US embassy cable - 05DJIBOUTI1121

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DJIBOUTI 001121 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF, AF/E; 
PARIS, LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHER; 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SCUL, PHUM, PINS, DJ 
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI OPPOSITION RENOUNCES 2001 PEACE 
ACCORD 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY: The Peace Accord (PA), signed 
between the FRUD Armee and the government on 
March 12th, 2001, is a growing subject of 
animosity between the opposition and government. 
The FRUD Armee was the breakaway faction of the 
Front for Restoration of Unity and Democracy 
(FRUD) that continued fighting against the 
Government after the first Peace Accord was 
signed with the FRUD's political leaders in 1994 
to end Djibouti's civil war. The opposition 
coalition Union for Democratic Alternance (UAD) 
is criticizing the government for not respecting 
that Accord and for ignoring its articles 
pertaining to democratic reform. Press releases 
by the Republican Alliance for Democracy (ARD), 
the leading Afar party in the opposition 
coalition, is threatening to take up arms once 
again if the conditions for democratic reform set 
forth in the 2001 Peace Accord are not 
implemented. END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) Four years and four months after the 
signature of the Peace Accord in May 2001, and 
one year after the death of its leader - the late 
Ahmed Dini, ARD undertook a referendum among its 
members September 21st to determine future 
political actions by the party. During its 
meetings, ARD decided to renounce the Peace 
Accords, claiming unlimited violations by the 
regime. This peace accord followed the signature 
of the first peace treaty with the Afar rebellion 
in December 1994. At that time, a breakaway 
faction of FRUD headed by Ahmed Dini decided that 
fighting against the Government should continue. 
In February 2000, President Guelleh's Chief of 
Cabinet, Ali Guelleh, and the President of FRUD 
Armee, Ahmed Dini, signed the Reform and Civil 
Peace Accord in Paris, ending a decade-long civil 
war in Djibouti. The peace process, begun in 
2000, ended with the signing of an exhaustive 
accord on May 12th, 2001 presided over by 
President Ismail Omar Guelleh in the presence of 
the international community. 
 
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Peace and Security 
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3. (U) The 2001 Peace Accord is divided into four 
chapters: Peace & Security, Rehabilitation & 
Reconstruction, Democratic Reforms, and 
Decentralization. The ethnic representation of 
all communities in the defense, security and 
police forces was the major issue of conflict 
between the two parties during negotiations. 
Prisoner exchange, cease-fire, demining, and a 
dialogue were established at the opening of 
negotiations. It was agreed that government 
forces would return to a peace time position and 
that elements of FRUD Armee would be demobilized 
and integrated into defense and security corps or 
reintegrated into civil society. During the civil 
war, sympathizers of FRUD were fired from their 
jobs. The accord stated that every civil servant 
discriminated against on the basis of his or her 
membership in FRUD should be reintegrated into 
the workforce. 
 
 
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 Rehabilitation and Reconstruction 
---------------------------------- 
4. (U) During the negotiations, a rehabilitation 
program was discussed and agreed upon. The Peace 
Accord stipulates the government must 
rehabilitate building and road infrastructure, 
water adduction and housing construction in 
Yoboki and Obock. Parallel to these programs, the 
Port of Obock would also be reorganized. Water 
adduction to the Day region "must be finished as 
soon as possible." The government completed the 
water adduction in the beginning of 2004. Some 
among the opposition hold that this chapter was 
not given significant respect and importance by 
the Government. The war zones such as Obock and 
Yoboki have not seen significant development and 
the movement of population that fled the war 
began to return only recently. Obock is the least 
developed district among the six districts of 
Djibouti. ARD calls for a fair distribution of 
wealth and asks the Government not to concentrate 
resources solely in the capital. The Afar 
opposition is mainly from Obock. 
 
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Democratic Reforms 
------------------ 
5. (U) Among democratic reforms, the opposition 
considered the Constitutional Council, installing 
a multiparty system, and public and press 
liberties as key engagements from the Government 
to accelerate steps toward democracy. The Afar 
opposition demanded the composition of the 
Constitutional Council be reexamined to reflect 
the cultural composition of the country. "The 
FRUD-Armee will be tolerated as a political party 
until the constitutional limitation of four 
parties is lifted in September 2002," says the 
clause on multiparty system. The two parties 
agreed on respecting public and international 
standards for press liberties. The local media 
has been always qualified as pro-government and 
that it didn't reflect the political diversity of 
the national scene. 
 
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Decentralization 
----------------- 
6. (U) The government and the FRUD-Armee agreed 
on general objectives of decentralization. 
Political, administrative and economical 
decentralizations would reduce regional 
disparities. The two sides agreed that two levels 
of decentralization were needed: regional and 
community. Regional governing bodies should be 
created first and then communities. Five regions 
were created, Ali-Sabieh, Arta, Dikhil, Obock and 
Tadjourah. It was agreed that the capital should 
have a special status. A National Commission of 
Decentralization was to be created; composed of 
twelve members among whom three representatives 
of each party that was a signatory to the Accord. 
The Commission is entitled to activate the 
decentralization process, follow regional 
institutions and participate in defining 
legislative texts for decentralization. 
 
7. (U) Some clauses have been respected and 
implemented by the government; others have yet to 
be implemented. Observers agree that articles 
pertaining to security forces and the 
reintegration of the FRUD-Armee members have been 
implemented satisfactorily. On the other hand, 
rehabilitation and war zones reconstruction 
efforts achieved limited results. United Nations 
Development Program (UNDP) Djibouti financed the 
reconstruction of 100 houses in Obock, but the 
opposition criticized the houses as providing 
little livable space. The most controversial 
points remain democratic reforms and 
decentralization. The Peace Accord provides for 
the examination of composition of the 
Constitutional Council. The FRUD-Armee, which 
became ARD, wanted the Constitutional Council to 
be representative of all political leanings, 
which the government has not guaranteed. 
Regarding decentralization, the two parties 
agreed to put in place first regional governing 
bodies and then community governing bodies. The 
Peace Accord created a National Commission for 
Decentralization (NCD) composed of twelve members 
among whom three representatives of each part 
were signatories to the Accord. The tasks of the 
NCD are to put in place decentralization, to 
monitor regional institutions and to participate 
in drafting of legal texts. The Peace Accord is 
consolidating the "checks and balances" system 
within the government. The FRUD-Armee has tried 
to manage the decentralization process with the 
central administration, something that the 
Government never previously allowed. 
8. (U) On September 24th, 2005, the ARD renounced 
the Peace Accord in a press release. The 
opposition party claims the government is 
aggravating the original roots of the conflict by 
not issuing Identity Cards equally to all 
citizens, making inefficient democratic reforms, 
and distorting the decentralization process in an 
unacceptable way. It also criticized the 
government for not applying and implementing the 
articles in the Peace Accord honestly. In 
response to this frustration, the opposition 
coalition is likely to boycott regional elections 
planned for the end of the year as it did with 
Presidential election in April 2005. 
RAGSDALE