Who’s Having “Nightmares” in Africa?

ALEMAYEHU G MARIAM

Great African leaders have dreams. The rest have nightmares.Recently, African leaders, at least those at the helm of the African Union and their flunkies, have been reporting endlessly recurring ghastly nightmares of Lady Justice “race hunting” them with scales in one hand and a sword in the other. President Uhuru Kenyatta, described by Time Magazine as “Kenya’s richest man”, last week vividly described his sleepless nights interrupted by nightmarish naps to his brethren at the African Union:

I do not need to tell your Excellencies about the nightmare my country in particular, and myself and my Deputy as individuals, have had to endure in making this realisation. Western powers are the key drivers of the ICC process. They have used prosecutions as ruses and bait to pressure Kenyan leadership into adopting, or renouncing various positions… The threat of prosecution usually suffices to have pliant countries execute policies favourable to these countries. Through it, regime-changes sleights of hand have been attempted in Africa. A number of them have succeeded. Only a fortnight ago, the Prosecutor proposed undemocratic and unconstitutional adjustments to the Kenyan Presidency. These interventions go beyond interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State. They constitute a fetid insult to Kenya and Africa. African sovereignty means nothing to the ICC and its patrons.

Life is sometimes a conundrum, a riddle. Kenyatta got his dream job of President of Kenya (his father Jomo was the first President of Kenya) this past March when he was elected by a razor thin margin of 50.7 percent of the vote. He now lives in a nightmare haunted by ghosts of crimes past and “race hunters” present. Kenyatta said, “People have termed this situation [his ICC prosecution] ‘race-hunting’. I find great difficulty adjudging them wrong.” Psychologists say the most common nightmare among people with an overwrought imagination is being chased either by a demon, monster, warlock or madman. In Kenyatta’s nightmare, horned and saw-toothed International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors and judges are chasing him right into a cold sweat.

Just last month, Kenyatta loudly proclaimed his innocence at a graduation ceremony at Moi University Eldoret: “Who does not know that myself, William Ruto and Joshua Sang are innocent? Almost everyone in Kenya at least knows who like fighting and causing chaos in this country and can bear us witness that indeed we did not plan to kill people during the 2008 PEV [post-election violence] .” Kenyatta has also proudly and repeatedly proclaimed, “From the beginning of the cases, I have fully cooperated with the Court in the earnest expectation that it afforded the best opportunity for me to clear my name… After my election, we have continued to fully cooperate… For 5 years I have strained to cooperate fully…”

Now Kenyatta says, he will not cooperate. He will have nothing to do with the ICC. As far as he (and his cabal on the AU executive council) is concerned, the ICC can go to…. He has strongly intimated he will be a no show for his trial in The Hague scheduled to begin on November 12. What happened?! The man who so tenaciously professes his innocence today and has been bragging about his full cooperation with the ICC for the past five years is trembling in cold sweat and having cold feet unable to stand tall and fight for his name, reputation and dignity against vile accusations! Kenyatta “doth protest too much, methinks”, to paraphrase Shakespeare.

Whose court is the ICC anyway?

Kenyatta, Hailemariam, Bashir and Co., would like us to believe the ICC is some vindictive and racist “white court” which gets “70 percent of its funds from the European Union”. Hailemariam made the bizarre accusation that the ICC is “race hunting” in Africa because “99%” of those it targeted for prosecution are Africans. (In 2010, Hailemariam’s party in Ethiopia won the parliamentary election by 99.6 per cent.) The facts speak otherwise. 34 of the 122 states (28 percent) that signed the Rome Statute, including Kenya, are Africans. Five of the Court’s 18 judges (28 percent) are African. The Court’s vice president, Sanji Mmasenono Monageng of Botswana, and the chief ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda of Gambia, are distinguished African women who have achieved recognition for their expertise in international law.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa unreservedly supports the ICC: “I have seen great gains made that protect the weak from the strong and give us all hope. The ICC is one of these beacons of hope.” Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan of Ghana rejects the scurrilous accusations against the ICC: “I don’t share the view that the ICC is anti-African. The ICC is not putting Africa on trial. The ICC is fighting impunity and individuals who are accused of crimes.” The European Union may provide a large part of the ICC funding, but it is undeniable that a large part of the ICC is “owned” by Africans!

Appearance and reality: Is there sufficient evidence to bring Kenyatta and Co., to trial?

African leaders are masters of distraction and lords of deception. They are adept at using red herrings to deflect criticism and evade legitimate demands for accountability and transparency. They play our emotions like a cheap fiddle. They have little regard for our capacity to think and reason. They appeal to our sense of historical grievances by resurrecting ghosts of colonialists and imperialists past. They pander to our fears of neocolonial and neoliberal conspiracies. They try to sear our consciences with fabricated racial indignities invoking images of the “Great White Race Hunter” prowling in Africa. They exploit our natural sense of pity and compassion by depicting themselves as helpless victims and those they have victimized and the defenders of those they have victimized as wicked villains. They try to convince us that the ICC is coming after every African on the continent. In short, they treat us as though we collectively have the intelligence of an amoeba.

Emotional appeals may work on those who have not had the opportunity or interest to carefully examine the charges against Kenyatta. The record, however, must be set that the ICC charges against Kenyatta are neither frivolous nor trumped up!

Kenyatta is charged in an indictment filled with shocking testimonial evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Much of the testimonial evidence is independently corroborated and documented. The corroborated allegations are quite specific. For instance, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber (the body that confirms charges upon which the Prosecutor intends to seek trial against the person charged) determined “there are substantial grounds to believe that on 3 January 2008 at the Nairobi Club… Mr. Kenyatta met with Mungiki members [sometimes referred to as the “Kenyan mafia”] and directed them to commit the crimes charged.” The testimonial evidence shows Kenyatta and others “agreed to pursue an organizational policy to keep the PNU [former president Kibaki’s Party of National Unity] in power through every means necessary, including orchestrating a police failure to prevent the commission of crimes”. The evidence shows Kenyatta and Co., “devised a common plan to commit widespread and systematic attacks against perceived ODM supporters by: (i) penalizing them through retaliatory attacks; and (ii) deliberately failing to take action to prevent or stop the retaliatory attacks”.
The evidence shows Kenyatta “taking the role of mediator between the PNU and the Mungiki criminal organization, facilitated a series of meetings from November 2007” in which “senior PNU government officials, politicians, businessmen and Mungiki leaders solicit[ed] the assistance of the Mungiki in supporting the government in the December 2007 elections”. In the post-election period, the evidence shows Kenyatta and others “facilitated the meetings with the Mungiki with a view to organizing retaliatory attacks against perceived ODM [Orange Democratic Movement] supporters in the Rift Valley [and] strengthen the PNU’s hold on power after the swearing in of the President”. The evidence shows Kenyatta and others “contributed to the implementation of the common plan, by securing the non-intervention of the Kenya Police and by failing to punish the main perpetrators of the attacks.”

The Pretrial Chamber II found sufficient evidence to conclude Kenyatta and Co., committed the alleged crimes and should stand trial. One need only read the exhaustive 155-page plus Decision on the Confirmation of Charges Pursuant to Article 61(7) (a) and (b) of the Rome Statute to appreciate the gravity of the allegations against Kenyatta and Co., and the meticulous and scrupulous approach taken by the ICC prosecutor and Pre-Trial Chamber to ensure respect for Kenyatta’s due process rights. We must not be swayed by the inflammatory emotional appeals of self-serving African snake oil salesmen.
Sleepless in Africa

It is not only Kenyatta but many other African “leaders” who are going sleepless every night afraid of having nightmares of Lady Justice and her posse in hot pursuit. Sundry African “leaders” are afflicted by “ICCnightmareitus” (a term I have coined to describe the nightmare experiences of African leaders who wake up at night in cold sweat biting their nails, scratching their heads and looking under their mattresses for the ICC prosecutor). Hailemariam Desalegn, the titular prime minister in Ethiopia, for the past year has been telling us that he is following the “vision” of his deceased “visionary leader”. Now we find out that his “vision” is actually a nightmare of a “Great White Hunter” “race hunting” him. Paul Kagame of Rwanda has nightmares of “imperialists” and “colonialists” returning to Africa disguised as judges and prosecutors to catch African leaders and put them in a chain gang. Omar Bashir of the Sudan is holed up in his palace having nightmares of prowling ICC boogeymen. Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is calling on African intellectuals to join him in warding off creeping “contemptuous” Western knaves and rascals skulking in the African night. Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who in 2003 wholeheartedly referred the infamous Joseph Kony for International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution, in 2013 is having nightmares about a “shallow” and “arrogant” ICC tracking down his fellow African leaders. Many other African leaders in quiet desperation face their own nightmares of an ICC grim reaper on horseback over the horizon; they are fearful they too may one day be held to account for their wanton crimes against humanity.

After more than 60 years of independence, African leaders should be talking about their dreams for Africa like Nelson Mandela: “I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.” It is painful to see them running scared from the nightmares of crimes they committed with impunity. But the real nightmare — the living nightmare — is unleashed on the African people. Beginning in 2003, Bashir in the Sudan relentlessly pursued a policy of genocide in the Darfur region which by U.N. estimate claimed over one-half million lives and displaced over 2.5 million people. In 2005, an official inquiry commission in Ethiopia determined that 193 unarmed protesters were massacred in post-election violence in May of that year and 763 suffered severe gunshot wounds (that was only a partial accounting). The previous year over 400 villagers were massacred in the Gambella region; and in 2008 thousands in the Ogaden region were maimed, killed and displaced by military action and indiscriminate bombings.

In 2007-2008, the U.N. estimated some 1,200 people died in Kenya in weeks of unrest between December 2007 and February 2008, and 600,000 people were forcibly displaced. Kenyatta says he is innocent of any criminal culpability in that violence; and he is innocent until the ICC prosecutor proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he did commit the alleged crimes against humanity.

In 2010, Cote d’Ivoire’s Laurent Gbagbo refused to leave office after his opponent was declared the winner in a runoff vote. Today Gbagbo is at The Hague awaiting his day in court. (When former president Gbagbo was bagged and tagged for the long trip to the Hague, the AU suddenly turned stone deaf-mute.) The U.N. estimated that 3,000 people were killed in Cote d’Ivoire’s postelection violence.

In 2011, Gadhafi ordered and organized the arrest, imprisonment, and killing of hundreds of civilians opposed to his regime in the initial days of the Libyan uprising. In 2012, separatist rebels and militias who took over northern Mali committed unspeakable war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2013, in battles between the Rwandan-supported M23 rebel group and DR Congo troops, thousands of civilians were maimed, displaced and massacred in the eastern part of DR Congo. Such is the tip of the iceberg of the African nightmare!

African “leaders” want to end their nightmare by putting the ICC on trial in the court of world public opinion

The AU leadership has undertaken a clever strategy of ending their nightmare by putting the ICC on trial in the court of world public opinion. Imagine the criminals trying to prosecute the prosecutor and the judge! Have the inmates taken over the asylum in Africa?!

The AU’s public relations strategy is to depict the ICC as the judicial equivalent of America’s “Seal Team 6” or Britain’s “Special Air Service” – special forces that surreptitiously go into hostile countries to neutralize specific targets. That’s what Kenyatta meant when he said, “Western powers are the key drivers of the ICC process. They have used prosecutions as ruses and bait to pressure Kenyan leadership into adopting, or renouncing various positions.”

