Somalia: 1) Do ethnic Somalis enjoy the same rights as Somali citizens? 2) Is it safe for Somali nationals to return? 3) Are any clans other than the Isaaq threatened? 4) What is the present status of the conflict in the Ogaden region? 5) Is compulsory conscription enforced? Penalties for refusal to serve, information on alternative service 6) Information on the WSLF 7) Treatment of Ethiopian refugees in Somalia

Many Ethiopians, particularly in the Ogaden region, are ethnic Somalis. Information regarding their opportunity to enjoy the same rights as Somali citizens could not be found among the sources presently available to the IRBDC.

For questions 2, 3 and 5, please refer to the attached issue paper: Somalia and the Hawiye Clan (Ottawa: IRBDC, May 1989). This document discusses the current situation in Somalia, indicating the existence of a conflict partly based on clan-affiliation grounds, as well as forced recruitment of soldiers, particularly in the South of Somalia.

 As for question 4, Somalia and Ethiopia signed an agreement in April 1988, which included both the cessation of hostilities between the two countries and the withdrawal of support for the rebel groups operating from each other's territory. [Keesing's Record of World Events, (London, Longman Publishing Group), p. 36007.] Since then, reports do not indicate that major confrontations have taken place between Ethiopian and rebel forces. The Democratic Front for the Salvation of Somalia (DFSS) was reported in late-1988 as having about 1,000 fighters equipped with Libyan supplied weapons at bases located in the Ethiopian Ogaden, although it was described as a "moribund" organization. [Africa Confidential, 29 July 1988, and 18 November 1988, p. 3.] The Somali National Movement is actively fighting the Somali armed forces, having bases both in Ethiopian Somali territory, although the intensity of its activities have decreased since the major confrontations of mid-1988. [Africa Confidential, various issues, 1988 and 1989.]

 The following information gives a general view of the Western Somalia Liberation Front (WSLF):

 The Western Somalia Liberation Front (WSLF) is the name of an Ethiopian separatist group, which was composed of ethnic Somalis from the Ogaden region who wanted to secede from Ethiopia. It was formed in the late sixties, and became a significant military force in the mid-seventies. [Beyond the Headlines: Refugees in the Horn of Africa, (Washington: American Council for Nationalities Service, 1988), p. 12.]

 Although a large sector of the WSLF espoused the establishment of an independent state, referred to as "Western Somalia", the Somali government reportedly helped organize and arm the group. [War and Famine: Indigenous Perspectives on Conflict in the Horn of Africa, (Waterloo, Ontario: Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, March 1988), p. 5.]

After the overthrow of Haile Selassie as monarch of Ethiopia in 1974, the WSLF and Somali forces took advantage of the instability of the new regime and invaded the Ogaden in 1977. However, the USSR, until then an ally of Somalia, provided the recently established Ethiopian regime with large quantities of weapons and Cuban troops were sent to assist the Ethiopian military. These measures ultimately lead to the defeat of the invading forces in 1978. [Ibid.]

After the defeat, Ethiopian troops reportedly retaliated against the ethnic Somali population of the Ogaden, causing an exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, who sought refuge in Somali territory. [Beyond the Headlines, p. 22.] Thousands of prisoners were taken, both of the Somali armed forces and the WSLF. These prisoners were exchanged for Ethiopian ones taken by the Somali military after the Somali and Ethiopian governments signed a treaty ten years later, in April 1988. [Britannica 1989 Book of the Year, (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1989), p. 389.] Ill-treatment of

prisoners in Ethiopia and Somalia, both political and of war, has been repeatedly reported by Amnesty International and U.S. Department of State annual reports.

 The WSLF reduced its activities after its defeat in 1978, but occasional armed clashes with Ethiopian forces reportedly continued into 1987. [War and Famine, p. 5, and Europa Year Book 1988, (London: Europa Publications, 1988), p. 988.] Although a 1988 report indicates that members of the WSLF infiltrated back into the Ethiopian Ogaden after their support was cut by Somalia, [Keesing's Record of World Events, (London, Longman Publishing Group), p. 36007.] a 1989 report states that the WSLF disbanded in 1987, with many of its Ogadeni-clan members joining the Ogadeni militias of Somali Brigadier-General Ahmed Omar Jess, in command of the northern sector of                 Somalia and fighting the Isaaq-dominated Somali National Movement. ["Rise of the Ogadeni", in Africa Confidential, 20 January 1989, pp. 2-3.]

 For additional information on the WSLF and the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), please see the attached copies of Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (London: Longman, 1988), pp. 104-105.

 For information on the situation of Ethiopian refugees in Somalia, please refer to the attached documents:

-Beyond the Headlines: Refugees in the Horn of Africa, (Washington: American Council for Nationalities Service, 1988), pp. 20-27.

- Somalia: Observations Regarding the Northern Conflict and Resulting Conditions, (Washington: General Accounting Office, May 1989), pp. 10-11, 14.

-World Refugee Survey: 1988 in review, (Washington: U. S. Committee for Refugees, 1989), pp. 43-45.

 In general terms, the documents indicate the majority of refugees in Somalia are located in camps, with the main concern of relief agencies being the supply of food and water. No information on jobs and education programs for them could be found among the

available sources. Some food for the Ethiopian refugees has been reportedly misappropriated by Ogadeni refugees, many of which reportedly became part in Somalia's internal conflict and thus considered ineligible for refugee assistance, and by the Somali military. [Somalia: Observations Regarding the Northern Conflict and Resulting Conditions, (Washington: General Accounting Office, May 1989), p. 9.] The northern Somalia conflict disrupted relief assistance for the refugees in May 1988, but resumed by July of that year. [Ibid.]

 Although various reports indicate that several thousand Ethiopian refugees have voluntarily repatriated, [World Refugee Survey: 1988 in review, (Washington: U. S. Committee for Refugees, 1989), pp. 44-45; Refugees (UNHCR magazine), February 1989, p. 6. ] the UNHCR office in Ottawa stated in February 1989 that the instability and traditional tensions between Ethiopia and ethnic Somalis of the Ogaden posed a risk to refugees returning to Ethiopia. The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988, (Washington: U.S. Department of State, 1989), pp. 115-116, indicates that many Ethiopian refugees did repatriate in 1988, but at least one case was reported of Ethiopian security forces opening fire on refugees who resisted resettlement.