A human rights advocate has told the United States Congress that the current situation in the Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia has striking similarities to Darfur.
- Saman Zia Zarifi, the Washington advocate for Human Rights Watch, addressed the House of Representative Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health and stated " the situation in Ogaden follows a frighteningly familiar pattern - a brutal counterinsurgency operation with ethnic overtones in which government forces deliberately attack civilians and displace large populations, coupled with severe restrictions on humanitarian assistance."
