Ibrahim Koroma forgives the child rebels who chopped off his left hand nine years ago during Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, saying they were “misled.” But he feels differently about Charles Taylor, the former president of neighboring Liberia, who backed Sierra Leone’s rebels. “I don’t feel fine about [Mr.] Taylor,” says Mr. Koroma. “Let him face trial.”
When Taylor stands before the judge from the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone as his trial begins in The Hague on Monday, he will make history as the first African head of state to face war-crimes charges. The faraway trial may help close a chapter for the victims of his wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia. But it also carries a message for despotic leaders everywhere.
“The greatest message that [Taylor’s trial] sends is not for Sierra Leone alone but for Africa and the world that the days of impunity are finished, that if you commit these crimes, whoever you are, you will face justice,” says John Caulker, executive director of Forum of Conscience, a group based in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.
The civil conflicts Taylor fomented in Sierra Leone and Liberia cost 400,000 lives between 1989 and 2003 and were characterized by incredible brutality and the widespread use of child soldiers.
Taylor traded the Liberian presidency for exile to Nigeria in 2003, where he lived until he was arrested in March last year. Concerned that his continued presence in West Africa could cause yet more instability, regional leaders including Sierra Leone’s president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf pushed for Taylor’s extradition to The Hague. He will be tried by the Special Court using the facilities of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and if found guilty will serve his sentence in a British jail.
The Special Court was set up by the UN and the government of Sierra Leone in 2002 to try those who “bear the greatest responsibility” for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international law committed during the civil war. The court is judging four separate trials dealing with three different warring parties – the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and the Civil Defence Forces (CDF) – and Taylor. Judgments are due later this month in the AFRC and CDF trials while the RUF trial is beginning to hear defense arguments.
The AFRC judgment may well result in the world’s first prosecution and sentencing for the crime of recruiting and using child soldiers. Important as this is, however, Taylor’s trial is the most significant in a series of international criminal investigations into atrocities and malpractice committed by heads of state in Africa.
Other African leaders on trialLate last year a court in Ethiopia found former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam guilty of genocide but he will escape justice because he lives in exile in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. This year, former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba was convicted by a British court of defrauding the Zambian people of $46 million, and the ICC last month began investigating allegations of mass rape committed by forces loyal to Ange-Félixe Patassé, former president of Central African Republic now in exile in Togo.
“The world has turned a page in the wake of Taylor’s arrest,” argues Special Court prosecutor Stephen Rapp. “[Crimes against humanity] cannot be ignored, and there will have to be prosecutions. The days are gone when leaders accused of atrocities could escape into exile.”
There are concerns, however, that the arrest and trial of Taylor, who was persuaded to step down in part by an offer of safety in exile, may serve to further entrench other leaders accused of abusing power, such as Mr. Mugabe.
“Charles Taylor was promised by his colleagues, the African heads of state, that he would be safe and now he is on trial,” says Mr. Caulker. “So there are positives and negatives. From Sierra Leone’s point of view, the positive wins. From Zimbabwe’s point of view, perhaps it is the negative.”
Mr. Rapp concedes that while Taylor’s trial sets a key precedent, it might also make it more difficult to oust other tyrants who have seen Taylor given asylum one moment and be arrested the next. “At the negotiating table, the offer of safety in exile will no longer wash.” But, drawing an analogy with more mundane crimes, Rapp says this is a price worth paying: “I want bank robbers to know they’ll be arrested and therefore stop robbing banks.”
Pressing concerns for war victimsNone doubt the importance of justice, but most in Sierra Leone – especially the victims – have other priorities. Five years after the war ended, Sierra Leone remains one of the world’s poorest countries.
On any given day in the center of Freetown, crowds of amputees jostle with polio victims and the destitute – both young – and old to beg for money. The government, they say, gives them nothing and the court, they argue, is not really for them.
“You can free Charles Taylor today and we will not feel it much. You can kill Charles Taylor today and we will not feel it much,” says Farma Jalloh, a former government soldier blinded while fighting the RUF rebels. “The international community wants to try Charles Taylor but what will it achieve for the victims?”
By the Law Office of Fekadu Yami Abdi
Addis Ababa
June 4, 2007
This repot is a part of a report submitted on April 1, 2007 (Megabt 23, 1999)
– The report constitutes selected narration of the detainees. i.e. Ato Tilahune Ayaalew,Ato Antenehe Getenete and Mekecha Mengistu
– The report includes the time between February 12, 2007 thru March 23, 2007.
The case of Ato Tilahun Ayalew
He was detained by the government security personnel and Weredas (district) police chief while he was returning home from his teaching duty at Dangella, the Amhara Region. He said that he was not taken to the police station as soon as they seized him, but to the jungle where he was beaten till loss of consciousness. The security personnel, tortured him for four days suffered him serious injury on his thigh to extent of falling to stand by himself. He said that no medical treatment was allowed to him, and then on December 19 ( Tahisas 10) they took him to Bahir Dar, in Amhara regional state. He did not appeared before Court at Bahir Dar as he said and on December 26 (Tahisas 17). The police finally brought him to the Addis Ababa Police Commission.
The security personnel who detained Tilahun were not holding a court issued arrest warrant. They had searched his home but did not fined anything. They had forced him to call the other prisoner with his own mobile phone and give appointment so that they can detain him.
Tilahun said that after he came to Addis Ababa, he appeared for two days before Addis Ababa City Administration First Instance Court and the court ordered his release on December 28, 2006 (Tahisas 3/1999). However, police recaptured and detained him until Mach 12/2007 (Megabit 3/99).
I had presented habeas corpus claim to the court and obtained court order for his release. However, the release order was not carried out by the police until March 22, 2007 (Megabit 13, 1999).
Due to injuries Tilahun sustained from the torture he is now unable to walk normally, though he had shown some improvements recently.
Tilahun was forced to signed a statement admitting that he is a member of the Ethiopian Patriotic Front.
The case of Ato Anteneh Getinet
Ato Anteneh said he was detained and beaten by security personal while he was returning home from his place of work in Addis Ababa on December 29 (Tahisas 20, 1999), he was forced to give statements, stayed for 3 days forbidden to communicate with any one. He was told that he would not be be released unless saying that he is a member of the Patriotic Front. Following the beatings and torture, he was forced to sign a statement admitting that he was a member of the Front.
The case of Ato Mekecha Mengistu
Ato Mekecha was seized by unidentified persons on December 17, 2006 (Tahasas 8, 1999) at 4:00 clock while he entered Addis Ababa on route from Amhara Region, Degen Woreda (district) to the city of Nazareth (Adama) to visit his wife. He said that he was severely beaten until blood poured out of this his ears.
Mekecha told me that he, too, was forced to sign a statement saying that he is member of the Patriotic Front. They had searched his home without court permit, mistreated his parents, threatened his children, and locked them at their home, taken cell phone and other items from his home, which they returned later on. He told me that he is not a member of the Ethiopian People Patriotic Front and had no connection with the mentioned organization.
Ato Mekecha was released on December 22 (Tahisas 13, 1999) at 5:30 PM.
DENVER | The family of two children who drowned in an apartment swimming pool last week held an emotional memorial service Sunday, June 3.
The tight-knit Ethiopian community came together to mourn and help the family take the bodies home.
About 500 people attended the memorial service at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church near Sixth Avenue and Pennsylvania in Denver.
“When the casket came, everybody just broke down. It was just too much,” said family friend Elsa Hagos.
Investigators believe Bethlehem Gezaee, 16, was trying to save her 11-year-old brother, Yacob Gezaee, from drowning in the swimming pool when she, too, went under. Neighbors found the siblings’ bodies floating in the pool. Bethlehem died that day and Yacob died days later after he was taken off life support.
The family had been in the United States only six months after their father worked two jobs for years to bring them here. They are now taking the children’s bodies back to Ethiopia where most of the family still lives. Family friends said the children’s parents have not been able to return to their apartment. They have been staying at the church.
People from all over the world have donated money to help with the cost. So far, they’ve raised more than $20,000 to help send the bodies back to Ethiopia.
Donations are being accepted through U.S. Bank. Checks can be mailed directly to 1090 Syracuse Court, Denver, CO 80230.
All the time I have spent traveling the world, never once had I met someone abroad who was currently from Nebraska.
Until now.
I have always jokingly told people there’s only two of us, and the other one is back watching the cows.
But now, as I walk through the hot brown dirt roads of Gambella, I encounter three Nebraskans in one day. Two of them were back visiting family members in the refugee camps, the other decided to move back and find a way to help his people.
Large smiles are expressed when I share with them I am from Nebraska. We talk about where they are from, a little of Nebraska football, of course, and what they are doing in Gambella.
It is a small world, or maybe, our world in the Midwest has larger connections than what we understand.
I walked through the Sudanese refugee villages to see what life is like here. It is more accurate to call them villages, because when people call them camps, I picture in my mind large tent cities. I see large round tan grass roof huts with walls made of earth, often surrounded by a fence or wall made of sticks, these compounds are family units. There are smiling children running and playing in the dirt walkways that connect all the compounds. People smile and wave at me in a friendly and welcoming way. When I say hello (mali) to them in the Nuer language, the smiles grow even larger.
“Brother, you are most welcome here,” says a man after I say hello. I respond with a thank you, (“cha loid a tes”) in Nuer, and he laughs, not because it’s funny, but because he’s so happy.
