Human Rights in Djibouti
by Sir Tony Baldry MP

Commissioned by

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I, Sir Tony Baldry MP, have been instructed by “Friends of Djibouti” (FoD) to write a n independent report on human
rights violations in Djibouti . As a result of my research, I believe there is sufficient evidence to refer Djibouti’s
President , Ismail Omar Guelleh , to the International Criminal Court for undertaking, permitting, allowing or
sanctioning crimes against international law.
Sir T ony Baldry MP

Sir Tony Baldry MP
Sir Tony Baldry is Conservative Member of Parliament for North Oxfordshire. He is Governo r of the
Commonwealth Institute and on the Council of the Overseas Development Institute and Chatham
House, and served as Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on International
Development in the last Parliament. He was Chairman of the Conserva tive Human Rights Commission
from 2009 -10.
Among his ministerial posts, Sir Tony was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office from 1994 -95, with a range of responsibilities including South Asia, Africa, North America a nd the West Indies.

Friends of Djibouti
Friends of Djibouti Association is a non -profit organization founded in 2012 by concerned Djiboutians and non
Djiboutians.
Friends of Djibouti Association seeks to encourage a peaceful change of the current political course in Djibouti, which
has failed to address and in some cases aggravated many of the existing problems in the country, suc h as extreme
poverty, infant mortality, unemployment, poor investment climate and corruption. We believe that int ernatio nal
communities need to know what the real situation in the country is and we hope to encourage them to put pressure
on the Djiboutian government to eliminate corruption and use the money it receives from its internat ional partners
to improve the lives of ordinary Djiboutian people.

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Key findings

 Djibouti is a strategically important country: its port serves all seaward trade from landlocked neighbouring
countries; it hosts military bases for the US and France, among others .

 Despite significant revenue from these assets and from international development aid, little money makes its
way to support the lives of the people of Djibouti, many of whom live in poverty .

 Djibouti has no independent media. Journalists and human rights activists face syste matic persecution for
offering a dissenting voice to Government propaganda .

 Critics of President Guelleh and opposition leaders are subject toarbitrary imprisonment and torture .

 Women’s rights are persistently breached.

 Government officials have been li nked to improper practices.

 Djibouti has ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Investigation is warrant ed to assess
whether human rights abuses breach this statute as Crimes Against Humanity.

About Dj ibouti

Djibouti is a “de jure” sovereign state in the Horn of Africa. It has a population of less than 1 million people
(approximately 900,000). It is a republic.

In 2010 President Guelleh , who had already served two terms as President, altered the constitutionto allow him to
remain President for life.

There appear to be no effective checks or balances to the exercise of Presidential power. The Natio nal Parliament
has not one single opposition MP.

In circumstances where an individual has assumed for life unchecked power over a country, the appropriate
description for the exercise of such unfettered power is a dictatorship.

Sources of income

Djibouti provides the only significant functioning international port for the Horn of Africa, thus a ll seaward trade to
and from landlocked countries such as Ethiopia have to go through the Port of Djibouti.

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It is estimated that Port revenues through the Port of Djibouti are worth a quarter of Djibouti’s GDP in 2011
according to Africa Economic Outlook .1

Djibouti’s GDP in 20 11 was estimated at $1 billion. 2

In an interview with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 2011, President Gu elleh said that
after dividing the revenue with the company that operates the Port, his Government receives just $40 milli on from
the Port revenues. 3

However, none of these Port proceeds appear on the Government’s budget and even this amount of proce eds from
the Port exceed s the entire “non fiscal income” shown in Djibouti’s official Budget.
Djibouti hosts a significant US military presence and a sizeable French military contingent.

Djibouti is the forward operating base of the US Africa Command and some 2,000 troops are based at D jibouti’s
Camp Lemonnier.