The charge of “dark forces” manipulating the ICC in Kenya makes absolutely no sense. Kenya is the darling of the West and the linchpin to its security structure in Africa be it against the threat of radical Islamist fundamentalist terrorism or piracy on the Indian Ocean. According to a 2013 study prepared for the U.S. Congress, “ U.S. foreign assistance to Kenya has reached almost $1 billion annually in recent years, and the country routinely ranks among the top ten U.S. aid recipients globally. U.S. assistance was estimated at over $900 million in FY2011, including over $200 million in food and other humanitarian aid. Kenya received more than $700 million in U.S. aid in FY2012—over $500 million in bilateral aid, including almost $8 million in Overseas Contingency Operations funds, and roughly $200 million in humanitarian aid, in addition to U.S. support for AMISOM troop contributors. The State Department has requested $564 million in non-emergency aid for FY2014; this figure does not include food aid or certain types of security assistance.”

Kenya is arguably the largest recipient of U.S. State Department Anti-Terrorism Assistance and has benefitted from millions of dollars in counterterrorism training, military equipment, and surveillance technology. The U.S. and Kenya have partnered in counterterrorism operations and intelligence sharing. Truth be told, the criticism has been that the U.S. by providing counterterrorism aid to Kenya has turned a blind eye, deaf ears and muted lips to human rights abuses in Kenya.

The European Commission has provided millions of dollars in aid to Kenya to improve democratic governance focusing on activities related to “anti-corruption, access to justice, elections and civic education, local governance and policy and legal reform, promotion and protection of human rights, public sector reform and institution and capacity-building.” Nairobi is the nerve center of much of the international community in Africa and hosts a variety of regional and international organizations. After New York and Geneva, the United Nations Office in Nairobi’s Gigiri district is said to be the largest UN regional center in the world.

How can Kenyatta say with a straight face that “Western powers have used prosecutions as ruses and bait to pressure Kenyan leadership into adopting, or renouncing various positions.” Let’s be honest! Could Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda…. survive without alms from the West? Loans and credits from the wicked “neo-liberal” World Bank and International Monetary Fund? The great American “working man’s philosopher” Eric Hoffer said, “People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.”

Nightmares everywhere!

Of course, no one at the AU summit talked about the living nightmares of the helpless, powerless and defenseless villagers in Darfur who to this day are chased by the “Janjawid” (“devils on horseback”) militia. No one at the AU talked about the nightmares of the survivors of war crimes in the Ogaden and Gambella regions in Ethiopia. No one talked about the crimes against humanity that are taking place in the DR Congo today. No one presented a status report on the effort to capture and bring to justice the notorious Joseph Kony in Uganda. Those who re-live daily the nightmare of murder, torture, mutilation, rape, pillage and plunder were not even mentioned in passing by Africa’s “leaders” at their Summit.

Truth be told, nightmares are not a monopoly of African “leaders”, victims and survivors. Those of us fortunate enough not to witness or experience the ghastly nightmares have nightmares about those nightmares. We have nightmares because we cannot bring ourselves to believe African political and rebel leaders are capable of such bottomless depravity and wanton cruelty. We find ourselves trapped in our own nightmare of indifference, the kind Elie Weisel, the holocaust survivor, wrote about in his book, “Night”: “Not far from us flames were leaping up from a ditch, gigantic flames…Babies! Yes, I saw it with my own eyes…I pinched my face. Was I still alive? Was I awake? I could not believe it. How could it be possible for them to burn people, children, and the world to keep silent? No, none of this could be true. It was a nightmare…”

How could it be possible for a million Rwandans to be wiped out in a few months in a genocide and the world to keep silent? Or one-half million Darfurians massacred and millions more displaced and the world to keep silent? Over 200 thousand Sierra Leoneans and Liberians mutilated and slaughtered and the world to keep silent? Over 50 thousand Equatorial Guineans abused and persecuted and the world to keep silent? Tens of thousands of Ethiopians tortured (this past week Human Rights Watch issued a 70-page report documenting serious human rights abuses, unlawful interrogation tactics, and poor detention conditions in one prison called Maekelawi) and massacred and the world to keep silent?
Elise Weisel taught us that “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” That’s why we must speak up, and loud; protest, cry out and demonstrate. We must never, never back down from demanding justice for victims of injustice!
Deferral of ICC trial will not end the nightmare, it will prolong and make it stronger

Kenyatta does not want to face the music in the ICC. He wants to “defer” the court proceedings so that he and his deputy president Ruto can “fulfill their duties of running the country.” The AU and Kenyatta’s lawyers seek the dispensation of the U.N. Security Council and implore the Council to exercise its authority under Article 16 of the Rome Statute and grant a 12 month “deferral” with the possibility of additional deferrals. “Deferral” is another word for delay; and delay is the oldest trick in the book of defense lawyers. Passage of time favors the accused. Delay often wins criminal cases! Criminal defense lawyers live by the Code of the Three “D’s”: deny, delay, and defend. If a case is delayed, a lot of things can happen: witnesses relocate or die or are suborned to recant or give perjured testimony; witnesses’ memories fade and are unable to recall details; in high profile cases, public opinion can be manipulated and sympathy generated for the accused by mischaracterizing the charges as politically and racially motivated; a tough prosecutor could be replaced by a more lenient one, more inclined to settle the case or reduce or dismiss some charges.

It is supremely ironic that Kenyatta, the man who vociferously proclaims his innocence and takes pride in cooperating with the ICC, does not want a speedy trial; he wants a delayed trial, a deferred trial. I believe justice delayed is not only justice denied but also injustice prolonged. But I also know for some in the defense bar justice delayed is justice evaded, dodged!

To escape the nightmare of injustice, dream about justice

It will not be possible to end the nightmares of Kenyatta, Ruto and Bashir without simultaneously ending the nightmares of their victims. Their victims can only daydream about ending their nightmares in an open court of law where the facts and the truth about the post-2007 election are brought to light. Their nightmares will vanish when the light of truth shines on those who perpetrated atrocious crimes against them.

President Kenyatta: Your reputation, Sir! What about your reputation?!

President Kenyatta is alleged to be criminally responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator pursuant to article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute for the crimes of (1) murder (article 7(l)(a)); (2) deportation or forcible transfer (article 7(l)(d)); (3) rape (article 7(l)(g)); (4) persecution (articles 7(l)(h)); and (5) other inhumane acts (article 7(l)(k)). These are heinous accusation which must be swiftly confronted and laid to rest.

President Kenyatta proudly declared, “From the beginning of the cases, I have fully cooperated with the Court in the earnest expectation that it afforded the best opportunity for me to clear my name.” Now, President Kenyatta should heed young Cassio’s words in Shakespeare’s Othello, the tragic tale of an African general, smitten not only by love but also by racism in the Venetian Army. Cassio, a good, loyal and learned soldier, following a personal indiscretion frets about his good name. “Perplexed in the extreme” Cassio questions whether a man, without his reputation and his good name, is merely a beast: “Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!”

Mr. Kenyatta, what does it profit a man to be president when his reputation, his name — nay! the immortal part of himself, his soul — becomes the namesake for mass murder, mass deportation, mass rape and mass persecution? What remains of such a man, Mr. President?

Humanity before sovereignty!

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

Previous commentaries by the author are available at:

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

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

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

 

Ethiopia troops reach Gedo region for mediation

BELED HAWO, Somalia Oct.26, 2013 (Garowe Online) –Ethiopian troops in armored fighting vehicles reached Gedo region town of Beled Hawo in the early hours of Saturday morning to resolve grudges between Somali government forces and pro-government militia of Ahlu Sunah Wal Jamea , Garowe Online reports.

 

Witnesses reported that Ethiopian soldiers have made temporary positions on the outskirts of Beled Hawo where Ethiopian force commanders are discussing the Friday clashes between Somali government forces and Ahlu Sunah Wal Jamea militia with the Somali Federal Government officials including Beled Hawo mayor and Somali National Army (SNA) commanders in the border region.

Independent sources in Beled Hawo confirmed to Garowe Online that Ethiopians requested to both sides to arrange ceasefire and proceed to holding negotiations over the matter with Mogadishu-based Federal Government and Ahlu Sunah representatives present.

On Friday, Somali Federal Government forces and Ahlu Sunah militia clashed in Gedo regional district of Beled Hawo, leaving three fighters from the opposing sides dead according to the residents.

Wrangles over looming threats of instability in the town of Beled Hawo yesterday degenerated into deadly fighting, sources said.

Ahlu Sunah Wal Jamea spokesman, Sheikh Mohamed Hussein Al Qaadi told the media that the clashes erupted between Ahlu Sunah militia backed by Somali government soldiers and illegal militiamen from Doolow district.

Beled Hawo witnesses grenade attacks which mainly targeted the Somali government officials.

Ethiopian troops intervened southern Somalia in Dec-2006 and withdrew by Jan, 2009 but returned to Gedo, Hiran, Bay, Galgaduud and Bakool border regions in early 2012 in support of Somali government’s stabilization operations.

Source: GAROWE ONLINE

 

Ethiopia: Confessions of a police state

By Alemayehu G Mariam

The Ethiopian Constitution guarantees, “Persons arrested have the right to remain silent. Persons arrested shall not be compelled to make confessions or admissions which could be used in evidence against them. Any evidence obtained under coercion shall not be admissible.” (Article 19(2)(5).) In reality, this guarantee is not worth the paper it is written on!

Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report documenting the horrors that take place in the little shop of horrors of the ruling regime in Ethiopia known as the “Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector” (the dreaded “Maekelawi (Central) Police Station”). Located in the capital Addis Ababa, Maekelawi is “the country’s most notorious police station.”

HRW’s report, “They Want a Confession” Torture and Ill-Treatment in Ethiopia’s Maekelawi Police Station”, is based on intensive interviews of former detainees, many of whom were tortured for opposing the regime. Maekelawi is the first stop for “many of Ethiopia’s political prisoners — opposition politicians, journalists, protest organizers, alleged supporters of ethnic insurgencies, and many others after being arrested.”

Maekelawi lives up to its reputation as “third degree” central — a place “beyond wrath and tears” where “looms but the horror of the shade” to borrow from William Ernest Henley. Regime opponents, dissidents, independent journalists and others are “interrogated, and, for many, at Maekelawi they suffer all manner of abuses, including torture.” I have met some former detainees who were delivered from the “clutches” of Maekelawi — that black pit of physical and mental suffering and citadel of false confessions. HRW’s report barely scratches the tip of the iceberg of horrors that take place at Maekelawi.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of State in its annual human rights report concluded:

Numerous credible sources confirmed in 2009 that in Maekelawi, the central police investigation headquarters in Addis Ababa, police investigators often used physical abuse to extract confessions. Citizens widely believed that such treatment remained a common practice at Maekelawi. Authorities continued to restrict access by diplomats and NGOs to Maekelawi.

A genuine Medieval torture chamber in 21st Century Ethiopia!

Maekelawi evokes images of Medieval torture chambers of Europe infamous for inflicting “horror, dread and despair” on their victims. According to HRW, “Police investigators at Maekelawi use coercive methods on detainees amounting to torture or other ill-treatment to extract confessions, statements, and other information from detainees.” Not unlike many Medieval European torture chambers, Maekelawi has four categories of prisoners grouped in terms of their level of cooperation and compliance with the demands of their interrogators: “Maekelawi has four primary detention blocks, each with a nickname, and the conditions differ significantly among them. Conditions are particularly harsh in the detention blocks known by detainees as ‘Chalama Bet’ (dark house in Amharic)… [where] detainees have limited access to daylight, to a toilet, and are on occasion in solitary confinement… In ‘Tawla Bet’ (wooden house) ‘access to the courtyard is restricted and the cells were infested with fleas.’ Short of release, most yearn to transfer to the block known as ‘Sheraton,’ dubbed for the international hotel, where the authorities allow greater movement and access to lawyers and relatives.” There is also “an overcrowded women’s section”.

