Två tredjedelar av Somalias regeringsministrar avgår med omedelbar verkan. Efter dispyter med premiärministern i Somalia

Vi kan inte vara kvar och dela ansvaret för det som premiärministern har gjort”, skriver de avhoppade i ett skriftligt uttalande.

Nationens tillgångar missbrukas fullständigt samtidigt som regeringen misslyckats med att garantera säkerhet".

Politiska experter är eniga om att interimregering håller på att kollapsa. Hittils så har premiärministern inte uttalat sig om anklagelserna eller de avgående ministrarna ur hans regering.

Prosom

Since 2001, more than 100 journalists have left Ethiopia. Now, amid discussion that a new media law will be another impedance to achieve press freedom, there is no sign that this trend will change.

RAP 21 interviewed prominent African news website journalist Habtamu Dugo who left Ethiopia several months ago to live in New York City. His story, unfolding alongside the new media law in his home country, is as a testimony to the hostile environment journalists in Ethiopia work in. Though since his arrival in the United States he has again raised his voice on US national radio and television shows in defence of those still in Ethiopia grappling with injustice.

Read African Press Network's interview with journalist Habtamu Dugo at RAP 21.

The flag is on fire!

That Habeshas greatly admire

When woyanes tried to conspire

The “flag day” turned into disaster

Woyanes burned down villages in Oromia and Ogaden

Because Meles Nazi’awi is an Ethiopian Bin Laden

For all the crimes against Humanity

And for depriving us of our Liberty

This is the least that they deserved

By Oromia’s youth justice to be served

Students engaged in flag desecration

As a form of political expression

Induced by century long oppression

And what followed Abyssinian exploitation

International Criminal Court is looking for Al Beshir

For all the genocide he committed in Darfur

Meles Nazi’awi is next on the list

To be knocked out by Justice’s mighty fist

Sooner or later, they will come down crashing and fell

And they will be thrown to burn in Dante’s inferno hell

Meles once said, the flag is just a “piece of sheet”

Now it is burning, he would act like he gives a shit

Even our athletes are waving another flag

Because the old guard’s “piece of sheet” has become a drag.

Burn woyane Burn!

(OLF news 10 July,2008) - Several Wayyane-invented "Ethiopian flags"

For more on this story, visit OLF's site.

“What’s going on in Ethiopia is the government is trying to silence all opposition,” said Robsan Itana, director of the Oromo American Citizens Council, based in St. Paul, which represents immigrants of the Oromo ethnic group, the largest in Ethiopia. “They are killing people.”
Another example that is having repercussions in this state is a bloody clash that occurred in May between the Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups in western Ethiopia, that left more than a hundred people killed.

On the surface, the inter-tribal nature of the Oromo-Gumuz conflict left little trace of Ethiopian government involvement.

Yet Oromo in Ethiopia and in the Minnesota diaspora have charged – as one or another party nearly always does in such cases – that the Ethiopian government instigated the conflict by various means, such as ceding land belonging to one party to another, as a way to foment violence and launch a brutal attack-by-proxy on a targeted ethnic group.

“It’s a nightmare what Oromos are subjected to in Ethiopia,” says Lencho Bati, a professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, and a native Oromo. “It’s exactly what blacks in South Africa suffered under apartheid – lack of access to resources, education, power, cultural enrichment and the right to self-determination.”

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) sade i ett pressmeddelande att regimen i Addis abeba med flit hade nekat Läkare utan gränser inträde i regionen och hotat att arrestera volontärer från Läkare utan gränser om de blir sedda i den regionen. 

Uttalande från ONLF:

Deliberate starvation, denial of medical aid, extrajudicial killings and arrests and the torching of village huts have all now become commonplace in Ogaden," the statement said."

I en report från Juni i Ny-York baserade Human Rights Watch (HRW) så blev den Etiopiska armen anklagad för brott mot mänskliga rättigheter och brott mot folkrätten för tortyr, mord och massvåldtäkter i regionen. Ogaden är ett omstritt område med oljefyndigheter,  befolkningen som  bor där, består av Somalier och kämpar för ett självständigt land.

Prosom

What, and, which territory he brought back I didn't know. Didn't ask! Didn't care! But I asked this morning and explain my friend did, what/why and how, to the last drop! I am not a huge fan of politics. Am worse when it comes to world affairs. My history knowledge, however, is more or less non-existent. I only know names and with what to associate them.

• "The French Revolution" I associate with a spoilt princess, "Best of times, worst of times", Charles Dickens, and Le Guillotine
• "Watergate" I associate with Nixon, 'I'm not a crook" and an ABBA's song made for Waterloo
• Which I associate with Napoleon & Josephine

That's all I needed to appear learned, informed. And with it I either convinced them, or confused them. This day of our Lord, 26th day of the year 2008 though, I asked all the questions. The what, the why, the who and the how. Then I went to Google to read on it. And baptised I was, with love! For "ArBegna AmdeTsion, MeLaLash YeWossen".

