Press Release
The expulsion of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) giving them only a weeks notice to leave Ogaden coupled with the ban on international journalists is designed to prevent any international organization or foreign correspondent from witnessing the war crimes taking place against the civilian population of Ogaden at the hands of the Meles regime in Ethiopia. The Meles regime has clearly recognized the failure of its military strategy in Ogaden and has set its sights on our civilian population.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) strongly condemns the expulsion of the ICRC and the ban on international journalists from entering Ogaden. We call on the world community to recognize that war crimes are taking place in Ogaden against our people requiring immediate international intervention. The Meles regime’s war crimes have targeted civilians in Ogaden and have done little to impact our armed forces which are largely intact, operational and and continue to be effective.
The ONLF wishes to reaffirm that humanitarian assistance continues to face direct interference from the Meles regime and that there continues to be a virtual blockade against aid and commercial goods in Ogaden. Humanitarian organizations like the WFP are unable to be fully effective because of restrictions imposed by this regime. This blockade coupled with the information blockade now in effect and strengthened by the expulsion of the ICRC should serve as a warning sign to the international community that the Ethiopian regime has no intention of ending its war crimes in Ogaden and will make every effort to conceal these atrocities from the world community.
The United Nations must not sit by idly and allow yet another preventable human tragedy to take place in Africa.
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Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)