Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation

Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation
Qasa Badih Qafarih Dimokraasih Missoyna التنظيم الديمقراطي لعفر البحر الأحمر ዲሞክራሲያዊ ውድብ ዓፋር ቀይሕ ባሕሪ Participant in the Second Afar insurgency
Logo and flag of RSADO
Active	1999 (1999)–present
Ideology	Self-determination for the Red Sea Afar people
Groups	Red Sea Afar Youth League
Leaders	Ahmed Humad Ali Osman Ma'ar Ibrahim Harun
Headquarters	Ethiopia
Area of operations	Dankalia, Eritrea
Allies	Government of Ethiopia Government of Sudan (formerly)
Opponents	Government of Eritrea
Battles and wars	Second Afar insurgency

The Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation (Tigrinya: Qasa Badih Qafarih Dimokraasih Missoyna^?; Arabic: التنظيم الديمقراطي لعفر البحر الأحمر‎‎, transcription: Al-tanzim Al-dimokrati Li-'afar Al-Bahr Al-Ahmar; Amharic: ዲሞክራሲያዊ ውድብ ዓፋር ቀይሕ ባሕሪ^?; abbreviated RSADO) is an Eritrean political and armed organisation based in Ethiopia. The organisation is made up of ethnic Afar people and was founded in early 1999 following a revolt of the Red Sea Afar people led by Ahmed Humed shortly after the UN-supervised referendum in Eritrea held for independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The RSADO struggles against the Eritrean Government to achieve autonomy of the Red Sea Afar Land (or Afar Land, Dankalia). As defined by the RSADO, the territory of Afar Land in Eritrea covers Southern Red Sea Region and part of the southern Northern Red Sea Region.

The RSADO is also a member of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA), a coalition of 11 Eritrean political organisations that struggle to topple president Isaias Afwerki’s regime.^[1]

History

Following the independence of Eritrea in May 1991, indigenous Afar started to face unprecedented persecution by the authoritarian, one-party government of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice led by Isaias Afwerki. The Government of Eritrea has begun systemically removing the Red Sea Afar from their ancestral homeland, robbing them of their indigenous identity, denying them the rights to own and live off their traditional land and territories, destroying the basis of the Red Sea Afar economies such as fishing and animal husbandry, and confiscating Afar businesses.

The rule of Shabia was unreservedly welcomed by the Kebesa community while the bulk of Muslims were sceptically watching the situation and wishing that Shabia would rise up to the occasion and their fears would be proved wrong. They adopted a wait and see attitude giving the regime the benefit of doubt, but the regime did not attempt to take advantage of the opportunity and win back their trust or play down their fears and suspicions. The regime lost no time in exposing its partisan and partial nature totally ignoring their feelings. The regime went on harassing, imprisoning and purging citizens who dared to stand for their basic rights or even at a mere suspicion that they entertain such thoughts. This vindicated the worst fears that haunted the Muslims ever since Shabia’s control of power

This combined with dissatisfaction over the ruling PFDJ government led the Red Sea Afar in Southern Eritrea to rebel in 1995 led by Ahmed Humad declared the armed struggle for self-determination of the Red Sea Afar People. Led by Humad, the group launched a guerrilla war tactics attacks. Though they posed great problems for the Eritrean government and army, it was also facing internal political conflicts in the very late 1990s.

Ethnic Cleansing

RSADO accuses the Eritrean government and its ruling party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) of committing ethnic cleansing against the Red Sea Afar people.

References