Human Rights Defender of the Month: Kadar Abdi Ibrahim

Kadar Abdi Ibrahim est un fervent militant des droits humains et journaliste djiboutien – un pays où les journalistes sont fréquemment harcelés, soumis à des intimidations et représailles orchestrées par le gouvernement et empêchés de conduire leurs activités de façon indépendante. Pourtant, Kadar continue à utiliser sa voix et sa plume comme outils pour promouvoir la justice.

En tant que militant des droits humains, journaliste et blogueur, il est une cible à Djibouti. « Je suis témoin, quotidiennement, de l’injustice et des souffrances que subissent mes compatriotes. En tant qu’humain, impossible de rester les bras croisés », explique-t-il.

En 2015, Kadar était le co-directeur et rédacteur en chef du journal L’Aurore, le seul organe de presse privé de Djibouti. En 2016, le journal a été interdit de publication suite à la parution d’un article sur l’une des victimes du massacre de Buldhuqo, au cours duquel au moins 29 personnes ont été tuées. « Je suis animé par le désir de voir mon pays adopter une culture démocratique et surtout faire sortir mes concitoyens de l’ignorance », ajoute-t-il. Il occupe par ailleurs le poste de Secrétaire-général du parti politique MoDeL (Mouvement pour la démocratie et la liberté).

Pour tenter de le faire taire, la police a arrêté Kadar à plusieurs reprises, ce qui témoigne des dangers liés à la défense des droits à Djibouti. Souvent, le gouvernement refuse de légaliser les organisations des DDH à moins qu’ils ne prêtent allégeance aux autorités. Les DDH font en outre face à des actes de harcèlement judiciaire et extrajudiciaire, à des attaques, à des campagnes de dénigrement et à la confiscation de leurs documents d’identité.

Pendant 20 années, Kadar a été professeur de lycée, puis enseignant-chercheur à l’Université de Djibouti, mais il a perdu son poste en raison de son engagement en faveur des droits humains. Il a aussi été radié de la fonction publique.

En avril 2018, quelques jours après son retour de Genève, où il a mené des activités de plaidoyer en amont de l’Examen périodique universel (EPU) de Djibouti au Conseil des droits de l’homme de l’ONU, des agents du Service de documentation et de sécurité (SDS), les services de renseignement djiboutiens, ont fait une descente à son domicile et confisqué son passeport. En dépit du fait que sa situation est clairement identifiée comme un cas de représailles par le Secrétaire-général adjoint des Nations Unies, qui a fait rapport sur la question au Conseil des droits de l’homme en 2018 et 2019, son passeport reste aux mains du SDS. Il est donc dans l’impossibilité de quitter son propre pays depuis deux ans.

Il reste convaincu du fait que les institutions onusiennes et les acteurs internationaux devraient exercer davantage de pression sur le gouvernement djiboutien et pousser en faveur de la justice et des droits humains, notamment en ce qui concerne la mise en œuvre des recommandations EPU – qui est l’un des seuls moyens de faire la lumière, au niveau international, sur la situation des droits humains à Djibouti.

« Il est de mon devoir de dénoncer l’injustice pour apporter de l’espoir à tous ceux qui en sont victimes. Je ne dois pas me contenter uniquement de la dénonciation, mais aussi agir pour montrer qu’une autre voie est possible avec nos maigres moyens en ressources humaines et matériels », conclut Kadar.

Kadar Abdi Ibrahim is an outspoken human rights activist and journalist from Djibouti – a country where journalists are frequently harassed, subjected to government-orchestrated intimidation and reprisals, and prevented from pursuing their work independently. Yet, Kadar continues to use his voice and pen as tools to promote justice.

As a human rights activist, journalist, and blogger, he is a target in Djibouti. “Every day, I witness the injustice and suffering inflicted upon my fellow compatriots. As a human being, I cannot stand idly by,” Kadar explains.

Every day, I witness the injustice and suffering inflicted upon my fellow compatriots. As a human being, I cannot stand idly by.

From 2015, Kadar was the co-director and chief editor of L’Aurore, Djibouti’s only privately-owned media outlet. In 2016, the newspaper was banned following the publication of a story on one of the victims of the Buldhuqo massacre – which killed at least 29 people. “I sincerely wish to see my country adopt a democratic culture and overcome ignorance,” he says. He also serves as Secretary-General for the political party Movement for Democracy and Freedom (MoDeL).

As a living testimony of the dangers linked to defending human rights in Djibouti, the police have arrested Kadar several times in an attempt to silence him. Often, the government refuse to legalise HRDs’ associations, unless they pledge allegiance to the authorities. In addition, they frequently face judicial and extrajudicial harassment and attacks, smear campaigns, and confiscation of identity documents.

For 20 years, Kadar was a high school teacher, then a Professor and Researcher at the University of Djibouti, but lost his position due to his human rights work.  He was later dismissed from civil service. 

