Statement On Call For UN Human Rights Investigation of Ethiopian Regime

17 April 2009

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) strongly supports the call by Genocide Watch for the initiation of an investigation of the human rights situation in Ethiopia based on the proprio motu powers of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The ONLF has maintained for some time that the Ethiopian regime of Melez Zenawi is engaged in war crimes tantamount to Genocide in Ogaden. The United Nations own humanitarian assessment team which visited Ogaden in September 2007 concluded that an independent investigation was warranted but this recommendation was never acted upon and the details of their findings with regards to human rights was never fully released.

The United Nations cannot continue to sit by idly as countless innocent civilians in Ogaden are killed senselessly by the armed forces of Ethiopia in a deliberate policy aimed at ethnically cleansing the Somalis of Ogaden from their own land. Should the UN High Commissioner choose to initiate a human rights investigation, the ONLF affirms that we will cooperate fully with this effort.

The fact that the current Ethiopian regime has increased its military budget and is seeking to expand domestic arms production capacity as reported this week is indicative of the misguided priorities of this regime even when faced with the stark reality of poverty, recurring famines and lack of access to education and health services for the broad masses.

Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)