Press Release – Ethiopia’s ONLF denounces repression in Ogaden
Ogaden National Liberation Front (O.N.L.F)
against Somalis in Ogaden
Oct 31, 2005 — Ethiopian government troops have stepped up military operations and acts of violence and harassment
directed at Somali civilians in Ogaden in recent
months. EPRDF/TPLF political operatives have been
positioned in key towns in Ogaden to direct a campaign
targeting suspected Ogaden National Liberation Front
(ONLF) ‘sympathizers’ and members of civil society
groups opposed to the regime.
In total over 30 Somali civilians have been killed by
Ethiopian troops and security personnel in Ogaden
since the so-called regional ?elections’ on August 21
with over a hundred Somalis having gone missing during
the same time period. A large number of innocent
civilians continue to languish in jails in Jigjiga and
Godey, the capital of Ogaden, simply because of their
political views.
The EPRDF/TPLF regime has also stepped up military
operations in Ogaden demonstrating a clear lack of
desire to finding a comprehensive political settlement
to the longstanding dispute between the Somali people
of Ogaden and successive Ethiopian governments.
While the ONLF has been clear on its willingness to
reach a comprehensive political settlement to the
Ogaden dispute through peaceful dialogue in a neutral
country and in the presence of an independent third
party, there should be no doubt by the EPRDF/TPLF
regime that the ONLF will take all necessary steps to
defend our people from this renewed violent assault on
their human and political rights.
The ONLF calls upon Human Rights organizations and
members of the International Community to investigate
this renewed violence in Ogaden designed to intimidate
ethnic Somalis and broaden armed conflict in the
region.