It's a sick feeling, coming across accusations you "beDabesa" know can't be blamed on our government 100% (like Somalia and Ogaden), as I came across this morning. What am I missing, I ask myself, that I don't seem to know how to get through to these people that Ethiopia NEED to hold onto her guns if she has to survive as a nation?!. That many were our ill wishers, and powerful are those who take care of them, for us to lie on our bed at nights and dream of "England", so to say?! That we would have to keep our guns by our bedside at all times, have them lie on our knees when we are preparing each "gursha" to throw into our mouth; that we can't afford to, don't have the freedom of mind for, the eating of our enjera, and lapping of our water unawares – like dogs?!

I knew all these - beDabesa!! But couldn't explain it to neither Dr. Ethiopia (over by Abesha Bunna Bet) nor his pacifist friends for I knew not what I was really talking about. A female soldier minus her "Qeleha", the undersigned had become for a moment there, ill-prepared to fight the holy war (our "holy war" this time, the war for survival as a nation & individuals who won't have it no other way) becoming an easy target for both friends and foe.

But history lesson I had on lunch time. The very best! So I'm in love now, in love with Amdetsion and know why this East African country needs to have the biggest military power in all of Africa, inspite of being the poorest, inspite of famine and food aids. Our guns are our means of survival, as has been for thousands of years. And they should continue to be as long as there is breath in an Ethiopian's body, those whose eyes turn red at the sight of one and the river Nile!

Now, I'm not sure how to make this crystal clear to you, how Somalia & Ogaden (and all those ensuing places of our war of survival Al-Jazeera would be telling it the way it hasn't happened against us) are above religion and beyond heaven, without being politically incorrect. Perhaps you should try to meet with my friend and discuss it with him. He knows how to tell it, the way it's been and is happening. And I am in love, en-chanted, in-toxicated by one AmdeTsion, Emperor of Ethiopia. And, yes, Meles, I'm with you on this one!

God speed!

Het ministerie noemt het rapport van HRW, waarin Ethiopië beschuldigd wordt van mensenrechtenschendingen en oorlogsmisdaden in de Ogaden regio, ongegrond. Daarenboven stelt de regering dat HRW er een verborgen agenda op nahoudt. Het ministerie beweert dat de organisatie geen onafhankelijk orgaan in Ethiopië heeft voor de analyse van de mensenrechten en het rapport samenstelde op basis van informatie verkregen van sympathisanten van het Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). Het is volgens de regering duidelijk dat een dergelijke lastercampagne het werk is van antivredeskrachten die Ethiopië liever niet op het juiste spoor van ontwikkeling en democratie zien.

Het ministerie voegt er nog aan toe de rapporten van organisaties die achter antivredeskrachten in het land staan te zullen negeren en de nationale belangen te zullen blijven verzekeren door te vechten tegen het terrorisme.

© EMM, Katrien De Graeve (bron: ENA)

De mensenrechtenorganisatie Human Rights Watch (HRW) heeft de Ethiopische regering van oorlogsmisdaden en zware schendingen van de mensenrechten beschuldigd. Vooral sinds midden vorig jaar werd in de regio Ogaden systematisch gedood, gefolterd en verkracht.

Lees verder: De Morgen

Het rapport van Human Rights Watch "Collective Punishment:War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia’s Somali Region" kunt u downloaden of bestellen via de site van HRW.

Mr Zenawi is particularly sensitive about famine talk. He has denied that pastoralists in the south are losing livestock to the drought or that the rates of malnutrition elsewhere are at all close to what foreign aid workers claim. The government has banned photographs of the starving and has told field workers not to give information to foreign journalists.

Ethiopia understandably yearns to shed its reputation as the world's poster child for famine. Some foreign agencies do seize crudely on images of emaciated infants to secure extra funding. But the government's attitude comes close to denial; it will not help the people of Goro Gutu.

“The only future is resettlement,” blurts out a local official. Even so, if the population of the district were to stand still, some 4,000 people a year would have to be resettled from Goro Gutu to more fertile land; the government has a budget to shift a few hundred. With its population increasing so fast and farming methods still too basic to sustain it even when the rains are good, Ethiopia's chances of making real progress any time soon look slim.

For more on this story, visit The Economist.

Ethiopian troops have forcibly displaced entire rural communities, ordering villagers to leave their homes within a few days or witness their houses being burnt down and their possessions destroyed—and risk death. Over the past year, Human Rights Watch has documented the execution of more than 150 individuals, many of them in demonstration killings, with Ethiopian soldiers singling out relatives of suspected ONLF members, or making apparently arbitrary judgments that individuals complaining to soldiers or resisting their orders are ONLF supporters. These executions have sometimes involved strangulation, after which their bodies are left lying in the open as a warning, for villagers to bury. The information confirmed by Human Rights Watch is only a glimpse of what is taking place—real figures are likely to be higher. 

