Africa's Heart beats in Ogaden

More than multi-divided Somalia, more than US-abandoned Darfur, more than occupied Kabylia (in the colonial pseudo-state of Algeria), more than Congo, Kenya and Zimbabwe, Occupied Ogaden in the colonial state of Fake 'Ethiopia' represents today Africa's pivotal spot.

It is in Ogaden where Africa's Heart beats today.

At this very moment, the most inhuman acts of barbarism and cannibalism are being perpetrated in Ogaden by the criminal Neo-Nazi Abyssinian thugs of the tyrant Meles Zenawi, the Amhara and Tigray death squads who shamelessly impersonate a national army. The oppression in Occupied Ogaden has lasted precisely 60 years, ever since a first part of the British colony of Ogaden was given as present to the barbaric tyrant Haile Selassie of Abyssinia, the anti-Italian and anti-Christian friend of the British colonials.

The tyranny in Ogaden has taken the form of a large scale Genocide carried out against 5.5 millions of subjugated and dehumanized Somalis, who are deprived of water, food, life and hope.

Killing for the purpose to kill, this is the order given by the monstrous dictator Zenawi to his racist Abyssinian thugs who are indulged to continue their cruel acts by Jendayi Frazer, the world's most reviled friend of tyrants and serial killers.

The Ogadenis struggle for secession from the Hell named 'Ethiopia', freedom, independence, as well as national and human dignity.

In their most adverse moments, the brutalized Ogadenis turn to the Ogaden Human Rights Committee (OHRC) for support, consolation and advocacy. The OHRC has documented some of the Ogaden Genocide's most tragic moments. In their reports and press releases, they diffuse vital information otherwise hidden by the criminal regime Zenawi, and they thus help NGOs organizations, diplomats and administrations, activists and Human Rights advocates to make Ogaden Genocide known to all.

To highlight OHRC's contribution to the fight against the Abyssinian Tyranny – by far Africa's most appallingly tyrannical state –, we interviewed Former Minister, Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed, Member of the Ogaden Human Rights Committee Board of Directors.

As Dr. Mahamud's father, Ugas Muhumed, was the only chief of Ogaden at the moment colonial Britain 'delivered' Ogaden to the tyrannical monarch Haile Selassie, Dr. Mahamud's interview gets an additional, historical dimension. We will publish it in several parts.

Before staring with part I, we republish the 'About OHRC' statement from their informative website (http://www.ogadenrights.org/about_ohrc.htm).

The Ogaden Human Rights Committee (OHRC)

The Ogaden Human Rights Committee is an independent, voluntary, non-political non-profit making organization, founded on 13 June 1995, in Godey, Ogadenia, to monitor and promote the observance of internationally accepted human rights standards in the Ogaden. It investigates all allegations of
human rights abuses, and when it is satisfied that the claim is authentic, documents it.

The Ogaden Human Rights Committee prepares reports, press releases and appeals to publicize human rights violations in the Ogaden by the Ethiopian government. It campaigns for the improvement and respect of basic human rights by educating the people and putting the spotlight on the Ethiopian human rights record in the Ogaden.

The Ogaden Human Rights Committee is supported by contributions from its members. It accepts unconditional funds from private individuals and foundations.

The Organization is based in Godey, Ogadenia, and has branches throughout the Ogaden.

The Ogaden Human Rights Committee has associate members in Switzerland, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, USA, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Interview with Former Minister, Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed - Member of the Ogaden Human Rights Committee Board of Directors

– Would you describe your family background, and your formation years in Ogaden? Would you give us an outline of your studies and career?

Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed - I was born in Kabridahar, Ogaden, in late 1963; as a result of the war led by Gesh-ka (Ogaden Liberation Front - OLF, founded during the African independence, including Somalia), when I was just 10 days old, I had to take refugee with my family to Somalia.

One year later, in 1964, we came back to Ogaden. It was at those days that the Abyssinian king Haile Selassie introduced his new policy which was epigrammatically conceptualized by the motto "Somali Zaraf, Ogaden Bicha Qara". This 'political slogan' stands in Amharic for "Kill all Somalis, and let Ogaden only remain in the Ogaden region".

By campaigning for this, the emperor meant to divide the different Somalis living in the Ogaden region and pretentiously and mendaciously embrace the Ogaden tribe - only.

We had to take again refugee to Somalia again at the times of the Ogaden War in 1977. For a third time, I involuntarily repatriated to Ethiopia, during the Somali civil war of 1991.

I took my first degree in Mathematics from Somali National University in 1983-1987 and I was appointed as Assistant Lecturer in the same university in 1987, where I worked until 1991. I continued my graduate studies in the Ethiopian Management Institute from 1996-1998. Between 1995 and 2000, I attended 12 Senior Management courses in different Universities.

I obtained my Ph.D. in Management of Organizations from CW Open University. My dissertation's topic was "Achieving Effective Results Through Strategic Plan: The Case of African Rescue Committee" (ISBN 9781434394323).

