Oganden rebels say will release Chinese hostages – statement

April 26, 2007 — For nearly one hundred years our people have been subjected to persecution
including, killings, torture, arbitrary arrest and other forms of abuse by
successive governments in Ethiopia. The current regime in power in Ethiopia led
by the Prime Minister Melez Zenawi and his TPLF clique have continued this policy
without hesitation. As a result, the Ogaden today is one of the most
underdeveloped and repressed areas in the world.

Despite our public declarations that the ONLF stands ready for dialogue with the
Ethiopian government in a neutral country and in the presence of a third party
arbiter, the current regime has refused. It is because this regime has chosen to
pursue a futile military solution in Ogaden that our people have been forced to
defend themselves.

In the midst of this struggle, the TPLF regime, hungry for resources, has engaged
in efforts to entice foreign oil companies to come and operate in Ogaden. They
did this giving assurances of security which were false. In short, they misled
many oil companies into believing that they were in effective control of Ogaden.
The fact is and has been that they are not.

China is a great world power and with power comes responsibility. The China has
recognized the struggles of peoples throughout the world but in the case of
Ogaden, it appears that this did not happen. Despite our clear statements that
the Ogaden is a battle zone where the torture, killing and arbitrary arrest of
our citizens has become commonplace, A Chinese oil company chose to begin oil
exploration activities in Ogaden.

We urge the government of China to recognize the plight of our people and cease
all cooperation with the Ethiopian government in the area of oil exploration
until such time that there is a legitimate form of self-government in Ogaden. The
regime of Melez Zenawi is not a popular regime. It has executed civilians in the
streets of the capital following rigged elections, it has detained political
prisoners in Ogaden, Oromia, Sidama and in many other areas including leaders of
one of the member organizations of the Alliance for Freedom & Democracy (AFD) of
which we are a member along with the Oromo Liberaton Front (OLF), Coalition for
Unity & Democracy (CUD), Sidama Liberation Front (SLF)and the Ethiopian Peoples
Patriotic Front (EPPF). It has silenced much of the free press and has persecuted
human rights activities. In short, the current regime in power in Ethiopia should
be shunned not partnered with by the government of China.

The people of Ogaden will not benefit from oil exploration. Instead, the revenues
will be used to enrich the elite members of the TPLF who will in turn use it to
continue to persecute our people and many others. The ONLF would like to assure
the people of China that your citizens are safe, healthy and well treated. Our
primary concern is their security and it was necessary to remove them from the
battlefield for their own safety. Chinese citizens were not the target of our
attack and their deaths resulted from munitions exploding during the battle. The
Ethiopian troops we engaged with took no steps to protect them during the battle
and instead some troops treated them as human shields. The death of Chinese
citizens in the battle was an unfortunate and unintentional result of war.

The ONLF would like to assure the people and the government of China that your
citizens will be reunited with their families as soon and as safely as possible.
We have no conditions on this pledge. We are not in the business of taking
hostages as the TPLF regime would have you believe and as we indicated, your
citizens were removed from the battlefield for their own safety. The ONLF is
currently engaged in discussions with the ICRC to facilitate their safe passage
back to their families. However, the Ethiopian government is currently engaged in
military operations which endanger your citizens. They would like nothing more
than for your citizens to lose their lives in our custody and before they are
transferred to the ICRC.

The struggle of our people will continue after your citizens are reunited with
their families. Many of our citizens will continue to be separated from their
families and held in dark prison cells. We hope that the government of China will
consider the plight of our people as it engages with the TPLF regime in Ethiopia
and show the world that it is a great power which will not invest in areas where
there is clear, deliberate and systematic repression of civilians.