If Kenya’s presidential hopeful Uhuru Kenyatta wins March 4 elections, his first foreign trip along with the vice-president could be to The Hague to face trial for crimes against humanity.
For east Africa’s economic powerhouse, the issue of a looming International Criminal Court (ICC) trial for Kenyatta has sparked fear of economic and diplomatic consequences should he win and fail to comply, analysts warn.
It raises the prospect that Kenya — a regional diplomatic hub, popular tourist destination and with a growing economy buoyed by foreign investment — could follow the path of pariah state Sudan, the only other country to elect a president indicted by the ICC.
The United States’ top diplomat for Africa Johnnie Carson earlier this month warned Kenyans that “choices have consequences”, in an apparent caution over the possible victory of Kenyatta.
“We live in an interconnected world and people should be thoughtful about the impact their choices have,” he said, without naming any names.
The ICC issue “raises enormously the stakes of the presidential contest”, the International Crisis Group think tank warned in a recent report.
Kenyatta and running mate William Ruto — a fellow ICC indictee — “in particular have challenged the ICC proceedings as politically motivated, and used them to rally their respective ethnic communities’ support,” the ICG added.
Their trials for their alleged role in orchestrating post-election violence five years ago in which over 1,100 people died are due to open on April 10 and 11, potentially clashing with a widely expected second round run off vote.
In terms of clear policy, little of real substance divides the top candidates. Kenya’s election races have a long past of ethnic campaigning, as well as violence.
That has made many concerned that voters will use the election as a referendum on the ICC.
“The people of Kenya — and they alone — have the power and the mandate to determine the leadership of this great country,” Kenyatta said after high court judges effectively cleared the way for him to run for office earlier this month.
Civil society groups have sought a ruling as to whether Kenyatta and Ruto should be allowed to stand for office due to the looming ICC trial. The high court finally ruled it lacked jurisdiction to make a decision.
The case illustrated how the ICC has divided domestic opinion: some believing that Kenyans alone should judge Kenyatta through the ballot, others keenly aware of the possible impact on the country should he win.
Richard Dowden, director of Britain’s Royal African Society, has called the ICC issue an “exceedingly dangerous factor supercharging this election”.
“Those indicted may feel they have nothing to lose and their best bet is to get elected by any stratagem available” in the hope of defying the court once in office, Dowden wrote in a recent article.
“A vote in which one candidate has nothing to lose could turn into civil war,” he added, a grim warning many Kenyans might think an exaggeration.
At local levels, the issue of the ICC may be less important, with multiple elections for powerful regional governor positions, members of parliament and local councils potentially having more impact that top level politics.
But Human Rights Watch warns the risk of political violence is “perilously high”.
At least 484 people were killed and over 116,000 fled their homes due to ethnic violence last year, according to the United Nations.
Should Kenyatta win as the latest opinon polls suggest, the country could face the absence of its president and vice-president for several months — if not years — in The Hague.
Kenyatta’s and Ruto’s cases “could be as much of an issue in Kenya’s 2018 general elections as they are proving to be in 2013,” warned Gabrielle Lynch in a recent paper for Britain’s Chatham House.
Even if a victorious Kenyatta cooperates with the ICC — as he has promised — it could be “difficult for many countries to have normal diplomatic relations” while donors might reduce bilateral assistance, the ICG added.
However, diplomats say that legal restrictions only come into play should Kenyatta and Ruto end their cooperation with the court.
The same issues remain even if key rival Raila Odinga wins, should he then decide for political expediency — for example, not wanting to rile the supporters of a defeated Kenyatta — to allow the ICC indictees to avoid trial.
Some speculate Kenyatta may hope that potential sanctions are just rhetoric, since Kenya — currently fighting Al-Qaeda linked Islamists in Somalia — is of strategic economic, security and political interest to the West, Dowden added.
Kenya potentially could rely on other partners, especially China.
“Again and again over the last 50 years Kenyan politicians have been able to defy Western diplomatic pressure knowing Washington and London needs Kenya more than Kenya needs them,” Dowden said.
The Capital city of the self declared independent State of Somaliland has much to be proud of. It is home, by conservative estimates, to more than a million people and it is the national centre of commerce. By simply observing the growing corporate skyline, it is evident that this reputation will only grow. More than any other city in Somaliland, Hargeisa, is a place of great tribal diversity and the unrecognised nation?s political heart.
Since breaking off the unity forged after independence with the South in 1991, Somalilanders, as the nations citizens like to been called, were governed from Hargeisa. The capital of any nation is the focal point for politics, business, trade and individual ambition. Hargeisa is no different. Today like Bombay and London, Hargeisa is a city facing enormous problems that can only be resolved by visionary leadership, political will and national economic redistribution.