Mass detentions without any judicial oversight are routine. Hundreds—and possibly thousands—of individuals have been arrested and held in military barracks, sometimes multiple times, where they have been tortured, raped, and assaulted. Confiscation of livestock (the main asset among the largely pastoralist population), restrictions on access to water, food, and other essential commodities, and obstruction of commercial traffic and humanitarian assistance have been used as weapons in an economic war aimed at cutting off ONLF supplies and collectively punishing communities that are suspected of supporting the rebels.

These crimes are being committed with total impunity, on the thinnest of pretexts. They are generating a perception in the area that simply being an ethnic Somali—and particularly a member of the Ogaadeeni clan which constitutes the backbone of the ONLF—is enough to render a person suspect in the eyes of the national government. As one young man told Human Rights Watch, “Anyone with a bowl of water is suspected of supplying the ONLF.”

For the whole report, visit Human Rights Watch.

Human rights Watch has also reported on Human Rights abuse in Oromia, Crackdown on Oromo students, Detention of Oromo Leaders, previously among other publications which are critical of the current fascist Ethiopian government.

Ogaden

A region that is ignored by its government? Absolutely. The will of the government has not been exerted to that particualr region. The desire to bring about peace in that region is not something the government has taken an interest in.

Modern Ogaden is a place where its people are being used as target practice for Ethiopians soldiers. A place where journalists are scarce. Journalists, in the past, have been accused of aiding and abetting the enemy (The Ogaden people).

Ethiopian soldiers are notoriously reckless for human life in this region. It is a sentiment that is shared by the current government and its officials across the board.

Witness after witness has described rape, murder and torture as a regular occurrence in Ogaden. All crimes being attributed to Ethiopian soldiers.

So what is an Ogaden man, now woman, to do?

Fight Back.

The right to exist, the right to live, the right to have access to the basic necessities shouldn't stop at the Ogaden region.

And more need be done and said about this region. A region that is waiting to explode on the face of all Ethiopians.

A region that is tucked far away from the news and very much crying for "a help". A cry for help that has so far fallen on deaf ears.

=====================================

Wanna Say Something? Leave A Comment Then . . .

In order to better identify a pattern of human rights violations, the regional states with the highest number of reported incidents – Oromia, Somali, SNNPR, Amhara, Gambella, and Addis Ababa/Dire Dawa – are organised along a time axis (see Figure below ). Such an overview illuminates several important inferences.

In every year during the time period from 1995 to 2005, the majority of the reported human rights violations in Ethiopia have occurred in the Oromia regional state. In all years but one, extra-judicial killings and arbitrary arrests have been reported. No other regional state has such a consistency of reported human rights violation during this time period. Th e majority of these reported incidents relate to contexts where Ethiopian security forces countered the quest for political recognition by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the most prominent representative political organisation among the Oromos. In addition, violations against members and sympathisers of legally registered Oromo political parties (such as Oromo National Congress and Oromo Federal Democratic Movement) were reported during the electoral processes of 2000 and 2005.

Somali regional state shows a similar consistency in reported human rights violations during this period, although with fewer reported incidents each year; and with the exception that no violations were reported in Somali region in 2001 or 2005.

To read the whole paper, visit Ayyaantuu's blog.

For a country who is made up of at least 70 ethnic groups, Ethiopia has been the poster boy for ethnic discrimination.

What drove me to write this? The dilemma that faces Ethiopians as people and Ethiopia as a nation.

In 1993, the EPRDF has implemented ethnic based federalism. A plan crafted with the help of Washington, and was designed to devide and conquer the people of Ethiopia.

It is striking to realize that some part of our society had gladly accepted the plan to form their own nation (state) based on their ethnicity, culture and so forth. I will not name any ethnic groups here as my personal opinion is irrelevant compared to the big picture and problem that faces Ethiopians.

When the EPRDF introduced this form of running the government, i was not for it. But i must admit the genius of the Meles regime. They have taken advantage of a serious problem that has faced Ethiopia for the longest but was ignored by its people or its elected leaders.

We have the Oromo, the Amhara, the Gurage, the Tigrayans and all the others looking down on each other for as long as they have all existed. Am i lying here? I don't think so.

Ethiopia is a nation where all the question that faces it today is solvable, BUT we have so far chosen to turn a blind eye to our problems and expect it to solve itself. There is nothing wrong with taking pride in your culture or language but raising an eye brow when you come across someone who speaks in a different language is a disease that needs tackling YESTERDAY.

The Meles regime had shown us we are a weak society and we have ourselves to blame. They have shown us that devide and conquer works, they had shown us that we are our ethnic group before we are Ethiopians.

Do you think this was created by Meles? If you do, you are yet to wake up. Meles and his gang has taken advantage of what has already existed for centuries.

The U.S. is a country under one flag. They are the United Sates of America, when we are the Devided States of Ethiopia.

So many Ethnic groups have their own tough questions that they ask themselves. Some ask why Amarigna is the chosen language of Ethiopians? Why is it we have Amraigna as our national language when we are made up of more than 70 ethnic groups? Ask yourslef, "Is it a valid question?"

I believe it is. I believe this was the work of certain 'power groups' in the past. When the whole education system for the last 50 plus years was designed to be taught in Amarigna, the Tigrayans may have a valid question when they say, "They are better when they learn in Tigrigna", which is their spoken language.

