Ethiopia’s Dirty War
Via the United Nations, the United States been providing food aid for the Somali region, but privately international aid officials say the assistance isn't reaching the worst-affected areas. They have good reason to be discreet: earlier this year Ethiopia expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross from the Somali region, accusing both the country's expatriate and Ethiopian staff of funneling support to the ONLF.
The U.N. has also been tight-lipped about troubles in the Ogaden. In September it sent a secret assessment of the human rights situation in the region to the Ethiopian government and called for a wider probe of alleged atrocities. Nearly five months later, says Frej Fenniche, a spokesman for the U.N.'s High Commission on Human Rights, "we are waiting for the answer from the government."
Meanwhile, the ONLF, fuelled by money from Ethiopian Somalis living in the United States and Britain, vows to continue its guerrilla fight by launching surprise attacks on Ethiopian troops and then melting back in to the region's nomadic communities. "It's a cat-and-mouse game," says Abdi Rahman Mahdi, a rebel spokesman.
As recently as last week, Mahdi says, Ethiopian forces burned a village southeast of Degehebur. Verification of his claim is difficult given the region's scant communication links and travel restrictions. But in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, hundreds of miles to the west of the fighting, Ethiopia's dirty war is barely visible. The lone state-run television agency shows only Potemkin-like pictures of development projects in the Somali region, and the country's tightly restricted private newspapers are effectively prevented from reporting on the situation.
The conflict has been visible enough for Ridwan Hassan Zahid, who miraculously survived her would-be executioners. Left for dead, she was found the next day by Somalis from a nearby village who came to bury the corpses. The other nine were not so lucky. Some had been hung from trees, others hung over holes in the ground like Zahid. Some of the men had been stripped naked and their tongues had been cut out.
Zahid hid in the countryside for three days, but eventually she was told the army had learned she was still alive and was searching for her. Then began a two-week odyssey on foot, camel, and finally by truck to safety in a neighboring country, which she asked NEWSWEEK not to disclose.
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Member Comments
Posted By: 5star @ 01/27/2008 9:14:01 PM
Comment: jonas your a FOOL she was telling the truth there is all kind of evidence proving what those innocent civilians are going through by your cowardice actions ethiopian government still cant explain why do they "RESTRICT" certain part of the region not to be shown? it only proves that they're are hiding the atrocities which they're committing against those defendless people only COWARDS like yourself target civilians understand ethiopian government is always DEPENDENT on FORIEGN ASSISTANCE seriously you cowards will never be close to our level even during 1977 OGADEN WAR when somalis have chase you aids infested bantus it was the SOVEIT UNION and the CUBAN ARMY who came to rescue you understand you will NEVER have the HEART to fight somalis 1-on-1 history has proven even in 1531 when somali KING Ahmed Gurey conquered most of ethiopia once again you cowards call for help to the portuguese through out history you have always DEPEND on FORIEGNER countries and now your getting the same FOREIGN SUPPORT against the SOMALIS with the so called "FAKE WAR ON TERROR" ethiopian government even tried to LABEL the ONLF as a "terrorist group" which is LAUGHABLE the ONLF have been around for over 25 years i bet people who was following the ogaden situation were laughing at your STUPIDITY and all of the sudden you want to call them "terrorist"? LOOL your DESPERATE attempts on getting support wont work this time i'm pretty sure alot of AMERICANS and U.N knows that words "terrorist" has been ABUSED first of SOMALIS are "MODERATES" our culture, religion, tradition is a proven fact we arent extremist but i'll tell you how people transform into extremists and it is WAR, INJUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, ect even when somalis were in state of war it was all about CLAN based not about religion so once again your attempts labeling SOMALIS as terrorist is PATHETIC! it might fooled the BUSH admns and the neo-cons into thinking somalis were terrorist because their muslim i'm pretty most AMERICANS are well educated enough to differentiate FACTS from FICTION but at the end of the day we both know ethiopian government CANNOT live without FOREIGN SUPPORT and ASSISTANCE mark my words once somalis UNITE we will chase you COWARDS back to AIDS ABABA lool
