Fowsia Abdulkadir
Chair, Ogaden Human Rights Committee
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on African and Global Health
“
Tuesday October 2, 2007
Chairman
Payne, ranking member Smith and the distinguished members of this committee –
Thank you for holding this very important hearing that puts a spotlight on
Mr. Chairman,
at this time I would like to ask that my full testimony be submitted into the
record, consisting of the paper I am reading and the 2007 annual report of
Ogaden Human Rights Committee, released on August 8th, 2007.
I represent a human rights advocacy organization. The Ogaden Human
Rights Committee, (OHRC) is an independent, voluntary, non-profit
community-based human rights advocacy organization. OHRC was founded on June 13th,
1995, in Godey, Ogaden, to monitor and promote the observance of
internationally accepted human rights standards in the Ogaden. The OHRC
researches, documents and reports human rights violations in the Ogaden.
The Ogaden Human Rights Committee has branches across the globe.
As a volunteer and an independent researcher, I chair the Board of Directors of
OHRC Canada.
Background
The Ogaden also known as the Somali Region of Ethiopia is located
in the south-eastern part of Ethiopia; bordering the Afar region and the Re
The Ogaden is a place many of us hold dear. Partly because it is a
place where Somalis have been historically marginalized by successive Ethiopian
regimes; and it is laced with history of refugees and internally displaced
persons; but most importantly it is a place dear to our hearts because it’s our
homeland. My parents fled from the Ogaden in the early 50s, and became refugees
in
Like my mother, too many Ogadenis have died in exile as refugees,
and in their memory I would like to share with you a quote from David Turton’s
article titled “the Meaning of place in a
World of Movement: lessons from long-term Field Research in Southern Ethiopia.
He states: “...to
understand how a sense of place becomes bound up with a person’s social and
individual identity, we must treat place, not as stage for social activity but
as a ‘product’ of it. Such an understanding of the link between people and
place helps us to appreciate that displacement is not just about the loss of
place but also about the struggle to make a place in the world, where
meaningful action and shared understanding is possible” (Turton 2005: 258)[1]
The dislocation and displacement of the people of Ogaden
Today, because of state sponsored violence, and a century long
protracted ethnic-based conflict, the people of Ogaden are internally displaced
and are forced to flee from their homes. It is important to note,
unfortunately, this has happened too many times. Just like what is happening
right now, massive displacement of civilian population, there were a number of
crisis in this region, which resulted in massive displacement of people and
mass exodus from the Ogaden. I have compiled in my research several such
historical dates when the people of this region where internally and externally
displaced over the years; here are two examples:
·
The 1977 Somali – Ethiopian war reeked havoc in this region.
After this war, there was a mass exodus from this region into
neighboring countries in the Horn of Africa. And there were thousands of people
who ended up in refugee camps in
·
In 1991 when the Somali state totally collapsed, and the Somali
civil war erupted, these refugees were once again forced to repatriate into the
Ogaden[2].
Through all these upheavals, women from this region were giving
birth to children and raising them under such uncertainties, enduring the
challenges that come with life as refugees. Although I was not born there, I
grew up with the stories of these refugees who like my mother, their dreams of one
day returning to their homeland overwhelmed the imagination.
The current state of
Currently the present regime has engaged in what can be described
as a war on the civilian population and as the case is always women and
children are bearing the brunt of the pain. As you know Mr. Chairman, when the
current regime came into power it promised a new beginning for all the people
of
Unfortunately, and to the disappointment of Ethiopian citizens and
the international community the current regime failed to respect human rights
it vowed to protect. Local and international human rights organization (such as
Ogaden Human Rights Committee, Oromo Support Group and Sidama Concern, as well
as Amnesty International and Human Right Watch) widely report on the violations
of basic constitutional rights.
In
the Ogaden recently, American journalists were harassed and jailed for some
days. It is important to note that, according to the
Human rights abuses by Ethiopian armed forces in the Ogaden
Under successive regimes, the entire Ethiopian population
suffered, my testimony today focuses on the Ogaden, The people of Ogaden have
been subjected to harassment, unlawful detentions, rape and torture.