The US pays around $30 million annu ally for Camp Lemonnier which is the only official US military base located in
Africa. 4

The French Government pay s about $38 million a year to rent a military camp and training grounds. 5
The Japanese base generates $30 million in annual revenue. 6Germany p ays $10 million for its base .7

In addition to the not insignificant direct payments made by the Governments of the United States an d France direct
to the Government of Djibouti in return for being able to use military base facilities, spending by American and
French service personnel based in Djibouti add to the foreign spend in the local economy.

Despite the existence of a sizeable international port and considerable spending by the US and French Governments
in respect of military bases in the country , the personal circumstances of the overwhelming majority of people living
in Djibouti are grim . This begs the question as to what happens to the income generated from Port fees and receipts
and monies paid to the Government of Djibouti by the United States and French Governments.

It would appear that the revenue from foreign military bases and revenues from the Port of Djibouti are not included
in the State Budget, which begs the question as to what purpose and for whose benefit are these fund s used?

It also begs the question as to what happens to Development Aid paid to Djibouti. Total official Devel opment Aid to
Djibouti according to OECD statistics was $133 million in 2011. 8

1African Economic Outlook Report on Djibouti 2011 https:// www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/fileadmin/uploads/aeo/PDF/Djibouti%20Full%20PDF%20Country%20No te.pdf 22World Bank Data Djibout i https://data.worldbank.org/country/djibouti 33‘Profiteering on locat ion, Djibouti’s repressive regim e, not its people, has prospered s ince 9/11’, The Centre for Public IntegrityReport on Djibouti https://www.publicintegrity.org/2007/05/22/5741/profiteering -location 44Situation Report about Djibouti, Institute for Security Studies, April 2011 https:// www. iss.co.za/uploads/15Apr11Djibouti.pdf 5‘Profiteering on location, Djibouti’s repressive regime, not its people, has prospered since 9/11’, The Centre for Public IntegrityReport on Djibouti https:// www.publicint egrity.org/2007/05/22/5741/profiteering -locat ion 6Bloomberg News 2011 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011 -07-08/japan -opens -military -base -in-djibouti -to-help -combat -piracy.html 7‘Profiteering on location, Djibouti’s repressive regime, not its people, has prospered since 9/11’, The Centre for Public Int egrity Rep ort on Djibouti https:// www.publicint egrity.org/2007/05/22/5741/profiteering -locat ion 8 OECD Stat istics, ODA DATA https://www.oecd.org/dac/aids tatistics/1885249.gif

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The European Union has donated $53.2 million between 2008 and 2013, i.e. $8. 8 million annually. This money is in
the form of donations from EU Member States, administered by the European Commission, and transferred to
Djibouti as Humanitarian and Development Aid. 9

US Aid to Djibouti was $3.1 million in 2011 . Similar to European Union Aid , this money goes to Djibouti as
Development Aid. 10

Notwithstanding substantial receipts from the Port, and substantial receipts from military bases in Djibouti, and
substantial amounts of International Humanitarian and Development Aid, the reality is that life in D jibouti is still
extremely bleak for the o verwhelming majority of the population, with little evidence that any of the above money is
making its way to support the lives of the people of Djibouti.

Living conditions

In a report published in July of this year, the World Food Programme (WFP) , an A gency of the United Nations, found
that in rural areas of Djibouti more than 70% of households have poor or borderline food consumption , that 20% of
households were dependent on Food Aid, that 24% of households have had to abnormally sell livestock this ye ar and
that the overwhelming reason (78% of cases) for this was simply to buy food .11

The most recent Country Strategy Paper on Djibouti produced by the African Development Bank Group f ound that
“studies on living conditions indicate that large sections of the population live in extreme poverty, with a worrying
level of unemployment” and observe d that “data from 2002 showed that poverty affected 74.4% of the population
of whom 42.2% were in a situation of extreme poverty. The Poverty Survey conducted in 20 06 confirmed the
structural and widespread nature of poverty revealed in 2002. This situation still prevails today.”

And the WFP found that generally throughout Djibouti “ unemployment remains high with youth unemployment
estimated to be as high as 75%”.

