In June, the Ethiopian [Woyanne] government launched a major military campaign in the Ogaden, a sparsely populated and remote region on Ethiopia’s border with Somalia. The counter insurgency operation was aimed at eliminating the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a rebel group which has been fighting for years for self-determination for the Ogaden’s predominantly Somali population.
In less than two months, the Woyanne military campaign has triggered a serious humanitarian crisis. Human Rights Watch has learned that dozens of civilians have been killed in what appears to be a deliberate effort to mete out collective punishment against a civilian population suspected of sympathising with the rebels.
Villages have been attacked, sacked and burnt. Livestock – the lynchpin of the region’s pastoralist economy – have been confiscated or destroyed. A partial trade blockade has been imposed on the region leading to serious food shortages. Relatives of suspected rebels have been taken hostage. Thousands of civilians have been displaced, fleeing across the borders of Ethiopia into northern Kenya and Somaliland.
Last week, with little objection from the international community, the Woyanne government expelled from the Ogaden the International Committee of the Red Cross, one of the few neutral observers of the crisis left in the region.
This is not Darfur. But the situation in Ogaden follows a familiar pattern of a counter insurgency operation in which government forces show little regard for the safety of the civilian population and commit serious abuses, including deliberate attacks on civilians, mass displacement of populations and interference with humanitarian assistance.
Unlike in Darfur, however, the state that is perpetrating abuses against its people in Ogaden is a key western ally and recipient of large amounts of western aid. Furthermore the crisis in Ogaden is linked to a military intervention by the Woyanne regime of Ethiopia in Somalia that has been justified in terms of counter terrorism and is firmly supported by the United States and other western donors.
Ethiopia’s Woyanne regime has often justified military action in Somalia on grounds of cooperation between what it calls “terrorist” groups in Somalia and the rebellion in Ogaden. The ONLF certainly has strong ethnic and political links to Somali insurgents now fighting against the Woyanne military presence in Somalia. It may have decided to escalate its rebellion in Ogaden in response to Woyanne’s full-scale military intervention in Somalia in December last year.
Now there are reliable reports that, as a result of Woyanne military pressure inside Somalia, Somali insurgents including members the militant Islamist al-Shabaab have sought refuge in Ogaden where they could be regrouping. Thus instead of containing and calming the situation in Somalia, the actions of Woyanne’s forces there may well be exacerbating the conflict and regionalising it.
The emerging crisis in the Ogaden is indicative of an increasingly volatile political and military situation in the Horn of Africa. Predictably civilians are bearing the brunt of the crisis both in the Ogaden and in Somalia where hundreds of thousands have been displaced by fighting since the Woyanne intervention. Predictably human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war are being perpetrated by all sides. It could all get a lot worse, especially if it leads to a resumption of the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
So why isn’t the international community doing more to address this crisis. Hasn’t the UN being saying for years that crisis prevention is better than cure?
The EU and the United States have significant leverage over Woyanne in the form of foreign aid and political influence. They should use it instead of turning a blind eye to abuses carried out by the Ethiopian security forces in the name of counter terrorism.
Western support for Woyanne’s counter insurgency efforts in the Horn of Africa is not only morally wrong and riddled with double standards, it is also ineffective and counterproductive. It will lead to the escalation and regionalisation of the conflicts of the region and may well help to radicalise its large and young Muslim population.
In June, the Ethiopian [Woyanne] government launched a major military campaign in the Ogaden, a sparsely populated and remote region on Ethiopia’s border with Somalia. The counter insurgency operation was aimed at eliminating the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a rebel group which has been fighting for years for self-determination for the Ogaden’s predominantly Somali population.
In less than two months, the Woyanne military campaign has triggered a serious humanitarian crisis. Human Rights Watch has learned that dozens of civilians have been killed in what appears to be a deliberate effort to mete out collective punishment against a civilian population suspected of sympathising with the rebels.
Villages have been attacked, sacked and burnt. Livestock – the lynchpin of the region’s pastoralist economy – have been confiscated or destroyed. A partial trade blockade has been imposed on the region leading to serious food shortages. Relatives of suspected rebels have been taken hostage. Thousands of civilians have been displaced, fleeing across the borders of Ethiopia into northern Kenya and Somaliland.
Last week, with little objection from the international community, the Woyanne government expelled from the Ogaden the International Committee of the Red Cross, one of the few neutral observers of the crisis left in the region.
This is not Darfur. But the situation in Ogaden follows a familiar pattern of a counter insurgency operation in which government forces show little regard for the safety of the civilian population and commit serious abuses, including deliberate attacks on civilians, mass displacement of populations and interference with humanitarian assistance.
Unlike in Darfur, however, the state that is perpetrating abuses against its people in Ogaden is a key western ally and recipient of large amounts of western aid. Furthermore the crisis in Ogaden is linked to a military intervention by the Woyanne regime of Ethiopia in Somalia that has been justified in terms of counter terrorism and is firmly supported by the United States and other western donors.
Ethiopia’s Woyanne regime has often justified military action in Somalia on grounds of cooperation between what it calls “terrorist” groups in Somalia and the rebellion in Ogaden. The ONLF certainly has strong ethnic and political links to Somali insurgents now fighting against the Woyanne military presence in Somalia. It may have decided to escalate its rebellion in Ogaden in response to Woyanne’s full-scale military intervention in Somalia in December last year.