The ruling regime in Ethiopia uses a variety of torture methods to extract information, statements and confessions from political prisoners. “Detainees are repeatedly slapped, kicked, punched, and beaten with sticks and gun butts. Some reported being forced into painful stress positions, such as being hung by their wrists from the ceiling or being made to stand with their hands tied above their heads for several hours at a time [Medieval “strappado”], often while being beaten. Detainees also face prolonged handcuffing in their cells [Medieval hand shackles] —in one case over five continuous months—and frequent verbal threats during interrogations. Some endured prolonged solitary confinement [popular during the Spanish Inquisition].” Detainees are subjected to “severe restrictions on access to daylight, poor sanitary conditions, [Medieval dungeons] and limited medical treatment. Conditions are particularly harsh during initial investigations.”

The purpose of these torturous practices is “to maximize pressure on detainees to extract statements, confessions, and other information—whether accurate or not—to implicate them and others in alleged criminal activity. These statements and confessions are in turn sometimes used to coerce individuals to support the government once released, or as evidence against them at trial.”

There is little detainees can do at Maekelawi to seek “redress. Ethiopia’s courts do not demonstrate independence in political cases. Courts that have received allegations of detainee torture and ill-treatment at Maekelawi have on occasion failed to take adequate steps to address the allegations. Several former detainees told Human Rights Watch they kept silent about their treatment in court, fearing reprisals from investigators. Others said they had never appeared before a court.”

In July 2008, retired British colonel Michael Dewars, an internationally recognized security expert commissioned by the regime to undertake an assessment of the prison system and make recommendations, described what he witnessed when he “was taken to an Addis Ababa sector police station and shown the detention facilities.” He recounted, “I asked to go into the compound where the prisoners are kept. This consisted of a long yard with a shed to one side which provided some sort of shelter. The compound had a wall around it and a watchtower for an armed sentry overlooking it. Inside must have been 70 – 80 inmates, all in a filthy state. There was insufficient room for all these people to lie down on a mat at once. There was no lighting. The place stank of faeces and urine. There appeared to be no water or sanitation facilities within the compound. There was a small hut in an adjacent compound for women prisoners but there had been no attempt by anybody to improve the circumstances of the place. The prisoners were mostly on remand for minor crimes, in particular theft. Some had been there for months….”

Col. Dewars concluded: “Detention conditions of prisoners are a disgrace and make the Federal Police vulnerable to the Human Rights lobby…. The prison I saw was a disgrace. No one is recommending a Hilton Hotel, but, if any human rights organization were to get inside an Ethiopian jail, they would have enough ammunition to sink all our best efforts… The result of all these circumstances is chaos, injustice for the detainees and condemnation by the human rights lobby and the international community.”

In October 2013, HRW reports, “Over the past decade Human Rights Watch and other domestic and international human rights organizations have documented patterns of serious human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest and detention, ill-treatment, and torture in many official and unofficial detention facilities throughout Ethiopia. The government has invariably dismissed these findings or conducted investigations that lack credibility.”

Maekelawi as a metaphor for Open Prison Ethiopia

I have previously commented on prison conditions in Ethiopia. In my February 2012 commentary, Political Prisoners Inside Ethiopia’s Gulags, I sought to expose the abuse and mistreatment of political prisoners by the regime. In February 2013, I wrote about Ethiopia as the Prototype African Police State. I argued, “The singular hallmark — the trademark — of a police thug state is the pervasiveness and ubiquity of arbitrary arrests, searches and detentions of citizens. If any person can be arrested on the whim of a state official, however high or petty, that is a police state. If the rights of citizens can be taken or disregarded without due process of law, that is a dreadful police state. Where the rule of law is substituted by the rule of a police chief, that is a police thug state.” In that commentary, I focused on widespread allegations of targeted nighttime warrantless searches of homes belonging to Ethiopian Muslims in the capital Addis Ababa. One of the disturbing allegations was the claim that “federal police” officers illegally searched the homes of Ethiopian Muslims and stole cash, gold jewelry, cell phones, laptops, religious books and other items of personal property. A police chief in one of the capital’s districts gave a telephone interview on these allegations to the Voice of America- Amharic program and threatened the reporter who irked him with tough questions: “I don’t care if you live in Washington or in Heaven. I don’t give a damn! But I will arrest you and take you. You should know that!!”

In July 2012, Erin Burnett of CNN visited Ethiopia and described what she witnessed:

We saw what an African police state looked like when I was in Ethiopia last month… At the airport, it took an hour to clear customs – not because of lines, but because of checks and questioning. Officials tried multiple times to take us to government cars so they’d know where we went. They only relented after forcing us to leave hundreds of thousands of dollars of TV gear in the airport…

Seen the video of interrogation in a police state!?

The HRW’s report documents abuses that are inflicted on detained political opponents of the regime or those who simply demand respect for their human rights. Earlier this year, an 18-minute video was posted on Youtube showing the interrogation and “confession” of a suspect allegedly involved in leading Muslim protests in the capital. For over two years, many Muslims in Ethiopia have been protesting and demanding a stop to the regime’s interference in their religious affairs. The videotaped interrogation appears to have taken place in the office of a top police or security official at Maekelawi according to knowledgeable sources. There appear to be other persons in the interrogation room, but only the voice of the principal interrogator can be heard (another person is heard chiming in agreement with the principal interrogator acouple of times).

The interrogation office has a stylishly stained and paneled door. A fancy white curtain is visible in the background. Expensive imported high back executive leather chairs and sofa furnish the portion of the interrogation room visible to the camera lens. There is a map of Ethiopia hanging behind the suspect. It is obvious that the interrogation is not taking place in the dingy bowels of Maekelawi. Knowledgeable sources suggest that the interrogation was likely conducted by a top police official within the office of the “Federal Police Commissioner”.

The videotape shows a young suspect in handcuffs steepling his palms from time to time as though in a praying position. The interrogator gives the young suspect the “third degree” lite (possibly because the camera is rolling). The interrogator has the sinisterly commanding voice of a seasoned interrogator. The interrogator questions the suspect as thought he were a Medieval inquisitor extracting a confession from a heretic during the Inquisition. The interrogator grills the cowering and soft-spoken young suspect and hammers him with questions about his religious beliefs. He hectors the suspect on the meaning of the “Salafia” brand of Islam and lectures him on radical Islam and the dangers of the “Brotherhood”. He whipsaws the suspect with sarcasm and baits him with wisecracks. The interrogator accuses the suspect and his group of intending to establish an Islamic government in Ethiopia and using a certain local Islamic school as a cover for subversive activity. The suspect is badgered on the sources of funds used to support his organization. Throughout, the interrogator ridicules, sneers, taunts and contemptuously laughs at the suspect. He puts words in the mouth of the suspect; and when the suspect begins to answer by denying allegations, the interrogator cuts him off abruptly and dismissively. The interrogator browbeats, bullies and berates the young suspect who sat helplessly handcuffed in a high back executive chair trying to answer the questions in soft almost inaudible voice while displaying great respect to his interrogator.

Knowledgeable sources say there is much that is hidden in plain view in the video. For instance, it is often the case that a few days before the videotaping of an interrogation, a suspect is given a full round of interrogation by lower rank police officials who will not hesitate to “work him over” (beat) and “soften” him up to make him more cooperative during the suspect’s his video confession. The videotaped interrogation session is usually attended by other police and civilian officials who will later testify in court that they were present when the suspect voluntarily made his confession and that they observed no coercion. (Neither the court nor defense lawyers are given copies of the videotaped interrogation.) The interrogation is done in a casual manner and conversational tone to avoid the appearance of an intimidating police interrogation atmosphere. The questions are laid out cleverly like landmines in a field. The interrogator will ask the suspect general questions about the organization to which he belongs, its ideology, its supporters, its sources of funding, alleged illegal activities and so on. Those questions will be followed by other questions which place the suspect in a compromising position. Why did the suspect belong such an organization; what role he play; why did he not report alleged criminal activities and so on. The video interrogation becomes the perfect set up for the suspect to make confessions of criminal wrongdoing and hang himself.

Top police interrogators obviously do not want to leave a videotape of their brutal or coercive interrogation practices. Knowledgeable sources are surprised to see the young suspect in the aforementioned video in handcuffs while he is being interrogated. The visual impact of a handcuffed suspect being interrogated by a high level police official is rather shocking; and knowledgeable sources are not sure why the young suspect was left in handcuffs during the videotaping. The videotaped interrogation is also said to have value in the regime’s psychological warfare against its opponents. It is intended to embarrass and demean the suspects and make them an object lesson for all opposition leaders and dissidents. Energetic and passionate young leaders are shown cowering and frightened once in the claws of the mighty Maekelawi. It sends out a message to all opposition leaders that if they end up in Maekelawi, they will be broken into pieces, ground down, chewed up and spit out. As the HRW report noted, “confessions are sometimes used to coerce individuals to support the government once released”.

Be that as it may, it is incredible and mindboggling to watch on video the interrogator’s complete and depraved disregard for the constitutional rights of the suspect as a pretrial detainee who is “presumed to be innocent until proved guilty according to law and not to be compelled to testify against themselves” (Eth. Const. Article 20(3). The interrogator trashes the young suspect’s constitutional rights like a bull in a china shop. The fact that the young suspect has a constitutional “right to remain silent” is of little concern to the interrogator (Article 19(2)(5) “Persons arrested have the right to remain silent. Persons arrested shall not be compelled to make confessions or admissions which could be used in evidence against them. Any evidence obtained under coercion shall not be admissible.” The fact that the suspect’s lawyer is not present during the custodial interrogation does not faze the interrogator (Article 20(5); Article 21(2) “Accused persons have the right to be represented by legal counsel… and communicate with their legal counsel.”). The fact that the suspect must be timely notified of the charges against him is ignored by the interrogator (Article 20 (2) “Accused persons have the right to be informed with sufficient particulars of the charge brought against them and to be given the charge in writing.”).

The interrogator flagrantly disregards the suspect’s right to religious freedom by badgering and lecturing him on which brand of Islam is “radical” and by demanding the suspect renounce the radical brand of Islam of the “Brotherhood” and accept the brand preferred by the regime (Article 27(1) (3) “Everyone has the right to freedom of … religion. This right shall include the freedom to hold or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice… either individually or in community with others… (3) No one shall be subject to coercion or other means which would restrict or prevent his freedom to hold a belief of his choice.” The interrogator could not care less about the suspect’s “right to assemble and to demonstrate together with others peaceably and unarmed, and to petition” when questioning him about his religious affiliations and doctrinal preferences (Article 30 (1). Suffice it to say that the interrogator trashed the suspect’s rights guaranteed not only under the Ethiopian Constitution but also various international conventions to which Ethiopia is a signatory.

Defending the right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

The privilege against self-incrimination or the right to remain silent is at the core of the bundle of rights guaranteed to Americans citizens in their Bill of Rights. No person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself”, declares the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Puritans who fled England and established colonies in North America did so in large part because of their belief in their right to remain silent and the punishment they suffered for their refusal to cooperate with the Crown interrogators. The Crown inquisitors often coerced and tortured the Puritans into confessing their religious affiliation and determined they were guilty if they remained silent. English law granted its citizens the right against self-incrimination in the mid-1600s.