Posted By: 5star @ 01/27/2008 9:13:39 PM
Comment: jonas your a FOOL she was telling the truth there is all kind of evidence proving what those innocent civilians are going through by your cowardice actions ethiopian government still cant explain why do they "RESTRICT" certain part of the region not to be shown? it only proves that they're are hiding the atrocities which they're committing against those defendless people only COWARDS like yourself target civilians understand ethiopian government is always DEPENDENT on FORIEGN ASSISTANCE seriously you cowards will never be close to our level even during 1977 OGADEN WAR when somalis have chase you aids infested bantus it was the SOVEIT UNION and the CUBAN ARMY who came to rescue you understand you will NEVER have the HEART to fight somalis 1-on-1 history has proven even in 1531 when somali KING Ahmed Gurey conquered most of ethiopia once again you cowards call for help to the portuguese through out history you have always DEPEND on FORIEGNER countries and now your getting the same FOREIGN SUPPORT against the SOMALIS with the so called "FAKE WAR ON TERROR" ethiopian government even tried to LABEL the ONLF as a "terrorist group" which is LAUGHABLE the ONLF have been around for over 25 years i bet people who was following the ogaden situation were laughing at your STUPIDITY and all of the sudden you want to call them "terrorist"? LOOL your DESPERATE attempts on getting support wont work this time i'm pretty sure alot of AMERICANS and U.N knows that words "terrorist" has been ABUSED first of SOMALIS are "MODERATES" our culture, religion, tradition is a proven fact we arent extremist but i'll tell you how people transform into extremists and it is WAR, INJUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, ect even when somalis were in state of war it was all about CLAN based not about religion so once again your attempts labeling SOMALIS as terrorist is PATHETIC! it might fooled the BUSH admns and the neo-cons into thinking somalis were terrorist because their muslim i'm pretty most AMERICANS are well educated enough to differentiate FACTS from FICTION but at the end of the day we both know ethiopian government CANNOT live without FOREIGN SUPPORT and ASSISTANCE mark my words once somalis UNITE we will chase you COWARDS back to AIDS ABABA lool
Posted By: ahmedeegge @ 01/27/2008 4:52:05 PM
Comment: ethiopia military is comiting crime against humanity when they deliberatly targeted the civilian people of ogaden region killing them detain them with out trail and raping women front of their relatives. this is humilating the ogaden people. killing torturing is a common thing in ogaden region thier is no law and order and only justice in ogaden is military justice which is killing torturing. thier is no civilian courts in ogaden and is only court is military one. meles zeawi
government was a rebel before but he forget that he was once abused by his people the ethiopian military and what happening in ogaden region is what happen meles zenawi region when mingiste was in power.
iam thanking the newsweek article about the suffering of ogaden people there is good journalist who knows what happening in ogaden and the cover up and continuis lie about the ethiopian government saying their no human abuse in ogaden everything is ok which is far from the reality.
if ethiopia is not lying about the ogaden suffring why they not allowing the international journalist to visit the region why they kick out all humanatarian agencies like red cross. ethiopia is new isreal of africa look what they doing somalia people in magadishu. discriminate shelling the civilian residents of magadishu. and shout to kill anything moving ethiopia invaded somalia state illegaly with the support from the USA. george bush government paid Mr. meles zenawi $300 million dollar to invade somalia and he cashing in since he invaded somalia and he dousn't care his poor soldeirs dying every day in mogadishu and residents draging their dead body in the streets of mogadishu.
meles he cares only to fill his bank the American dollar and that his target
let me remind you that meles himself he was living in somalia before as refugee
and he started his rebel movement in somalia he paid the somalia hopitality to invade their country aand killing the civilian every day.
this will be end of so called ethiopia and the somali ogaden people will rise and devend themselfes. ethiopia can't feed it is own people and they want invade noughbering countries , somalia, eriterea, sudan, it is blind man leeding blind man they way Mr.meles Zenawi leading to ethiopia. and it will ended up disaster.
ahmed eegge