In April 2018, just days after returning from Geneva, where Kadar carried out advocacy activities ahead of Djibouti’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council, agents of the Service de documentation et de sécurité (SDS, the intelligence service) raided his house and confiscated his passport. Despite his case being identified as a clear case of reprisals by the UN Assistant-Secretary-General, who reported on it to the Human Rights Council in 2018 and 2019, his passport remains with the SDS. He has been unable to leave his own country for the past two years.

He believes that UN institutions and international actors should put more pressure on the Djiboutian government, and call for justice and human rights, including the implementation of the UPR recommendations – which is one of the only ways of shining a light on Djibouti’s human rights situation at the international level.

It is my duty to denounce this injustice and bring hope to the victims. But I cannot content myself with speaking out against the situation; I also have to show that another path is possible, despite our limited human resources and financial means.

“It is my duty to denounce this injustice and bring hope to the victims. But I cannot content myself with speaking out against the situation; I also have to show that another path is possible, despite our limited human resources and financial means,” Kadar highlights.

See more HRDs of the Month

Human Rights Defender of the month: Martial Pa’nucci

Martial Pa’nucci is a child of what is fondly known as Africa’s second liberation. In 1990 when he was born, the Republic of Congo, like many other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, was undergoing a transition from one-party rule to multi-party democracy, following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Yet developments in ordinary people’s lives were not as optimistic. Pa’nucci was born in one of Brazzaville’s ghettos to a polygamous family of two mothers and 19 siblings, where survival was a daily exercise in courage. When he was two, his father died, followed in quick succession by many of his siblings. Pa’nucci did not start school until he was nine, and he had to do odd jobs – from barbering to plumbing to earn his stay there, lest he dropped out like many of his peers.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Veronica Almedom

Veronica Almedom is a poster child of successful immigration. A duo Eritrean and Swiss citizen, she was born in Italy, and grew up in Switzerland where she permanently resides. Her parents are some of the earliest victims of Eritrea’s cycles of violence. When Eritrea’s war of independence peaked in the early 1980s, they escaped the country as unaccompanied minors, wandering through Sudan, Saudi Arabia, before making the hazard journey across the Mediterranean into Europe. There, they crossed first to Italy, and finally, to Switzerland, where they settled first as refugees, and later, as permanent residents.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Omar Faruk Osman

Omar Faruk’s career, and the passion that drove it, were the product of his circumstances. He was born in 1976, in the first of strong man Mohamed Siad Barre’s two-decade rule over Somalia, which was characterized by gross rights abuses and barely existent civic space. He came of age in the 90s when those abuses and rights violations were peaking, as his country was engulfed by a ruinous civil war following the collapse of the Siad Barre dictatorship.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Rita Kahsay

When the Ethiopian Federal Government representatives and those of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a peace agreement in Pretoria, in November last year, the two parties were hailed for ending arguably the deadliest conflict of the 21st century, in which over 600,000 people had died.
But long before the negotiators for peace got around to an agreement, there were many other unsung heroes, who, through individual and collective efforts helped sustain the world’s gaze on the dire situation in Tigray, despite the Ethiopian Government’s determined efforts to hush it up.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Godfrey Kagaayi

Born 33 years ago, in Bukoba, northern Tanzania, Godfrey Kagaayi did not have to look elsewhere for inspiration to tackle the daunting challenge of mental health. By his own admission, the family and community in which he was raised were fertile grounds for the same.
His family had crossed the border into Uganda when he was barely 5 months, settling into present day Rakai district. But the Rakai of the 90s was a difficult place for a child to make their earliest memories: In 1990, Uganda’s first ever case of HIV/AIDs was reported in the district, setting off a decade of suffering and anguish for many of its residents. Taking advantage of the Rakai’s fishing and polygamous lifestyle, the novel virus spread like wildfire, killing people in droves and leaving untold heartache in its wake.

Human Rights Defender of the month: Hiader Abdalla Abu Gaid

Hiader Abdalla Abu Gaid is one of the lucky survivors of Sudan’s latest conflict.

He was born 36 years ago, in Almalha locality, North Darfur state, the third born in a family of 10. Then, Darfur was not the hot bed of war and conflict it has since become infamous for. Although the region, predominantly inhabited by Sudan’s black population remained segregated by the predominantly Arab government in Khartoum, its people co-existed in thriving, predominantly subsistence communities. In Almalha, people reared camels and cattle, while others tended crops. The community was also famed for its hospitality to strangers, welcoming outsiders who ended up staying, owning land, and intermarrying with their hosts.

Human Rights Defender of the month:Immaculate Nabwire and Daphne Nakabugo

In personality, Immaculate Nabwire and Daphne Nakabugo could not be more different. Where the former is loud, if free-spirited, and mischievous, the latter is quiet, reticent, and predominantly solitary. Together though, they are the quiet champions behind DefendDefenders’ digital skilling programs, equipping (women) human rights defenders with critically transformative – and sometimes, life-saving digital tools and skills.
“You’ll be surprised how many people out there, including the literate are not exposed to the idea of digital safety. And as technology gets more advanced, it is getting ever more lucrative for hackers and other malign actors, which means that the urgency of the need for digital security skills for everyone cannot be over-stated,” says Daphne.

SHARE WITH FRIENDS: