View source for Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation

{{Infobox militant organization
| name = Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = 
| image = RSADO Logo.jpeg
| caption = Logo of RSADO
| active = {{Start date|1995}}–present
| leaders = [[Ibrahim Harun]]<br />[[mohammed shina)(RSADO)|Mohammed shina]]<ref name="SudTrib_ER_rebels_claim" /><ref name="Tribune2">{{cite web|url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article29974|title=Red Sea Afar rebels attack Eritrean military camp|work=Sudan Tribune|date=26 January 2006|accessdate=2 November 2014}}</ref><br />[[Abdu sheek]] (spokesperson)<ref name="SudanTribune">{{cite news|last1=Tekle|first1=Tesfa-Alem|title=Exiled Eritrean rebel groups plan joint military attack against regime - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan|url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article47958|accessdate=14 January 2017|work=www.sudantribune.com|publisher=Sudan Tribune|date=7 September 2013}}</ref><br />[[the first leader Ahmed Humad]]<br />[[secound leader Ali Osman Ma'ar]]
| ideology = [[Afar people|Afar]] self-determination
| clans = [[Red Sea Afar Youth League]]
| headquarters = Afar Region, [[Ethiopia]]
| area = [[Southern Red Sea Region]], Eritrea
| size = 
| partof = [[Eritrean Democratic Alliance]]
| allies = '''State allies'''
* {{flag|Ethiopia}}
* {{flag|Sudan}} (formerly)
'''Non-state allies'''
* [[Democratic Front for Eritrean Unity|DFEU]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Kunama people.png}} [[Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the Eritrean Kunama|DMLEK]]<ref name="EDA">{{cite web|title=The Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Eritrean Kunama (DMLEK) supports the military operation of RSADO|url=http://erit-alliance.com/erit/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=247:the-democratic|website=erit-alliance.com|publisher=Eritrean Democratic Alliance|accessdate=14 January 2017}}</ref>
* {{flagdeco|Eritrea|1952}} [[Eritrean National Salvation Front|ENSF]]
* [[Saho People's Democratic Movement|SPDM]]<ref name="SudanTribune" />
| opponents = {{flag|Eritrea}}
{{flag|Ethiopia}}
| battles = [[Second Afar insurgency]]
| website = {{URL|http://www.dahlaka.com}}
| identification_symbol_label = Flag
| identification_symbol = [[File:Flag of the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation.svg|150px]]
}}

The '''Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation''' (Afar af: Qasa Badih Qafarih Dimokraasih Missoyna; {{lang-am|ዲሞክራሲያዊ ውድብ ዓፋር ቀይሕ ባሕሪ}}; {{lang-ar|التنظيم الديمقراطي لعفر البحر الأحمر}}, transliteration: ''Al-tanzim Al-dimokrati Li-'afar Al-Bahr Al-Ahmar''; abbreviated '''RSADO''') is a political organisation and armed insurgent group based in [[Ethiopia]]. The organisation is made up of mainly ethnic [[Afar people]], and was founded in early 1995-1996 following a revolt by the Red Sea Afar people led by [[Ahmed Humed]], after the UN-supervised [[Eritrean independence referendum, 1993|Eritrean independence referendum]] was held in 1993. The primary goal of RSADO is to achieve autonomy for the region known as [[Dankalia]], inhabited mainly by the Red Sea Afar.

{{As of|2014}}, RSADO is a member of the [[Eritrean Democratic Alliance]] (EDA) group of 11 Eritrean political organisations attempting to overthrow Eritrean president [[Isaias Afwerki]]'s government.<ref name="SudTrib_ER_rebels_claim">{{cite news|title = Eritrean rebels claim to have killed dozens of intelligence agents|url = http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article50805|date=2014-04-29|newspaper=Sudan Tribune|access-date = 6 July 2015|archive-date=2020-10-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042354/https://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article50805|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==
Following the independence of Eritrea in May 1991, indigenous Afar started to face unprecedented persecution by the [[totalitarian]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/06/12/the-brutal-dictatorship-the-world-keeps-ignoring/ |title=The brutal dictatorship the world keeps ignoring |date=2021-12-01 |orig-date=2015-06-13 |author1=Adam Taylor |newspaper=The Washington Post |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}</ref> one-party government of the [[People’s Front for Democracy and Justice]] led by [[Isaias Afwerki]]. The government of Eritrea began systematically 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 skeptically 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.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} The regime lost no time in exposing its partisan and partial nature totally ignoring their feelings.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} 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.{{Opinion|date=April 2019}}

This combined with dissatisfaction over the ruling [[PFDJ]] government led to a rebellion by the Red Sea Afar in Southern Eritrea in 1995, led by [[Ahmed Humad]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} The group used guerrilla war tactics and launched attacks in Eritrea. Though they posed great problems for the Eritrean government and army, it was also facing internal political conflicts in the very late 1990s.{{Opinion|date=April 2019}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.dahlaka.com Official website]
* [https://www.facebook.com/AFARSADO/ RSADO Facebook page]

{{Wikipedia|Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation}}
[[Category:National liberation movements in Africa]]
[[Category:Guerrilla organizations]]
[[Category:1999 establishments]]
[[Category:1990s establishments in Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Rebel groups in Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Rebel groups in Eritrea]]