Isaaq genocide: Difference between revisions

Isaaq genocide
Isaaq genocide
	Isaaq Genocide Exhumed skeletal remains of victims of the the Isaaq genocide
Location	Somalia
Date	1988 to 1990
Target	Isaaq clan
Attack type	State crime, Forced disappearance, Genocidal massacre
Deaths	60,000 up to 100,000

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The Isaaq genocide was the systematic, state-sponsored massacre of Isaaq civilians by the Somali Democratic Republic under the dictatorship of Siad Barre.^[1] The number of civilian deaths in this massacre is estimated to be between 50,000-100,000 according to various sources,^[2]^[3]^[4] whilst local reports estimate the total civilian deaths to be upwards of 200,000 Isaaq civilians.^[5] This genocide also included the levelling and complete destruction of the second and third largest cities in Somalia, Hargeisa and Burao respectively,^[6] and had caused 400,000^[7]^[8] Somalis (primarily of the Isaaq clan) to flee their land and cross the border to Hartasheikh in Ethiopia as refugees, creating the world's largest refugee camp then (1988),^[9] with another 400,000 being internally displaced.^[10]^[11]^[12] This happened during the Somali Civil War, and has been described as a genocide by a United Nations' investigation^[1] as well as international media, including The Guardian,^[13] The Washington Post^[14] and Al Jazeera^[15]^[16] among others.

Background

The first Somali state to be granted its independence from colonial powers was Somaliland, a British protectorate that gained independence on 26th of June 1960. Shortly after, it was to form a hasty union with Trust Territory of Somaliland (formerly known as Somalia Italiana) to create the Somali Republic.

Within British Somaliland the Isaaq constituted the majority group within the protectorate along with Dir and Harti groups also having sizeable populations to the west and east of Isaaq respectively.

The union of the two states proved problematic early on when in a referendum held on 20 June 1961 to approve the provisional constitution that would govern the two ex-colonial territories was rejected by half of the population in the Somaliland (the north-west of nascent Somali Republic), whereas the south (ex-Italian colony) returned a strong support for the constitution, this was major signal of discontent coming from the north only a year after forming the union. Another example of the simmering discontent in the north was a coup attempt by northern officers that was thwarted in 1961.

Genocide

During the ongoing skirmishes between the forces of the Somali National Movement and the Somali Army, the massacre of the Isaaq clan known as the Isaaq Genocide took place between May 1988 and March 1989.^[26]

In 1987, Siad Barre the president of Somalia, frustrated by lack of success of the army against insurgents from Somali National Movement in the North of country, offered the Ethiopian government a deal in which they stop sheltering and giving support to the SNM in return to Somalia giving up its territorial claim over Ethiopia's Eastern region.^[27] As Ethiopia agreed to the deal, the SNM felt the pressure to cease their activities on the Ethiopia-Somalia border, and decided to attack the northern territories of Somalia to take control of the major cities in the North. The heavy handed nature of the Siad Barre's government was unprecedented, and led to one of the "worst civil wars in Africa".^[27]

Siad Barre gave instruction to target members of the Isaaq clan specifically, especially in the cities of Hargeisa and Burco and to that end employed the use of aerial bombardment to target civilians belonging to the Isaaq clan.^[28] Bruce Jentleson describes Siad Barre's massacre of Isaaq civilians as follows:

Instead of folding, the desperate SNM launched a full-scale attack on Barre's forces in northern Somalia in May, hoping to liberate enough territory to create a permanent foothold inside Somalia. It succeeded in pushing into the city of Burao and temporarily capturing most of the principal city of Hargeisa. Government forces responded with "appalling savagery", targeting the entire Isaaq civilian population with arrests, rape, mass executions, and insdiscriminant shooting and bombing, Hundred of thousands of Isaaq refugees fled for their lives across the Ethiopian border; government warplanes strafed them as they fled. As many as fifty thousand Somalis died and the city of Hargeisa was virtually levelled in what outside analysts depicted as a "genocidal" campaign by Bthe Barre regime against the Isaaq. .
— Bruce W. Jentleson, Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized: Preventive Diplomacy in the Post-Cold War World ^[29]

