The Plight of Yemen's 'Untouchables AJ

[Gantaal05]

[Calibesteen]

The Akhdams are decendents from the blacks who once ruled Yemen. These people are the descendants of the military outpost. The Aarabs in Yemen hate that part of their history but Axum, Saaba were all African kingdom so it is not justified to treat these people as shid and then take their history. The Queen of Sheeba had the same skin color as the Akhdams they are discriminating.


It is a sick world we live in.


Black emancipation is necessary not only Africa, the Americas and Middle East but the entire Globe.

[barakaboy10]

living in an Arab country with the majority of people being uneducated is the worse thing ever a human being can happen to. Arabs are, if they are uneducated, the worst kind of human beings, period.

we ask why societies have so much problems!!! this is why. until everyone in everyone nation in the world is treated equally, societies will never move forward and reach their full potential.

Somalis are another good examples. Somalis have treated its Bantu minority the same way Yemenis are treating their dark-skinned minorities. so it is not only Yemenis who are doing this.

this is against the basic believes of Islam. how could you claim to be a Muslim and cause so much harm to another human being, whether be it physical or mental?! something i will never understand!

may Allah make these innocent people's lives easier and may Allah make away out of this horrible condition. it is a very sad reality.

and these adorable little kids----it makes me wonder why!!!

[HilaacHills]

living in an Arab country with the majority of people being uneducated is the worse thing ever a human being can happen to. Arabs are, if they are uneducated, the worst kind of human beings, period.

we ask why societies have so much problems!!! this is why. until everyone in everyone nation in the world is treated equally, societies will never move forward and reach their full potential.

Somalis are another good examples. Somalis have treated its Bantu minority the same way Yemenis are treating their dark-skinned minorities. so it is not only Yemenis who are doing this.

this is against the basic believes of Islam. how could you claim to be a Muslim and cause so much harm to another human being, whether be it physical or mental?! something i will never understand!

may Allah make these innocent people's lives easier and may Allah make away out of this horrible condition. it is a very sad reality.

and these adorable little kids----it makes me wonder why!!!

Well Said.

[grandpakhalif]

They are the midgaans of Yemen, a low-caste ignoble people.

[Gantaal05]

They are the midgaans of Yemen, a low-caste ignoble people.

'midgaan' is only the person who goes to jahanam

we're all equal before God

[Calibesteen]

living in an Arab country with the majority of people being uneducated is the worse thing ever a human being can happen to. Arabs are, if they are uneducated, the worst kind of human beings, period.

we ask why societies have so much problems!!! this is why. until everyone in everyone nation in the world is treated equally, societies will never move forward and reach their full potential.

Somalis are another good examples. Somalis have treated its Bantu minority the same way Yemenis are treating their dark-skinned minorities. so it is not only Yemenis who are doing this.

this is against the basic believes of Islam. how could you claim to be a Muslim and cause so much harm to another human being, whether be it physical or mental?! something i will never understand!

may Allah make these innocent people's lives easier and may Allah make away out of this horrible condition. it is a very sad reality.

and these adorable little kids----it makes me wonder why!!!

The difference is Bantus did not live in Somalia prior to 1820, that is when they arrived to work on plantations but the Akhdam lived in Yemen for thousands of years, they are the descendant of the military outpost and their families that live in that area during kingdoms like Axum etc.

This make Bantu not an ethnic Somali group however they are Somali by nationality and therefore should be treated equally but the thing with akhdam is just weird. From upper elite to being lowest. That is fock waallahay.

[Enlightened~Sista]

We also have our own muhamasheen, the 'midgaan' and the 'jareer'. So we're no better than the Arabs really.

[GIJaamac]

I guess none of you commenters have been in somalia. When people say jareers and migaans are discriminated against in somalia, it means people dont intermarry with them only. Ee sida kale waa iska caadi. They do normal jobs, own property just like everyone else. Somalia is nowhere near at yemen in discrimination. Oh wait, my bad im talking about south somalia. i dont the situation in north. I hope its not bad.

[Enlightened~Sista]

^ Madhibaans/Gabooye say otherwise.

Gabooye Minority Organisation
Europe & N. America
Source: http://dulmane.com/bayaanada/bayaan.htm
____________________________________________

On 13 May 2005, Khadar Adan Osman was shot dead intentionally by a police officer in Somaliland knowing he was a member of the discriminated Gabooye minority.

