Collective Punishment: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia

Collective Punishment

War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia’s Somali Region

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• Map 1: Ethiopia and Somali Regional State

• Map 2: Conflict-Affected Zones of Somali Regional State

• Summary

• Methodology

• Note on Terminology

• Part 1: Background

• Political and Historical Context

• The People and the Area

• The Ogaden and Somali Nationalism in the Colonial Era

• The Role of Somalia and Insurgency Movements in the 1960s and 1970s

• The Somali-Ethiopian War over the Ogaden, 1977-78

• Mengistu’s “Secret Wars” in Southeast Ethiopia, 1978-84

• The 1991 Overthrow of Mengistu and the Collapse of Somalia

• Ethnic Federalism and the Somali Region under the EPRDF

• Implementing Federal Policy: Structures of Control

• Renewed Insurgency and Conflict in Somali Region

• The Somalia and Eritrea Connections

• Escalation in 2007

• Part 2: Violations by the Ethiopian Government

• Forced Displacement and Destruction of Villages

• Cases of Forced Evacuation, Killings, and Village Burnings

• Reprisal Killings

• Rape and Other Sexual Violence

• Rape of Women in Military Custody

• Sexual Violence against Women Collecting Wood and Water

• Arbitrary Detention, Abuse and Torture, and Execution of Detainees

• Arbitrary Arrest and Detention

• Torture and Beatings

• Extrajudicial Executions at Military Bases

• Former Detainees and Collective Punishment

• Forced Recruitment of Pro-Government Militias

• “Economic war”: Confiscation of Livestock, the Trade Embargo, and Other Restrictions

• Effects of the Trade Embargo

• Restrictions on Movement, Herding, and Access to Water Sources

• Restrictions on Humanitarian Assistance

• The Failure of Judicial Protection and the Institutionalization of Collective Punishment

• Enforcing the Law

• Authorizing Collective Punishment

• Part 3: Abuses by the Ogaden National Liberation Front

• Summary Executions and Attacks on Civilians by the ONLF

• Attacks on Non-Ogaadeeni Clans and Property

• Part 4: Applicable Legal Standards

• Summary Executions and Other Mistreatment of Persons in Custody

• Rape and Other Sexual Violence

• Attacks on Civilians and Civilian Objects

• Forced Displacement

• Collective Punishment and Reprisals

• Individual Criminal Responsibility

• Part 5: Responses to Allegations of Human Rights Violations

• The Ethiopian Government’s Response

• The International Response: A Wider Silence

• Recommendations

• To the federal government of Ethiopia

• To the regional government of Somali Regional State

• To the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)

• To foreign governments with influence, including the US, UK, China, and European Union

• To the United Nations Security Council

• To the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations

• To oil companies operating in Ethiopia

• Acknowledgements

June 2008 ISBN: 1-56432-322-6

Human Rights Watch