The use of large-scale arial bombardment was unprecedented in the history of African civil unrest. The brutal response of the Siad Barre government did not stop there, in discussing the systematic way in which the government targeted Isaaq people with aim to inflict as much loss in property and life, Waldron and Hasci published the following account:

General Mohammed Said 'Morgan', one of Siad Barre's sons-in-law, [was given] the opportunity to put into operation further elements of a pacification plan he had drawn up earlier. Government forces reacted with appalling savagery to the SNM seizure of Burao and near capture of Hargeisa. The response culminated in the bombing and artillery bombardment of Hargeisa to a point of virtual destruction. Civillian refugees fleeing towards the border were bombed and gunned indiscriminately. It was seen, probably rightly, as an attack on the whole Isaaq people [...] (Gilkes 1993, p. 7).
— Sidney R. Waldron, Naima Ali Hasci, Somali Refugees in the Horn of Africa: State of the Art Literature Review^[30]

References

^ ^a ^b Mburu, Chris; Rights, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human; Office, United Nations Development Programme Somalia Country (2002-01-01). Past human rights abuses in Somalia: report of a preliminary study conducted for the United Nations (OHCHR/UNDP-Somalia). s.n.
^ ^a ^b Peifer, Douglas C. (2009-05-01). Stopping Mass Killings in Africa: Genocide, Airpower, and Intervention. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9781437912814.
^ Straus, Scott (2015-03-24). Making and Unmaking Nations: The Origins and Dynamics of Genocide in Contemporary Africa. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801455674.
^ ^a ^b Jones, Adam (2017-01-22). Genocide, war crimes and the West: history and complicity. Zed Books. ISBN 9781842771914.
^ "Investigating genocide in Somaliland".
^ Tekle, Amare (1994-01-01). Eritrea and Ethiopia: From Conflict to Cooperation. The Red Sea Press. ISBN 9780932415974.
^ "Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics" (PDF): 10. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Press, Robert M. (1999-01-01). The New Africa: Dispatches from a Changing Continent. University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813017044.
^ Lindley, Anna (2013-01-15). The Early Morning Phonecall: Somali Refugees' Remittances. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781782383284.
^ Gajraj, Priya (2005). Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics (PDF). World Bank. p. 10.
^ Law, Ian (2010-01-01). Racism and Ethnicity: Global Debates, Dilemmas, Directions. Longman. ISBN 9781405859127.
^ "Africa Watch". Volume 5: 4. 1993.
^ Adedeji, Adebayo; Nigeria), African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies (Ijebu-Ode (1999-01-01). Comprehending and mastering African conflicts: the search for sustainable peace and good governance. Zed Books, in association with African Centre for Development and Stratetgic Studies. ISBN 9781856497626.
^ Cyllah, Almami; Prendergast, John (1990-07-01). "GENOCIDE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
^ "Investigating genocide in Somaliland". Al Jazeera. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
^ "Somaliland: Kill All but the Crows". Al Jazeera. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
^ Totten, Samuel; Parsons, William S. (1995-01-01). Genocide in the Twentieth Century: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts. Garland Pub. ISBN 9780815303091.
^ Cohen, Robin (1995-11-02). The Cambridge Survey of World Migration. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521444057.
^ Straus, Scott (2015-03-24). Making and Unmaking Nations: The Origins and Dynamics of Genocide in Contemporary Africa. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801455674.
^ Gilbert, Jérémie (2014-03-26). Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights. Routledge. ISBN 9781136020162.
^ Nafziger (2002), War Hunger and Displacment, p.191, Oxford University Press
^ Geldenhuys (2009), Contested States in World Politics, Palgrave Macmillan
^ Abdullahi, Mohamed Diriye (2001-01-01). Culture and Customs of Somalia. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313313332.
^ Frushone, Joel (2001-01-01). Welcome Home to Nothing: Refugees Repatriate to a Forgotten Somaliland. U.S. Committee for Refugees. ISBN 9780936548128.
^ Dumper, Michael; Stanley, Bruce E. (2007-01-01). Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576079195.
^ Strategic Survey, 1989-1990 (1990), p.87, International Institute for Strategic Studies
^ ^a ^b Cohen, p.444
^ Geldenhuys, p.131
^ Jentleson, Bruce W. (2000). Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized: Preventive Diplomacy in the Post-Cold War World. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 223.
^ Waldron, Hasci, Sidney R, Naima Ali (1994). Somali Refugees in the Horn of Africa: State of the Art Literature Review. University of Oxford. ISBN 91-7106-363-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[Mburu-1] Mburu, Chris; Rights, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human; Office, United Nations Development Programme Somalia Country (2002-01-01). Past human rights abuses in Somalia: report of a preliminary study conducted for the United Nations (OHCHR/UNDP-Somalia). s.n.

