By Peter Clottey, VOA — Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the country would not be a haven for criminals under its leadership. This comes after President Robert Mugabe’s government reportedly said former Ethiopian leader Mengistu Haile Mariam will be protected in Zimbabwe despite being sentenced to death by an Ethiopian High Court. Mengistu, has lived in exile in Zimbabwe since he was overthrown in 1991, is unlikely extradited to Ethiopia to face punishment unless Mugabe loses next month’s election run-off. The Ethiopian government has however, not formally requested Mengistu to be extradited. From Harare, MDC international affairs secretary Eliphas Mukonoweshuro tells reporter Peter Clottey that the imminent MDC government would review the case of the former Ethiopian leader before taking any action.
“The position of the MDC is that it will accept people running away from other countries seeking refuge in Zimbabwe. If they are not needed by any country for crimes committed, then they would be free to stay in Zimbabwe. But Zimbabwe can never be a haven of criminals under an MDC government. If Mengistu has not committed any crime anywhere to the satisfaction of the incoming MDC government, then he has nothing to fear at all,” Mukonoweshuro pointed out.
He said the opposition party would review the case against the former Ethiopian leader to determine its next line of action.
“When the MDC comes to power, the MDC government will study the case pertaining to Mr. Mengistu. If it is satisfied that Mr. Mengistu has not committed any crime anywhere, of course, his refugee status would stand. But if Mr. Mengistu has committed crimes anywhere in any part of the world of course the MDC government would take that into consideration in deciding whether Mr. Mengistu has to remain as a guest in Zimbabwe or not,” he said.
Mukonoweshuro said it was important for the party to ascertain the full scope of the case against the former Ethiopian leader.
“We cannot prejudge the situation, and as a movement and a political party, at the present moment we do not have the facts pertaining to Mr. Mengistu’s case. But what we are saying is that the MDC government through the ministry of justice would have to study the papers, would have to convince ourselves whether or not there is a genuine case against Mr. Mengistu. And if there are no genuine cases he could stay, but if there is a genuine case, then of course the MDC government would not allow the country to become a haven for criminals who are wanted elsewhere for serious crimes,” Mukonoweshuro pointed out.
He described as ludicrous accusations by the government that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is a sellout.
“It’s very unfortunate because these are allegations, which are made without any substantiation at all. Mr. Museka’s statement did not chronicle where the MDC in particular and where the MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai has sold out to anybody. We have never been a government of this country and therefore there is no record to sustain those allegations,” he said.
Mukonoweshuro said the government is using the tactics of division to divert attention from the suffering of the masses.
“This is the tragedy in Zimbabwe. Instead of focusing on the issues that can resolve the crisis, people resort to mudslinging. It’s time that Zimbabweans, it’s time that SADC (Southern African Development Community) and Africa realize that no amount of mudslinging could ever even begin to punt in place the ingredients to resolve the crisis that has engulfed this country for the past 10 years,” Mukonoweshuro noted.
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Mengistu Death Sentence Kindles Expectations for His Extradition
By Howard Lesser, VOA — Ethiopia’s supreme court is awaiting confirmation from President Girma Woldegiorgis of this week’s death sentence against former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. The court overturned a previous life sentence on genocide charges for the Marxist lieutenant colonel and 17 of his associates, who were first punished last year after a decade-long trial. Donald Levine is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Chicago and the author of two widely cited books on Ethiopia, “Wax and Gold” and “Greater Ethiopia”. He says that Ethiopians believe the current government has a strong political stake in the new sentence.
“The current regime believes that it needs to be seen as very strong. They believe that the demonstration against them in June, 2005, following the election called for brutal, extreme, repressive measures and ever since, they felt they needed to be seen as very tough. The prosecution appealed only in July the sentence that had been handed down in January of the previous year. I’m really surprised and bothered that it took so long to bring this trial to conclusion,” he noted.
Mengistu overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and assumed absolute control after a bloody coup in 1977. In 1991, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe offered him refuge in Zimbabwe, where he has lived ever since. With the 84-year-old Mugabe seriously challenged with political changes in Zimbabwe after next month’s (June 27) presidential election run-off, Donald Levine sees a possible new opening for Ethiopians hoping to achieve Mengistu’s extradition.
“Not right now, but if President Mugabe is replaced, then his successor may well extradite him if requested to. If the evidence is reviewed, I think if a new government comes to be in Zimbabwe, that they would be wanting to abide by the standards of international law and would consider that he should be extradited,” said Levine.
