The following is a commentary by Woyanne ambassador Samuel Assefa that appeared today on Washington Times. Hodader Samuel accuses the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) of being a terrorist group. The fact, as reported by several credible human rights groups and media, is that Woyanne is committing unspeakable atrocities in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, including mass murder, rape, displacement of civilians, burning of villages, etc. In the Google Search, TPLF (Woyanne) is ranked first as a terrorist organization (search TPLF in Google). Here the opportunist ambassador (hodader) is just doing his job on behalf of the Woyanne tribal junta — tell lies.
Terrorism double standard?
By Samuel Assefa
Washington Times
Imagine for a moment that a military group — aligned with al Qaeda and supported by a bordering hostile nation — slaughtered 74 workers at a business in America or Europe.
How long would it take for this group to be declared a terrorist organization by Western governments and widely condemned in the media?
On April 24, 2007, my country, Ethiopia, suffered just such an attack. Yet Western governments have not labeled the perpetrators as terrorist and the media has been largely unsympathetic. Is there a double standard in what constitutes terrorism depending upon whether the victims are Western? Certainly there is no double standard under U.S. law. The Foreign Relations Authorization Act says “terrorism” is “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.”
In Ethiopia a group calling itself the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has committed numerous acts of violence against civilians, Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians alike. The ONLF’s goal is to forcibly separate Somali-speaking Ethiopians from the rest of Ethiopia.
In April, the ONLF attacked a Chinese oil exploration facility in this region and proudly claimed credit. In this single attack the ONLF murdered 74 innocent Chinese and Ethiopian civilians, including a 3-year-old child, many as they slept.
The talents of the ONLF extend beyond slaughtering innocents. The group is remarkably adept at public relations and has romanced some Western journalists with the notion its members are modern-day Che Guevaras. The New York Times recently called them “Rebels with a Cause,” and its correspondent praised their boldness.
Yet they are, plain and simple, terrorists. The ONLF has killed local elders opposed to its policies, attacked people in markets and religious institutions, killed mourners at funerals of ONLF victims, bombed a stadium, planted bombs near a railroad, assassinated local businessmen and government officials and kidnapped foreign workers and staff of humanitarian organizations. Just recently, the ONLF threatened violence against any oil company that seeks to work in the Somali Regional State.
The ONLF has also allied itself with al Qaeda-aligned terrorist groups operating in Somalia. These groups have a common state sponsor in Eritrea. A recent United Nations report concluded that Eritrea has armed terrorists in Somalia with weapons including suicide belts and anti-aircraft missiles.
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Click here for some information on the crimes of Meles Zenawi’s regime that Samuel Assefa is defending.