ONLF
rebellion.
Article by Jonathan Alpeyrie.
Ogadenia
is a forgotten land wrecked by war and very harsh living conditions.
The region, which is still today at the center of the volatile Horn
of Africa, has seen little economic progress since its first taste
of brief independence in the first Ogaden war of 1977/78. In 1991,
the Meles government came into power. The region remains to this
day a barren land with only two main roads a few large towns like
Kabri Dahar, Jijiga and Quabribayah, which are controlled by government
forces trying to tame the rebellion led by the ONLF (Ogaden National
Liberation Front). However, to fully understand the war of today’s
Ogadenia, one needs to go back further in history and take a look
at the European influence in the region.
With the defeat of the Somali forces and Ogaden rebels in 1978 in
the hands of the Russian backed Ethiopian army, Ogadenia was reconquered
entirely. Many of the militia survivors retreated to fight another
day. Three years later, the ONLF was created to continue the fighting
to force the Ethiopian government into giving Ogadenia its long
due independence. The ONLF, which was Founded in 1984 by Abdirahman
Mahdi, the Chairman of the, Western Somali Liberation Movement Youth
Union, systematically recruited their own kin and replaced WSLF
in the Ogaden as the WSLF support from Somalia dwindled and finally
dried up in the late eighties. By 1993, the ONLF fully consolidated
its support among all of the Ogaden Somalis in Somalian territory
under Ethiopian rule. In 1994, the ONLF was a fully functional military
force and Chairman Admiral Mohammed Omar Osman was reelected for
a second term in 2004.
The ONLF announced elections in December 1992 for the five Ogaden
districts, and won 80% of the seats of the local parliament. When
Ethiopia tried to force ONLF to accept a new constitution and the
ONLF refused: the Meles government declared war on them. The rebel
faction continues to operate in the Ogaden as of 2006 and is the
target of full-scale military operations by the Ethiopian army after
ONLF stated that it would not allow Malaysian oil company Petronas
to extract oil from the Ogaden, let alone give them independence.
In 2005, Ethiopia proposed peace talks with ONLF, which the rebel
group accepted on the condition that talks be held in a neutral
country and with the presence of a neutral mediator from the international
community. The talks broke down due to Ethiopia's insistence that
the two parties meet without an arbitrator and held in countries
closely allied in the Horn of Africa. ONLF became a part of the
Alliance for freedom and democracy on May 21st 2006, fighting occurred
alongside OLF and smaller rebel groups operating in the North like
TPDM.
Again in 2006, the Meles government, with the full support of US
and UK governments, has vowed to crush the ONLF rebellion once and
for all, reinforcing the 15 thousand permanent men garrisoned in
Ogadenia with a further: 25 thousand troops, jet fighters, armored
cars and some helicopters. Between February and July 2006, the army
tried to destroy the rebellion, but failed completely, losing thousands
of troops in the process. The ONLF remained undefeated. Why did
the government, with such an overwhelming force managed to fail
in its plan? They didn’t face more than 5 to 7 thousand ONLF
troops through out the region. The answer to this is complex. Above
all the ONLF’s strong support base with the local civilian
population is key. The systematic brutalization of Ogaden civilians,
and the lack of military discipline and cohesion within government
troops is another reason they weren’t defeated. Lastly, there
were totally inadequate strategies and tactics employed against
the rebels.
Indeed, the government has found itself in a sticky spot. Its 250
thousand men army is ill equipped to fight a war on many fronts:
against the five active rebel groups operating within Ethiopia’s
border, the perpetual tensions on the Eritrean border, and now the
rise of Islam in Somalia. Furthermore, its ranks are racked with
desertion, and lack of discipline due to the internal ethnic strife,
which reigns from within its units.
Meles has given key positions to his own ethnic kin, the Tigray,
both in the government, and in the army, making his policies unpopular
among lesser Ethnic groups fighting alongside the Tigrays. The officer
corps is overwhelmingly from Tigray “terroir”, leaving
other ethnic groups less attractive positions within the army. Therefore,
blocking any possibilities for them to go up the ladder, the officer
corps often uses same ethnic groups to fight each other, pitting
Oromos against Oromos, or Sidamas against Sidamas. The poorly led
Oromo, Amhara soldier is sometimes forced to desert, finding it
unbearable to kill his own kin. As a consequence, a non-negligible
amount of government soldiers desert their unit to escape the grueling
reality of the Ogaden front.
