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New forms
of Ethiopian Subjugation in Ogaden |
Ever since motley militias from the Tigrey
clan were deployed in Ogaden five months
ago, new forms of inhumane treatment of the
Ogaden Somali civilian population surfaced.
Kidnappings of innocent civilians by these
militias, from far away towns and hamlets
have become the norm.
Extrajudicial killings with the use of
severe torture as an instrument and
strangulation with iron chains as the method
have become the modus operandi of these
poorly trained, and illiterate soldiers from
Tigrey. Knowing full well how sacrosanct the
immediate burial of a dead person is to the
culture of the Ogaden civilians, these
militias have lately adopted the public
display of corpses.
To add insult to injury, they, militias,
have barred people from burying the dead. It
appears that these militias have been
instructed to not only kill loved ones but
also to humiliate those whose loved ones
were killed under inhumane circumstances. It
is becoming quite evident that the objective
of these public humiliations of displaying
and the barring of burial of the dead
civilians is to provoke reaction from the
civilian population.
It is also a way of reminding the public how
helpless they are in according the corpse of
their loved ones a proper burial. Many of
the corpses found so far show severe signs
of torture. Some even have remnants of the
instruments used in their torture and
eventual death still present in their
bodies.
This shows that whoever killed these
innocent civilians appears so cocky that he
or she is confident that there will be no
repercussions for the death of these
innocent civilians. As if denying people the
right to bury their dead was not enough of a
humiliation, the militias have lately been
seen throwing away the bodies of those who
died under their illegal detentions.
Some of the dead civilians' bodies were
found floating in the rivers, tributaries or
laying in the bush with missing body parts.
Treating the civilians in the manner these
militias have been operating so far is not
only inhumane but is also against all the
Geneva convention articles. In particular,
the kind of treatment so far observed in
Ogaden is against Convention (IV) relative
to the Protection of Civilian Persons in
Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.
Ethiopia is signatory to the Geneva
convention. Meles Zenawi, the current 'prime
minister', and his minions should be
prosecured as war criminals under the
convention. International human rights
organizations should not only investigate
but also should document these atrocities
carried out in Ogaden in broad day light.
Those who perpetrated and those who ordered
the introduction of these inhumane
treatments and killings of innocent
civilians must be brought to justice. The
sooner the world puts these barbaric
treatments to a stop, the better for
civilians in Ogaden. The world should not
watch an other Rwanda in the making in
Ogaden.
editorial@ogaden.com
Ogaden Online Editorial
July 8, 2006 |
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