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The recently concluded weeklong United
Nations, UN, mission in Ogaden was the first
mission of its kind undertaken by any
non-governmental organization in the long
and brutal history of Ethiopian colonization
in Ogaden.
Being the first mission of its kind in
Ogaden and given the ever increasing reports
of war crimes reported from Ogaden by many
credible sources many, including the Ogaden
Online News would have liked a more
independent, and more comprehensive UN visit
throughout Ogaden.
For one, visiting Ogaden for a week while
using an itinerary not only provided by the
Ethiopian autocracy and its minions in
Ogaden but also escorted by the very
Ethiopian military personnel who were
accused of carrying out the reported war
crimes surely did not give the Ogaden
populace much confidence to detail their
grievances to the UN personnel.
The fact that many civilians have risked
their dear lives to voice the suffering
subjected to them by the Ethiopian military
and its associated militias to the visiting
UN personnel is a testament to the courage
of the people of Ogaden.
The fact that the UN personnel, whose
movement and access to the most affected
areas were restricted or outright banned by
the Ethiopians, yet were able to recommend
an independent probe based on the veracity
of the rights abuses information they have
received first hand from the Ogaden
citizenry is quite commendable
Despite all the shortcomings of the UN
mission in Ogaden, EOB, believes that this
mission was a positive first step. It is a
positive step that we hope will lead to many
firsts for the long suffering Ogaden
citizenry cut off from the outside world by
a brutal and a dictatorial regime hell bent
on subjugating the Ogaden populace in
perpetuity.
editorial@ogaden.com
Ogaden Online Editorial
Sept 22, 2007 |