And you can see how a certain ethnic group could feel injustice by somewhat little but overlooked issues as the above example.

No ethnic groups should be allowed to push an agenda based on the need of its ethnic group.

We are Ethiopians before we claim to be any ethnic group. I have been astounded by the many groups that the Ethiopians in diaspora seem to form. There are all this groups that stands for the causes of The Ogaden, The Oromia and Etc.

Ask yourself, "Do these folks have any one government to blame for their chosen isolation?"

I, personally, don't think so. You can't blame any given government for your devision, when you have a deeply rooted pride in your ethnic group. A pride that is worth nothing.

We all should rally behind our nation before we rally behind any ethnic group. Meles and Co. would be toppled some day, but Ethiopians will still have the problem of Ethnic Devision and Ethnic Discrimination.

And that's the only fact that will remain to be true, unless we address it now without going to the finger-pointing.

We can blame this-ethnic-group or that-government for our problems, but i am afraid that will not lead us in finding the solution that we so desperately need and deserve as a nation.

In order to move forward and welcome our better days, we ought to tackle our problem of ethnic devision and discrimination with one voice as one people.

As result of several years of negotiations Sudan and Ethiopia ended last year border demarcation. The two countries also agreed to implement different development projects in the joint border for the benefit of the two countries.

The Ethiopian National Congress, based in the USA, said alarmed by the "the recent unofficial news" that Ethiopian government had concluded "a secret treaty with the Sudanese authorities that reportedly ceded 1600 sq km land along the common border of the two countries."

The group regretted in a statement received by Sudan Tribune that "dozens of Ethiopian farmers have been evicted from their farms." It also claimed that Sudanese army had clashed with local Ethiopians near the border.

"The Sudanese have conducted Janjawid-style attacks to overrun Ethiopian settlements, with the "tacit support" of the Ethiopian government, burning Ethiopian villages, expropriating their properties and detaining them."

"Many Ethiopians have been dislocated from their homes, farms and livelihoods." The statement added.

The congress said it is in favour of a border demarcation based on mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. However it said the Ethiopian Emperors had always rejected the British demarcation of the border and urged to consult tax administrators who worked in the area.

"The so called British officer map (Gwen Map) was not a map at all…... It was a straight line he arbitrarily drew, after the delegation of Emperor Menelik failed to make it on time to jointly mark the common border. Sovereign Ethiopia was never a party to it." The statement said.

Further, the Ethiopian National Congress appealed Sudanese to protest against their government’s connivance in the conspiracy against Ethiopia."

It warned that people involved in these "illegal acts will seriously and adversely affect future peaceful co-existence and relationships between the two sister countries."

Last year, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party, a Social Democratic Party denounced the Ethiopian government for ceding lands from "River Atbara to Fazra area in Quara" to Sudan.

The issue of border demarcation between Ethiopia and Sudan has been for long time a source of tension between the two countries. The Sudanese farmers had for long time blamed Khartoum for not taking serious steps to defend them from the Addis Ababa backed settlement of Ethiopian farmer in the Sudanese territory.

For første gang i historien dækker Al Jazeera konflikten i Ogaden regionen. Al Jazeeras somalisk korrespondent Jamac Nur og andre Al Jazeera journalister tilbragte fire måneder I Ogaden, hvor de i skjult lavede programmet " Ogaden: den glemte tragedie". Al Jazeera udsender hele programmet som serie i forbindelse med nyhedsudsendelserne fra den 10.april og frem til den 15. april.

Af Batulo Abdirahman

10.april sender Al Jazeera sit længe om forberedt program. Programmet som hedder ” Ogaden: den glemte tragedie”, afslører Etiopiens vedvarende aggression imod Ogaden-regionen. Jamac Nur, somalisk korrespondent for Al Jazeera har udført programmet i fire måneder, hvor han lod sig som om han var en almindelige civile, og dermed har interviewede både civile og frihedskæmper.

Unge folk i ONLF

»Jeg sluttede mig til militsen i 2002. Jeg er klar til at ofre mit liv for mit lands, mine folks og min religions skyld«, siger Hahdi Waa, en af ONLFs kriger.

Kvinder bliver voldtaget

Kvinderne er den vigtigste base for ONLF. Mange af kvinderne som er ONLF-kriger har en ækel historie bag sig. Enten har de været voldtaget af etiopisktroper, mistede familiemedlemmer eller har de ikke kunnet tåle undertrykkelsen siges det i Al Jazeera.

 ”Al Jazeeras program fortæller blot et af problemerne”

Igennem programmet fremhæver Al Jazeera kampen og lidelserne, som Ogaden folket oplever dag og nat.

»Konflikterne og problemerne som Al Jazeera programmet fortæller her, er blot et af række andre problemer og konflikter, som Ogaden regionen oplever«, siger Ahmed Jihad, professor og forsker om somaliske affærer, til den arabisktalende tv-kanal, Al Jazeera.