Gabooye was born on that day where in a peaceful protest, a large crowd of Gabooye and sympathisers went to the central police station and president’s office. They were calling for justice and equality following Khadar Adan Osman’s death and for their human rights to be respected. They were confronted by the armed police who used live ammunition against the non-violent demonstrators. They beat and arrested several hundred demonstrators including children and women. Other Gabooyes were later arrested in police raids on Dami village on the outskirt of Hargeisa, where most live in harsh conditions. We hereby strongly condemn the injustice of the Somaliland courts that punished the blooded handed man who killed “Khadar” for 5 years prison, which is contrary to the constitution of Somaliland which states that “if someone purposely kills someone he/she has to face the punishment of death penalty”. But in this case, the Somaliland courts considered the blood of Khadar Adan Osman cheaper than the murderer. The Amnesty International as well as the British Government shares our concerns about respect for human rights in Somaliland.

We suffered severely in the civil war and remain vulnerable as we do not belong to any of the major clans and thus do not have the powerbase. Our rights have been denied and our lives nothing but equal to the death of an ant and treated as less than fully human.

We face murder, looting, destruction of property, discrimination, torture, unlawful arrest and detention. Some of Gabooye were physically dismembered by being tied to two vehicles which were then driven apart and others were covered with hot tarmac.

A boy of 18 years was killed in Somaliland and cut his flesh into pieces and put in a plastic bag and kept in front of the family’s house.

If Gabooye children go to school they are bullied so that they cannot stay and get educated but instead end up left with jobs such as shoe shinning. Gabooye minority are referred to as sub human caste, serfdom, SAB and many others.

We have asked the Somaliland Government several times of quota seats in the parliament similar to wherever there is a minority in other countries of the world but they rejected stating that ‘You are not even allowed to live in Somaliland’.

Following all the above facts, we are asking the British government and all other countries that provide Aid to Somaliland to take an immediate action in order to stop murdering, looting, discriminating, torturing, arresting unlawfully and finally respect the human rights towards Gabooye. We are asking the International Communities to consider the Gabooye minority as at serious risk of human rights abuse.

Mohammed Issa Abby
Chairman of the Gabooye Minority Organisation
In Europe and North America
Gabooye.org99@hotmail.co.uk

[ElfRuler]

It's only people with major insecurities that use derogatory terms and dehumanize another human being because of skin color, social status, gender, etc....

[Enlightened~Sista]

The New Midgaan
Date of Birth: May 13, 2005



There are days that come to define the life of a nation. Some instantly mark out their nature in glory or infamy. Others are days of trial and tribulation that manifest their decisive nature only with the passage of time, in retrospect. May 13, 2005 is such a day in the history of all Somalis in general and in that of Somaliland in particular.

On that day in the year 2005 hundreds of Gabooye demonstrators stood up to be counted, in a most peaceful demonstration, in Hargaysa, the Capital of Somaliland. The Midgaan and Gabooye are members of minority Somali tribes, indistinguishable in any way from the rest of society, who have been subjected to discrimination, humiliation and dehumanization at the hands of their fellow Somali brethren simply because they belong to a particular tribal subgroup of Somali society.

It was the first time such a massive revolt against the disgusting tyranny of senseless discrimination has occurred anywhere in Somali experience. And Somaliland should stand proud and tall for it is becoming the birthplace of new sense of equality and citizenship. The peace, stability, social reconstruction and the adoption of the principles of democracy and freedom has extended to the Gabooye and Midgaan citizens of Somaliland as well and for the first time in the modern history of Somali society anywhere (Somalis live in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland and Kenya). Somalis everywhere should take note the liberation of the Midgaan has started; the great city of Hargaysa is its birthplace

Already the names Midgaan, Gabooye, Madhibaan and Somali-Six has been re-appropriated and reclaimed as words of honor and as battle cry of emancipation. The literature of the struggle is finding its way through books and websites with remarkable titles and impressive content; Midgaan.com, Somali-Six.com, “The Yibir of Las Burgavo by Gaildon.” Young, educated, impatient, empowered and angry generation is introducing new imperatives and vocabulary to the Somali discourse.

In Hargaysa, Somaliland, on May 13, 2005 the Gabooye and the Midgaan spoke their name aloud and shattered the silence and ignorance of a vicious cultural tyranny. The demonstrators forced Somaliland society to look into the mirror and behold the ugly face of injustice. And to their credit Somaliland society is listening and is intent on ushering the era of the emancipation of all citizens of Somaliland from the old archaic and moribund belief system and a decaying way of life.

The Hargaysa demonstrations were accompanied by sporadic and relatively tame confrontations with the security forces of the incipient nation-state. The protestors kept their eyes on the goal; Justice, Dignity and Freedom. Many of them ended up in nasty overcrowded prisons that night. In an interview with BBC Somali Service, Somaliland’s “articulate” Minster of Interior denied and also admitted that there was a demonstration. And he denied and also admitted that people were imprisoned as a result.

The spark that set this fire was the fatal shooting of Khadar Aden Osman Dhabar in the early hours of May 12, 2005 by a Somaliland police officer and his death on May 13, 2005 of his injuries.

The circumstances surrounding Khadar’s death are as controversial as they come. Word on the street has it that the man was killed because he was an uppity Midgaan who dared to talk back to a cop. The Minster of the Police talked about alcohol and a drunken youth attacking the police, though no one was drunk and no alcohol was found. This was a restatement of Steve Biko hitting his head against the wall.

Because of the discrepancy I quote Amnesty International. “On 13 May, Khadar Osman Dhabar died in Hargaysa hospital of numerous bullet wounds after being shot on the night of 11 May in the street by a police officer. Details of the incident are still unclear but it seems that the shooting incident occurred when two police officers approached Khadar Osman Dhabar and his two friends in the Hawl Wadag area of Hargaysa. One of the police shot him, knowing the three were members of the discriminated Gabooye minority, against whom human rights abuses are frequently perpetrated with impunity.”

Khadar Aden Osman Dhabar was a 28-year-old Somali, a native of Hargaysa who was raised mostly in Kuwait and who worked in that country for all of his adult life. Like many of us Diaspora Somalis, he left his wife and his three children in Kuwait and he went back for a short visit to his hometown Hargaysa. He went there to quench his thirst for the familiar scenes, sights and smells of his childhood. He has planned and saved for the trip. He prepared himself for the joy and rapture that accompanies reconnection with one’s own roots. But that was not to be. Instead hatred and a killer’s bullet awaited him in the streets of his own city, streets that were safe for every one else but not for him. Khadar was born on that soil and he was murdered on it, his blood quenching its perpetual thirst for human sacrifice. The police version however is more confused and it seems deliberately so.

This much is obvious. Khadar died because his path crossed that of an evil man, who doubled as a rotten apple within the Somaliland Police force. He died in the hands of discrimination, bigotry and socially sanctioned injustice. He was murdered by the same evil that lynched innocent men here in the United States and that gassed millions in Germany in WWII, the same evil that massacred thousands in Hargaysa in the late 80ies and hundred of thousands in Rwanda in the 90ies. Khadar fell a victim to Hatred. Hatred that Somaliland is poised to defeat today with the help of Allah and the determination of all of its citizens.

May 13, 2005 is the day we, Somalilanders, found our own Rosa Parks. Amazing it is the simple steps that matter the most in changing the course of nations. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and unleashed the civil rights movement here in the US. In Hargaysa Khadar Osman refused to give up a cigarette and became a martyr of a nation and a hero for all those who suffer injustice everywhere in the world. Brothers and sisters of Somaliland as we struggle to achieve justice and equality for our entire nation, we must learn to remember those who paid the ultimate price in the struggle. It is incumbent upon us who survive to make this a day of Justice that is blind to tribal affiliation, justice for every one of every tribe. Let this day mark the moral rebirth of our nation.




Khadar is dead. I say he should not die in vain. I say his death and our silence will speak volumes to generations to come. I say we have a chance to come clean, to redeem our selves, to take a stand.

I say we repeat Khadar’s name, lest we forget. Khadar Aden Osman Dhabar. A native of Hargaysa. He is Khadar of the Idoo clan of the Talaabe Cade people, of the Haruun people of the Muuse Dhariyo tribe. He is Khadar Osman Dhabar. Our hero. Our martyr.


Abdishakur Jowhar MD, FRCP(C), DABPN
E-mail: abdijowhar@yahoo.com


http://www.hiiraan.com/2005/june/op/Abd ... artOne.htm

[GIJaamac]

Well thats north for you. Ilaahey masaakiintaas dhibka haka saaro. Aamiin.

[Enlightened~Sista]

Well thats north for you. Ilaahey masaakiintaas dhibka haka saaro. Aamiin.

Don't turn this into a north and south thing; people in the South are just as vicious. If I look hard enough I can find articles about how badly the Gabooye/Jareer are treated in Garowe and Hiraan.

[GIJaamac]

Well thats north for you. Ilaahey masaakiintaas dhibka haka saaro. Aamiin.

Don't turn this into a north and south thing; people in the South are just as vicious. If I look hard enough I can find articles about how badly the Gabooye/Jareer are treated in Garowe and Hiraan.

South starts from Gaalkacyo. I dare you to find one article about discrmination.

Civil war is not included, i mean 90's era.