[Peifer-2] Peifer, Douglas C. (2009-05-01). Stopping Mass Killings in Africa: Genocide, Airpower, and Intervention. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9781437912814.

[3] Straus, Scott (2015-03-24). Making and Unmaking Nations: The Origins and Dynamics of Genocide in Contemporary Africa. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801455674.

[Jones-4] Jones, Adam (2017-01-22). Genocide, war crimes and the West: history and complicity. Zed Books. ISBN 9781842771914.

[5] "Investigating genocide in Somaliland".

[6] Tekle, Amare (1994-01-01). Eritrea and Ethiopia: From Conflict to Cooperation. The Red Sea Press. ISBN 9780932415974.

[7] "Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics" (PDF): 10. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[8] Press, Robert M. (1999-01-01). The New Africa: Dispatches from a Changing Continent. University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813017044.

[9] Lindley, Anna (2013-01-15). The Early Morning Phonecall: Somali Refugees' Remittances. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781782383284.

[10] Gajraj, Priya (2005). Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics (PDF). World Bank. p. 10.

[11] Law, Ian (2010-01-01). Racism and Ethnicity: Global Debates, Dilemmas, Directions. Longman. ISBN 9781405859127.

[12] "Africa Watch". Volume 5: 4. 1993.

[13] Adedeji, Adebayo; Nigeria), African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies (Ijebu-Ode (1999-01-01). Comprehending and mastering African conflicts: the search for sustainable peace and good governance. Zed Books, in association with African Centre for Development and Stratetgic Studies. ISBN 9781856497626.

[14] Cyllah, Almami; Prendergast, John (1990-07-01). "GENOCIDE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-01-17.

[15] "Investigating genocide in Somaliland". Al Jazeera. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2017.

[16] "Somaliland: Kill All but the Crows". Al Jazeera. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2017.

[17] Totten, Samuel; Parsons, William S. (1995-01-01). Genocide in the Twentieth Century: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts. Garland Pub. ISBN 9780815303091.

[18] Cohen, Robin (1995-11-02). The Cambridge Survey of World Migration. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521444057.

[19] Straus, Scott (2015-03-24). Making and Unmaking Nations: The Origins and Dynamics of Genocide in Contemporary Africa. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801455674.

[20] Gilbert, Jérémie (2014-03-26). Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights. Routledge. ISBN 9781136020162.

[21] Nafziger (2002), War Hunger and Displacment, p.191, Oxford University Press

[22] Geldenhuys (2009), Contested States in World Politics, Palgrave Macmillan

[23] Abdullahi, Mohamed Diriye (2001-01-01). Culture and Customs of Somalia. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313313332.

[24] Frushone, Joel (2001-01-01). Welcome Home to Nothing: Refugees Repatriate to a Forgotten Somaliland. U.S. Committee for Refugees. ISBN 9780936548128.