Manglende uddannelsesfaciliteter er også blandt et af problemerne i Ogaden. Den eneste uddannelsesmulighed, som Ogaden folket har adgang til er Quranskolen, hvilket lokaleborger har oprettede på frivillig basis.

Links  Al Jazeera

         Ogaden Online

         The New York Times: " In Ethiopia, fear and cries of army brutality" "Rebels with a Cause"

         Woolly Days: "Ogaden: The world's most forgotten conflict"

________________________________

Ogaden-regionen er en region som er under etiopisk besættelse siden 1948. Siden 1948 har der været forskellige modstandsbevægelser, som kæmpede for Ogadens selvstændighed.

______________________________

Bestemming is Gode, via de regionale hoofdstad Jijiga en de steden Kebri Beyah, Degehabur en Kebri Dehar. De gedeeltelijk afgewerkte tweebaansweg baant zich door geïsoleerde gebieden waarin zich een van ’s werelds meest gevaarlijke en verkeerd begrepen islamitische opstanden afspeelt.

Dit is het land dat de zogenaamde separatisten van het Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) opeisen. Wat de etnische Somali van het ONLF precies willen – autonomie, onafhankelijkheid of de historische droom van een “Groot Somalië” – is verre van duidelijk. Zeker is dat de federale regering in Addis Abeba, gedomineerd door Orthodox Christelijke Tigrayers en Amharen vastberaden is om de Soennitische opstandelingen hun doelen niet met geweld te laten bereiken.

Diep in deze woestijn liggen de Somali staatszones Degehabur, Fik en Qorahay. Het is hier dat het Ethiopische leger - grotendeels aan de publieke aandacht onttrokken en met de steun van rivaliserende subclans - een negen maand durende campagne gevoerd heeft tegen facties van de Ogadeni clan, de ruggengraat van het ONLF. En het is hier in een gebied met grote onaangeboorde bodemrijkdommen en vermeende oliereserves dat volgens de VN binnenkort tot 4.5 miljoen mensen te maken kunnen krijgen met hongersnood, gedeeltelijk ten gevolge van het conflict. “We kunnen ervan uitgaan dat een dergelijke catastrofe in de komende maanden zal plaatsvinden, wanneer de nodige maatregelen niet worden genomen,” waarschuwde in december John Holmes, ondersecretaris voor humanitaire zaken van de VN.

Federale beambten en staatsfunctionarissen doen de beweringen af als sterk overdreven. Ze zeggen dat er in zes van de negen zones in de Somali regio vrede heerst. Ze geven toe dat er “een paar problemen” zijn waarbij individuele soldaten betrokken zijn, maar stellen dat de beweringen van het ONLF – die overigens bevestigd worden door Human Right Watch – over wreedheden begaan door Ethiopische troepen, nergens op slaan.

“De situatie is zeer rustig nu. We hebben het ONLF vernietigd,” zegt Abdullahi Hassan, de president van de Somali staat. Hij zegt dat de problemen niet binnenlandse zijn – en verwijst hiermee naar de aanhoudende strijd in buurland Somalië, waar Ethiopische troepen en troepen van de Afrikaanse Unie de door het Westen gesteunde transitieregering bijstaan in haar strijd tegen extreme islamisten en krijgsheren. “Als er problemen zijn met je buurland, dan raakt dat probleem jou ook. Somalië heeft jarenlang internationale terroristen die banden hebben met al-Qaida onderdak verleend,” zegt Abdullahi. En veel van de onrust wordt geregistreerd door Eritrea, Ethiopië’s oude vijand, beweert hij.

Abdi Mohmmad Omer, de veiligheidschef van de Somali staat, zegt: “De oorlog speelt zich niet meer af tussen het ONLF en de regering, het is clan tegen clan en tegen een aantal Ogadeni die connecties hebben met al-Qaida”.

Abdi zegt dat de regio “gepacificeerd” is. Hij geeft toe dat rond de 200 burgers gedood zijn in clangevechten met het ONLF in de voorbije twee maanden. Hij weigert te schatten hoeveel mensen gestorven zijn sinds het conflict vorige zomer escaleerde, maar noemt de beweringen van het ONLF als had er een genocide plaats gevonden, absurd.

Sulub Abdullahi Mohammad, een oudere van de Jedwaq clan, zegt dat zijn volk, net zoals de Wayteen en Balaad sub-clans regelmatig met ONLF militanten - die volgens hem nog steeds een ernstige bedreiging vormen - te maken hebben gekregen. Hij verwijst naar een recente bomaanval en schietpartij in Jijiga waarbij een verkeerspolitieman en een omstander werden gedood. “Het aantal doden is ontelbaar. Het ging op en neer met de gevechten de laatste zes maanden. Maar het is nog niet over.”

Veel mensen schuwen buitenlandse media. In de ongeplaveide straten van Degehabur, een marktstad van 60.000 inwoners, lijken de bewoners gevangen tussen enerzijds de vrees voor de reactie van de autoriteiten en anderzijds angst voor de opstandelingen. Weinigen spreken openlijk.

