Tuesday April 24, 2018
By Karen Jayes
The so-called war on terror has deformed the Ethiopian state and society. The social fabric as a result has been badly frayed with widespread extrajudicial killings and torture. Can anything be done to improve this?
Ethiopian
government policy on the "war on terror" has conveniently dovetailed
with what many in Ethiopia see as the central administration’s
inherently colonialist approach – supported tacitly by the US and her
allies – towards ethnic minorities in the country, especially those with
movements calling for more self-determination.In this regard,
the country provides a snapshot on how the US-led so-called war on
terror is the modern world’s version of colonialism, seeking to
imprison, weaken and intimidate communities who are striving for more
rights to access natural resources and political say in the region.
Ethiopia’s geopolitical role in the 'war on terror'
Ethiopia,
known as the oldest independent African nation, has never been
colonised by Europeans, although many European nations exerted various
degrees of influence in different periods of time in its history. A
deeply hierarchical nation where power was often vested in the emperor,
this power, under the semblance of “democracy” has since been
transferred to the government.Currently, the government has
aligned itself firmly with the US and its allies in the war on terror,
often casting itself as a bastion of Christianity against “encroaching
Islam,” a position that has aggravated a generally peaceful and
colourful multi-faith society.
A particular flashpoint in the
region is the conflict within Ethiopia’s Ogaden region, with its
majority Muslim population. The Ogaden is an ethnic group of Somali
origin that exists in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia and northeastern Kenya.
It is also the name of a region in which the Ogaden people live, which
stretches across the eastern region of Ethiopia on the borders with
Somaliland and Somalia.
The inhabitants of Ogaden are 98 percent
Muslim. Interestingly, although the land is arid and dry, Ogaden is home
to four trillion cubic feet of natural gas and several oil fields –
drawing interest from international multinationals. It is not only seen
as a crucial economic foothold by the Ethiopian government, but is also a
launch pad for US-backed African Union (AU) military incursions into
neighbouring Somalia.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF),
however, opposes Ethiopian, and by extension, US dominance in the
region. The ONLF was established in 1981 in Somalia, and it aims to
establish an independent autonomous state in the broader eastern
Ethiopian region, known as the Somali Region, which includes Ogaden. In
1993, 84 percent of its people voted in the ONLF, securing
administrative power.
Described by various Western sources as "Islamist" in nature, the ONLF does not have an Islamic creed in its political programme.
Rather, it declares the need to protect all Ogaden people’s right to
exercise religious belief. It also declares: “The ONLF categorically
rejects the manipulation of religious teachings to justify violent and
criminal acts targeted at civilians.”
However, the ONLF, during
the US-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia between 2006 and 2009,
frequently attacked Ethiopian troops convoying through the region.
In
2007, the ONLF attacked a Chinese-run oilfield in the Somali Region,
eliciting a brutal response from the Ethiopian government, which
embarked on a programme of what Human Rights Watch termed “collective punishment” against the Ogaden people.
This
resulted in retaliatory attacks against civilians by the ONLF. The
conflict has been further fuelled by the US-backed war on terror.
Criminalising human rights movements and activists
More
broadly and at a national level, the Anti-Terrorism Task Force leads
the counterterrorism response in Ethiopia, but there have been
widespread reports of abuse published by Human Rights Watch. This has
included the killing and torture of members of legitimate political
movements, not only in Ogaden, but in other parts of the country.
Police
have also detained Andargachew Tsege, a British citizen and father of
three from North London known as "Ethiopia’s Mandela," for two years
without charge and tortured him for exposing corruption in the Ethiopian government.
It
is well known that journalists and bloggers have been the target of the
anti-terrorism police, with a number of journalists arrested and
tortured since 2009 under Ethiopia’s incredibly broad and indiscriminate
terrorism law, the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.
