ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia on Tuesday called for a quick deployment of peacekeepers in war-ravaged Somalia, an African nation increasingly running adrift in the face on an escalating insurgency.
Of the 8,000 peacekeepers the African Union pledged to send to bolster President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed’s weak government, only 1,500 Ugandan troops are actually on the round.
“The plan designed to deploy peacekeeping forces to Somalia should be materialised as soon as possible,” the Ethiopian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Ethiopian troops helped sweep aside Islamist militants from much of the country they had briefly governed in January, but have been embroiled in a deadly insurgency mainly in Mogadishu.
Rebels recently dragged through the streets, stumped and spat on the bodies of Ethiopian troops, a grisly reminder of a similar treatment of US special forces in 1993.
Burundi and Nigeria had given firm pledges to contribute soldiers, but are yet to make good their word.
The Ethiopian foreign ministry called on the international community to facilitate efforts to restore durable peace in Somalia, where the last functional government collapsed in 1991 after the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
The escalating insurgency has seen UN chief Ban Ki-moon rule out sending any peacekeepers to the Horn of African nation, except for a “coalition of the willing.”
But on Monday, the UN Security Council said there was need to pursue contingency planning for the possible deployment of UN troops, side-stepping Ban, but giving no promises.
Previous peacekeeping forays by the United Nations and the United States ended disastrously in the mid-1990s and the world turned its back, abandoning the country at the mercy of armed gangs.
In a historic meeting, representatives from diverse regions of Ethiopia came together to share their concern for the dismal state of human rights in the country.
For immediate release
The Ethiopian Human Rights in the Next Millennium event, sponsored by the Anuak Justice Council on Saturday, November 17, 2007, in Washington D.C. was greeted with great enthusiasm by participants and attendees. In a historic meeting, representatives from diverse regions of Ethiopia came together to share their concern for the dismal state of human rights in the country, hoping to work together for the first time for comprehensive solutions.
In the past, there was little communication between segments of the population that were divided linguistically, geographically, culturally and by widespread categorization of each group that alienated one from the other—calling others separatists, terrorists, barias, privileged and so forth. But after coming together and sharing stories, participants learned they had much in common.
Addressing the audience, a representative of the Ogaden said it well. He asked all the Ethiopians, “Do you really know me? “ Some say I am a radical. I am not. Some say I am a terrorist. I am not. Some say I am a Somalian. I say I am Ethiopian. Some say I am a separatist. I say I am not. The only reason the Ogaden people want to separate from Ethiopia is because they have never been appreciated. If we are appreciated, we have no reason to separate.”
As each representative spoke of similar repression and human rights violations, what emerged was that the human rights abuses were affecting everyone; that the oppression was widespread and the lack of development, opportunity and political representation was the same, they realized that they had more reasons to come together than to separate.
A participant from Benishangul-Gumuz summed it up, “Alone we are weak and helpless, but now I see that in creating an umbrella movement where the people on the ground come together, is the only way we can be strong.”
Participants were excited as this new dialogue between each other brought not only new friendships, but with it, a renewed hope that Ethiopia may remain as a country where humanity comes before ethnicity, country before region, and region before village. As stories were told of the suffering and oppression of the people, bridges of compassion were built between those who had never talked before.
We all know very well that most of our political organizations and civic and religious institutions who should are the ones that should be guiding us to a better future, but instead they are fighting and divided, resulting in the continued suffering of all Ethiopians at the hands of the EPDRF that is founded on hatred and division. However, the emphasis of this meeting was on establishing commonalties and feeling the pain of others so that new partnerships could begin.
Participants voiced their support of this goal and indicated that the spirit of unity had already begun by seeing their fellow Ethiopians across the table—that table being covered with the flag of Ethiopia.
Mr. Obang Metho said he was disappointed that more Ethiopians did not show their support for a more inclusive Ethiopia by attending this meeting; especially knowing that what Ethiopia needs today is unity even more than it needs democracy. This is not just the unity of the past where other Ethiopians are mentioned only when they are in the room or are otherwise visible.
The unity we need now is based on mutual respect and trust where we listen to and interact with other Ethiopians rather than just talking about them. Yet, despite the poor attendance, especially in a city where more Ethiopians live than anywhere else in North America, it did not suppress the excitement of those at the meeting who saw it as a new beginning and as the only way to restore life into a dying nation.
Mr. Metho stated that some Ethiopians might be afraid that by including these new groups it will mean others will be excluded. He said, “Don’t worry. This would be morally wrong and is “old thinking.” He said, “No one should be excluded in an Ethiopia where the people are valued as equally created in the image of God—this definitely includes Woyanne supporters.”
