Freedom House in February 2019 notes with regard to arrests of military and government officials in November and December 2018:
“In November and December 2018, a number of high-profile military and government officials were arrested and charged with corruption. Notably, 26 high-level employees of the military-run Metals and Engineering Corporation (MeTEC), including its chief executive, were arrested on corruption charges, and were awaiting trial at the end of the year. Some critics have accused the government of selectively prosecuting officials from the Tigray ethnic group, which has dominated the military for decades. However, a number of non-Tigray officials were also arrested in the sweep.” (Freedom House, 4 February 2019, section C2)
In December 2018 residents in Mekelle city protested against “what they called ethnic profiling that targets mainly Tigrayans in the ongoing crackdown on corruption and abuse of power”.
The chairman of TPLF and president of the regional state held a speech in front of the demonstrators in Mekelle Stadium. Already in November 2018 “rallies were held in various towns in Tigray, including in Adwa, Axum, Korem, Abiy Adi, Setit Humera, Alamata, Addisu and Moheni”. (Ezega, 9 December 2018)
123 Democratic Party (ESPDP) (Ethiopia Observer, 22 August 2018; see also VOA, 25 August 2018).
In January 2019 federal prosecutors “charged 47 individuals, including ex-Somali regional state president Abdi Muhamud Omer, a.k.a, Abdi Iley”, following investigations into the violence in Somali regional state during early August 2018 (Addis Standard, 30 January 2019). In February 2019 the Council of Somali regional state lifted the immunity of twelve members, “due to their alleged involvement in manufactured security crisis in the region some time in July 2018 which resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians”. They were also blamed to be implicated in corruption (Borkena, 7 February 2019). In October 2019 Ezega reports on the court hearing of Abdi Muhamoud Omar, accused “of inciting inter-communal violence which left more than 58 people dead in the city of Jigjiga, the capital of Somali state”. The article quotes the former Somali region president and provides further details on court procedings:
“‘I administered the state in a proper way, and I did not commit any crime. I am not guilty,’
he said. He made the plea in a court hearing on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at Lideta Criminal Court. The court also ordered the police to publish names and photos of seven other suspects who are still at large. All are accused of killing and wounding people as well as causing the displacement thousands in the capital city, Jigjiga, and other towns. About 50 individuals were charged along with Abdi Illey in August 2019. Those suspects who were arrested and charged under the same alleged crimes complained that justice has not yet been served and that they continue to be mistreated. […] Abdi Iley was detained on August 27 from a house in Addis Abeba. He remained in jail facing serious criminal charges after his August 30/2018 request for bail was denied by the federal high court. The August violence had eventually led to the intervention of federal forces and subsequent ousting from the presidency of Abdi Illey.” (Ezega, 30 October 2019)
In April 2019 the Ethiopian Somali People’s Democratic Party (ESPDP) changed its name to Somali Democracy Party (Borkena, 2 April 2019). The party further changed its emblem and now allows all Ethiopian citizens to join the party. Ahmed Shide was elected chairperson and Mustefa Omer became his deputy (The Reporter Ethiopia, 6 April 2019b). Although the Somali Democracy Party administers the Somali regional state, it is not part of the EPRDF, however it has the status of a “sister organization”. Borkena notes that the EPRDF “has recently made decision to make ‘sister organizations’ running regional administrations in Afar, Benishangul, Gambella and Somali regions of Ethiopia to be part to the ruling coalition and to form a single party” (Borkena, 3 April 2019). An article by The Ecomomist published in October 2019 notes the following regarding the situation in Somali regional state and in Jigjiga after the replacement of the Somali regional president:
“Dissidents and rebels returned in droves. Mohammed [Gurey] became the region's deputy security chief. The infamous central prison in Jigjiga, the state capital, was closed.
Thousands of prisoners were freed. Since then Mustafa [Omer] has overseen the most dramatic turnaround in the region's recent history. ‘It is the safest place in Ethiopia right now,’ says Kamal Hassan, another recent returnee. When your correspondent visited Jigjiga in the final months of Abdi's rule, former detainees refused to meet in public for fear of reprisals. Today many of them are in government. The old prison is to reopen as a museum, and Bashir takes visiting journalists and human-rights workers on tours - revealing, for example, the toilet cubicles where political prisoners huddled in solitary
confinement and the underground pit where human waste was dumped on them as punishment. Meanwhile separatist leaders of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) have ditched their weapons and plan to contest elections next year. […]
But even in the Somali region, the process is imperfect and fragile. Some critics allege that Mustafa is keener to take revenge on the old guard than to strengthen state institutions.
‘He treats everyone who worked for Abdi like they are Hitlers,’ complains an associate of the former regime. Locals bristle at a government dominated by well-heeled diaspora types. Others resent a lack of consultation. ‘Transparency is not very strong,’ sniffs Abdirahman Mahdi, the ONLF's secretary-general. Some worry about a return to strong-arm tactics: in recent days nearly 600 youngsters were indiscriminately rounded up in Jigjiga on vague allegations of criminality and taken out of the city for ‘rehabilitation’. About a tenth have since been released.” (The Economist, 5 October 2019)
For Information on the former rebel group Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) please see section 3.3.
