Thursday 21, Nov, 2024 {HMC} Jubaland’s parliament elected its leadership on Thursday in Kismayo despite the federal government rejecting the ongoing Jubbaland electoral process.

Abdi Mohamed Abdirahman was re-elected Speaker for a third term, securing 65 votes against challenger Ismail Abdi Keerow, who received seven votes, according to Interim Speaker Sheikh Abdi Yusuf Ali.

A close ally of President Ahmed Madobe, Abdirahman’s re-election consolidates the alignment between the parliament and the executive branch in Jubbaland.

Hirad Ismail Mohamed won the position of First Deputy Speaker with 56 votes, while Mahad Mohamed Ahmed secured 18 votes. Abdi Baley Hussein was elected Second Deputy Speaker, receiving 51 votes against Abdirashid Ali Mohamud’s 22 votes.

“Today’s elections reflect our commitment to strengthening Jubaland’s democratic processes,” said Interim Speaker Sheikh Abdi Yusuf Ali.

Prime Minister Hamse Abdi Barre has dismissed the Jubaland electoral process as illegitimate, accusing President Madobe of pursuing personal ambitions. Barre reiterated that Article 70 of the Jubaland Constitution limits presidents to two terms, rendering Madobe ineligible for re-election.

Tensions have escalated following Madobe’s withdrawal from a recent National Consultative Council (NCC) meeting in Mogadishu. Madobe called for Puntland and SSC Khatumo to be included in electoral discussions, aligning with Puntland’s ongoing boycott of the NCC amid disputes with the federal government.

Source Hiiraan Online

Thursday 21, Nov, 2024 {HMC} The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict.

The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant were responsible for policies that deprived Gaza’s civilian population of essential resources, including food, water, and medical supplies. The alleged crimes occurred from October 8, 2023, to May 20, 2024, during Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

Israel has contested the ICC’s jurisdiction. The Pre-Trial Chamber unanimously dismissed Israel’s challenges, affirming that the court’s jurisdiction extends to Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem under the State of Palestine’s 2015 accession to the Rome Statute.

“The acceptance by Israel of the Court’s jurisdiction is not required,” the chamber stated, referencing Palestine’s territorial jurisdiction as a basis for its decision.

The chamber detailed allegations that Netanyahu and Gallant engaged in the “intentional deprivation of objects indispensable to survival,” violating international humanitarian law. These actions reportedly led to malnutrition, dehydration, and the deaths of civilians, including children.

“The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that the lack of food, water, electricity, and fuel created conditions calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population in Gaza,” the court’s statement read. It further accused the two leaders of intentionally blocking humanitarian aid and targeting civilians.

Additionally, the ICC stated that medical supply shortages, including anesthetics, forced doctors to operate under dire conditions, inflicting extreme pain and suffering. The chamber classified these acts as inhumane, constituting crimes against humanity.

“These warrants are a step toward holding individuals accountable for grave violations of international law,” said ICC prosecutor Karim Khan.

The ICC also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif. The shadowy commander has led Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, for over two decades. He is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, hostage-taking, and orchestrating the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that killed over 1,100 people. Born in 1965 in the Khan Younis refugee camp, he rose to prominence during the first Intifada and is credited with developing Hamas’s tunnel networks and bomb-making expertise. While Israel claims to have killed Deif in an airstrike, the ICC noted that the charges remain active until independently verified.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the move “a dark day for humanity,” accusing the court of aligning with terrorism. Opposition leader Yair Lapid described the warrants as “a reward for terror,” while former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett labelled the ICC’s actions “a mark of shame.”

The ICC investigation into the situation in Palestine began in 2021, following Palestine’s 2015 accession to the Rome Statute. The probe was expanded in January 2024 after additional referrals from countries including South Africa, Bangladesh, and Mexico.

The arrest warrants mark the first time the ICC has issued warrants against leaders of a U.S. ally and a democratic nation.

In the U.S., the Biden administration, which describes itself as Israel’s “greatest ally,” will likely reject the ICC’s decision and jurisdiction over Israel. Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune threatened sanctions against the court, describing the warrants as “politically motivated.”

Conversely, Palestinian officials and human rights groups welcomed the warrants as a step toward accountability for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where over 41,000 Palestinians, including civilians, have died since the conflict began.

“This is an extraordinary, exceptional day for justice,” said Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara. “The ICC’s willingness to target Western allies signals a shift in its approach to accountability.”

Bishara emphasized the potential impact on Netanyahu’s international standing, noting that he could face arrest if he travels to any of the ICC’s 124 member states.

Israel, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute and rejects the ICC’s jurisdiction, is unlikely to cooperate. Enforcement depends on the willingness of ICC member states to execute arrests, potentially curtailing Netanyahu and Gallant’s international movements.

Source Hiiraan Online

Thursday 21,Nov 2024 {HMC} Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has reiterated the federal government’s determination to advance the democratic process and implement universal suffrage elections by 2026.

Speaking at a reception marking the birthday of HM King Charles III in Mogadishu on Wednesday, President Mohamud emphasized the critical role of democratic elections in strengthening governance and fostering national development.