This hallowed privilege against self-incrimination is the foundation of American criminal jurisprudence: The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by the government. It is the duty of the government and its prosecutors and police to prove the guilt of the accused. The accused does not have to do anything, especially talk to or cooperate with the police or the prosecutor in proving his own guilt. Neither the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, the President of the United States nor the local policeman could force an American citizen to make statements or admissions that could potentially incriminate him/her.

The U.S. Supreme Court stopped the practice of coerced police interrogations in 1966. The Court mandated a simple procedural safeguard popularly known as “Miranda warning”. In practice, the Miranda rule requires police who seek to interrogate a suspect in their custody or in circumstances where the suspect’s freedom of action is restrained, to warn that suspect of his/her right to remain silent; that any statements made by the suspect may be used as evidence against him/her; that the suspect is entitled to consult a lawyer prior to interrogation, and if s/he cannot afford a lawyer, the state will make one available to him prior to interrogation. The privilege against self-incrimination and the right to counsel may be waived if the waiver is knowing, intelligent, voluntary and not the product of illegal police tactics. The U.S. Supreme Court pronounced, “Miranda has become embedded in routine police practice [in the U.S.] to the point where the warnings have become part of our national culture.”

It has been the greatest privilege of my legal career to defend the privilege against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In 1998, in People v. Peevy, I had the distinct honor and privilege to argue before the California Supreme Court for the exclusion of testimonial evidence (admission, confession) obtained in deliberate and intentional violation of the Miranda rule at trial. At the time, it was an accepted practice among many police departments in California to continue interrogation of a suspect despite the suspect’s invocation of his right to remain silent and demand for a lawyer during questioning. This illegal interrogation practice was known among certain police and prosecutorial circles as “outside Miranda interrogation”.

As a result of the Court’s decision in Peevy, the practice of “outside Miranda” interrogation in the State of California ceased. In 2000, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held in CACJ v. City of Santa Monica that individual police officers who violate a suspect’s right to remain silent by continuing interrogation after the suspect has invoked his right to remain silent (conduct “outside Miranda interrogation” and obtain admissions, confessions) could be held personally liable for civil damages for any such constitutional violation.

Confessions obtained by coercion or torture are unfair and unreliable

There is no evidence in a criminal case that is more compelling than a confession in which the suspect admits his/her guilt. When the police interrogate a suspect, their aim is not to seek the truth or to help the suspect prove his innocence. Their singular aim is to obtain incriminatory statements and admissions (confession) from the suspect’s mouth and provide the factual basis to formally accuse and convict him/her. During coercive police interrogation, the suspect is made to prove his guilt by his own words, or to actively assist the government in proving his own guilt. The privilege against self-incrimination levels the playing field against overbearing and manipulative police investigators who interrogate in a “police-dominated” environment and “exploit the weaknesses of individuals”.

There are many compelling reasons why the suspect’s or the accused’s right to remain silent as a target of a criminal investigation or prosecution must be respected. The most important one is fairness. It is unfair to allow a trained, professional police interrogator to ask questions of a citizen suspected of violating the law with the singular aim of eliciting admissions likely to incriminate the suspect. Coerced interrogation unfairly shifts the burden of proof from the government to the defendant. The importance of having a lawyer present during police interrogation is to ensure the suspect is treated fairly. It is unfair to force the suspect or the accused to answer police questions before the suspect’s lawyer has fully investigated the facts of the case. The lawyer needs to know what evidence government has against the suspect and available defenses before advising his client to answer or not answer any questions.

Confessions obtained by torture or other forms of coercion are notoriously unreliable. Suspects confess to crimes they have not committed to stop the physical and psychological pain inflicted upon them by their police interrogator. Innocent suspects who are deprived of food, water and sleep will confess because they are confused, in pain and to ease their suffering. When questioned by the police, the innocent will talk thinking their innocence will protect them against accusations. They are unaware of the traps laid by manipulative police investigators. They believe telling truth will free them, but the truth is often twisted and distorted by a trained police interrogator who wears down a suspect by asking confusing questions, intimidation, threats and deception. There are plenty of social scientific studies which show innocent people admitting to crimes they did not commit (gave false confession) after hours of unrelenting interrogation. Silence to the accused during custodial interrogation is worth more than all the gold, platinum, emerald or diamond in the world!

Why pretend? Re-create a Star Chamber

In 15th Century England, the Star Chamber (the ceiling of the court had stars painted on it) court was established to enforce the law against prominent people in society who were unlikely to be convicted in the ordinary courts. Star Chamber court sessions were held in secret and prosecuted without indictments or witnesses. The Crown eventually transformed the Star Chamber into a powerful legal weapon to suppress and destroy rivals, opponents and critics. The ruling regime in Ethiopia might as well re-invent its own Star Chamber court complete with a ceiling painted in the occultish pentagram that adorns its flag.

Confessions of an outlaw regime: A regime that breeds contempt for the law

I am often baffled by the regime’s flagrant defenestration of its own Constitution. The rhetoric of constitutionalism often babbled by regime leaders, apart from being laughable, reminds me of the religious acolyte who mindlessly jabbers sacred texts and performs rituals without any meaningful understanding of what he is saying or doing. I am also mindful of a line from Shakespeare, “The devil can cite Scripture for his purposes.” The regime leaders are quick to defend their Constitution against the perceived wrongs and desecrations of opponents. They are conveniently blinded to their own debasement of their Constitution. For years, I have been saying that preaching constitutional law (the rule of law) to the regime leaders in Ethiopia is like preaching Scripture to a gathering of heathen or pouring water over a slab of granite. The latest HRW report goes to show the deep contempt the regime has for the rule of law.

Louis D. Brandeis, one of the great justices to sit on the United States Supreme Court observed, “In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that, in the administration of the criminal law, the end justifies the means — to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal — would bring terrible retribution.” Justice Brandeis was objecting to the use of illegally wiretapped private telephone conversations by the government as a form of compelled self-incrimination.

What can be done when a regime is the lawbreaker? The Constitution trasher? What can be done when the regime is the outlaw? A government that respects the rule of law needs to replace a regime that trashes the rule of law. The ruling regime in Ethiopia by lawlessly forcing its opponents to make false confessions itself confesses silently to its own lawlessness.

“The healthy man does not torture others – generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.” Carl Jung

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

 

Ethiopian police torture political detainees: Human Rights Watch

Reuters by Drazen Jorgic/ October 17, 2013 ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopian police investigators in Addis Ababa’s main detention center have tortured political detainees and regularly mistreat people in custody to extract confessions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Friday. The Ethiopian government, long seen by the West as a bulwark against militant Islam in the Horn of Africa, has denied frequent accusations that it uses state institutions to stifle dissent and silence political opposition. In a report about conditions inside Addis Ababa’s Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector, known as Maekelawi, HRW said many former detainees were slapped, kicked and beaten with sticks and gun butts during investigations. “Human Rights Watch found that investigators used coercive methods, including beatings and threats of violence, to compel detainees to sign statements and confessions,” the group said in a statement, referring to events over the past three years.

 

Ethiopia intensified its clampdown on peaceful dissent after the disputed 2005 election, the New York-based HRW said. The Addis Ababa government said it would not comment on the allegations until it has seen the full 70-page report. Human Rights Watch said scores of opposition politicians, journalists, protest organizers and alleged supporters of ethnic insurgencies have been detained in Maekelawi. Interviews with more than 35 former detainees and their relatives formed the basis of the report, HRW said. Some Muslims have complained the government has interfered with religious affairs as it tries to stop what officials say is a rise in Islamist ideology. Ethiopia has a Christian majority but about a third of its population is Muslim. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn last week dismissed the criticism during an interview with Reuters. “The government has nothing to do with religion. “The only thing we say is there is a red line for any religion in the country which goes beyond the constitutional provision.” (Reporting by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

 

Human Rights Watch Says Ethiopia Inmates Tortured for Confession

Inmates at Ethiopia’s Maekelawi prison in the capital routinely suffer torture and are denied legal representation during police interrogations in which they are coerced to confess, according to Human Rights Watch. The 70-page report titled ’They Want a Confession: Torture and Ill-Treatment in Ethiopia’ describes how authorities at the central police investigation center in Addis Ababa leave inmates in darkness, handcuff or put them in chains for months and carry out beatings. “The coercive methods, exacerbated by the poor detention conditions, are used by the authorities at Maekelawi to maximize pressure on detainees to extract statements, confessions, and other information, whether accurate or not, to implicate them and others in alleged criminal activity,” it said. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Federal Affairs, which is responsible for the prison system, rejected complaints outlined in the report about conditions at the detention center. “Such confusing, baseless and unfounded allegations may come from an ideological stand and attack on Ethiopia rather than genuine concern to improve the human rights status in our crime investigation center or elsewhere,” Minister of Federal Affairs Shiferaw Teklemariam said in a written response to Human Rights Watch, which is included in the report. The biggest human rights issues in Ethiopia include restrictions on freedom of expression and the press, and the “politically motivated” trials and convictions of allies to opposition parties, activists, the media and bloggers, according to a report on the U.S. State Department’s website. Opposition, Journalists The New York-based group interviewed 35 former Maekelawi prisoners, which have included opposition supporters and journalists, as well as their relatives. Swedish journalist Martin Schibbye, who was held in Maekelawi, said he witnessed authorities cut contact with detainees for up to three weeks to try and force an admission of guilt from them, according to Human Rights Watch. Schibbye and fellow Swedish reporter Johan Persson were pardoned in Sept. 2012 after being arrested with members of the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front rebel group in July 2011. “Police say it will be sorted out in court, but nothing will be sorted out in court,” he said, according to the statement. “It’s all built around confession.” Human Rights Watch called on the government to investigate the allegations of abuse and hold those responsible to account.

Source: – Bloomberg

 

African leaders looking for a licence to kill?

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is facing charges from the International Criminal Court but is lobbying for immunity for African presidents while in office.AP

Surprise of the week: the club of African presidents has held a special meeting and declared that African presidents should be immune from prosecution for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes while they are in office.

They are taking this step, they say, because the International Criminal Court (ICC) is unfairly targeting Africans: all eight cases currently under investigation are about crimes committed in African countries.

“We would love nothing more than to have an international forum for justice and accountability, but what choice do we have when we get only bias and race-hunting at the ICC?” said President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya (who, by strange coincidence, is currently under indictment by the ICC). “The ICC … stopped being the home of justice the day it became the toy of declining imperial powers.”

The African Union (AU) is not demanding perpetual immunity for its presidents. It only wants to reject the evil meddling of Western imperialists, and to keep African heads of state free from prosecution while they are still in office. What could be more reasonable than that?

If the AU gets its way now, the victims of current African leaders who commit crimes against humanity will only have to wait until they retire to see justice done. True, some African leaders stay in power for a long time – e.g., Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea (32 years), José Eduardo dos Santos of Angola (32 years), Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe (31 years), and Paul Biya of Cameroon (29 years) – but Africans are patient people.

Except that they may not be that patient any more. Twenty years ago, the accusation that the ICC is just an instrument of imperialist oppression and Western racism would still have played well in Africa, but the audience has got a lot more sophisticated. The AU’s modest proposal has been greeted with an outcry all over the continent, from Africans who know that their leaders can be just as cynical and self-serving as leaders anywhere else.

The most eloquent protest came from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the 82-year-old hero of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. “Those leaders seeking to skirt the [ICC] are effectively looking for a licence to kill, maim and oppress their own people without consequence,” he said. “They simply vilify the institution as racist and unjust, as Hermann Goering and his fellow Nazi defendants vilified the Nuremberg tribunals following World War II.”

Racist Organisation?