So whatever is happening to the rents from foreign military bases and the income from port revenues from a port
strategically located on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes with unique access to the sea of a number of
landlocked neighbouring countri es, little of that income appears to be finding its way into the local economy or for
the benefit of the comparatively small population of Djibouti. Or, as the WF P put it in their July report “e conomic
growth has not translated into poverty reduction and an improvement of the employment situation”.

Every available report on Djibouti by any international agency describes a deeply alarming situation . So, for
example, a UNICEF Report on the condition of children in Djibouti in 2010 found that the majority of children in
Djibouti live in abject poverty, which exposes them to life -threatening conditions. 12According to the UNICEF Report,
about two out of three children in Djibouti are deprived of at least one basic right, including the right to shelter,
water and sanitation, information, nutrition, education and health. It concluded, “t he intensity of the p overty
situation in Djibouti tells us of the dangerous environment in which children live, one that exposes them to
exploitation and abuse”.
9 European Union Humanitarian and Development Aid data 2011 -2012 https:// ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/acp/country -cooperation/djibouti/djibouti_en.htm 10 For eign Assistance USAid data for 2011 https://foreignassistanc e.gov/OU.aspx ?OUID=261&FY=2011&AgencyID=3&budTab=tab_Bud_Spent&tabID=tab_sct_ Democracy_Disbs 11 The Emergency Food Security Assessment in Rural Areas, Djibouti, July 2012 www.wfp.org/food -security 12Unicef Report on Children in Djibouti, https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/media_53968.html

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Treatment of the media

The UNICEF representative in Djibouti has observed that in Djibouti “there is a chronic, but silent, emergency”.

Probably one of the reasons for the silence and one of the reasons why it is extremely difficult get ting any
authoritative information or data on what is happening in Djibouti is that it is a country without a ny independent
media of any kind.

The non -gov ernmental organisation (NGO) Reporters Without Bordershas over the last ten years, recorded the
deliberate policy of President Guelleh to close down any access of local people to any local or external media.

As Reporters Without Borders noted in 2007, “l ittle by little Djibouti is closing itself off to the world. It was already
worrying to see that despite limited resources Djiboutians had only one Opposition publication offer ing a different
take on the news, now that it has been forced to shut down, the Government have a monopoly of national news”. 13

Djibouti is now one of only three countries in Africa where no private newspaper is published. The G overnment of
Djibouti actively block s websites concerning Djibouti hosted overseas.

So, for example, La V oix de Djibouti , a news website operated by Djiboutians based in Europe, is blocked inside
Djibouti. O ne of the last remaining journalists within Djibouti reporting for this website , Houssein Ahmed Farah , was
arrested in August this year and has been kept in detention ever since. On 18 th September 2012, Reporters Without
Borders referred Houssein Ahmed Farah’s detention to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Reporters Without Borders has concluded that Djibouti is“ a country without media freedom where only Government
propaganda is tolerated.”

With no independent media, it means that there is no possibility of any dissenting voice in Djibouti having any access
to the media.

In February of this year, Reporters Without Borders reported on the abdu ction by the police in Djibouti of a radio
journalist – Farah Abadid Hildid. Reporters Without Borders referred Farah Abadid Hildid’s detention and the thre ats
and torture to which he was subjected during his detention to the United Nations Special Rapport eur on Torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Hildid had previously been detained twice in 2011 and was tortured and mistreated both times accordi ng to reports
by Reporters Without Borders. 14

As Reporters Without Borders ha s observed , “these acts of torture are particularly serious since they are aimed at
silencing this journalist and Human Rights activist”. In addition to these two examples, there are numerous other
instances of Government intelligence operatives acting a gainst journalists. 15
13RSF www.rsf.org/djibouti -government -s-aut horitarian -26-06-2007
14RSF www.rsf.org/Djibouti -radio -journalist -thr eatened -and -03-02-2012 15 Other reports of Gove rnment int elligenc e operat ives act ing against journalists can be found at: https://www.afriques enlutte.org/afrique -de-l-
est/djibouti/article/djibouti -temoignage -de-t orture -dhttps://en.rsf.org/djibouti -radio -journalist -threat ened -and -03-02-2012,41800.html

