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In two articles (Criminal ´Ethiopia´, Charged With Crimes Against the Mankind, Cannot Be Left to Exist / http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/64846 -Human Rights Watch Report on Ogaden demands UN Intervention in ´Ethiopia´ / http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/64958), I re-published the editorial article published in the Human Rights Watch website along with the HRW Report on Ogaden (under title ´Ethiopia: ´Army Commits Executions, Torture, and Rape in Ogaden´ and subtitle ´Donors Should Act to Stop Crimes Against Humanity´) and the Report Summary.
In five other articles, under the titles ´HRW Report on Ogaden, Contents, Methodology, and Terminology´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65437), ´HRW Report on Ogaden, Part 1: the Background, and the Early US Reaction´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65593), ´HRW Report on Ogaden Reveals the Evilness of the ´Ethiopian´ Tyranny´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65785), ´HRW Report on Ogaden reconfirms the Abyssinian State´s Criminal and Barbaric Nature´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65831) and ´´Ethiopia´: Killings, Forced Evacuation, and Destruction of Villages - HRW Report on Ogaden´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65950), I re-published preliminary sections, the Report´s Part 1 (the Background), and sections of Part 2 (Violations by the Ethiopian Government), while also referring to the arrogant and unacceptable early US reaction.
On the other hand, in an independent article, under the title ´Comments on the HRW Report on Ogaden, Ancient History of Somalia, Abyssinia, Sudan and Yemen´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65828), I criticized several points pertaining to the historical background of the Report´s topic. In this article, I re-publish further sections from the Report´s Part 2. In forthcoming articles, I will proceed through further republication of sections of the Report´s Part 2.
Part 2: Violations by the Ethiopian Government
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/ethiopia0608/10.htm#_Toc200167138
Reprisal Killings
In addition to the forced displacement, village burnings and killings associated with the government's systematic campaign to remove civilian populations from rural, conflict-affected areas, Ethiopian forces have also carried out a large number of reprisal killings and other serious rights violations.
In most of the several dozen incidents involving willful killings or summary executions investigated by Human Rights Watch, the armed forces carried out reprisal attacks against civilians after clashes between ONLF fighters and government soldiers near their villages, or after receiving information that ONLF fighters had visited particular villages (often by tracing presumed ONLF tracks). The military has also sought to pressure the relatives and village elders to produce ONLF members, and has detained or killed those who are unable to comply with the order. This is a form of collective punishment. The laws of war do not permit belligerent reprisals during internal armed conflicts,99 and collective punishments are prohibited outright.100
Dalal, February 2007
In mid-February 2007, ENDF soldiers came to Dalal village, near Qorrahey village (in Korahe zone), and ordered the civilian population to gather for a meeting. At the meeting, the soldiers accused the residents of supporting and feeding ONLF forces. Sheikh Mohammed and two other village elders told the soldiers they were wrong, saying that their own children were starving and it would be impossible to provide food to the ONLF. The soldiers then accused Sheikh Mohammed's eldest son of having died fighting for the ONLF, when in fact he had died fighting for the Ethiopian army in Badme during the Ethiopia-Eritrean conflict. Sheikh Mohammed and the two other elders argued back, and the soldiers took them away and summarily executed them.
When the soldiers returned the bodies of the three elders to the village, the remaining crowd became enraged. The soldiers began beating and detaining some of the women. Among those detained was the 22-year-old daughter of one of the elders, whom the soldiers beat and raped before releasing.101
Gurdumi, April 2007
In early April 2007, an ENDF force came to the village of Gurdumi in Aware wereda, Dhagahbur zone, and the military commander ordered the population to gather at the center of the village, near the administration office. In his speech, the commander ordered the villagers to bring back their ONLF relatives from the bush. The military commander then held lengthy talks with the village elders, who explained to him that they had no power to order ONLF relatives to return from the bush, let alone arrest them. The commander allegedly threatened the elders, saying that those who failed to bring back their "sons" would be killed.
A few hours after the meeting, the commander ordered the arrest of the elders.