The major headaches
Globalisation has led to a larger concentration of people internationally living in cities than ever before. In 2007 the global urban population overtook the rural one and the speed of urbanisation, especially in developing nations, is phenomenal and unsustainable. Much of the reason why so many want to come and live in Hargeisa is because they feel it offers the best hopes for employment in the whole country. All NGOs, businesses and government departments are clustered in specific areas of the capital and as such it is easy to see why people, often with stable lives elsewhere will be attracted to the city. Like most other capital cities too, Hargeisa is seen as a cosmopolitan city of culture and fun. It is less conservative than other major Somaliland cities because of the diversity in its population which is made up of professionals, Diaspora returnees and locals from differing corners of Somalia and Somaliland. There is always something going on every night and a hotel room or restaurant for every budget. However, this warm invitation from a distant is just that.
Hargeisa has high levels of unemployment, crime and the cost of living is going up daily due to lack of government interventions and controls. It has extremely poor infrastructure, limited public services and most services that are provided are done so by Aid agencies and NGOs working in the city. In line with other growing third world cities, Hargeisa has a rapidly expanding population and is home to many refugees fleeing the violence in the South of Somalia, work seekers and settlers from neighbouring nations such as Ethiopia. There is no risk that Hargeisa might ever reach the size of some mega cities such as Karachi, but for its size and current challenges, it may as well be for most inhabitants who compete for meagre available resources such as land.
In many past songs and poems Hargeisa, like many of the beautiful cities of Somalia, was praised for its greenery and cleanliness. It was fertile land for absolutely anything from settlement to planting fruits. However, today with the increasing number of cars on the roads, pollution infects the air. Poor public health and limited sanitation facilities both private and public hamper the city?s residents. Even the basic supply of water in such a scorching country is not possible in most areas without the use of donkeys. Of course, the donkeys, like every other service in the city that is not owned and managed by NGOs is privately provided at a cost which is rising faster than income for those lucky enough to be economically active in any form. Ironically for the majority of its residents, Hargeisa, the city of bright lights and greater opportunities, offers a bleak future.
What?s your price?
Meaningful local leadership can be brought about by better governance and provision of public services facilitated by economic growth which then can be taxed fairly to redistribute and fund essential public services such as sewers and schools. This is how most of the developed world municipalities operate with some assistance from central government. However, in the absence of real funds from government, the only way for Hargeisa city to have the necessary public services is to attract investors. This creates employment, partnerships and a tax nest. All necessary for public service funding. However, what if most of the businesses, except a few, are either not registered or simply operate openly in the black market? This is what happens in most third world countries. Hargeisa has a bustling street market culture and the traders that sell in all corners of the city are the heart of the real economy. As much local taxes can possibly be raised from this group as the larger national corporations such as remittance and telecommunication companies. But how does the city prove their income? Or who do they pay taxes to and for what? Who gets a bite of the cherry first: The national or local government? This is a continuing policy mess that needs to be cleared up before convincing traders of the tax collectors integrity and good intentions to help them through the provision of public services if they are ever to come out of the economic darkness. This enormous economic black hole is not one created by greedy local traders but by confused governance, corruption and poor co-ordination and provision of essential and desperately needed public services.
Who?s Roof?
Housing is in short supply globally. It also costs far too much. Land rights are disputed all over the world today and Somaliland is no different. Nowhere else in Somaliland is gentrifying more quickly than the capital Hargeisa. Simply put, Gentrification is a process whereby one set of people, usually wealthier, move into, renovate and restore housing in inner city areas where poorer people used to live. The American architect and journalist Duany, described gentrification as ?the rising tide that lifts all boats? because of its ability to rebalance ?a concentration of poverty by providing a tax base, rub off work ethic and political effectiveness of a middle class and in the process improve the quality of life for all a community?s residence.? How very hopeful and patronising. In Hargeisa before the current tsunami of gentrification which is largely led by the wealthy and the Diaspora who do not live in their overpriced summer houses, community spirit was strong and income inequalities limited. Now the sense of community has been destroyed by the erections of large villa gates and watchmen as well as larger shopping centres suddenly surfacing to cater for the new remittance rich class. The sense of them and us is now arguably strong where it did not exist before. As for spread of political clout, even if it were possible in a tribal nation, the wealthy have shown a tendency to just represent themselves and exclude others issues. Even more worryingly, undeveloped land banks are everywhere in Hargeisa (jaago) and developers are holding on to these until prices go up at which time they will sell it to the highest bidder. For a country which relies on foreign aid and the UN Habitat to build the few social homes to ever be built, it is difficult to see how a national social housing building programme can be initiated, funded and effectively implemented. However, in the absence of land law, proper planning regulations and the historic ownership of land through tribal heritage, it is impossible to see how the losers of gentrification can be contained when they return to their tribes to ask to get their land back simply because the price the developers paid for it has not allowed them to buy another elsewhere. Whereas in developed nations with the necessary laws and regulations, simple property matters can be resolved in independents courts, in madly gentrifying Hargeisa it may lead to bloodshed in the near future if things are not done about it.
