Security forces
Somaliland Police Force (Ciidanka Booliska Somaliland)
The Somaliland Police Force is Somaliland's civilian police, under the interior ministry and headquartered in Hargeisa. It was re-formed in 1993, largely from SNM fighters, and has under 6,000 men and women. It includes a criminal investigation department, a Special Protection Unit that guards foreign organisations and a Rapid Response Unit. A separate Custodial Corps (Asluubta) runs the prisons. The UNDP and the UK have supported its training.
In short
Somaliland has its own police, separate from the federal Somali Police Force. It is one of three uniformed services, with the army and the coast guard described in Somaliland armed forces. This page describes the police and the prison service from the sources.
History
A police force existed in the British protectorate, handling internal security and issuing permits such as identity papers (Wikipedia, Somaliland Police); see British Somaliland. After 1991 the force was rebuilt in 1993, largely out of fighters of the Somali National Movement, under the government of Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal (Wikipedia).
Size and organisation
Michael Horton wrote in 2019 that the police had "under 6,000 men and women", including a Special Protection Unit set up to guard foreign organisations after four foreign aid workers were killed in 2003–2004, and Rapid Response Units for counter-terrorism. He reported that about 35 per cent of Somaliland's 2019 budget of about US$233 million went on the security services, police and military, and that the UK supported the police (Michael Horton, CTC Sentinel, November 2019).
Wikipedia records that the force comes under the interior ministry, has a commandant for each region, and includes a criminal investigation department (CID) and a small anti-riot unit. In 2003 Hargeisa had eight police stations and 24 police posts. A first Rapid Response Unit of almost 70 was trained, and a second of almost 100 finished training on 14 March 2013 (Wikipedia).
Weapons. Because of limited money and the UN arms embargo, many officers' rifles have been their own, brought by recruits and former fighters (Wikipedia).
Outside support
The UNDP has supported police training and reform since at least 2010. Since December 2021 the UK has funded a Somaliland Security Programme covering planning, public order and counter-terrorism (Wikipedia).
Commissioners
| Commissioner | Years |
|---|---|
| Elmi Roble Furre | 1997–1999; October 2010–June 2011 |
| Mohamed Saqadhi Dubad | 2006–2010; 2011–2012 |
| Abdillahi Fadal Iman | March 2012–November 2019 |
| Mohamed Adan Saqadhi | November 2019–23 January 2025 |
| Brigadier General Abdirahman Abdillahi Hassan "Abdi Dheere" | from 23 January 2025 |
(Wikipedia, citing Hiiraan Online for 2025.)
Rights reporting
The US State Department's report for 2010 described the police as "firmly under civilian control" and attributed no unlawful killings to them. It recorded that half of the 765 prisoners at Mandera prison were held on the orders of regional or district security committees rather than courts (Wikipedia, citing the US State Department, 2010). In September 2009 more than 100 people, including opposition leaders, were detained after four people were killed in demonstrations in Hargeisa, and in October 2011 the journalists' union NUSOJ condemned police for beating a journalist in Hargeisa (Wikipedia).
The Custodial Corps (Asluubta)
The Custodial Corps, Ciidanka Asluubta, guards Somaliland's prisons and also serves as military police. Wikipedia dates its origins to the protectorate's prisons service of 1 November 1949 and gives 1993 as its formation in its present form. Its work is set out in Somaliland's Prisons Law, Law No. 65 of 2014 (Wikipedia, Somaliland Custodial Corps, citing Xeerka Xabsiyada, 2014).
Sources differ
- Size. Wikipedia's summary box gives about 6,000; Horton gives "under 6,000".
- The Custodial Corps' start. 1949 (as the prisons service) or 1993 (as now organised).
- Who leads the police. Parts of the Wikipedia article still name Mohamed Adan Saqadhi, while its table lists his successor from January 2025.
Read the primary sources yourself
Sources
- Wikipedia, Somaliland Police · en.wikipedia.org
- Michael Horton, CTC Sentinel, November 2019 · ctc.westpoint.edu
- Wikipedia, Somaliland Custodial Corps · en.wikipedia.org
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