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The only reasonable inference of the conduct of the authorities under President Guelleh is a steely determination to
bear down and imprison any independent journalist or Human Rights activist working within Djibouti, to arrest and
det ain them, or to force anyone who disagrees with the dictatorship of President Guelleh to leave the c ountry and
go into exile, but then to block or prevent any opportunity for such Djiboutian refugees overseas to communicate
with those at home.

There is a clear policy to bear down on any individual who is seen as being a human rights activist, so for example in
2010, Human Rights Watch reported the arrest of Jean Paul Noel Abdi, who is president of the Djibouti human rights
organisation Djiboutian League o f Human Rights, who had publicly objected to arbitrary arrests. For this, Mr Noel
Abdi was charged with “participation in an insurrection movement” under Articles 145 and 146 of the Djibouti Penal
Code without, as Human Rights Watch observed, there being a ny evidence to corroborate such charges. And Human
Rights Watch noted “we believe that Mr Noel Abdi has been arrested and detained for exercising his right to free
expression which is protected under international law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (to
which Djibouti is a party) and the Djibouti constitution. ”

It is to be noted that Mr Noel Abdi’s health was fragile. He wa s a diabetic and in his mid sixties . Jean Paul Noel Abdi
died on 13 th April 2012 in France, where he was undergoing medical treatment.

The organisation Human Rights Watch observed last year that “the Government of Djibouti has imposed an
unconstitutional ban on public assembly, criminalising any gathering in public. Rather than subject ing the electoral
proc ess to independent scrutiny, the Government of Djibouti has jailed human rghts activists and expelled
international observers. An unconfirmed number of political activists remain in custody and held wi thout charge.” 16

Humanr ights

Over many years such independent reports and observers who have managed to access Djibouti have repo rted on
the appalling human rights situation in the country.

In 2006, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, which is a joint progr amme of the World
Organisation against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation of Human Rights (FITH) released a report that
concluded that “ defenders of economic and social rights, especially independent trades unionists, have been more
than ten y ears the target of the Djiboutian authorities because of their struggle to uphold the rights of workers and
freedom of association. Despite the many international commitments, Djibouti international conventi ons on Human
Rights conventions and the authorit ies … do not meet the most basic economic and social rights such as workers’
rights. In the absence of democratic organisations, human rights and trades unions have become over the years the
only form of independent expression of civil society.” Their report also observed that Djibouti “is an economy
plagued by corruption and profiteering. Djibouti is a rich country but Djiboutians are poor”.

The report observed that “examples of the repression of independent trades unionists in Djibouti ill ustrate ten years
of intimidation, police and judicial harassment, imprisonment and dismissals which are the daily lot of independent
trades unionists in Djibouti.”

16‘A friendly litt le dictatorship in the horn of Africa’, Foreign P olicy www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/08/a_friendly_little_dictatorship_in_the_horn_of_africa

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Last year, the United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, pu blished a
damning report on Human Rights in Djibouti.The report observed that the Government of Djibouti sough t to limit
human rights “by harassing, abusing and detaining Government critics, and by its unwillingness to permit the
population access to indep endent sources of information within the country. ..

“Other Human Rights problems included the use of excessive force, including torture by security force s, harsh prison
condition, arbitrary arrest and prolonged pre -trial detention; denial of fair public trial, interference with privacy
rights, restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly and association, lack of protection for r efugees,
corruption, discrimination against women, female genital mutilation, trafficking in persons, discrim ination agains t
persons with disabilities, and Government denial o f workers’ rights.”

The report also observed that “ officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity”.

