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Press Release
Self-declared Republic of Somaliland:
Persecution, intimidation, detentions and torture of Somalis from the Ogaden
unabated
BACKGROUND
After the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre’s despotic rule, in 1991, some tribes
of the Northwest Region of Somalia declared unilaterally the formation of a new
state called “Somaliland”.
Since its proclamation in May 1991, the self-declared Republic of Somaliland
has got no recognition from the international community, which considers the
region a part and parcel of the Somali Republic, which came to existence after
the reunification of British and Italian Somalilands in 1960.
When Eritrea gained its independence in 1993, Ethiopia lost its sea outlet and
became a landlocked country.
In 1998, after the breakout of Ethio-Ertrean border war the then Somaliland
President Mohamed Ibrahim Egal offered the Ethiopian government the use of
Berbera seaport freely. The two sides forged an alliance against their
respective opposition, namely ONLF, OLF and the real SNM of the Somaliland’s
founding father, and its first president the late Abdirahaman Ahmed Ali, also
known as Abdirahman Tuur, who rejected the notion of secession from Somali
Republic.
Persecution of Somalis from the Ogaden
Ethiopia established an intelligence-gathering bureau called “Ethiopian
Interest Protection Office” to pursuit its opposition through its numerous
agents in Hargeisa, who has been given free license to detain, rape, torture
and kill any Somali from the Ogaden suspected of being an ONLF supporter.
In the past 9 years, many Somalis from the Ogaden were detained, tortured,
their private properties confiscated and then handed over to the Ethiopian
government against their will, in exchange for ammunition and other materials.
To illustrate the abovementioned assertions, some cases are detailed in the
following pages:
Abdullahi Haliye, Ahmed Mohamed and Abdullahi Qaji, members of ONLF Central
Committee, were detained in Hargeisa, Northwest Somalia, on 31 July 1996, by
militia loyal to Mr. Egal, while they were visiting their relatives in the
area.
On October 20th 1996, they were handed over to the Ethiopian government against
their will, in exchange for ammunition. After repatriation, they were
transferred to prison in Diri-Dhabo (Dire-Dawa). The International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC), was given access to them, and has visited them several
times.
On April 10th 2002, a large number of Somalis from the Ogaden, were rounded up
and detained without charges, in Hargeisa, by Somaliland and Ethiopian security
forces.
Many of them were transferred to Baligubadle – a border village between the
Ogaden and northwest Somalia – to prepare the ground for their hand over to the
Ethiopian government against their will, in exchange for ammunition. Among them
were: Mukhtar Moalin Yusuf, Khadar Abdi Haji, Mustaf Sheikh, Hussein Moalin,
Abdiaziz Ahmed, Badel Aw Ahmed, and Dahir Abdi Haji, all traders. After
repatriation they were transferred to prison in Jigjiga, and then to Harar,
where they subsequently disappeared. Their families and relatives have no idea
about their fate and whereabouts.
In November 2003, Egal’s successor Dahir Riyaale Kahin, who is former head of
the much feared and notorious Siad Barre’s secret service, known as National
Security Service (NSS) in the port city of Berbera, declared all Somalis, who
are not from Somaliland as persona non grata and ordered their expulsion within
45 days.
In 1990s, colonel Dahir Reyaale Kaahin was allegedly responsible for detaining
and torturing to death many innocent Somalis, who were accused falsely of being
members of Somali National Movement (SNM). Survivors and relatives of Dahir
Riyaale’s past atrocities are seeking justice, and would like to see him
indicted as war criminal.
On November 30th 2003, 75 Somalis from the Ogaden were arrested and their
properties confiscated, in Hargeisa, Northwest Somalia, following raids
conducted by Somaliland militia and Ethiopian Security Forces. The detainees
were humiliated and beaten up, and were held in incommunicado detention in
overcrowded location. No charges had been laid formally against them and no
trial date has been set. Several weeks later most of the detainees were
released after they paid extortion money.
However, the remaining detainees were accused of ONLF sympathy and membership
and were transferred to Hargeisa Central Jail. Among them were: Mohamed Abdi,
Ibrahim Ahmed Abdi, Adan Jibril Hirsi, Mukhtar Muhumed Ibrahim, Abdi Muhumed
Digale, Muhumed Abdi Khalif, Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed (Ducaysane), Saatir Yusuf
Ibrahim, Sahardid Hussein Abdullahi, Mahamud Muse Hassan, Mahamud Abdi Adan
(Wagad), Ali Abdullahi Omar, Muhiadin Dahir Mohamed, Abdi Abib Ahmed, Abdi
Mohamed Abdi, Abdullahi Ahmed Dahir (Jamal), Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (Godane),
Abdi Ahmed Muhumed, Hassan Muhumed Abdi (Keyd), Abdifatah Farah Abdi, Ahmed
Mohamed Hussein (Kukiyo), Abdi Mohamed Abdi, Mohamed Abdi Hussein, Ayale
Mohamed Ali, Mohamed Muhumed Mohamed, Hussein Ali Ahmed, Mohamed Deek Khalif
(Tin Tin), Abdullahi Ahmed Abdi, Hussein Abdi Osman (Carlos), Ahmed Khalif
Ilimoge, Abdirahman Dayib Abdi. They were subjected to extensive torture and
maltreatment in the jail during interrogations to extract confessions and
information about the ONLF. Many of them are bearing scars of torture on their
bodies.