So, is the ICC really a racist organisation that unfairly targets African states? The fact that all eight cases currently being prosecuted involve African countries certainly sounds suspicious. So does the fact that three of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, which has the right to refer cases to the ICC, have not accepted the court’s jurisdiction themselves. But things are more complicated than they seem.

One hundred and twenty-two countries have already ratified the Treaty of Rome that created the ICC in 1998, including two-thirds of the countries in Africa and all those in Latin America, except Cuba and Nicaragua. The chief prosecutor of the ICC is an African (Fatou Bensouda of Gambia), as are five of its 18 judges.

Four of the eight cases now before the court (Uganda, Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Central African Republic) were referred to the ICC by the African countries themselves. Two were begun by the ICC’s chief prosecutor (Kenya and Cte d’Ivoire). And only two of the seven new cases now under consideration (Afghanistan, Georgia, Guinea, Colombia, Honduras, Korea and Nigeria) are in African countries.

This is not a conspiracy against Africa, nor is the AU defending African rights. It is an exclusive club of African presidents that is attempting to get its own members, the leaders of Sudan and Kenya, off the hook, and to protect the rest of the membership from any future legal proceedings.

As former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said, it would be a “badge of shame” for Africa if they get away with it, but they may not. They can easily dismiss the opinions of the ‘international community’ (whatever that is), but they may find it harder to ignore the indignation they are arousing among their own citizens.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.

source http://mobile.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20131016/cleisure/cleisure4.php

 

ለአፍሪካ ፈላጭ ቆራጭ ገዢዎች ፍትሕ አይቀሬ ናት

ፕሮፌሰር ዓለማየሁ ገብረማርያም
ትርጉም ከነጻነት ለሃገሬ

ማስታወሻ ለአንባቢው፡፡ ባለፈው ሳምንት ሐተታዬ ‹‹የዘር አደን›› በሚል አሉባልታዊ ክስ  የዓለም አቀፉ የወንጀለኞች ፍርድ ቤት በተሰነዘረበት ክስ ደግፌው ተሟግቼለታለሁ፡፡ በዚህም ሳምንት ድጋፌን በመቀጠል እነዚህ ፈላጭ ቆራጭ ገዢዎች የፈጠሙትን ግፍና በደል ጭቆና በመዘርዘር ራሳቸውን ነጻ በማድረግ የአይ ሲ ሲን (የኣለም ወንጀለኛ ፍርድ ቤት) ስም በማብጠልጠልና የቆመለትን ዓላማ የሳተ በማስመሰል ገዢዎችና አስፈጻሚዎ ቡችሎቻቸው ያነሱዋቸውን ማስረጃ ቢስ ውንጀላዎች በተጨባጭ ማስረጃ ድርጊቶታቸውንና ሸፍጣቸውን ይፋ ለማድረግ ወስኛለሁ፡፡ የኦክቶበር 11-12, 2013 የአፍሪካ አንድነት ‹‹መሪዎች›› የጨረባ ስብሰባ የተጠራውም ቴአትራዊ የልብ ወለድ ሴራ ለማካሄድና ነጻ ለመምሰል የሚያስችላቸውን ቅጥፈት ለማናፈስ ነው፡፡

በኔ እምነት አይ ሲ ሲ የዓለም አቀፍ ሰብአዊ መብት ሕግጋት ትክክለኛውና ጠንካራው ምልክት ነው፡፡ አይ ሲ ሲ ላለፉት ጥቂት ዓመታት ስራውን በማከናወን ላይ ነው፡፡እስካሁን ያስመዘገባቸው ውጤቶች ጥቂት ቢሆኑም ለወደፊቱ ግን ያሻቸውን በደልና ግፍ ፈጥመው ግድያና አስገድዶ መድፈርን ሰብአዊ መብት በደልን አዘው በማስፈጸም በሥልጣናቸውም አላግባብ ባልገውና ተጠቅመው፤ ሃገርን አራዉተው፤ ሕዝብን በበደልና ግፍ ጫና አጉብጠውና አንበርክከው፤ በነጻ ሲቀመጡና ሲንደላቀቁ የነበሩትን እያጋለጠ ለፍርድ ለማቅረብ የሚችል ጠንካራ ተቋም እንደሚሆን እምነቴ ነው፡፡  የአፍሪካ ጨቋኝና የግፍ በደል ባለቤት የሆኑት ገዢዎች በሕዝቡ ላይ ሊኩራሩና ሊደነፉ፤ የሕግ የበላይነትን በመጨፍለቅ ሊቀጥሉ ይጥሩ ይሆናል፤ አሁን ግን አይ ሲ ሲ ስለመጣባቸውና ለሕዝቡ ወግኖ ስለቆመ ስሙ በተጠራ ጊዜ እየተርበደበዱና መግቢያ እያጡ በመሄዳቸው የአይ ሲ ሲን ስም በማጉደፍ ነጻ ለመሆን ቢጥሩ መንገድ ሁሉ፤ በደላቸው ሁሉ፤ ግፋቸው ሁሉ አይ ሲ ሲን እየቀሰቀሰባቸው በመሆኑ ኦክቶበር 13 2013 የቁም ተዝካራቸው ማውጫ አድርገው ሊሰባሰቡ ነው፡፡
በኦክቶበር 11-12,  2013 አድመኞቹ የአፍሪካ ‹‹መሪዎች›› አስተጋቢው የእንግዳ መቀበያ የአፍሪካ አዳራሽ በመሰባሰብ አብዛኛዎቹ በሮም ከጸደቀው ደንብ (አለም ኣቀፍ ዉል) በመውጣት በደስታ ተሞልተው የዓለም አቀፍ የወንጀል ፍርድ ቤትን የሞት ውሳኔ ያስተላልፋሉ፡፡ ቀብሩንም ለማስፈጸም የኢትዮጵያ የይስሙላ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትርና የአፍሪካ  አንድነት ተዘዋዋሪ የ2013ቱ ሊቀመንበር ሃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ ነው፡፡ ስብሰባውንም ሲከፍት ‹‹ዛሬ በዚህ የምጽዋት አዳራሻችን የተሰባሰብነው አይ ሲ ሲን ለማወደስ ሳይሀሆን ልንቀብረው ነው….›› በማለት ይሆናል፡፡ የዚህ የቀብር ጥድፍም ሰበቡ የኬንያው ፕሬዜዳንት ኡሁሩ ኬንያታ በኬንያ በተካሄደው የ2007 ምርጫ ወቅት በፈጸመው የሰብአዊ መብት ግፍ ለመጠየቅ ኖቬምበር 12 2013 ለፍርድ ሊቀርብ በመሆኑ ነው፡፡ በተመሳሳይ ወንጀልም ምክትሉ ዊሊያም ሩቶ ፍርዱ በሄይግ የዓለም አቀፍ የወንጀል ፍርድ መታየት ከጀመረ ሁለተኛ ወሩ ነው፡፡ የአፍሪካ አንድነት በኬንያታ እና በሩቶ ላይ የተመሰረተውን ክስ ዘዴ ፈልጎ ካላነሳ በስተቀር ‹‹የኑክሊየር ፈንጂ መቃወሚያውን›› በመጠቀም ከአይ ሲ ሲ አባልነት ለመውጣት እንደሚችልም በማስፈራራት ላይ ነው፡፡

ላለፉት ጥቂት ወራት ሃይለማርያም በአይ ሲ ሲ ላይ የቃል ጦርነት ሲያካሂድ ነበር፡፡ ባለፈው ግንቦት የጃጀዉና በቅዠት ዓለም ያለው ሮበርት ሙጋቤን በመደገፍ በአይ ሲ ሲ ላይ ውንጀላ አካሂዷል፡፡ ግልጽና ማስረጃው ከመጠን ያለፈውን ግፍ ለፈጸመ የአፍሪካ ገዢ ጥብቅና መቆምና ሕዝብን ለባሰ ግፍ ማብቃት የሃይለማርያም የአፍሪካ ወቅታዊ ሊቀመንበርነት ተግባር ሆኗል፡፡ ሃይለማርያም ቃላትን በማሰባሰብና ከጀርባ ባሉት ሽነቋጭ አለቆቹ በመመራት ግራ የገባውን አባባል በመጠቀም አይ ሲ ሲ ‹‹99 በመቶ›› የሆኑት በደለኛ ተከሳሾች አፍሪካውያን በመሆናቸው  የዘር አደን ላይ ነው የሚል መሰረተ ቢስ ወሬ እየነዛ ነው፡፡

ባለፈው ሳምንት በተካሄደው 68ኛው የተባበሩት መንግሥታት ጠቅላላ ስብሰባ ላይ ባሰማው ወሬው፤ አይ ሲ ሲ የኬንያታንና የሩቶን ክስ በማንሳት ጉዳዩ በኬንያ ባለስልጣናት እንዲታይ ማድረግ አለበት በማለት የማይገባ  የድፍረት ጥያቄ አንስቷል፡፡ ሆኖም ኬንያታ ከተሰነዘረበት ወንጀል ነጻ ሳያደርገው፤ ማድረግ ያሰበው ግን ኬንያታ ራሱ በሚያዘውና መመርያ በሚሰጠው ችሎት ይዳኝ ለማለት ነው፡፡ አባቱ ዳኛ ልጁ ቀማኛ ይይላሉ ሲተርቱ፡፡ ባለፈው ሳምንት ኢትዮጵያና ናይጄርያ  ለአይ ሲ ሲ ይጋባኝ ሰሚ የኬንያው ክስ እንዲነሳ ያቀረቡትን የጽሁፍ ጥያቄ ውድቅ አድርጎታል፡፡

ሃይለማርያም የዚህ ተቀባይነት የሌለው አሳፋሪ ጉዳይ አፈጉባኤ ሆኖ የመገኘቱ ምጸታዊ መነሾ አስገራሚ ነው፡፡ 34 የአፍሪካ ሃገራት የሮምን ደንብ/ዉል የፈረሙበት ሲሆን (አይ ሲ ሲ ሰን በማቋቋም ወንጀሎችን በመመርመር ሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰትን የዘር ጭፍጨፋን ግፍ በማጥራት ለፍርድ እንዲያቀርብ ውክልናና ስልጣን ሰጥቶታል):: እስከሁንም ኢትዮጵያ የዚህ ሕግ አባል ለመሆን ፊርማዋን ነፍጋ ቆይታለች፡፡ የሃይለማርያም የሥላጣን አባት ይህን ሕገ ደምብ ላለመፈረም ወስኖ ያቆየው ምናልባትስ አይ ሲ ሲ እንደማይለቀውና ወንጀሉን አጥርቶ እንደሚፋረደው ተገንዝቦ ይሆን? ለፊርማውም ችግር የሆነበት ሰበብ ሕጉን ፈርሞ ከተቀበለው የፊርማው ቀለም ሳይደረቅ በሰራቸው ሕገ ወጥ ተግባራት በፈጃቸውና ባስፈጃቸው ንጹኃን ዜጎች ሳቢያ አይ ሲ ሲ በሩን እንደሚያንኳኳና ለሕግ እንደሚያቀርበው ጠንቅቆ በመረዳቱ ነው?  እነዚያስ 34 ሃገራት ሕጉን አጽድቀው አይ ሲ ሲን ሲያቋቁሙ አይ ሲ ሲ የአፍሪካ ጋሻ መከታ ሆኖ ወንጀለኞችን አላንዳች አድልዎ እያደነ ለፍርድ እንደሚያቀርባቸው አልተገነዘቡትም ነበር?

