Somalia President apologizes to Somaliland People for atrocities in 1980s

The president of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo officially apologized for the atrocities against the people in Somaliland. 

In the conclusion of the annual judiciary conference in Mogadishu, President Farmajo apologized for the atrocities against what he called our brothers in the North.

Farmajo said Somalia needs to acknowledge its dark past in order to move forward into a peaceful just society. He said the atrocities against the people in Somaliland was not about the South invading the North, or clans brutalizing others, but the responsibility of the state apparatus.

Farmajo called on the people of Somalia to join him in his acknowledgment and apology for the atrocities against the people in Somaliland.

On the other hand, he demanded similar acknowledgment from the armed factions in Somalia’s civil war.

This came two after days President Farmaajo met with the President of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi in Addis Ababa. Both sides confirmed the meeting although declining to disclose the issues discussed in the meeting. 

This is the first time that a president of Somalia apologizes for the atrocities committed by the Somali government in the 1980s against the people of Somaliland. Nevertheless, the president of Somalia came short of calling those atrocities genocide or crimes against humanity as Somalilanders argue.