Hiis Muse Jama, was subjected to extensive physical and psychological torture
in Hargeisa Central Jail. He was denied medical treatment and passed away in
his cell.
According to the Principles on Detention or Imprisonment, in particular
principles 1, 22, 24, 25 and 26 and SMR rules 9-14, 17-19, detainees shall be
kept in humane facilities, designed to preserve health, and shall be provided
with adequate food, water, shelter, clothing, medical services, exercise and
items of personal hygiene.
However, Somaliland authorities held hundreds of Somalis including Somalis from
the Ogaden in over¬crowded and filthy Hargeisa Central Jail, which was built by
British Colonial Authorities. The jail is infested with bugs, fleas, lice
cockroaches and rats. They are detained for years or many months without
charges or trial.
The UN Standard Minimum Rules for treatment of prisoners requires that
prisoners are given prompt access to their families, lawyers and to their own
doctor, but Somaliland’s law ignores these rights completely.
The detainees have been brought before the regional court several times. Each
time, they were taken back to their cells for lack of evidence.
On June 15th 2004, thirty-one Somalis from the Ogaden accused of being
sympathisers and members of the ONLF have been brought before the regional
court. They pleaded not guilty. The regional court’s sentence was 5 years’
imprisonment for 5 detainees, while other 25 detainees were sentenced to 3
years of imprisonment. They were not informed of the particulars of the charges
and reasons for their arrest, and were not given access to any evidence
presented against them. Hence, they did not receive fair trial in accordance
with recognized international standards. On the basis of available information
about their case, the OHRC believes that there was not credible evidence of
their involvement in any illegal activity, and their trial was a mockery of
justice, and considers them prisoners of conscience.
On August 16th 2005, they were brought before Hargeisa High Court. But they
were taken back to their prison cells without pronouncing any verdict.
On September 02nd 2005, 28 detainees have been brought before the Hargeisa High
Court, which examined their case and acquitted them ordering their immediate
release for lack of evidence. However, the Police and the Public Prosecutor, in
defiance of the court order, returned them to their prison cells. Three
detainees out of 31 detainees, who were brought before the regional court, on
June 15th 2004, were not appeared before the court. The detainees went on a
hunger-strike in protest against prison conditions and their illegal detention.
The families and relatives of the 3 missing detainees who did not appear before
the court are very apprehensive for their safety.
The OHRC, which called for them to be either charged with recognizable criminal
offences and given fair trials or released unconditionally, welcomes Hargeisa
High Court’s ruling and asks their unconditional and immediate release.
To the best of OHRC’s knowledge, the detainees were traders, labourers,
residents and visitors, who were not, involved in any illegal activities, and
have no political affiliation whatsoever.
According to reliable reports received by OHRC, persecution and other acts of
aggression against Somalis from the Ogaden are unabated, and are going on as of
this writing.
The OHRC reiterates its condemnation and disapproval of all hostile acts
against the civilian population regardless of their tribal background or/and
political affiliation.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND APPEALS
To: the Somali Nation, International Community and Somaliland Administration:
 The international community publicly censure Ethiopia and the
self-declared Republic of Somaliland over their human rights record.
 The United Nations appoint a Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in
the Ogaden.
 The Ethiopian government should be held responsible for infamous mass
killings, disappearances, arbitrary arrests, torture and other cruel, inhuman
and degrading treatment.
 The international community intervene to stop the forcible
repatriation of Somalis to Ethiopia.
 The Ethiopian government and Somaliland Administration give ICRC and
UNHCR free access to all detainees in Hargeisa and elsewhere.
 The international community refrain from aiding and supporting the
Ethiopian government and Somaliland Administration as long as they violates
human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Somali people in the Ogaden and in
Somaliland.
 Somali people and the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia
condemn Somaliland Administration’s gross violations of basic human rights of
the Somalis in the Ogaden and elsewhere in Somalia.
TO: INDIVIDUALS, LOCAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND
HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS
The Ogaden Human Rights Committee requests individuals, local human rights and
humanitarian organizations to support its efforts to promote and improve the
human rights cause in the Ogaden, and recommends the following:
Please write to your Foreign Ministry:
 Asking that your government exerts pressure on Ethiopia and Somaliland
Administration to improve their human rights record.
 Urging that all political prisoners be either immediately and
unconditionally released or charged with recognizable criminal offences, and
given fair trials; and be given unrestricted and regular access to their family
members and to, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(name some or all from those in this document or in other OHRC’s reports, which
you can get in OHRC’s web site www.ogadenrights.org).
 Expressing concern at the disappearance of a large number of suspected
government opponents in the notorious military detention camps throughout the
Ogaden and jails in Somaliland and asking their whereabouts (name some or all
from those in this document or in other OHRC’s reports, which you can get in
OHRC’s web site www.ogadenrights.org).
 Asking your government to support the Ogaden Human Rights Committee's
efforts to appoint a UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights as well as sending a
fact finding mission to the Ogaden in order to stop and prevent more human
rights violations in that country.
Please copy your letter to diplomatic representatives of Ethiopia accredited to
your country as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
and the UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Somalia. The
address is:
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10
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