አይ ሲ ሲን በአፍሪካ አለሳልሶ የመግደል ጥበብ የሃይለማርያም ተንኳሽና የሚያስቆጣው ክሱ የሚያሳየው፤ አይ ሲ ሲን ከአፍሪካ በድል በማስወጣት እራሱን ‹‹ጭራቅ
ገዳዩ ጀግና›› ላመሰኘት የተነሳሳ መስላል፡፡ (የሱ ቀደምት የሥልጣን አባቱም ‹‹የአዲሱ ትውልድ አፍሪካዊ መሪ›› በሚል መጠርያ ለራሱ የፈረስ ስም ሰጥቶ፤ ታላቅ በመሆን በሽታ ተለክፎ ለማይለቅና ለማይድን እጀሰብ ተዳርጎ ነበር::) የነገሩ እውነታ መሰርት ግን በዚህ አካሄድ የሃይለማርያምና የጸረመስቀል ተዋጊዎቹ አካሄድ በኬንያዊያን ባለስልጣናት ላይ የተመሰረተውን ክስ ለማስነሳት፤ በብዛት ከአይሲ ሲ አባልነት መውጣትን እንደማስፈራሪያና ማገቻ በማድረግ ወንድሞቹን ኬንያታንና ሩቶን ከአይ ሲ ሲ ማነቆ በማላቀቅ፤ ወደፊት በእነሱ ላይ ሊደርስ የማይችለውን አይቀሬውን ህጋዊ የክስ እርምጃ አስቀድሞ ለመዝጋት የሚያደርገው የአልሞት ባይ ተጋዳይ የሕልም ሩጫ ነው፡፡ አፍሪካን በሚገባት ከፍተኛ የአመራር ስልጣን ላይ ላመስቀመጥ የሚጥረውን አይ ሲ ሲን ለማጥፋት ከንቱ ጥረት ከማድረግ ይልቅ ሃይለማርያምና መሰል ግፈኛ ገዢዎች ራሳቸውን ከግፍ ባህሪና ልምዳቸው በመመለስ እንደሰው በማሰብ ለሰብአዊ ፍጡራን ተገቢውን አገልግሎት ለማከናወን ቢተጉ ይበጃቸዋል፡፡

በኦክቶበር 11-12 2013 በአፈሪካ አንድነት ስለ አይ ሲ ሲ ቀብር ስለሚደረገው ንግግር ቅድመ ትርኢት

የአፍሪካ ‹‹ገዢዎች›› በኦክቶበር 11-12 2013 በአፍሪካ አንድነት በሚሰባሰቡበት ጊዜ ስለሚያካሂዱት እብደት ቀረሽ ጸረ አይ ሲ ሲ  ዘመቻ በቂ ግንዛቤ አለን፡፡ የንግግራቸው መነሾና አካሄድየ አይ ሲ ሲን ወኔ ለመገድልና ተግባሩን ለማገድ አስቀድሞ ንድፉ በአምባሳደር ቋሚ ተወካይ ማቻሪያ ካማው፤ በኬንያ በተባበሩት መንግስታታ ቋሚ ሚሲዮን በኩል ለአምባሳደር ሜናንካዶ (የሴኪውሪቲ ካውንስል የሜይ ወር 2013 ሊቀመንበር) በተዘጋጀው ባለ 13 ገጽ ሚስጥራዊ ሰነድ ተዘርዝሯል፡፡

1. መላ የሌለውና ቅጥ ያጣ እርማት የተካሄደበት የካማው ሚስጥራዊ ሰነድ፤

ኬንያታን ሩቶ ከአይ ሲ ሲ ማነቆ ሊላቀቁ ይገባል ምክንያቱም እነሱን ለክስ ማቅረብ የኬንያን ልኡላዊነት ነጻነት የሚጥስ ነው፡፡ እንደ ካማው አባባል ‹‹የኬንያታና የሩቶ ክስ ራሱን ለሚያስተዳድረው መንግስታችን በውስጥ ጉዳያችንና በሃገራችን ኬንያና በልኡላዊነታችን ላይ የተቃጣ ውርደት ነው በማለት ይከራከራል፡፡ የኬንያ ልኡላዊነት ከኬንያ ውስጥና ውጭ የተለያዩ ተዋንያንን በመጠቀም ለወቀሳ እየተዳረግን ነው፡፡እንዳለፈውና እንደተለመደው የሲቪሉን ማህበረሰብ በማነሳሳት የራሱን ፖሊሲ እንዲቃወም በመደረግ የሮምን ስምምነት ሰበብ በማድረግ አይሲሲን በአስፈጻሚነት እየተጠቀሙበት ነው፡፡›› ነጻነት ለአፍሪካውያን ጨካኝና አረመኔ ገዢዎች የመጀመርያው ስደተኛ ነው፡፡ አሁን የአፍሪካን ነጻነት ለማስከበር በማለት የሚንደፋደፉት አስመሳይ የአፍሪካ ጨቋኞች በኖቬምበር 2010 ምርጫ ወቅት ፈረንሳይ በቀጥታ በአይቮሪኮስት ግጭት ጣልቃ በገባችበት ወቅት፤ ገዳም እንደገባች አይጥ ተሸጉጠው ትንፍሽ ሳይሉ ፈረንሳይ የቀድሞ ቅኝ ግዛቷን መልሳ ስተወር አንዲት ቃል አልተነፈሱም፡፡ የአፍሪካ አንድነትም ቢሆን በዝምታ ተቀምጦ ጠበይ ተመልካች በመሆን ከጎን ሆኖ ከመመልከት አላለፈም፡፡ በጃንዋሪ 2013 ፈረንሳይ የሰሜን ማሊን ከሽብርተኞች ወረራ ነጻ ለማውጣት ጣልቃ ሲገባ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች የፈረንሳይን ጦር ለማስወጣት የነጻነትንና የልእልና ማስከበርን ጉዳይ አላነሱም፡፡ አሁንም እንደገና የአፍሪካ አንድነት ከተመልካችነት አላለፈም፡፡

በወንጀል ፤ በሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰት፤በጦር ወንጀለኛነት፤በዘር ማጥፋት ለሚሰነዘር ክስ ሉአላዊነት ሕጋዊ መከላከያ አለያም የፖለቲካ ውይይት ሁኖ አይቆምም፡፡ አሁን በአፍሪካ ፈላጭ ቆርጫ ገዢዎች የሚነሳው የሉአላዊነት ጥያቄ አይ ሲ ሲ የተጣለበትን አደራ ላማዘናገት ሆን ተብሎ የተነሳና ቀድሞ ከነበሩት የንጉሳዊ ገዢዎች በምድራዊ ዳኝነት እንጠየቅም ሥዩመ እግዚአብሔር ነን እንደሚሉት ለመሆን የታቀደ ዘዴ ነው፡፡ ሕገ ወጥ የሆነውን የአፍሪቃ ፈላጭ ቆራጭ ገዢ ሊዳኘው የሚገባውና የሚችለው ሌላው ሕገወጥ አፍሪካዊ ገዢ መሆን አለበት ነው የሚሉት፡፡

2.      ኬንያታና ሩቶ ከክስ ነጻ የመሆን መብት አላቸው ምክንያቱም በማርች 2013ቱ ምርጫ ‹‹ንጹህ›› ናቸው ስለተባሉ፤ካማው ኬንያታና ሩቶን በተመለከተ ሁለቱ ሰዎች ንጹሃን ብቻ ሳይሆኑ በክፍተኛው የመንግስት ስልጣን ላይ ስለተቀመጡ ሃለፊነትም አለባቸውና ክሱ ሊሰረዝላቸው ይገባል በማለት ይሞግታል፡፡ አይ ሲ ሲ የከፈተው የክስ
መዝገብ የሚዘጋበት ምክንያት ኬንታና ሩቶ የፈጸሙት የሰብአዊ መብት ድፍረትና ጥሰት በፍትህ አደባባይ ቆሞ ስለሚመሰክርባቸውና ለፍርድ ሊያቀርባቸው ስለሚችል የንጹሃን ግፍና በደል በነሱ የስልጣን ወንበር መያዝ ተቻችሎ ነጻ ሊሆኑ ይገባል ነው፡፡  እነዚህ ሁለት ዋናና ምክትል ገዢዎች የኬንያውያን ሁሉ መተሳሰርያ በመሆናቸውና ሕዝቡም በፍቅር ስለመረጣቸው፤ 86 በመቶ ድምጹን ሰጥቶ መንበራቸው ላይ ስላስቀመጣቸው ክሱ ሊሰረዝላቸው ግድ ነው፡፡ ካሙ ክርክሩን በመቀጠል፤ የሮሙ
ስምምነት ኬንያታንና ሩቶ ሊያካትት አይገባም፤ምክንያቱም በአሁኑ ጊዜ ከፍተኛውን የሃገሪቱን አመራር በዋናነትና በምክትልነት የያዙ በመሆናቸውና የኬንያ ሪፑብሊክ የመከላከያ አዘዦች በመሆናቸው፤ነው ይለናል፡፡ ካሙንን ግራ ያጋበው ነገር ኬንያታና ሩቶ ንፁህነታቸውን ለማረጋገጥ መመረጥ አያስፈልጋቸውም፡፡ ማንም ሰው ቢሆን በፍርድ ሸንጎ ወንጀለኛ እስካልተባለ ድረስ ንጹህ ነውና፡፡ ስለዚህም በተጠረጠሩበት ወንጀል ኣይ ሲ ሲ የሚለው ችሎት ፊት ቀርበው ንጸህናቸውን በነጻ የፍትሕ ስርአት ያረጋግጡ ነው እንጂ ወንጀለኞች ናቸው ብሎ አልደመደመም፡፡ የሁለቱ ባለስልጣናት በአጥጋቢ ውጤት ከመመረጣቸው ጋር የተሰነዘረባቸው ተጠርጣሪነት አንዳችም ግንኙነት የለውም፡፡ ጥያቄው በ2007-08 በስልጣን ላይ በነበሩበት ግዜ ተፈፀሙ በተባሉ ወንጀሎች ነው፡፡ ኬንያታና ሩቶ የሃገሪቱ መሪዎች መሆናቸው ከሕጉ ጋር የሚያገናኘው ሰበብ የለውም፡፡ የሮም ስምምነት አንቀጽ 27 ማንኛውም ተጠርጣሪ አይሲሲ ችሎት ቀርቦ ንጽህናውን ማረጋገጥ ይጠበቅበታል ይላል፡፡ ስምምነቱ ማንንም በእኩል ደረጃ ይመለከታል፡፡ ማንንም ከማንም በስልጣን ደረጃ አያመዛዝንም ለአይ ሲ ሲ ምንኛውም ተጠርጣሪ እኩል ነው፡፡ ተመራጭ ፕሬዝዳንትም ይሁን የፓርላማ አባል የመግስት ባለስልጣንም ሆነ ተራ ዜጋ ለአይ ሲ ሲ ችሎትና መመርያ ሁሉም እኩል ናቸው፡፡