For a new generation of Ethiopians, many of whom were born after the fall of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam’s regime, the process of coming to terms with the return and execution of an internationally recognized brutal war criminal could epitomize a momentous national experience. Professor Levine says that even though young Ethiopians lack direct personal contact with the troubled past, they have without doubt incorporated the tragedy into their sense of national consciousness.
“Those who were not born at the time, I’m sure have learned from their families about what happened during those years and I don’t know a single Ethiopian at home or abroad who doesn’t regard his (Mengistu’s) regime as absolutely horrible. Probably, almost everyone, even if generally they don’t believe in the death penalty, would say, well in this case, it’s deserved,” he pointed out.
The test of whether Africans living outside of Ethiopia, especially in Zimbabwe, will pass up seizing an opportunity for international justice or pursue it may rest in the hands of Zimbabwe voters and the Mugabe government. University of Chicago sociologist Donald Levine concludes there is no question that the crimes of the Mengistu era should not be overlooked by Zimbabweans.
“No way. The reason they’ve given him a home there is that he helped Zimbabwe during their liberation struggle. But on the merits of his own case and the horrible crimes of which he was guilty, I see that they would certainly have no reason to protect him any further,” he said.
As for Ethiopians’ stake in the Zimbabwe crisis, Professor Levine says he thinks Ethiopians would like to see Zimbabweans overcome President Mugabe’s resistance of the democratic process, much as many of them would like to see greater reform in their own country. In addition to wanting President Mugabe ousted for that reason, he says, they are also interested in seeing Mengistu Haile Mariam extradited back to Ethiopia to face justice.
15 thoughts on “Zimbabwe main opposition says Mengistu’s case will be studied”
Aint no where to hide. Aint no where to hide.
Meles doesn’t have the moral or legal authority to sentence Mengistu , be it to jail or death. He himself is a criminal, and he should start looking over his shoulder.
People will very soon(God willing) render their verdict on him too.
Truely he has done, unforgetable, serious mistakes, but what is the difference with the current senario of the nation?
Meles this is for you “The Pot Calling The Kettle Black”
If Melese was as good as Mengistu was for Ethiopia, I could have said that the act was fair enough. Melese has commited the untold story in the modern history of the 21stC. Let’s talk about the 50,000 people who have been killed by Melese in Harrare and Arsi , more than 20,000 innocent peopl’s death in Wolega, uncounted number of people in Jimma, Illuabalore, Gambela Gojjam, and Addis Ababa. Do you really think the world record knows this number? Yes, people have died during Mengisut, but the number is known and the crim can be quantified. Who is more criminal.. you tell me.. Mengistu or Meles? Do you think Melese has moral capability to judge criminals? Who else is going to be the worest criminal that is going to judge Melese?
Hial to Melese and to EPRDF/TPLF
EThiopia will prevail
“Zimbabwe would not be a haven for criminals.”
Zimbabwe’s Morgantsvanirai says Zimbabwe “would not be a haven for criminals” and “if Mengistu has not committed any crime anywhere,” he would not be sent to Ethiopia to face the death sentence. On the other hand, Robert Mugabe has been saying that Mengistu is a “gust,” and he remains in Zimbabwe as a guest; he will not go to Ethiopia to face the death penalty.
In the Old Testament, there were five cities designated for a person to choose to go to and live there if that person had unintentionally murdered another person, and he would not be killed by “the avenger of blood” before he was tried by the assembly of Israel. These five cities were Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer, and Golan (Joshua 20:7-9). However, Harare is not one of these old cities of Joshua; Harare is the city of Robert Mugabe and Mr. Morgantsvanirai, not the city of Joshua; even though Harare is not one of those cities, Mengistu has lived in Harare for almost 17 years and has been sentenced to death because of his heinous crimes he committed while in power. Therefore, he must get out of Harare and face his death sentence, and no doubt Mengistu committed the crime intentionally by establishing the “Red Terror” that terrorized many innocent Ethiopians for many years.
Since Mengistu is sentenced to death in absentia, would that be enough for the opposing party to send Mengistu to Ethiopia and face justice? It may be true Mengistu may have murdered intentionally many innocent Ethiopians under his “Red Terror.” However, the question the Zimbabwe opposition party will ask is whether the murdering of many Ethiopians by Mengistu is ever justified or not. Are there eyewitnesses who saw Mengistu himself killing or ordering someone to kill many Ethiopians? And who are these eyewitnesses? Are they related to the Emperor who was ousted by Mengistu and later killed? This will be a monumental task to prove that Mengistu has really committed the genocide in his country.
