Africa Update

Areas of Conflict:

Ethiopia:

The rebel army Ogaden National Liberation Army (ONLA,) the military arm of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF,) continues to attack government soldiers, claiming that war crimes are being committed by government troops.

The ONLF is a separatist rebel group fighting to make the region of Ogaden in eastern Ethiopia an independent state. Because Ogaden is populated by many ethnic Somalis, the ONLF claims that Ethiopia is an occupying government.

Ethiopia has been accused of human rights abuses for the past several months. Restrictions on humanitarian assistance to the Somali Region (known as the Ogaden) continue with little international criticism. The government continues to engage in sporadic armed conflict against the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and both forces perpetrate human rights abuses against civilians.

The government still refuses to allow unhindered independent access for human rights monitoring.

According to Human Rights watch, reports, dating back to 2007, of beatings, rape and other forms of torture, forcible conscription and extrajudicial executions in the Somali Region are being investigated by a government-contracted body but not by an independent international body.