He asks, “Why are you here?”
I respond, “I’ve come to try and understand the journey that many Sudanese who now live in Nebraska endured.”
“You are our honored guest,” he says with a smile, and walks away.
It becomes clear to me what I was told earlier is true; the Nuer people are a very welcoming and dignified people.
This is a true testament to the character of the Nuer and all whom I’ve ever met from south Sudan, especially when you consider what they have endured: A complex civil war that dates back to 1955, and conflicts that forced many of these out of their homeland for 20 years. Maybe the true test of character is not when things go right, but when they go wrong.
Sitting on a concrete step that leads into a restaurant, I meet a young man named Surafel Asfaw. Surafel is a driver for Chinese oil company. We chat for a bit over a Coke and I ask him what he thinks about the U.S.
“Americans have good feelings for Africa,” he says. “When I see other nations, like the Chinese, they come only for themselves, while America comes to help feed us.
“When the Chinese smile, it is not a real smile; there is something behind that smile I don’t trust. America needs to continue to work hard on its dream of Democracy.”
Dean Jacobs is a world traveler and former Fremont Tribune photographer. Follow his travels each Monday in the Tribune.
MANAMA, JUNE 4, (BNA) — An Ethiopian Airlines place landed at Bahrain International Airport this morning, marking the beginning of regular Addis Ababa-Bahrain flights that will link the Kingdom with East Africa.
The initiative came in response to Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Ali Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa’s directives and efforts to attract further international airline companies.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight was received today by Assistant Undersecretary of Air Navigation Services, Abdulmajeed Isa, BIA Directory Mohammed Thamer Al Kaabi and a number of civil aviation officials.
During the reception, Al Kaabi expressed delight with the flight launch and Ethiopian Airlines confidence in BIAS services, noting that the step would further bolster bilateral relations and offer travelers a wider range of alternatives. On his part, Ethiopian Airlines Marketing Director hailed the world-class services provided by BIA and its distinguished worldwide reputation which prompted Ethiopian Airlines to make Bahrain one of its destinations.
By Andrew Heavens
Reuters
Sunday, June 3, 2007; 6:07 AM
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia [currently ruled by a brutal dictatorship] has called on Queen Elizabeth to return the bones of an orphan prince buried at Windsor Castle after he was spirited from his homeland by British soldiers nearly 140 years ago.
Prince Alemayehu was just seven in 1868 when his father, Emperor Tewodros II, committed suicide after being defeated by British troops at the Battle of Magdala. The prince was placed on a ship to Britain and enrolled in boarding school.
He died aged 18 of suspected pleurisy, a lung condition, in the northern city of Leeds, after years of loneliness.In the latest Ethiopian drive to reclaim stolen artifacts and relics, the government in Addis Ababa has written to Britain’s queen, asking her to send home Alemayehu’s remains.
“The prince was a prisoner of war,” he told Reuters. “His return would ease the minds of lots of Ethiopians who believe his rightful resting place should be here with his father.”
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman declined to discuss the request. “We never comment on private correspondence to the queen and any response that may have been given,” she said.
The prince — who claimed a bloodline stretching back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba — was seized by a British force that invaded to free European diplomats, missionaries and adventurers jailed by Emperor Tewodros.
“NO HAPPY LIFE”
The emperor took his own life as the troops stormed his mountain fortress in Magdala. Alemayehu’s ailing mother, Queen Terunish, died a few days later as the soldiers moved to the Red Sea coast with the rest of the royal family.
After studying at Rugby School in the British Midlands, the prince began officer training at Sandhurst military academy. He died in November 1879 at the home of one of his tutors.
Queen Victoria had befriended the boy before his death.
“It is too sad!,” she wrote in her journal at the time. “All alone in a strange country, without a single person or relative belonging to him … His was no happy life.”
The young prince was buried in the crypt of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
The letter is the latest in a string of requests by Ethiopia for the return of human remains and hundreds of illuminated manuscripts, gold crowns and other artifacts stolen by British troops during the 1868 expedition.
The National Army Museum in London still has a lock of Emperor Tewodros’ hair, cut from his corpse as a souvenir by an army artist. Queen Elizabeth’s own library in Windsor Castle holds six sacred illuminated manuscripts that were taken from Magdala before it was burned to the ground.
For years, Ethiopia fought a war of words to win back a 1,700-year-old obelisk that was carried to Rome by Italian fascist invaders in the 1930s. It was returned in April 2005.
In his letter to Queen Elizabeth, Ethiopian President Girma Wolde-Giorgis asked for the prince’s bones to be sent home before his country’s millennium celebrations this September.
Ethiopia observes an archaic calendar that is seven years behind most of the world — so the year 2000 will not arrive until September 12, 2007.