“Human rights
violations reports are body counts, torture practices, an endless list of
horrors; the violations seem beyond comprehension, mad men acting without
reason. And the reports seem to be written by someone with stomach of a
physician and the mind of a statistician” (David Matas, 1994:3)[5].
David Mata argues that human rights violations do not occur
in an ideological vacuum, to the contrary, in many instances these acts are
manifestations of an ideology[6].
Mr. Chairman, in researching human rights violations in the
Ogaden, we have documented the rape of innocent young girls, the hijacking of
privately owned vehicles,
There are countless instances where it seems, that rape is
being used as a weapon. In 2003, the Ethiopian troops’ commander, in
Qabridaharre, told a gathering in the township, “Any women suspected of harboring or being a relative of an ONLF member
would be raped and then killed” (OHRC Report, 2007:29.
Women from the Ogaden (the Somali region) have recounted
horror stories of rape:
·
Rape in detention
centers.
·
Rape in their homes
while their children watch.
·
They have been raped
in their villages and were put under house arrest to prevent them from sharing
their stories.
According to the OHRC 2007 report, on March 27th,
2007, Fathi Moalim Khalif, who is a former rape victim, was detained with other
four civilians, in Dhagahabur. Prior to this arrest, members of the Ethiopian
armed forces have gang raped her in January 2007. Fathi is pregnant as a result
of that rape. Speaking to OHRC’s researchers her younger brother said: “They
think they can hide their heinous crime by putting her behind bars. Everyone
knows what happened to her. No jail or detention camp can cover their crime. We
will never forget what they have done to her”. (OHRC, 2007:29)
Mr. Chairman, and distinguished committee members, you might
be aware, almost the entire Ogaden population is Muslim; and as such they raise
their daughters in a very traditional environments. It is with tremendous
sadness that I report to you these women are not only living with the
socio-cultural stigma that comes with rape in such traditional communities; but
they are also contracting HIV/AIDS and other STDs at an alarming rate. This is
one of the rare communities that HIV/AIDS has not been detected until recently.
In addition to these women getting STDs, they oftentimes
get pregnant and bear children because of these rapes. It is important to
imagine the magnitude of the suffering these women endure.
Since the current Ethiopian government came to power, a
large number of women have been detained, tortured, raped, and some have
disappeared or been killed. Women are the most vulnerable groups to suffer
abuse and violence in the Ogaden, simply because they are the relatives of, or
suspected sympathizers with the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).
It is important to note that the above mention actions are
in direct violation of the international convention on the protection of women.
Article 1 of the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVW) states that:
“for the purposes of this Declaration, the term “violence against women” means
any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in
physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats
of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring
in
Similarities to the
Mr. Chairman, the Somali region in
Mr. Chairman, It is no secret that Somalis in
Mr.
Chairman, many have compared what is happening in Ogaden to Darfur, We all know
what has happened in
Furthermore,
my presentation would be incomplete if I did not mention the one big difference
between Ogaden and
The
currently accepted definition of genocide is the one contained in the 1984
United Nations Convention on Genocide:
“In the present Convention, genocide
means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or
in part, a national ethnical, or religious groups, as such: 1) Killing members
of the group; 2) Causing serious bodily harm to members of the group; 3)
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring
about its physical destruction in whole or in part; 4) Imposing measures intended
to prevent birth within the group; 5) Forcibly transferring children of the
group to another group”.
Actions by
the Ethiopian military such as these listed below are to genocide.
·
On
July 22nd, 2007, in Qoriile, Ethiopian armed forces came in with a
list of names, and then arrested a number of civilians. They transferred them
to their barracks, where they were subjected to extensive torture. On July 24th,
2007, the Ethiopian armed forces killed the detainees in their custody, in
Babaase. Most of the victims were hanged from acacia trees and then shot to
ascertain their death. Ridwan Hassan Rage survived, and told about this
massacre.
·
Mr.
Chairman, in November 20th, 2005, Ethiopian forces razed to the
ground the
·
Earlier
in 2005, Ethiopian armed forces committed mass killings in Qabridaharre,
Farmadow, Shilaabo, Madax-Maroodi, Karin-Bilicle and Gurdumi. (OHRC report
2007:18)
Mr.