Four or five elders, including Abdullahi Qabille, a local official, and Hiiray Farah were brought to the village center and summarily executed. The army displayed their bodies, and refused the villagers immediate permission to bury them. Several others, including village elder Sheikh Yusuf Abdullahi, were detained and remain unaccounted for.102
Gudhis, June 2007
In June 2007 heavy fighting occurred between ONLF insurgents and government troops in the area around Gudhis town, in the Gudhis wereda of Gode zone. A week after the fighting, ENDF soldiers entered Gudhis early in the morning, confiscated five goats, and returned to the nearby bush to slaughter and eat them.
The same afternoon, the soldiers returned to Gudhis and detained eight men and a woman. The woman, Fadumo Hashi Aden, and one of the men, Abdiwahad Hassan, were released unharmed. The other seven men were shot near the village, according to a resident whose relatives were among the dead. Those killed were Rashid Gamadiid Abdurahman, Mohammed Mawsar Adan, Ibrahim Geed Abdiweli, Mohammedweli Shukri, Daabuul Mohammed Shukri, Mohammed Good Aden, and Ibrahim Hashi Abdi.103
Aleen, July 2007
In early July 2007, fighting took place between government forces and ONLF fighters near the village of Aleen (also known as Caleen), northeast of Shilabo town in Korahe zone. Following the fighting, ENDF soldiers entered the village of Aleen with their wounded. The soldiers, angry because of their losses, began killing civilians in and around the village, accusing them of supporting the ONLF. Among those killed that afternoon was Fatumo Abdi Hussein, 80, the mother of ONLF fighter Nur Faalug Mohamoud. Also killed were two boys, one of them Fatumo's grandson, Abdullahi Yare Mohamoud Faalug.104
As the village was burying the dead the next day, the soldiers returned and opened fire on the mourners, killing at least two and as many as four village elders, including Sheikh Ibrahim Farah and Mohammed Abdi Muse. After the shooting, most of the villagers fled in fear, and soldiers set the village on fire. According to an eyewitness: "They burned Aleen village on this very same day. The people fled the village because of the army's entrance and the killings that took place. But in the afternoon we saw from a distance the smoke from the burning village."105
A second eyewitness who was present in Aleen during its destruction recalled that the army commander had ordered the village evacuated before the burning:
I fled with my wife and children [from Lahelow] to Aleen, which is closer to Shilabo. In Aleen, there is a motorized borehole. We went there to look for water.
The soldiers came to Aleen, after they burned down Lahelow. Then they burned Aleen. We were there at the time. The soldiers arrived and ordered the people out of their homes. They gathered all of the people together. Then the commander ordered the village burned. The commander told us, "I have told you already to leave these small villages," and then they forced us out. Then they burned down all the homes. The houses are just huts, so it is easy to burn them.106
Qoriley, July 2007
One of the more gruesome summary executions by Ethiopian forces took place on July 24, 2007 near Qoriley village in Wardheer zone. During the early morning hours, approximately 400 soldiers from the military base in Danood arrived in Qoriley, and then gathered the villagers together for a speech by the military commander. According to an eyewitness:
The soldiers entered some houses and took money, food and clothes as they made their way to an old [abandoned] army base in Qoriley. At around 1 p.m., they came out of the base and gathered people around a number of large trees in the village. There were three Somali men who were guiding the army [names withheld]. These Somali men talked to the people, translating the speech of the army commander [name withheld].107
Human Rights Watch interviewed two additional witnesses who gave very similar accounts of the commander's speech. He accused the population of Qoriley of supporting the ONLF, and of not doing enough to bring their ONLF relatives back from the bush, reportedly telling the civilians, "We've been very patient with you, but today our patience has run out."108 The Somali interpreter then read out a list of nine men and two women to be detained. Those detained were Hassan Burale Elmi and his brother Ali Burale Elmi, who had another brother in the ONLF; Ahmed Gani Guled; Hassan Abdi Abdullahi; Farah Hussein Halosi; Abdi-hiis Sheikh Mohamoud Umar; Ilmoge Beddel; Kifah Rage; Bogos Shukri Mataan; and two women, Ayan Ali Good and Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid, who were accused of being the wives of ONLF members.109
Following their arrests, the nine men and two women were taken to the Qoriley military camp, which the soldiers had reoccupied that morning. During the night, the soldiers severely beat the two most senior elders in the group, Farah Hussein Halosi and Hassan Burale Elmi, breaking Hassan Burale Elmi's hand. The two detained women were also beaten (but not raped), and accused of being married to ONLF members.110
The next morning, the soldiers released the youngest of the detainees, Kifah Rage, and ordered him to walk a flock of goats to the Danood army base. The remaining 10 detainees were walked to Babaase village, about an hour's walk from Qoriley, where they spent a second night in detention.
