On Friday, it will be is exactly a year since Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, fell to Ethiopian Woyanne troops and the occupation has been one of the most brutal on record. The resistance started at once, and Ethiopian counter-insurgency tactics are not gentle.
As early as last April, Germany’s ambassador to Somalia, Walter Lindner, wrote a public letter condemning the indiscriminate use of air strikes and heavy artillery in densely populated parts of Mogadishu, the systematic rape of women and even the bombing of hospitals. By now, the Ethiopian Woyanne army’s attempts to terrorize the residents of Mogadishu into submission have driven 600,000 of them – 60 percent of the population – to flee the city.
The Ethiopians Woyannes and their local allies indignantly deny these figures, but they come from the United Nations aid coordinator for Somalia, Eric Laroche, and the makeshift camps along the roads leading away from Mogadishu are there for all to see. It is, says Laroche, the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa, worse even than Darfur. But “since it is in Somalia, no one cares.”
You will notice that some of the phrases used above do not appear in the agency reports about Somalia. The wire services do not talk about an Ethiopiann a Woyanne occupation of Somalia, and they refer to the local Somali collaborators as the “transitional federal government,” or TGF. This is mainly in deference to the United States, which organized and backed the Ethiopian Woyanne invasion of Somalia.
The curse of Somalia is the clan system. It is the main point of reference for most Somalis, and it really became a crippling burden when long-ruling dictator Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. In the pre-independence days and the early years afterwards, the clans were able to unite against their Italian and British colonial rulers, but in 1991 they had to create a new government without an external enemy. They couldn’t do it.
As the clans fought it out in the streets, the whole infrastructure of an organized state collapsed. By 1992 American and United Nations forces arrived to help the millions of famine-stricken refugees, but they were only drawn into the inter-clan fighting as well, and by 1994 they had all withdrawn, leaving Somalia to anarchy and civil war for the next decade. But in fact most of the country was fairly stable under the control of one clan or another, with only the Mogadishu area still a battleground between rival clan warlords.
This did not greatly inconvenience the United States, which developed a keen interest in the politics of the region after the atrocities of 9/11. At first the U.S. just made deals with the various warlords to ensure that no jihadi fanatics created a base there. But it got more upset when an organization called the Union of Islamic Courts chased all the warlords out of Mogadishu in 2006 and gave the capital its first taste of peace and good government since 1991.
The UIC was actually created by prominent merchants from the locally dominant Hawiye clan who wanted a safe environment in which to do business. The “Islamic” aspect of it was mainly there to provide a rallying point that other clans could identify with, though that obviously also attracted a certain number of earnest and bearded young men. Some of them, unfortunately, favored a rhetorical style that triggers a knee-jerk reaction in jittery post-9/11 Americans.
The people of Mogadishu, enjoying their first taste of normality in 15 years, overwhelmingly supported the UIC, but the United States decided it must be overthrown. To do the job, Washington turned to its close ally Ethiopia Woyanne. The Ethiopians Woyannes, who have no interest in a stable and strong Somalia, were happy to oblige – and for diplomatic cover, the U.S. could use the “transitional federal government” of Somalia.
The TFG had been created in Kenya in 2004 under UN auspices. Each of the major clans (Hawiye, Darod, Dir and Rahanweyn) appointed 61 members to a “parliament” while all the minor clans shared 31 members between them. The “parliament” then chose a president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. It was the 14th attempt since the overthrow of Siad Barre to create a Somali government.
The TFG set up in the town of Baidoa in early 2006, and promptly went to war with the Union of Islamic Courts that controlled the capital. Since it had only about 5,000 soldiers of its own, the TFG depended from the start on far larger numbers of Ethiopian Woyanne troops to do the actual fighting. Large numbers of government members resigned as it became clear that the TFG had fallen into the hands of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Ethiopians, but a force of about 20,000 Ethiopian Woyanne troops (with some U.S. air support) fought its way into Mogadishu a year ago.
