THE STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN OGADEN

A paper presented by Mr Abdiwali Hussein Gas

Chairman of Ogaden Community Association in Sweden &

Representative of Ogaden Human Rights Committee to the Conference on

“Enhancing Human Rights and Building Peace in the Horn of Africa”.

Stockolm, Sweden,March 9th , 2002

Ladies, Gentlemen, my brothers and sisters of the Oromo Community.The people of Sweden, the respectable individuals, whom are representing their various organisations and are here today, and lastly but not the least the organizers of this historic event. On the behalf of the Ogaden people I would like to extend to you our warm greetings.

The aim of my speech is to present to you, the human tragedy unfolding in my country, which is under Ethiopian military occupation.

Human rights abuses inflicted upon the Ogaden people date back to the Ethiopian occupation of the first part of the Ogaden more than a century ago.

Our people’s ordeal started after the conclusion of the ill-fated Berlin conference for the partition of Africa among the colonial powers including Ethiopia, where her emperor Menelik said in his infamous circular addressed to Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia:-

“If powers at a distance come forward to partition Africa between them, I do not intend to be an indifferent spectator…”

After the expulsion of Italians in 1941, our country came under British rule, and it remained subjected to the British Military Administration until 1948.

In 1948, when the British government decided to cede a great part of the Ogaden to Ethiopia without the knowledge and the consent of our people, the British Administration and the Ethiopian occupation forces faced a fierce resistance, especially when they tried to lower Somali Youth League’s(S.Y.L) flag and shut down forcibly the office of the S.Y.L. in Jigjiga,

Where they shot dead more than one hundred people, who were protesting peacefully against the hand over of Jigjiga town to the Ethiopians.

In 1955, the British Authorities handed over the last part of the Ogaden, which is Haud and Reserved Areas, to Ethiopia. At that time peaceful demonstrations against the cession of the land to the Ethiopians were brutally suppressed by Ethiopian occupation forces.

In 1961, the Ethiopian imperial Army razed to the ground the towns of Aisha' a, Dhagahbour and Qalaafo, killing hundreds of defenceless civilians.

In 1974, when the military junta overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie’s theocratic rule, the new communist military junta enforced more oppressive policies in the Ogaden. Summary executions, arbitrary detentions and dispossessing the people of their properties were commonplace.

In its Amharisation policy, the communist regime of Mengistu has transferred thousands of Ethiopian settlers into the Ogaden in an attempt to change the demographic nature of the region, eliminate the Ogadeni national identity and transform the Ogaden into a region of Ethiopia, in which indigenous Ogadenis will be an insignificant minority .

In 1991, when the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front(EPRDF), which is dominated by the Tigray People's Liberation Front(TPLF) came to power, after the defeat of former government, the EPRDF presented a new charter. According to the Transitional Charter, which was adopted on 22 July 1991, among other things all democratic principles, human rights and right to self -determination of all nations in the empire-state of Ethiopia, should be recognized and fully respected.

The new Charter was welcomed by the Ogaden people, who suffered from a century of repression and exploitation under the Imperial and Military regimes, which ruled the empire-state of Ethiopia respectively.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front(ONLF), which was the vanguard of the Ogaden people's long national struggle against the Ethiopian occupation, decided unequivocally to be part and parcel of the new political process in Ethiopia by ratifying the newly drafted Charter, in order to pursue the realization of the Ogaden people' s rights and national aspirations by peaceful and democratic means.

In 1992, the ONLF accused the EPRDF government of master-minding the killing of several ONLF officials, including some members belonging to the Front's Central Committee.

In September 1992, the Ogaden people went to the polls to cast their votes in a free and fair election, for the first time in their long history to elect their district councils and representatives for the regional parliament in a landslide victory , the ONLF won about 84% of the seats in the newly elected regional parliament.

In mid-1993, the regional government accused the central government in Addis Ababa of flagrant interference in the day to day affairs of the Ogaden region, an act which contradicts the commitment to regional autonomy and devolution of power to the regions.

To put more pressure on the regional government, the EPRDF central government deprived the Ogaden region of its share of the central budget and aid from international community to Ethiopia, as well as obstructing all initiatives and projects deemed necessary for the development of the region.

In 1993, the Ethiopian security forces arrested the president, (Mr Abdullahi  Mohamed Sadi who is here today to present paper) vice-president and secretary of the Regional Assembly, who were transferred to prison in Addis Ababa. They have been released after ten months without having charged or tried.

On 28 January 1994, at a press conference in Addis Ababa, ONLF called for a referendum on self -determination and independence for the Ogaden.

On 22 February 1994, a cold-blood massacre took place in the town of Wardheer, where more than 81 unarmed civilians were killed by TPLF militias, who tried to kill or capture alive, the chairman of the ONLF Mr. Ibrahim Abdallah Mohamed, who was addressing at that time a peaceful rally in the centre of the town.

On 17 April 1994, the EPRDF|TPLF government Launched a large-scale military offensive against ONLF positions and detained many suspected supporters of ONLF.

On 28 Aprill994, at a press conference in Addis Ababa, the then TPLF defence minister Siye Abraha claimed that all resistance movements in the Ogaden had been destroyed and stamped out.

In a petition addressed to the president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE), the elders of the Ogaden asked the Ethiopian government to stop the military offensive against the Ogaden people, and seek a peaceful dialogue to resolve the conflict, instead of opting a military solution, which complicates the situation.

In May 1994, the Regional Assembly passed a unanimous resolution in accordance with the Transitional Charter, demanding a referendum on self- determination and independence for the Ogaden people, under the auspices of international and regional bodies such as United Nations, Organization of African Unity, European Union, and other independent non-governmental organizations.

The EPRDF government in Addis Ababa reacted swiftly and severely by overthrowing and virtually disbanding all democratically elected national institutions in the Ogaden, including the Regional Parliament.

Like their predecessors, the president of the Regional Parliament, vice-president and several members of the parliament (MPs), were arrested and transferred to prison in Addis Ababa. Mass arrests and indiscriminate killings also took place.

In 1994, the EPRDF government sponsored a new satellite party called Ethiopian Somali Democratic League (ESDL), which is a version of People's Democratic Organizations (PDO), which exists throughout Ethiopia within the EPRDF framework. The first congress of ESDL was held in Hurso under the patronage of the then prime minister of TGE Tamirat Layne, who appointed a member of the ruling EPRDF coalition as a chairman of the new pro-government party.

On 25 January 1995, the EPRDF government hastily arranged a meeting in the town of Qabridaharre to convince the ONLF to participate in the upcoming federal and regional elections. The meeting, which was chaired by the then president Meles Zemawi (the current prime minister), failed when each side refused to compromise.

The ONLF, had broken off all contacts with the EPRDF government, closed down its office in Addis Ababa and boycotted elections from 1994 to 1995. Since 20 April 1994, bloody battles are being fought between EPRDF forces and combatants of the ONLF.

Certainly, the ongoing struggle for self -determination and independence in the Ogaden continues to cause more human suffering and threatens peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.

Ladies and Gentlemen,,

Both the 1991 Charter and the new Constitution, which was adopted and ratified by the Constituent Assembly on 8 December 1994, guarantee a right to secession of a people if they are, "Convinced that their rights are denied, abridged or abrogated," and this applies to the Ogadeni case.

Article l of the International Covenant On Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that the right to self -determination is universal and calls upon States to promote the realization of that right and to respect it. The article provides that:

"All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic cooperation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence. The States parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for the administration of non-self- governing and trust Territories, shall promote the realization of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations."

Since the current Ethiopian government came to power in 1991, hundreds of ogadenis, including women, children, elderly people, politicians and religious scholars, have been killed, disappeared, tortured or remain under incommunicado detention without charges or trial.

The Ethiopian colonial administration in the Ogaden treats the Somali Ogadenis as second class citizens in their own country, exploits the country for Ethiopian gains, and deprives the Ogaden people of their fundamental human rights, including their inalienable right to independence and self -determination.

Discrimination and segregation against Somali Ogadenis, in terms of education, health care, employment and economic development is the corner stone of the current government ' s policy.

Government offices in the Ogaden have been purged of anyone whose views were judged hostile to the state, and replaced by Tigreans or those who support the government policies.

Such an overt policy of targeting one group for their political orientation, and preferring others for their pro-government views, has obviously caused widespread and deep resentment throughout the region. A particular target of this policy appears to be suspected supporters of ONLF or other opposition parties.

For the last six years, the Ogaden has been hit by a severe drought accompanied by lack of food and medical care, which caused mass starvation, and break-out of epidemics, related to malnutrition and bad sanitation. In the worst drought-stricken areas, dozens of people and hundreds of animals starved to death.

The aid donated by the international community through the Ethiopian Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (ERRC), have been misused by the government by diverting the bulk of it to the military barracks and distributing the rest, which was very little, to supporters of the government policies, who are usually informers and collaborators of the Ethiopian troops in the Ogaden.

Article 54 -Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population -of the protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 states that ((Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited. It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motives."

In May 1996, the Organisation of African Unit y (OAU) called on African States not to cut off water supplies to civilians as a tactic in their wars.

However, in the fertile valley of the Shabelle River in the Godey area, the Ethiopian government has prevented the people from cultivating their farms unless they pay 500 Ethiopian birr for each farm, which is too much for them to pay. The peasants were threatened with eviction from their lands if they do not pay the new tax.

In another development, the EPRDF forces indiscriminately mined areas which civilians frequent, particularly around water wells and caravan routes which lead to neighbouring countries, in order to stop trade movements and starve out the Ogaden people.

The Ogaden people had suffered from a century of repression, victimisation and exploitation under the successive alien Ethiopian governments , and there is growing disillusionment with the current EPRDF government.

There is no doubt that the human rights situation will continue to deteriorate dramatically in the Ogaden unless the international community steps in to stop the colonial, inhuman policies of the Ethiopian government in the Ogaden.

So, as long as the Ogaden people are marginalised and their inalienable right to independence and self -determination is denied, the international community will continue to witness more human rights violations, and more bloodshed, which may lead to the annihilation of entire Ogadeni nation by the Ethiopian government.

The Ethiopian government has acceded to several international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, Convention on the Prevention and the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Convention on the Right of the Child, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Convention on the Political Rights of Women, Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Slavery Convention of 1926 as amended, Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery ...etc

Despite the Ethiopian government's ratification of all these important international human rights treaties, the OHRC, which monitors the human rights situation in the Ogaden, confirms the deterioration of the human rights situation in the region, and believes that the Ethiopian government's accession to the treaties was intended only to mislead the international community, in order to avoid international public censure over its human rights record, and to get more aid from donor countries, which demand the improvement of human rights situation in the Third World Countries which receive their aid.

This is the reality of the Ethiopian government's attitude towards the human rights situation in the Ogaden, which the international community should take up a tough line with the Ethiopian government to persuade it to comply with international norms of fundamental human rights and civil liberties, and force it to honour its commitments to International Treaties to which it had acceded.

The gross human rights violations and non-compliance to the international human rights treaties, demonstrate the perfidious and inhuman nature of the current Ethiopian government.

Article 55 -Protection of the natural environment -of the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 states that: Care shall be taken in warfare to protect the natural environment against widespread, long-term and severe damage. This protection includes a prohibition of the use of methods or means of warfare which are intended or may be expected to cause such damage to the natural environment and thereby to prejudice the health or survival of the population. Attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals are prohibited."

However, in the Ogaden, the poor and the fragile ecological balance has been devastated by widespread exploitation and depletion of forests for military purposes, firewood and charcoal by EPRDF|TPLF forces and Tigrean dealers, who have been given concessions and game-licences by the Ethiopian government, which dominated by ethnic Tigreans. The rich wildlife, including big- game, game-birds, forests and water resources have all suffered irreparable damage in the Ogaden under the Ethiopian government.

Ironically, the Ethiopian government, which violates the very basic human rights of all citizens in the empire-state of Ethiopia, including the Ogadenis, poses itself as a champion of Democracy and Human Rights in Africa.

It is the international community's duty y to censure Ethiopia over its human rights record, and hold its rulers responsible for the gross human rights abuses perpetrated in the Ogaden by their Army and Security Forces.

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES:

In The Ogaden, arbitrary detentions without charge or trial, torture of detainees to death, summary executions, gang raping of women, child molestation, looting and illegal confiscation of property are commonplace, and are daily practised by the Ethiopian army and security forces with impunity.(See Human Rights Violations in the Ogaden by Ethiopia, 1991 to 1996 ref: OHRC/01/96, Deterioration of Human Rights Situation in the Ogaden unabated ref: OHRC/07/96, Mass Killings, Torture and Disappearances in the Ogaden ref: OHRC/08/96, Ogaden: No Rights, No Democracy ref: OHRC/08/97, Ogaden: An Endless Human Tragedy ref: OHRC/12/98 and Ogaden: Graveyard of Rights ref: OHRC/10/99).

RECOMMENDATIONS AND APPEALS:

1. The international community publicly censure Ethiopia over its human rights record.
2. The Ethiopian government should be held responsible for infamous mass killings, disappearances, arbitrary arrests, torture and other cruel, inhuman  and degrading treatment
3. The Ethiopian government release of all detainees and close down of all notorious detention camps in Ogadenia & Oromia.
4. Restoration of all democratically elected national institutions in Ogadenia, which were abolished by the EPRDF government.
5. Respect of the basic human rights in Ogadenia in accordance with the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Geneva Conventions and norms of international law.
6. The Ogaden & Oromo people must exercise their inalienable right to self-determination through a fair and free referendum under the auspices of the international bodies such as, United Nations, European Union, Organisation of African Unity…etc
7. The international donor community help the Ogaden people generously and directly through international NGO’s in order to assure the reach of the food aid to  the victims of the famine; otherwise the relief will end up in military barracks as usual.
8. The international community refrain from aiding and supporting the Ethiopian government as long as it violates human rights and fundamental freedoms in the empire-state of Ethiopia.
9. The Ogaden Human Rights Committee urges the Ethiopian government, the Ogaden National Liberation Front and other parties to the conflict to allow all humanitarian and relief organisations to operate freely in the Ogaden as well as international and local human rights organisations and the international press.

Finally, we would like to express our deepest thanks and gratitude to the organizers of this conference.

  Thank you for your attention.

OHRC Press Release
For the last five years the Ogaden was a country ravaged by war and haunted by drought. The Ogaden Human Rights Committee, has warned the massive looming famine in the Ogaden many times, in its report and press release. (See Ogaden: NO rights, No Democracy ref: OHRC/08/97, Ogaden: Graveyard of Rights, Press Release ref: OHRC/15/97 and Press release ref: OHRC/O2/00).

CONTACT US
Ogaden Human Rights Committee, USA.
PO Box 20347
Bloomington, MN. 55420

Tel: 952-451-4175

Fax:952-496-3388
E-Mail: humanrights@ogaden.com