The protests that swept through north Africa and the Arabian peninsula made the headlines throughout out the world. However, it was only the cries and protests of those in big and oil rich countries that were heard. Small countries that are considered to have next to nothing to offer the world never made the headlines, in-fact, they never do until something really gruesome or catastrophic happens.
The people of Djibouti can be placed in such a category. A lot of human rights violations and press stifling occurred in Djibouti, these events occurred concurrently with the arab spring.
Djibouti is a semi-presidential republic. An elected president exists alongside a prime minister and Cabinet who are responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a popularly elected head of state who is more than a purely ceremonial figurehead, and from the presidential system in that the cabinet, although named by the president, is responsible to the legislature, which may force the cabinet to resign through a motion of no confidence.
Ismail Omar Guelleh, the president of Djibouti has been in office since 1999, but his government has been in power for 34 years. Guelleh amended the constitution to make it possible for him to have a third term in office. The Djiboutian people frowned on this, and they began to protest, these protests took place in the months leading up to the Djiboutian presidential election in 2011. On February 18, thousands rallied against the president, gathering at a stadium, intending to stay until their demands were met. They were calling for the resignation of the president. The demonstration escalated into clashes after dusk, as police used batons and tear gas against stone-throwing protesters. And like everywhere in the world where the sitting president becomes unpopular, opposition leaders from the Union for Democratic Change, an umbrella group of three opposition parties, gave speeches at the demonstration, reiterating and echoing the cry of the people calling for Guelleh to step down. The peaceful protests quickly turned into clashes, and these were reported to be growing in frequency and seriousness. This occurred on the second day of protesting. Anti-government protestors had another run in with security forces barely 24 hours after hundreds of protestors demanding the president step down threw stones at riot police who fired back with tear gas. One policeman and one protestor lost their lives. The organizers and front runners of the protests were arrested. These arrests proved to be the wrong approach. The next day, the authorities were forced to release three opposition leaders, as opponents of President Ismail Guelleh clashed with police once again. The opposition parties and protest organizers were scheduled to meet on the 24 February to plan more mass protests for the following day, and subsequent days if their demands were not met. Police arrested 300 organisers during and after the mass protests on February 18. Torture and other inhuman means were being employed to seek information from the detainees and other activists with the main aim being to quell the protests. Another major protest had been scheduled for February 24, none of the leaders showed up. Bourhan Mohammed Ali, a main opposition leader said he feared the protests had lost momentum. Protests had been planned for March 4, but it remained to be seen if the Djiboutians would be able to continue to protest in the absence of the 300 who had been earlier arrested. As if to show that he answered to no one, the president and ruling party ordered the opposition to cancel a match they had planned for March 3. The opposition refused, and on the day of the protests, police and government troops filled the streets and blocked the main route to the capitals stadium the location of the planned protest. This succeeded in stopping the protest. Another protest failed to get off the ground because 4 opposition leaders were arrested by security forces before the protest day. The sitting president was using the state apparatus to silence the voice of the masses in the name of security and stability, when his very actions were doomed to collapse the very institution he showed he was protecting. Anyone who spoke up was scooped up by the security forces for questioning and then detained without trail. The president of the Djibouti human rights league was also arrested for lashing out against the government and the human rights violation it was perpetrating on its people. Another move that should have made headline news was the expulsion of US election monitors a month before the polls. The president was sowing seeds of dictatorship. Not to anyones surprise, the president won by a whooping 80% margin in an election that was boycotted by the opposition. It is such behavior that spurs the rise of revolutionary figures, a local hero who will brave the odds and stand firm to fight for justice. One who will not employ the barrel of the gun, but rather the use of intellect and written procedure to overcome the very force that put the procedures in place to quell any form of rebellion. Djibouti needs to breed one quickly.