It appears now after the conclusion of the sham Zimbabwean presidential "election" on Monday, March 11, former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Hailemariam is secure for at least another six years with Zimbabwe under the prolonged and disastrous rule of the
autocratic President Robert Mugabe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1870000/1870229.stm

As you all recall, Mengistu fled Ethiopia in May of 1991, four days before the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took Addis Ababa. Mengistu was given asylum in Zimbabwe by Robert
Mugabe ostensibly because Mengistu supported the Zimbabwean people's war of liberation against white minority rule in the 1970's. It was revealed in 1999
that the U.S. facilitated the escape of Mengistu from Ethiopia purportedly to "end the civil war and bring peace to Ethiopia:"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_575000/575405.stm

After nearly 11 years since Mengistu fled Ethiopia, it doesn't seem like we are any closer to bringing to justice this war criminal responsible for the murder
of 200,000 Ethiopians not to mention the 1 million Ethiopian deaths that resulted from his cruel use famine as a weapon of war and his brutal resettlement
policies.

The current Ethiopian government has apparently not been assertive enough in calling for Mengistu's extradition to Ethiopia so therefore the Mugabe regime
has not felt compelled to hand him over to stand trial for crimes against humanity and genocide.

So I ask you now, what is it that we as Ethiopians can do to pressure the UN, the Ethiopian, Zimbabwean, and U.S. governments to bring this savage barbarian to justice before he lives out what remains of his natural life in the splendor of his mansion in Harare?

I feel that it's unfortunate that the world and even some Ethiopians have allowed to fade from their memory the sheer horrific magnitude of Mengistu's atrocious
crimes against the Ethiopian people. Men, women, and children strangled with piano wire, ran over by tanks, rained down on with cluster bombs and napalm, thrown
from cliffs, shot, maimed by landmines and rocket attacks, raped, tortured, and mutilated. Red Terror (Qey Shibir) is our Holocaust and we can not let it stand.

I want to leave you all with a radio interview Mengistu gave the BBC in 1999 after he returned to Zimbabwe after receiving medical treatment in South
Africa. The self-delusion, arrogance, and lies displayed by Mengistu during the interview are utterly appalling. This man has absolutely no remorse for the
near extinction of the Ethiopian state and the immense human suffering of the Ethiopian people that resulted from 17 dark years of his scorched earth rule and his state-sponsored genocidal policies:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/555000/audio/_555304_mengistu.ram


[ This Message was edited by: bereketb on 2002-03-13 12:35 ]

You know what, insteading of channeling our energy in extraditing mengistu and his like, i think we should look at what is infront of us---the burning issues that are destroying our brother and sisters in ethiopia; AIDS, poverty, unemploment, lack of functional health and educational syster.

In that case, we should also think about how we need to overthrow and punish Meles because he has committed equally crass autrocities...

The lame excuse "why don't we focus our energy on ______ instead of wasting our time with ______" has no merit.

Here's a novel idea: why don't we do BOTH?

[ This Message was edited by: bereketb on 2002-03-13 15:25 ]

I personally agree with the anonymous poster. I don't think we should continue living in the past. Bringing Mengistu to justice should not be a top priority considering that we have zillions of other problems that need to be addressed right away.

[ This Message was edited by: Kuchu on 2002-03-13 20:10 ]

Kuchu,

That is exactly the kind of line of "reasoning" that makes it a near certainty that Mengistu will never be brought to justice. If Ethiopians don't think it is a "priority" why should anyone else give a damn? Is it impossible to work for Mengistu's extradition while also addressing the problems the nation faces?

c.1945:
"Hey, Jew, come on now, get over the whole Nazi holocaust thing. It's in the past. Do we really need to hunt down all those criminals and bring them to trial at Nuremberg?"

I know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, Kuchu, but I really couldn't resist on that one ...

I think we should count our losses and move on! I am sure Mengistu is paying in full for what he did ie. the ulcer and the nightmare but we as ethiopians should definetly move on....

NO point in licking our wounds and harboring bitterness about the past! As the preacher says,'u got to let go of the past to embrace the future"

so homy---let it go man!!!!!!!

[ This Message was edited by: radical on 2002-03-14 07:31 ]

radical,

Ohhhhh poor poor Mengistu with his stomach ulcers and nightmares. Sorry, but I will save my tears for the hundreds of thousands of families who had their brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers brutally murdered and another million starved to death at the orders of this cold-blooded thug.

As for your suggestion that we "count our losses and move on," that is totally absurd. Did the Israelis "move on" with the Nazis? Did Chileans "move on" with Pinochet? Did the UN move on with Milosevic? Did the US "move on" with Ira Einhorn? Did Chadians "move on" with Habre? Did the French "move on" with the Vichy collaborators? All of these goverments and their people, after decades, already did or are STILL working to exradite their fugitives and finally give the families of their victims some justice.

I have to say I am really dissapointed with the responses I have gotten from you all on this issue, even though those are your opinions and I respect your rights to them. As long as people like Mengistu know they can perpetrate genocide and crimes against humanity and get away with it because the world will "move on," we will continue to see war criminals and other such fugitives eluding justice.

On a positive note, the war crime tribunal of Slobodan Milosevic currently taking place at The Hague, Netherlands, MAY just be a wake-up call for all human rights abusing dictatorial regimes throughout the world.

