The ONLF called on the U.N. to investigate “rape, torture, [and] gunshot wounds” at the hands of troops under Ethiopian Prime Minister's Meles Zenawi's central government. The ONLF alleges that the government was punishing civilians after the government launched a prodigious military campaign against the rebels. Earlier this year, 74 people were killed during a raid at a Chinese-run oil exploration field. In a statement, the ONLF said that the government's campaign “continues to be a campaign of state-sponsored terror that largely avoids engagements with ONLF forces and instead focuses on collectively punishing our civilian population.”
There has been no independent verification of the claims by either side. Both central government officials and ONLF rebel leaders blame each other for the death of hundreds of civilians. ONLF statements claim the government had manipulated the U.N. mission and prevented its access to certain areas of concern. Ethiopian officials, however, dismiss those claims. “They said it is good that the U.N. has sent the fact-finding missions. And now when the facts from the ground are found to be not supported their claims, they are fighting the fact-finding mission,” an adviser to the prime minister said.
ONLF rebels are fighting for autonomy in the Ogaden region, which is ethnically Somali. Ethiopia recognizes the group as a terrorist organization supported by its rival, and neighboring, Eritrea.