Bringing to the Fore the Hidden Genocide in O'gaden

[Kamaavi]

A one day gathering to discuss and analyze the genocide taking place in O'gaden was held yesterday at one of the Toronto offices of the Canadian Center for Torture Victims (CCTV). The gathering was part of the monthly volunteer spotlight where a guest speaker is invited by the CCTV to present a topic of interest to the CCTV and those associated with it.

 

This month’s spotlight was about the O'gaden. Specifically, the discussions, analysis, and the presentations of the day revolved around the hidden genocide that has and continues to take place in O'gaden.

 

Although the guest speaker admitted that he was not a professional human rights activist, he appeared well versed with the topic. He also presented the topic in a manner that elucidated the genocidal events that continue to take place in O'gaden.

 

He presented a thoughtful analysis that covered the O'gaden issue in detail. He first provided a brief geography of O'gaden for those in the audience who may not have been familiar with the topic. He then proceeded to highlight the tragic 126 years history of both O'gaden and its Somali inhabitants.

 

To complete the background information about O'gaden and the perpetrators, the Ethiopian regime in this case, of the O'gaden genocide, the speaker then presented highlights from three separate human rights reports. The first one was from the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor country report dated March 11, 2008 which showed the poor human rights record of the current Ethiopian regime.

 

The second report quoted by the speaker was the 2010 human rights report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) which clearly showed a pattern of poor Ethiopian human rights record. The report noted “[the] deteriorating human rights trajectory [that Ethiopia is currently on] as parliamentary elections approach in 2010.”

 

The third report which also complemented the other two reports was that of the Amnesty International country report for the year 2009. The speaker highlighted how this report also noted how “Restrictions on humanitarian assistance to the Somali Region (known as the O'gaden) continued.”

 

The speaker provided specific examples of the genocidal events that have taken place in O'gaden throughout its long, tragic history. He used the events that took place in Cobole and the Ethiopian’s ‘collective punishment’ response of total economic blockade, rape, extrajudicial killings to this incident as graphic examples of the type of genocide that has taken place in O'gaden.

 

Having explained the O'gaden genocide in depth, the speaker attempted to answer the question as to why the O'gaden genocide is hidden while that of Darfur is widely publicized. Although the speaker did not indulge in finger pointing and naming of one individual country, he did however agreed with HRW’s assessment that “Ethiopia’s major donors, Washington, London and Brussels, seem to be maintaining a conspiracy of silence around the [O'gaden genocidal] crimes.”

 

To lighten the mood in the presentation room, the speaker showed a cartoon by one of Somalia’s most well known cartoonists, Mr. Amin Amir, showing a purported conversation that the Sudan’s president, Mr. Omar al-Bashir who was recently indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, have had with the Ethiopian premier, Mr. Meles Zenawi.

 

In the cartoon, Mr. al-Bashir having come across Mr. Zenawi killing Ethiopian civilians and then painting the corpses with an ONLF insignia asked him this question: “Are you not concerned about being indicted as a war criminal for your actions?” Mr. Zenawi responds with the quip that “had he chosen Somalis as his genocidal victims, he would not have been

indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

 

In his concluding remarks, the speaker urged those in attendance to first and foremost educate themselves about the plight of the O'gaden genocide victims. He reminded the audience that everyone had a moral and human obligation to help put a stop to the O'gaden genocide. He also urged them to start a grassroots movement to publicize the O'gaden genocide.