This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Whittle, Jonathan J Title: How constitutional arrangements for the exercise of self-determination by the territory of Somaliland may impact Somaliland’s engagement with the international human rights system? General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. How constitutional arrangements for the exercise of self-determination by the territory of Somaliland may impact Somaliland’s engagement with the international human rights system? Jonathan Whittle A dissertation to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for award of the degree of PhD in the faculty of Social Sciences and Law Word Count 72,125 i Abstract Through its exploration the thesis highlights that although Somaliland is an unrecognised de facto state there is a legal system in Somaliland with which the international human rights system can engage which has both strengths and weaknesses. The thesis also considers what the debates are around the exercise of self-determination in Somaliland. Having established this, the thesis goes on to establish there is an inconsistent and contradictory approach to the international community’s engagement with Somaliland and the status it gives to the self- determination Somaliland currently exercises. The inconsistent legal status of relations with Somaliland is then shown to impact the responsibility for human rights obligations authorities in Somaliland are considered to have and engagement the international human rights system has in Somaliland in relation to those responsibilities and obligations. The thesis concludes that an arrangement that allows a level of external self-determination and which is agreed by the parent state of Somalia is required for greater engagement between Somaliland and the international human rights system. ii Acknowledgments Thank you for the essential and patient guidance to my supervisor Rachel Murray and my sister Genevieve. iii Author’s Declaration I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the University's Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and that it has not been submitted for any other academic award. Except where indicated by specific reference in the text, the work is the candidate's own work. Work done in collaboration with, or with the assistance of, others, is indicated as such. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. SIGNED: ............................................................. DATE:.......................... iv Table of Contents Abbreviations pg ix Chapter 1 - Introduction and Background 1.1 Introduction pg1 1.2 Research Question pg1 1.3 Background pg2 1.3.1 Formation of Somalia pg3 1.3.2 Civil war and independence pg4 1.3.3 Somaliland independence pg5 1.3.4 Negotiations between Somalia and Somaliland pg8 1.4 Research area and original contribution pg11 1.4.1 Self-determination in Somaliland pg11 1.4.2 Developments in international governance and self-determination pg13 1.4.3 International human rights law in Somaliland pg14 1.5 Methodology pg16 1.6 Terms of use pg16 1.7 Thesis structure pg18 1.8 Conclusion pg21 Chapter 2 - Somaliland Domestic Legal System 2.1 Introduction pg23 2.2 Civil society and human rights in Somaliland pg24 2.3 The Somaliland courts system pg26 2.4 Human rights and the Somaliland statutory legal system pg29 2.4.1 Women and statutory law in Somaliland pg31 2.4.2 Refugees and internally displaced persons and statutory law in Somaliland pg34 2.4.3 The media and statutory law in Somaliland pg36 2.5 Sharia law pg39 2.6 Xeer pg41 2.6.1 How the Xeer legal system operates pg41 2.6.2 Impact of Xeer pg43 2.6.3 Women and the Xeer legal system pg45 2.6.4 The Xeer legal system in Somaliland and reform pg47 2.7 Conclusion pg50 v Chapter 3 - Current Debates and Current Arrangements regarding the exercise of self- determination by Somaliland. 