[25] Dumper, Michael; Stanley, Bruce E. (2007-01-01). Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576079195.

[26] Strategic Survey, 1989-1990 (1990), p.87, International Institute for Strategic Studies

[a-27] Cohen, p.444

[28] Geldenhuys, p.131

[29] Jentleson, Bruce W. (2000). Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized: Preventive Diplomacy in the Post-Cold War World. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 223.

[30] Waldron, Hasci, Sidney R, Naima Ali (1994). Somali Refugees in the Horn of Africa: State of the Art Literature Review. University of Oxford. ISBN 91-7106-363-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 The '''Isaaq genocide''' was the systematic, state-sponsored massacre of [[Isaaq]] civilians by the [[Somali Democratic Republic]] under the dictatorship of [[Siad Barre]].<ref name="Mburu">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7w8VAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22+against+the+Isaaq+people.+and+was+not%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22Based+on+the+totality+of+evidence+collected+in+Somaliland%22|title=Past human rights abuses in Somalia: report of a preliminary study conducted for the United Nations (OHCHR/UNDP-Somalia)|last=Mburu|first=Chris|last2=Rights|first2=United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human|last3=Office|first3=United Nations Development Programme Somalia Country|date=2002-01-01|publisher=s.n.|language=en}}</ref> The number of civilian deaths in this massacre is estimated to be between 50,000-100,000 according to various sources,<ref name="Peifer">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tOgOwSXB164C&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=50,000&source=bl&ots=gDxdHZNEgV&sig=tQB8KBkmIN2qBGzghefetUE7ITo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig3YSDnsjRAhVI1BoKHbKaBUEQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=50,000%20isaaq%20deaths&f=false|title=Stopping Mass Killings in Africa: Genocide, Airpower, and Intervention|last=Peifer|first=Douglas C.|date=2009-05-01|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=9781437912814|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mKWiBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT149&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi17-PMzMzRAhXLVhoKHZERA3w4ChDoAQg-MAc#v=onepage&q=%22large%20systematic%20scale%22&f=false|title=Making and Unmaking Nations: The Origins and Dynamics of Genocide in Contemporary Africa|last=Straus|first=Scott|date=2015-03-24|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801455674|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Jones">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZybbAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=By+then,+any+surviving+urban+Isaaks+-|title=Genocide, war crimes and the West: history and complicity|last=Jones|first=Adam|date=2017-01-22|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=9781842771914|language=en}}</ref> whilst local reports estimate the total civilian deaths to be upwards of 200,000 [[Isaaq]] civilians.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/02/investigating-genocide-somaliland-20142310820367509.html|title=Investigating genocide in Somaliland|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref> This genocide also included the levelling and complete destruction of the second and third largest cities in Somalia, [[Hargeisa]] and [[Burao]] respectively,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xbQTEF0rd7wC&pg=PA152&dq=somalia+second+largest+city+destruction+hargeisa&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwio-cPnzsjRAhXBWhoKHUaMAvwQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=somalia%20second%20largest%20city%20destruction%20hargeisa&f=false|title=Eritrea and Ethiopia: From Conflict to Cooperation|last=Tekle|first=Amare|date=1994-01-01|publisher=The Red Sea Press|isbn=9780932415974|language=en}}</ref> and had caused 400,000<ref>{{Cite journal|last=|first=|year=|title=Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics|url=https://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSOMALIA/Resources/conflictinsomalia.pdf|journal=|volume=|pages=10|via=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-s0VcsSW2rAC&pg=PA154&dq=%22The+scope+of+the+destruction+was+still+evident+when+Betty+%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiu6Yvpn8_RAhVJ7BQKHS6tDvkQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=%22The%20scope%20of%20the%20destruction%20was%20still%20evident%20when%20Betty%20%22&f=false|title=The New Africa: Dispatches from a Changing Continent|last=Press|first=Robert M.