Several eyewitnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch described how the villagers found the strangled bodies of the 10 detainees a few days later outside Babaase village. A businessman from the Qorile area told Human Rights Watch what he had seen: "All the [detainees] were taken to Babaase where they were strangled with ropes. I saw the ropes on their neck when we arrived [at] the scene. I saw the bodies of Ahmed Ghani Guled, Farah Hussein Halosi, and Ayan Ali Good."111
One of the detainees, Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid, survived the strangulation, and later told Human Rights Watch what she had experienced.112 She explained that the soldiers and the detainees had left the army camp in two groups, and the detainees were strangled soon after they left Babaase. Wounds on her neck appeared consistent with the attempted strangulation she described:
It was still early morning, before day break, and we were in a forested area. After a while, the soldiers stopped us under some trees, next to a water-well. The soldiers undressed all the men before they strangled them. They took away their sarongs, watches, and shoes. The women were not undressed.
They took away two men, Ilmoge Beddel and Abdi-hiis Sheik Mohamoud Umar. They put a rope around the neck of each of them as we stood watching. Then, they hanged Ilmoge from a tree, after a soldier climbed into the tree and put the rope around a branch. But they did not hang Abdi-hiis. Instead, they put the rope around his neck and two soldiers pulled in opposite directions, strangling him.
Then I was taken away with two men, Hassan Abdi Abdullahi and Ahmed Gani Guled. First they pulled ropes around the necks of the two men and pulled in opposite directions, and both fell down. They put me in a ditch while they were strangling the other two. One soldier tried to strangle me with the metal stick used for cleaning the gun [by pushing it down on my throat], but I twisted his finger until he released me. Then two other soldiers came and they put a rope around my neck and started pulling.
That is the last thing I remember, until I woke up still in the ditch. A naked body was on top of me, it was Ahmed Gani Guled, who was dead. I couldn't move out of the ditch until I was found by some women who came to the waterhole.113
All other nine detainees were found strangled to death.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a regional government official confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the Ethiopian army had strangled up to 12 detainees in Qoriley. According to the official, the attack on Qoriley occurred shortly after ONLF forces destroyed a commercial truck belonging to the Marehan clan outside Qoriley, and the elders of Qoriley refused to provide compensation to the Marehan clansmen. The regional official told Human Rights Watch that the actions of the army had outraged some civilian officials, who had gone to complain to the military about the Qoriley killings, but no soldiers had been arrested or punitive action taken by the army.114
Galalshe and San-Xaskule, August 2007
After forcing most of the rural population to relocate to the larger village of Galalshe which was home to an ENDF military base (see above), soldiers in August 2007 burned many of Galalshe's 400 civilian homes. The burning of Galalshe and other villages in the area was apparently in retaliation for heavy fighting between government forces from Galalshe and ONLF fighters in the nearby Daakhato Valley, four hours' walk away. As the soldiers began burning homes in Galalshe, the inhabitants tried to stop them. In response, the soldiers opened fire on the civilians, killing between eight and 15 civilians, including Mohamoud Rage Egal, 60, Abdulkadir Rage Egal (Mohamoud's brother), Aydid Muhumed Egal, Sheikh Abdullaahi Omar Egal, Farah Abdi Bade, Omar Faruk Mohammed, Fadumo Mohamoud Rage, and Dalha.115
San-Xaskule, another village in the area, was also burned around the same time by army forces, and five civilians were reportedly killed there, including Mohammed Abdi Samad, Fadumo, Mohammed Abdi "Arab," and Halimo Sharif Mohammed.116
Bukudhaba, August 2007
Around August 17, 2007, fierce fighting took place between the army and ONLF forces near the villages of Bukudhaba, Milmil, and Haahi, in Aware wereda, Dhagahbur zone. Afterwards, ENDF soldiers entered Bukudhaba village on August 18, killing at least eight civilians, including six elders, and burned down Bukudhaba and other villages in the area.
