|
|
|
|
|
A Forgotten Crisis, Ogaden |
Ahmed Ali
ahjack15@yahoo.com
March 17, 2008
Among the most far-reaching consequences of
colonialism in Africa has been the partition
of the continent into political units whose
borders were determined on the basis of
European interests. To restrain the
historical precision, many downplays the
political encounter, which I believe is
central to comprehending not only the Ogaden
conflict but the conflicts that has been
taken place elsewhere in the Horn of Africa
mainly the recently devastating genocide in
Somalia . Though, I am not attempting to
deal with it here, but the roots of the
Ogaden conflict can be traced by contrasting
between two distinctive epochs; first the
state of the colonized Ogaden people in
pre-colonial epoch and second the successive
Ethiopian regimes denial of the Ogaden
Somalis' rights for self-determination in
the postcolonial era, which set the stage
for an inevitable conflict in the Horn of
Africa.
In 1896, an agreement was signed between
Great Britain and the Ogaden Somali chiefs
which was basically constituted Great
Britain 's control over Ogaden, and aimed to
preservation of Ogaden sovereignty. But
Great Britain had no intention of living up
to the agreement. In 1897 Great Britain
signed an agreement with Abyssinian Empire
currently known Ethiopia in which it
recognized the Abyssinian claims on Harar,
which it had occupied a few years earlier.
This act was entirely a breach of the 1896
agreement between Great Britain and Ogaden
Somali chiefs. Since that time the Ogaden
history has been quite turbulent one and
Ogaden people's struggle for
self-determination has not destined or
stopped.
For more than 100 years, the Ogaden
territory and its inhabitants have been
under severe isolation from the rest of the
world. It has been a no-man’s land where
Abyssinian successive regimes practice their
military power and slaughter innocent
civilians. All successive Ethiopian
governments’ military campaigns to quell the
struggle to self-determination for the
Somali people in Ogaden had caused enormous
human suffering including the current
government’s military campaign, which is
going on vigorously as this writing. Since
the current Ethiopian government came to
power in 1991, hundreds of Somalis in Ogaden,
including women, children, elderly people,
politicians and religious scholars, have
been killed, disappeared, tortured or remain
under incommunicado detention without
charges or trial.
The people of Ogaden have endured over many
decades of devastating armed conflict and
since early 1994 when the Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF) called for
referendum on self-determination for the
Ogaden region, the region has been a
virtually closed military zone. While the
international community agonises over Darfur
, another humanitarian and human rights
disaster is brewing in Ogaden. The
atrocities happening in Ogaden will forever
hold a devastating place in history. Grave
human rights abuses are fuelling the
worsening humanitarian crises in Ogaden.
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human
Rights Watch said "The situation in Ethiopia
's Ogaden region, where millions are
suffering, is a forgotten tragedy". Yet
until recently, the serious human rights
violations and ongoing humanitarian crisis
in Ogaden received little attention or
action from the international community.
While the mainstream media has been largely
focussed on Darfur crisis, one of the
bloodiest conflicts in the Horn of Africa,
Ogaden is also living its own silent crisis,
which has been for the most part ignored by
the international community. The past
several months atrocities in Ogaden,
including mass killings, rape, torture, and
displacement, have remained largely silent
and below the radar of the international
community. Only occasionally does Ogaden
conflict make the front pages as with the
recent coverage of the humanitarian crisis
in Ogaden. Yet the Ogaden conflict has been
raging for years with virtually no mention
in the international media particularly the
western press.
The recent UN report also verifies the use
of indiscriminate force by Ethiopian regime
forces stating that "The indiscriminate use
of force by government troops the conflict
in Ogaden has resulted in widespread
civilian casualties and the displacement of
hundreds of thousands of persons". The
report further states "In addition to
casualties attributable to indiscriminate
use of force by the Ethiopian regime armed
forces, individual government servicemen or
units committed many abuses”. This practice
is in clear contravention of the protected
status afforded to civilians under
international humanitarian law.
Despite, the continuing deterioration of the
situation in Ogaden region, which widely
regarded as one of the world's worst
humanitarian crisis, there remains no real
international will to reach an equitable
agreement to act. This demonstrates the
imperative of international mobilization to
save what is left of the people of Ogaden.
Unless the United States alters its foreign
policy on Horn of Africa and unless Jendayi
Frazer acknowledges and admits she is wrong
her firm support for the Ethiopian regime
genocidal policy in Ogaden particular,
hundreds of thousands innocent civilian more
will suffer unabated at the hands of
Ethiopian forces and the misinformed United
States policy of indifference policies based
on the myth of global war on terror. Now is
the time to raise awareness and increase
pressure on the international community to
take an action the crisis in Ogaden. If
there's not something done very quickly to
break that kind of cycle of impunity whereby
Ethiopian military and leaders in Adis Ababa
feel they can commit abuses of this sort and
get away with it, then the crisis in Ogaden
is only going to deepen.
While nothing can be done for the
unfortunate lives that have already been
lost, hope still remains for those who have
persevered through the hardships. What many
fail to understand is that the longer these
crimes are allowed in Ogaden, the more
anguish will be created. Fortunately, there
are those who do realize this fact, and are
trying their best to change the course of
Ogaden’s future. Although this chapter of
history has had an appalling start, the end
has not yet been written. This ending can be
one filled with the suffering that Ogaden
has endured since the conflict first began,
or it can be one filled with hope and
rectitude. It all simply depends on the
choices, decisions, and actions of those who
hold the power that writes the world
history.
We, Ogaden Diaspora appeal to UN, United
States, EU and the international community
at large to immediately intervene and rescue
Somali people in Ogaden and stop the
Ethiopian forces campaign against innocent
civilians. At the same time to exert
pressure on Ethiopian regime to stop
immediately the current genocidal policy it
is implementing in Ogaden and find a
political solution to the current conflict
in Ogaden.
-- |
|
|
|
|