Mengistu’s admirers may strongly defend him that he is innocent; he may have killed people who opposed his reform and who supported the breakaway of Eritrea from Ethiopia. Mengistu had kept the country together by defeating Somalia and crushing the Eritrean ambition for independence. During Mengistu’s time, Ethiopia had two seaports; now it is a land locked country like Chad. Mengistu never divided Ethiopia into different ethnicities and never sold a piece of Ethiopian land to a foreign government. Based on these and other facts, the Zimbabwe opposing party may allow Mengistu to live in Zimbabwe comfortably until he dies. This will be a great blow to Dictator Meles Zenawi, who has been waiting to earn some praises from some Ethiopian people by bringing Mengistu to Ethiopia and executing him publicly. At the end, Mugabe’s support for Mengistu will prevail, and the opposing party will cave in.
In fact, the opposing party, if it comes to power, will never raise the question about Mengistu’s status to stay or not to stay in Zimbabwe before it solves the huge unemployment problem Zimbabwe has been facing for many years. Its first priority would be to improve the economy of the country, to create with the West a close relationship that has been soured by Mugabe’s governance, and to let the white farmers reclaim their farmlands they had lost without being compensated by the Mugabe’s government.
After the dust has settled in Zimbabwe, then the Mengistu’s case may surface again; by then Mengistu will be about 80 years old because to bring the economy of Zimbabwe into normalcy will take at least more than 10 years, and after ten years, another government will claim Zimbabwe, and by then the case of the old man Mengistu will be forgotten in Zimbabwe as well as in Ethiopia.
When Mengistu dies, Ethiopia may claim his dead body to bring it home and burry it in the place “for the unknown soldiers” in the Holy Trinity Church of Addis Ababa, and Zimbabwe would allow Ethiopia to take the body of its leader to Ethiopia with Zimbabwe’s blessing and friendly cooperation.
Of course, Mengistu’s greatest error, if it is true, to me, is the killings of Emperor Haile Selassie and the second Patriarch of Ethiopia, Abune Theophelos. For such ruthless crime, the Ethiopian people, and especially members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, will never forgive him. He should have put them in jail somewhere in one of the islands of Ethiopia instead of murdering them in cold blood. It is a big shame for the country and for the whole world to let such a historical figure like Emperor Haile Selassie go die disgracefully. After all, he was an old man, and for such an old man, Mengistu Haile Mariam should have given him a chance until he ends his old age in his country for which he sacrificed almost the entire of his life. He could have gone to one of the Arab countries who had offered him political asylum, but he refused to accept it because he thought it would be a great honor to die in one’s own country rather than in someone’s country.
For King Haile Selassie, Ethiopia was special and precious, a country worth to die for, and that is why he turned down the invitations of many Arab countries during his worst nightmare in 1974. He thought he would defeat his enemies as he defeated his bodyguards then when they tried to oust him from power in his absence. He didn’t know this time his entire army had defected against him, and it was hard to convince the army even though he tried many times but failed.
I cannot say his friends betrayed him because at the end of his life, especially after his wife died and after the first Patriarch Abune Baslios passed away, he was friendless: his wife gone; Abune Baslios gone; Germamie Newai gone; Workineh Gebeyehu gone; Abebe Aregai gone; and many others of his friends gone, he is left alone. He wouldn’t trust any body around him; he wouldn’t even trust his own son, the Crown Prince, living in England. So he was alone in his empty place, and no one suggested to him that his servant would search for him a young girl, like Abishag, a Shunammite virgin damsel, to be brought to him so that “she can lie beside him” and he may “keep warm” (1Kings 1:1-4). So at the end of his life, the King lived alone, and he died alone in the hands of a criminal, Mengistu Haile Mariam, who is now wanted in Ethiopia for the genocide he had committed, using his Red Terror and trying to change his country to Communism, a failed ideology.
“Zimbabwe would not be a haven for criminals.”
Zimbabwe’s Morgantsvanirai says Zimbabwe “would not be a haven for criminals” and “if Mengistu has not committed any crime anywhere,” he would not be sent to Ethiopia to face the death sentence. On the other hand, Robert Mugabe has been saying that Mengistu is a “gust,” and he remains in Zimbabwe as a guest; he will not go to Ethiopia to face the death penalty.