Een vrouw vertelt huilend in haar huis dat ze verkracht werd door een soldaat. Maar ze staat erop dat haar naam niet bekend wordt gemaakt. Ze kan geen “bewijs” leveren. Ze zegt beschaamd te zijn en geen hoop op gerechtigheid te hebben.

Nur Arab, de bestuurder van Degehabur, doet niet alsof er geen problemen zijn. Hij zegt dat het “veel verbeterd is” sinds onlangs de VN en de NGO’s teruggekeerd zijn, nadat ze grotendeels tijdens de campagne van het leger uitgewezen waren. De meeste bewoners van de stad hebben voedselhulp gekregen, zegt hij.

“Het ONLF heeft hier geen basis. Ze zijn niet georganiseerd. Maar soms verschijnen ze in de straten en vallen ze de mensen lastig,” zegt Nur. “Ze komen in groepen van 15, maximum 20. Ze zijn vaak zeer jong. Ze vragen geld en hulp van de mensen. Als iemand niets geeft, doden ze hem. Ze verschijnen en daarna verdwijnen ze weer.”

De VN zeggen dat hulpverlening relatief ongestoord verloopt. Negentien NGO’s zijn teruggekeerd naar het gebied. Anderen zullen volgen. Het Wereld Voedselprogramma heeft €388.000 extra gekregen om Ethiopië te helpen met het leveren van voorraden. Maar “de humanitaire situatie in de militaire operationele zone blijft zorgwekkend,” zegt het Bureau voor de Coördinatie van Humanitaire Zaken van de VN. Daarbij komt dat de regens in verschillende gebieden zijn uitgebleven en de oogst slecht was.

Zelfs als de onlusten zijn afgenomen is er nog geen eind in zicht voor het conflict. Het ONLF heeft er Addis Abeba opnieuw van beschuldigd duizenden mensen te doden en te laten uithongeren. De regering heeft volgens het ONLF hulp gebruikt als een politiek middel. “Ethiopië doet dit alles om de weerstand van het volk tegen tirannie, geweld en schending van de mensenrechten, te onderdrukken.” Het waarschuwt dat de opstand krachtiger zal worden.

Er wacht een lange, harde weg. In de Ogaden is het altijd zo geweest.

© The Guardian, Simon Tisdall, 24.03.08 (kdg)

Ethiopia must be the only country, or one of the very few countries in the world, that has so many Liberation Fronts, that are only good for creating chaos and anarchy throughout the country.

Almost every ethnicity has its own Liberation Front. And at last count Ethiopia had more than 70 ethnic groups.

It is hard to understand why the need for all these Liberation Fronts in one country. What are all these Liberation Fronts liberating their people from? From another liberation front in Ethiopia?

In a way this is the undoing of the current government and its way of running government by allowing different ethnic groups to form their own ethnic based federalism. Unlike what most Ethiopians believe, there are pros and cons to this form of running government.

Meles Zenawi claimed that there are two views about ethnicity: "if you think it is a threat, it will be; if you think it a benefit, then it will be." Thus he said, "ethnicity will become less an issue as the economy grows and Ethiopia's process of assimilation does its job."

That is fine and dandy Mr. Zenawi.

But the problem arises when a given ethnic group chooses to arm itself and protect its state, and others are left with no choice but to arm themselves as well.

As we know, Africa and Arms don't mix well. When two armed groups disagree in Africa, it is only a reflex reaction of Africans to shoot.

Again, there pros and cons of "ethnic based federalism", but can we just make it without the Arms?

Liberation Fronts are the cause for all this chaos going on in Ethiopia.

It is bad idea to allow different ethnic groups to form their own Liberation Fronts and allow them to feel entitled to defend themselves from a non-existent threat, but that's what happens when guns fall in the hands of people with low IQ. Dialogue always takes a back seat as long as guns are sitting around.

For all the Liberation Fronts in Ethiopia, it is time to realize that you are frightening or killing your own blood every time you shoot over someone's head, or better yet through their head.

You have no enemy to liberate your people from, and if you disagree with your brother next door, just hold a dialogue under a tree with a cup of tea in hand, the old African way. Your forefathers would only be proud.

No more Liberation Fronts in Ethiopia. Let the Federal Government do its job of protecting its people.

I’d love to hear your perspectives on this- leave a comment if you have anything to say…

Gumeystigu intuu nagu handadi gudaha ciideyda

Gaajiyo anoo qaba haraad aan la goloyoobay

Inta gaadhku naga saaranyahay gaaxdo iyo maadhka

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Nimankii galbeedaha kayimid ee nagaday waa fog

Godkey nagu xabaaleen intaan nabad ka gaasaasi

Gudcurkana sidii ugu jiree lay gorgorinaayo

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Inta aan dulmiga garabogiyo gibilka hoos joogno

Gardaradana loo hiilinee garab lsiinaayo

Adduunkuna wakada gaabsanee geeska marinaayo

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Intuu geedanow libaax gowska nagu ruugi

