A former political prisoner in Somalia, whose death sentence was commuted following a wave of international pressure, will speak at Hamilton College on Tuesday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kirner-Johnson Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
Suleiman Nuh Ali will discuss Somalia's past, present and future and then take questions. He is currently working in Somaliland teaching low-cost construction techniques for homes and public works projects. A large portion of his time is also spent promoting peace among the clans in the northern part of the country so that they do not revert to civil war in a region that has not had a functioning government for more than a decade.
Ali was working as a consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development designing mobile health care facilities for nomads when he was arrested by the Somalia secret police in 1982. Amnesty International subsequently declared him a "prisoner of conscience" after letters he wrote detailing incidents of torture were smuggled out of prison.
In February 1988, Ali was tried for treason, found guilty and sentenced to death, but international pressure coordinated by Amnesty International, Africa Watch and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Human Rights led Somalia President Siad Barre to commute the sentence to 24 years in prison. A year later, Ali was released from prison but placed under house arrest. He subsequently fled the country with his family in December 1990 for a temporary teaching position in the United States.
Siad Barre was overthrown in January 1991 and Ali returned to Somalia later that year and then began work for the African Development Bank from 1992-94. He subsequently relocated to Canada and applied for immigration, but returned to Somalia in 2000 where he co-founded the Burao Self-Help Committee in his hometown. Construction projects in which he has been involved since returning home include a university, a hospital and more recently a secondary boarding school in a village 60 km from Burao. All of these projects were funded with local and diaspora donations.
Suleiman Nuh Ali first came to the United States in 1965 on a U.S. State Department scholarship administered by the Institute for International Education. He attended Allegheny College in 1965-66 before transferring to Howard University where he received his bachelor's degree in architecture and urban planning in 1971. Ali returned to Somalia and began work as the chief architect for the Somalia National Housing Agency.
The event is sponsored by the Dean of Faculty Office, Dean of Students Office, Diversity Initiatives Fund, Government Department, Africana Studies Department, International Students Association, the Hamilton Chapter of Amnesty International, One Heart With Africa, and the Office of Communications & Development.
Suleiman Nuh Ali will discuss Somalia's past, present and future and then take questions. He is currently working in Somaliland teaching low-cost construction techniques for homes and public works projects. A large portion of his time is also spent promoting peace among the clans in the northern part of the country so that they do not revert to civil war in a region that has not had a functioning government for more than a decade.
Ali was working as a consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development designing mobile health care facilities for nomads when he was arrested by the Somalia secret police in 1982. Amnesty International subsequently declared him a "prisoner of conscience" after letters he wrote detailing incidents of torture were smuggled out of prison.
In February 1988, Ali was tried for treason, found guilty and sentenced to death, but international pressure coordinated by Amnesty International, Africa Watch and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Human Rights led Somalia President Siad Barre to commute the sentence to 24 years in prison. A year later, Ali was released from prison but placed under house arrest. He subsequently fled the country with his family in December 1990 for a temporary teaching position in the United States.
Siad Barre was overthrown in January 1991 and Ali returned to Somalia later that year and then began work for the African Development Bank from 1992-94. He subsequently relocated to Canada and applied for immigration, but returned to Somalia in 2000 where he co-founded the Burao Self-Help Committee in his hometown. Construction projects in which he has been involved since returning home include a university, a hospital and more recently a secondary boarding school in a village 60 km from Burao. All of these projects were funded with local and diaspora donations.
Suleiman Nuh Ali first came to the United States in 1965 on a U.S. State Department scholarship administered by the Institute for International Education. He attended Allegheny College in 1965-66 before transferring to Howard University where he received his bachelor's degree in architecture and urban planning in 1971. Ali returned to Somalia and began work as the chief architect for the Somalia National Housing Agency.
The event is sponsored by the Dean of Faculty Office, Dean of Students Office, Diversity Initiatives Fund, Government Department, Africana Studies Department, International Students Association, the Hamilton Chapter of Amnesty International, One Heart With Africa, and the Office of Communications & Development.
