BACKGROUND
After
the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre’s despotic rule, in 1991,
some tribes of the Northwest Region of Somalia declared unilaterally
the formation of a new state called “Somaliland”.
Since
its proclamation in May 1991, the self-declared Republic of
Somaliland has got no recognition from the international community,
which considers the region a part and parcel of the Somali Republic,
which came to existence after the reunification of British and
Italian Somalilands in 1960.
When
Eritrea gained its independence in 1993, Ethiopia lost its sea
outlet and became a landlocked country.
In
1998, after the breakout of Ethio-Ertrean border war the then
Somaliland President Mohamed Ibrahim Egal offered the Ethiopian
government the use of Berbera seaport freely. The two sides
forged an alliance against their respective opposition, namely
ONLF, OLF and the real SNM of the Somaliland’s founding father,
and its first president the late Abdirahaman Ahmed Ali known
also as Abdirahman Tuur, which rejected the notion of secession
from Somali Republic.
Persecution
of Somalis from the Ogaden
Ethiopia
established an intelligence-gathering bureau called “Ethiopian
Interest Protection Office” to pursue its opposition through
its numerous agents in Hargeisa, who has been given free license
to detain, rape, torture and kill any Somali from the Ogaden
suspected of being an ONLF supporter.
In
the past 9 years, many Somalis from the Ogaden were detained,
tortured, their private properties confiscated and then handed
over to the Ethiopian government against their will, in exchange
for ammunition and other materials. To illustrate the abovementioned
assertions, some cases are detailed in the following pages:
Abdullahi
Haliye, Ahmed Mohamed and Abdullahi Qaji, members of ONLF Central
Committee, were detained in Hargeisa, Northwest Somalia,
on 31 July 1996, by militia loyal to Mr. Egal, while they were
visiting their relatives in the area.
On
October 20th 1996, they were handed over to the Ethiopian government
against their will, in exchange for ammunition. After repatriation,
they were transferred to prison in Diri-Dhabo (Dire-Dawa). The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), was given access
to them, and has visited them several times.
On
April 10th 2002, a large number of Somalis from the Ogaden,
were rounded up and detained without charges, in Hargeisa, by
Somaliland and Ethiopian security forces.
Many
of them were transferred to Baligubadle – a border village between
the Ogaden and northwest Somalia – to prepare the ground for
their hand over to the Ethiopian government against their will,
in exchange for ammunition. Among them were: Mukhtar
Moalin Yusuf, Khadar Abdi Haji, Mustaf Sheikh, Hussein Moalin,
Abdiaziz Ahmed, Badel Aw Ahmed, and Dahir Abdi Haji, all traders.
After repatriation they were transferred to prison in Jigjiga,
and then to Harar, where they subsequently disappeared. Their
families and relatives have no idea about their fate and whereabouts.
In
November 2003, Egal’s successor Dahir Riyaale Kahin, who is
former head of the much feared and notorious secret service,
known as National Security Service (NSS) in the port city of
Berbera, declared all Somalis, who are not from Somaliland as
persona non grata and ordered their expulsion within 45 days.
In
1990s, colonel Dahir Reyaale Kaahin was allegedly responsible
for detaining and torturing to death many innocent Somalis,
who were accused falsely of being members of Somali National
Movement (SNM). Survivors and relatives of Dahir Riyaale’s past
atrocities are seeking justice, and would like to see him indicted
as war criminal.
On
November 30th 2003, 75 Somalis from the Ogaden were arrested
and their properties confiscated, in Hargeisa, Northwest Somalia,
following raids conducted by Somaliland militia and Ethiopian
Security Forces. The detainees were humiliated and beaten up,
and were held in incommunicado detention in overcrowded location.
No charges had been laid formally against them and no trial
date has been set. Several weeks later most of the detainees
were released after they paid extortion money.
However,
the remaining detainees were accused of ONLF sympathy and membership
and were transferred to Hargeisa Central Jail. Among them were:
Mohamed Abdi, Ibrahim Ahmed Abdi, Adan Jibril Hirsi,
Mukhtar Muhumed Ibrahim, Abdi Muhumed Digale, Muhumed Abdi Khalif,
Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed (Ducaysane), Saatir Yusuf Ibrahim, Sahardid
Hussein Abdullahi, Mahamud Muse Hassan, Mahumd Abdi Adan (Wagad),
Ali Abdullahi Omar, Muhiadin Dahir Mohamed, Abdi Abib Ahmed,
Abdi Mohamed Abdi, Abdullahi Ahmed Dahir (Jamal), Abdullahi
Yusuf Ahmed (Godane), Abdi Ahmed Muhumed, Hassan Muhumed Abdi
(Keyd), Abdifatah Farah Abdi, Ahmed Mohamed Hussein (Kukiyo),
Abdi Mohamed Abdi, Mohamed Abdi Hussein, Ayale Mohamed Ali,
Mohamed Muhumed Mohamed, Hussein Ali Ahmed, Mohamed Deek Khalif
(Tin Tin), Abdullahi Ahmed Abdi, Hussein Abdi Osman (Carlos),
Ahmed Khalif Ilimoge, Abdirahman Dayib Abdi. They were
subjected to extensive torture and maltreatment in the jail
during interrogation to extract confessions and information
about the ONLF. Many of them are bearing scars of torture on
their bodies.
