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Justice for Sierra Leone! No Justice for Ethiopia?

Posted on , Updated on by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Alemayehu G Mariam

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Warlord Charles Taylor Caged!

After 420 days of trial (over nearly four years), 115 witness, over 50,000 pages of testimony, and 1,520 exhibits, Charles Taylor, warlord-turned-president of Liberia, was found guilty on 11 counts by the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone. Taylor was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity (including murder, rape, mutilating civilians, including cutting off their limbs, conscripting child soldiers, sexual slavery and other acts of terrorism) committed in Sierra Leone from November 30, 1996, to January 18, 2002. Over 50,000 people died in that conflict. Taylor “aided and abetted” the notorious warlords Foday Sankoh, Sam “the Mosquito” Bockarie and Issa Sesay of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone. Taylor participated in the planning, instigation and commission of these crimes and provided weapons and military support in exchange for “blood diamonds” mined by slave laborers in Sierra Leone. Taylor will be sentenced next month.

There were some problems in the prosecution’s evidence. There were few documents to show the depth and scope of Taylor’s involvement with the rebels. There was no evidence that Taylor was at the scene of the rebel crimes. There was little evidence showing the Liberian troops Taylor sent to Sierra Leone were directly involved in the war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, prosecutors were able to use radio and telephone intercepts and the testimonies of Taylor’s close associates and security detail and show that Taylor had shipped weapons to the rebels in exchange for (blood) diamonds.

Taylor avoided conviction for “command responsibility” under article 6(3) of the Statute of the Special Court which imputes criminal responsibility “if the superior knew or had reason to know that his or her subordinate was about to commit crimes prohibited by the Statute or had done so, and the superior failed to take the necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or punish the perpetrators”. Despite evidence that Taylor had knowledge RUF rebels  were committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and that he had significant influence over them, there was insufficient evidence to prove that he had effective “command and control” over them to prevent the crimes or punish the perpetrators.

Taylor denied all of the charges and any responsibility for the crimes committed in Sierra Leone. He testified on his own behalf for seven months seeking to portray himself as a peace maker. The trial reportedly cost $USD250 million! Was it worth the expense? Does justice have a price tag?

Rogues Gallery of African Criminals Against Humanity

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for other current and former African heads of state, including Cote d’Ivoire’s former president Laurent Gbagbo and Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir (and the late Moamar Gadhafi). In November 2011, Gbagbo was  quietly whisked away to the Hague from house arrest in Cote d’Ivoire to face justice before the  ICC on charges of crimes against humanity (murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and other inhuman acts) that were allegedly committed during the post-election period. Gbagbo will soon be warming Taylor’s chair.

Al-Bashir sneered at the ICC indictment in 2009: “Tell them all, the ICC prosecutor, the members of the court and everyone who supports this court that they are under my shoe.” (In time, he may come under the ICC’s shoes.) The U.N. estimated well over 300,000 people have perished under Bashir’s regime.  Along with Al-Bashir, the ICC has also issued warrants against other Sudanese nationals including Ahmed Haroun, a lawyer and minister of humanitarian affairs, Ali Kushayb, a former senior Janjaweed (local militiamen allied with the Sudanese regime against Darfur rebels), Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, a rebel leader and two others.

The ICC has also indicted criminals against humanity in Kenya. Uhuru Kenyatta, finance minister and son of Kenya’s famed independence leader Jomo Kenyatta, resigned following an ICC ruling that he will face trial for crimes against humanity in connection with the communal post-election violence between supporters of presidential candidates Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki in 2008. The U.N. estimates some 1,200 people died in weeks of unrest between December 2007 and February 2008, and 600,000 people were forcibly displaced. Cabinet secretary Francis Muthaura, a close ally of president Mwai Kibaki, former Education Minister William Ruto and radio announcer Joshua arap Sang face similar charges.

In Uganda, the ICC has indicted senior leaders of the “Lord’s Resistance Army” including the notorious Joseph Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti and three other top commanders. In the DR Congo various rebel and militia leaders and Congolese military officers and politicians including Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Bosco Ntaganda, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui and two others have been indicted. The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Moammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi who was arrested in Mauritania in March of this year. Libya is contesting ICC jurisdiction so that it may be able to try the two suspects in Libyan courts.

No ICC Indictments in Ethiopia?

While seeking out war criminals and criminals against humanity in the Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, the DR of Congo, Libya and other places, the ICC and U.N. Security Council have avoided “Crimes Against Humanity Central– Ethiopia”. The evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Ethiopia is fully documented, substantial and overwhelming.

