Somalia: Zamzam Ahmed Dualeh released from prison

African Rights Statement

ZAMZAM AHMED DUALEH RELEASED FROM PRISON

A Presidential Pardon

3 February 2005

African Rights welcomes the release, from prison yesterday, of Zamzam Ahmed Dualeh, the 17-year old girl who was arrested in Hargeisa on August 15. She was sentenced to five years in prison after a grossly unfair trial in which she was forced to defend herself because her lawyers had been detained. The move comes some weeks after President Dahir Rayale stated, on the Somali Service of the BBC, that he was ready to pardon her if Zamzam and her mother submitted a petition for a presidential pardon.

The release will of course be a huge relief for Zamzam herself, who has been under immense distress, and for her mother, Nadifa Jibril, who has endured a difficult and, for the most part, lonely battle as she struggled to support her daughter, to navigate an unjust and confusing legal system while worried about the children she had left behind at home.

As previously detailed by African Rights, Zamzam was detained on charges that she was part of a conspiracy to murder Somaliland's Vice-President, Ahmed Yusuf Yassin, and that she had acted at the behest of men based in neighbouring Puntland. No tangible evidence was ever produced by the prosecution to substantiate these serious allegations. From the very beginning, when Zamzam was first brought to court on 4 October, the trial was deeply flawed, marred by lack of respect for basic human rights, particularly given the fact that she should have been tried as a juvenile, and by obvious and persistent political interference. Moreover, in the course of several months, her mother, her lawyers and her supporters have been subject to intimidation, harassment and even, on occasion, violence.

It is to be hoped that Zamzam will make a swift recovery from the trauma she has endured. However, it would be wrong to imagine that this outcome constitutes a victory for justice. The decision to release Zamzam constitutes a tacit acknowledgement of the injustice of her detention, yet there has been no statement of apology and the prospects that she or her family will receive compensation are minimal. Indeed, the opportunity to draw a line under this incident may well be welcomed by those behind Zamzam's original arrest and by the police officers she has accused of rape and torture, suggesting that their actions will not receive the scrutiny they deserve. The case has raised numerous issues of significance in relation to human rights, women's rights and civil society in Somaliland and African Rights will continue to explore these and to consider what action may now be appropriate.