Deradicalization as Soft Counter-insurgency: Distorted Interactions Between Somali Traditional Authorities and Intervening Organizations

ABSTRACT

This article focusses on how traditional authorities (TAs) are involved in deradicalization practices as part of the counterinsurgency campaign in Somalia. Through a lens of hybridity, it traces and discusses the adaptive and unpredictable forms of local-global governance that have emerged. TAs fulfil a mediating role between international expectations and local sensibilities. With important variations, they have taken on a deradicalization identity. However, many dilemmas arise from their interactions that will force adjustments and adaptations on all concerned actors.

KEYWORDS:

• Deradicalization
• United Nations
• traditional authorities
• hybridity
• Somalia
• stabilization

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to all interlocutors, near and far, who generously gave their time to inform this research. I have ensured full confidentiality for all those that have agreed to meet with me. To this end I have removed details such as exact positions, identities, place, date of interview. Thank you very much Stig Jarle Hansen for valuable comments. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the journal guest editors for their suggestions that helped to improve this manuscript. I assume full responsibility for any remaining errors or shortcomings. The research that contributed to this article was funded through a Swedish Research Council grant AU Waging Peace [2015-03476]. I also wish to gratefully acknowledge the support from UNSOM and AMISOM for without it most of my field research would not have been possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Linnéa Gelot is Senior Researcher at the Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden, and an Associate Professor in Peace and Development Studies at the School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University. Her research has focused on: peace operations, with a specialization in African-led peace operations and their protection of civilians; global institutions, especially the legitimacy of African organizations and the African Union–United Nations peace and security relationship; and global militarism.

ORCID

Linnéa Gelot http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7634-8394

Notes

1 Discussions at an UNSOM Somalia expert colloquium February 2018 notes on file with author.

2 Confidential interview, senior diplomat, March 2017; remarks in diplomatic and UN circles at the Colloquium on Peace and Reconciliation, FGS, UNOPS and UNSOM, Mogadishu, Somalia 11–13 February 2018.

3 Semi-structured interviews and FGD’s were conducted with elders and sheikhs, local power elites, civil society representatives, UNSOM officials, bilateral donor representatives, in Baidoa and Mogadishu in Nov-Dec 2016 and in April 2017 with a total of approx. 100 respondents.

4 A recurrent theme in interviews was the challenge of corrupt and frightened police officers and the distrust this creates between communities and police, as well as positive models set by some individuals that build confidence and capacity in the force.

5 Interviews, UNSOM staff across various mission sections, as part of reflections about the growing importance to UN peace operations of stabilization, P/CVE and deradicalization in ‘new contexts’, April 2017.

6 Confidential interview UNSOM official, April 2017.

7 Meeting notes, ‘Somalia consultation meeting on national reconciliation, prevention of violent extremism and reintegration of former combatants in Somalian context’ organised by the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and Finnish Church Aid on 2–3 October 2017, Helsinki.

8 Confidential interview, Senior UN OROLSI official, April 2017.

9 FGD women development actors December 2016.

10 The overall ownership for the rehabilitation centres resides with FGS as detailed in an MoU between FGS and donors, but their establishment and running costs are born by donors.

11 Confidential interview, Senior UNSOM official, April 2017.

12 Several African governments argue that reintegration/rehabilitation of former terrorists/radicals needs to become a (sub)component of global DDR programming, Interview, AU deradicalization expert, February 2019.

13 Revised IDDRS Module 2.10: UN Approach to DDR (p. 3)

14 I gratefully acknowledge a helpful comment by one of the reviewers.

15 FGD religious leaders March 2017

16 FGD religious leaders March 2017.

17 FGD religious leaders March 2017.

18 FGD religious leaders March 2017.

19 FGD NGO representatives December 2016

20 Stockholm Forum, 2018. ‘Competing Legitimacies? Role of Religion in Peacebuilding by SIPRI and Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, session notes on file with author, 8 May 2018.

21 FGD MPs March 2017

22 FGD youth leaders, March 2017

23 Confidential interview with elder, December 2016.

24 FGD elders March 2017.

25 FGD women leaders, March 2017. In separate meetings, several interlocutors expressed doubt that all those in deradicalization facilities, screened by the national intelligence and security agency, were in fact disengaged al-Shabaab members. The group referred to by FGS and donors as ‘disengaged combatants’ is a wide spectrum, since many of the ‘low risk’ disengaged group had non-combatant roles and their ideological conviction was found to be quite thin. Confidential interview elder December 2016; confidential interview human rights advocate December 2016.

26 Confidential interview with elder, December 2016.

27 Confidential interview with man convicted on terrorism charges, prison facility, March 2017.

28 Confidential interview with human rights advocate, December 2016. See also Somali compact 2014 and Ubink and Rea 2017, 13, for more on the work of the traditional dispute resolution unit, FGS ministry for justice and constitutional affairs.

29 Ibid.

30 Xeer is amenable to change but many women mention the harm caused by the principle to marry a rape victim to her rapist in order to safeguard her honour and that of her family, FGD women leaders, March 2017; Comments made in session on Transforming violent extremism at ‘Somalia consultation meeting on national reconciliation, prevention of violent extremism and reintegration of former combatants in Somalian context’ organised by the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and Finnish Church Aid on 2–3 October 2017, Helsinki.

31 FGD women leaders, March 2017

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Swedish research council: [Grant Number 2015-03476].