Human Rights Watch (Washington, DC)
Tom Porteous
31 January 2008
analysis
Western policy towards Africa is ill-informed and inconsistent. That's the message of Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, in his interview in the Guardian last week. And there's some truth in what he says. But Meles should be careful what he wishes for.
If the west was better informed about the war crimes and human rights abuses committed by Meles' military forces in Somalia and Ogaden, western taxpayers might balk at the thought that their governments are providing Ethiopia with hundreds of millions of dollars of military and economic aid.
And if western governments were more consistent and less selective in their reaction to human rights abuses around the world, they might be less inclined to turn a blind eye to Ethiopia's failure to abide by international norms in pursuit of its military objectives in Somalia and Ogaden.
Last year, Human Rights Watch documented a disturbing pattern of abuses by all sides, including Ethiopia, in the dangerous armed conflict which erupted after Meles sent his army into Somalia to dislodge the Islamic Courts Union, a group which many say has links to international terrorists. In its subsequent struggle with Somali insurgents, Ethiopia has committed serious violations of the Geneva conventions including the carpet-bombing of residential districts of Mogadishu, the deliberate targeting of hospitals and arbitrary executions.
Human Rights Watch has also documented abuses by Ethiopian forces in its simultaneous counter-insurgency campaign against the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) in the Somali region of southeastern Ethiopia. These include the systematic use of rape, torture and execution as a means of terrorising and collectively punishing the civilian population, a partial trade blockade of districts deemed sympathetic to the rebels and the destruction of villages.
There are good reasons why Ethiopia's western backers do not jump to condemn Meles with the same speed with which they rightly condemn, say, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe or Sudan's Omar al-Bashir. In his almost 20 years in power, Meles, a former rebel leader, has transformed Ethiopia from a war-torn, famine-prone dictatorship into a relatively stable state which combines elements of both democracy and authoritarianism. He has won plaudits from donors for poverty reduction and good economic stewardship.
Meles' supporters also make allowances for the fact that he is the key regional player operating in a tough neighbourhood. Somalia is a failed state; Eritrea is a closed dictatorship that has picked fights with most of its neighbours; Sudan defies the UN and the international criminal court in their efforts to secure peace and accountability in Darfur; and now Kenya is slipping into its worst political crisis since independence.
But above all western politicians and diplomats warm to Meles, because they concur with his analysis that he is a bulwark against the spread of Islamist militancy in the Horn of Africa. Meles plays this card well. He is helped by the fact that the influence of political Islam is strong and growing among the large Muslim populations of the region. Furthermore, Islamist militants, some with links to international terrorist organisations, are operating in Somalia, Kenya and elsewhere in the Horn.
But, while these considerations can help to nuance the west's diplomatic, economic and military relations with Meles, they can be no excuse for the war crimes and gross violations of human rights that Human Rights Watch has documented in Somalia and Ogaden. These unjustifiable acts are not only morally repugnant; they are also counterproductive. They serve to undermine international respect for the rule of law and they are likely to sharpen radicalisation and conflict in what is already one of the most dangerous parts of the world.
The west's failure to acknowledge the reality of what is going on in these remote and inaccessible places and its failure to call for full investigations and accountability leaves the impression that when it comes to counter-terrorism, anything goes. It is a shortsighted policy that is already backfiring in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon - and it will backfire here too.
Tom Porteous is the London Director for Human Rights Watch. This article was originally published by Guardian Unlimited.
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Dear respected journalists,
I support the opinion of our respected and loved PM Meles Zenawi in his statement that "western policy towards Africa is ill-informed and inconsistent."
In that I believe the PM does not mean the western governments are working negatively towards Africa.
But in that I believe he means the medias such as yours do not give accurate information to western governments so that result in dysfunctional decisions taken by western gov'ts even by those ally to PM Meles.
For example, regarding the report about "the abuse and rapes" comitted by the Ethiopian Soldiers in Somali is an absolute lie. For I deeply and closely know the level of discipline the Ethiopian Military achieved in treating civilians as well as war prisoners.
Such reports on the Ethiopian Military is either is based on ill information or is an intention of defamation.
Oh dear journalists of your type know the damage you are causing to the peace and spiritual achievements that the world could have achieved had it not been for your misleading reports. Be ware of your acts... learn out of the consequences.
There is a traditional saying " Tore Kefetaw Wore Yefetaw". Which means the damage or construction news may cause is great than the war macause.
