Between Statehood and Somalia: Reflections of Somaliland Statehood

Washington University Global Studies Law Review Volume 10 | Issue 4 2011 Between Statehood and Somalia: Reflections of Somaliland Statehood Dimitrios Lalos Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_globalstudies Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons Recommended Citation Dimitrios Lalos, Between Statehood and Somalia: Reflections of Somaliland Statehood, 10 Wash. U. Global Stud. L. Rev. 789 (2011), https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_globalstudies/vol10/iss4/5 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Global Studies Law Review by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact . BETWEEN STATEHOOD AND SOMALIA: REFLECTIONS OF SOMALILAND STATEHOOD I. INTRODUCTION Since the early 1990s, Somalia has lacked the basic characteristics of a state as recognized by the international community.1 At independence, Somalia—officially the Somali Republic after the union of former British Somaliland in the North and former Italian Somaliland in the South2—was regarded as one of the least likely African countries to fall into the category of a ―failed state.‖3 The majority of Somalians are ethnically Somali; they share a similar adherence to Sunni Islam and nomadic pastoralism.4 Below these surface similarities, however, a deep division in history exists between the northern Somaliland and the southern region.5 This division between the North and South has not only created tension in government, it has also led to civil war.6 Out of the ashes of the North-South violence, Somaliland emerged as a de facto state.7 Saddled with early political and economic challenges, Somaliland ―has [since instituted] its own democratic government, police force, army, financial system, and currency.‖8 During the same period, Somalia has effectively ceased to exist. 1. See infra notes 73–90, 133–45 and accompanying text. 2. See infra notes 8–25 and accompanying text. 3. Ian S. Spears, Reflections on Somaliland & Africa’s Territorial Order, 30 REV. OF AFR. POL. ECON. 89, 92 (2003). ―In superficial terms, given that its commonalities in language, ethnic identity and religion make it unique among developing states, Somalia might once have been regarded as one of the least likely African countries to experience state breakup.‖ Id. A ―failed‖ state is characterized by a ―government [that] is unable to discharge its basic governmental functions with respect to its populace and territory.‖ MICHAEL SCHOISWOHL, STATUS AND (HUMAN RIGHTS) OBLIGATIONS OF NON-RECOGNIZED DE FACTO REGIMES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: THE CASE OF ‗SOMALILAND‘ 26–27 (2004). Five basic governmental functions exist: (1) to exercise sovereign control over territory; (2) to have sovereign oversight and supervision of the nation‘s resources; (3) to exercise the effective and rational collection of revenue; (4) to maintain adequate national infrastructure, such as roads and telephone systems; and (5) to have the capacity to govern and to maintain law and order. Ali A. Mazrui, The African State as a Political Refugee: Institutional Collapse and Human Displacement, in AFRICAN CONFLICT RESOLUTION: THE U.S. ROLE IN PEACEMAKING 9, 11 (David R. Smock & Chester A. Crocker eds., 1995). 4. MARK BRADBURY, AFRICAN ISSUES: BECOMING SOMALILAND 9 (2008). Many countries are multi-ethnic. In fact, ninety percent of the world‘s countries have two or more ethnic groups. MILTON J. ESMAN, ETHNIC POLITICS 2 (1994). 5. BRADBURY, supra note 4, at 9. 6. See infra notes 32–41 and accompanying text. 7. Brad Poore, Somaliland: Shackled to a Failed State, 30 STAN. J. INT‘L L. 117, 117 (2007). 8. Id. 789 Washington University Open Scholarship 790 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY GLOBAL STUDIES LAW REVIEW [VOL. 10:789 This Note recognizes that under international law, Somaliland is subject to the rule of law of the parent state, a rule firmly established by the Supreme Court of Canada in Reference re Secession of Quebec.9 The Supreme Court of Canada, however, also developed remedial secession theory as a mechanism to enable a minority region to negotiate secession with the parent state.10 By using remedial secession theory as a baseline, this Note argues that a minority region that lacks internal self-determination and the right to negotiate for secession but otherwise meets the requirements for statehood should be permitted to declare independence. Part II of this Note summarizes the competing historical, economic, and political traditions of the Republic of Somaliland and the Somali Republic. Part III offers an overview of the competing theories of recognition under international law. Part IV begins with an analysis of unilateral secession theory followed by an analysis of remedial secession as a competing theory. Part V argues that, absent internal self-determination and the right to negotiate for secession, remedial secession theory offers an avenue to Somaliland independence. Finally, Part VI discusses the potential ramifications of non-recognition, specifically focusing on terrorism. II. HISTORICAL SETTING Beginning in the late nineteenth century, the British began colonizing Somaliland.11 Because British interest was limited to coastal regions, its civil administration was rather lenient.12 As a result, traditional societal structures were kept autonomous from British rule.13 To fund its administration, however, the British relied heavily on imperial treasuries, resulting in the stagnation of the colony.14 9. Reference re Secession of Quebec, [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217, paras. 112–13 (Can.). 10. Id. at 86–88, 97–98. 11. SCHOISWOHL, supra note 3, at 111. The northern orientation and proximity of Somaliland to the Gulf states has long distinguished it from Somalia. Spears, supra note 3, at 93. In 1839, the British began to occupy the port of Aden in present-day Yemen. As a result, Somaliland became vital to the protection of shipping routes and the maintenance of a steady meat supply. To secure these routes, several treaties were executed between the British government and territorial leaders in Somaliland. BRADBURY, supra note 4, at 25–26. 12. SCHOISWOHL, supra note 3, at 111. British indirect rule was intended to reinforce stable governance while limiting resistance to colonialism. Id. at 28. 13. See id. at 111. 14. BRADBURY, supra note 4, at 30. ―[B]etween 1920 and 1940 the colony stagnated: a few roads were cleared, some agricultural projects were started, a few schools were built and some students were sent to Sudan for education . . . .‖ Id. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_globalstudies/vol10/iss4/5 2011] BETWEEN STATEHOOD AND SOMALIA 791 During this period, the Italian government was busy establishing its own ―sphere of influence‖ in southern Somalia.15 Unlike the British in northern Somalia, however, the Italian government was fo (...truncated)