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US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis meets with Djibouti’s Minister of Defense Ali Hasan Bahdon at the presidential palace in Djibouti City, Djibouti, April 23, 2017 (Source: Jim Mattis/Wikimedia Commons)
DJIBOUTI
Our Concerns
- Arbitrary arrests, secret detention and unfair trials of political opponents and critical voices;
- Practice of torture and ill-treatment especially against political opponents and activists as well as denial of medical care in detention;
- Lack of independence of the judiciary coupled with a climate of impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations.
As Djibouti celebrated the 40th anniversary of its independence from France in 2017, violations of civil and political rights in the country remained widespread and largely underreported. Djibouti’s strategic geopolitical location in the horn of Africa has made it a key ally for global powers including China, which built its first overseas military base in the country this year. As a result, Djibouti has benefited from the silence of its allies, who this year continued to turn a blind eye as the authorities systematically repressed the political opposition and dissenting voices within civil society such as journalists, human rights defenders and bloggers.
In a similar vein, the media landscape remains restricted in the country, in large part due to a state monopoly on television and radio channels as well as on the main national newspapers. This monopoly means that civil society actors, members of the political opposition, and individuals presenting alternatives to state narratives are denied their right to freedom of expression and remain largely invisible in the media.
Additionally, in 2017, the authorities continued to subject political opponents, peaceful protesters and other dissenting voices who express criticism through cyber activism or on social media and in the press to judicial harassment and travel bans. The government’s restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, opinion, association and peaceful assembly have led to individuals who took a public stance against the government or in support of opposition parties – particularly on social media – being subjected to torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and detentions.
Persistent repression against political opponents and peaceful dissenting voices
I n 2017, members of the opposition and human rights defenders continued to be targeted within the context of the authorities’ repression against dissenting voices. In cases documented by Alkarama, victims were generally arbitrarily arrested by State Security officers without warrants, and held in custody – often in secret – for periods ranging from several days to several weeks. During this period, they were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment, and deprived of their right to contact their families or lawyers. They were then accused of “spreading false information” or “insulting state officials”, and subjected to unfair trials before being sentenced to several months of imprisonment and/or heavy fines. Unfair and often expeditious trials are symptomatic of the Djiboutian judiciary system, which lacks independence and impartiality as it is used as tool by the government to judicially harass and silence criticism and dissent.
In 2017, Alkarama received information concerning the case of Omar Mohamed Nour, a young blogger who was arrested at his home on June 6 and held incommunicado for several days before being released on June 18. He was arrested a second time on July 15 and held in secret for 24 hours after he published a complaint addressed to the Public Prosecutor alleging torture by a senior official of the Research and Documentation Service of the Gendarmerie. A week later, Nour was arrested for a third time, without a warrant and without being informed of the reasons for his arrest, before being released a few weeks later. Since then, Nour has been subjected to constant judicial harassment.
Torture, coerced confessions and poor conditions of detention
The practice of torture and ill-treatment continued in 2017 as a form of reprisal or punishment against activists and political dissidents for having opposed or criticised the authorities publicly, and in order to obtain confessions which would later be used as sole evidence to convict individuals in unfair trials. Over the course of the year, torture and other forms of ill-treatment were inflicted by security forces against political opponents, journalists and other dissenting voices during arrests as well as in police custody and detention.
Moreover, several individuals still remain in detention due to extended procedural delays or following unfair trials. Documented cases show trends in the Djiboutian judiciary system of the rights of the defence not being respected, and victims’ testimonies of ill-treatment or even torture not being taken into account by the judge. By not opening any investigation into such allegations, judges perpetuate impunity for the perpetrators of these violations.
In addition, the particularly appalling conditions of detention in prisons – poor hygiene, severe overcrowding, lack of appropriate nutrition and medical care – constitute by their very nature other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. These conditions of detention are used as a means of psychological pressure on detainees, especially political opponents and peaceful activists, to deter them from carrying out their work. The case of Mohamed Ahmed Edou – also known as Mohamed Djabha – a political opponent and member of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy, illustrates this pattern of violations. Arrested in 2010 and held incommunicado for several weeks, Djabha was severely tortured during his detention and forced to sign a self-incriminating statement. These confessions were later used to charge him with creating a “paramilitary organisation” and “collaborating with a foreign power”. On June 18, 2017, after seven years of arbitrary detention, he was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment following a severely flawed trial. In spite of the numerous calls for his release and the conerning state of his health, Mohamed Djabha remained in detention at the Gabode prison in inhumane conditions and, due to the lack of medical care, the country’s oldest political detainee died in detention on August 2, 2017.
“The particularly appalling conditions of detention in prisons – poor hygiene, severe overcrowding, lack of appropriate nutrition and medical care – constitute by their very nature other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”
Wave of arbitrary arrests against members of the opposition
Between March 13 and 22, 2017, 19 members of the opposition political party Movement for Democratic Renewal (MRD) were arbitrarily arrested by the Research and Documentation Section of the Gendarmerie of Djibouti City. All these arrests were carried out without warrants, and the victims were not officially informed of the reasons for their arrests. The 19 opposition members all reported having been subjected to ill-treatment and torture during their time in custody.
After several days of police custody, nine of these individuals were brought before the Public Prosecutor on March 23, 2017 without the assistance of their lawyers. Among them, Naguib Ali Gouradi, Farah Abadid Hildid, Mohamoud Mohamed Daher and Ibrahim Abdi Indayareh were transferred to Gabode central prison before being sentenced to two months of imprisonment for “illegal political activities”.
On May 10, 2017, the four men were brought before the Court of Appeal and released pending further consideration of their case on May 17. Since then, and after being postponed several times, no decision has yet been issued. Other political opponents have also been subjected to unfair trials, including MRD Secretary General Djama Houssein Robleh and political activist Hared Daher, who were sentenced to two months of imprisonment for “illegal political activities” on March 28, 2017 after an unfair trial. Furthermore, an arrest warrant was issued by the authorities against MRD president, Daher Ahmed Farah, who is currently living in Europe, on the basis of similar charges of carrying out “illegal political activities”.
All members of the MRD, including its leaders, are still subjected to persistent judicial harassment from the authorities, amounting to a violation of their fundamental rights to freedom of opinion and expression as well as their right to political participation guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Djibouti ratified in 2002.