An official Inquiry Commission appointed by Meles Zenawi in its 2006 report documented the extrajudicial killing of at least 193 unarmed protesters, wounding of 763 others and arbitrary imprisonment of nearly 30,000 persons in the post-2005 election period in Ethiopia. The Commission was limited to investigating the “violence  that occurred on June 8, 2005 in Addis Ababa and violence that occurred from November 1 to 10, 2005 and from November 14 to 16, 2005” in other parts of the country. (The Inquiry Commission has evidence on extrajudicial killings by security forces for dates other than those indicated, and had those casualties been included in the official Commission report the numbers would have increased several fold.) The killings investigated by the Commission occurred after Zenawi publicly declared that all of the country’s security and military forces were under his direct, exclusive and personal control.

The Commission’s evidence further showed that nearly all of the 193 unarmed protesters died from gunshot wounds to their heads or upper torso. The Commission found substantial evidence that professional sharpshooters were used in the indiscriminate and wanton attack on the unarmed protesters. The Commission further documented that on November 3, 2005, during an alleged disturbance at the infamous Kality prison near Addis Ababa, guards sprayed more than 1,500 bullets into inmate cells in 15 minutes, killing 17 and severely wounding 53. These and many other shocking facts were meticulously documented by the Inquiry Commission which examined 16,990 documents, received testimony from 1,300 witnesses and undertook months of investigation in the field. There is also documentary evidence to show that there are at least 237 named police and security officials directly  implicated in these crimes and subsequently dismissed from their positions. No person has even been criminally investigated, arrested, charged, prosecuted or in any way held accountable for any of these crimes.

In December 2003, in the Gambella region of Ethiopia, 424 individuals died in extrajudicial killings by security forces.  A report by the International Human Rights Clinic of Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program corroborates the extrajudicial killings. In 2008, in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, reprisal “executions of 150 individuals” and 37 others were documented by Human Rights Watch:

Ethiopian military personnel who ordered or participated in attacks on civilians should be held responsible for war crimes. Senior military and civilian officials who knew or should have known of such crimes but took no action may be criminally liable as a matter of command responsibility. The widespread and apparently systematic nature of the attacks on villages throughout Somali Region is strong evidence that the killings, torture, rape, and forced displacement are also crimes against humanity for which the Ethiopian government bears ultimate responsibility.

No person has even been criminally investigated, arrested, charged, prosecuted or in any way held accountable for any of these crimes.

In 2010, Human Rights Watch made a submission to the U.N. Committee Against Torture “regarding serious patterns of torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in Ethiopia.”

Torture and ill-treatment have been used by Ethiopia’s police, military, and other members of the security forces to punish a spectrum of perceived dissenters, including university students, members of the political opposition, and alleged supporters of insurgent groups, as well as alleged terrorist suspects. Human Rights Watch has documented incidents of torture and ill-treatment by Ethiopian security forces in a range of settings. The frequency, ubiquity, and patterns of abuse by agents of the central and state governments demonstrate systematic mistreatment involving commanding officers, not random activity by rogue soldiers and police officers. In several cases documented by Human Rights Watch, military commanders participated personally in torture.

No person has even been criminally investigated, arrested, charged, prosecuted or in any way held accountable for any of these crimes.

International Criminal Court of Justice or International Criminal Court of Selective Justice?

It is historic and commendable that the ICC UN Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone has convicted Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The verdict is undoubtedly a giant step forward in ending the culture of official impunity and criminality in Africa. African dictators and tyrants may no longer assume automatic impunity for their criminal actions. David Crane, the former prosecutor who indicted Taylor in 2003 correctly pointed out, “This is a bell that has been rung and clearly rings throughout the world. If you are a head of state and you are killing your own people, you could be next.” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the Taylor verdict as “a significant milestone for international criminal justice” that “sends a strong signal to all leaders that they are and will be held accountable for their actions.”

But the ICC and the U.N. Security Council must not succumb to the shameful practice of selective justice. It is hypocritical to indict criminals against humanity in the Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and the DR Congo and pretend to “hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil” on the war criminals and criminals against humanity in Ethiopia. There cannot be a double, triple or quadruple standard of justice tailored for different grade of war criminals and criminals against humanity. There is no such thing as a good war criminal or criminal against humanity. There can be no beauty contest among warthogs. What is good enough for the Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and the DR Congo MUST be good enough for Ethiopia because what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Based on the compelling and substantial readily available evidence, the ICC has a legal duty and a moral obligation to at least open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ethiopia since 2002 when the court was created.

