Addis Ababa: Worsening security in the Somali breakaway region of Puntland is choking off humanitarian efforts, donors and aid agencies warned Friday, nearly two weeks after two UN staffers escaped an ambush. This has prompted agencies to temporarily reduce the number of international staff in the northeastern region.
In recent days, International news sources have begun to spill out of Ethiopia detailing human rights abuses in Somalia and Eastern side. Human Rights Watch issued a report urging Ethiopia to stop "abuses violate the laws of war in Somalia."
The Government of Ethiopia categorically rejects the allegations of Amnesty International that Ethiopian troops in Somalia have killed people by slitting their throats “like goats”.
This is an outright, and deliberate, lie, fed to Amnesty by groups affiliated to Al-Shabaab, groups that use the cover of human rights to promote their terrorist agenda, a Geeska Afrika Magazine report said.
The U.S. government considers Ethiopia an important ally in the war on terror, since it shares borders with Eritrea, Sudan, and Somalia, the latter invaded by Ethiopia this past Christmas with Washington's approval. Ethiopia has not been able to extricate itself from Somalia, and the military has been accused of possible war crimes there. Mogadishu even has a new nickname: "Baghdad on the Sea."
In addition to sending nearly half a billion dollars in aid money to Ethiopia every year, more than to any other sub-Saharan African country, the United States also supplies the Ethiopian military with funds, arms, and special forces training from Army Rangers.
ONLF Statement On Puntland's Abduction & Extraordinary Rendition of ONLF Officials:
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) strongly condemns the forced abduction, detention and extraordinary rendition of two ONLF Central Committee members by the Puntland regional administration in Somalia on 22nd of April 2008.
This act constitutes a clear violation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and other Forms of Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment as the two officials have a clear and well founded fear of persecution including torture in Ethiopia.
The two ONLF political prisoners were removed by force from their hotel in Garowe in central Somalia by security forces of the Puntland administration.
After intense interrogation, they were then driven in the personal vehicle of the Puntland Minister of Finance Mohamed Ali Yusuf "Ga Gaab" to Ethiopian security forces waiting for them on the Ogaden side of the border with Somalia.
One of the ONLF officials was in Puntland to protest the deliberate killing of a citizen of Ogaden by Puntland security forces in a jail in the northern city of Bosaaso and to assist his family members. He was in regular contact with Puntland officials who never objected to his presence. The other ONLF official was in Puntland visiting his spouse and children. Both were unarmed political figures and posed no threat to the security of Puntland.
The ONLF considers this act to constitute a clear hostile intent on the part of the Puntland regional administration toward the people of Ogaden.
The consequences of this action shall be the sole responsibility of the Puntland regional administration.
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Somali News