IIJD - Alleged Government Food Blockades and Human Rights Abuses in Somali Region of Ethiopa

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The IIJD 2007 Newsletter Archive:

Alleged Government Food Blockades and Human Rights Abuses in Somali Region of Ethiopa

By Liz Copeland

August 3, 2007

Rebels in the southern Somali Region of Ethiopia alleged last week that the Ethiopian government has been blocking food and trade to their region for the past two months. Representatives from the rebel group Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) called for a UN investigation in the region, stating that the situation has “reached alarming levels warranting international intervention” [1].

Analysts said that the government has been increasing security operations to fight ONLF since May by tightening control on the movement of people and trade within the region [2]. This new government crackdown followed ONLF’s attack of a Chinese-run oil exploration field in April that killed 74 people [3]. ONLF accused the military of forcibly transporting Somali nomads from their graving lands in order to prospect for oil. The Ethiopian government believes that ONLF (backed by Ethiopia’s rival neighbor Eritrea) is also responsible for several bombings in the Somali region and the capital, Addis Ababa [4].

The ONLF consists of ethnic Somalis who are fighting to overthrow the Ethiopian government and establish greater autonomy in the Ogaden area of the Somali region [5]. It was formed in 1984 in response to discrimination by the Ethiopian government against Somali speaking nomads in the Ogaden. Fighting between ONLF rebels and the Ethiopian army has been a constant fixture in the region in recent years, often disturbing the ability of locals to look after their livestock and earn a living [6].

Ethiopian government officials denied allegations of food blockades: “There is no food shortage crisis in our region and there is nobody banning food aid to our region,” said Jama Ahmed, a vice president of the Somali region. Nonetheless, an official from a prominent aid organization in the Ogaden, who wished to remain anonymous, said that, “Allegedly people are surviving on camel milk and tea” [7].

The real situation in the region is difficult to ascertain because the Ogaden, an isolated area of 200,000 square kilometers, has been inaccessible for months. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that they had credible reports that the Ethiopian military and their proxy militia were committing serious human rights abuses, but the current state of the region has not been confirmed [8].

The ONLF rebels accused Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s administration of putting into action a deliberate campaign of violence against the Ethiopian people [9]. They cited examples of government troops and militias burning down villages, stealing property, arbitrary arrests, gang-raping women, and murdering civilians [10]. According to the HRW, this “classic counter-insurgency campaign….may be part of strategy to force thousands of people from rural areas to larger towns and deny the ONLF a support base” [11].

The restriction on the movement of goods, the risk of flooding between July and September, and the progression of the dry season create a serious danger that the food security situation in the Ogaden could become a severe humanitarian crisis in the fall. In a July 19 report, the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net) said that food prices have doubled in the past two months in the Warder and Korahe zones of the Somali region. In this poor pastoralist region, which relies on livestock for barter and trade, even small price fluctuations due to food unavailability can cause grave problems. FEWS Net reported, “Because the normal market for livestock in these areas is outside the area where movement is restricted, herders are unable to access the markets and sell their livestock” [12].

UN officials and the Ethiopian government seemed to have reached an agreement to allow emergency food aid into the region on July 25. Government spokesman Nur Abdi Mohammad said food deliveries would begin soon to most parts of the eastern Ogaden but food would not be delivered to places that were deemed insecure [13]. According to spokesman for the UN’s World Food Program, Peter Smerdon, “the food is still not there in all zones, but there is a process under way. We are working with Ethiopian officials and others on exactly how the food will be dispatched” [14].

Although the Ethiopian government appears to be cooperating with UN, they are not treating other international organizations with the same level of conciliation. On July 23, regional government officials of the Ogaden expelled Red Cross volunteers from the area under the suspicion that they were spies for the ONLF rebels [15]. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) denied all accusations about their consortium with the rebels and emphasized that they consistently carried out their aid work in Ethiopia “impartially and on strictly humanitarian grounds.” They further stated, “A suspension of ICRC activities will inevitably have a negative impact on the population concerned, whose access to basic services will be reduced” [16].

The IIJD calls for immediate international attention to the food crisis, human rights abuses, and the expulsion of the Red Cross in the southern Somali region of Ethiopia. First, the UN should follow up with the Ethiopian government and assure that food is being delivered to all the zones in need. Second, accusations of the Ethiopian army and militia’s human rights abuses in the region must be duly investigated. Third, the Ethiopian government should overturn the expulsion of the Red Cross and show the international community that they respect the aid they receive from international organizations.

The IIJD believes that stability and food security in the region can only be reached through a combined effort by the UN and the national government. These food blockades are simply another example of the government’s dictatorial pattern and disregard for human rights. The Ethiopian government must begin show respect for the democratic process and the basic human rights of their citizens. It is essential for Ethiopia to establish a just and accountable government that can ensure the protection of its people from military and ONLF attacks and the reliable delivery of food aid. The IIJD maintains that these aforementioned actions are needed to prevent a potential humanitarian crisis in the region and to provide a safe and stable political environment for the Ethiopian people.

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[1] International Herald Tribune: “Ethiopia rebels seek U.N. investigation into aid claims”

[2] All Africa: “Ethiopia: Government Denies Looming Humanitarian Crisis in Somali Region”

[3] International Herald Tribune: “Ethiopia rebels seek U.N. investigation into aid claims”

[4] BBC Africa: “Q&A: Ethiopia's ONLF rebels”

[5] International Herald Tribune: “Ethiopia rebels seek U.N. investigation into aid claims”

[6] BBC Africa: “Q&A: Ethiopia's ONLF rebels”

[7] International Herald Tribune: “Ethiopia rebels seek U.N. investigation into aid claims”

[8] VOA News: “Rebel Group Urges UN to Probe Ethiopia’s Ogaden Region”

[9] CNN: “Ethiopia Rebels Warn Catastrophe Looming in Ogaden”

[10] VOA News: “Rebel Group Urges UN to Probe Ethiopia’s Ogaden Region”

[11] All Africa: “Ethiopia: Government Denies Looming Humanitarian Crisis in Somali Region”

[12] All Africa: “Ethiopia: Government Denies Looming Humanitarian Crisis in Somali Region”

[13] New York Times: “Deal Near on Food for Sealed Area of Ethiopia”

[14] New York Times: “Deal Near on Food for Sealed Area of Ethiopia”

[15] New York Times: “Deal Near on Food for Sealed Area of Ethiopia”

[16] Swiss Info: “ICRC Rejects Ethiopian Charges after Expulsion”