Good luck for all of us...
This article itself is a good proof how ill informed the west is. I don't believe any of the comments made by the human this and human that. These are people who, wherever a gunshot is heard shout that human rights are abused. I don't blame them; because if they stop shouting for whatever reason, their very existence will be at stake. I am sure that all accusations against the military are false. I know the military. Tom, you are only propagating words of a beaten enemy. If your intention is to systematically inform the bosses in the west that meless has trespassed the line, don't waste your time! he will tell them in the face. you don't know the man, you are ill informed.
Ethiopia: 100 Reported Dead After Soldiers Target Civilians in Gambella allAfrica.com 15 December 2003 Posted to the web 15 December 2003 Charles Cobb Jr. Washington, DC Soldiers in the town of Gambella, 450km (280 miles) west of Addis Ababa, are reported to have engaged since Saturday in violent attacks against leading members of a local ethnic group, leaving 100 or more people dead. But local sources say the soldiers' action looked more like a punishment operation against Anuak people. A US church source who wished to remain anonymous for fear of compromising his church's contacts in Gambella, told allAfrica.com: "It is reported to me that over 200 people have been killed." According to this source, the Ethiopian military police on Saturday started "pulling out educated people and community leaders" and "killing them with guns or by slitting their throats;" he said local people believed Anuaks were specifically targeted. He quoted missionary sources in Addis Ababa as reporting that Anuak students at Gambella's Teacher Training Institute had been rounded up and taken away, Monday morning. He said sources in Gambella city had told him that the Catholic church compound was full of people taking refuge from the violence and that they had almost no supplies. "People have not been able to come out of their compounds for fear of being shot. It is the third day and citizens are concerned for their children having no food and water," he said. Citing "chaotic" scenes, he mentioned a case of two people who tried to retrieve bodies from the street and were themselves shot. A local church official reported Monday that there were five bodies outside his house but he could not risk going out to remove them. A US citizen has reportedly been arrested by the soldiers. Omot Omot Bewar, formerly a refugee from the area who came to the US seeking asylum is currently in Gambella on a visit to his former home. According to friends in Minnesota where he is normally a student, he attempted to video the violence and was beaten and detained. A BBC report cited "humanitarian sources" as charging that Anuaks are the targets of violence by "highland Ethiopians." The army is "involved in restoring stability and order," an Ethiopian Defense Ministry spokesperson told Associated Press on condition of anonymity. She said an investigation is under way. Recent oil exploration agreements with multinationals have fueled tensions over land rights amid jockeying for control of potentially lucrative oil fields. Under a deal signed in June, Petronas has exclusive rights to "explore and develop" some 15,000 square kilometers in the region, which borders Sudan - a major African oil producer.
Dear Editor, How much more innocent defensless African civilian families need to be slaughtered by the Ethiopian government in the services to Western Oil Corporations???
Ethiopia: "Mum, Were We Meant to Suffer All Our Lives?" Inter Press Service (Johannesburg) 31 January 2008 Posted to the web 1 February 2008 Interview with Nadifo Gababa, an Ethiopian refugee in Kenya
The post-election violence here has turned nearly 500,000 Kenyans into internally displaced persons (IDPs). Caught up in this unrest are refugees from neighbouring countries -- such as Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia -- who sought refuge in Kenya but now find themselves destitute once again. Nadifo Gababa fled to Kenya from her home in Ethiopia in 2005. The Ethiopian authorities claimed that she was financially supporting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) -- an organization formed in 1973 to fight for the rights of the Oromo people of Ethiopia. OLF accuse the Ethiopian government of decades of human rights abuses against the Oromo. Gababa feared arrest.
Gababa was relieved when the truck she had been bundled into with her five children reached Huruma, an estate in Nairobi's east-lands safely. Since she and her children speak Kiswahili it was not long before she was directed to the local Mosque.
With some money left over after her arrival, she rented a one-roomed shack, enrolled her children in local schools, and got herself a job at a nearby hotel. Life was manageable until violence broke out in the city soon after Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of the Dec. 27 presidential elections.
IPS correspondent Kwamboka Oyaro spoke to Gababa at the Jamhuri Show Ground refugee camp in Nairobi where 320 non-Kenyans are housed.
IPS: Why did you run away from Ethiopia?
