Ethiopia: 1) Information on recent repatriation of Ethiopians; 2) Information on military service, conscription and desertion; 3) General information on major opposition groups; 4) List of tribes and which is more vulnerable; 5) Consequences of illegal departure; 6) Ethiopian government's attitude towards Somali rebel groups based in Ethiopia; 7) Are ethnic Somalis drafted into the Ethiopian army and forced to fight their own people?

departure; Somalis; guerrilla fighters; political opposition; Somalia; Ethiopia

 1) Although the February 1989 edition of the UNHCR's magazine Refugees (page 6) indicates that Ethiopian refugees in Somalia move regularly between Ethiopia and Somalia and that the causes of fear of persecution for many may have ceased to exist, the UNHCR office in Ottawa stated in February 1989 the instability and traditional tensions between Ethiopia and ethnic Somalis of the Ogaden, posed a risk of severe penalties upon the return of refugees to Ethiopia. The Amendment to the Special Penal Code, Section 17b, referring to "Commission of Counter-Revolutionary Acts", which may still be in effect, provides for penalties of five to twenty-five years in prison, life confinement or death for a series of acts of treason,

which include illegally leaving or attempting to leave the

country. No report indicates this legislation cannot be

applied to those who fled the country as refugees without undergoing Ethiopian legal procedures. However, in a recent interview published in Refugees (Geneva: UNHCR, April 1989,

pp. 39-40), the High Commissioner of the UNHCR declared that repatriation programs for Ethiopians in neighbouring countries are almost complete, "although [these] will be speeded up when the refugees themselves freely choose to return". [ Refugees, April 1989, p. 40.] A copy of the published interview and the article referring to repatriation of Ethiopian refugees in Somalia is attached, together with:

-"Hope and Uncertainties", in Refugees, November 1988,

pp. 38- 39;

-"A fatal bungle", in The Economist, 13 May 1989, p. 50;

-two previous responses to information requests dealing with return of ethnic Somalis to Ethiopia.

 A report indicates approximately 3,000 Ethiopian prisoners of war were repatriated from Somalia after an agreement between the two governments, in April 1988. [ Africa Confidential, 20

January 1989, p. 3.]

2) Military service in Ethiopia is reported to be compulsory and last for 30 months, with six months of reserve training for all males and females between the ages of 18 and 50 who do not perform the regular military service. [ Europa Year Book, (London: Europa Publications, 1988), p. 989.] Those who evade or attempt to evade military service are reportedly imprisoned, and there is no alternative non-military service. [Ethiopia: Political Imprisonment and Torture, (London: Amnesty International, 1986), pp. 4-5.]

3) For general information on Ethiopian opposition groups, please refer to the attached copy of Revolutionary and Dissident

Movements, (London: Longman Publishing Group, 1988), pages 99-

106.

For recent information on the major Ethiopian rebel groups, please see the following attached documents:

-"Of War and Peace", in Africa Events, June 1989,

pp. 30-31;

-Beyond the Headlines: Refugees in the Horn of Africa,

(Washington: American Council for Nationalities Service, January 1988), pp. 1, 12-31. (This document also contains information which may be pertinent to other questions).

-"The politics of power and the politics of peace", in Africa Confidential, (London, Miramoor Publications), 9 June 1989, pp. 6-7;

-and also from Africa Confidential: "Mengistu soldiers on", 1 July 1988, pp. 1-3; "EPLF peace conditions", 27 May 1988,

pp. 4-5; and "A battle lost, a war in stalemate", 29 April 1988, pp. 1-3.

 According to these sources, fighting between the major rebel

groups and government forces of Ethiopia continues. After

unsuccessful military campaigns to eliminate the rebel groups, the Ethiopian National Assembly announced the formation of autonomous regions, including Eritrea, but the EPLF rejected this proposal and continued its military activities. [ Europa, p. 965.] A recent report indicates that the Ethiopian army has suffered significant losses in its anti-rebel effort, and faces an average of seven deserters a day joining the EPLF. [ Africa Events, June 1989, p. 31.] The EPLF and the TPLF are reported to operate radio stations which reach Addis Ababa. Africa Confidential, 17 March 1989, p. 8.] Both these groups have reportedly received support from Sudan. [ Africa Confidential, 22 January 1988.] The WSLF was reportedly disbanded in 1987, with many of its Ogadeni members being recruited into the Somali Army to fight the Somali National Movement in northern Somalia. ["Rise of the Ogadeni", in Africa Confidential, 20 January 1989, pp. 2-3.] Another, previous report indicates that the Somali Abo Liberation Front (SALF) and the WSLF inflitrated into the Ogaden after the Somali support was cut off, following an agreement between the governments of Somalia and    Ethiopia. [Keesing's Record of World Events, (London, Longman Publishing Group), July 1988, p. 36007.]

4) According to the Amnesty Report 1988, (London: Amnesty

International, 1988), people suspected of links with rebel groups which have relatively defined ethnic affiliation, such as the Oromo, Eritrean or Tigrayan Liberation Fronts, may be subject to arrest and detention. The Isaaqs also belong to a Somali clan or tribe which also occupies Ethiopian territory; a reference to their situation can be found in the two attached responses to information requests. The Ogadeni, another ethnic-Somali clan, is linked with the Western Somalia Liberation Front, which has fought the Ethiopian government for control of the Ogaden region. [ "Rise of the Ogadeni", pp. 2-3.]

5) For information on illegal departure other than that already possessed by the requester, please refer to answer No. 1, which mentions an amendment to the Ethiopian Penal Code. No information on the recent application of this amendment could be found among the sources presently available to the IRBDC.

6) The Somali National Movement (SNM) is active mostly in northern Somalia, and no recent reports of its support or persecution by the Ethiopian government could be found among the available sources (see below for more information).

 The Democratic Front for the Salvation of Somalia, however,

is reported as "moribund", with many of its leading figures being recruited by the SNM. [Africa Confidential, 18 November 1988, p. 3.] The disarray of this rebel group was

reportedly triggered by the detention of its head, Colonel

Abdullahi Yusuf, by Ethiopian authorities in 1985. [ Ibid.] The

DFSS was reported as having about 1,000 fighters equipped with Libyan-supplied weapons, [ Ibid.] and had bases in Ethiopian territory until July 1988. [ Africa Confidential, 29 July 1988.] These bases, as well as the bases of the SNM and their

radio station operating in Ethiopian territory were closed after

an agreement between the Somali and Ethiopian governments. [Keesing's Record of World Events, (London, Longman Publishing Group), July 1988, p. 36007.]

7) No information which could answer this question could be found among the available sources. The sources which provided the abovementioned information regarding military conscription did not contain any reference to exemption of ethnic-Somalis from military service.