Bukudhaba was a large village of some 200 households located south of Aware town, and is famous for its large water reservoirs, which serve the pastoralist communities in the area. According to the villagers, Bukudhaba was also regularly visited by ONLF forces.117
Several witnesses recounted to Human Rights Watch how the soldiers came to Bukudhaba the morning after the fighting and executed a group of elders at the village mosque before burning down the village. One man told Human Rights Watch:
The soldiers came early in the morning, they were looking for men. They went to the mosque and found elders who were praying at the mosque, and shot five elders inside the mosque, including some guests to the village. They killed a sixth man outside the mosque.118
Several others gave Human Rights Watch similar accounts of the killings at the mosque. Although she was not in Bukudhaba at the time of the attack, a relative of Hiis Sulub Dagaal, an elder who was partially blind, told Human Rights Watch that he had been shot and killed during the attack on Bukudhaba:
He had left Dhagahbur because the army had confiscated all of our properties, so he went to stay […] in Bukudhaba. [During the attack,] only the elderly were left in the village; they found [Hiis Sulub Dagaal] and six other men at the mosque.
They shot them. I don't know whether they killed them in the mosque or outside the mosque, I was only told they were shot. He is buried in the village.119
The soldiers returned the next day to burn down the village, and killed two more men, Yusuf Dhiriq and Abdullahi Mohammed Ismael, as well as a woman, Fadumo Ahmed Ali, accusing them of belonging to the ONLF.120 "They shot people and started burning the village," said a 42-year-old man who described the burning of Bukudhaba to Human Rights Watch.
When they were burning Bukudhaba, I was in Baarta village which is less than a kilometer away, and I could see the smoke. The army proceeded to Baarta and burned that village also. Bukudhaba is a big village of about 200 houses with two water reservoirs. They damaged the water reservoirs by blowing up the wooden walls with explosives. This happened on the same day they burned Bukudhaba.121
Notes
99 See ICRC, Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 148, citing common article 3 to the Geneva Conventions, and Protocol II, art. 4.
100 Collective punishment is prohibited under Protocol II, art. 4(2)(b).
101 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 17, 2007.
102 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Garissa (Kenya), September 21, 2007.
103 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
104 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
105 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
106 Human Rights Watch interview with witness from Aleen (name withheld), Nairobi, September 23, 2007.
107 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-Rage Sahid, location withheld, October 30, 2007.
108 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007. A Koranic teacher from Qoriley who also attended the military commander's speech summed it up for Human Rights Watch: "The commander threatened, 'We will kill you and we will arrest you. We will make an example of this village, because you support the ONLF and not the government, so we will burn this whole village. If you are not working for the government, there will be no camels moving around, and we will not allow you to access the water well. Only those who work with us will be allowed to have access to the water.' He was trying to recruit new militia members. He spoke for up to three hours or so." Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 23, 2007.
109 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 22, 2007; Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007; Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid, October 30, 2007.
110 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid.
111 Human Rights Watch interview with 35-year-old businessman, Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
112 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid. Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid also told her story to the Los Angeles Times in 2008. See Edmund Sanders, "Ethiopia War Gets Little Attention," Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2008, http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-survive23mar23,1,5787043.story (accessed May 23, 2008).
113 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid.
114 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with regional government official (name and location withheld), November 6, 2007.
115 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Garissa (Kenya), September 21, 2007.
116 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Garissa (Kenya), September 21, 2007.
117 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 17, 2007.
118 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with (name withheld), November 14, 2007.
119 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 22, 2007.
120 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
121 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
Note
Picture: Qamuuda erased by the Amhara and Tigray thuggish gangsters, the relatives and friends of butcher Meles Zenawi. This picture is Document 6 of the HRW Report on Ogaden. In a previous article about the HRW Report, I have republished Document 5. Comparing both, you will count how many buildings seen on Doc 5 cannot be found on Doc 6. In the HRW Report, following text accompanied the two photographical documents:
DOC 5 Qamuuda— December 23, 2006 (Lat: 6.543; Long: 44.903) ©2008 DigitalGlobe.
