Ethiopia: Army Commits Executions, Torture, and Rape in Ogaden
Donors Should Act to Stop Crimes Against Humanity
In its battle against rebels in eastern Ethiopia's Somali Region, Ethiopia's army has subjected civilians to executions, torture, and rape, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The widespread violence, part of a vicious counterinsurgency campaign that amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, has contributed to a looming humanitarian crisis, threatening the survival of thousands of ethnic Somali nomads.
June 12, 2008 Press Release
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Collective Punishment
War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia’s Somali Region
 | This 130-page report documents a dramatic rise in unchecked violence against civilians since June 2007, when the Ethiopian army launched a counterinsurgency campaign against rebels who attacked a Chinese-run oil installation. The Human Rights Watch report provides the first in-depth look at the patterns of abuse in a conflict that remains virtually unknown because of severe restrictions imposed by the Ethiopian government. |
HRW Index No.: 1-56432-322-6
June 12, 2008 Report
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Statement on Human Rights Situations that Require the Council's Attention
Human Rights Watch's Statement to the Human Rights Council
Human Rights Watch brings the human rights situations in Somalia, Ethiopia, China, and Zimbabwe to the Council's attention during the June session's General Debate (agenda item 4).
June 6, 2008 Oral Statement
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South Africa: Protect Victims of Xenophobic Violence
Provide Basics of Food, Water, Shelter, and Safety to Displaced
The South African government should ensure that “temporary shelter sites” for homeless and traumatized victims of recent xenophobic violence comply with international standards, Human Rights Watch said today. The UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement require states to provide food, water, shelter, medical care and security to displaced persons.
June 5, 2008 Press Release
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Somalia: Beleaguered Journalists Recognized for Courage
Vibrant Press Threatened by Worsening Chaos, Repression
Three Somali journalists have been awarded the prestigious Hellmann/Hammett award in recognition for their journalism while risking their lives and suffering terrible hardships in the midst of Somalia’s worsening armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today.
June 2, 2008 Press Release
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Letter to the UN Security Council in Advance of its June Mission to Africa
We write in advance of the Security Council’s mission to Africa on June 1-10, 2008, to urge you to use this opportunity to address pressing human rights issues in Sudan, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.
May 27, 2008 Letter
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UN: Africa Trip Should Focus on Human Rights
Protection of Civilians Necessary for Lasting Peace
The United Nations Security Council should address protection of civilians, justice, and human rights during its upcoming visit to Africa from June 1-10, 2008, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the council. Human Rights Watch highlighted critical issues that needed to be addressed at each of the stops on the council’s tour.
May 27, 2008 Press Release
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South Africa: Lead UN to Action on Somalia, Darfur and Burma
Use Security Council Presidency to Save Lives
South Africa should use its Security Council presidency in April 2008 to make significant progress on human rights crises in Somalia, Darfur and Burma, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to South Africa’s minister of foreign affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and members of the United Nations Security Council.
“The Security Council should be signaling hope to civilians in crisis, but so far it has failed the people of Darfur, Burma and Somalia,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “South Africa should lead the Security Council in a major new international effort to end horrible abuses in these places and save lives.”
March 31, 2008 Press Release
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The Human Rights Crisis in Somalia
Statement prepared by Human Rights Watch for the “Arria formula” meeting on Somalia
Human Rights Watch welcomes this initiative by the United Nations Security Council to discuss the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Somalia. The situation in Somalia is one of the world’s starkest and most neglected tragedies. In basic human terms the scope of the crisis is enormous. It is also a situation with serious regional implications that must be squarely addressed by the Security Council.
March 31, 2008 Testimony
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Off-target
When missile strikes at alleged terrorists go awry, U.S. policy takes a hit.
By Jennifer Daskal and Leslie Lefkow
Published in The Los Angeles Times
On March 3 two Tomahawk missiles were launched toward Dobley, Somalia in the fourth U.S. airstrike aimed at individuals with Al Qaeda links in Somalia since January 2007. While missing its target, shrapnel from the missiles injured six civilians, a pattern that echoes previous U.S. strikes in Somalia. Such strikes inevitably turn ordinary Somalis against the United States, thereby bolstering support for militant groups, while the human rights and humanitarian crisis that terrorists feed off -- and that U.S. policies exacerbate -- is largely ignored. Additionally, the Ethiopian military offensive that ousted the ruling Islamist authority from Mogadishu and installed a weak but internationally backed transitional government triggered a predictable insurgency by both Islamist militants and ordinary Somalis, with the resulting conflict having led to thousands of civilian deaths and displaced persons. Ultimately, an effective counter-terrorism policy must address the underlying human rights and humanitarian tragedies that are fueling the crisis, as it has become clear that eliminating a few alleged terrorists will not solve these deeper problems.