FREE ALL ETHIOPIAN JOURNALISTS AND POLITICAL PRISONERS!!!

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic

http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

Previous commentaries by the author are available at:

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/  and

www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/

Let’s struggle in unison for our dignity and freedom

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

PRESS RELEASE

Alliance for Liberty, Equality, and Justice in Ethiopia (ALEJE) Let us struggle in unison for our dignity and freedom! May 4, 2012 Alliance for Liberty, Equality and Justice in Ethiopia (ALEJE) has been closely monitoring the development of events in Ethiopia in the last three months. From the intensifying deterioration of human rights in Gambella to the forced eviction of ethnic Amharas, from the desecration of sacred places in Waldiba Monastery to the political manipulation of the Muslim faith and worship, and from the ever worsening economic conditions to the ever shrinking political space, Ethiopia has become a completely uninhabitable land. As a result, today, thousands die trying to reach safe havens and tens of thousands are in filthy prisons all over the world. As evidenced by national and international human rights groups, those who bravely opposed the regime often find themselves in jails or graves.

The continued pattern of land grab by foreign multinational companies combined with forcible eviction of long time Amhara inhabitants from the southern region are creating an intolerable situation that can only be described as a form of ethnic cleansing. In the sphere of religion, Meles Zenawi’s regime has displayed its disrespect and utter insensitivity to faith and faith based institutions of the nation. Thru its political cadres, the regime has infiltrated the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and has turned this holy institution into its machinery of oppression; and currently, the Zenawi regime is working hard to control the Muslim faith institutions. All in all, Zenawi’s repressive ethnic minority regime has viciously attacked Muslims, Christians, farmers, merchants, artisans, students, teachers and workers.

ALEJE believes that an attack on Muslims is an attack on Christians and an attack on the workers is an attack on farmers. Therefore, ALEJE urges all Ethiopians to stand together and defend each other’s rights and freedom by coming together to fight the common enemy of the country and the freedom of its people. It is time to critically see the inner core of the regime’s divide and rule policy and acknowledge that, Muslim or Christian, student, teacher, soldier or farmer; as citizens of Ethiopia, we all live in the context of each other. Hence, it is exceedingly important that we stand for one another because an attack on one of us is and on all of us. ALEJE takes this opportunity to call upon all Ethiopian Christians to join our Muslim brothers in order to enable the popular struggle to a victorious end by embracing all pockets of resistance forces in different parts of the country.

Alliance for Liberty, Equality and Justice in Ethiopia strongly believes that the territorial integrity of Ethiopia and the socio-economic & political well-being of its people have never been at a greater risk like they are now under the ever intensified destructive and divisive policies of the minority regime. The rapid development of events in Ethiopia clearly indicates that the current conditions in Ethiopia have given us the opportunity to claim our country. ALEJE encourages Ethiopians inside and outside the country to set aside their differences and cease the moment to claim back our country, dignity and freedom from the current ruthless, reckless, and thoughtless dictators. ALEJE would like to assure to all Ethiopians that it will stand and struggle with them throughout the rugged march towards freedom, equality and national dignity for all.

Victory for the struggling people of Ethiopia!
Down with Meles Zenawi’s minority dictatorship!

ALEJE Member Organizations:

Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy
Afar People’s Party (APP)
Ethiopian Unity and Justice Movement (EUJM)

Contact address: [email protected]

Reeyot Alemu: Young Heroine of Ethiopian Press Freedom

Posted on , Updated on by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Alemayehu G Mariam

Reeyot pixReeyot Alemu

The past two weeks have been glorious days for Africans. Eskinder Nega, the heroic Ethiopian journalist was honored with Pen America’s Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. The award honors writers throughout the world who have fought courageously in the face of adversity for the right to freedom of expression. Charles Taylor, warlord-turned-Liberian-president, was convicted of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the U.N. Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone. Yesterday Reeyot Alemu, the young Ethiopian journalist, became the winner of the International Women’s Media Foundation 2012 Courage in Journalism Award.

Reeyot, 31, is a teacher and columnist for the independent Ethiopian newsweekly Feteh.  When she and her co-defendant Woubshet Taye were arrested in June 2011, they were accused of plotting to sabotage telephone and electricity lines and held incommunicado. In a June 17 column in Feteh, Reeyot criticized Zenawi’s harebrained public fundraising campaign for the so-called Grand Renaissance Dam on Abay River project. That column seemed to have gotten Zenawi’s goat. But Reeyot has been persistent in her criticisms. She even had the audacity to nick Zenawi’s scared cow, the half-baked so-called five-year growth and transformation plan.   In September, Reeyot and Woubshet were charged with “conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and participation in a terrorist organization” under Meles Zenawi’s  cut-and-paste anti-terrorism law.