7.4.2 Conflict in Somali regional state
In August 2018 the Heego youth group – loyal to former Somali regional state president Abdi Illey - and paramilitary Liyu police carried out attacks that left many people dead. According to the Ethiopian Orthodox church 15 people were killed and eight churches burned. After the destroying of homes hundreds of people fled to a church compound (HRW, 9 April 2019). Also in August 2018 “police opened fire on a group of demonstrators protesting the looting of property owned by ethnic minorities in the Somali Region, killing four people” (Freedom House, 4 February 2019, section E1). The Turkish Anadolu Agency (AA) provides the following overview on events in Jigjiga in early August 2018:
“Hundreds of Ethiopians demonstrated against violence that occurred last Saturday in which ethnic Somalis reportedly burned, looted and vandalized property belonging to ethnic Oromo and Amhara residents of the eastern town of Jijiga, capital of the Ethiopian Somali regional state. The demonstration took place in front of the Ministry of Defense and the Prime Minister's office in Addis Ababa. The demonstrators carried banners that read
‘Stop the killing in Jijiga’. In a statement issued on Monday, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church condemned the burning of churches and the killing of people in the city. According to local sources from Jijjiga, scores of people have been killed in violence that brought the federal army and the regional ‘Liyu/special’ police force at loggerheads. The Liyu unit was established to serve as a counterterrorism force but has been mired in controversy for its alleged involvement in the ethnic conflict between Oromos and Somalis, according to local media.” (AA, 6 August 2018)
A Reuters article provides the following insights on violence in Somali regional state in August 2018:
“At least 40 people were killed by paramilitary forces in eastern Ethiopia over the weekend, a senior regional official said on Monday, in the latest spate of violence driven by ethnic divisions. […] ‘We still do not know why Liyu forces raided the areas on Saturday and Sunday,’ he said, referring to the paramilitary soldiers. ‘But we know that all the victims
125 were ethnic Oromos. At least 40 were killed in the attacks.’ A week earlier, mobs looted
properties owned by ethnic minorities in the Somali region’s capital Jijiga. The central government said the unrest had been stoked by regional officials who had fallen out with central authorities trying to address rights abuses in the region.” (Reuters, 13 August 2018) Regarding violence in Jigjiga city in August 2018 the Federal Attorney General’s office disclosed in January 2019 that a mass grave with the remains of 42 people was discovered and a further eight bodies were found inside St. Michael Church in Jigjiga city. Addis Standard gives the following overview on the results of the investigations by the Attorney General:
“The AG’s office blamed an organized youth movement called ‘Heego’ and members of the Somali Liyu Police for instigating inter-communal violence between Somalis and residents of other ethnic groups in the region. Zinabu said arrest warrants were issued against 46 suspects including, including the infamous Abdirahman Labagole, head of the Liyu Police who is believed to be on the run, and Abdi Iley, who is standing trial. Of the 46, however, only six are under police custody. The remaining are either on the run or are hiding in the country, Zinabu said. A task force was formed to pursue after those hiding in the country while negotiations with third countries where some of the runaways are believed to be in hiding were underway to extradite the suspects.” (Addis Standard, 25 January 2019)
As reported by UNOCHA “five Somalis were killed and several other injured in Lagahida woreda”
in fighting with ethnic Oromo over land, in April 2019 (UNOCHA, 30 April 2019, p. 3). In June and July 2019 there were reports of inter-clan conflict in the zones of Doolo and Shabelle.
UNOCHA mentions the following regarding the incidents:
“In early July, one person was killed and two injured following the clash between Somali region police forces and Bantu local communities, after the latter set up a new settlement in Dhoomaale village, an area claimed by both Cabudwaq and Bantu clans. Another land-ownership related clash took place between Cabudwaq and Bah-Geri clans in Kalafo and Shilabo woredas (Shabelle zone) with four people killed, impacting critical nutrition activities in southern parts of Kalafo woreda. The situation in the southern boundary areas of Liban and Dawa zones remained unpredictable, with a reported spill-over of violence by UAGs [unidentified armed groups] from neighboring Borena and Guji zones (Oromia).”
(UNOCHA, 11 September 2019, p. 4)
UNOCHA notes the following regarding inter-clan clashes in Doolo zone in August and September 2019:
“In Doolo zone, a number of inter-clan clashes over land and power-sharing were reported involving the Bi-idyahan and Marehan sub-clans. Further, clashes were reported between Lelkase and Majerten clans in Galadi woreda, and between Gacanweyne (Makahil clan) and Bahamagan (Abdile clan) in Lehel-yucub woreda.” (UNOCHA, 6 November 2019, p. 4)
Please see also section 7.1.3 for further information on the Oromo-Somali ethnic conflict and section 5.3 for further information on events in Jigjiga and Somali region. Section 7.6.3 provides further information on ethnic conflicts involving ethnic Somali people.