However, many might not yet understand how human rights is not simply stopping human rights abuses; instead, the failure to respect such rights of all people, affect every part of our society—government, law, civil society, education, health care and the economy. Even government policies regarding land ownership, laws regarding business development and the provision of credit at reasonable interest rates for small and medium sized private enterprise along with micro-enterprise are affected by how we view the human rights of our fellow Ethiopian.
Division, repression, suspicion and human rights abuses are a natural outgrowth of failing to regard one’s fellow Ethiopian as equally human and equally Ethiopian. It takes great force to repress the thirst for freedom in the human soul, yet where such humanity is embraced, all can benefit.
The participants at the meeting all embraced the concept of setting up an umbrella organization to advance the interests of human rights of all Ethiopians. Plans are underway to organize a strategic meeting to begin a movement for a new Ethiopia.
If you missed this opportunity to attend the meeting, it was filmed and recorded for the benefit of those who did not attend. Please check back for further details when they become available.
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For additional information, please contact:
The Director of International Advocacy:
Phone: (306) 933 4346
E-mail: [email protected]
AFGOOYE, Somalia — The worst humanitarian crisis in Africa may not be unfolding in Darfur, but here, along a 20-mile strip of busted-up asphalt, several top United Nations officials said.
A year ago, the road between the market town of Afgooye and the capital of Mogadishu was just another typical Somali byway, lined with overgrown cactuses and the occasional bullet-riddled building. Now it is a corridor teeming with misery, with 200,000 recently displaced people crammed into swelling camps that are rapidly running out of food.
Natheefa Ali, who trudged up this road a week ago to escape the bloodbath that Mogadishu has turned into, said Monday that her 10-month-old baby was so malnourished she could not swallow.
“Look,” Ms. Natheefa said, pointing to her daughter’s splotchy legs, “her skin is falling off, too.”
Top United Nations officials who specialize in Somalia said the country had higher malnutrition rates, more current bloodshed and fewer aid workers than Darfur, which is often publicized as the world’s most pressing humanitarian crisis and has taken clear priority in terms of getting peacekeepers and aid money.
The relentless urban combat in Mogadishu, between an unpopular transitional government — installed partially with American help — and a determined Islamist insurgency, has driven waves of desperate people up the Afgooye road, where more than 70 camps of twigs and plastic have popped up seemingly overnight.
The people here are hungry, exposed, sick and dying. And the few aid organizations willing to brave a lawless, notoriously dangerous environment cannot keep up with their needs, like providing milk to the thousands of babies with fading heartbeats and bulging eyes. “Many of these kids are going to die,” said Eric Laroche, the head of United Nations humanitarian operations in Somalia. “We don’t have the capacity to reach them.”
He added: “If this were happening in Darfur, there would be a big fuss. But Somalia has been a forgotten emergency for years.”
The officials working on Somalia are trying to draw more attention to the country’s plight, which they feel has fallen into Darfur’s shadow. They have recently organized several trips, including one on Monday, for journalists to see for themselves.
“The situation in Somalia is the worst on the continent,” said Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the top United Nations official for Somalia.
That situation has included floods, droughts, locusts, suicide bombers, roadside bombs and near-daily assassinations.
United Nations officials said the recent round of plagues, natural and man-made, coupled with the residual chaos that has consumed Somalia for more than a decade, have put the country on the brink of famine. In the worst-hit areas, like Afgooye, recent surveys indicate the malnutrition rate is 19 percent, compared with about 13 percent in Darfur; 15 percent is considered the emergency threshold.
The officials, in making the comparison, were not trying to diminish the problems in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died from violence and disease since 2003. But they said they were concerned that the crisis here was increasingly urgent.
Unlike Darfur, where the suffering is being eased by a billion-dollar aid operation and more than 10,000 aid workers, Somalia is still considered mostly a no-go zone. Just last week, a Somali aid worker and a guard were shot to death at an aid distribution center in Afgooye. United Nations officials estimate that total emergency aid is under $200 million, partly because it is so difficult just getting food into the country.
Pirates lurking off the coast of Somalia have attacked more than 20 ships this year, including two carrying United Nations food. The militias that rule the streets — typically teenage gunmen in wraparound sunglasses and flip-flops — have jacked up roadblock taxes to $400 per truck. The transitional government last month jailed a senior official of the United Nations food program in Somalia, accusing him of helping terrorists, though he was eventually released.
United Nations officials now concede that the country was in better shape during the brief reign of Somalia’s Islamist movement last year. “It was more peaceful, and much easier for us to work,” Mr. Laroche said. “The Islamists didn’t cause us any problems.”