Gownyaha intey nagaga ciyi goosha iyo weerku

Guduudane halaaqiyo intuu dawac nagaadaayo

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Abeeska gurguuranahayee guurta naga dhaadhyi

Gamuunkiyo suntuu nagu midiyo gobo'da waabayda

Inta aan la giriyaadi ee good namidhanaayo

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Gofonuhu intuu dhiiganaga galacsi nuugaayo

Golomaha intey fadhaneyse cuni gamaareydu

Bogona aan ka cadanyoonhaye uu nagani duugu

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Cadoowaha na gaabuun tiree jooga gurigeeyga

Intuu gibirkanaga qaadiyee nala ganaaxaayo

Uu jeelka nagu gurahayee nagu gumaadaayo

Gabowga iyo saqiirkaba intuu gawrac marinaayo

Ee ay gabdhaha boobahaayaan lana gureynaay

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Intuu gaaf dhagoolaha lunsani Godey ka doobyaayo

Eenan goboladeydii wacnaa fooda galineynin

Inta uu sharcigu gumuca yahay nalagu goygooyo

Ee aan gidaan dhabanhayeen cadho la guuxaayo

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Inta aan ka gaabnahay filkay lana iguulaayo

Ee leebku nagu go'ahayee nala gulaalaayo

Intaan goox banaan yuururneen gamandhacoonaayo

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Go'doon iyo intaan madi kunahay dunnidan guudkeeda

Garbaduubna aan uga xidhnahay madasha loo guuray

Inta xadhigu nagu giigsanyahay een galgalaneyno

Ee gaasir nolosheydu tahay gabi ka laalaada

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Intaa aan gaftaashaa qabiyo goodir iyo ciilka

Ee layguhaadaaye' een gocosho ooyaayo

Golaw iyo sidii fiin intaan gii'da lalinaayo

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Inta aay gogoshanadu duubantahay geedna lagu raari

Ee aanu guureeyn sidii goodirkiyo cowsha

Inta loo guriireyn xornimo shicabku goobaayo

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Gamaankii dagaalkiyo fardaha kooro lagu gaadhye

Guradaanu kaga taaganahay dhoodir gaamuraye

Inta geesiyada noo halgami ay gilgili seefta

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Intaan ganafka taagaaye een gunimo diidi

Galaxibiyo obleydeydi iyo gudin ma soo feysan

Inta aan gantaalaha qarxiyo sidano gaashaanka

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Galadiyo ninkii qaba wanaag ee udhalay geelu

Een gaawihiisii ka jabin godolna maalaaya

Ee gurbood fayoow iyo korsada jiil iswada gaadhay

Iyo anigan goomoon samaha waw gudboonahaye

Shardoon goob kawada toosno oon gorofka aabeysto

Oo gabanadii iga janqaday dhayda lagu gaacsho

Oo giirka aad looga dhayo shicibkan guuhaadsan

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Gacaliyo shardoon helo xigaalkey isgarabtaaga

Oo ay gargaaraan xaqlaha raagtay godobtiisu

Oon guul ku naaloodo oon gaadho lidhinteyda

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadaye

Isla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta 

Waxaan hadal kusoo gabagabeyn ama ku soo gaabin

Ogaadeenya uu gugu udi'in uunku wada gaadhin

Gobonimana aan qaadaniyo dowladnimo gaara

Oo aan diblada tumanin oon calan ugeeraarin

Geeska afrikow nabadi gudhan aad ku gama'daaye

Gulufkiyo colaadahan horaa loo gudoonsadayeIsla gubo goloomahana jabi oo gunfuro maanta   

The airstrip at Gode was paved. This surprised me, considering that we were
in the middle of nowhere in the Ogaden Desert, somewhere in far southeastern
Ethiopia.

And that is exactly the lesson of nowhere versus somewhere. Paved airstrips
should not be a measurement of where one is. Gode is somewhere, and for an
hour or so and a night, it was my "here." But for thousands of people, Gode
is home. "The middle of nowhere" is never an apt description of a location.

Sixty-four cases of medicines were accounted for. Dick, an indepenent
filmaker and man of genuine heart, was bringing yet another load of supplies
for the tiny medical clinic that serves sixty-thousand living humans in
Denan and its surrounding villages. Dick was in Denan in 2000 to document
the famine that the outside world never heard of. Having visited and worked
in over 100 countries, something about Denan stirred his soul. When the
head elder expressed in plain words that maybe Dick could do something for
Denan, Dick thought maybe so. Little did he know that five years later he
would dedicate his life to a village on the edge of human consciousness.

We were with him to assess our stoves that were placed in the town. Our
Director, Harry, met Dick on a flight back to the U.S. from Ethiopia. Dick
thought Denan would be a good place for Project Gaia to extend its study; in
the Ogaden, wood, the only cooking option, is scarce. Women and girls walk
up to twelve hours and ten miles round-trip to gather fuelwood to feed their
families.

The trucks were loaded with boxes of glucose bags, malaria treatment,
bandgages, and other healthcare needs of the clinic. We jumped in the back
seat, anticipating the most adventurous two hour ride of our lives.