Then again that is Europe where LIFE HAS MEANING and I am talking about Ethiopia where LIFE IS OBVIOUSLY CHEAP so I suppose I shouldn't get my hopes. Pathetic.



[ This Message was edited by: bereketb on 2002-03-14 12:14 ]

Homy,

Seriously, you have some unresolved childhood issues if you are still ranting and raving about menge...let by goners be bygoners. Think about the current government that is dragging the entire country to the gutter--we should do something about that!!!

And i feel like u are showing off betam yeteshemededu politcal class knowledge...so sew enderasu enji endegorebetu ayenorim...so who cares if the french are extraditing their criminals...there problem is not the same as ours. I am sure if they were swamped like us, they might not afford to focus on that....

life aint cheap even in ethiopia...that is why we need to focus on the things that is ravaging the country right NOW!!! we cannot bring back the dead but we sure can help those who are alive....

bereket, i'm all with you man. only sad thing is i don't think i have much faith in the Hague Tribunal ... i mean, technically eko there's still a warrant out for Ariel Sharon for the horrors he committed in Beirut ... technically, sharon is also in bed with bush and blair ... so much for the tribunal and its warrants ... sad ...

-redux

As always, Ethiopians will tend to migrate towards political issues...
...lets also try to widen out the discussion upon the other important topics like the summit, AAU students in Djibouti/Kenya, book reviews ect...we need to talk about more pressing issues that we (ESAI) can actually have some effect on. ESAi is not going to be able to extradite Colonel Mengistu, lets leave that for the government. So lets just keep it real and focus on what ESAi can change. This is what this forum is supposed to be for.

radical,

Actually, I don't have any "unresolved childhood issues" as you suggest. I am conscientious and rationally-thinking human being with a sense of what is just and what isn't. It's unfortunate that you dimiss my concerns as "ranting and raving."

As for the current Ethiopian government, why should they have to worry about respecting human rights and the value of human life? I mean afterall, when they flee into exile as fugitives, you will just "let bygoners be bygoners" and "move on!"

And yes the French are not "swamped" with problems like ours but so what? I don't know why you all think it is impossible to address the problems in our nation while also trying to bring a war criminal to justice. Why does it have to be an "either or" proposition? As if working to bring Mengistu to justice means we have to abandon those problems. Let me ask you something. What do you think the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs are there for? Do you think it is unreasonable for those branches of the Ethiopian government to do their job and work for Mengistu's extradition? Oh and by the way, I mentioned Chad as a nation that is still working to extradite former dictator Hassen Habre, the "African Pinochet." Does Chad not face the same problems that we do (AIDS, war, poverty, etc.)?





[ This Message was edited by: bereketb on 2002-03-14 21:45 ]

Yared,

Actually this forum is for "Current Affairs and Politics" so I think this discussion is relevant to the scope of the forum. As for leaving the Mengistu issue to the government, that is exactly where the problem lies. They aren't doing it. It would be ridiculous to suggest that ESAi could single-handedly bring about the extradtion of Mengistu but ESAi can definitely play its role as enity within the greater body of Ethiopian society as a whole to pressure the UN and the governments of Ethiopia, the U.S. and Zimbabwe to do what is just as was done in the case with Milosevic.

It's really sad to see that the people working the hardest to bring Mengistu to justice are not even Ethiopians (Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International). How is it that they care but Ethiopians don't? Sad.



[ This Message was edited by: bereketb on 2002-03-14 13:03 ]

Fellow Anonymous number 1, actually the American govt. stepped all over the world court when charges were to close to home (when charged with war crimes in South East Asia, Nicaragua contras and numerous other instances), and embraced it when it was convenient for them (Milosevic and so on). They even convinced everybody to omit bombing with airplanes from the Geneva Convention.

One of the biggest masterminds Henry Kissinger, one person probably who can be clearly linked to the torture and death of millions of HUMAN BEINGS all over the world is a free man. And Ariel Sharon is running around not only free but as a prime minister after all the massacres he has participated in, most notable of course the massacre of Sebra and Chatila in Lebanon, where hundreds of totally innocent women and children were slaughtered by mercenaries working under his supervision.

So the question is who judges who.

At least this people have excuse... they are powerful or are protected by the power holders, but us on the other hand, it is apparent from Radical, (rather can I call you Ridicules) it pure apathy. I see Ridicules you did not lose any of your family members to Mengistus murder orchestration nor have them tortured under his ruthless cronies so I suppose you shut your trap because you have no say in this matter. It is incredible how you reduce the suffering of all our fellow Ethiopians to a mere heart burn and nightmare. Just because we have pressing issues we should never forget about the inhumanity Mengistu. The fact that he is walking around freely is an added shame to our pitiful existence.

But one alternative that is viable is a model followed by South Africa is the truth and reconciliation model where the culpable parties admitted to their wrong doing and were forgiven by the same people who were the recipient of their inhumanity. Mengistus thinks he is innocent.


Back to esai … once we build up once and are strong, once we expand, this is one of the things we should undertake… where are all the lawyers!!! Bring some people to Justice… and for the Ariel Sharons and Henry Kissingers of the world, sooner or later, the time will come for justice… even after their death.

Refer:
-To the BBC documentary on the Massacre of Sebra and Chetila… you can find it on the web
-Read the book, “The

Sorry, the book is , “The trial of Henry Kissinger” by Christopher Hutchins