CIAO DATE: 08/04

Djibouti

Victoria Garcia

Center for Defense Information

September 2003

Background

Since gaining it’s independence from France in June 1977 and electing its first president, Hassan Gouled, Djibouti has suffered from international violence and conflict. In establishing Djibouti ’s first democratic government, Ahmed Dini, was appointed Djiobouti’s prime minister. However, Dini and four other Cabinet members soon resigned, citing discrimination against the Afar people. (Dini later became leader of the armed faction of the Afar guerilla movement). In 1991, ethnic tensions between the Issa–dominated government and the minority Afars led to an outbreak in violence which lasted over a decade. On Dec. 26, 1994 , a peace agreement was signed between the government and the Afar guerrilla movement, known as the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD). However, an armed faction of the FRUD (FRUD–Dini), which opposed the peace process, continued engaging in violent actions against the government, mainly along the Djibouti–Ethiopia border areas. In 1999, Ismail Omar Guelleh won the first free multi–party elections since Djibouti ’s independence, making him the second president since 1977. On May 12, 2001 , the Djiboutian government and the radical wing of the FRUD signed a peace accord that officially ended the decade–long civil war.

In its 2002 Human Rights Report, the U.S. State Department described Djibouti’s human rights record as poor, including violations such as: arbitrary detentions by government security forces; physical abuse of detainees and prisoners; restrictions on freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of movement and freedom of the press; the lack of due process because the judiciary was not independent of the executive; widespread practice of female genital mutilation; child labor; and extensive discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, and clan background.

U. S. Military Assistance Prior to Sept. 11, 2001

Djibouti’s armed forces are estimated at 8,400 personnel. Djiobouti’s military expenditure was approximately $26.5 million in 2001, 4.4 percent of its Gross Domestic Product. According to SIPRI and the UN Register of Conventional Arms, in the last 10 years Djibouti has not received any major imports of conventional weapons — although according the U.S. government data between 1990 and 2001 Djibouti received a total of $61,000 in Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) and approximately $6 million in Foreign Military Sales (FMS). In that same period, Djibouti received a total of about $1.6 million in International Military Education and Training (IMET) funding and $3.5 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF). The FMF, however, was distributed only in 1990 and 1991, the years coinciding with the first Gulf War, after which FMF was cut until Fiscal Year 2002 (FY 02).

U. S. Military Assistance Since Sept. 11, 2001

Strategically located at the intersection of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Djibouti has become a new and vital U.S. ally as the war on terror increasingly focuses its counterterrorism efforts on the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen), which has been deemed a potential safe haven for terrorists by the United States, and is an area already largely inundated with small arms and light weapons – the weapons of choice of terrorists. In exchange for military assistance and training to strengthen border security, Djibouti has helped the United States by shari ng intelligence, providing overflight rights, and granting access to airfields and bases. Djibouti hosts the only U.S. military base in Africa. Moreover, after Sept. 11, the United States established the headquarters for the Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of Africa in Djibouti . The task force works with nations of the Horn of Africa region to combat terrorism. An estimated 800 to 1,800 U.S. troops have been stationed in Djibouti to monitor terrorist movements in the region as part of the new task force. In December 2002, 2,400 U.S. troops based on ships off Djibouti’s coast conducted military exercises in Djibouti in preparation for war with Iraq . In FY 02, Djibouti was granted $1.5 million in FMF and was promised $2 million in FMF for FY 04. Additionally, Djibouti was allocated $185,000 in IMET in FY 03 and promised $225,000 for IMET in FY 04.

Case Study Profile

Country	Djibouti
Government Type	Republic
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births–2001 estimate)	102
Total Armed Forces (2000 estimate)	8,400
Military Expenditure (U.S.$, millions)	$26.5 (FY 01)
Military Expenditure % GDP	4.4% (FY 01)
Imports/Conventional Arms Transfers (U.S. $, millions – 2001 estimate)	0
Human Rights Record 2002	poor, serious problems remained

Djibouti’s Submission to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms
1993	0
1994	0
1995	0
1996	0
1997	0
1998	0
1999	0
2000	0
2001	0

Fiscal Year	IMET	FMF	FSA	ESF	Total
1990	$133,000	$2,076,000	$0	$0	$2,209,000
1991	$208,000	$1,505,000	$0	$0	$1,713,000
1992	$46,000	$0	$0	$0	$46,000
1993	$206,000	$0	$0	$0	$206,000
1994	$106,000	$0	$0	$0	$106,000
1995	$125,000	$0	$0	$0	$125,000
1996	$150,000	$0	$0	$0	$150,000
1997	$94,000	$0	$0	$0	$94,000
1998	$103,000	$0	$0	$0	$103,000
1999	$123,000	$0	$0	$0	$123,000
2000	$163,000	$0	$0	$0	$163,000
2001	$132,000	$0	$0	$0	$132,000
2002	$163,000	$0	$0	$0	$163,000
2002 ERF	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
2002 SUP	$0	$1,500,000	$0	$0	$1,500,000
2003 (request)	$185,000	$0	$0	$0	$185,000
2004 (request)	$225,000	$2,000,000	$0	$0	$2,225,000
Total	$2,162,000	$7,081,000	$0	$0	$9,243,000

Sources

CIA Factbook 2001

Human Development Report 2002

“Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Yearbook,” Appendix 5C, Register of the transfer and licensed production of major conventional weapons, 2001.

United Nations Register of Conventional Arms

U.S. Department of State Human Rights Report 2002–Released March 31, 2003