Citizenship and the logic of sovereignty in Djibouti

African Affairs

Volumn 110, Issue 441, 2011, Pages 587-606

  Bezabeh, Samson A ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN   (Norway)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CITIZENSHIP; HUMAN RIGHTS; LEGISLATION; NATIONALISM; SOCIAL PROBLEM; SOVEREIGNTY;

DJIBOUTI [EAST AFRICA];

EID: 80053466297     PISSN: 00019909     EISSN: 14682621     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/afraf/adr045     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. Hassan Gouled Aptidon, 'Message à la nation de Président Hassan Gouled Aptidon à l'occasion du 8 mai 1977: paix-unité-fraternité' (Imprimerie Administrative, Djibouti, 1977), p. 4. My translation.
2. The research was carried out from October 2010 to May 2011 as part of an ongoing research project. The historical material was collected from the archive of the Djibouti Chamber of Commerce. Interviews were conducted with nearly 70 people, from various sections of society.
3. Ann Mische, 'Projecting democracy: the construction of citizenship across youth networks in Brazil', International Review of Social History 40, S3 (1996), pp. 131-58.
4. Joel S. Migdal, 'Whose state is it, anyway? Exclusion and the construction of graduated citizenship in Israel', Israel Studies Forum 21, 2 (2006), pp. 3-27.
5. Partha Chatterjee, The Politics of the Governed: Reflections on popular politics in most of the world (Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 2004).
6. Partha Chatterjee, 'Empire and nation revisited: fifty years after Bandung', Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 6, 4 (2005), p. 14.
7. Chatterjee, The Politics of the Governed, p. 34.
8. Bronwen Manby, Struggles for Citizenship in Africa (Zed Books, London and New York, NY, 2009).
9. Sara Dorman, Daniel Hammett, and Paul Nugent, 'Introduction: citizenship and causalities in Africa' in Sara Dorman, Daniel Hammett, and Paul Nugent (eds), Making Nations, Creating Strangers: State and citizenship in Africa (Brill, Leiden, 2007), pp. 3-26.
10. Beth Elise Whitaker, 'Citizens and foreigners: democratization and the politics of exclusion in Africa', African Studies Review 48, 1 (2005), pp. 109-26.
11. Dorman, Hammett, and Nugent, 'Introduction', pp. 3-4.
12. Mahmood Mamdani, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1996).
13. Peter Geschiere, The Perils of Belonging: Autochthony, citizenship, and exclusion in Africa and Europe (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 2009).
14. Carl Schmitt, Political Theology: Four chapters on the concept of sovereignty (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 2005).
15. Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer: Sovereign power and bare life (Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 1998).
16. Giorgio Agamben, State of Exception (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 2005).
17. For an interesting discussion on the Roma problem in Europe see Dhananjay Tripathi, 'Roma question: reflecting the internal debate within the European Union', Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations 9, 3 (2009), pp. 1-7.
18. For a general history of Djibouti see Marie-Christine Aubry, Djibouti l'ignoré: Récits de voyage (L'Harmattan, Paris, 1988).
19. Colette Dubois, Djibouti, 1888-1967: Héritage ou frustration (L'Harmattan, Paris, 1997).
20. For the role and administrative power of governors in the French Empire, see Robert Fremont, André Weiss, and H. Frennelet, Pandectes françaises: Nouveau répertoire de doctrine, de législation et de jurisprudence (Chevalier-Marescq et Cie/E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie, Paris, 1894), Vol. 18.
21. In the case of Djibouti this was not the only structure that prevailed. In fact it was only in 1908 that it emerged. For the description of administrative structure in Djibouti before 1908 see Mohamed Hassan Moulkie, Guide des sources de l'histoire des institution colonial à Djibouti (Université de Haute Alsace, unpublished Masters thesis, 1992).
22. For a general description regarding the organization of the French colonies see the important contribution of Jules Delarbre, Les Colonies françaises: Leur organisation, leur administration, et leurs principaux actes organiques (Berger-Levrault, Paris, 1877).
23. Henri Le Pointe, La Colonisation française au pays des Somalis (Librairie Jouve et Cie, Paris, 1914).
24. Indigenous notables were regarded as being more 'evolved' than the general population and were referred to as notables évolués. A special law that governed these notables was adopted on 14 September 1945.
25. See République Française, Arrêté No 1078 du 14 Septembre 1945 portant institution en Côte Française des Somalis un corps de notable évolué (1945).
26. République Française, Décret du 31 Mars, 1945 portant réorganisation du Conseil D'Administration de La Côte Française des Somalis (1945).
