Ethiopia’s ONLF denounces forced deportation of Ogaden’s village popuation
Ogaden National Liberation Front
Nov 24, 2005 — On the 21st of November 2005 at about 6:00 am local time, Ethiopian
occupation troops surrounded the hamlet of Fool Jeex, a village of about
1000 people in the Ogaden, which is about 44 kilometres South West of
Qabri-daharre on the Road to Jehdin Gas and Oil fields. The people were
told that Ethiopia is being attacked from Eritrea and that they must
defend the country by bringing their allocation of recruits and material
support. The commander of the army informed them that they had to bring
100 young recruits both male and female, 20 camels and five hundred goats
and sheep. The elders replied by pointing out that 50 of their youth were
conscripted before and were never seen again. After this exchange the
so-called commander revealed the true nature of his mission and told the
villagers that their village has recently been designated as a menace to
Ethiopia’s Oil venture as it straddles the route to Oil and Gas
exploration area near Shilabo town and as it could hide ONLF Liberation
army and thus endangers the activities of PETRONAA and Partners in the
area.
The village inhabitants were told in order to reduce ONLF threat to the
oil field exploration project, the village will be destroyed. The
inhabitants were asked to leave the village and were not given even a
chance to collect some of their meagre belongs as the troops started
torching every thing above the ground except the mosque. In total 47
houses, all trading stalls and their contents and the private granaries
containing more than 6000 sacks (60000kg) of maize harvested by the people
using bare hands and their primitive hoes were torched. Even the water
reservoirs were destroyed. In one stroke hundreds of vulnerable civilians
including women, children and the elderly were rendered destitute and
homeless. Is it not an irony that a country, such as Ethiopia, which has
been on the Western television screens lately begging for more food aid
did implement a policy that destroyed a year’s worth of harvest for the
poor Ogaden citizenry? It is a fact which ONLF would like to emphasize to
the outside world that while the militia-led Ethiopian troops are busy
killing and rendering inoperative the efforts of the civilian population
to survive, the Ethiopian government is hard at work begging the
international community for more food aid due to food scarcity. The
reported inhuman act which took place in Fool Jeex was preceded last week
by the massacre in Qabri-daharre on the 15th of November where 30 young
people between the age between 18 and 30 were killed and 18 others were
wounded, including a women named Sahro Abdi Haybe, who was amputated later
in |Jigjiga after lying in the field without any medical attention for a
whole night and loosing a considerable percent of her blood. (See
attached report)
The Ethiopian regime appears to have been emboldened by the inactivity of
the world community. It seems that the current regime interpreted this
lack of pressure from the world community as a carte blanche to double its
criminal acts against the civilian population all over Ethiopia after it
massacred in broad daylight the people of Addis Ababa who were
demonstrating against the recently concluded fraud-ridden election
results. Previously these acts of cruelty and mass murder were reserved
for remote areas such as the Ogaden where on average dozens of people were
killed every week. Should these criminal acts in these remote areas
attract world attention? It used to be explained away as isolated acts
committed by undisciplined soldiers. However lately, it is becoming
apparent that there are no sacrosanct areas whether rural such as Fool
Jeex or urban such as Addis Ababa
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) appeals to the international
community to come to the aid of the innocent civilians of Fool-Jeex and
send a fact finding mission to gather the facts about this genocide of
innocent civilians. Furthermore ONLF warns the international community
about the impending dangers resulting from the paranoia of the current
regime in Ethiopia. History has shown that tyrants are apt to resort to
tyranny when threatened. Punishing culprits after the demise of millions
is a familiar experience that humanity never learns from. Another Rwanda
is looming in Ethiopia and it seems as usual the international community
is complacent about it.
Justice shall prevail
– Foreign Relation Bureau ONLF
– Email: [email protected]
Official Report: Qabri-daharre Massacre
During April 2005 the Ethiopian occupation army rounded and imprisoned 39
people near the town of Shilabo. The young people who were imprisoned
included 18 wounded ONLF liberation Army fighters and the rest were
civilians. The ICRC was aware of their imprisonment and visited the
inmates on several occasions. The prisoners were constantly ill treated
and their relatives were forced to feed them.