With the occupation of Mogadishu, the interval of peace ended, and the past year’s fighting has driven more than half the city’s population into flight. The TFG has been permanently discredited by its link to the hated Ethiopians Woyannes, but it will probably take more years of war to end the occupation, and a lot more Somalis will die. All because they called it the Union of Islamic Courts.
If only they had called it the Union of Buddhist Courts. Or Protestant Courts. Anything but the “I” word.
— GWYNNE DYER is a London-based independent journalist.
One of the arguments used in favour of “humanitarian interventions” is that conflicts, by uprooting large numbers of people, have a destabilising effect that extends beyond the borders of the state in which they take place. It is, therefore, in the self-interest of the countries of the rich world to intervene to help bring such conflicts to an end. The number of refugees peaked during the mid-1990s, which coincided with humanitarian crises such as Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and has largely been declining since that date.
Last year bucked that trend and it is not difficult to think of the reason. According to the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNCHR), the number of refugees rose by 14% to almost 10 million in 2006 and this was “mainly due to the crisis in Iraq”. Around 1.2 million Iraqis sought refuge in neighbouring Jordan and Syria while a further 300,000 Iraqis fled to other countries abroad, which was a more than fivefold increase over the year. Although there has been some small-scale return in recent months, the basic trend remains upward.
The other main groups of refugees, under UNHCR’s mandate, are Afghans, Sudanese and Somalis. The number of Afghans returning home has been falling year by year since its peak in 2002, just after the ousting of the Taliban. The end of the conflict in southern Sudan has seen a significant return there, but this has been balanced by many leaving the country due to the crisis in Darfur (do please support the appeal for helicopters for the peacekeeping mission).
The humanitarian crisis of the year, though, is Somalia. The country was illegally invaded by Ethiopian Woyanne troops, backed by the US military, last December and has been descending ever deeper into catastrophe since. Over a million people have been displaced from their homes and 60% of Mogadishu’s population have fled from renewed fighting. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) describes the current situation there as “desperate” and fears are rising about another famine.
Eight journalists have been killed in Somalia this year. The transitional Somali government has repeatedly shut down media outlets. It has also harassed and obstructed humanitarian organisations trying to assist the displaced population, including detaining the head of the UN’s world food programme (WFP) for five days in October, causing the suspension of food distributions to at least 75,000 people. Ethiopian Woyanne troops have carried out mass summary executions and rapes of civilians in retaliation for recent attacks by rebel groups in the predominately Somali Ogaden region and burned down villages as part of a “scorched earth” campaign. Although UN officials have described the situation in Somalia as the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa, the security council has failed to sanction Ethiopia for its actions.
________________________ Conor Foley is a humanitarian aid worker. He has worked for a variety of human rights and humanitarian aid organizations, including Liberty, Amnesty International and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. He currently lives and works in Brazil, and is a research fellow at the Human Rights Law Centre at the University of Nottingham.
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation & Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)
MEDIA ADVISORY
Ethiopian activists Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie may face brief additional time behind bars, as the court today sentenced them to two years and six months in prison on charges of incitement, despite demands by the prosecution that they receive the maximum sentence of 10 years.
“While we welcome the fact that Daniel and Netsanet may soon be reunited with their friends, families and colleagues in civil society, we are perplexed and dismayed by the additional sentence. Everyday they have spent and possibly will spend in prison is a deep injustice. They are true heroes of Ethiopia, true heroes of Africa and for everyone around the world who supports democracy, justice and the fight against poverty ,” said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and Co-Chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) who was present at the sentencing this morning.
Daniel and Netsanet, coordinators of GCAP in Ethiopia, were today sentenced to two years and six months in prison by the Federal High Court in Addis Ababa for provocation and preparing incitement in the aftermath of the May 2005 elections. On Monday, they were acquitted of conspiracy to overthrow the constitutional order, but were found guilty on the lesser charge. CIVICUS and GCAP anticipate that they will soon be released, given the two years and two months they have already spent behind bars, as well as their good behaviour and their willingness to cooperate with the court.
