affairs Council meeting adopted a resolution putting Somalia in its priority list and explicitly committing the EU to help Somalia in the critical areas of reconciliation, rehabilitation, and development; also Djibouti and Kenya for their respective hospitality, moral, and political support.

It goes without saying: the Somali people, whether in their homeland or in the Diaspora, are forever grateful.

The Pan-Somali Council for Peace and Democracy is a Washington-based Somali advocacy organization with a wide-range of membership in Somalia and around the world who are made professionals, academician, public intellectuals, and activists.

Sincerely,

Abukar Osman, Chairman of the Board

Said Salah, Executive Director
E-mail: [email protected]