Mr. Ould-Abdallah called those six months, which were essentially the only epoch of peace most Somalis have tasted for years, Somalia’s “golden era.”
Somalia’s ills have always come in waves, starting in 1991 when clan-based militias overthrew the central government and the country plunged into anarchy. That fighting, like the fighting today, disrupted markets, kept out aid shipments and led to rapid inflation of food prices. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people starved.
The United States tried to come to the rescue in 1992, sending thousands of soldiers to Somalia to assist with humanitarian operations.
But American troops abruptly pulled out after Somali militiamen shot down two Black Hawk helicopters in Mogadishu in October 1993.
After that, the United States — and much of the rest of the world — basically turned its back on Somalia. But in the summer of 2006, the world started paying attention again after a grass-roots Islamist movement emerged from the clan chaos and seized control of much of the country.
The United States and Ethiopia, Somalia’s neighbor and rival, quickly labeled the Islamists a threat and accused them of harboring terrorists from Al Qaeda.
Inside Somalia, the Islamists were very popular, at least initially. But then they overplayed their hand and declared a holy war against Ethiopia in December 2006, which provoked a crushing Ethiopian response. American military commanders funneled key satellite imagery to Ethiopian Woyanne troops as they rolled across the Somali border; American planes bombed fleeing Islamists. One American official said the operation was considered an antiterrorism success.
The transitional government arrived in Mogadishu at the end of December. It has struggled ever since against an insurgency that is a mix of Islamist fighters, rival clans and profiteers who have made a fortune as a result of the anarchy, whether by importing expired baby formula or renting out former government land.
“Those criminals are our biggest problem,” said Abdi Awaleh Jama, an ambassador at large for the transitional government.
The African Union promised to send 8,000 peacekeepers to help. But because of the focus on building a 26,000-strong force for Darfur, only 1,600 Ugandans have arrived. Clearly, some of Somalia’s problems are not the government’s fault. Neither is the drought-flood-drought cycle that has left an impenetrable crust of rock-hard silt over Somalia’s fields, causing the worst cereal harvest in 13 years.
But most Western diplomats agree that unless the transitional government reaches out to Islamist elements and becomes more inclusive, it will fail — like the 13 transitional governments that came before it.
“This government doesn’t control one inch of territory from the Kenyan border up to Mogadishu,” said a Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing diplomatic protocol.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the warlord turned transitional president, recently forced out the prime minister and is looking to replace him with a leader who can bridge clan divides.
“This is basically the last chance,” the Western diplomat said.
But the people in Afgooye’s squatter camps do not have a lot of faith. “We want the Islamists back,” said Mohammed Ahmed, a shriveled 80-year-old retired taxi driver.
Mr. Mohammed said he was not especially religious. “But,” he said, “at least we had food.”
Personal observation on the Annuak Justice Council meeting in Washington DC
By Emebet S. Bekele
On Saturday, Nov. 17, I attended a human rights meeting organized by the Annuak Justice Council. My knowledge of the Annuak people was very limited until I started following the movement of Kinijit through the Ethiopian Web sites. I learned of Ato Obang Metho through different media outlets and the fate of the Annuak people and their struggle for human right. On every platform I heard him speak about being an Ethiopian, about how to uplift each other from the madness that is engulfing us. I have heard him proclaim his Ethiopian nationality not only amongst those who claim to be unionist, but also amongst those who support and believe in the separatist movements. Obang’s message is a message of peace, love, mutual respect for all of us. His message does not have any hidden agenda. It does not exclude anyone or accuse any ethnic group. His mission is to introduce all the children of Ethiopia to each other so that brothers and sisters can stand shoulder to shoulder to love, respect and protect each other. This is the message I heard him introduce on every platform. So on that Saturday afternoon, I expected to see a lot of my fellow Ethiopians to support this man with a beautiful message.
What happened to Kinijit? Where were their supporters? I remember hearing the announcement of this meeting at the last Kinijit meeting. I clearly remember hearing the delegation saying that Kinijit will stand shoulder to shoulder with any organization that is working on the empowerment of the Ethiopian People. I listened to the leaders saying that the protection of human rights is one of the fundamental principles of democracy. So why were there no representative of this organization at the Annuak meeting? Wzt. Bertukan has assured us that her organization will work with all Ethiopian organizations to find a lasting solution for all our people. If Kinijit cannot take initiative to lead it’s supporters in laying the foundation for a grass root movement on human rights, it should at least lend support to organizations like the Annuak Justice Council who are trying to do the job. Unfortunately, on Nov. 17, Kinijit not only failed to lead by example. The big question is, if Kinijit cannot lend its ears to civic movements that are trying to help build a democratic system, how is it going to respond to political organizations that are vying to share power?