በኬንያታና በሩቶ ላይ የተመሰረተው ስንኩል ክስ (የተባበሩት መንግሥታት ሴኩሪቲ ካውንስልና በኬንያም መንግሥት ወንጀል መስራታቸው ሳይተላለፍለት ነው) በአግባቡ ምርመራና ማጣራት ሳይካሄድበት ነው ይላሉ፡፡ የአይ ሲ ሲ ክስ ተቀባይነት የሌለው ምስክሮቹንም አስጠንተው ያቀረቧቸው ናቸው፡፡ ተጠቂ ነን ብለው የቀረቡትም ሃሰተኞች አለያም ተመርጠው የተሰየሙ ናችው፡፡ የምስክርነት ቃላቸውም ደካማና የማያሳምን ነው፡ በማለት ካሙ ይከራከርላቸዋል፡፡ ምስክሮች  በመደለያ የተገዙ ያንንም ነው አይደለም ብሎ የሚወስነው የአይ ሲ ሲ ችሎት ነው፡፡ ምናልባትም ምስክሮቹ ተአማኒነት የሌላቸው በጥቅማ ጥቅም የተገዙ ናቸው የሚባልም ከሆነ የካሙስ መንግስት ማስረጃውን በማቅረብ ሊቃወም ይችላል፡፡

4.      የአቃቤ ሕግ ቢሮ ሚዛናዊ ባልሆነ መልኩ በኬንያታና በሩቶ ላይ የክስ ምስረታውን ተከሳሾቹን በሚጎዳ መልኩ እያካሄድ ነው ለፍትሕ በእኩል መልኩ የተከናወነ አይደለም በማለት ተጠርጣሪዎቹን ተከሳሾች ፍትሕ በአግባቡ ነጻ ናቸው አይደሉም ከማለቱ ይልቅ አይ ሲ ሲንና የአቃቤሕግ ቢሮን በሃሰት በመወንጀልና ፍትሕ ገደል ይግባ ለኛ በሚመቸን መልኩ የማይሰራም አይ ሲ ሲ ፍርስርሱ ይውጣ የሚል ነው የካማው ቅጥ ያጣ ሙግት፡፡ ፍትሕ ለመዛባቱ የካማው መንግስት ማስረጃ ካለውና በፊትም ሆነ አሁን ኬንያታንና ሩቶን ፍትሕ ይነፍጋቸዋል ብሎ ካሰበ ወደ ፍርዱ መድረክ በማቅረብ ሕዝብ እንዲያውቀው ሊያደርግ ይገባዋል፡፡ በተቃራኒው ካማውና የአፍሪካ መሪዎች ሊያደርጉና ለማድረግም በመጣር ላይ ያሉት አንዳችም እውነትነት የሌለው የክስ ዳውላ በመዘርገፍና እርፍት የለሽ የድረሱልን ጥሪ በማሰማት ዓለምን ሊያሳምኑ በመጣር ላይ ናቸው፡፡ እውነት ካላቸው እነካማው አለን የሚሉትን የፍትህ ግድፈት አደባባይ ያውጡት፡፡

5. አይ ሲ ሲና የአቃቤው ሕግ ቢሮ ማንም የማይቆጣጠረውና ከሕግ ውጪ ለማንም ተጠያቂ ያልሆነ ባለሥልጣን ነው ለመጀመርያ ጊዜ ቋሚ ዓለም አቀፋዊ ተቋም የሃገራትንና የዜጎቿን ሕጋዊ ግዴታ ለመመልከትና ለመወሰን ወንጀልም ሲያገኝባቸው በአግባቡና በስርአት ቅጣት ለመጣል ተመስርቷል፡፡ አይ ሲ ሲ ብቃቱን በተመለከተ በማንኛውም መልኩ ለዓለም አቀፍ ሕግጋት ምን እንደሚያስፈልገው ሲረዳ የመከራከሪያው የመጨረሻ ቃላት አይ ሲ ሲ ሲወስን በማንኛውም መንግስት ቁጥጥር ስር አለያም ትእዛዝ ሳይሆን ዓለም አቀፍ ሕግጋት በሚመሩበት ስርአት ብቻ መሆኑን ነው፡፡ ካሙ የሚያውቀውና የሚለውም ሆነ አይ ሲ ሲ ያድርግ የሚለው አለቆቹ በሚወነጀሉበት ጥፋታቸው ሁሉ አስቀድሞ እነሱ የሚያዙት ችሎታቸው ጉዳዩን ይመርምር ነው፡፡ የሚያውቀውና የሚከተለው አሁን ምርመር ይደረግባቸው የተባሉት አለቆቹ ሲያስሩ ሲገድሉ ሲያሰቃዩ ፍርድ አልነካቸውምና አሁን እንዳይነካቸው ይደረግ ነው፡፡ ካሙ ችግሩና በሽታው አለቆቹ የሚመሩበት ያልተጻፈ ሕግና ያልተሰጣቸውን ስልጣን መጠቀም ስለሆነ በዚያው መሰረት ይዳኙ ነው፡፡ አይ ሲ ሲ የሚታዘዘውም ሆነ የሚመራው በዓለም አቀፉ የፍትሕ ስርአት ነውና ማንንም አይጠላም ማንንም ከማንም አስበልጦ አያፈቅርም፡፡ ካሙ ለምን አንድ አቃቤ ሕግ ብቻውን ያጣራው ጉዳይ ተቀባይነት ያገኛል ነው፡፡ አይ ሲ ሲ ደግሞ አቃቤ ሕግ ግድፈት አለበት የሚል ማንኛውም ተጠርጣሪ አለያም ዜጋ መስረጃውን አቅርቦ ሊሞግተው ይችላል ነው፡፡

የአፍሪካን ዲክታተሮችና ጭፍሮቻቸው ስለ ‹‹ቁጥጥር አልባ ሥልጣን›› ሲያወሩ ማዳመጥ የአዞ እንባ እንዲሉ አይነት ነው፡፡ የኬንያን ባለስልጣነት መጠን የለሽ የስልጣን ክልል በመጠኑም ቢሆን ለመቆጣጠር ያስቻለው በ2010 የወጣው ሕገመንግስት ነው፡፡ በኬንያ ስርአት አልበኝነትን ሕገወጥነትን ለመከላከል ሲባል የወጣው አዲሱ ሕገመንግስት  ነው መሰረት የጣለው፡፡ ማንም ሊረዳው የሚገባው አዲሱ የኬንያ ሕገመንግስት በ2007 በተከሰተው የምርጫ ውዝግብ ሳቢያ በተካሄደው ውይይት ላይ ተመስርቶ መረቀቁና መጽደቁ ነው፡፡ ኬንያታና ሩቶ በዚያው ሕገመንስት ደንብና ስርአት  ውስጥ በተካተተው መመርያ መሰረት ነው ለፍርድም ሊቀርቡ ማዘዣ የወጣባቸው፡፡

በአፍሪካ የሕግ የበላይነት እነ ካማው መሰረተ ቢስ የሆኑ በርካታ ጥያቄዎችን በማንሳት ሕዝብንና መንግስታትን በማታለልና መንገድ በማሳት አለቆቻቸውን ነጣ ለማድረግ ይጥራሉ፡፡ እነ ሃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ የአይ ሲ ሲ አካሄድ ማንም ግፈኛና ወንጀለኛ ከነጉድፉ ተሸሽጎ እነዳይኖርና ግፍና በደሉን በማር ቀብቶ ለማስመሰያነት እንዳዋለ እንዳይኖር  የማድረግ ስልጣኑ ማነህ ባለሳምንት ይለናል በማለት አስቀድመው ለራሳቸው የሚጠቅም ከለላ ለመፍጠር ነው ጥረታቸው፡፡ የዓለም ሕግ ተፋለሰ ሲሉ እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ እነዚህ የኡኡታ አሰሚዎች የፈጸሙትን የሕግ መፋለስ በመዘንጋት ሳይሆን አውቀው ትክክለኛ መስለው ለመታየት እንጂ በአይ ሲ ሲ አካሄድ የተፋለሰ አንዳችም ሕግ የለም፡፡ አለ ከተባለ ደግሞ ከነማስረጃው ማቅረብ እንጂ ከንቱ የጋጋኖ ጨኸት የትም አያደርስም፡፡ የአፍሪካ አንድነት ደንብም ቢሆን በአፍሪካ ውስጥ ሰብአዊ መብት ሊከበርና ሊጠበቅ እንደሚገባው ይደንግጋል፡፡ ስለመልካም አስተዳደርም በደንቡ ላይ አስፈሯል፡፡ ማንም ከወንጀል ነጻ ሊሆን እንደማይችል ደንቡ ያናገራል፡፡

በኦክቶበር 13 ለቁጥር የሚጣክቱት መሪዎች ከሮሙ ስምምነት ለመውጣት ማሴር ማለት ሕግ አልበኝነትና የራሳቸው የአፍሪካ አንድነት የሚተዳደርበትን ደንብ መጣስ መሆኑን መዘንጋት ነው፡፡ ተጠያቂነትን ያወጁ ሃገራት ተጠየቁ ሲባሉ ሕጉን ያወጣነው ሕዝብን ለመቅጣት እንጂ እኛ ልንጠየቅበት አይደለም ማለት ምን የሚሉት፡፡ በጣም ቀላል የሆነና የማይቀር ምርጫ አለን፡፡እነዚህን በአፍሪካ ሕዝብ ጫንቃ ላይ ሆነው ግፍን በመፈጸምና ሃላፊነትን አላግባብ በሚጠቀሙ ፈላጭ ቆራጭ ገዢዎች ከሮም ውልና ስምምነት የመውጣት አድማቸው ላይ አቋም በመያዝ መመጎት ቢያንስ  የነዚህን እኩዮች አድማ የሚቃወሙትን ተቆርቋሪ ወገኖች ማገዝ ነው፡፡ ለዓለም አቀፉ የወንጀል ችሎት መቆምና መወገን ማለት አፍሪካ ውስጥ በመግዛትና ግፍ በመፈጸም ያሉትና ባለስልጣናት መሞገት ነውና አብረን ሆነን ከአፍሪካ ጫንቃ ላይ እንዚህን ጋሬጣዎች እንንቀስ! አይ ሲ ሲን የመደገፊያው ወቅት አሁን ነው::

 

Blast In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Would-Be Bombers May Have Been Al-Shabab

By Jacey Fortin
International Business Times (IBTimes)

Police tape can be seen outside of a residence in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where an explosion killed two people Sunday. Jacey FortinADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — An explosion killed two people in a compound on a leafy side street in Ethiopia’s capital city on Sunday afternoon, and early investigations have led officials to think the perpetrators may have killed themselves by accidentally setting off a bomb they’d intended to deploy later at a crowded soccer game downtown.

The explosion went off in the afternoon, just a couple hours before the Ethiopian and Nigerian national football teams kicked off in a World Cup qualifying match that attracted tens of thousands of people to the capital city’s stadium.

The suspected perpetrators were Somali nationals, according to government spokesman Redwan Hussein. “There were some materials found during the investigation in the debris: Some explosives, a jacket and a belt that suicide bombers typically use, and the T-shirt of the Ethiopian football team,” he added. “If you look at the timing and the location, it might be easily assumed that they were planning to explode [near the stadium] while disguising themselves as fans of the team.”

The neighborhood where the blast occurred is populated by many ethnic Somalis; it is also home to a number of embassies and diplomats. Officers standing guard outside the gated compound where the explosion occurred said Monday that at least one structure housing domestic workers had been demolished by the blast. But larger residences nearby — including a house belonging to the American Embassy — appeared largely unscathed.

Investigators have not yet confirmed who was behind the explosion. Al-Shabab, a Somalia-based terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the blast on its Twitter account, though they claimed nearly 10 people had been killed. “Warning: More Bombs are Planted at Piazza & ChurchillAVE … Can EXPLODE Any Minute !! PREPARE,” said a subsequent tweet, referring to two busy areas in Addis Ababa.