We stopped at a local cafe for lunch. Papayas were sat on the table. A
knife was provided to cut them open. Our colleague, Muhktar, of the Ogaden
Welfare and Development Association (OWDA), demonstrated the proper way to
cut open the papayas for eating. Remembering my dislike of papaya despite
the fact that I had a papaya tree in my backyard in Honduras, I declined his
offer of a slice. At my wife's encouragement, however, I grabbed half of a
papaya and sank my spoon into it. Ripened by forever sunshine, I enjoyed
Gode's papaya.

Flame-grilled goat and Somaili-style spaghetti, spicy peppers and some
onions minus the tomato sauce, were brought out to us on large plates.
Hungry, and knowing we had to get on the road in order to make it to Denan
before sundown, we chowed down quickly.

Satisfied, we set out north through town, our driver finding the right path
through the neighborhoods. On the edge of town, we were stopped by the
Ethiopian military checkpoint. Our paperwork was in order. We anticipated
we would be given clearance within a few minutes, thus arriving to Denan
well-before dark.

One and half hours later we were cleared to pass. The guard questioned
Muhktar about our medical supplies. In the region, the Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF) has been raising an armed insurrection against the
Ethiopian Government. We were suspected of carrying medicines to the ONLF.
The glucose bags, much needed by wounded fighters, were the major glitch.
Muhktar was patient with the military. We were too, waiting in the truck as
dust blowed and the sun beat down.

Permission to drive on was granted. Our driver hit the accelerator and we
began our journey into the land of thorny bushes, dik-dik--the smallest
specie of the antelope family--and camels, the lifeblood of millions of
Muslims in the region.

(written 12 February 2006)

That’s what they do, those cowardly politicos.  They spin tales longer than the ones curled up under their legs.  Heads they win, and tails they win again.  That would be one small step back to the helicoptered-secure mansions in St. Michael’s, MD and one giant step into the foot soldier’s grave.

Back from Africa where everyday is the “real deal,” where in my final week I watched a two year old girl collect a liter of water from a dung-polluted small pond if you want to call it that, where every minute two kids die from malaria, I turn on the news and laugh incredulously at the spinsters.  I have to laugh anymore; otherwise I would go crazy, literally. 

Living in a bomb-proof bubble with a sterilized world inside, the media and their bed-partner politicos are the true gonorrhea of our times.  Like swingers with satisfied smiles on their faces, they bop around like bunnies, the lunacy of their orgasmic power and authority driving them to believe that they are “procreating” a better tomorrow for the land of free and the home of the brave.  The rot they spread is sickening.

Did you hear about the U.S. military personnel wandering around eastern Ethiopia, a predominantly Muslim region of East Africa?  They are there to build schools and drill water wells.  You don’t hear about them on the evening news, do you?  Do you really think they are there to be good Samaritans?  We eavesdrop on mosques in the U.S. and we tell the Somali Muslims of the Ogaden that we are here to educate you and to bring you water.  Friends and enemies all the same. 

Did you hear about the U.S. telling Nigeria that its current president cannot change the national constitution to allow him to seek a third term?  We don’t want unrest in the world’s 5^th largest oil-producing country, do we?  Did you know that many Nigerians like Obasanjo?  Why do we tell other countries how to run their national politics when we don’t like them making fun of ours? 

And the blue-collar factory worker spends his money on beers after work at the local bar, looking up at the TV screen while swilling the last of his worries in the bottom of the bottle, catching the two minute summary of the last 24 hours of war in a place where he has more in common with men smoking shisha and drinking in a café than he does with his boss. 

Another year passes and a new one begins.  Flip the calendar over and start anew.  Resolve to lose some weight, get to the gym more often, spend more time with your family, eat better, and cut back on the credit card spending.  Why do we start the New Year off with selfish thoughts?

Let’s make a New Year’s Resolution that energizes us to see the truth behind the lies, to see Rummy, Dubya and Dickey for the three blind mice that they are.  Let’s resolve to question the squeaky clean media and the stories they tell.  We can make a resolution that will celebrate the true American heroes:  the working class, the less fortunate and the common foot soldiers that are forced to fight for the rich and powerful.  The resolution will go something like this: 

“I resolve to be true to the American Spirit, the ideal that we fight against tyranny and promise to be a beacon of hope for the oppressed, that we will not be the tyrants or the oppressors, and that when we see or hear anything that goes against this great Spirit, we will act to do bring about the most recognizable form of this spirit:  acts of brother and sisterhood where love despite differences reigns supreme.”

Can we do it?  Can we resolve to heal our wounds inflicted on us by the hawks?  Can we show them what America really stands for? 

Earlier today (Tuesday the 27^th of December) I talked on the phone with my Ethiopian friend who relayed the news that the poor, unarmed people of Ethiopia were fighting as we spoke against the current regime in Addis.  With clench fists and rocks they took on the most powerful military in sub-Saharan Africa. 

How much do you believe in justice?  

(written 27 December 2005)