Corruption appears to permeate every part of the machinery of Government in Djibouti. So for example although
Djibouti does not meet International Civil Aviation rulings, in fact, Djibouti is 100% non -compliant with International
Civil Aviation rulings . I attach a list of those who allegedly illegally received an Air Transport Certificate from the
Djiboutian Civil Aviation Authority , a position held by a brother -in-law of the President , Almis Mahamoud Haid .

On 10 th February 201 0, Abdolkarim Abdi Guedi was fired from his job by the Director -General of the N ational Civil
Aviation Authority, Almis Mahamoud Haid (brother -in-law of the President ), who appears to have no qualifications
for hi s position . Abdolkarim Abdi Guedi was apparently fired after he repo rted Mr Haid for violations of the
international aviation rulings by allowing an Antonov belonging to an airline company called Jubba Airways to
illegally enter national Djiboutian airspace. It is understood that Inspector Guedi alleged that the Director -General
had taken money from Jubba Airways in payment to turn a blind eye against violations of internationa l aviation
rules.

Given that this is a report by an official department of the United States Government, which in turn is one of the
main funders of President Guelleh, I attach the US Department of State’s Report in full .

The report sets out concerns about arbitrary and unlawful deprivation of life in Djibouti, and numerous allegations
of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment carried out in Djibouti.

What permeates every page of the US Department of State’s report is that there is a complete disrega rd for human
rights in Djibouti, so, for example, on arbitrary arrest or detention “the law prohibits arbitrary ar res t and detention;
however, the Government did not respect these prohibitions.”

Treatment of women

Women and children in Djibouti are as likely to be a rbitrarily detained as men. F or example, in 2010, the
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture and the International Secretariat of the World Organisation against Torture,
requested urgent invention in the arbitrary detention of Ms Halima Bil’a, aged about 35, and her fou r children, aged
between 1 and 9 years, who were imprisoned.

This woman was detained by security forces, held for a while in a police camp, then held with her fo ur children in the
same cell, where they were all ill with vomiting and diarrhoea. She was not charged with any offenc e, did not have

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access to her lawy er, and it would appear that she and her children were only arrested and detained because her
husband was wanted by the authorities.

There is compelling evidence that women’s rights in Djibouti are persistently breached.
For example, in August 200 9, th e NGO Women’s Solidarity condemned the attacks of the Djibouti army against
civilian Afars , especially against women.

On August 3 rd 2009, Houmad Mohamed Ibrahim, head of the customary area of Mousa Ali Djibouti was arrested
along with five members of his family.Mr Mohamed Ibrahim suffered physical abuse.However the soldiers were
particularly hostile to his daughters : Fatuma Ibrahim Houmad ; Houmad Howa Ibrahim; R obi Houmad Ibrahim ;
Momina Mohamed Hasan ; Haich Houmad Koulayeles . It is alleged that all five daughters were tortured and left for
dead.These women remained in a serious condition for some time.

Many women from Djibouti have fled the region to Ethiopia and Eritrea and women’s NGOs in Djibouti h ave asked
for the implementation of the convention on t he elimination of violence against women, which under Article 4c
states that the United Nations has a duty to“act with due diligence to prevent violence against wome n whether
those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons and punish them in accordance with national
legislation. ”

There are numerous reports of women being arrested and detained so it is alleged that:

 Fatouma Bil’a was arrested and detained for four months in 2010 with her four children .
 Lokki Mohamed was arrested and held in b arracks at Galela between January and June of 2012 with her children
– as a consequence she lost her son of six months because of lack of care .
 It is alleged that at least twenty women were raped or suffered sexual violence in Syaru (District o f Tadjoura) and
Hilou (Dikhal district) in May 2010.

Justice system

Given the arrest and detention of human rights monitors in Djibouti , and given the complete absence of any
independent media, it is extremely difficult obtaining independent, verifiable information about the plight of those
arbitrarily arrested, detained and tortured.

Indeed, that is the whole purpose of President Guelleh seeking to ensure that neither human rights monitors, nor
any independent media are in a position to report on what is happening in the country.