In the Old Testament, there were five cities designated for a person to choose to go to and live there if that person had unintentionally murdered another person, and he would not be killed by “the avenger of blood” before he was tried by the assembly of Israel. These five cities were Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer, and Golan (Joshua 20:7-9). However, Harare is not one of these old cities of Joshua; Harare is the city of Robert Mugabe and Mr. Morgantsvanirai, not the city of Joshua; even though Harare is not one of those cities, Mengistu has lived in Harare for almost 17 years and has been sentenced to death because of his heinous crimes he committed while in power. Therefore, he must get out of Harare and face his death sentence, and no doubt Mengistu committed the crime intentionally by establishing the “Red Terror” that terrorized many innocent Ethiopians for many years.
Since Mengistu is sentenced to death in absentia, would that be enough for the opposing party to send Mengistu to Ethiopia and face justice? It may be true Mengistu may have murdered intentionally many innocent Ethiopians under his “Red Terror.” However, the question the Zimbabwe opposition party will ask is whether the murdering of many Ethiopians by Mengistu is ever justified or not. Are there eyewitnesses who saw Mengistu himself killing or ordering someone to kill many Ethiopians? And who are these eyewitnesses? Are they related to the Emperor who was ousted by Mengistu and later killed? This will be a monumental task to prove that Mengistu has really committed the genocide in his country.
Mengistu’s admirers may strongly defend him that he is innocent; he may have killed people who opposed his reform and who supported the breakaway of Eritrea from Ethiopia. Mengistu had kept the country together by defeating Somalia and crushing the Eritrean ambition for independence. During Mengistu’s time, Ethiopia had two seaports; now it is a land locked country like Chad. Mengistu never divided Ethiopia into different ethnicities and never sold a piece of Ethiopian land to a foreign government. Based on these and other facts, the Zimbabwe opposing party may allow Mengistu to live in Zimbabwe comfortably until he dies. This will be a great blow to Dictator Meles Zenawi, who has been waiting to earn some praises from some Ethiopian people by bringing Mengistu to Ethiopia and executing him publicly. At the end, Mugabe’s support for Mengistu will prevail, and the opposing party will cave in.
In fact, the opposing party, if it comes to power, will never raise the question about Mengistu’s status to stay or not to stay in Zimbabwe before it solves the huge unemployment problem Zimbabwe has been facing for many years. Its first priority would be to improve the economy of the country, to create with the West a close relationship that has been soured by Mugabe’s governance, and to let the white farmers reclaim their farmlands they had lost without being compensated by the Mugabe’s government.
After the dust has settled in Zimbabwe, then the Mengistu’s case may surface again; by then Mengistu will be about 80 years old because to bring the economy of Zimbabwe into normalcy will take at least more than 10 years, and after ten years, another government will claim Zimbabwe, and by then the case of the old man Mengistu will be forgotten in Zimbabwe as well as in Ethiopia.
When Mengistu dies, Ethiopia may claim his dead body to bring it home and burry it in the place “for the unknown soldiers” in the Holy Trinity Church of Addis Ababa, and Zimbabwe would allow Ethiopia to take the body of its leader to Ethiopia with Zimbabwe’s blessing and friendly cooperation.
Of course, Mengistu’s greatest error, if it is true, to me, is the killings of Emperor Haile Selassie and the second Patriarch of Ethiopia, Abune Theophelos. For such ruthless crime, the Ethiopian people, and especially members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, will never forgive him. He should have put them in jail somewhere in one of the islands of Ethiopia instead of murdering them in cold blood. It is a big shame for the country and for the whole world to let such a historical figure like Emperor Haile Selassie go die disgracefully. After all, he was an old man, and for such an old man, Mengistu Haile Mariam should have given him a chance until he ends his old age in his country for which he sacrificed almost the entire of his life. He could have gone to one of the Arab countries who had offered him political asylum, but he refused to accept it because he thought it would be a great honor to die in one’s own country rather than in someone’s country.
For King Haile Selassie, Ethiopia was special and precious, a country worth to die for, and that is why he turned down the invitations of many Arab countries during his worst nightmare in 1974. He thought he would defeat his enemies as he defeated his bodyguards then when they tried to oust him from power in his absence. He didn’t know this time his entire army had defected against him, and it was hard to convince the army even though he tried many times but failed.
I cannot say his friends betrayed him because at the end of his life, especially after his wife died and after the first Patriarch Abune Baslios passed away, he was friendless: his wife gone; Abune Baslios gone; Germamie Newai gone; Workineh Gebeyehu gone; Abebe Aregai gone; and many others of his friends gone, he is left alone. He wouldn’t trust any body around him; he wouldn’t even trust his own son, the Crown Prince, living in England. So he was alone in his empty place, and no one suggested to him that his servant would search for him a young girl, like Abishag, a Shunammite virgin damsel, to be brought to him so that “she can lie beside him” and he may “keep warm” (1Kings 1:1-4). So at the end of his life, the King lived alone, and he died alone in the hands of a criminal, Mengistu Haile Mariam, who is now wanted in Ethiopia for the genocide he had committed, using his Red Terror and trying to change his country to Communism, a failed ideology.