Where were you my brothers and sisters on the day that our Annuak brother rose up from the ashes of his people and stretched his hand to us? Where were you when Ato Obang Metho proclaimed himself the true son of Ethiopia despite the atrocities committed on him and his people by the central government? Why weren’t you there to hear his message of peace, love and mutual respect? Why didn’t you answer his call to stand with him and to make a reality his vision of creating a human right movement?
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The writer can be reached at [email protected]
Fitchburg, Massachusetts — Alene Reta entered the 27th annual Slattery’s Turkey Trot, Sunday, as the two-time defending champion of the 5-mile race.
It did not take long for the Ethiopian, who lives in Manhattan, N.Y., to separate himself from the pack and gobble up his third consecutive Turkey Trot victory.
Each year, he has improved upon his mark. In 2005, he won with a time of 23:51. Last year, he finished the race in 23:30. This year, he completed the race in 23:03, and, in the process, set a new course record.
“Every year I win I’m happy,” Reta said. “But this year, everybody did good.”
Reta, along with Mark Carroll and Benjamin Ndaya, made it a three-man race in the beginning, taking early command as the race turned into Fitchburg State College.
By the 1-mile mark, Reta had distanced himself from the other two by a few strides, with a time of 4:30.
When the 2-mile mark came on Ashby State Road, Reta held an eight-second lead over Carroll, who had separated from Ndaya.
Reta’s lead grew to 18 seconds at the 3-mile mark and then to 20 seconds at the fourth mile. By the time Reta began his ascent up Pearl Street, his lead was at 22 seconds. When he crossed the finish line at Slattery’s, his final lead wound up being 28 seconds over Carroll, who completed the race in 23:31. Ndaya was the third-place finisher with a time of 24:15.
Carroll, a Providence College graduate who hails from Cork, Ireland, is an elite runner who competes in races all over the world. He was using the Turkey Trot as a warm up for a race in Japan next month.
“I went on the computer and saw the name Slattery’s,” he said. “And it sounded like a nice Irish name.”
Alemtsehay Misganaw, who is also from Ethiopia and Manhattan, was the top female finisher with a time of 26:51. The victory was her second in three years, as she also took home the prize in 2005.
Misganaw, who trains in Central Park, was pleased with the relatively mild weather that provided ideal running conditions.
“This year, it was good,” she said. “Two years ago, it was cold. But this year was good.”
Lenora Joy, a native of New Zealand who attended Stony Brook, was the second-place finisher with a time of 27:33. Heidi Westerling, of Acworth, N.H., rounded out the top three with a time of 27:59.
Prior to the Turkey Trot’s main races, a .4-mile race for children 10 and under was held. The winner of that race was 10-year old Kelsey Bedard, of Leominster.
“It was fun,” Bedard said. “It felt really good (to win it).”
LETTER OF CONCERN TO U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES REGARDING MISUSE & ABUSE OF U.S. MILITARY SUPPORT
(via email and facsimile)
Nov 19, 2007
Honorable Senator Carl Levin, Senator John McCain, and members of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services:
As a veteran of the US military, I am very concerned that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia is exploiting personnel trained by the U.S. military and misusing U.S. supplied military armaments to make advances against defenseless civilians within his own borders.
New reports are emerging today from the BBC News, Reuters and the AFP that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has stepped-up his militaristic assaults in the Somali Region of Ethiopia (the Ogaden) and is employing the indiscriminant and highly destructive tactic of “carpet bombing” to “flush out rebel forces.” What he is doing in reality, however, is annihilating defenseless civilians, their livestock and livelihood and their villages, wells, granaries and shelters in a region of the country that, incidentally, is rich in subterranean resources.
Indiscriminant killing and collective punishment is not a new issue with the Meles regime; however, what is new is the ferocity and extensive nature of these continued assaults on pastoral and nomadic citizens. Bear in mind that it is quite remarkable that the general public can even learn of these militaristic maneuvers considering that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has banned and expelled the free press, humanitarian aid agencies, and every other outside organization from entering the majority of the Somali Region of Ethiopia (the Ogaden). What is eminently clear is that he does not want the world to know of the atrocities he is responsible for that are taking place there.
I am asking for your verification and assurances, as members of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, that our military trainers have in no way been complicit to these current actions of the Ethiopian military and that the weaponry and ordinances being used against defenseless civilians are not, and have not, been supplied by the United States.
Thank you for your consideration, I await your response.
Keif Schleifer
Executive Director
The Empowerment Initiative
Human Rights, Social Justice, Non-Violence Advocacy [email protected]
