Ethiopia has more than 80 Nations, Nationalities and Peoples who have diversified history, language, culture and values. Among them is the Somali ethnic group that is found in Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Yemen. Currently some are found scattered worldwide. The Issa clan has a decisive social and political role in the Somali nation. The Issa (also known as Aysa) is a sub-division of the Dir clan family. It is one of the largest clan. In this piece, we will see the reconciliation culture of Issa tribe that resides in the city of Dire Dawa.
Issa clan members mostly live in Dire Dawa, Djibouti, Somali state and Hargessa areas. The clan has its own robust conflict resolution mechanism that has been passed down from generation to generation. According to the book entitled ‘Dire Dawa: Yebziha Bahil Ketema’ meaning ‘Dire Dawa: The City of Multiculturalism’ published in 2014 by the City Administration, disputes and disagreements that break out among the Issa community would be solved by ‘Issa Traditional Governing Document’ commonly known by the Somali language as ‘Xeer Issa’. Since this legal document is strong and binding, it has the mandate of solving all disputes that could be instigated in major as well as in sub-clans.
Mohammed Abdirahman, a lecturer at Ethiopian Civil Service University told The Ethiopian Herald that the traditional legal document was ratified in north eastern part of Dire Dawa, a place commonly known as ‘Sity’ and everyone who complains of harassment and physical abuse would be judged by Xeer. According to him, the document has four chapters and 365 articles. These are called Xeer Dhiigga, Xeer Dhaqaaqal, Xeer Dheer and Xeer Dhiblee.
Xeer Dhiigga is a legal system which addresses murder crimes and reimbursement paid for the family of the deceased. It has its own special processes. Murder is a serious crime in the Issa community. The murderer pays compensation for the victim’s family. Accordingly, domestic animals like camel, sheep, ox etc. are given as compensations. If the reparation is sheep, the tribe of the murderer is ordered to give 12 sheep, which is believed to be the proportional value of one camel. Not only that, the number of camels paid for the victim’s family is determined by the sex of the victim. If the deceased happens to be a male, 70-100 camels would be given. However, if the deceased is a female one 50 camels are enough. To pacify things, the village elders need to be informed first about the murder. Slaughtering of say a camel would be undertaken at the grave of the deceased.
‘‘In proceed; a committee which comprises 12 Issa elders would be established to settle the dispute. The verdict would be passed within 15 days. Those who judge disputes that don’t include murder could be solved by three to six judges. If one of the elderly judges is absent, decision will not be passed,’’ Mehammed stated. If disagreement breaks out among the Issa elders, it would be taken to the clan leader known as Ugaz and he settles the problem. The court process will be accomplished around lakes, rivers and trees because it is believed that people could assemble there. Hence, crimes such as murder, theft and others will be settled in these places. Finally, compensation handover ceremony is going to be undertaken and genuine reconciliation process is performed.
Xeer
Dhaqaaqal sees cases-related with property. Issa community do not quarrel each
other due to land because they believe land is the property of all community.
The main cause of dispute in the clan is water well locally known as Ella.
Since each clan has its own water well, it is not allowed to use another
tribe’s well without any permission or consent of the owner. As the Issa clan
is pastoralist, conflict could flare up due to grazing lands. In addition to
this, animal theft such as camel, goat, sheep, ox and others could be the cause
of conflict. This would be resolved by 12 judges like the Xeer Dhiigga. The
case would not take long due to other reconciliation methods.
According to Mehammed, the third type of conflict-resolution mechanism is called Xeer Dheer. This conflict resolution method concerns women’s issue. The dispute could be caused when a member of one sub-clan rapes another clan’s woman. This includes a case when one member of a certain clan rapes a woman who lost her husband. The widow should wait four months and ten days to marry another man. When this rule is violated, serious conflict would be prompted. The brother of the deceased or his immediate relative has a chance to remarry the widow so as to take care of the family. In the absence of such a substitute, the family, a member of the Issa clan would marry her waiting four months and ten days. Any physical and verbal abuse being committed against the woman will not be tolerated by the community since women have high social respect.
Mohammed insists that if a physical violation is committed against the woman, the offender will be ordered to cover her medical expenses. Though women are not allowed to be judges, they could be eye witnesses.
‘‘To solve this conflict, 15 camels will be given to the woman as compensation. However, the compensation being given for a woman who is raped while herding goats will be 16 camels. When the woman remains adamant not to remarry after completing four months and ten days, she will be distanced from the clan,’’ he points out.
The fourth and last conflict resolution mechanism is called Xeer Dhiblee. It helps to see to resolving border conflicts among clans. Elders from the two major clans will be selected to express their views in a democratic way. Then, the judges will give a verdict based on the views being reflected by clan elders. Any party who is not happy with the verdict will have a right to appeal against it. But no one will reject it totally. Those who reject the verdict would face sanction and expulsion from the clan.
‘‘Those who aren’t happy by the verdict have the right to appeal 12 times. Hence, they would be directed to other elders. Some of the judges who have been handling the case will go to the elders to give detail information about what had happened. Thus, the Ugaz give final and binding decision that will be accepted by all sides,’’ according to him.
To sum up, the Issa clan has a wonderful traditional conflict resolving mechanism that should be scaled up by all Ethiopians. Such traditional tribunals have a massive role in saving time, money and energy. In addition to this, they are important to create lasting peace, stability, friendship and harmony among the tribes.
The Ethiopian Herald July 21, 2019
BY TSEGAY HAGOS
