SOMALI COALITION AGAINST SECESSION (SCAS) 

A Mass Rally for a United Somalia

PRESS RELEASE – Washington DC January 14, 2008

Somali Coalition against Secession (SCAC), consisting of over several Somali-American groups, has organized this peaceful demonstration to rally a cross section of Somali communities to stand up for the unity and territorial integrity of the Republic of Somalia. 

The Republic of Somalia was founded on July 1, 1960 after a long struggle waged by several patriotic movements, which in earnest started in the early parts of 1920s. By the late 1950s both Italy and Great Britain which held two territories of Somalia as Italian and British Somaliland, respectively, decided to prepare them for an “inevitable” independence and unification. After all, the people in both territories are basically one ethnic group, sharing one language, one religion, and one culture.

The reunification of ex-British and ex-Italian Somaliland, therefore, was not an overnight love affair, but an evolving political consciousness of a people “in search of a nation,” thus hitting a high note with the British colonial Secretary (Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd) stating in February 1959 that his government would facilitate the voluntary and unstoppable reunion of the two territories.

It is, therefore, ironic that a man who wants to unilaterally breakup such a nation state is visiting the capital of the United States of America, a country that is founded on the unity of 50 States. Rayale's recent aggressions against the peaceful communities in Las Anod, Cayn and Sool, causing the displacement of over 50,000 civilians, are inconsistent with the overall US policy, which is to seek to stabilize Somalia.

Rayale’s tainted past history should have barred him from entering this country. According to an Africa Watch report “Government at War With its People”:

Mr. Rayale was head of the feared and powerful secret service, the National Security Service (NSS) in Berbera. The town of Berbera saw some of the worst atrocities of the war……in 1988. Many of the victims had their throats slit and were then shot. A series of massacres, which have been mentioned again and again, took place, mainly in June, in Buraosheikh, close to Berbera, when about 500 men were killed in groups of between 30s-40s.

We believe that a stable and united Somalia is a better alternative for Washington to tackle terrorism in the volatile Horn of Africa region. Washington should not welcome Mr. Rayale who is in fact undermining the US’s long term strategic objective. Breaking up Somalia could lead to the creation of multiple clan-centered fiefdoms that may prove to become potential safe-havens for terrorists, not unlike Wazirstan’s tribal enclave in Pakistan.

As a member state of the United Nations, Somalia’s territorial integrity must be respected, in as much as the Security Council and the African Union re-affirmed it. As such, we are completely opposed to allowing Mr. Rayale to carry out in Washington his subversive mission to breakup Somalia.

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Somali Coalition against Secession (SCAC)