Now there are reliable reports that, as a result of Woyanne military pressure inside Somalia, Somali insurgents including members the militant Islamist al-Shabaab have sought refuge in Ogaden where they could be regrouping. Thus instead of containing and calming the situation in Somalia, the actions of Woyanne’s forces there may well be exacerbating the conflict and regionalising it.
The emerging crisis in the Ogaden is indicative of an increasingly volatile political and military situation in the Horn of Africa. Predictably civilians are bearing the brunt of the crisis both in the Ogaden and in Somalia where hundreds of thousands have been displaced by fighting since the Woyanne intervention. Predictably human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war are being perpetrated by all sides. It could all get a lot worse, especially if it leads to a resumption of the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
So why isn’t the international community doing more to address this crisis. Hasn’t the UN being saying for years that crisis prevention is better than cure?
The EU and the United States have significant leverage over Woyanne in the form of foreign aid and political influence. They should use it instead of turning a blind eye to abuses carried out by the Ethiopian security forces in the name of counter terrorism.
Western support for Woyanne’s counter insurgency efforts in the Horn of Africa is not only morally wrong and riddled with double standards, it is also ineffective and counterproductive. It will lead to the escalation and regionalisation of the conflicts of the region and may well help to radicalise its large and young Muslim population.
New York (AP): Haile Gebrselassie won the New York City Half Marathon in 59 minutes, 24 seconds on Sunday, cruising away two-thirds through the race to win his eighth half marathon in eight attempts.
Gebrselassie, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Ethiopia, pulled away from Abdi Abdirahman of the United States shortly after they emerged from Central Park along with two-time Boston Marathon champion Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya.
Hilda Kibet of Kenya won the women’s race in 1:10:32, outkicking defending champion Catherine Ndereba by 1.15 seconds. Nina Rillstone of New Zealand, a surprise leader until the last 500 meters when the two Kenyans passed her, was 3.75 back in third.
Near the 13-kilometer mark, the Somalia-born Abdirahman surged ahead to leave Cheruiyot behind, and then Gebrselassie left Abdirahman behind for the final eight kilometers of the race.
Gebrselassie appeared comfortable as he ran alone down the West Side highway. One fan near the finish at Battery Park on New York Harbor waved an Ethiopian flag in honor of Gebrselassie.
The temperature in Central Park was 70 degrees (21 Celsius) after a week of oppressive heat and humidity in New York.
Gebrselassie, who has won three marathons in the past two years, won gold in the 10,000 meters in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. His time was the second-fastest half marathon run in the United States, second only to his own 58:55 in Tempe, Arizona, last year.
Sport
(SomaliNet) An Ethiopian [Woyanne] convoy escorting the body of the slain Yaqshid district commissioner has escaped a roadside bomb in north of the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Saturday.
Soon after the blast the Woyanne troops opened fire killing one civilian and wounding two others who were walking along the road.
The explosion happened on the road near the mother and child SOS hospital where the soldiers continued their journey carrying the dead body of Yaqshid DC who was killed last night by unknown local militants.
Meanwhile, in other incident, the Woyanne forces killed one person and wounding others in response to grenade attack on their vehicle as they were passing Suuq Bacaad market in the city.
The dead person and the wounded were reported to be civilians.
There is a disturbing new development in the premises of the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) in Addis Ababa, this week. The time is a summer break for teachers in Ethiopia. Using this opportunity, the Addis Ababa branch of the ETA decided to hold a meeting to discuss how to carry of their professional duties in the forthcoming academic year, in the absence of the ETA-Addis Ababa chairman, Ato Kassahun Kebede, the victim of the Woyanne’s miscarriage of justice.
As soon as the delegates started arriving, the Woyanne Federal Police Force and undercover agents started detaining and searching them. In the process, the security men found in the bag of Ato Tesfaye Yirga, the Secretary General of the Addis Ababa branch of ETA, the Educational Internationale’s campaign cards, addressed to the leaders of respective countries to release imprisoned teachers in Ethiopia, Guatemala and Botswana. The Woyanne agents started freaking out as if they found secret weapon. They took away Ato Tesfaye Yirga to an unknown destination.
After arresting Tesfaye, the Federal Police prevented the delegates from holding any meeting any where. The delegates stayed in the cafeteria and waited to face all the harassments. In the meantime, the Woyanne agents went into the office and started harassing Ato Abate Angore, Woizero Elfinesh Demissie, Woizero Berhanework Zewdie and Ato Wassihun Melesse (all ETA Executive Board members), saying why they wouldn’t leave the country like their colleagues instead of staying in the country and disturbing the peace.
The ETA leaders were puzzled by such irresponsible comment from the Woyanne agents and simply ignored them. The premises of the ETA is surrounded by Woyanne agents as this report is written.
Ato Kassahun Kebede, chairman of the ETA’s Addis Ababa branch, had been released in April 2007 after being jailed for almost two and half years. Recently, the prosecutors appealed against his release and obtained a warrant to rearrest him. The Woyanne agents then went to his home and the ETA head office but he has eluded them. Kassahun has now disappeared and no one knows his whereabouts.
Gebrselassie, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Ethiopia, pulled away from Abdi Abdirahman of the United States shortly after they emerged from Central Park along with two-time Boston Marathon champion Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya.