An anonymous email from a senior security official sent to the European Union Ambassador Eric Van der Linden, based in Nairobi, Kenya, illustrates the need for a sober and honest analysis of the facts relating to the US-backed Ethiopian invasion and subsequent occupation of Somalia, which have been deliberately and maliciously obfuscated by the deceptive mercenary minority regime in Ethiopia led by Meles Zenawi, and the self serving puppet “Transitional National Government of Somalia” led by Abdullahi Yusuf and Ali Mohammed Ghedi. Here is what the senior security official wrote in the email sent to the EU Ambassador in Kenya:
“…I need to advise you that there are strong grounds to believe that the Ethiopian government and the transitional federal government of Somalia and the African Union (peacekeeping) Force Commander, possibly also including the African Union Head of Mission and other African Union officials have through commission or omission violated the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court…In regard to the above mentioned potential violations of international law there arise urgent questions of responsibility and potential complicity in the commission of war crimes by the European Commission and its partners…”
The official is right in bringing to the attention of the EU Ambassador the numerous violations of international laws of war by the Ethiopian and TNG forces in Somalia. Those of us who have been watching development in Somalia have also warned of Meles Zenawi’s minority regime in Ethiopia, its incurable inferiority complex, its abhorrence of international law and propensity for wanton destruction and violence as early as January 2007. This author had warned in January of 2007 (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp? articleID=18949) of Ethiopia’s violations of the Geneva Conventions and is not surprised by the e-mail’s contents. It is about time someone paid attention to the crimes being committed in Somalia to “prop up” the illegitimate “TNG” and in the “global war on terror”.
The US-backed Ethiopian war of aggression and invasion of Somalia in December 2006 in violation of the African Union and UN Charters, in violation of Security Council resolutions 1724, 1725 and 1744, using false pretexts, “to defend Ethiopia’s sovereignty”, and “hunt down extremists, jihadists, and terrorists”, has caused the deaths of hundreds, damage to schools, private and public properties and other vital infrastructures. The facts on the ground attest to a fast deteriorating situation and a genocide in the making:
-On 10 April 2007 AFP reported, “At least 1 086 people were killed in four days of recent heavy clashes between Ethiopian forces and Islamist fighters backed by clan militia in Mogadishu, elders from the Hawiye clan said on Tuesday…. The fighting, which erupted late last month when Ethiopian forces launched a bloody crackdown on suspected insurgents in the Somali capital, also left 4 334 people wounded, Hussein Aden Korgab, the Hawiye clan spokesperson.”
-The Somalia bureau of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported "indiscriminate heavy artillery and mortar shells rained down on the city, hitting residential areas and resulting in a large but as of yet unresolved number of deaths and casualties." The OCHA statement also said, "A hospital accommodating wounded and sick was reportedly hit on 30 March, killing one person and injuring others, while other health facilities are saturated with patients. Trapped by the fighting, many wounded are unable to access medical facilities and lie unattended in the streets."
-On 5 April 2007 Jeffrey Gettleman reported that Ethiopian soldiers responded by "blasting the entire neighbourhood” when insurgents in Mogadishu’s main stadium surrounded them.
-The Somali Diaspora Network accused the transitional government and Ethiopian forces of "collective punishment" and genocide.
-Abdullahi Yusuf manifesting his disregard for the lives of the innocent civilians in Mogadishu warned in a recent radio interview "any place from which a bullet is fired we will bombard it, regardless of whoever is there."
-“…Ethiopian troops using tanks are in fierce face-to-face fighting with hundreds of Somali gunmen since dawn…Residents are fleeing in all directions to escape the shelling…”-IOL, 30 March 2007
-Ethiopian and TNG forces intentionally directed attacks against civilians and ordered the displacement of thousands of Mogadishu’s residents.
-In January 2007 AP reported that “helicopter gunship attacked suspected al-Qaida fighters in the south in an assault killing 31 civilians…The U.S. military official said the strike was probably carried out by Ethiopia since the aircraft were identified as Russian-made Hind helicopter gunship of the type used by the Ethiopian military
-Abdirahman Dinari, the interim government spokesperson admitting the indiscriminate nature of the bombing raids boasting of victory told AFP, “So many dead people were lying in the area. We do not know who is who, but the raid was a success…”
Today, we now know that over 124,000 Somalis have fled Mogadishu since January 2007 and there are fears that the fighting will resume, and bring more deaths and destruction to this war torn nation. The wanton destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and vital infrastructure is in violation of the Nuremberg Principles VI which says:
“…The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law: wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or destruction not justified by military necessity…”
Also, premeditated use of weapons (tanks, helicopter gun ships, C130 airplanes etc. etc.) known to cause unnecessary and indiscriminate deaths, destructions and sufferings are all a violation of the Geneva Conventions, Part IV, Article 48 which clearly says combatants:
“…shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and, accordingly, shall direct their operations only against military objectives…”
Under the Geneva Conventions, it is a war crime to launch indiscriminate attacks affecting the civilian population or civilian objects in the knowledge that such attacks will cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians, or damage to civilian objects. Abdulahi Yusuf and his cohorts are committing crimes of calculation in Somalia and must be held accountable. There is absolutely no justification for using excessive firepower in residential neighbourhoods and the “TNG” has the responsibility to protect, not to kill.
There were numerous reports of dead bodies littering the streets of Mogadishu for days. Not only is it a health hazard for the residents of Mogadishu, and the violation of their religious and human rights, it is a violation of the Geneva Conventions which not only prohibits desecration of the dead, but require the belligerents “to search for the dead and prevent them from being despoiled.” The Ethiopian forces and the “TNG” as well as the African Union forces, failed to do that in Somalia.
The European Union is responding by calling for an investigation. There is no need to conduct an investigation. First of all, in the past, the US State Department and the Tony Blair regime have knowingly shielded the minority regime in Ethiopia as it committed genocides in the Gambela region of Ethiopia and will do the same today and prevent the international community from bringing it to justice for its crimes in Somalia, an aggressive war or invasion and occupation backed, planned and executed by the US itself. Secondly, the European Union has admitted that it has no mechanism for investigating and prosecuting war crimes in Somalia, and that the International Criminal Court is the entity that can do so. This case, with undeniable and overwhelming prima facie evidence, should be sent to the ICC for prosecution.
Considering Meles Zenawi’s belief that “might makes right”, and his recorded genocide against his own people in Gambela, and the numerous violations of international law that he has committed and continues to commit, there is no doubt that he is has committed heinous international crimes in Somalia. He is a habitual offender. For the record, allow me to present some of the minority regime’s past crimes against humanity:
-Exposing his bigotry and racist attitude, the Tigrayan Prime Minister in July 1998, at the height of the Eritrea Ethiopia border conflict ordered the massive and inhumane deportations of over 80,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin from Ethiopia, by saying, “The Ethiopian government has the unrestricted right to expel any foreigner from the country for any reason whatsoever. Any foreigner, whether Eritrean, Japanese, etc., lives in Ethiopia because of the goodwill of the government. If the Ethiopian government says ‘Go, because we don't like the color of your eyes,' they have to leave.” The African Union, US and European Addis based “diplomats”, “political analysts”, “experts” etc. remained silent as thousands of sick, old, young, men, women and children, religious leaders, etc. were forced to cross through mine-infested borders because Meles Zenawi did not like the “color of their eyes”.
-Meles Zenawi's security and military apparatus massacred 44 University students in cold blood in Addis Ababa in 2001.
-On May 2002, Meles Zenawi's forces massacred over 100 people in Awassa, his forces committed illegal acts against innocent citizens who were demonstrating against a change in the administrative status of Awassa. Security agents used machine guns mounted on armored vehicles to fire into a group of unarmed peasants, workers, women and children. Twelve of those killed were children.
-Dubbed “Operation Sunny Mountain” by Meles Zenawi and his minority regime, plans to procure Annuak territory, a zone coveted by corporate interests for its oil and gold, were laid out at a top-level cabinet meeting in Addis Ababa led by Meles Zenawi on September 2003. At that meeting, “the militant ethnic cleansing of the Anuaks” was openly discussed and a coordinated military operation to systematically eliminate Anuaks began on 13 December 2003. The minority regime in Ethiopia willfully burned villages, massacred hundreds of Anuaks and Nuers and caused over 15,000 inhabitants of Gambela to flee to neighboring Sudan and Kenya.
-Meles Zenawi’s minority regime rigged the May 2005 Elections and stole the people’s votes that ignited the nationwide protests. Having declared a “State of Emergency” on 16 May 2005, and after taking full command of the police, security and army apparatus, the genocidal regime continues to detain all the opposition leaders, journalists, civil society leaders and opposition supporters on trumped up charges of treason and inciting violence, and detained over 40,000 Ethiopians all over the country while its military and security forces have massacred over 200 people since the elections.
-The minority regime in Ethiopia has harassed and intimidated the Ethiopian Inquiry Commission and prevented it from presenting its Report to the Ethiopian Parliament. The Chairman and other members of the Commission mandated to investigate the post election violence in Ethiopia, have been forced into exile.
The mercenary minority regime in Ethiopia, emboldened by the diplomatic, financial, military and political shield provided by his US sponsors, has terrorized the people of Ethiopia and Somalia and has wrecked havoc in the lives of millions. His warmongering agendas threaten to destabilize the entire Horn region and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation.
The Security Council must act to stop the massacres in Somalia. It cannot remain impotent as innocent civilians are slaughtered as the US and Ethiopia pursue phantom “terrorists”, “extremists” etc. etc. The Security Council’s credibility and integrity have been greatly undermined by the United States and its so called allies in the “global war on terror”, who are themselves terrorizing innocent civilian populations, committing gross human rights violations, and engaging in religious and ethnic cleansing. The carnage in Somalia must stop. What is needed is not an investigation but swift appropriate actions to prevent further deaths.
1)-The international community must strongly condemn the Ethiopian regime and the illegitimate puppet “Transitional National Government of Somalia” for committing war crimes.
2)-The United States and the European Union should stop financing the mercenary terrorist regimes in Ethiopia and Somalia immediately. The United States is a major financial supporter of the Somali government and the peacekeepers, pledging more than $120 million since the US-backed Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia. The United States and the European Union must also stop all military support-given under the auspices of the “war on terror”- for the minority regime in Ethiopia and the “TNG” in Somalia.
3)-The United States should stop enabling and covering up for Ethiopia’s violations of international laws and its continued violations of the Arms Embargo on Somalia and North Korea.
4)-The Security Council must call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somalia
5)-All concerned individuals and groups should draw the attention to the gravity and seriousness of this heinous crime and call for immediate action of their governments and representatives before it is too late, and the religious and ethnic cleansing in Somalia get worse.
The senior security official who sent the email must be commended for bringing international attention to Meles Zenawi’s war crimes in Somalia.
The minority regime in Ethiopia and the illegitimate puppet “TNG” led by Abdulahi Yusuf and Ali Mohammed Ghedi are not supporting the war on terror; they are themselves terrorists, who are committing genocide and ethnic cleansing and untold war crimes in Somalia. The US and European leaders who insist on providing Meles Zenawi with the means to perpetrate human rights violations against his own people and now the people of Somalia, are equally responsible for the deaths and destructions his apartheid regime is causing.
The rule of law must prevail over the law of the jungle!
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