|date=1999-01-01|publisher=University Press of Florida|isbn=9780813017044|language=en}}</ref> Somalis (primarily of the [[Isaaq]] clan) to flee their land and cross the border to Hartasheikh in Ethiopia as refugees, creating the world's largest refugee camp then (1988),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WV0TAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=isaaq+400,000&source=bl&ots=iwV5IJSLjb&sig=qwS_Q38mseLNz_0ruvyv-4dgrjM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi105zco9bRAhVE7hoKHavtDysQ6AEIIzAC#v=snippet&q=400,000&f=false|title=The Early Morning Phonecall: Somali Refugees' Remittances|last=Lindley|first=Anna|date=2013-01-15|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=9781782383284|language=en}}</ref> with another 400,000 being internally displaced.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gajraj|first1=Priya|title=Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics|date=2005|publisher=World Bank|page=10|url=https://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSOMALIA/Resources/conflictinsomalia.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=52m9OsGODRUC&pg=PA227&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-yMfmp9bRAhVI7hoKHT7aCi8Q6AEIIDAB#v=onepage&q=isaaq&f=false|title=Racism and Ethnicity: Global Debates, Dilemmas, Directions|last=Law|first=Ian|date=2010-01-01|publisher=Longman|isbn=9781405859127|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Africa Watch|journal=Volume 5|date=1993|page=4}}</ref> This happened during the [[Somali Civil War]], and has been described as a genocide by a United Nations' investigation<ref name="Mburu"/> as well as international media, including ''[[The Guardian]]'',<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XWRyAAAAMAAJ&dq=inauthor:%22Adebayo+Adedeji%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Guardian+1989|title=Comprehending and mastering African conflicts: the search for sustainable peace and good governance|last=Adedeji|first=Adebayo|last2=Nigeria)|first2=African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies (Ijebu-Ode|date=1999-01-01|publisher=Zed Books, in association with African Centre for Development and Stratetgic Studies|isbn=9781856497626|language=en}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1990/07/01/genocide-in-the-horn-of-africa/b6f59cf0-5061-4223-82fb-35e6a7109b46/?utm_term=.730b77b3b45d|title=GENOCIDE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA|last=Cyllah|first=Almami|date=1990-07-01|last2=Prendergast|first2=John|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|access-date=2017-01-17}}</ref> and [[Al Jazeera]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/02/investigating-genocide-somaliland-20142310820367509.html|title=Investigating genocide in Somaliland|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=6 February 2014|accessdate=21 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2016/06/somaliland-kill-crows-160616083822713.html|title=Somaliland: Kill All but the Crows|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=16 June 2016|accessdate=21 January 2017}}</ref> among others.
-{{Infobox civilian attack|title=Isaaq genocide|image=Isaaq Genocide.jpeg|image_size=300px|alt=Isaaq Genocide|caption=Exhumed skeletal remains of victims of the the Isaaq genocide|map=|map_size=|map_alt=|map_caption=|location=[[Somalia]]|target=[[Isaaq]] clan|coordinates=|date=1988 to 1989|type=[[State crime]], [[Forced disappearance]], [[Genocidal massacre]]|fatalities=[[Isaaq genocide#Number of deaths|60,000]]<ref name="Peifer">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tOgOwSXB164C&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=50,000&source=bl&ots=gDxdHZNEgV&sig=tQB8KBkmIN2qBGzghefetUE7ITo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig3YSDnsjRAhVI1BoKHbKaBUEQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=50,000%20isaaq%20deaths&f=false|title=Stopping Mass Killings in Africa: Genocide, Airpower, and Intervention|last=Peifer|first=Douglas C.|date=2009-05-01|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=9781437912814|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GovaAAAAMAAJ&dq=isaaks+genocide+%22physical+and+cultural+genocide+of+indigenous+peoples%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=50,000+isaak|title=Genocide in the Twentieth Century: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts|last=Totten|first=Samuel|last2=Parsons|first2=William S.