The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), Ethiopian Somali region based political party, issued a statement today. ONLF fought Ethiopian security forces for over 2 decades. In August 2018, it announced unilateral ceasefire and signed a peace deal with the Ethiopian government to work as political party. It demands right of self determination for Ogaden people.
The statement by the ONLF is significant in the context of current tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia. “The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is deeply concerned about the recent developments unfolding in the Somali State (Ogaden), where the rights and dignity of the Somali people continue to be undermined. For nearly three-quarters of a century, the Somali State has been plagued by conflict, human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Successive Ethiopian governments, since the state’s formation, have employed illegal and brutal methods to suppress the Somali people’s rightful demands for genuine self-determination, dignity, development, and peaceful living. The Somali people have been marginalized, treated as third-class citizens, and subjected to harsh military rule, which has fueled continuous resistance and wars of liberation,” the party said.
ONLF accused successive Ethiopian governments of denying fundamental rights to Somali people. “In 1991, following the fall of the Derg regime, a new constitution was enacted, granting all nations under Ethiopian rule, including the Somali people, full rights of self- determination as enshrined in Article 39 of the Ethiopian Constitution. The formation of the Somali State under this constitutional framework recognized the Somali people’s rights to their identity, language, religion, and self-rule, along with broad political, economic, and human rights guaranteed to all other nations within Ethiopia,” it said in today’s statement.
Ogaden National Liberation Front mentioned following three new developments in the Somali region of Ethiopia, expressing its concern and asking the Ethiopian government to rectify:
- Somali elders, women, and other community members have been paraded on television, coerced into humiliating themselves by denying their Somali identity and claiming they are not Somalis.
- There are alarming rumors that the name and flag of the Somali State will be changed, erasing any semblance of Somali identity.
- The state is increasingly militarized, with the imposition of martial law looming, which threatens to further diminish the already weakened self-rule of the Somali State.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front seems to be exploiting the heightened tensions between the governments of Ethiopia and Somalia. In case of military confrontation between the two countries, ONLF could gain considerable importance.
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