DOC 6 Qamuuda— March 24, 2008: About 85 structures were likely removed or damaged when compared with the previous image. © 2008 DigitalGlobe.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/ethiopia0608/11.htm#_Toc200167140
In five other articles, under the titles ´HRW Report on Ogaden, Contents, Methodology, and Terminology´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65437), ´HRW Report on Ogaden, Part 1: the Background, and the Early US Reaction´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65593), ´HRW Report on Ogaden Reveals the Evilness of the ´Ethiopian´ Tyranny´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65785), ´HRW Report on Ogaden reconfirms the Abyssinian State´s Criminal and Barbaric Nature´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65831) and ´´Ethiopia´: Killings, Forced Evacuation, and Destruction of Villages - HRW Report on Ogaden´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65950), I re-published preliminary sections, the Report´s Part 1 (the Background), and sections of Part 2 (Violations by the Ethiopian Government), while also referring to the arrogant and unacceptable early US reaction.
On the other hand, in an independent article, under the title ´Comments on the HRW Report on Ogaden, Ancient History of Somalia, Abyssinia, Sudan and Yemen´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/65828), I criticized several points pertaining to the historical background of the Report´s topic. In this article, I re-publish further sections from the Report´s Part 2. In forthcoming articles, I will proceed through further republication of sections of the Report´s Part 2.
Part 2: Violations by the Ethiopian Government
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/ethiopia0608/10.htm#_Toc200167138
Reprisal Killings
In addition to the forced displacement, village burnings and killings associated with the government's systematic campaign to remove civilian populations from rural, conflict-affected areas, Ethiopian forces have also carried out a large number of reprisal killings and other serious rights violations.
In most of the several dozen incidents involving willful killings or summary executions investigated by Human Rights Watch, the armed forces carried out reprisal attacks against civilians after clashes between ONLF fighters and government soldiers near their villages, or after receiving information that ONLF fighters had visited particular villages (often by tracing presumed ONLF tracks). The military has also sought to pressure the relatives and village elders to produce ONLF members, and has detained or killed those who are unable to comply with the order. This is a form of collective punishment. The laws of war do not permit belligerent reprisals during internal armed conflicts,99 and collective punishments are prohibited outright.100
Dalal, February 2007
In mid-February 2007, ENDF soldiers came to Dalal village, near Qorrahey village (in Korahe zone), and ordered the civilian population to gather for a meeting. At the meeting, the soldiers accused the residents of supporting and feeding ONLF forces. Sheikh Mohammed and two other village elders told the soldiers they were wrong, saying that their own children were starving and it would be impossible to provide food to the ONLF. The soldiers then accused Sheikh Mohammed's eldest son of having died fighting for the ONLF, when in fact he had died fighting for the Ethiopian army in Badme during the Ethiopia-Eritrean conflict. Sheikh Mohammed and the two other elders argued back, and the soldiers took them away and summarily executed them.
When the soldiers returned the bodies of the three elders to the village, the remaining crowd became enraged. The soldiers began beating and detaining some of the women. Among those detained was the 22-year-old daughter of one of the elders, whom the soldiers beat and raped before releasing.101
Gurdumi, April 2007
In early April 2007, an ENDF force came to the village of Gurdumi in Aware wereda, Dhagahbur zone, and the military commander ordered the population to gather at the center of the village, near the administration office. In his speech, the commander ordered the villagers to bring back their ONLF relatives from the bush. The military commander then held lengthy talks with the village elders, who explained to him that they had no power to order ONLF relatives to return from the bush, let alone arrest them. The commander allegedly threatened the elders, saying that those who failed to bring back their "sons" would be killed.
A few hours after the meeting, the commander ordered the arrest of the elders.
Four or five elders, including Abdullahi Qabille, a local official, and Hiiray Farah were brought to the village center and summarily executed. The army displayed their bodies, and refused the villagers immediate permission to bury them. Several others, including village elder Sheikh Yusuf Abdullahi, were detained and remain unaccounted for.102
Gudhis, June 2007
In June 2007 heavy fighting occurred between ONLF insurgents and government troops in the area around Gudhis town, in the Gudhis wereda of Gode zone. A week after the fighting, ENDF soldiers entered Gudhis early in the morning, confiscated five goats, and returned to the nearby bush to slaughter and eat them.