|date=1995-01-01|publisher=Garland Pub.|isbn=9780815303091|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YbzsBPuhyggC&q=isaaq#v=onepage&q=at%20a%20conservative%20estimate%20between%2050,000%20and%2060,000&f=false|title=The Cambridge Survey of World Migration|last=Cohen|first=Robin|date=1995-11-02|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521444057|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mKWiBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT149&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi17-PMzMzRAhXLVhoKHZERA3w4ChDoAQg-MAc#v=snippet&q=isaak&f=false|title=Making and Unmaking Nations: The Origins and Dynamics of Genocide in Contemporary Africa|last=Straus|first=Scott|date=2015-03-24|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801455674|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4zksAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40&dq=isaaks+genocide+%22physical+and+cultural+genocide+of+indigenous+peoples%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJhbqt087RAhWG2RoKHXP1DIgQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=somalia&f=false|title=Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights|last=Gilbert|first=Jérémie|date=2014-03-26|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136020162|language=en}}</ref><ref>Nafziger (2002), War Hunger and Displacment, p.191, Oxford University Press</ref><ref>Geldenhuys (2009), Contested States in World Politics, Palgrave Macmillan</ref> up to 100,000 <ref name="Jones">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZybbAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=By+then,+any+surviving+urban+Isaaks+-|title=Genocide, war crimes and the West: history and complicity|last=Jones|first=Adam|date=2017-01-22|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=9781842771914|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2Nu918tYMB8C&pg=PA37&dq=somalia+isaaq+1988+100,000&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiW-ciZvtbRAhWKcBoKHduGC34Q6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q=somalia%20isaaq%20snm%201988%20100,000&f=false|title=Culture and Customs of Somalia|last=Abdullahi|first=Mohamed Diriye|date=2001-01-01|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313313332|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4NS6AAAAIAAJ&q=Red+Beret+attacks+targeted+innocent+Isaaq+clan+members+and+killed+an+estimated+100,000+people&dq=Red+Beret+attacks+targeted+innocent+Isaaq+clan+members+and+killed+an+estimated+100,000+people&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjc5qiAv9bRAhUJfhoKHbmbBCoQ6AEIHTAA|title=Welcome Home to Nothing: Refugees Repatriate to a Forgotten Somaliland|last=Frushone|first=Joel|date=2001-01-01|publisher=U.S. Committee for Refugees|isbn=9780936548128|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA93&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXrJPmvtbRAhVFtBoKHbZLDnYQ6AEIPjAH#v=snippet&q=100,000%20isaaq&f=false|title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia|last=Dumper|first=Michael|last2=Stanley|first2=Bruce E.|date=2007-01-01|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781576079195|language=en}}</ref>
+{{Infobox civilian attack|title=Isaaq genocide|image=Isaaq Genocide.jpeg|image_size=300px|alt=Isaaq Genocide|caption=Exhumed skeletal remains of victims of the the Isaaq genocide|map=|map_size=|map_alt=|map_caption=|location=[[Somalia]]|target=[[Isaaq]] clan|coordinates=|date=1988 to 1990|type=[[State crime]], [[Forced disappearance]], [[Genocidal massacre]]|fatalities=[[Isaaq genocide#Number of deaths|60,000]]<ref name="Peifer">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tOgOwSXB164C&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=50,000&source=bl&ots=gDxdHZNEgV&sig=tQB8KBkmIN2qBGzghefetUE7ITo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig3YSDnsjRAhVI1BoKHbKaBUEQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=50,000%20isaaq%20deaths&f=false|title=Stopping Mass Killings in Africa: Genocide, Airpower, and Intervention|last=Peifer|first=Douglas C.|date=2009-05-01|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=9781437912814|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GovaAAAAMAAJ&dq=isaaks+genocide+%22physical+and+cultural+genocide+of+indigenous+peoples%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=50,000+isaak|title=Genocide in the Twentieth Century: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts|last=Totten|first=Samuel|last2=Parsons|first2=William S.