It was politics. Again I am here because of politics. I left home on May 27, 2005. Five years earlier, the government of Ethiopia had arrested my husband accusing him of being a sympathizer of OLF. My husband was a driver of district commissioner. Before his arrest, we led a good life. We had public transport vehicles and a wholesale shop, which I managed. Since we lived at the Kenya-Ethiopia border, our children studied in Kenya.
When my husband was arrested things turned for the worse for my family. I was harassed by the police who picked me up twice and locked me in the police cells saying I was managing the network that funded the OLF cause -- that I had continued my husband's work.
This was a false accusation. Each time I was arrested, I spent quite some time in the cells this adversely affected my business. I was tortured and even raped The last time I got out of the cells I resolved to run away for my safety and that of my children. The arrests had traumatized us -- for five years I wasn't allowed to see my husband.
So that morning as I prepared my children for school, I stuffed some few clothes into their school bags, whispered to my eldest child -- then aged 13 - - about my intent and, about an hour later, I crossed the border as if I was going to buy something from the Kenyan side, that is how I escaped.
You ran to Kenya for safety, but you are on the run once again, what goes on in your mind about what is happening?
At Huruma we were staying well. My neighbours although coming from different communities were friendly and we lived peacefully. Then on Dec. 29 there was tension in Huruma as people waited for the presidential results to be announced. My good neighbours -- my house was between them -- were not looking at each other any more.
I was scared, so I went with my children to spend the night at the mosque. When we came back the following day, our home was no more. The neighbours had set each other's houses on fire and mine went up in flames along with theirs.
My hope is that there will be peace so that I go back to Huruma. What is happening now is however disheartening [gunshots could be heard in the distance].
When we came to the camp here, my son asked, "Mum, were we meant to suffer all our lives? Perhaps we should just go to Ethiopia and die."
I want to be strong to be there for my children. If it means breaking stones to make pebbles for sale, then I want to do that for my family's upkeep. I want to live another day in peace. I want to believe this will happen very soon.
Are you safe here?
So far -- in the last three weeks we have been here -- it has been okay. But there are always fears for the worst. In wartime, there is lawlessness and we can be adversely affected even within the camp. I want my children to be in my sight all the time. My son -- now aged 15 -- has been ensuring his siblings are safe. Rape and other crimes can happen in a camp. I fear the former and I want my children to be safe from such heinous crimes.
There is one evening when some youths from the Kikuyu community came with various crude weapons -- sharp pangas, wood planks, metal bars -- and forced us to join them in attacking Luo youths who were supposedly forcing their way into the camp to kill us. But there was nothing like that and when we came back to our sleeping places at the camp we found our clothes, utensils and other few possessions had been stolen.
We are 210 Ethiopians in this camp and we are generally safe and the International Red Cross and the National Alliance of Churches [a Nairobi- based NGO] are assisting us with food and other basic needs. Although thankful for this, sometimes the food is not enough, and it is served late when children are really hungry and sleepy. When you are in your own home, your territory, you know when and how much food to give to your children.
What's next? The U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has told us that we are going to Kakuma [a refugee camp in northern Kenya] as soon as the roads are safe. I am apprehensive about Kakuma. I have heard bad things happen to people there. I don't want my children or myself to risk rape. With HIV and AIDS now, rape spells doom.
Is there anything amid this situation you find positive?
No. Nothing. Actually, yes, at least I am alive and I have all my children - - I haven't lost any. The best thing is that my family is alive and intact. My son, although he misses school and his friends, says at least at the camp he doesn't have to worry about being attacked or losing his books. He lost everything in the fire. Even the sound of gunshots [heard again in the near distance] does not startle us any more. We are used to the sound both day and night.
With 3000 years of war, death, destruction, genocide and holocaust in their back yard, the self serving European (Western) marauding bounty hunters has never been interested in the well being of humanity and the least of Africans. Though shedding crocodile tears in the name of God (Christianity), human and civil rights or democracy, through out centuries of human history, the West's vested interest has been proven to be & still remains, enslaving Africans & looting Africa, directly or indirectly. Therefore, hiring, cuddling, certifying & rewarding a few slave-driver African foot-soldieries like Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi is part of the centuries old Western (European) mission of forming marriage of convenience and unholy alliance in the service of the usual bounty hunters, Westerners, at the expense of Africa and millions of African victims. Tom Porteous's article serves one of those Westerner's approval seal of Meles Zenawi's great services to the West at the expense of millions of defenseless African lives. Thank you for exposing your true colors. Gerrie Lijam