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By: Saafi
Labafidhin
July
14, 2008
Ethiopia’s
TPLF regime –better known for slaying,
starving, oppressing, and sabotaging its
civilians – receives the largest
international aid in the whole continent of
Africa and therefore is dependent on foreign
aid in the form of bilateral as well as
multilateral agreements. A great portion of
this aid is channeled by donor nations
through Non-Governmental Organizations. The
Distribution of NGO presence in Ethiopia’s
different regions is very asymmetrical.
Throughout the country there are millions
suffering as a result of recurrent droughts
followed by famine. However while the
government does not care about its people
the International NGOs who operate in
Ethiopia seem to favor (or are forced by
TPLF’s Relief Society Tigray -REST- to
operate in Tigray) some regions over the
others. Those who are willing to help people
in remote areas like the Ogaden are forced
to work in regions they would not choose
otherwise. The few who dare to insist help
the needy face obstructions and their staff
is intimidated daily. The Ogaden whose
people are self sufficient pastoralists were
previously known to have been less
aid-dependent compared to the rest of
Ethiopia. However, government default,
ongoing war against unarmed civilians, lack
of international pressure, Harassing the few
NGOs on the ground complicated the
livelihoods of these civilians.
If the current
government boasts of achieving an 11% annual
growth and claim sustained development of
the main sectors of the country, they know
they are not talking about Ogaden because
for them Ogaden is only a war zone where
they do not bother investing in schools,
clinics, veterinary health posts, roads etc.
The only significant symbol of the
government presence in the Ogaden is huge
military personnel (some sources estimate
almost half of Ethiopia’s military to be
stationed in the Ogaden despite the many war
frontiers Ethiopia has!!). This military is
used to inflict the most imaginable harm on
the people. They continue their daily mass
killings of unarmed civilians (my maternal
uncle was the last victim I heard. They
killed him while he was milking his camel
for his children!!!), they torture,
arbitrarily arrest, blockade and destroy
towns etc.
While they
kill people meaninglessly, they are
determined to obstruct anyone trying to lend
the people a hand. All local NGOs are
ordered to make food and other necessary
items distributions through the so called
Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Agency
(DPPA) which is controlled by the army
leaders. Eventually, food is used as a
weapon and never reaches the intended
beneficiaries. The local NGOs have no choice
and they are well aware of the whereabouts
of those who questioned such acts. They know
the fate of Sulub and his fellow men from
Ogaden Welfare and Development Organization
(OWDA). Some local charity organizations
have reported that their vehicles are
forcefully used by the army against the law.
Some government stooges even demand bribes
otherwise will declare NGOs as Nabadiid
which mean anti-peace!!!
The
international NGOs are not spared by the
obstacles of the Ethiopian government and
the last victim is MSF-Switzerland who
pulled out of their last operational post –Fiiq.
Apparently, MSF endured a prolonged and
repeated Ethiopian harassment but reached
their limit when they feared for their
staffs’ lives as was clearly stated by the
organization’s and AFP reported:
Repeated
administrative hurdles and intimidations
towards MSF staff in the Fiiq area have
prevented the organization from bringing
urgently needed medical care to vulnerable
populations. Despite agreements signed with
federal authorities, MSF international staff
members have not received necessary work
permits and could only be on site for short
periods.
“Over the six months of our intervention,
our medical teams could only work for ten
weeks in Fiiq town and five in the periphery
of the town where the most important needs
are,” said Hugues Robert, in charge of the
MSF Ethiopia program in Geneva. “It
significantly reduces the medical impact of
our action.”
MSF is not the
first to terminate operations in the Ogaden.
MSF Belgium and International Committee of
Red Cross (ICRC) have also been accused of
supporting rebel groups and their permission
revoked against the international law
–Ethiopia is a signatory to the
International Humanitarian Law which gives
ICRC among others unlimited access to war
zones. This comes a time when Meles has
waged war against Somalis in the Ogaden and
the need for Independent NGOs is eminent
more than ever. Meles and his fellow men
such as Bereket Simon has openly boasted to
have accumulated experience during their
struggle against the Derg and will never
allow NGOs to help people in need. Parallel
to all these difficulties is the law drafted
by the order of Meles to restrict NGO
freedom. The controversial draft law
enables the Government to fully control the
activities of NGOs.
In addition to
the genocide and economic blockade of this
hapless region, Ethiopia has left no stone
unturned to cover its atrocities in front of
the international community. They clearly
deny access to international media even
those who are pro-TPLF. Despite this, the
world were able to see as the chain of
tragedies has been unfolding in Ogaden
through the brave reporters of New York
Times, The Daily Telegraph (both of whose
reporters were illegally arrested by TPLF in
Degah Bur and Godey respectively), Aljazeera,
Los Angels Times, etc. The latest Amnesty
International Report on Ogaden was supported
by undeniable Sattellite Images of destroyed
villages and towns whose population were
also killed in the masses.
While all this
is taking place the world is watching and
doing nothing. The United Nations who in
2007 sent emergency assessment team who
later that year came up with recommendations
including the need for broader investigation
by the UN has done nothing. We know how they
were being silenced.The international
community led by USA pursues the policy of
look and see even though they all know that
Ogaden is far worse than Darfur they won’t
annoy their leaders who consider Meles as an
important ally in what they call ‘war
against terror.’ Instead of holding the TPLF
thugs of their crimes, it is sad to see
famous lobbyists DLA-Piper earning their
salaries by sabotaging the highly awaited
Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of
2007 –a bill supporting human rights and
democracy in Ethiopia that was put forward
by responsible individuals and passed by the
United States House of Representatives. But
USA cannot claim to be the police of the
World while they are defending such
atrocities in the name of ‘war on terror’. I
wonder how USA can voice against Robert
Mugabe and Omar Al-Bashir while letting
criminal Meles attend G8 summit. The world
will witness the suffering of humanity if
the policy of double standardness is not
re-evaluated. We are all human beings and we
deserve the same rights!!
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