I worked as a Trainer, Instructor and Lecturer for different institutions in East Africa. As Consultant, I facilitated five non-governmental organizations set strategic plans. As Professional Manager, I worked for the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) Emergency Unit for Ethiopia; working for them as Senior Field Assistant, I produced a great number of field reports many of which are still posted in many sites including those of several international universities, notably the University of Pennsylvania.

Between 1998 and 2006, I worked as Organizational Development Consultant for several international non-governmental organizations, namely OWS, Oxfam, Novib, JOINT, and others.

In 1992, along with other senior Ogadenis, I founded the Ogaden Welfare Society, and responding to the needs ensued from the sociopolitical degradation of Ogaden, I was one of the founders of the Ogaden Human Rights Committee in 1995.

As a matter of fact, between 1993 and 1994, I was the first Regional Minister of Planning and Economic Development in Ogaden, in the then new, believed as 'federal', Ethiopia. On March 25, 2000, I invited the international media for a press conference in Finfinne (aka Addis Ababa) to show them the afflictions befallen upon the Somalis throughout Ogaden which were the result of manmade famine in Ethiopia; this occurred at a moment the government was involved in a worthless war with Eritrea. That conference forced me to escape from my country and become immigrant in the West. I have therefore dedicated my time in Human Rights advocacy, making presentations in several universities and institutes across the globe, speaking on issues related to Human Rights in the Horn of Africa region, and engaging on many similar activities.

– For what reasons and under what conditions did you leave Ogaden? Would you describe your itinerary until you arrived to Canada?

Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed - For a fourth time in my life, I was forced to flee from the present regime, when I became the icebreaker in the terrible case of manmade famine in Ogaden, when the present EPRDF regime was involved in a useless war with Eritrea, in 2000. I organized a press conference in Finfinne (aka Addis Ababa) where the world international media were invited, and definitely witnessed the terrible plight of all the Somalis in Ogaden.

– To what extent was Ogaden's annexation by Abyssinia accepted by the Ogadenis?

Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed - There has been a rumour that the Ogadeni elders were asked to express their choice, namely whether they accepted British or Abyssinian rule; however, my father, Ugas Muhumed, who at that time was the only chief of Ogaden, repeatedly clarified to me the point, saying that nothing like that happened. The rumor was just part of the Amhara Abyssinian state's propaganda, one of the incommensurable lies of Haile Selassie. Similarly, no one can find a written document in this regard. This demonstrates that the Ogadenis never accepted the annexation.

– What means of oppression have been used in Ogaden by the Abyssinians at the times of the monarchical regime of Haile Selassie? How did they target the national and cultural identity of Ogaden?

Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed - It was very hard. Continuous daily practices involved looting of property, detention, killing and disappearances. The Somali name given to any Abyssinian military camp was "lama galaay", which means "prohibited area". When kids, women or animals entered those unfenced areas, they used to disappear. The cruel Abyssinian tyrant Haile Selassie, the so-called 'emperor', used to divide the tribes into sub-tribes, and the clans down to sub-sub-clans, spread among them the germ of discord, and instigate constant conflict among them.

– What new means of oppression were introduced by the pro-Communist regime of Mengistu? How did they target the religious identity of Ogaden?

Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed - Hope is one of the basic needs of the human beings. If there is hope, people can live despite any kind of suffering they may face. Mengistu eradicated all sorts of hope. Whoever tried to stand by the reason was gone.

– Would you make a comparison of the oppression methods carried out in Ogaden by the monarchical and the communist regimes and the current policies of the so-called 'republican' and 'federal' tyranny of the Tigray tribal chieftain Meles Zenawi?

Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed - In the history of the Ogaden region, never did the Somalis experience a tyranny similar to the present cruelty imposed by the Tigray regime. During the times of the Amhara tyrant, the 'emperor' Haile Selassie, there was respect for the elders who were considered as the heads of their families, clans and tribes.

During the Dergue, pro-Communist regime, the governors were the recipient of the same respect and the same privileges wherever they were, either in Gonder, Godey or Awasa.

However, in the current regime of the Tigray dictator Meles Zenawi, we attest a dramatic deterioration of all sorts; Human Rights abuses are confirmed even among heads of the so-called autonomous (federal) states. I saw myself the so-called Somali National Regional President being insulted in public by an illiterate and lewd Abyssinian military officer.

The practices carried out by the current Tigray regime are no less than a real Genocide, if acts, deeds, and actions are taken into account.

What is Genocide?

It is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an entire nation that consists in an independent entity by all accounts, race and ethnicity, culture, language and religion. This is precisely what the dictatorial regime is doing.

However, a critical aspect of the problem is that the acts of the Tigray dictator Meles Zenawi are defined and interpreted within a fake context conceptualized and publicized by the Bush Administration. As long as the whole world is manipulated and misinformed by one – partial and biased – side, not many can see and accept the real, extant and ongoing Genocide in the Ogaden.

– How is the situation right now in Ogaden?

Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed - Hopeless. Everything is getting deteriorated; ceaselessly.

Dr. Mahamud Ugas Muhumed's second part of the interview will be published in a forthcoming article.