The so-called evidence of “conspiracy” against Reeyot in kangaroo court consisted of  intercepted emails and wiretapped telephone conversations she had about peaceful protests and change with other journalists. Reeyot’s articles in Feteh and other publications on the Ethiopian Review website on the activities of opposition groups were also introduced as evidence.

Reeyot and Woubshet had no access to legal counsel  during their three months in pretrial detention. Both were denied counsel during interrogations. The kangaroo court refused to investigate their allegations of torture,  mistreatment and denial of medical care in detention.

Regime mouthpiece Shimeles Kemal blathered in interviews about  Reeyot and Woubshet’s certain involvement in planning terrorist acts while the case was pending in court. He  seemed totally clueless of Art. 20 (3) of the Ethiopian Constitution which guarantees: “During proceedings accused persons have a right to be presumed innocent.” The kangaroo court sentenced Reeyot to a 14 year prison term and fined her birr 33,000.

As to the judgment of the kangaroo court, Amnesty International was appalled: “There is no evidence that they are guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. There is no evidence that they are guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. We believe that they are prisoners of conscience, prosecuted because of their legitimate criticism of the government. They must be released immediately and unconditionally.” Human Rights Watch was confounded by the idiocy of the charges: “According to the charge sheet, the evidence consisted primarily of online articles critical of the government and telephone discussions notably regarding peaceful protest actions that do not amount to acts of terrorism. Furthermore, the descriptions of the charges in the initial charge sheet did not contain even the basic elements of the crimes of which the defendants are accused….”

In recognizing Reeyot for its Courage in Journalism Award, the IWMF’s stated:

Women are grossly under-represented in journalism and the media in Ethiopia. There are few Ethiopian journalists in Ethiopia (state media), and even fewer in the independent media. Journalism in Ethiopia is traditionally dominated by males and societal and cultural expectations discourage women from choosing the field of journalism. Cultural stereotypes are particularly discouraging to young women interested in journalism. The fact that the Ethiopian Government pursues and persecutes courageous, brave and professional women journalists does not bode well particularly for young women who may be interested in journalism. As a result, women’s voices (as reporters, editors, journalists, decision-making chambers) are rarely heard and women’s  issues are often relegated to secondary position.

Congratulations to Press Freedom Heroine Reeyot Alemu!

After her sentence, Reeyot’s father, Ato Alemu, in an interview said that his daughter will not apologize, seek a pardon or apply for a clemency. “As a father, would you rather not advise your daughter to apologize?” Ato Alemu replied:

This is perhaps one of the most difficult questions a parent can face. As any one of us who are parents would readily admit, there is an innate biological chord that attaches us to our kids. We wish nothing but the best for them. We try as much as humanly possible to keep them from harm…. Whether or not to beg for clemency is her right and her decision. I would honor and respect whatever decision she makes… To answer your specific question regarding my position on the issue by the fact of being her father, I would rather have her not plead for clemency, for she has not committed any crime.

When Zenawi jailed Birtukan Midekssa in December 2008,  he emphatically and sadistically guaranteed that “there will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan. Ever. Full stop. That’s a dead issue.” No doubt Zenawi would like to make Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet, the  Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson , the 193 unarmed protesters massacred in 2005…. a dead issue. But they shall live in our hearts, in our spirits and even our souls, for they are freedom of expression personified.

This past Monday I raised my pen to salute my hero Eskinder Nega. Today I rise up to salute my heroine Reeyot Alemu. In the face of the wicked enemies of press freedom, my cup runneth over! Two home runs in one week! It just doesn’t get better than that!

FREE REEYOT ALEMU!          FREEYOT ALEMU!

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic

http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

Previous commentaries by the author are available at:

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/  and

www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/

 

 

Malawi court sentenced 16 Ethiopians to 6 months in prison

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

MALAWI (Zodiak Online) — In Rumphi, the magistrates court has sentenced sixteen Ethiopian nationals to six months in prison for illegal entry, further worsening congestion at the prison where inmates already sleep on top of each other due to lack of space.

Eighty others escaped after noting that they were being surrounded by police officers.

This year alone, over 500 illegal immigrants have been sentenced to Malawi prisons after being charged with illegal entry.

The 16 imprisoned Ethiopians are all male and their ages range from 18 to 29.