|date=1995-01-01|publisher=Garland Pub.|isbn=9780815303091|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YbzsBPuhyggC&q=isaaq#v=onepage&q=at%20a%20conservative%20estimate%20between%2050,000%20and%2060,000&f=false|title=The Cambridge Survey of World Migration|last=Cohen|first=Robin|date=1995-11-02|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521444057|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mKWiBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT149&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi17-PMzMzRAhXLVhoKHZERA3w4ChDoAQg-MAc#v=snippet&q=isaak&f=false|title=Making and Unmaking Nations: The Origins and Dynamics of Genocide in Contemporary Africa|last=Straus|first=Scott|date=2015-03-24|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801455674|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4zksAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40&dq=isaaks+genocide+%22physical+and+cultural+genocide+of+indigenous+peoples%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJhbqt087RAhWG2RoKHXP1DIgQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=somalia&f=false|title=Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights|last=Gilbert|first=Jérémie|date=2014-03-26|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136020162|language=en}}</ref><ref>Nafziger (2002), War Hunger and Displacment, p.191, Oxford University Press</ref><ref>Geldenhuys (2009), Contested States in World Politics, Palgrave Macmillan</ref> up to 100,000 <ref name="Jones">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZybbAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=By+then,+any+surviving+urban+Isaaks+-|title=Genocide, war crimes and the West: history and complicity|last=Jones|first=Adam|date=2017-01-22|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=9781842771914|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2Nu918tYMB8C&pg=PA37&dq=somalia+isaaq+1988+100,000&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiW-ciZvtbRAhWKcBoKHduGC34Q6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q=somalia%20isaaq%20snm%201988%20100,000&f=false|title=Culture and Customs of Somalia|last=Abdullahi|first=Mohamed Diriye|date=2001-01-01|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313313332|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4NS6AAAAIAAJ&q=Red+Beret+attacks+targeted+innocent+Isaaq+clan+members+and+killed+an+estimated+100,000+people&dq=Red+Beret+attacks+targeted+innocent+Isaaq+clan+members+and+killed+an+estimated+100,000+people&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjc5qiAv9bRAhUJfhoKHbmbBCoQ6AEIHTAA|title=Welcome Home to Nothing: Refugees Repatriate to a Forgotten Somaliland|last=Frushone|first=Joel|date=2001-01-01|publisher=U.S. Committee for Refugees|isbn=9780936548128|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA93&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXrJPmvtbRAhVFtBoKHbZLDnYQ6AEIPjAH#v=snippet&q=100,000%20isaaq&f=false|title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia|last=Dumper|first=Michael|last2=Stanley|first2=Bruce E.|date=2007-01-01|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781576079195|language=en}}</ref>
 }}
+== Background ==
+The first Somali state to be granted its independence from colonial powers was [[British Somaliland|Somaliland]], a British protectorate that gained independence on 26th of June 1960. Shortly after, it was to form a hasty union with [[Trust Territory of Somaliland]] (formerly known as ''Somalia Italiana'') to create the [[Somali Republic]].
+Within [[British Somaliland]] the [[Isaaq]] constituted the majority group within the protectorate along with [[Dir (clan)|Dir]] and Harti groups also having sizeable populations to the west and east of [[Isaaq]] respectively.
+The union of the two states proved problematic early on when in a referendum held on 20 June 1961 to approve the provisional constitution that would govern the two ex-colonial territories was rejected by half of the population in the [[Somaliland]] (the north-west of nascent Somali Republic), whereas the south (ex-Italian colony) returned a strong support for the constitution, this was major signal of discontent coming from the north only a year after forming the union. Another example of the simmering discontent in the north was a coup attempt by northern officers that was thwarted in 1961.
 {{genocide}}