Mengistu’s case don’t suprise any one. However, the Meles adminstration, a group of murderes and state wide vagabonds, accusing their ‘junier’ batch is funy. History tells us Mengistus’ Ethiopia has killed many people who were considered as political opponents, which very sad and damaging(which in turn help to give a chance woyane apear from the blue). On the other hand woyane killed a generation alike, disintegrated the country unity, humilate the whole people, killed thousands of Ertrian and Somalian friends with out a good reason, orchestrate a sabotage against its own army etc. Not to mention the far fetched evil strategy to dwarf the economic and educational possiblity of the majority via their satanic ethnic based policy.
Having all these and swimming in a blood bath, they are trying to fool every one by prosecuting their ‘likely colleges’-Mengistu and others. For the majority of Ethiopians there is no difference between Mengistu and Meles. Some think, perhaps, Mengistu was working to his capacity to the best of his country. But Meles works hard knowingly to demolish the land and the poeple.
From Killing children and Mothers to selling out a chunk of land. Haven is watching. So if one wants to see Justice, Both dictators need to stand before a ‘fair’ court.
But Woyane accusing durg can’t be nothing more than a nice joke.
I think Mengistu deserves to be excuted even by woyanne. Who knows we might also see Melese gets his justice in the near future(hopefully the same one).
It is sad to see supporters of the BUTCHER pretending and acting like nothing happened. They may forget what happened but we several million of us would not forget. He will face the justice he deserves. These supporters of his may not feel the damage this animal did to us but IN GOD WE TRUST AND JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED.
“… especially members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, will never forgive him.”
Please let the church express her feeling. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church is a house of God, house of forgiveness. Jesus himself died for no reason and still forgive them. So why not us.
This is not about Mingestu or Meles If we don’t stop blaming each other, we will never progress.
Let’s imagine if Meles and his friends meet Jesus Christ and ask a question, “colonel Mengestu was a dictator and he commit lots of crime; should we have to stone him or hang him up?”. And guess what would be Jesus answer?
Ofcourse he will definitely say, “Any one who (his hand) is clean from blood and crime out of you, let him take any type of death penality againest Mengistu”. And obviouslly non of them (meles & his friends)are clean, all of them are criminals and they have no moral or legal authority to sentence a death penality againest Mengistu.
I’ m not disapponted with the court but who’s working for who u know let’s be honest what about MELES he is one of the a killer some day he might face a criminal charge in the world!!!.
here is my message to new party of zibabewe if in case they
come to power. president mengistu h/mariam librated the zembabewans from oppressive white rule on the land of the blacks and should be glorified instead of being extrdicted to
unligitimate court of what so called ethiopian court. i hope and hoping the dmc will not do mistakes by extradicting
president mengistu . The dmc should know and understand that
this regim of ethiopia can not and will not stay for long and credideblity will be given to it is waste of time and dmc are discrediting thier standard if such action is taken.
IN ADDITION to that, if dmc take those action of extradicting the x president, they should understand they will be seen as juda . becouse ethiopia is atrade mark of
very minor tribe of called tigray. The court that panished him by death is not ethiopian court .it is court of the tigray people. so i would like to advice the dmc of zimbabwe to referain from such mis understood and cover up
the ethiopian stoogy plays. they are playing game of timing.
and dont be thier target on the other side african continent.
Dear #10 anonymous,
I’m one of the members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and I have known Patriarch Theophelos personally; his execution by Mengistu Haile Mariam still haunts me, and as a human being, I will never forgive Mengistu Haile Mariam for raising his hands on God’s anointed Patriarch and servant of his holy Church. Mengistu couldn’t find the Patriarch carrying a gun but holding the holy Bible and praying to God to bring peace for Ethiopia and for the whole world. The Patriarch was not happy about Mengistu’s “Red Terror,” and he was openly denouncing the genocide that took place under Mengistu Hail Mariam’s reign of terror.
people might have different opinion about the trial and extradition.Given Mengistu’s unspeakable and brutal crimes against humanity,no one with a sane mind and sense of justice will let him get away with it.
To my rational mind it is JUST & FAIR to send mengistu back home to face the cold and blind sword of justice.
Let Justice Prevail.