Millennium celebrations overshadowed by severe violations of human rights

Ethopia’s celebrations for the beginning of a new millennium, which in accordance with the Julian calendar are taking place on Wednesday, will be overshadowed by severe violations of human rights and the fear of a new war with Eritrea. The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) criticised on Monday that Ethiopian troops in the neighbouring country of Somalia and in the region of Ogaden in the east of Ethiopia are responsible for severe breaches of human rights. In Somalia the army does not distinguish between the civilian population and combatants. Eye witnesses report that civilian targets are being bombed regardless of any considerations.

In Ogaden also the situation of the civilians is dramatic. To combat a resistance movement the army is pursuing here a scorched earth policy with the destruction of villages. Everyone without exception is under suspicion of supporting the rebel Ogadan National Liberation Front (ONLF). Since the international aid workers, among them the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), have on the orders of the authorities had to leave the area, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated considerably.

„The new round of talks with the neighbouring country on the settlement of the border question has broken down so a new war between Ethiopia and Eritrea seems imminent”, warned the GfbV Africa expert, Ulrich Delius. Each country holds the other responsible for the escalation of the tension. Ethiopia has to the present day stubbornly refused to implement the recommendations of the Independent Eritrean-Ethiopian Border Commission on the new demarcation line. The commission was set up following the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries in December 2000. It ended a war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, in which between 1998 and 2000 more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

From the west of Ethiopia too there is disturbing news, said Delius. Since July 2007 more than 100 people from the ethnic group of the Oromo have been arbitrarily arrested. In Ethiopia several thousand Oromo are in custody, most of whom without any court hearing. They are charged with having supported the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).