Before sentencing them this morning, the judges read a statement recognising their contributions to peace, democracy and the rule of law in Ethiopia. The presiding judge dissented from the verdict and has consistently maintained they are innocent of the charges, finding their actions to be fully within the constitution.
“The judges’ statement today read more like a citation for the Nobel Peace Prize than justification for even a single day they have spent in prison ,” said Kumi Naidoo.
Since Daniel and Netsanet’s arrest in November 2005, civil society organisations in Ethiopia have come under increasing scrutiny, and many have been forced into silence on controversial issues for fear of meeting the same fate as Daniel and Netsanet.
Speaking from Ethiopian Federal court, Kumi Naidoo said, ” This case has significance beyond the travesty of justice against Daniel and Netsanet. Their continued detention has had a chilling effect on civil society in Ethiopia. It is extremely important that the judges stated none of their actions were against the constitution and were in fact legitimate civil society activities. We hope that this vindication will enable civil society to fully exercise its role, including advocacy for human rights, democracy, peace and the eradication of poverty.”
Aside from their work with GCAP, Daniel is also head of the policy department at ActionAid International Ethiopia. Netsanet is also the founder of local human rights group Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia.
At the start of the trial in May 2006, 131 opposition politicians, journalists, civil society leaders and organisations stood accused of a range of charges from genocide to treason. They were among thousands who were detained following protests accusing the government of rigging the 15 May 2005 parliamentary elections. Many of the accused were acquitted during the course of the trial. Others were convicted but pardoned in July and August 2007 – all of whom signed a confession, admitting use of “unconstitutional means to change the constitutionally established government functions” following the 2005 elections.
Although they were asked to sign a similar statement, Daniel and Netsanet declined. They argued that their activities in 2005 were entirely legal and did not serve to undermine, but rather to protect and promote Ethiopia’s constitutional order.
Recognised as Amnesty International prisoners of conscience, Daniel and Netsanet were consistently denied bail, even after seven attempts, including an appeal to the Supreme Court.
ENDS
For more information or interviews, please contact:
Ciara O’Sullivan, GCAP – in the UK: +44 776 724 6880, [email protected]
Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS – in Ethiopia: +251 911 926 295
Julie Middleton, CIVICUS – in South Africa: +27 403 6040 [email protected]
For more information on CIVICUS: www.civicus.org
For more information on GCAP: www.whiteband.org
NAIROBI (AFP) — Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki on Tuesday mourned the country’s famous independence fighter Mohammed Omar Abdalla, who died earlier in the day, aged 79.
Abdalla was one of the prominent fighters who launched Eritrea’s struggle for independence from Ethiopia in 1961. The guerrilla warfare campaign resulted in independence in 1993, when Issaias came to power.
“(He) was one of the patriots among the founding fathers of the armed struggle for independence in the wake of the big powers’ conspiracy against the right of the Eritrean peoples to self-determination,” Issaias said.
Afeworki described Abdalla as “a symbol of the legacy of the Eritrean people’s steadfastness and victory,” said a statement posted on the information ministry’s website, shabait.com.
The 1991 defeat by Eritrean rebel fighters of a far larger Ethiopian army — who were backed first by the United States and then the Soviet Union — came at a heavy price.
Asmara has allocated one-third of the its annual national budget in support of families of “fallen heroes and needy nationals.”
Apart from the independence heroes, Asmara regards men and women who died during the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia is another category of national heroes.
The president has vowed to improve the lives of people in Eritrea, the impoverished small nation on the western banks of the Red Sea, which is home to at least 4.2 million people.
An office staff member of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit), Ato Girma Amare, was picked up by Woyanne gunmen from the party’s temporary office located at the Kirkos district of Addis Ababa today. Ato Girma was released in the afternoon after being interrogated by the Woyanne security personnel. The Woyanne gunmen also searched the office without search warrant. Read more by zikkir News Service.