On the 14th of November, the prisoners complained to the office in charge
about their ill treatment and told him that they will complain to ICRC
when they come to visit them. The officer concerned informed them that
they will be taken to a training camp in northern Tigray and if they
become good soldiers, they will be pardoned for their treason or else they
will all be shot.
On the 15th of November, at about 3:00 pm local time, the prisoners were
told to collect their belongings and were assembled in front of the prison
where there were vehicles waiting to transport them to an unknown
destination. After listening to what the prison warden told them, the
prisoners panicked and run towards the town. The prison wardens opened
fire on the escaping prisoners and five of them were killed instantly. As
Qabri daharre is a garrison town, surrounded by military camps on all
sides, units from different parts of the town heard the gun shots and each
started spewing gun fire from their side to the civilian population.
Ten of the prisoners entered a house owned by a man named Abdi Khalif Ali
weyd; the pursuing army sprayed the house with bullets killing all the
occupants. The house caught fire and the charred bodies of the dead people
were later among the buried. Two more prisoners were rounded up and shot
near the town centre. The town’s people reported that five of the
remaining casualties were killed with machetes and the butt of the guns.
Finally the remaining prisoners were rounded and smashed with butt of guns
bayonets and bulky sticks and most were rendered unconscious and later
returned to their cells. No one knows their fate. The next day a woman
named Sahro Abdi Haybe was found near the burned house. She was badly
wounded and had to be transported to Jigjiga 400km away and her leg
amputated.
The next day the Ethiopians collected the dead bodies and ordered the
towns folk to dig two mass graves. After they finished, they were told to
leave the area, but some resisted and requested to bury their dead. A
young man named Abdi Weli was shot dead on the spot and another wounded.
With these facts on hand, it is hard to believe that the current despotic
regime in Addis Ababa justified its criminal acts against innocent
civilians and prisoners of war as something that does happen anywhere.
Where in the civilized world except in despotic and militia led Ethiopia
does this happen we wonder? We, ONLF, remind this doomed and deranged
regime that these criminal acts are not acceptable in a democratic and
civilised society and can not be dispended with such an arrogant and
irresponsible statements spouted by the Ethiopian information ministry.
Such utterances are the product of a mind accustomed to take the lives of
innocent people with any compunction and then relish the experiences of
watching others swallow its mendacious genuflections.
ONLF asks the international community and the UN human rights commission
to bring to justice the criminals responsible for this heinous act. ONLF
will pursue all international legal instruments available to the people of
the Ogaden to bring the culprits to justice. This is not the first time
this regime violated the lives, dignity and property of the Ogaden people
and it is time they are made accountable and brought to justice for their
heinous crimes.
The list of the people killed in Qabri daharre:
1. Abdullahi Ahmed Aqib
2. Abdullahi Gaani Ali
3. Abdulasis Muhumed
4. Abdullahi Ahmed mahamed
5. Shamsudiin Bashir
6. Yusuf Mohamed Aden
7. Asad Mohamed Abdullahi
8. Bashir Mohamed Hassan
9. mohamud Mohamed
10. Abdirahman Hareed Alaaki
11. Geesh Olad
12. Anwar Sheikh
13. Carab Garwah
14. Amin Mohamed Abdullahi Dheere
15. Si’ad Irgah
16. Bashir Hassan
17. Raage Moalim
18. Abdi Weli
19. And four unidentified persons (still under investigation)
20. Eight wounded people who died in custody and buried in unmarked graves
in the vicinity of the army camps( identities will be provided later)
The List of the wounded:
– 1. Sahro Abdi Haybe
– 2. Ahmed Bare Hassan
– 3. Ahmed Mohamed Dahir
– 4. Farah Abdi
– 5. Mohamed Ahmed Hussein
– 6. Abdullahi Ahmed Hussein
– 7. Irshaq Aqil
– 8. Farah Mohamed Bare
– 9. Abdi Ahmed Yusuf
– 10. Mohamed Mahdi Rage
– 11. Mohamed Ali Rage
– 12. Ali Dahir Gure
– 13. Hashi Abdi Gurey
– 14. Hussein Mahdi Dhuh
– 15. Faysal Hussein
– 16. Farah
The investigation is still ongoing and other facts may emerge that may change some of the contents of this report.
– Foreign Relations Bureau
– The Ogaden National Liberation Front
23/11/05