The same afternoon, the soldiers returned to Gudhis and detained eight men and a woman. The woman, Fadumo Hashi Aden, and one of the men, Abdiwahad Hassan, were released unharmed. The other seven men were shot near the village, according to a resident whose relatives were among the dead. Those killed were Rashid Gamadiid Abdurahman, Mohammed Mawsar Adan, Ibrahim Geed Abdiweli, Mohammedweli Shukri, Daabuul Mohammed Shukri, Mohammed Good Aden, and Ibrahim Hashi Abdi.103
Aleen, July 2007
In early July 2007, fighting took place between government forces and ONLF fighters near the village of Aleen (also known as Caleen), northeast of Shilabo town in Korahe zone. Following the fighting, ENDF soldiers entered the village of Aleen with their wounded. The soldiers, angry because of their losses, began killing civilians in and around the village, accusing them of supporting the ONLF. Among those killed that afternoon was Fatumo Abdi Hussein, 80, the mother of ONLF fighter Nur Faalug Mohamoud. Also killed were two boys, one of them Fatumo's grandson, Abdullahi Yare Mohamoud Faalug.104
As the village was burying the dead the next day, the soldiers returned and opened fire on the mourners, killing at least two and as many as four village elders, including Sheikh Ibrahim Farah and Mohammed Abdi Muse. After the shooting, most of the villagers fled in fear, and soldiers set the village on fire. According to an eyewitness: "They burned Aleen village on this very same day. The people fled the village because of the army's entrance and the killings that took place. But in the afternoon we saw from a distance the smoke from the burning village."105
A second eyewitness who was present in Aleen during its destruction recalled that the army commander had ordered the village evacuated before the burning:
I fled with my wife and children [from Lahelow] to Aleen, which is closer to Shilabo. In Aleen, there is a motorized borehole. We went there to look for water.
The soldiers came to Aleen, after they burned down Lahelow. Then they burned Aleen. We were there at the time. The soldiers arrived and ordered the people out of their homes. They gathered all of the people together. Then the commander ordered the village burned. The commander told us, "I have told you already to leave these small villages," and then they forced us out. Then they burned down all the homes. The houses are just huts, so it is easy to burn them.106
Qoriley, July 2007
One of the more gruesome summary executions by Ethiopian forces took place on July 24, 2007 near Qoriley village in Wardheer zone. During the early morning hours, approximately 400 soldiers from the military base in Danood arrived in Qoriley, and then gathered the villagers together for a speech by the military commander. According to an eyewitness:
The soldiers entered some houses and took money, food and clothes as they made their way to an old [abandoned] army base in Qoriley. At around 1 p.m., they came out of the base and gathered people around a number of large trees in the village. There were three Somali men who were guiding the army [names withheld]. These Somali men talked to the people, translating the speech of the army commander [name withheld].107
Human Rights Watch interviewed two additional witnesses who gave very similar accounts of the commander's speech. He accused the population of Qoriley of supporting the ONLF, and of not doing enough to bring their ONLF relatives back from the bush, reportedly telling the civilians, "We've been very patient with you, but today our patience has run out."108 The Somali interpreter then read out a list of nine men and two women to be detained. Those detained were Hassan Burale Elmi and his brother Ali Burale Elmi, who had another brother in the ONLF; Ahmed Gani Guled; Hassan Abdi Abdullahi; Farah Hussein Halosi; Abdi-hiis Sheikh Mohamoud Umar; Ilmoge Beddel; Kifah Rage; Bogos Shukri Mataan; and two women, Ayan Ali Good and Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid, who were accused of being the wives of ONLF members.109
Following their arrests, the nine men and two women were taken to the Qoriley military camp, which the soldiers had reoccupied that morning. During the night, the soldiers severely beat the two most senior elders in the group, Farah Hussein Halosi and Hassan Burale Elmi, breaking Hassan Burale Elmi's hand. The two detained women were also beaten (but not raped), and accused of being married to ONLF members.110
The next morning, the soldiers released the youngest of the detainees, Kifah Rage, and ordered him to walk a flock of goats to the Danood army base. The remaining 10 detainees were walked to Babaase village, about an hour's walk from Qoriley, where they spent a second night in detention.