Hiis
Muse Jama, was subjected to extensive physical and
psychological torture in Hargeisa Central Jail. He was denied
medical treatment and passed away in his cell.
According
to the Principles on Detention or Imprisonment, in particular
principles 1, 22, 24, 25 and 26 and SMR rules 9-14, 17-19, detainees
shall be kept in humane facilities, designed to preserve health,
and shall be provided with adequate food, water, shelter, clothing,
medical services, exercise and items of personal hygiene.
However,
Somaliland authorities held hundreds of Somalis including Somalis
from the Ogaden in over¬crowded and filthy Hargeisa Central
Jail, which was built by British Colonial Authorities. The jail
is infested with bugs, fleas, lice cockroaches and rats. They
are detained for years or many months without charges or trial.
The
UN Standard Minimum Rules for treatment of prisoners requires
that prisoners are given prompt access to their families, lawyers
and to their own doctor, but Somaliland’s law ignores these
rights completely.
The
detainees have been brought before the regional court several
times. Each time, they were taken back to their cells for lack
of evidence.
On
June 15th 2004, thirty-one Somalis from the Ogaden accused of
being sympathisers and members of the ONLF have been brought
before the regional court. They pleaded not guilty. The regional
court’s sentence was 5 years’ imprisonment for 5 detainees,
while other 25 detainees were sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment.
They were not informed of the particulars of the charges and
reasons for their arrest, and were not given access to any evidence
presented against them. Hence, they did not receive fair trial
in accordance with recognized international standards. On the
basis of available information about their case, the OHRC believes
that there was not credible evidence of their involvement in
any illegal activity, and their trial was a mockery of justice,
and considers them prisoners of conscience.
On
August 16th 2005, they were brought before Hargeisa High Court.
But they were taken back to their prison cells without the pronouncement
any verdict.
On
September 02nd 2005, 28 detainees have been brought before the
Hargeisa High Court, which examined their case and acquitted
them ordering their immediate release for lack of evidence.
However, the Police and the Public Prosecutor, in defiance of
the court order, returned them to their prison cells. Three
detainees were not appeared before the court.
The
families and relatives of the 3 missing detainees who did not
appear before the court are very apprehensive for their safety.
The
OHRC, which called for them to be either charged with recognizable
criminal offences and given fair trials or released unconditionally,
welcomes Hargeisa High Court’s ruling and asks their unconditional
and immediate release.
To
the best of OHRC’s knowledge, the detainees were traders, labourers,
residents and visitors, who were not, involved in any illegal
activities, and have no political affiliation whatsoever.
According
to reliable reports received by OHRC, persecution and other
acts of aggression against Somalis from the Ogaden are unabated,
and are going on as of this writing.
On
the other hand, retaliatory acts against Somalis from northwest
Somalia are rising in the Ogaden. Several civilian trucks owned
by Somalis from northwest Somalia were destroyed in the Ogaden
region.
The
OHRC reiterates its condemnation and disapproval of all hostile
acts against the civilian population regardless of their tribal
background or/and political affiliation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
AND APPEALS
To:
the Somali Nation, International Community and Somaliland Administration:
- The
international community publicly censure Ethiopia and the
self-declared Republic of Somaliland over their human rights
record.
- The
United Nations appoint a Special Rapporteur for Human Rights
in the Ogaden.
-
The Ethiopian government should be held responsible for infamous
mass killings, disappearances, arbitrary arrests, torture
and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
-
The international community intervene to stop the forcible
repatriation of Somalis to Ethiopia.
- The
Ethiopian government and Somaliland Administration give ICRC
and UNHCR free access to all detainees in Hargeisa and elsewhere.
- The
international community refrain from aiding and supporting
the Ethiopian government and Somaliland Administration as
long as they violate human rights and fundamental freedoms
of the Somali people in the Ogaden and in Somaliland.
-
Somali people and the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia
condemn Somaliland Administration’s gross violations of basic
human rights of the Somalis in the Ogaden and elsewhere in
Somalia.
TO:
INDIVIDUALS, LOCAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND
HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS
The Ogaden Human Rights Committee requests individuals, local
human rights and humanitarian organizations to support its efforts
to promote and improve the human rights cause in the Ogaden,
and recommends the following:
Please
write to your Foreign Ministry:
- Asking
that your government exerts pressure on Ethiopia and Somaliland
Administration to improve their human rights record.
-
Urging that all political prisoners be either immediately
and unconditionally released or charged with recognized criminal
offences, and given fair trials; and be given unrestricted
and regular access to their family members and to, representatives
of the International Committee of the Red Cross (name some
or all from those in this document or in other OHRC’s reports,
which you can get in OHRC’s web site www.ogadenrights.org).
-
Expressing concern at the disappearance of a large number
of suspected government opponents in the notorious military
detention camps throughout the Ogaden and jails in Somaliland
and asking their whereabouts (name some or all from those
in this document or in other OHRC’s reports, which you can
get in OHRC’s web site www.ogadenrights.org).
-
Asking your government to support the Ogaden Human Rights
Committee's efforts to appoint a UN Special Rapporteur on
Human Rights as well as sending a fact finding mission to
the Ogaden in order to stop and prevent more human rights
violations in that country.
Please
copy your letter to diplomatic representatives of Ethiopia accredited
to your country as well as the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights and the UN Independent Expert on the Situation
of Human Rights in Somalia. The address is:
United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10
Ogaden
Human Rights Committee (OHRC)
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