INSURGENTS STOP/DETAIN NGO STAFF IN OGADEN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 002663 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PHUM EAID PGOV ET SUBJECT: INSURGENTS STOP/DETAIN NGO STAFF IN OGADEN SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Two NGO teams have been detained in rural encounters with insurgent/extremist groups in the Ogaden areas of Ethiopia's Somali region in the past week. As NGOs report increased access in the Ogaden, the incidence of such encounters is also likely to continue, and grow. Roadblocks by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) insurgents have generally not harmed, robbed, or kidnapped humanitarian workers. Encounters with extremist groups -- such as the United Western Somali Liberation Front (UWSLF),Al-Itihaad al-Islami (AIAI),or al-Shabaab -- result in more varied, and threatening, experiences. Fundamentally, the remote, ungoverned areas of the Somali region continue to present a significant potential security threat and military (ENDF) escorts often remain necessary. Post will continue to balance carefully policy gains against risks in considering travel for mission personnel in the region. End Summary. AIAI DELAYS IRC TEAM -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On September 16, a team from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) was stopped at a roadblock manned by armed individuals claiming to represent al-Itihaad. The team of one Nepali and three Ethiopians was detained en route from Kebri Dehar to Degehabur after briefing the Ambassador and visiting USAID Assistant Administrator Mike Hess. After being questioned about their identity, activities, and purpose of travel for approximately two to three hours, the gunmen relieved the IRC team of about 8,000 birr and their Thuraya satellite telephone before allowing them to proceed. The gunmen threatened to kill the group and waved guns in their faces. The group continued on the road but was stopped by a second unidentified, but non-hostile group for several minutes. Having reported at the Ethiopian military check-point outside of Kebri Dehar upon commencing their travel, the team's delayed, after-dark arrival in Gunagado -- the last town before Degehabur -- got the ENDF's attention. As a result, the ENDF impounded the IRC team's vehicles, subjecting the staff members to de facto "town arrest" in Gunagado until senior instructions from ENDF commanders in Jijiga and Harar were received. As per standard operating procedures respected by the NGOs, they did not report their encounter with AIAI to ENDF or local officials. (Comment: Given the seriousness of this particular incident it is unclear to us why IRC did not tell the ENDF. This was not a chance encounter with the ONLF who have been consistently friendly to NGOs. End Comment.) ¶3. (SBU) On September 19 the ENDF escorted the IRC staff to the Somali regional capital Jijiga where they held a joint meeting with regional officials. According to IRC officials, the Somali regional government officials pressed for the IRC team's release, but the ENDF rejected such a move. While there was discussion to release the Nepali expatriate, IRC reported that the ENDF remained "angry" with the IRC Ethiopian staff members for being "unaccounted for" in the bush. On September 22, the ENDF handed the IRC team over to federal police custody, and they were eventually released shortly after noon. ¶4. (SBU) Despite a UNDSS security report speculating that the IRC team may have been detained by the UWSLF, callers claiming to represent UWSLF called IRC representatives in Jijiga on September 25 denying that it was not UWSLF that had detained the team. MEDECINS DU MONDE STAFF KIDNAPPED -------------- ¶5. (SBU) On September 23, two expatriate staff members of French NGO Medecins Du Monde (MDM) were kidnapped near Shilabo, south of Kebri Dehar. While their Ethiopian driver was released, Hareri Hassan Barre, Commissioner for Somalia's Balanbale district reported to the press that the expat staff members had been taken into Somalia. A French embassy source noted that the two were believed to be one Japanese and one Finnish national. As the hostage takers are now demanding a ransom for the foreigners' release, Post believes that the kidnapping may be the work of al Shabaab or individuals affiliated or inspired by them. The ONLF distributed a press release on September 23 condemning the abduction and its potential to disrupt the international community's efforts to alleviate humanitarian conditions in the region. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) As NGO access expands throughout the Ogaden, encounters ADDIS ABAB 00002663 002 OF 002 with armed gunmen opposed to the Ethiopian Government are likely to increase. While NGO encounters with the ONLF over the past couple of years have consistently consisted of questioning followed by unhindered release (and the ONLF has unilaterally initiated ceasefires where they have known humanitarian teams were being deployed and called for humanitarian corridors),encounters with other groups have taken various forms. Until now expatriates have, at most, been robbed. The MDM staff kidnapping, however, marks a notable change in tactics, of which we are not yet able to attribute to a specific group. While the sustained Ethiopian security and military presence in major towns has exempted these quasi-urban areas from armed insurgent activity affecting humanitarian groups, the rural majority of the Ogaden region remains largely ungoverned. ¶7. (SBU) Persistent government suspicion of NGOs collaborating with "anti-peace elements" will likely sustain IRC-like secondary detentions of NGOs by the ENDF after initial encounters with anti-government groups. Post will continue to press the Ethiopian Government to understand that such encounters do not indicate collaboration, and to facilitate humanitarian access to vulnerable populations within the prevailing security climate in the Ogaden. Post will also actively track location and trends in such encounters to ensure that USG personnel can continue to access the region to achieve policy objectives without exposing staff to unnecessary risk. End Comment. YAMAMOTO