Several eyewitnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch described how the villagers found the strangled bodies of the 10 detainees a few days later outside Babaase village. A businessman from the Qorile area told Human Rights Watch what he had seen: "All the [detainees] were taken to Babaase where they were strangled with ropes. I saw the ropes on their neck when we arrived [at] the scene. I saw the bodies of Ahmed Ghani Guled, Farah Hussein Halosi, and Ayan Ali Good."111
One of the detainees, Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid, survived the strangulation, and later told Human Rights Watch what she had experienced.112 She explained that the soldiers and the detainees had left the army camp in two groups, and the detainees were strangled soon after they left Babaase. Wounds on her neck appeared consistent with the attempted strangulation she described:
It was still early morning, before day break, and we were in a forested area. After a while, the soldiers stopped us under some trees, next to a water-well. The soldiers undressed all the men before they strangled them. They took away their sarongs, watches, and shoes. The women were not undressed.
They took away two men, Ilmoge Beddel and Abdi-hiis Sheik Mohamoud Umar. They put a rope around the neck of each of them as we stood watching. Then, they hanged Ilmoge from a tree, after a soldier climbed into the tree and put the rope around a branch. But they did not hang Abdi-hiis. Instead, they put the rope around his neck and two soldiers pulled in opposite directions, strangling him.
Then I was taken away with two men, Hassan Abdi Abdullahi and Ahmed Gani Guled. First they pulled ropes around the necks of the two men and pulled in opposite directions, and both fell down. They put me in a ditch while they were strangling the other two. One soldier tried to strangle me with the metal stick used for cleaning the gun [by pushing it down on my throat], but I twisted his finger until he released me. Then two other soldiers came and they put a rope around my neck and started pulling.
That is the last thing I remember, until I woke up still in the ditch. A naked body was on top of me, it was Ahmed Gani Guled, who was dead. I couldn't move out of the ditch until I was found by some women who came to the waterhole.113
All other nine detainees were found strangled to death.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a regional government official confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the Ethiopian army had strangled up to 12 detainees in Qoriley. According to the official, the attack on Qoriley occurred shortly after ONLF forces destroyed a commercial truck belonging to the Marehan clan outside Qoriley, and the elders of Qoriley refused to provide compensation to the Marehan clansmen. The regional official told Human Rights Watch that the actions of the army had outraged some civilian officials, who had gone to complain to the military about the Qoriley killings, but no soldiers had been arrested or punitive action taken by the army.114
Galalshe and San-Xaskule, August 2007
After forcing most of the rural population to relocate to the larger village of Galalshe which was home to an ENDF military base (see above), soldiers in August 2007 burned many of Galalshe's 400 civilian homes. The burning of Galalshe and other villages in the area was apparently in retaliation for heavy fighting between government forces from Galalshe and ONLF fighters in the nearby Daakhato Valley, four hours' walk away. As the soldiers began burning homes in Galalshe, the inhabitants tried to stop them. In response, the soldiers opened fire on the civilians, killing between eight and 15 civilians, including Mohamoud Rage Egal, 60, Abdulkadir Rage Egal (Mohamoud's brother), Aydid Muhumed Egal, Sheikh Abdullaahi Omar Egal, Farah Abdi Bade, Omar Faruk Mohammed, Fadumo Mohamoud Rage, and Dalha.115
San-Xaskule, another village in the area, was also burned around the same time by army forces, and five civilians were reportedly killed there, including Mohammed Abdi Samad, Fadumo, Mohammed Abdi "Arab," and Halimo Sharif Mohammed.116
Bukudhaba, August 2007
Around August 17, 2007, fierce fighting took place between the army and ONLF forces near the villages of Bukudhaba, Milmil, and Haahi, in Aware wereda, Dhagahbur zone. Afterwards, ENDF soldiers entered Bukudhaba village on August 18, killing at least eight civilians, including six elders, and burned down Bukudhaba and other villages in the area.
