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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Aug 22 2011 - 08:42:37 EDT
“MGSE not only decided to deny the OLF the right to be heard on the matter
in which it has been falsely accused, but also did not want our input in
accomplishing its mission. It is our considered judgment that the MGSE’s
investigation process was not fair and its report lacks veracity” the group
said"
http://www.sudantribune.com/Ethiopia-rebel-group-protests-over,39895
Ethiopia rebel group protests over UN body’s AU terror plot report
August 19, 2011 (PARIS) - An Ethiopian rebel group, the Oromo Liberation
Front (OLF) wrote a protest letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon, denying any involvement in the alleged bomb plot at an African
Union Summit held in Addis Ababa earlier this year.
A UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea (MGSE) report on July 28th
accused the outlawed OLF of attempting to smuggle explosives into Addis
Ababa to bomb the AU headquarters.
Ethiopian security forces foiled the attack and arrested suspects days
before the planned attack.
According to the UN body’s report, testimony by arrested members of the
terrorist team claimed Eritrea paid them to carry out the operation.
However, the Oromo rebel group in its protest letter sought to have the UN
monitoring group retract the allegation arguing the report’s conclusion was
reached based only on claims and “manufactured evidences” from the Ethiopian
government.
“Indeed the report of the MGSE that links the OLF to the terrorist act is
flawed. Foremost, the methodology that the Monitoring Group used is flawed
and has no scientific base” the group protested.
“It has been indicated that the MGSE interviewed individuals that the
Ethiopian government claimed to have been captured while they were plotting
to bomb the General Assembly of the African Union” it said.
“The MGSE team reached its unsubstantiated conclusion solely based on the
claim of the plaintiff, i.e., the Ethiopian regime, and without
counterchecking with other sources”.
The OLF accused the UN panel of failing to offer the rebel group a chance to
disprove the serious allegations despite promises to contact them.
“MGSE not only decided to deny the OLF the right to be heard on the matter
in which it has been falsely accused, but also did not want our input in
accomplishing its mission. It is our considered judgment that the MGSE’s
investigation process was not fair and its report lacks veracity” the group
said.
The group urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to reject what it said was a
“biased and baseless report” further calling for “a genuine scientific
research” against governments “gross human rights violations against Oromo
peoples”.
Founded in 1973, the OLF is an organisation established by Oromo
nationalists to promote self-determination for the Oromo people, the largest
single ethnic group in Ethiopia.
The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) is one of the three home-grown political
groups the Ethiopian parliament recently designated as a terrorist
organisation along with the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), Ginbot
7.
Somalia ’s Al-shabab and al Qaeda were also included in the terror list as
international terror networks posing a threat to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia’s government holds the OLF responsible for 106 deadly terrorist
acts inside the country.
Daawud Ibsaa Chairman of the group in the protest letter to Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon, said the OLF opposes all forms of terrorism and as a
matter of policy rejects using terrorism as a form of struggle.
“The OLF does not target civilian populations and their properties in its
military operations.” He said adding “The OLF did not and will not plan to
bomb the AU headquarters.”
It noted a need for the international community to exert maximum pressure
against the Ethiopian government to engage in a “meaningful dialogue”.
(ST)
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