Police abuse against Muslims is widespread but under-reported
It
should be noted, however, that the global war on terror influences the
visibility of causes in Ethiopia. While non-Muslim pro-democracy
individuals like those making up the Zone 9 group, "Ethiopia’s Mandela"
and many other human rights defenders gain global notoriety and backing
from groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Muslim
groups and individuals who suffer similar, if not more widespread abuse
by police, are not in the headlines. International human rights groups
sidestep the abuses committed against these communities, since they have
been labelled as "terrorist" movements.
In 2009, a notorious
local police force was appointed as a counterterrorism force. Known as
the Liyu police, the force was initially extensively funded and
supported by Britain, and primarily focused in the Ogaden, a move lauded
by the right-wing think tank International Crisis Group, as one of the
reasons for Ethiopia’s “counterterrorism success.”
However,
the Liyu police are in essence an armed militia accused of widespread
atrocities including mass rape and extrajudicial killings, particularly
with the tacit support of the UK and US. They have since moved from the Ogaden region to other parts of the country.
The
Liyu police were formed under the auspices of the UK, which provided
funding. This was then cut in 2014 due to allegations of human rights
abuses. After the money was cut, the Liyu police launched a publicity
campaign to prove to its funders that it was aiding development – but
the ONLF claimed the campaign was staged.
Nonetheless, the UK provided between up to $20million to fund the Liyu giving “peace-building training” which was run by “NGOs and private companies,” and the British media duly followed this with glowing reports of the Liyu’s alleged developmental agenda.
But
the Liyu police’s secretive command structures meant they continued to
operate with extreme violence and impunity. And as has happened in
countries throughout the world who have ceded to pressure to entrench
counterterrorism laws and policing into the fabric of their judiciary
and security sectors, the rule of law in regions where they are active
has crumbled to dust.
There is no recourse to justice for those
apprehended, arrested or imprisoned by counterterrorism police, and no
accountability for those meting out this "policing."
The Liyu Police as a destabilising force
Human
Rights Watch as far back as 2008 highlighted the way in which Ethiopian
counterinsurgency operations were sold to the international community:
"The application of terrorist rhetoric to the internal conflict with the
ONLF, however, appears designed mainly to attract support from the
United States as part of the 'war on terror'."
The state of
affairs has remained largely unchanged up until now. Mohammed Aden,
Director of the Ogaden Somali Community in South Africa, told CAGE
Africa for its 2017 report
into Ethiopia that communities largely see the Liyu as being supported
by Western governments. He insisted that the amount of support in Ogaden
for Al Shabab is negligible, but that the continued human rights abuses
by the Liyu are seen by the Ogaden people as a ploy to push individuals
towards extremism, “They are trying to push the people harder, so they
will go somewhere else [like to Al Shabab], or where they will go and do
extreme action. That’s the agenda, they want to prove the idea … so
that they can get more funding from the international community.”
Towards a solution
The war on terror has not only impacted the eastern region, but has also corrupted the broader justice system.
Ethiopia
is one of many countries in Africa that have hosted secret detention
sites where men, women and children have been held under suspicion under
the broad and indiscriminate banner of the US-led war on terror.
According
to Asim Qureshi, research director of CAGE, and co-author with members
of Reprieve, of a ground-breaking report into British and US complicity
in torture in Ethiopia:
“The result of the Ethiopian action was very similar to what took place
under US actions, the widespread abuse of men, women and children who
had been unlawfully detained.”
We must continue to call for an end
to the war on terror. This seemingly unending war is in truth a
modern-day colonial project that exploits existing tensions within
nations and turns them into full-blown wounds, while solidifying Western
imperial dominance. To heal countries, we must insist on US military
withdrawal and withdrawal by its allies, whether their current
involvement is direct or indirect.
This must be accompanied by a
return to justice and the rule of law, and environments in which beliefs
and history are respected, and the right of all people to access and
benefit from the resources offered by the land they live on is
recognised and protected.
Disclaimer:
The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the
opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of Hiiraan Online
Karen Jayes is a spokesperson for CAGE Africa, a branch of CAGE in the UK. See more https://cage.ngo