Bukudhaba was a large village of some 200 households located south of Aware town, and is famous for its large water reservoirs, which serve the pastoralist communities in the area. According to the villagers, Bukudhaba was also regularly visited by ONLF forces.117
Several witnesses recounted to Human Rights Watch how the soldiers came to Bukudhaba the morning after the fighting and executed a group of elders at the village mosque before burning down the village. One man told Human Rights Watch:
The soldiers came early in the morning, they were looking for men. They went to the mosque and found elders who were praying at the mosque, and shot five elders inside the mosque, including some guests to the village. They killed a sixth man outside the mosque.118
Several others gave Human Rights Watch similar accounts of the killings at the mosque. Although she was not in Bukudhaba at the time of the attack, a relative of Hiis Sulub Dagaal, an elder who was partially blind, told Human Rights Watch that he had been shot and killed during the attack on Bukudhaba:
He had left Dhagahbur because the army had confiscated all of our properties, so he went to stay […] in Bukudhaba. [During the attack,] only the elderly were left in the village; they found [Hiis Sulub Dagaal] and six other men at the mosque.
They shot them. I don't know whether they killed them in the mosque or outside the mosque, I was only told they were shot. He is buried in the village.119
The soldiers returned the next day to burn down the village, and killed two more men, Yusuf Dhiriq and Abdullahi Mohammed Ismael, as well as a woman, Fadumo Ahmed Ali, accusing them of belonging to the ONLF.120 "They shot people and started burning the village," said a 42-year-old man who described the burning of Bukudhaba to Human Rights Watch.
When they were burning Bukudhaba, I was in Baarta village which is less than a kilometer away, and I could see the smoke. The army proceeded to Baarta and burned that village also. Bukudhaba is a big village of about 200 houses with two water reservoirs. They damaged the water reservoirs by blowing up the wooden walls with explosives. This happened on the same day they burned Bukudhaba.121
Notes
99 See ICRC, Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 148, citing common article 3 to the Geneva Conventions, and Protocol II, art. 4.
100 Collective punishment is prohibited under Protocol II, art. 4(2)(b).
101 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 17, 2007.
102 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Garissa (Kenya), September 21, 2007.
103 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
104 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
105 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
106 Human Rights Watch interview with witness from Aleen (name withheld), Nairobi, September 23, 2007.
107 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-Rage Sahid, location withheld, October 30, 2007.
108 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007. A Koranic teacher from Qoriley who also attended the military commander's speech summed it up for Human Rights Watch: "The commander threatened, 'We will kill you and we will arrest you. We will make an example of this village, because you support the ONLF and not the government, so we will burn this whole village. If you are not working for the government, there will be no camels moving around, and we will not allow you to access the water well. Only those who work with us will be allowed to have access to the water.' He was trying to recruit new militia members. He spoke for up to three hours or so." Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 23, 2007.
109 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 22, 2007; Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007; Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid, October 30, 2007.
110 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid.
111 Human Rights Watch interview with 35-year-old businessman, Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
112 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid. Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid also told her story to the Los Angeles Times in 2008. See Edmund Sanders, "Ethiopia War Gets Little Attention," Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2008, http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-survive23mar23,1,5787043.story (accessed May 23, 2008).
113 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid.
114 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with regional government official (name and location withheld), November 6, 2007.
115 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Garissa (Kenya), September 21, 2007.
116 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Garissa (Kenya), September 21, 2007.
117 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 17, 2007.
118 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with (name withheld), November 14, 2007.
119 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Nairobi, September 22, 2007.
120 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
121 Human Rights Watch interview with (name withheld), Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya), October 5, 2007.
Note
Picture: Qamuuda erased by the Amhara and Tigray thuggish gangsters, the relatives and friends of butcher Meles Zenawi. This picture is Document 6 of the HRW Report on Ogaden. In a previous article about the HRW Report, I have republished Document 5. Comparing both, you will count how many buildings seen on Doc 5 cannot be found on Doc 6. In the HRW Report, following text accompanied the two photographical documents:
DOC 5 Qamuuda— December 23, 2006 (Lat: 6.543; Long: 44.903) ©2008 DigitalGlobe.
DOC 6 Qamuuda— March 24, 2008: About 85 structures were likely removed or damaged when compared with the previous image. © 2008 DigitalGlobe.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/ethiopia0608/11.htm#_Toc200167140
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