“Elections are the most important pillar of democracy based on the will of the Somali people,” he said. “The government is working to ensure that the Somali people fully participate in shaping their future and have the constitutional right to choose who will lead their destiny.”

The president also urged international partners to support Somalia’s efforts to achieve political stability, security, and sustainable development during this pivotal period.

Somalia’s Federal Parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a landmark law regulating the establishment and operation of political parties and organizations. This legislation is crucial in transitioning Somalia towards a multiparty democratic system.

The joint parliamentary session at Villa Hargeisa in Mogadishu saw 177 of 178 lawmakers in attendance voting in favor of the law, with one abstention and no opposition, according to Speaker of the House of the People, Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe.

Source Hiiraan online

Thursday Nov 21, 2024 {HMC}  By Jeff Seldin Washington — The Islamic State terror group’s small but influential affiliate in Somalia is growing, thanks in part to what the United Nations describes as an “influx of foreign fighters.”

A new report this week by the U.N. Sanctions Monitoring Team for Somalia warns that fighters, including some from countries in the Middle East, have helped the Islamic State’s Somali affiliate, also known as IS-Somalia, to more than double in size to between 600 and 700 fighters.

“Foreign fighters arrive in Puntland [Somalia] using both maritime and overland routes,” according to the report, which is based on intelligence estimates from U.N. member states.

The foreign fighters “have expanded and enhanced the group’s capabilities,” the report said, strengthening IS’s presence in Somalia’s Puntland region while also helping it take territory from its key rival, al-Qaida-linked terror group al-Shabab.

Intelligence sources described the IS-Somalia advance, especially in Puntland’s Cal Miskaad mountains, as a “drastic change,” crediting the foreign fighters for IS-Somalia’s change in fortune.

The U.N. report said the IS foreign fighters have come from at least six countries: Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia, Sudan, Morocco and Tanzania. It also said some captured foreign fighters have reported working with trainers who have come from parts of the Middle East.

The new report builds on previous warnings from U.S. and Somali officials, including the commander of U.S. Africa Command, who told VOA last month that IS-Somalia had grown “twofold” over the past year.

Somali officials have likewise warned of hundreds of foreign fighters flocking to Somalia to join the ranks of the IS affiliate.

“This reporting on an influx of foreign terrorist fighters in Africa is concerning,” said Austin Doctor, the director of counterterrorism research initiatives at the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center.

And while the flow of foreign fighters to Somalia pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of fighters who flocked to join IS in Syria and Iraq during the height of the terror group’s self-declared caliphate, Doctor told VOA the trend is likely to continue.

“A number of factors present in the Horn [of Africa] and other Africa regions as well will likely appeal to aspiring travelers looking to join the rank and file of an extremist militant organization,” he said. “Global and local security forces should prepare to see more of this in the near term.”

There are likewise concerns about IS-Somalia’s growing prominence on the global stage.

Since 2022, Somalia has been home to al-Karrar, one of nine regional Islamic State offices established to help sustain the terror group’s global capabilities.

The U.N. report cautions that despite some leadership losses, the al-Karrar office has become both more powerful and more decentralized, making it more difficult to disrupt its activities.

And the report confirms that former IS-Somalia leader Abdulqadir Mumin, who escaped a U.S. airstrike this past June, has been elevated to head of the Islamic State’s general directorate of provinces, “placing him in a leadership role over [IS] affiliates in Africa.”

IS-Somalia, according to the report, is now being led by Mumin’s former deputy, Abdirahman Fahiye Isse, with Abdiwali Waran-Walac running IS-Somalia’s finances.

And the group’s finances appear to be in good shape.

“Given the relatively small size of [IS]-Somalia, the group can sustain itself and generate additional revenue for other [IS] affiliates through the al-Karrar office,” the report said.

SOURCE

Thursday November 21, 2024

Somalia is working to put in place a favourable regulatory framework to strengthen its digital infrastructure. In particular, regulator the National Communications Authority is preparing the introduction of new regulations on submarine cable landings.

A unified fibre optic deployment policy covering all aspects of fibre installation and rollout in the country is the aim. Such an initiative, the government suggests, will reduce the costs associated with the deployment and extension of fibre optic infrastructure, while promoting the growth of the modern digital economy and national interconnection.

To this end, says Ecofin reporting on this development, the Department of Communications and Technology has organised a public consultation to get the opinions and contributions of the various stakeholders.

On its Facebook page, it says: “The unified fibre optic deployment policy aims to guide national telecommunications companies towards collaboration for the installation and expansion of fibre optic cables.”

The country’s present domestic fibre optic network is underdeveloped and fragmented, even with the existing connection to five international submarine cables (a sixth is on the way).

Thus a fair distribution of available capacity seems some way off. As the World Bank said in a report earlier this year: “The absence of a robust backbone network prevents the distribution of international capacity across the country, resulting in unequal broadband access, heterogeneous network quality, limited redundancy and slowing down competition in the market.”

Ecofin also highlights an internet penetration rate of only 27.6% in early 2024, and numerous obstacles to its extension, including limited access to affordable, broadband-enabled devices, a lack of attractive data-driven services, insufficient local relevant content, and a digital skills deficit. Arguably, these issues should be addressed at the same time as digital infrastructure.