SOMALIA: MSF PROTESTS ALLEGED ETHIOPIAN MILITARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 000173 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF AND AF/E LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2017 TAGS: PREL PREF PTER MOPS SO ET SUBJECT: SOMALIA: MSF PROTESTS ALLEGED ETHIOPIAN MILITARY OCCUPATION OF HOSPITAL REF: A. NAIROBI 254 (NOTAL) ¶B. ADDIS ABABA 171 (NOTAL) Classified By: ERIC WONG, DEPUTY POL-ECON COUNSELOR. REASON: 1.4 (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. The humanitarian NGO, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders),has protested the alleged December 26-27, 2006, occupation of its hospital in Dinsor, Somalia, by the Ethiopian military, asserting that Ethiopian troops harassed and intimidated MSF local staff and confiscated 203 confidential medical files, in violation of the Geneva convention. MSF's most serious charge is that Ethiopian forces ordered MSF local staff to annotate 25 randomly selected medical files by adding foreign nationalities. MSF officials explain that its hospital in Dinsor treated 284 wounded combatants, all of whom had come "from the frontlines" as fighters for the Council of Islamic Courts (CIC); all departed prior to the arrival of Ethiopian forces. In a subsequent meeting with MSF, Ethiopian State Minister for Foreign Affairs Tekeda questioned MSF's account of the incident and its motives, but acknowledged that an investigation was continuing. While MSF has discussed the incident with UN OCHA, ICRC, and representatives of several governments, MSF has not yet publicized the incident, fearing it could jeopardize MSF's perceived independence and its ability to continue humanitarian operations in Somalia and Ethiopia. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On January 18, Medecins Sans Frontieres-Switzerland (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF) Director General Christian Captier, MSF-Switzerland Program Manager Huub Verhagen, and Addis Ababa-based MSF-Switzerland Country Representative Will Robertson briefed Ambassador on the alleged December 26-27, 2006, occupation of MSF's hospital in Dinsor, Somalia, by Ethiopian National Defense Force troops (ENDF). The MSF officials recently visited Somalia to conduct a first-hand assessment of risks to MSF staff, and reported that they had met with Amb. Yates in Nairobi. ¶3. (C) According to MSF officials, ENDF occupied MSF's Dinsor Hospital for 30 hours beginning on December 26, and allegedly harassed, detained, and threatened MSF local staff; compelled MSF local staff to breach patient confidentiality; and confiscated medical files. According to MSF, these ENDF actions constitute violations of the Geneva convention and first additional protocol, particularly articles relating to the general protection of medical units and buildings, as well as to humanitarian and medical personnel. There were no international staff at the hospital during the incident, Captier said, as they had been evacuated earlier due to safety concerns. -------------- -------------- FALSE IDENTIFICATION OF 25 FOREIGN FIGHTERS ALLEGED -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) MSF's most serious allegation is that Ethiopian troops ordered the falsification of medical files: by allegedly ordering MSF local staff to annotate 25 randomly chosen medical files by adding a foreign nationality (e.g., Afghanistan, Australia, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, UK, Yemen). MSF local staff were then allegedly ordered to authenticate the annotated files with an MSF stamp. In an internal incident report prepared by MSF and shared with Ambassador (emailed to AF/E),MSF states that this action may "amount to a criminal perfidious use of (the) MSF emblem for military propaganda issues, putting MSF activities and personnel in danger of retaliation." ¶5. (C) According to MSF Program Manager Verhagen, MSF is concerned about the possible misuse of 203 medical files allegedly confiscated by the ENDF from MSF's Dinsor hospital, relating to some 284 injured individuals treated by MSF there. Those treated by MSF were "all combatants" allied with the Council of Islamic Courts (CIC),who "came from the front lines," Verhagen added. Verhagen and Captier asserted that MSF did not know the actual nationalities of those treated, as it was not standard medical practice to collect such information from the wounded, and that all those treated ADDIS ABAB 00000173 002 OF 003 had "Somali names." The wounded combatants were "all evacuated by the CIC" prior to the ENDF's arrival at the hospital, Verhagen said, having been referred to facilities in Kismayo or Mogadishu. Captier explained that as MSF was not present in Baidoa (like the ICRC),MSF had not treated any Ethiopian or TFG forces; MSF facilities would now treat all who came, however, he added. Verhagen clarified that MSF had treated TFG wounded at Galguduud. -------------- --- INCIDENT PROTESTED TO GOE, TFG, UN OCHA AND ICRC -------------- --- ¶6. (C) MSF has protested the alleged incident in separate written correspondence (forwarded to AF/E) to both Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and to Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, with copies to the UN Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA),and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). MSF officials stated that they had also reported the incident to government officials in Stockholm, Oslo, and Washington, as well as to the EU permrep in Addis; Director General Captier said he planned to brief EU officials further in Brussels. According to Captier, Ethiopia's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Tekeda Alemu, in a subsequent meeting with MSF, denied MSF's account of the incident and questioned MSF's motives, but concluded by noting that an investigation was underway. MSF officials said they hoped to meet with Ethiopia's minister of federal affairs, as well as other senior GOE principals. ¶7. (SBU) MSF Country Representative for Ethiopia Will Robinson commented that while MSF had not developed strong bonds with the ENDF, MSF operated within Ethiopia's Somali region with the support of local GOE officials, and there was "no issue of political bias" against MSF among the GOE. MSF had sought to operate outside the area of operations of the insurgent Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF): MSF-Belgium was addressing tuberculosis and cholera south of Gode, he said. MSF was nevertheless concerned about fallout from the Dinsor incident affecting MSF operations in Ethiopia, Captier said. -------------- -------------- INCIDENT NOT YET PUBLICIZED; MSF'S INDEPENDENCE AT STAKE -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) While underscoring MSF's concern at this "serious violation" of international law, Captier also stressed MSF's interest in avoiding "further damage" to MSF operations in Somalia. MSF's main objective is to protect its staff, as well as its ability to continue humanitarian activities in Somalia, Captier said. He explained that MSF had not yet publicized the event, fearing that doing so would jeopardize MSF's neutrality and independence, if external parties believed that MSF had colluded with the Ethiopian military. Ambassador added that negative publicity related to the security situation in Somalia may deter potential troop-contributing countries from deploying contingents to replace the ENDF. ¶9. (U) Due to years of neglect, Somalia was an important focus country for MSF operations, Captier said. With the permission of the TFG, MSF-Switzerland international staff had since returned to Beled Weyne, as well as to the Dinsor hospital (to treat a malaria outbreak),where they have been present since 2002. MSF-Belgium was operating in the Bakool and Galguduud regions; MSF-Poland was operating in Galcaiyo and north of Kismayo; and MSF-Spain was operating in Jowhar, Captier added. ¶10. (SBU) In response to Ambassador's observation that the USG was arranging commercial flights to deliver food, fuel, and medical supplies to Somalia, Director General Captier noted that MSF could not be involved, due to MSF's policy of not receiving assistance from any government, except during emergencies. MSF needed to control its own logistics, to maintain its independence, Verhagen said. ADDIS ABAB 00000173 003 OF 003 ¶11. (C) COMMENT: Post will continue to press the GOE to return medical files to MSF and to respect relevant international conventions relating to the protection of humanitarian and medical personnel. We raised this issue directly with the ENDF's Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Samora, who denied files were stolen (ref B). We will need to raise this issue with the Prime Minister to get an adjudication. END COMMENT. YAMAMOTO