Chairman, I would submit to you that these acts fit very well within Article I
and II of the current UN definition of genocide.
Mr.
Chairman, it was clearly stated in the US State Department’s Human Rights
report on
1. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
2. Disappearance
3. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
4.
Arbitrary
Arrest or Detention
5.
Police
detained journalists during the year
6.
Arbitrary
Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
7. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Mr. Chairman, the current regime has recently released some prisoner, however in the Ogaden the jails in major cities, such as Jigjiga, Dhagahbur, Qabridahare, Godey and Fiiq, are full of victims of unlawful arrests. And the resulting overcrowding in these un-kept below human standard prisons is further causing a health risk.
Mr. Chairman, the
·
Severe physical and emotional torture, constant danger of rape
that looms over all women to include girls as young as early teens
·
Random indiscriminate open air shooting, and killing.
·
Open-ended intimidation of Community and Business leaders
·
The
current military blockage, as documented in the UN report, of villages, towns
and cities is making Manmade disaster exponentially worse
Mr. Chairman, on August 3, 2007 - Senator Leahy made a passionate statement on the floor of the US Senate. After sighting election fraud, illegal imprisoning of civilians, documented Human rights abuses, the government’s role of inciting violence, he finished in part
“It is no excuse that the Ethiopian military has
impeded access to the Ogaden, as it has done. In fact, this should give rise to
a sense of urgency. If we cannot properly investigate these reports, and if the
Leahy Law, which prohibits
Ladies and Gentlemen, there isn’t anything complex about what the people of Ogaden want.
The people of Ogaden want what is due to them under the current Ethiopian constitution. The Ethiopian constitution explicitly states that human rights, civil and political rights, economic and cultural rights and the essential tenants of living with basic human dignity must be honored.
Mr.
Chairman, the current regime failed miserably to adhere to its own
constitution. And when questioned about
its actions, this regime gets into defensive obfuscations to conceal the
unpleasant realities on the ground. To that end, we are encouraged by the
recent UN fact-finding mission into Ogaden. We look forward to the day when the
Ogaden is open to international aid agencies and can begin to repair and
rebuild where the current regime has destroyed and depleted.
Mr.
Chairman the people of Ogaden are hopeful of the day they can participate in
fair and democratic elections, enjoy freedom of the press, and access to
development and investments from the outside world.
Mr.
Chairman, being minority is not a reason to be killed and tortured, being
Somali is not a reason to be raped and beaten; and certainly being a Muslim is
not a crime punishable with indignity.
While we, the
Ogaden community, in the Diaspora, applaud this very important hearing, we want
you to know that this is only the beginning.
We are going to hold you accountable as well. You have now taken on the
task of researching what is happening on the ground, therefore, you have no
choice but to take action.
Ladies and
Gentlemen, I applaud you for your leadership but I implore you to live up to
the standards of Human Dignity that your constituents here at home live by.
The Ethiopian
regime needs to be challenged by the
Concluding remarks.
Mr. Chairman, having highlighted
the difficulties the people of Ogaden are dealing with, I would like to point
out that it is not only the Somali region that has suffered under the
brutalities of the current regime of
Setting the context for democracy
and the process of democratization in
Mr. Chairman, the
I thank you for giving me this
opportunity to speak regarding this life and death issue and I thank you on
behalf of the many whose lives you your action will touch. I look forward to
your questions and I hope I can shed additional
light on this issue.
[1] Journal of Refugee Studies Vol. 18,
No. 3 David Turton (2005) “The Meaning of Place in a World of Movement: Lessons
from long-term Field Research in
[2] F. Abdulkadir unpublished research,
2007
[3] Journal of Oromo Studies Vol. 13,
No. 1&2, Fowsia Abdulkadir (2006) “Human Rights Predicament: Analysis of
the Somali Region (Ogaden) in
[4] Review of African Political Economy,
No. 91: 73-94; Khalif, Mohamud H. & Doornbos, Martin “The Somali in
[5] David Matas, 1994:3; “No More: The
[6] ibid
[7] “The State and Democracy in Africa” edited by George Nzongloa-Ntalaja & Margaret C. Lee; published by Africa World Press Inc; 1998 – Chapter 1
[8] “Reflections on Leadership in