Why doesn't the world care about Djibouti's 16-year autocracy? Ismail Omar Guelleh was anointed as president in 1999 as the handpicked successor to his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had ruled Djibouti since independence 22 years earlier. Guelleh was recently sworn in for a third term as president after he won 80 percent of the vote in a presidential election in April that was largely boycotted by the opposition amid complaints over widespread irregularities. He has been accused of arbitrary detentions and torture of opposition members. Prior to April's elections, the government banned all demonstrations and arbitrarily arrested and prosecuted peaceful protesters and opposition leaders, according to Human Rights Watch.
In general, Guelleh's regime is not accused of some of the more heinous human-rights abuses of many of its neighbors, but Djibouti is in general believed to be host to several kinds of human-rights abuses, including: poor prison conditions, denial of fair public trial, interference with privacy rights, restrictions on freedoms of the press, assembly, and association, and lack of protection for refugees, corruption, discrimination against women (e.g. female genital mutilation), discrimination against persons with disabilities, and restrictions on labor unions.
"Every summer, between April and September, a water problem has affected the country for several years," adds Technical Director ONEAD, pointing to the power cuts and illegal harvesting of water by individuals using powerful pumps.