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Somali Region of Ethiopia Analysis

SaveOgaden.Org — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:24:11 +0000

Somali Region of Ethiopia: Who is responsible for our ills?

Written By Karamarda Group

“We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction” (Greek wisdom)

Introduction

Accounts of Somali history and contemporary Somali studies often cite clannishness and tribalism as catalysts for divisions and bloody conflicts among the Somalis. Recently, a debate has been raging over the ‘real’ or ‘perceived’ injustice among Somali clans in what is today known as the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia (SRS).

The bulk of this debate is not over grazing land or water, two traditional sources of conflict among the Somalis. It is about participation in the social, political and economic life of the region/country. Without denying the perennial difficulties and frustrations of convincingly arguing about clan issues, this is a social justice issue that needs to be addressed. In this paper, we will attempt to lay bare the true sources of injustice in the SRS by looking at how the state machinery functions, how structures are created and instituted, and how politicians exploit the clan factor to further their personal interests and the interests of the TPLF oligarchy. Our argument starts with the premise that clan is indeed a major factor in SRS politics. But, we also argue that focusing on the clan factor is simply overlooking the source of institutional decay, economic dearth, political instability and injustice in the region.

Politics, administrators and clan dynamics

By and large, clan issues manifest in the social, economic and political life of Somalis. In the SRS, politicians, successive administrations and the federal government have exploited the clan factor to keep the SRS population disenfranchised. It started with the ONLF administration in the early 1990s when it formed a government dominated by one clan. It continued during Eid Dahir’s administration. The line “Ogaadeen ninkaan dulminayn waa la dilayaaye” from Makayte’s poem points to the alienation of the Ogaden clan under Eid’s government. While the use and abuse of tribalism were observed under Qani, Khadar, Dulane, Jibril and Hassan, the exploitation of the clan factor has today reached a level never seen before in the history of the region. The current president, Abdi Omer, has systematically exploited the clan factor to attest his loyalty to the TPLF regime and to gain political capital. In his rumbling speeches in Minneapolis and Copenhagen, the nominal president pounded his chest and said, with no sense of mortification, he is a president because of his affiliation with a particular clan.

However, one needs to go beyond the politicians’ rhetoric and chest-thumping to understand the situation in the region. To critically analyze whether SRS regional presidents are loyal to their clans and constituencies, two questions need to be posed: (1) is there any constituency, presidents or otherwise, that is more developed in the region than other constituencies? (2) Does the clan of the president really benefit from the system?

Answering these questions only reveal the fact that Eid Dahir has neglected Harshin as much he neglected Habaswayne; Kabridahar has not leaped forward under Khadar; Wardheer has not advanced under Abdirashid Dulane; Abdullahi Hassan has not developed Dobaweyn and Jibril has done very little for Dhambal and the larger Shinile zone. In fact, most of the SRS politicians have caused misery to their constituencies and clans. A few examples are in order here.

Abdi Jibril gave away vast SRS land including significant Issa territory to Oromia at the behest of TPLF and never said a word about OPDO’s treatment of the Somalis who have been denied employment rights and other opportunities for campaigning for the Somali region during the vague referendum. Moreover, it is a matter of historical record that Jibril and Dirir united their forces to denounce the Somali ownership of Diredawa, although the city was partially lost before they joined the leadership of the region. Dirir’s infamous statement that Diredawa is God’s land bears testimony to this fact.

Similarly, the Ogaden clan has never suffered as much as it suffered under Abdi Omer, be it when he was the head of the Security Coordination Bureau or now. Never has it occurred in the history of the region grandmothers to be raped in such horrific scale, elders to be tortured and executed in such numbers, youth to be transformed into monstrous criminals in uniform ( Liyu police), who take exorbitant pride in killing their own people. Not even under the brutal Derg regime. While the current president has enrolled his children in Gibson School, one of the most sought after private schools in Addis Ababa, and assigned very luxurious Toyata Land Cruiser (worth about $70,000) and a driver for them, he has orphaned hundreds of children from his clan.

Also, when innocent civilians from Jijiga zone were massacred in the Moyaha village, politicians from that zone including the head of the ruling party at that time, Abdifatah Sh. Abdullahi, labeled the victims ‘terrorists’. Hence, it is not surprising that Abdirashid Dulane was on the BBC a few weeks ago calling rape victims, including women of his mother’s age from Wardheer, terrorists. The current chairman of the SRS ruling party who is also the speaker of the state parliament, Mohamed Rashid, never bothers why Moyale district is still a disputed district, despite the inhabitants of this area overwhelmingly voting to remain part of the Somali region. In short, these men are cut from the same cloth. They hardly care about their clan or constituency.