Al-Shabab, which also claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack that killed at least 67 at a popular mall in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi this month, is an al-Qaeda-affiliated group. Both Kenya and Ethiopia have sent troops into Somalia in recent years, playing a major role in ousting the militants from former strongholds like the capital city of Mogadishu and the port city of Kismayo. The government in Addis Ababa is vigilant about monitoring extremist activity on domestic soil, which has garnered some criticism from Ethiopian Muslims who feel their community has been unfairly targeted.

“Al-Shabab is the main enemy in this part of the world, not only in the Horn of Africa but also globally,” said Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in a press conference this month. “We believe that fighting al-Shabab is not only a security apparatus job; it should be the job of all the public in Ethiopia.”

It remains unclear whether the Sunday blast was perpetrated by al-Shabab-affiliated terrorists. By Monday, the neighborhood where the explosion occurred was calm and quiet. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.

Related articles

• Ethiopia: Blast likely an accidental detonation (timesleader.com)
• Bombing Kills 2 in Ethiopian Capital (voanews.com)

 

በደብረ ማርቆስ ዩነቨርስቲ ተማሪዎችና በመንግስት መካከል ረብሻ ተነስቷል

(ዘ-ሐበሻ)  ጥቅምት 4 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም. በደብረማርቆስ ዩኒቨርስቲ ተማሪዎችና በመንግስት መካከል ውጥረት ነግሷል፡፡ የችግሩ ዋነኛ መንስኤም በግቢው በሚቀርብ ምግብ ዙሪያ እና መንግስት የዩኒቨርስቲ ተማሪዎችን ኃይማኖታዊ ስርዓትን
የተላበሰ አለባበስ መልበስ የተከለከለ ነው በሚል በተለይ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ኃይማኖት ተካታዮችና የእስልምና ኃይማኖት ተከታዮች ድርጊቱን በመቃወማቸው ረብሻ ተቀስቅሷል፡፡ በዚህም በተፈጠረ አለመግባባት የፌደራል ፖሊስ ተማሪዎችን እየደበደበ ከግቢ ያስወጣ ሲሆን፤በዚህም የቆሰሉ ተማሪዎች እንዳሉ እና በአሁን ሰዓትም የህክምና እርዳታ እየተደረገላቸው መሆኑም ተጠቁሟል፡፡

በተለይ ትናንት ሰኞ ማታ ጥቅምት 4 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም. በርካታ ተማሪዎች በፈደራል ፖሊስ እየታደኑ እየታሰሩ እንደሚገኙ የተጠቆመ ሲሆን በከተማው ያሉ ወላጆችም በጉዳዩ እጅግ በመቆጣታቸው በዚህ ምሽትም በርካታ ወላጆችም በተማሪዎቹ ላይ እየተወሰደ ባለው እርምጃ በመቃወም ከቤታቸው ውጭ ከፌደራል ፖሊስና ከአማራ ክልል ፖሊስና አስተዳደር ጋር መፋጠጣቸውም ተነግሯል፡፡ በተፈጠረው ችግርም እስካሁን ምን ያህል ተማሪ እንደተጎዳ በቁጥርና መጠን ለማወቅ አልተቻለም፡፡ በጉዳዩ ዙሪያ የዩኒቨርስቲው አስተዳደርንና የአማራ ክልል አስተዳደርና ፖሊስን  ለማናገር ብንሞክርም ስልካቸው ዝግ ነው፡፡ የነበረው አለመግባባትም ይህ እስከተዘገበበት ድረስ በግቢው በደንብ አለመረጋጋት እንዳለም ምንጮች አስታውቀዋል፡፡

 

በፍርድ ቤት ትዕዛዝ ተለቀቅን!!! ዜጎችን በፖለቲካ አቋማቸዉ ማሰርና ማዋከብ ይቁም!

ጓዶች ተመልሰና . . . ጉድ አይተን . . . ያዉ የኛ ጉዳይ ሲለመድ እስር እና ዱላ እንደ ተራ ነገር እያየነዉ ምንም አልመሰለኝም ነበር . . . ያሁኑ ግን እኛን እያዋከቡና እየሰደቡ ወደ ዉስጥ ሲያስገቡን ከዉጪ ሆነዉ እኛም ከነሱ ጋር ነን እኛንም ዉሰዱን ባሉ ጓደኞቻችን ላይ የደረሰባቸዉ ድብደባና ስድብ አፀያፊ ብቻ ሳይሆን ምን ያህል ፖሊስ ገለልተኛ እንዳልሆነ በይበልጥ ግልፅ አድርጎታል . . . አንዳንዶቹን በጃቸዉ የነበረ መፅሃፍና መፅሄት በመንጠቅ “አሁን እናንተ ስለፖለቲካ ምን ታዉቃላችሁ” እስከማለት የደረሰ የአምባገነን ወገንተኝነት አንፀባርቀዋል፡፡ ባዛም አካባቢ እንዳይቆሙ አመራሮችን ሳይቀር በቆመጥ እየመቱ አብረዋቸዋል፡፡ ዉስጥ የገባነዉም ብንሆን ሞራላችንን ለመንካትና ለማሸማቀቅ ያልተባለ ነገር የለም . . . አንዱ “አንዴት ብትደፍሩ ነዉ በኛ ክልል(ጃንሜዳ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ) የምታልፉ” ሲል . . . አንዷደሞ (ለስሙ 3 ኮከብ በትከሻዋ ተደርድሯል) ቀበል አድርጋ ለምን “የማይገፋ ትገፋላችሁ አርፋችሁ ቁጭ ብትሉ ይሻላችኋል” ብትለንስ!!! በነገራችን ላይ ነሀሴ ላይ ታስረን ስንደበደብ “ለነዚህ ደርግ ነበር የሚሻላቸዉ” ብላ ከኢህአፓ ጋር ያመሳሰለችን ‘ሰዉ’ ናት (ጌታ ልብ ይስጣት). . . ብቻ ምን አለፋችሁ ብዙዉን እዚህ መነሳት የሌለበት ጉድ ትተን ለመብት መከራከር በተረጋጋ ሁኔታ ስለሁኔታዉ መነጋገር ፤ ቃል አልሰጥም ማለት ፤ ለምን ማለት እንደ ወንጀለኛ ያስቆጥር ነበር፡፡ ገና ሲይዙን ጀምሮ ሰማያዊዎች መሆናችንን ሲያዉቁ አንደሆነ ነገር ነበር ያደረጋቸዉ አጃኢብ ነዉ ሰዉ የገደለ እንኳን እንዲህ አይንገላታም በስእብናዉ ላይ መንቋሸሽ አይደርስበትም!!!

የሆነ ሆኖ በዚህ መልኩ ታስረን እስከ ሌሊቱ 8 ሰዓት መኪና የለም በሚል ብርድ ላይ አቆይተዉን ኋላም ወደ ወረዳ 9 ፖሊስ ጣቢያ ተወስድን እዛ ነበር በይበልጥ አሳዛኙንና ሊታረም ይገባዋል የምንለዉን አሳዛኝ ሁነት የታዘብነዉ(ስለ እስረኛ አያያዝ በሌላ ፅሁፍ እመለስበታለሁ) . . . እናም በዚህ ማቆያ እስር ቤት ቅዳሜን እና እሁድን አሳለፍን፡፡ ሰኞ ሲደርስ እንደለመዱት ሊፈቱን ምንም እንዳልተፈጠረ ሊለቁን አማራቸዉና እንደለመዱት ዉጡ ተባልን ይህ ጨዋታ ግን በኔም ሆነ በጓደኞቼ አልታመነበትም ነበርና ለፍርድ ካልቀረብን አንወጣም አንፈታም አልን . . . በሰዓቱ በቦታዉ አንዳንድ የደህንነት አባላት የነበሩ ሲሆን ሁኔታዉን ለአለቆቻቸዉ ደዉለዉ ሲያስታዉቁም ታዝበናል . . . በአንዳንድ የፖሊስ አባላትም በሁኔታዉ የመገረምና የመናደድ ነገር ታይተባቸዋል፡፡ ግን በኛ እምነት ማኛዉም አካል ሲታሰር በወንጀለኝነት ተጠርጥሮ ወይም እጅ ከፍንጅ ተይዞ ሲሆን ከዛም ነፃ መልቀቁም ሆነ ወንጀለኛ ማለቱ የፍርድ ቤቱ ዉሳኔ ነዉ ነገር ግን በተደጋጋሚ ጊዜ የኢህአዲግን የአፈና ስራ በሚፈፅሙለት ፖሊሶች ታስረን ተደብድበን ምንም እንዳልተፈጠረ ሂዱ ከዚህ ጥፉ ከማለትም አልፈዉ አላሰርንም እስከማለት ይዋሹ ነበር ያ ግን መስዋዓትነት ተከፍሎበትም ቢሆን መቅረት ያለበት የመንግስት ሸፍጥ ነዉ . . . ወደ ነገሩ ስንመለስ ከወረዳ 9 ወደ ጃንሜዳ መልሰዉን በቀበሌ መታወቂያ ዋስ ጠርተን እንድንወጣ ማስፈራራት በሚመስል መልኩ ቢነግሩንም ሳንስማማ ቀረን በኋላም ሃሳባችን እንደማይቀየር ሲያዉቁና አንደተረዳነዉም ከአለቆቻቸዉ በደረሰባቸዉ ጫና በቀላል ወንጀል መለትም ሁከት ለመፍጠር በሚል ክስ በፍርድ ቤት እንደሚያቀርቡብን አሳወቁን . . . ጉዞም ወደ ችሎት መድሃኒዓለም የ8 ሰዓት ምድብ ሆነ እዛም እንደደረስን ዳኛዋ ክሱን ላለመቀበል ብትፈልግም በሆነ መንገድ እድንገባ ተፈቀደ በሂደቱም የፖሊስ አቃቢ ህግ ገና ክሱን እያጣራሁ ነዉ ስላለ እንዲሁም በፍርድ ቤቱ የክሱ ሀተታ አሳማኝ ስላልነበረ ያለአግባብ እንደታሰርንና በሰንበት እንደተንገላታን አሳስባ ባስቸኳይ በመታወቂያችን ዋስ እንድንወጣ በትናንትናዉ ዕለት ወሰነችልን!!!

ዋናዉ ነገር ይህ የትግሉ በጣም ትንሹ ነገር ሲሆን ገና ብዙ እንደሚጠብቀን እያሰብን እንደእኛም ሰዉ ሆነ እንደ ሰማያዊ ከተነሳንለት ዓላማ አንዱ ከፍርሃት ተላቀን ማንኛዉም ሰዉ ከህግ በላይ እዳልሆነ እንዲረጋገጥ ከትንሹ ይህን ከመሳሰሉ አጋጣሚዎች በመጀመር ወደ ከፍተኛ ጉዳዮች መድረስ መቻል ነዉ . . . ይህም አካሄድ ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ ዉጤታማ እያደረገን ይገኛል፡፡

ማናችንም ብንሆን ነፃነታችንም ሆነ ዲሞክሪያሳዊ መብቶቻችን በሆነ አካል በቸሮታ የሚለገሱን ሳይሆን በራሳችን ትግል ለራሳችን ምናጎናፅፋቸዉ ሰብዓዊ እኛነታችን ናቸዉ ስለዚህም ከትንሹ ጀምረን መታገል ለመብታችን መቆም ያለህግ የሚደረጉ ክንዉኖችን እምቢ አልተባበርም ማለትና እነዚህንም ማጋለጥ ግዴታ አለብን! በመጨረሻም በመታሰራችን ለተጨነቃችሁና በሁሉም መልኩ ድጋፍ ላደረጋችሁልን ሁላ ዝቅ ብለን አመሰገንን!!!

Amha Teresa