March 28, 2008 Commentary
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South Africa: Lead UN to Action on Somalia, Darfur and Burma During Security Council Presidency
Letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa
March 28, 2008 Letter
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Somalia: UN Security Council Must Not Ignore Abuses
Video Footage From Mogadishu Shows Devastating Effects of Attacks on Civilians
The UN Security Council should strongly condemn serious abuses of civilians in Somalia and establish a commission of inquiry to identify individuals responsible for these crimes, Human Rights Watch said. Later this week, the UN secretary- general is due to present his report on Somalia to the Security Council.
March 11, 2008 Press Release
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Letter to the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference
Urging the Organisation to Improve and Strengthen the 1999 OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism
Human Rights Watch writes to urge Dr. Ihsanoglu to use his position as Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to support measures at the upcoming Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference in Dakar, Senegal on March 13-14 that would improve and strengthen the 1999 OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism. In particular, we urge the OIC to consider two amendments to the Convention in order to narrow its overbroad definition of terrorism and to make absolutely clear that there is no sanction in Islam for deliberately attacking civilians, whatever the circumstances or justifications.
March 11, 2008 Letter
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UN: Rights Council Should Tackle Somalia Crisis
Put Spotlight on Burma, Eastern Congo, and Sri Lanka
The UN Human Rights Council should draw attention to the neglected human rights crisis in Somalia, Human Rights Watch said today as the council began its first session of this year. The council, meeting in Geneva, should also intensify its engagement on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri Lanka and Burma, Human Rights Watch said.
March 3, 2008 Press Release
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Making exceptions for Ethiopia
By Tom Porteous, London Director
Published in Guardian Unlimited
Meles Zenawi thinks the west's attitude to Africa is unbalanced and unfair. But his country is being torn apart by human rights abuses
January 31, 2008 Commentary
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Letter to US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates on Somalia
The Department of Defense should send a clear message to Ethiopia and other parties to the region's conflicts
Human Rights Watch writes to Secretary Gates on widespread human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in Somalia. The conflict in Mogadishu has steadily intensified since January 2007, after Ethiopian forces supporting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) ousted the Islamic Courts Union from the city. To date, hundreds of civilians have been killed and up to 600,000 people are estimated to have fled the city, particularly following surges in violence in March, April and November. Since November, renewed clashes in Mogadishu have been marked by increasing brutality toward civilians, including further summary executions and enforced disappearances of individuals by Ethiopian and TFG forces conducting counterinsurgency operations.
December 12, 2007 Letter
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EU-Africa: Summit Should Take Concrete Steps to Tackle Rights Abuses
Protect Civilians in Darfur and Somalia
European and African leaders should go beyond promises and act to end atrocities, hold abusers to account and combat corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. The first European Union-Africa summit for seven years will be held in Lisbon on December 8-9, 2007.
December 4, 2007 Press Release
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UN: Atrocities Fuel Worsening Crisis in Horn of Africa
UN Security Council Should Press Ethiopia and Somalia to Put an End to Abuses
The United Nations Security Council should urgently press the Ethiopian and Somali governments to end the grave human rights abuses that are fueling the worsening humanitarian crisis in Somalia and eastern Ethiopia’s Ogaden region, Human Rights Watch said today.
December 3, 2007 Press Release
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Caught in a Quagmire
By Harun Hassan and Leslie Lefkow
Published in The World Today
For most residents of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, this has been a catastrophic year. The country’s longstanding crisis has moved into a new, chilling cycle of foreign intervention, relentless insurgency and brutal response. People who survived sixteen years of war, statelessness and ruthless warlords are fleeing. Civilians are daily victims of the violence, including mass arrests, targeted killings, indiscriminate bombardment and attacks similar to those common in Iraq – remote-control explosives and suicide bombings – with even
less reporting and international attention.
December 1, 2007 Commentary
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Somalia: Caught in a Quagmire
 | For most residents of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, this has been a catastrophic year. The country’s longstanding crisis has moved into a new, chilling cycle of foreign intervention, relentless insurgency and brutal response. |
December 1, 2007 Graphic
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