This is not to say that individuals from the president’s clan do not get a bigger piece of the pie. Khadar’s right hand men were from Kabridahar, although he is relatively the most sensible leader of the 11 presidents that has so far ruled this region ( Sa`di and Qalinle excluded); Abdulahi Hassan awarded major contracts to his kin, Abdirashid Dulane surrounded himself with his relatives ; Abdi Omer appointed his own brother to be the finance head of the Security Coordination Bureau while nominating his brother in –law first as the deputy head of the Finance Bureau and now as a Bureau head. The current president also filled all key security positions including the head of the region’s intelligence office, head of the Liyu Police, and head of the Arba Batana-riot control police, with individuals from his own sub-clan. However, these actions benefit only very few cronies, not the wider clan or constituency.

The narrative here is not to say that none of the leaders has done anything good. This kind of blank statement is neither accurate nor logical. But, the truth is that every constituency in the state, regardless of the clan, remains very underdeveloped and marginalized. The pastoralists in Gabagabo are living under the shadow of the notorious Liyu Police; those in Galadi are starving because of negligence; farmers in Shinile are displaced under the guise of export-oriented phony foreign investment projects that do not benefit them. The list of challenges and problems the region is facing from Jijiga to Liban to Fiq to Afdher goes on and on.

Beneficiaries and sources of Injustice

The SRS’ nominal leaders, ogaden or non-ogaden, are executing policies of the TPLF government. Central to these policies is the use of the clan factor to keep the region’s population divided. During Eid Dahir and Abdi Majid’s period, the government alienated the Ogaden clan after the ONLF waged the ongoing armed struggle. Similar policies were implemented again during Jibril and Dirir’s time. Since 2005, however, the government adopted a new policy to find a few loyalists from the Ogaden to subjugate the wider Ogaden clan and they found a nominal leader-Abdi Omer- who will go down in history as the Somali region’s Butcher of Berlin. This new policy, which gives less attention to the non-ogaden clans, was a response to the growing threat posed by the ONLF. Therefore, one has to be convinced that the TPLF regime doesn’t care about any particular Somali clan. TPLF’s main goal is making sure that the SRS people are divided and always remain at each other’s throat.

Often, people cite the distribution of offices and administrators to gauge justice among clans, but it is a mistake to evaluate justice using such parameters without scrutinizing how SRS institutions are run. The SRS has about 50 Bureaus and it is true that all clans (zones) should be represented in one form or another. An objective observer, however, should pause and ask: why would a small regional government waste its meager resources on fifty offices?

Addressing the above question, the former president of the SRS and current deputy in the Ethiopian High Commission in London, Abdirashid Dulane, is on record saying that ‘‘TPLF advisors tell us [i.e the regional government] to shrink the number of offices when we expand them, and to expand when we shrink them’’. In other words, TPLF is the architect of the structure of the regional government. A recent example also supports our argument that the regional government is a passive recipient of policies dictated by TPLF advisors. The creation of three vice presidents in this year in the political structure is case in point. There was no discussion whatsoever within the regional authority about creating three vice presidents in the structure. In fact, the position of the vice president stayed vacant for good part of Daud’s presidency, pointing to the less weight attached to this position. You might also recall the strange administrative culture in SRS whereby the president, in his absence, delegates presidential powers to one of his close friends from the cabinet while the vice president is in Jigjiga. The most logical argument that the government has forwarded thus far is that the three vice presidents will coordinate the fifty offices. It is, however, ironic that five Coordination Bureaus were abolished just three years ago at the direction of Abay Tsehaye. So, the argument that the three vice presidents will coordinate the fifty offices is very clumsy. A more nuanced explanation is that TPLF decided to set up three vice presidents in the political structure of the Somali region, just as it did in Oromia and Southern Nations, and the SRS nominal leaders implemented the imposed idea.

The preceding discussion on the structure can be extended to the SRS districts. The region had 52 districts before the newly approved 15 districts were added to the already bloated list this year. It should be noted that more than 87 percent of the region’s population lives in rural areas and majority of this are pastoralists. Now, the preoccupation of any sensible government would be to create policies, structures and institutions that deliver services to the poor pastoralists of the region. This would mean, for instance, the 67 districts to serve as services and development coordination points. However, what we currently have in most of the districts is a few huts and schools that house military regiments instead of students. Hence the creation of more districts is just adding insult to injury. And the fact that the nominal regional government didn’t present any solid justification for the creation of 15 districts at once is a further indication of how sagacity is replaced with senselessness. This is not to say that some of these villages didn’t deserve to become districts but the point is that there have to be mechanisms and procedures that are followed when new districts are created. For example, one could make a case for Araarso, which, like Gunagado, has been a district in waiting for long time or Raaso for resolving the conflict between the brotherly people of that area or West Godey for attracting pastoralists to resettle, but to create 15 districts at once without any political or technical deliberation underscores that reason is rarely applied to the politics of the region. The truth is that TPLF politicians directed the nominal president to create these districts and they will only result in further division and conflict among the people.

Conclusion

The so-called Somali regional government gives the social, political and economic upheavals of the SRS local color in order to shift the blame to regional authorities and, unfortunately, some people might buy into this. The fact of the matter, however, remains that policy decisions are reached in Addis Ababa, solely by TPLF politicians. TPLF has decided to deploy policies that are detrimental to peace and development in the region. It has employed the old tactic of divide and rule and because of TPLF’s harmful policies; both Ogaden and other Somali clans are suffering.

Some of the inter-clan grievances are legitimate and should be debated on their merits, but what is at stake is more than the number of head offices of this clan vs. that clan. Moreover, in today’s day and age, where countries are naturalizing other nations’ citizens to increase their human resource, the region has 5 million residents and some people are wasting their time and energy tallying which clan is big and which one is small. The reality is that we are all small; for we can hardly populate one metropolitan city. The clan politics will only weakness us and strengthen our detractors. It will allow them to divide us in order to dominate us. The only way out of this mess is unity and tolerance. We should come together and fight for peace, justice, rule of law, due process, fair representation at all levels of government, an end to the meddling and interference of TPLF in the Somali region’s administrative affairs ,and most importantly for self-determination.

The responsibility to unify the people of the region rests on two groups: SRS intellectuals and organizations. Intellectuals need to stop whining about what others are doing to the SRS citizens and should start playing their leadership role to unify the people. Similarly, organizations, particularly the ONLF, which currently bears the torch for the century-old struggle, should bridge the gap between different groups of our society. The Karamadha group urges once again the ONLF to transform itself into a more capable political organization that can accommodate everyone in the region. It is common that every organization faces challenges within and outside, when carrying out reforms, but a gradual reform that target less sensitive areas is very imperative. Launching a campaign to unify the Somali people under one Somali banner, showing flexibility on the name and effective outreach programs to non-traditional supporters and intellectuals are examples of less sensitive reform areas the organization can initially focus on. These efforts can bridge the gap between different segments of our society and might lessen the influence of tribalism in our lives. Failure to embrace these and other similar reform ideas will keep us divided and will surely ‘give our enemies the means for our own destruction’.

Karamarda Group
Executive Committee
___

The Karamarda Group is a group of Somali Regional State citizens who are interested in promoting Democracy and Good Governance in the Somali Region of Ethiopia and could be reached atkaramardagroup@gmail.com

IHASA’s 2011 successful conference comes to an end

SaveOgaden.Org — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 01:12:32 +0000

On the 2^nd week of September, 2011, the leadership of the Institutive for Horn of Africa Studies and Affairs (IHASA) has embarked on a week-long historical trip to Washington DC to participate a conference co-organized by IHASA, the Woodrow Wilson International Center (WWC) for Scholars and the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AFP). The Conference, Webs of Conflict and Pathways to Peace in the Horn of Africa, primarily focused on in finding peaceful and sustainable solutions for the protracted conflicts in the Horn of Africa region. The IHASA leaders have partnered with the Woodrow Wilson Center and Alliance for Peace-building to map out a regional strategy and possible pathways to peace in the Horn of African region. The conference started with the assumption that the status quo is miserably failing the entire people of the Horn of Africa and the most recent international policies pursued as conflict resolution pathways for the Horn have not only terribly failed but rather became counter-productive.

IHASA Conference 2011 | Washington D.C.

From the aforementioned premise, the Institute for Horn of Africa Studies and Affairs (IHASA) was established in envisioning, researching, studying, proposing and advocating pragmatic and long-lasting alternative conflict resolutions for the entire Horn of Africa region and its multi-ethnic and multi-faith peoples.In pursued of this alternative pathways, IHASA has recently released its first and much awaited academic conference proceedings(Looking Back and Looking Forward: the Ogaden region in the 21^st century).

At the conference, senior-level representatives from US lawmakers, the US State Department, European Union, the World Bank, African Union, and several think-tanks interested in international conflict resolutions contributed to the discussion in creating blueprint for successful conflict resolution mechanisms.

The second part of the conference focused in seeking inputs from the Horn of Africa Diasporas and academic institutions to help the co-hosting organizations (WWC, AFP, & IHASA) with the formulation of joint recommendations that will be submitted to the Obama Administration who initially requested WWC’s recommendation.

Among the key issues that were addressed in the conference is the long simmering conflict in the Ogaden region. Number of participants highlighted the fact that the Ogaden region’s conflict is central and fundamental component to ending the instability and the political crisis in the Horn of Africa, especially regions populated by ethnic Somalis. Participants reminded that it was US State Department assessment for the past 60 years that peace in the Horn of Africa is not possible without finding a lasting solution to the Somali Ogaden problem. IHASA’s leadership in this historic trip, have also succeeded to hold multiple private meetings with US lawmakers, EU delegation in DC and number of relevant individuals .

IHASA leadership is committed to build relations and partnership in the foreign policy arenas in the United States and that of the entire Horn of African community to advance and promote the interests of the people of Ogaden and that of the peoples of the entire region. However, IHASA could only realize its mission and vision with the support of its constituents and IHASA is blessed and thankful for the unwavering support of its members both in the Diasporas and in the region in general.

Hamse Warfa

Institue for Horn of Africa Studies and Affairs (IHASA)

www.ihasa.org

Panel Discussion: The Affected Somali Region in Ethiopia (Boston, Wellesley College)

SaveOgaden.Org — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:58:28 +0000

Two upcoming events: One will be Sunday September 18th, 2011 4pm at the Refugee & Immigrant Assistance Center (RIAC) and the other will be at Wellesley College (MA) at 7pm-9pm.

The Sunday event all speakers will speak in SOMALI language, while the Monday event will be all ENGLISH language.

Look at Posters/Flyers below for more information.

Worldwide Protest Against Genocide in Ogaden Region September 7th

SaveOgaden.Org — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:43:09 +0000

“We continue to call on the international community to come to the aid of our people by establishing a humanitarian corridor into the most needy areas of Ogaden region of Ethiopia.”

Links you could find the protest websites.

http://www.ogaden.com/hornnews/ogaden/1290-national-and-international-protest-against-tax-dollars-indirectly-funding-genocide-in-the-ogaden-a-the-illegal-humanitarian-blockade-in-ogaden-.html

http://afrobeatradio.net/2011/08/31/protest-funding-of-genocide-humanitarian-blockade-in-ethiopia/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLznKnI55Q8

List of Protest Locations:

1) Fargo, North Dakota, US:

US Federal Building
657 2nd Avenue North, Room 306
Fargo, ND 58102

Location Contact: Mohammed Amin Mohummed
Email: kahin87m@yahoo.com

Map & Directions:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?address=657+2nd+Ave+N&city=Fargo&state=ND&zipcode=58102

2) Los Angeles, California, US:

US Federal Building
11000 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1000
Los Angeles, CA 90024-3602

Location Contact: Sarah McGovern
Email: sarahannmcgovern@gmail.com

Map & Directions:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?cat=Wilshire+Federal+Building&address=11000+Wilshire+Blvd&city=Los+Angeles&state=CA&zipcode=90024

3) San Diego, California, US:

U.S. Federal Building
880 Front Street
San Diego, CA 92101

Location Contact: Abdiaziz Ali Abshir
Email: abdiasiisali@yahoo.com

Map & Directions:
http://www.mapquest.com/?version=1.0&hk=5-UujfaDl8

4) State Capitol’s for Minnesotans: Minnesota State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, MN 55155

Location Contact; Idil Dualeh
Email:Idhaweya@gmail.com

Map & Directions:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?cat=Wilshire+Federal+Building&address=11000+Wilshire+Blvd&city=Los+Angeles&state=CA&zipcode=90024

5) State Capitol’s for: Colorado State Capitol
200 East Colfax, Denver, CO 80203
Location Contact ; Ahmed Isse
Email: Graen3@gmail.com

Map & Directions:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?cat=Wilshire+Federal+Building&address=11000+Wilshire+Blvd&city=Los+Angeles&state=CA&zipcode=90024

6)Dallas City Hall
1500 Marilla St.
Dallas, TX. 75201
Sahra Mohamed

7) Stockholm, Sweden

Embassy of Ethiopia
Löjtnantsgatan 17, 5th floor 115 50
Stockholm, Sweden

Location Contact: Per Andreas Lundstrom
Email: bjorkhammar@gmail.com

Map & Directions:
http://www.mapquest.com/?version=1.0&hk=6-JdxN2ZS7

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Official Protest Petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/us-and-european-governments-stop-using-our-taxes-to-fund-genocide-in-ogaden

Related Petitions:

http://www.petitiononline.com/scbts/petition.html

http://www.change.org/petitions/free-ogaden-in-2011

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38019.html

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38018.html

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-ethnic-cleansing-ogaden-people-ethiopia.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethiopia ‘using aid as weapon of oppression’

SaveOgaden.Org — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 15:28:45 +0000

Watch Angus Stickler’s full report and Ethiopian and UK responses

A joint undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered evidence that the Ethiopian government is using billions of dollars of development aid as a tool for political oppression.

Posing as tourists the team of journalists travelled to the southern region of Ethiopia.

We are just waiting on the crop, if we have one meal a day we will survive until the harvest, beyond that there is no hope for us

Villager in southern Ethiopia

There they found villages where whole communities are starving, having allegedly been denied basic food, seed and fertiliser for failing to support Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

The investigation has also gathered evidence of mass detentions, the widespread use of torture and extra-judicial killings by Ethiopian government forces.

Yet Western donors including Britain – which is the third largest donor to Ethiopia – stand accused of turning a blind eye by continuing to provide aid money despite being warned about the abuses.

The aid in question is long-term development aid, not the emergency aid provided in response to the current drought in Ethiopia and its neighbours in the Horn of Africa.

Government response

Ambassador Abdirashid Dulane, the Deputy Head of Ethiopia’s UK Mission, has rejected the allegations saying that the Newsnight/Bureau report “lacked objectivity, even-handedness”.

The team found villagers eating leaves in order to survive

“The sole source of the story was opponents of Ethiopia who have been rejected by the electorate, and time and again it has been shown that their allegations are unfounded”.

Our reporters visited one village in southern Ethiopia with a population of about 1,700 adults.

Despite being surrounded by other communities which are well fed and prosperous, this village, which cannot be named for fear of reprisals, is starving. We were told that in the two weeks prior to our team’s arrival five adults and 10 children had died.

Lying on the floor, too exhausted to stand, and flanked by her three-year-old son whose stomach is bloated by malnutrition, one woman described how her family had not eaten for four days.

“We are living day to day on the grace of God,” she said.

Another three-year-old boy lay in his grandmother’s lap, listless and barely moving as he stared into space.

“We are just waiting on the crop, if we have one meal a day we will survive until the harvest, beyond that there is no hope for us,” the grandmother said.

‘Abandoned’

In another village 30 km (19 miles) away it was a similar story.

Almost all of the aid goes through the government channels… in terms of relief food supply and some of the safety net provisions, they simply don’t get to the needy of an equitably basis

Professor Beyene Petros, opposition politician

There our team met Yenee, a widow who along with her seven children is surviving by begging, eating leaves and scavenging scraps from the bins in the nearest town.

“The situation is desperate,” she said. “We have been abandoned… It is a matter of chance if we live or die.”

The two villages sit just 15km (9 miles) either side of a major town, surrounded by other communities where the populations are well fed and healthy. They are in desperate need, but no-one is helping.

According to local opposition members they are being punished for failing to vote for the ruling party, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which Mr Meles leads.

Further north a group of farmers alienated by Mr Meles’ government met the BBC/Bureau team at a secret location on the edge of a remote village.

One farmer described how he had been ostracised for failing to support EPRDF: “Because of our political views we face great intimidation. We are denied the right to fertiliser and seeds because of political ideology,” he said.

‘Buying support’

The Ethiopian federal and regional governments control the distribution of aid in Ethiopia.

Professor Beyene Petros, the current vice-chairman of the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Forum, an alliance of eight opposition parties known as Medrek, told our reporters that aid is not distributed according to need, but according to support for the EPRDF:

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi took power in 1991

“Almost all of the aid goes through the government channels… in terms of relief food supply and some of the safety net provisions, they simply don’t get to the needy of an equitably basis.

“There is a great deal of political differentiation. People who support the ruling party, the EPRDF, and our members are treated differently. The motivation is buying support, that is how they recruit support, holding the population hostage,” he said.

Mr Beyene said that the international community, including the British government, is well aware of the problem and that he has personally presented them with evidence:

“The position of the donor communities is dismissive… they always want to dismiss it as an isolated incident when we present them with some proof. And we challenge them to go down and check it out for themselves, but they don’t do it.”

Accountability

The UK International Development Minister Stephen O’Brien issued a statement in response to the allegations raised by the investigation, saying:

“We take all allegations of human rights abuses extremely seriously and raise them immediately with the relevant authorities including the Ethiopian Government, with whom we have a candid relationship. Where there is evidence, we take firm and decisive action.

They raped me in a room, one of them was standing on my mouth, and one tied my hand, they were taking turns, I fainted during this

Ethiopian woman from the Ogaden

“The British aid programme helps the people of Ethiopia, 30 million of whom live in extreme poverty. We demand full accountability and maximum impact on the ground for support from the British taxpayer.”

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Newsnight also gathered evidence of a crackdown and human rights abuses in Ethiopia’s Somali region, the area bordering Somalia and Kenya, also know as the Ogaden region.

Ethnic Somali rebels from the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and Ethiopian government forces have been fighting for control of Ogaden since the 1970s.

The media and most aid agencies are banned from the region.

Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries of the world, is currently suffering from horrific drought.

Many of those fleeing the ensuing humanitarian crisis have headed to Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya.

It is the largest refugee camp in the world, and the vast majority of the 400,000 people there are from Somalia, but among them are an increasing number of Ethiopians from the Ogaden.

‘Revenge killings’

Abdifatah Arab Olad, an Ogaden community leader, told our reporters that up to 100 refugees are arriving every month with tales of killings and the burning of villages by government troops.

Ethiopians from the Ogaden are fleeing to Dadaab refugee camp

“Whenever fighting has taken place between the rebels and the army, for each army member that is killed, the military go to the nearest town and they start killing people,” he said. “For each army member killed it equals to 10 civilians losses.”

In the corner of a makeshift shack in the camp, an old woman who had arrived from Ogaden three weeks earlier described being arrested along with 100 others in her village.

She said they were taken to a jail where they were locked up in a shipping container, and picked out on a nightly basis to be tortured:

“They beat me then started to rape me; I screamed and fought with them… I tried to bite them… they tied me this way,” she said, gesturing to her legs.

“They raped me in a room, one of them was standing on my mouth, and one tied my hand, they were taking turns, I fainted during this… I can’t say how many, but they were many in the army,” she said.

‘Assaulted when pregnant’

Other women in the camp also said they had been arrested and accused of being members of the OLNF.

They included one who said that she was eight months pregnant when she was detained and raped by eight soldiers:

“They were beating me while I was being raped, I was bleeding,” she said, describing how one soldier stamped on her stomach and beat her with the stock of his rifle:

“I fell unconscious when I saw my baby… a man jumping on your stomach, you can imagine what happened to the child, very big kicks blows with the back of a gun. As a consequence of that the child died.”

We cannot substantiate these individual allegations. But other credible sources have reported similar stories of the widespread use of rape by Ethiopian security forces against women in the Ogaden.

Speaking on Newsnight, Ethiopia’s Ambassador Abdirashid Dulane said that the claims of rape and torture were a “rehash” of old allegations that the Ethiopian government had answered time and again.

“The Ethiopian government is governed by the rule of law, and human rights and democratic rights are enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution,” he said.

Source: BBC News (Link)

U.S. Ignores Ethiopia’s War Crimes

Boston — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:16:16 +0000

NAIROBI, Kenya — The United States and other Western governments are ignoring clear evidence of war crimes by Ethiopia, a key U.S. ally that launched a military crackdown on rebels last year, a human rights group said Thursday.

Separately, a U.S.-based science group said satellite images confirm reports that villages have been destroyed in the country’s Ogaden region.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said America’s relationship with Ethiopia means an alliance with a country repeatedly accused of violating human and political rights. In recent years, Ethiopia has become a U.S. partner in the fight against al-Qaida, which has been trying to sink roots in the Horn of Africa.

“The United States is being willfully blind,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director for Human Rights Watch. “Because Ethiopia is viewed as a key ally in the counterterrorism efforts, they are perhaps prepared to look the other way at abuses committed by Ethiopian soldiers.”

In a 130-page report, Human Rights Watch said Ethiopian troops have beaten and strangled civilians, staged public executions and burned villages during a year-old campaign against rebels in the Ogaden, an arid stretch of land on the border with Somalia. The group said the allegations were based on more than 100 eyewitness accounts.

The country in the Horn of Africa is an ally in President Bush’s fight against terrorism.

U.S. says it’s not ignoring war crimes reports
A State Department spokesman on Thursday dismissed claims that the U.S. is minimizing or even ignoring war crimes by the Ethiopians. Gonzalo Gallegos said officials “strongly reject” Human Rights Watch’s allegations.

The report said that since early 2007, when Ogaden rebels attacked a Chinese oil site, “the Ethiopian military’s killings, torture and rape of civilians have driven thousands of people from the region, while trade restriction and limited relief aid are exacerbating the humanitarian situation.”

Gallegos said the U.S. has received reports from international nongovernmental organizations and other aid groups of serious abuses and harsh intimidation tactics by Ethiopian government soldiers and fighters of the Ogaden National Liberation Front.

For the past year, he said, U.S. and nongovernmental personnel have investigated, but it has been impossible to identify who carried out the atrocities.

The U.S. ambassador “has persistently raised concerns over human rights abuses with the highest level of the Ethiopian government, as have senior U.S. government visitors” to the country, Gallegos said.

At the same time, Gallegos said, the U.S. military aid program has continued, with $700 million given last year.

“U.S. government military assistance to Ethiopia is designed to transform the military into an apolitical professional defense force that can secure its borders and protects human rights,” he said.

Ethiopia denies allegations
Bereket Simon, special adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, denied all allegations in the report.

“It’s the same old fabrication,” he said.

But satellite images confirm reports that the Ethiopian military has burned towns and villages in Ogaden, the American Association for the Advancement of Science reported on Thursday.

Eight sites in the rocky, arid region, which borders Somalia, have clear signs of burning and other destruction, the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program said.

AAAS

In this image of the town of Wardheer, Ethiopia, from Dec. 30, 2007, yellow dots indicate structures removed since a previous image from February 2006. Red dots indicate new structures added in that same period.

The commercially available images corroborate the report by Human Rights Watch, which also relies on eyewitness accounts of attacks on tens of thousands of ethnic-Somali Muslims living in the area, the AAAS said.

“The Ethiopian authorities frequently dismiss human rights reports, saying that the witnesses we interviewed are liars and rebel supporters,” Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

“But it will be much more difficult for them to dismiss the evidence presented in the satellite images, as images like that don’t lie,” he said.

Ethiopia, a key regional ally of the United States, launched its latest offensive after the Ogaden National Liberation Front attacked a Chinese-run oil field in the region in April 2007, killing more than 70 people.

Lars Bromley, project director for the Science and Human Rights Program at AAAS, said his team analyzed several before and after satellite images of villages identified by Human Right Watch as possible locations of human rights violations.

They found eight, mostly in villages and small towns in the Wardheer, Dhagabur and Qorrahey Zones, that appeared to have been burned or destroyed recently.

Reports difficult to corroborate
For example, in the town of Labigah, 40 structures identified in a September 2005 image were gone in images taken in February 2008. In the Human

Rights Watch report an eyewitness said the Ethiopian army “went into every village and set it on fire.”

Such reports are nearly impossible to corroborate because the region “may well be the most isolated place on earth, save perhaps the densest parts of the Congolese or Amazon rain forests,” Bromley said.

It is also difficult to tell what is going on in some villages, AAAS said.

“While some towns are considered permanent, they can grow and shrink over the course of a year due to fluctuations in nomadic populations, and many smaller villages will relocate altogether,” the report reads.

“To ensure the most accurate results, AAAS for the most part sought to review only permanent towns in the Ogaden, as indicated by their location along a well-defined road and by the presence of square structures with metal-sheet or brick roofing, and most often including a mosque.”

AAAS has used satellite images to support reports of widespread abuses in Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Burma, Chad and the Darfur region of Sudan.

Meanwhile, Simon said Ethiopia had no plans to investigate. “How can we investigate lies and innuendoes?,” he said. “How can we try to disprove lies by investigating?”

Ethnic Somalis have been fighting in the Ogaden for more than a decade, seeking greater autonomy or an independent state. Somalia lost control of the region — the size of Britain and home to around 4 million people, in a war in 1977.

“The Ethiopian army’s answer to the rebels has been to viciously attack civilians in the Ogaden,” Gagnon said.

‘Deafening silence’ from Western governments
Ethiopia’s military has been stretched in recent years. Thousands of soldiers are stationed in neighboring Somalia, propping up the government there and trying to quash a vicious Islamic insurgency. Ethiopian troops also are massing along the border with Eritrea amid signs of looming war.

Gagnon said Western governments and institutions give at least $2 billion in aid to Ethiopia every year. The “deafening silence” by the United States, Britain and the European Union, amounts to complicity in the crimes, she said.

“Influential states use many excuses, such as lack of information and strategic priorities, to downplay the grave human rights concerns in Somali Region (the Ogaden),” she said. “But crimes against humanity can’t be swept under the carpet.”

The report also said the army’s tactics could be fueling a looming humanitarian crisis, brought on by a countrywide drought and skyrocketing global food prices. Because of the military campaign, the government has restricted humanitarian agencies and others from accessing the Ogaden at a time when some 4.5 million people are in need of emergency food aid.

Human Rights Watch said the Ogaden National Liberation Front also has violated humanitarian law by conducting the oil attack and by setting land mines along roads.

ONLF spokesman Abdirahaman Mahdi said the oil attack targeted soldiers guarding the area. The other victims were “caught in the crossfire,” he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from London.

He added that the situation in the Ogaden is “a deliberate international connivance to annihilate our people.”

This report contains information from The Associated Press and Reuters.
Source: MSNBC.COM (Link)

An Open Letter from private U.S. Citizen

SaveOgaden.Org — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:06:42 +0000

An open letter to the nations of the world Iran, Belarus, Algeria, Jordan, Bahrain, Ethiopia, etc., all autocratic, theocratic, dictatorial states of the earth.
If I left you out of the list, well, you are included.

Excellency:

First, as a private US citizen, I apologize to you for the dual messages coming from my country. Our national foreign policy has at times sided with and supported autocratic, dictatorial, and or theocratic regimes in which the concept of universal human rights is and has been a real threat to those who fear loss of power, for some ill-perceived, typically myopic and poorly planned, short-term local, regional or global benefit.While the US government officially supports and relies upon many states that do not promote, protect, encourage, or even believe in universal human rights for all their people regardless of political or ideological beliefs, sex, race, sexual preference, gender identity, age or nationality, and are not tolerant of other views, opinions, political freedoms, the government has said in other forums and in other situations that it ‘wishes’ those states would take steps toward strengthening human rights, but only while still supporting those states.

Such policies do not reflect our national principles. We are a state that believes strongly and without compromise in the application and enforcement of universal human rights for all mankind, which are bestowed at birth on all men and women equally. There is no compromise on this issue. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights are just that – universal. By definition, universal means everyone, everywhere throughout all space and time -even for you, and yes, for your people too. Universal means that human rights applies everywhere throughout the universe – they’re universal.

There are no states on earth that can ever again think of themselves as being isolated insular little planetoids separated from the other little planetoid like states on earth. What goes on in your state, we see. What goes on in our state, you see. The internet, cellular communications, and social media are shining a vibrant and brilliant light into every dark and hidden place and situation on earth. There is no putting the genie back in the bottle again on this. The entire planet is connected in ways that are growing exponentially and that are irreversible and ultimately un-controllable by any state – just as it should be. But that means that borders will no longer be able to hide or allow for a disregard for human rights, human dignity and human decency. It means that accountability now transcends borders as the entire world becomes more and more connected.

When the light of universal human rights shines into the dark forbidding autocratic, theocratic and dictatorial places around the world, then the rest of the world sees and knows about those places too. You can not hide ever again from the eyes of the rest of the planet. We see you. We see the genocide in Ethiopia, the disregard for life and freedom in Iran, Algeria, Sudan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Belarus, China, Uganda, Indonesia, North Korea, etc.. The world is watching. You will be held to account before the world for your atrocities.

Where there are any actions in violation of human rights and in violation of international law and where there are crimes against humanity being perpetrated by despotic regimes, or groups or NGO’s, then the world will see those atrocities and respond accordingly. The more light the world shines on all the states of the earth, the greater the sense and reality and enforceability of the new global mantra – ‘enforceable accountability applies to all states and their leaders, and knows no borders’ ever again.

With all due respect for your state and its diverse peoples, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as you well know, applies to all states and all the peoples within those states. There are no exceptions to this rule, regardless of the state. You know this to be true. Yet, you choose to trample under your feet the natural and universal human rights of the people. You kill those who oppose you. You threaten the rest of the world with vile disregard for human life and human dignity, and claim that you are right in your righteousness. You are wrong.

It is time you were removed from power. You are no respecter of human life, of human rights, of dignity or decency. No leader or representative of your government should ever be given any position or even recognition at the seat of world leaders or any of their global agencies as long as you disregard the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the slightest way. If your way was truly right and correct and just, then would it not stand of its own without it having to be forcefully imposed upon those who do not want it? Your people know this, and will bring you down.

I for one support the people in their pursuit of human rights, for free, fair, open, honest, internationally observed elections, for the right to express themselves politically, openly, and to have an open public discourse and involvement in the affairs of their states.

Remember this, “accountability knows no borders” is a reality in our connected world. Your actions will be found out, and you will be held accountable for all atrocities and violations of human rights, crimes against humanity, and for violations of international law. The old days are over. Adapt to the new days before you end up in prison at the Hague.

Thank you for your time.

Tim Williamson
Alabama, USA

1-205-765-6090

(http://globaleconomy101.blogspot.com/2011/02/iran-belarus-algeria-jordan-ethiopia.html)

GenocideWatch.Org President & The Ogaden Region

SaveOgaden.Org — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:42:58 +0000

GenocideWatch.Org Founder & President Dr. Gregory H. Stanton speaks on the Ogaden region and the genocide being committed. This was broadcast on KFGO Radio Station (790 AM Fargo-Moorhead, North Dakota, USA). Human Rights Activist Abdikarim Rabi is speaking on behalf of his experiences in the Ogaden region and his work.

Click Here to Listen to the Interview on Podcast: GenocideWatch.Org President on the Ogaden Region (http://www.kfgo.com/uploads/abdi_karim_02112011.mp3)
* To download this podcast as a mp3, you can right click and click ‘Save Target As’ or ‘Save Link As’

To read more about GenocideWatch.Org you can visit their website (www.GenocideWatch.org)

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SaveOgaden.Org

Ogaden Human Rights Violator Abdi Omar coming to U.S.

SaveOgaden.Org — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:59:04 +0000

URGENT ACTION!

Ogaden Human Rights Group would like to inform the public and all defenders of human Rights about the former head of the Janjaweed-like militia called Lyuu Police (of Ethiopia) and the current head of the Somali Regional (Ogaden) in Ethiopia will be coming to United States of America (DC and Minnesota).

The sole purpose of his visit is:

(1) To intimidate his former victims who fled Ogaden and now reside in the U.S.

(2) To gather intelligence on Ogaden people who live in the U.S. for not supporting his criminal administration back home-Ogaden. After collecting this intelligence on the diaspora, he intends to use against their families and relatives back home by arresting, killing, raping, maiming etc.

The Ogaden community in the U.S. has being in contact with the U.S. government to prevent the visit of this criminal guy by refusing him a visa.

We are asking all people to call these two phone numbers below and ask them to refuse Abdi Mohamed Omar of Ogaden Regional State to not enter U.S. since he is coming to intimidate and collect intelligence on the community so he can use against their families and relatives back home.

U.S. State Department in DC:

Ethiopian Desk +1-202-647-6473 ask for Joe

Head of East Africa +1-202-647-5242

Talking point: Abdi Mohamed Omar of Somali Regional State(Ogaden) of Ethiopia should not be giving a visa due his criminal-human rights abuses records in the Ogaden region.

Please also forward this to your friends and all other human rights defenders!

Sincerely,

OGADEN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP

Abdi Mohamed Omar | Human Rights Violator and Co-Collaborator with Prime Minister of Ethiopia of the injustice in the Ogaden

Canadian-Somali Sentenced to Life in Prison in Ethiopia

SaveOgaden.Org — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 05:02:03 +0000

Canada Under Pressure to cut aid to Ethiopia