Congresswoman Ilhan Omar
The following documents were shared by the independence.org team with the office of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. The founder and co-founder of the Project, Paul Taylor and Omar Ali Hassan respectively, even met with the director of her foreign-policy office, Ali Mohamed Gane. We have not heard from the congresswoman. As part of the leadership in House Foreign Affairs, she has met with the dictator of Djibouti. Omar is also the vice chairwoman of a panel called the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations. She is a part of the foreign policy council team for East Africa.
SIT-IN NEAR ILHAN OMAR’S OFFICE MINNEAPOLIS, JUNE 12th, 2021
Besides trying to reach her via email and her office, independence.org also organized a peaceful demonstration in front of representative ILHAN OMAR’s office in Minneapolis. The demonstration brought together Djiboutian expatriates and many American supporters to show support for the following detainees in Djibouti:
- Mouskoulta who will be released (09 days after our protest in Minneapolis) on June 22th 2021 after 08 years in prison with no trial see photo after release: (Click Here) and all the other detainees.
- Pilot Fouad Youssouf Ali, (still in prison today 09/01/2022) Read More and (Click Here)
- Republican guard Corporal Youssouf Mohamed Ali Gabasse, Read More (released after our protest in 2022)
Omar Daoud Omar was imprisoned and tortured in Gabode’s infamous cell 12. His health steadily deteriorated. As he became bedridden, he was deprived of medical assistance and was finally released in January 2022 on the intervention of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).He died in Ethiopia from the after-effects of torture on May 2, 2022. Read More
Barkad Abdoulwahab Ali Oudoum, the grandson of a popular freedom fighter in Djibouti, was forced to flee his country to find refuge in Ethiopia where he continued denouncing the Djiboutian dictatorship on social media.
At the request of Djiboutian authorities, Ethiopia, under the leadership of Abyi Ahmed, Prime Minister and winner of Nobel Peace Prize, extradited him illegally on Monday, April 5, 2021, just as an Ethiopian judge had summoned for the records of his alleged misdeed. The truth is, he could not have committed the crime he was being accused of because he was in Ethiopia at the time.
Following his transfer, he was handed over to the SDS (Documentation and Security Service of Djibouti). Since then, he has been imprisoned in Djibouti, the sinister Gabode prison. Read More
Help us secure true democracy in Djibouti.Write to your Representative denouncing authoritarianism, human rights violations, and systemic poverty in Djibouti.
Compose Your Message
independence.org continues to financially support the activist’s wife and their four kids. The fourth child was born when his father was away.
On January 03, 2022, former Capt. Omar Ali Hassan interviewed BARKAD’s wife FADILA ABDOUSALAM on Djiboutian tv where she described the harsh conditions she was living under. She demanded the release of her husband and cited the injustice of his imprisonment. See here: Read More
On January 13, 2022, Fadila made another video (Click Here) to seek support for her husband’s release.
MINNEAPOLIS, March 5, 2021 MISTREATED DJIBOUTIAN WOMEN SENDING AN S.O.S TO REP.ILHAN OMAR.
Former Captain Omar Ali Hassan being interviewed on TEMPO AFRIC TV.
SAMIRA DJAM, wife of the imprisoned pilot speaks up:
DEKA ISSA DOUHOUR, a republican female sergeant, resigned and was separated from her baby:
MOUNA OMAR AWALEH ”MOUNA CHALANA”, a female CTD member was fired for running a Facebook campaign for cheap electricity after the onset of the pandemic. The campaign drew 20 000 views.
PETITION FOR THE EVACUATION OF OMAR’S FAMILY ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS
The Djiboutian regime has refused the delivery of passports to Omar’s kids since November 29, 2020. They have thus been held hostage in Djibouti.
Founded by Omar Ali Hassan, the former Djiboutian Special Force Commander, djiboutian.com is a catalyst for change in Djibouti. We bring together people in Djibouti, local Djiboutian communities across the globe, thought leaders, nongovernmental organizations, governments, businesses, and the public to address the glaring human rights situation in Djibouti.
Owing to its strategic location, Djibouti is home to significant foreign interest already. The United States of America has its only permanent African military base in Djibouti – Camp Lemonnier. France maintains its largest military presence here, while China has recently developed its only overseas naval base. Djibouti also hosts the only overseas Japanese military base, as well as its Italian counterpart. In fact, lease payments from foreign military bases add up to more than 5% of Djibouti’s GDP. And yet, the glaring human-rights situation has failed to grasp the world’s attention.
Back in April 2020, Omar – now on political asylum in the US – resigned to protest the unlawful detention of Fouad Youssouf Ali, a lieutenant pilot with the Djiboutian Airforce. The regime reacted by stripping Omar of all his military honours and dues.
Today he is afraid to go back to his country in fear of retaliation – a country he served for 20 years in the highest professional capacity. His family back in Djibouti – who he hasn’t met since he fled to the US – are subjected to regular mistreatment and death threats, while their passports remain confiscated.
Omar has joined hands with fellow victims and activists, ctddjibouti.org, and the country’s major opposition forces in order to make the case for a democratic Djibouti to the world. Click Here