There is, however, evidence of persistent and continuous detention and torture of individuals for no valid r eason.
The numbers have to be put into context of the comparatively small overall population of Djibouti :

 Abouba kar Ayoub was allegedly murdered deliberately by elements of the Army on May 7 th 2008 .

 Mohamad Hamad Youssouf , a 55 year old civilian of Afar origin , was shot dead in the head on the 5 th November
2008 by Government troops, accusing him of sympathy for opposition party F RUD in Wedio Hoflo, two
kilometres from Ass Guela in the north of Djibouti. The soldiers buri ed him on the spot.

 Mahdi Ahmed Abdillah i, a 54 year old o pposition supporter of Somali origin, a relative and friend of
Abdourahman Boreh, died on 14 th April 2009 in the central prison of Gabode, where he had been detained solely

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for political reasons and solely for his friendship for a Djiboutian exile opposed to the Government . He died of ill
treatment and lack of medical attention.

 Mohamed Said Hal loyta Redo , killed on August 18 th 2009 deliberately by the Army .

 Colonel Abdi Bogoreh Hassan , head of the National Constabulary and a Djiboutian of Somali origin, was found
shot dead by several bullets in the yard of his house in the capital of Djibouti o n 11 th May 2010.

 Sergeant Moumin Ibrahim Waiss , a member of the Republican Guard (the Presidential Security Unit ) died
following what is understood to have been poisoning on 12 th November 2010. When he died, he was one of the
drivers of the President’s wife. Sergeant Waiss, a Djibouti of Somali origin, was a relative of opposition politician
Daher Ahmed Farah, and was suspected of having political sympathies for him.

 Aicha Mohamed , an Ethiopian citizen living in the Afar region of Arhiba in the capit al was burnt to death on 17 th
December 2010 . T he allegations are that the Intelligence Service was behind this murder.

 Moustapha Mohamed Dar ar, a young Djiboutian of Somali origin, was shot dead on 6 th January 2011 by the
police in the town of Ali -Sabieh , in the south east of Djibouti during a peaceful protest against President Guelleh
claiming Presidency for life.

 Dirir Ibrahim Bouraleh , a Djibouti an of Somali origin living in Balbala, outside the capital of Djibouti, died on the
27 th April 2011 under torture, in a police station called Cheik Osman.

 Hassan Chideh Ali , a young Djiboutian of Somali origin, opposed to the present Government and who was living
in the Somali neighbourhood in the capital, died under torture in the central police station of the capital on 12 th
July 2012. Arbitrarily arrested and beaten up on 7 th July 2012 , he was allegedly detained and tortured until he
died.

 Abib Ali Doualeh , a Djiboutian who lives in the neighbourhood of Balbala, and who is a supporter of an
opposition political party, was arrested on 14 th June 2012 by police who detained him and tortured him until 19 th
June. He was detained in a central prison in Gabode, released, then re -arrested on 1 st August, then detained and
tortured by the Intelligence Service (c alled the Service of Documentation and Security, or SDS). On 28 th August,
he was handed over to the section of the SDS in the Gendarmerie Section, called SRD, and has subsequ ently
been detained in prison. Witnesses who have seen him say that he is in a v ery bad physical state due to
persistent torture, and so far no charges have been publicly put forward against this man.

Summary of human rights abuses

In the report of the US State Department, it notes that the most serious human rights problem in Dji bouti is the
Government’s restrictions on the right of citizens to influence the Government or hold political opi nions that are not
aligned with those of President Guelleh. 17

The report found that other human rights violations such as torture, arbitrary ar rest, and prolonged pre -trial
detention in harsh prison conditions also occurred, often as a form of punishment for those holding certain political
beliefs.

Certain civil liberties, especially freedom of speech, press and association are severely limited . Limitations are broad
and include the fact that there is no privately owned or independent media source in Djibouti, and a ll opposition
newspapers or radio stations have been closed by the Courts or “economically asphyxiated”. 18
17Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labour Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2011: Djibouti , US Department of S tate

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Individuals who criticise the Government publicly or privately face reprisals such as arbitrary arre st and conviction.
For example, i n February 2011 approximately 25 protesters were arrested and convicted of assault or arson
following a protest at the Has san Gouleb Stadium. 19

Opposition journalists are routinely arrested or arbitrarily detained and sometimes tortured. According to Reporters
Without Borders , Dirir Ibrahim Bouraleh died as a result of injuries inflicted during torture during a four day
detention. 20 Farah Abadid Heldid and Housein Robleh Dabr, radio reporters, were each arrested and reportedly
tortured on two separate occasions.

In February 2 011, six persons who provided reporting through the opposition radio station, La Voix , to DE Djibouti, a
European broadcast, including Farah Abadid Heldid and Housein Robleh Dabr, were arrested without war rant.
Whilst in custody Heldid was tortured. Afte r four months in Gabode Prison, and appeals to the Supreme Court, all
six reporters were released. Heldid and Dabr were arrested again in November of 2011 and both were tortured and
interrogated for four days before their release. 21

Leaders of opposition political parties are also targeted through arbitrary arrests. Three leaders of opposition parties
were arrested on the 19 th February 2011, after demanding the release of thirty demonstrators who were detained
the previous evening allegedly for vandalism and looting. The three leaders – Aden Robleh Awaleh, President of the
National Democratic Party (PND), Mohamed Dauad Chehem, President of the Djiboutian Party for Develop ment
(DPD), and Ismael Guedi Hared, President of the Union for Democracy and Justice P arty (UDJ), were released later
the same day.

Numerous people were detained for political reasons in the months prior to the elections and release d afterwards.
For example, the Government charged eight men, inclu ding Human Rights activist Jean Paul Noe l Abdi, with
conspiring against the State. Noel Abdi was released after two weeks whilst the others were detaine d for two
months.

Djibouti and international law

Djibouti ratified the Rome Statute in 1998(Rome Statute of the International Criminal Cour t, Article 7, July 17, 1998 –
2187 U.N.T. S. 90 hereinafter referred to as the Rome Statute).

The International Criminal Court is a permanent international institution that has the power to exercise jurisdictions
over persons for the most serious crimes of international concern in accordance with the Rome Statute. The ICC is
complementary to national criminal jurisdiction.

The jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is limited to the most serious crimes of concern to the
international co mmunity as a whole, one of which is Crimes Against Humanity.

For the purposes of the Rome Statute, Crimes against Humanity included “inhumane acts … intentionally causing
great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health. In orde r for a Human Rights violation to
18 Report ers without Borders: Report on Djibout i https://en.rsf.org/report -djibouti,14.html 19Bureauof Democrac y Human Rights and Labour Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2011: Djibouti , US Department of State, Not e 1 and 2 20 Report ers Without Borders’ Report on Djibouti htt p://en.rsf.org/report -djibouti,14.html 21Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labour Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2011: Djibo uti, US Department of S tate

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reach the level of a Crime Against Humanity for the purposes of laying information before the Prosec utor, that crime
must fulfil all the elements of one of the crimes listed in the Rome Statute. 22

There is clear evidence of violation of human rights against certain groups, particularly political opponents of
President Guelleh, which prima facie would appear to constitute a Crime Against Humanity, specifically persecution.

Persecution is the “inten tion of severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of
the identity of the group or collectively”. 23

There is further recent evidence of widespread suffering being caused in Djibouti by corruption and the
misappropriati on of funds intended to provide drugs to combat AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

In its report of the 29 th October 2012 (Report number GF -OIG -10 -015 -1) the Office of the Inspector -General (OIG) of
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (t he Fund) published an investigation of Global Fund Grants
to the Republic of Djibouti.

It is a damning Report.

The investigation “found that of US$ 23.1 million of funds dispersed under these grants as of June 2012, US$ 8.2
million, or approximately 35% , was either not used for purposes consistent with the grant agreement or in violation
of it. Of this amount US$ 755,553 was linked to transactions constituting fraud, theft and abuse: US$ 2.45 million
related to ineligible expenditures, and US$ 115,0 00 related to an improper transfer of grant funds to an
unauthorised bank account; and an additional US$ 5.4 million of expenditure, did not have sufficien t, or any,
documentation to support the expenditures”.

The OIG Report sets out a whole number of fraudulent schemes that were identified through the investigation,
including the creation of falsified documentation to trigger payment of Grant Funds, i.e. documents purported to
show that people in Djibouti had received medical help under the funds, when in fact those documents were forged.

The OIG Audit findings concluded that there was “absence of documented policies and procedures; def iciencies in
the financial accounting system, lack o f budgetary control; lax cash controls; failures to record inco me in the books
of account; inadequate archiving controls; incomplete asset records; failure to reconcile payroll records; and the
absence of procedures for selecting and evaluating sub recipients. ”

The OIG found that officials in the Ministry of Health falsified minutes and documents in an attempt to deceive the
Global Fund secretariat. “ There is substantive and credible evidence that representatives of the Ministry of Health
provided a falsified document to the Global Fund making it appear as though th e TCM members expressly approved
and endorsed the full over budget amount when in fact this had not been the case”.

The result of this abuse is that large numbers of people in Djibouti who should have benefited from medical
treatment were not given that medical treatment. If it had not been for th e investigation of the OIG, such abuses
would have undoubtedly continued unabated.

22 Rome Statute, Article 7, para. 1 23 Rome Statute, Article 7, para. 2

13
It has to be remembered that Djibouti is a small country of less than 1 million people. It is very difficult to believe
that such widespread abuse such as international donor funding could take place in the Ministry of Health without
being known at the very senior levels of Government.
The OIG has no powers of prosecution, but in its report recommended that all those concerned “be held accountable
as applicable under national administrative civil and criminal laws”.

Based in this research, I submit that the re is sufficient evidence of Crimes Against Humanity under the Rome
Statute for these matters to be properly investigated by the International Criminal Court.

Sir Tony Baldry
1 Essex Court
Temple
London EC4Y 9AR

14
Djibouti: Useful links
Human rights watch:
https://www.hrw.org/search/apachesolr_search/djibouti
USA State Department annual report human rights in Djibouti:
https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper

Foreign policy article:
https://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/08/a_friendly_little_dictatorship_in_the_horn_of_afric a

UN reports:
https://www.irin news.org/Report/82971/DJIBOUTI -High -malnutrition -rates -in-slums -alarming
https://www.irinnews.org/Report/89031/DJIBOUTI -Half -rural -populati on -need -emergency -food -aid
https://www.irinnews.org/Report/94210/DJIBOUTI -Migrants -risk -all -for -better -life
https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/media_53968.html
https://www.wfp.org/countries/djibouti

EU resolution on Djibouti and other countries:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P6 -TA -2009 -0026&language=EN

International federation for human rights (IFHR) on Djibouti:
https://www.fidh.org/ -Djibouti,63 –
https://www.fidh.org/Les -defenseurs -des -droits
https://www.fidh.org/ -Djibouti,208 –

About Presse freedom:
https://www.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj -calls -for -end -of-media -repression -in-djibouti
https://en.rsf.org/djibouti.html
https://en.rsf.org/djibouti. html
https://cpj.org/africa/djibouti/
https://africa.ifj.org/en/articles/the -ifj-calls -on -djibouti -to-release -a-detained -journalist
https://en.rsf.org/djibouti -two -ministers -sent -letter -after -14 -08 -2012,43219.html
https://www.lavoixdedjibouti.com/?p=2575#more -2575

World Observatory against torture:
https://www.omct.org/human -rights -defenders/reports -and -publications/djibouti/2006/08/d18141/

African Development bank about Djibouti:
https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project -and -Operations/Djibouti%20 -%20CSP%202011 –
15.pdf