3.1 Introduction pg54 3.2 Self-determination pg54 3.3 Constitutional arrangements and internal self-determination pg56 3.3.1 Autonomy, decentralisation and devolution pg56 3.3.2 Unitarianism pg58 3.3.3 Federalism pg58 3.3.3.1 Federalism and Somalia pg59 3.3.4 Confederalism pg61 3.4 Debates regarding the exercise of internal self-determination by Somaliland pg61 3.5 Foreign Policy pg64 3.5.1 Unitarianism and foreign policy pg65 3.5.2 Federalism and foreign policy pg65 3.5.3 Confederalism and foreign policy pg66 3.6 External self-determination pg67 3.6.1 Statehood pg69 3.6.2 Sovereignty pg71 3.6.3 Territorial Integrity pg72 3.6.4 Secession pg74 3.6.5 Prospects for sovereign statehood for Somaliland pg76 3.7 Current arrangement pg78 3.7.1 Current arrangement in Somaliland pg79 3.7.1.1 De facto state pg79 3.7.1.2 Somaliland governance pg81 3.7.2 The current arrangement in the Somali Republic pg84 3.7.3 Puntland pg85 3.7.3.1 Puntland - Sool and Sanaag pg85 3.7.3.2 Puntland and the current arrangement pg87 3.8 Conclusion pg88 Chapter 4 - Status of Somaliland and the international community 4.1 Introduction pg92 4.2 Recognition of Somaliland pg94 4.3 International collective engagement processes pg96 vi 4.3.1 Road Map/New Deal pg96 4.3.2 Somali Compact and Somaliland Special Arrangement pg99 4.3.3 The Somali Compact pg100 4.3.3.1 Post Somali Compact pg102 4.3.4 Somaliland Arrangement pg103 4.4 Puntland pg106 4.5 Regional actors and Somaliland’s status pg108 4.5.1 The African Union pg110 4.5.2 AMISOM pg112 4.5.3 Ethiopia pg113 4.5.4 Djibouti pg115 4.5.5 Kenya pg116 4.6 Middle East and North Africa Region pg118 4.7 Other International Actors pg120 4.7.1 European Union pg120 4.7.2 The United Kingdom pg122 4.7.3 The United States pg123 4.8 International Financial Institutions pg125 4.9 The international community and negotiations between Somalia and Somaliland pg127 4.9.1 Somaliland’s status and negotiations pg130 4.10 Conclusion pg132 Chapter 5 - International Human Rights Obligations and Responsibilities in Somaliland 5.1 Introduction pg136 5.2 De facto state authorities and customary international law pg138 5.3 Human rights responsibilities and Somaliland governance pg139 5.4 Human rights responsibilities in Somaliland and governments of the Somali Republic pg140 5.5 Human rights responsibilities inferred by Somaliland’s status pg142 5.6 Human rights responsibilities and Somaliland’s claims to statehood pg144 5.6.1 Responsibilities inferred by Somaliland pg146 5.7 Gap in the law pg149 5.8 Human rights responsibilities inferred by conduct pg151 5.9 Conclusion pg153 vii Chapter 6 - Somaliland’s Engagement with the International Human Rights System 6.1 Introduction pg156 6.2 The Somali Compact and Somaliland Arrangement and human rights pg157 6.2.1 The Somali Compact and human rights pg157 6.2.1.1 Somali Compact and gender pg160 6.2.2 Somaliland Arrangement pg161 6.3 The UN Human Rights Council pg163 6.4 Independent expert on human rights in Somalia pg164 6.4.1 Puntland pg167 6.4.2 Conclusion to the Independent Expert pg169 6.5 UN Security Council pg170 6.6 UN Secretary General pg171 6.7 Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights pg172 6.7.1 Universal Periodic Review pg173 6.8 Conclusion pg175 Conclusion 7.1 Thesis argument pg177 7.2 Where next and broader questions pg179 Bibliography pg182 Annex 1 pg218 viii Abbreviations AMISOM – African Mission to Somalia APEC – Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation ARS – Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia AU – African Union EU – European Union FGM – Female Genital Mutilation HLACF – High Level Aid Coordination Forum ICCPR – International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights ICJ – International Court of Justice IDP – Internally Displaced Person IGAD – International Governmental Authority on Development IJA – Interim Jubba Administration IMF – International Monetary fund KDF – Kenyan Defence Force OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-ordination and Development OHCHR – Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights OIC – Organisation of the Islamic Conference PRC – People’s Republic of China PSG – Peace and Stability Goals SARC – Special Assistant to UN Resident Coordinator SDRF – Somali Development and Reconstruction Facility SEMG – United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia Eritrea SNM – Somali National Movement SRSG – United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative TFG – Transitional Federal Government TRNC – Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus UAE – United Arab Emirates UDHR – Universal Declaration of Human Rights UK – United Kingdom UN – United Nations UNGA – United Nations General Assembly UNPOS – United Nations Political Office Somalia UPR – Universal Periodic Review UNSC – United Nations Security Council ix UNSOM – UN Assistance Mission in Somalia WTO – World Trade Organisation x Chapter 1 Introduction and Background 1.1 Introduction In 1991 the northwest territory of Somalia declared independence as the Republic of Somaliland.