This is the case of Thomas Gin Ernest an ethnic Hadiyan from Southern
Ethiopia, drafted by force into Meles’s army, who decided
after serving for six years to desert with a few others to the ONLF.
“During our walk to ONLF lines, half of our party changed
their minds and returned to the military camp. They were shot for
treason soon after” He says this happy to have made the right
choice. When captured, Mr. Gin Ernest was given some money so he
can go home to his family and be reunited. By treating the prisoners
with respect and dignity, the rebels attract more allies to their
cause.
More importantly, government forces have created their own monster
by using terror tactics against the local population. The government’s
military forces are known to use violence and killings against locals
Ogadens. These procedures show how Meles’s forces underestimate
their enemy. Soldiers will usually enter a village to look for potential
ONLF rebels, helpers and sympathizers pick people randomly. In essence,
Ogadens sympathize with the struggle and contribute to it, either
by joining the fighting units, or supplying them with food, water,
and guns, making them all traitors to an angry eye.
Also, many civilians have experienced repeated violence, either
personally, or a relative. Alimo Ahment, a 24-year-old Ogaden woman,
has a common story to tell. She joined up like so many before her,
because her relatives were accused of helping the ONLF, her father
was put to jail and tortured for three months These kinds of terror
tactics has had the exact opposite results than those expected by
the government: Thus, it has increased the number of Ogadens wanting
to join up with the ONLF in ranks, and hatred against the government
persists within the Ogaden population--creating an entire new generation
of freedom fighters in the region.
The widespread tortures, imprisonment, and killings in the region,
has seen thousands of students and locals put in jail. It is said
that in the main town of Jijiga where 20 thousand souls reside,
10% are currently in military camps or local jails. Most of them
are accused of helping the ONLF. Many are put in confinement without
trial for a minimum of three months, which is the regular torture
period, unless the prisoner is rich enough to pay a bribe. Tortures
are a daily reality and a well-orchestrated practice. It starts
at 6AM when guards grab the prisoner into a small room, or sometimes
an unusable bathroom. There, the interrogation begins, with the
simple question. If the prisoner is part of the ONLF organization,
and each time the answer is no, he or she is beaten, electrocuted,
or raped if the prisoner is a woman. This torture is repeated twice
a day for four hours each time. Survivors have recorded extreme
examples of pregnant women being tortured.
Shamaad Wali, a 29 year ONLF female fighter recalls: “During
my time in prison, I remember the guards throwing in an eight month
pregnant woman. They repeatedly beat her until she gave birth, but
the baby was already dead. They just threw it away like garbage”.
She says with tears in her eyes. The government of course denies
such claims, but in each village such stories of tortures and killings
are quite common and widespread.
Thirdly, and lastly, government forces have failed to contain the
rebellion, which has gained in strength and confidence. On the ground,
the heavily burdened Ethiopian soldiers are not able to catch or
kill large numbers of ONLF troopers, who operate in small band using
hit and run tactics; a pretty common problem for a conventional
force. The ONLF has been able to keep the initiative, attacking
on their terms, ambushing reinforcing convoys, infantry columns,
and villages held by enemy forces. Ethiopian forces lose thousands
of troops each year due to desertions and ONLF attacks. To be sent
to Ogadenia is considered by soldiers as a punishment. Prisoners
all agree that fighting the Ogadens is the worst enemy they can
encounter in Ethiopia. Known for their warlike behavior and fighting
skills, they are waging an efficient insurgency in Ogadenia.
Governmental
troops do not control the land or the local population.
For ONLF cadre, victory is now within reach. From the rebel’s
point of view, the situation in Addis is quickly becoming unsustainable,
suggesting a partition within the country, due to the rise of ethnic
separatism. To put it in one of the commander’s words: “We
started in 1994 with less than one hundred soldiers, and now look
at us with seven thousand freedom fighters willing to fight and
die for the liberation of our people,” says proudly the 50-year-old
veteran commander. As it is true that Mr. Meles’s government
is fighting on many fronts, and his army cannot defeat these various
rebellions throughout the country. Powerful Western allies, such
as the United Kingdom, provide him with weapons and money to sustain
the war effort, back him; while US funding also contribute to fight
against terrorism in Ethiopia and contain Somalia’s Islamic
rise. However, it is well established that no terrorist operates
in Ethiopia, but for many of his allies in the West, Ethiopia is
seen as a Christian state with common values. This can block the
spread of Islam in East Africa. This kind of Western strategies
and political thought will surely continue to block any attempts
by rebels to challenge the government, and its military institutions
leading to their replacement.
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