27. Regarding the citizenship and political condition of indigenous people, see Arthur Girault, Principes de colonisation et de législation coloniale (Librairie de la Société du recueil des loi et des arrêtes, Paris, 1904), Vol. 1, pp. 648-67.
28. Mohamed Sahia Cherchari, 'Indigènes et citoyens ou l'impossible universalisation du suffrage', Revue française de droit constitutionnel 4, 60 (2004), pp. 753-4.
29. République Française, Ordonnance No 45-1.874 du 22 Août 1945 fixant le mode de représentation à l'Assemblée Nationale Constituant des territoires d'outre-mer relevant du ministère des colonies, 1945.
30. 'Des institutions de La République', Le Réveil, 2 October 1946, p. 2. My translation.
31. In Djibouti a number of conflicts occurred between various ethnic groups. Most of these conflicts were a result of labour competition along the railway line and in the ports, and were not political in nature.
32. For a broad discussion of these conflicts see Thomas Charles Killion, Workers, Capital and the State in the Ethiopian Region, 1919-1974 (Stanford University, unpublished PhD dissertation, 1985), Vol. 1, pp. 169-231.
33. République Française, Décret No 45-2786 du 9 Novembre 1945 portant création d'un conseil représentative de la Côte Française des Somalis et dépendances (1945).
34. See Le Réveil, 11 March 1946.
35. Le Réveil, 26 March 1946.
36. 'Les résultats des élection', Le Réveil, 13 November 1946, p. 1.
37. For a general discussion on the presence of Arabs in Djibouti, Rouaud Alain, 'Pour une histoire des Arabes de Djibouti', Cahiers d'études africaines 37, 146 (1997), pp. 319-40.
38. 'Côte Française des Somalis, rapport de 12 Janvier 1949' (Archive of Chemin de Fer Djibouti-Ethiopien, Addis Ababa).
39. Interview, former President Abdella Mohamed Kamil, Djibouti, 15 February 2010.
40. For a comprehensive discussion of the various political parties and their agendas see Virginia Thomson and Richard Adolf, Djibouti and the Horn of Africa (Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 1968), pp. 61-101.
41. I. A. Doudoub, 'Esquisse ethnique de divers groupement autochtones de Djibouti' (École National de la France d'Outre-Mer, Memoire No 1110, 1962).
42. Thomson and Adolf, Djibouti and the Horn of Africa, p. 97.
43. 'Le discours de M. Abdella Mohamed Kamil devant la chambre des députes', Le Réveil de Djibouti, 31 July 1976, p. 3. My translation.
44. 'La conférence de Paris fini sur un large accord', Le Réveil de Djibouti, 26 March 1977, p. 1.
45. Interview, Abdella Mohamed Kamil, Former President of Djibouti, Djibouti, 15 February 2010.
46. Interview, 'Abdo', journalist at the President's Palace, Djibouti, 15 February 2010.
47. Mohamed Kadamy, 'Between war and peace', Review of African Political Economy 23, 70 (1996), pp. 512-18.
48. Interview, Riad, shop-owner, Djibouti, 10 April 2010.
49. Borrel died in Djibouti on 19 October 1995 while reviewing the possibility of adopting the French penal and civil code in Djibouti. Since his death, much speculation has flourished. The former officer claimed that he overheard Ismael Omar Guelle, the current President who was then head of security, talking with five men about the elimination of the judge on the same day that the magistrate was killed.
50. For more information, see Nathaniel Hersberg 'Un témoin met en cause le président de la République de Djibouti dans le mort du judge Française Bernard Borrel', Le Monde, 14 January 2000.
51. Radio France International, 'Affaire Borrel: expulsion de la famille d'un témoin gênant', (24 October 2007).
52. See, for example, Association pour le respect des droit de l'homme à Djibouti, 'Affaire Borrel: Expulsion de la famille d'un témoin génant', (25 October 2007).
53. 'Cartes d'identités procédure simplifie', Le Réveil de Djibouti, 23 October 1976, p. 1.
54. Interviews, Djibouti, January 2010.
55. République de Djibouti, Loi No 200 AN/81 portant code de la nationalité Djiboutienne, Journal official de la République de Djibouti.
56. The informants are all located in the city of Djibouti and are people who have been denied citizenship. They include Saleh, a shop assistant, age 39; Mohamed, a daily labourer, age 48.
57. Jemal, a waiter; Saleh, taxi driver, age 70. They were all interviewed in the city of Djibouti between January 2010 and March 2010.
58. United Nations, 'Thirty-Second Session, Special Committee on Djibouti', 30 August 1977, Annex III, p. 1.
59. Interview, Abdurahman, unemployed, Djibouti, 25 February 2010.
60. Interview, Pierre, civil servant, Djibouti, 16 February 2010.
61. '100,000 immigrants to be expelled', New York Times, 2 September 2003.
62. Interview, Mogas, shop assistant, Djibouti, 10 March 2010.
63. République de Djibouti, Loi No 200 AN/81, my translation.
64. Interview, Adil Saleh, employee in a non-governmental organization, Djibouti, 1 February 2010.
65. République de Djibouti, Loi No 200 AN/81.
66. Interview, Abdella Mohamed Kamli, former President of Djibouti, Djibouti, March, 2010; Interview, Aman Abdulkader, civil servant, Djibouti, 29 November 2009.
67. Chatterjee, The Politics of the Governed, p. 34.