Illegal settlements in Hargeisa have been a major headache for every political administration. They trap inhabitants in poverty, create criminality and contribute to the poor health of the city. There are some slums of hope like in India where there are public services and a thriving regulated economy. But Somaliland?s slums are ones of despair and containing a significant number of the population. They poorly house families, orphans and refugees and are hard to tackle politically as the local authority has nowhere else to accommodate these people. This enormous problem can be attributed to poor planning, land management and the process of gentrification. To tackle this Hargeisa needs revolutionary city leadership.
Follow the leader
The key challenges facing Hargeisa are similar in every major city in the World. In a recent lecture at the University of Bristol?s Centre for Urban Studies, Professor Robin Hambleton, an expert in City leadership, argued that the way to tackle the challenges facing major cities today is to find the leadership that can avoid the disaster scenario which is a divided, unequal city with residents living isolated lives in separate fortified enclaves. City leaders instead need, he went on, to focus on discovering ways in which to nurture, build and sustain a vibrant, multicultural city which generates economic prosperity and a good quality of life for all citizens.
Hargeisa is prosperous but not for the vast majority of people. Yet it still attracts them with the false lure of most capital cities across the world. The new mayor of Hargeisa, Yusuf Warsame Saeed, in a recent interview was confident about the future of his city despite understanding its challenges. This is a good start but what he needs to change on top of the negative public image of his Councillors and office, is the way the city is run. It needs to be transparent, functioning daily and not coming to a halt after lunch and working in the public interest. On a policy level the new Hargeisa city local government needs to lead the way in which things are done locally. They need to be the example for other local authorities. They can only achieve this if they take the initiative and start investigating rent controls, initiating community cohesion strategies and advocating for planning laws which force developers to build a certain percentage of social housing if they are to build in the city. Greater involvement of the public in policy making needs to be made a priority and the fact that other cities such as Borama and Berbera are in competition with the capital cannot be forgotten by carving out niche specialities for their cities. Borama is education and Berbera tourism. Both of these Hargeisa has but because of poor infrastructure, high prices and crippling rising pollution can easily be beaten by both as well as other cities in both Somaliland and Somalia.
Hargeisa Councillors have a thankless task and can be forgiven for feeling frustrated with their roles. It sometimes feels as though, because Hargeisa is home to the national government and the seat of all official political power in Somaliland, locals with connections are able to side step them and directly approach the government Ministers to deal with their issues personally. The obvious visibility of the national government has in the past put Councillors and the Mayor in the political shadow. However, this is dangerous for democracy, economic growth, security and stability. The national government should know its remit and focus on the national issues such as defence and the budget whilst leaving local issues, which often are tribal, to the local elected officials to resolve. Clarity of their powers, roles and support from the centre by refusing to deal with local issues will enhance the governance of the capital.
Somalis in general misunderstand leadership to mean One Man rule. Leadership is the ability to articulate and formulate a vision and use all the legal and necessary resources at ones disposal to achieve it. Yusuf Warsame Saeed needs to work with all stakeholders to co-ordinate and manage the city?s finances as well as extending out to public private partnerships to create employment and raise the capital to develop the needed public services like roads and bin collections. This coupled with transparent and more inclusive governance will win resources and respect for Hargeisa from both the public and private sector.
The population growth, even with good governance and strong partnerships remains an issue. The average size of a Somali family is large by most standards and land is in short supply in the capital. The best way to address this major concern is for central government, to invest in and promote Regional Economic Development. This means giving tax breaks to companies that invest outside of the capital and create employment in other major cities so as to alleviate the population pressure from the capital. The NGOs that have also congregated in Hargeisa ought to be dispersed and government functions and offices shipped out too. Why should a nation be concentrated in one city? This is bad economics, politics and even worse urban planning. However, the dream of Regional Economic Development is currently hampered by poor infrastructure and transport which are two of the key reasons why businesses, NGOs and people huddle together uncomfortably in the capital.
Hargeisa is a city with great potential. It is the capital of a nation seeking recognition from the international community and its economic and political heart. However, with so much hope invested in it by everyone, it could end up letting the nation down. It is too populated, increasingly divided, poorly and confusingly governed as well as expensive. This is not the recipe for city survival and success. Indeed it is the route to fragmentation and eventual self-destruction. Urgent steps need to be taken to prevent this both from the Centre and by Local leadership.
When Erin Burnett of CNN visited Ethiopia in July 2012, she came face-to-face with the ugly face of an African police state:
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…
Last week, reporter Solomon Kifle of the Voice of America (VOA-Amharic) heard the terrifying voice of an African police state from thousands of miles away. The veteran reporter was investigating widespread allegations of targeted night time warrantless searches of homes belonging to Ethiopian Muslims in the capital Addis Ababa. Solomon interviewed victims who effectively alleged home invasion robberies by “federal police” who illegally searched their homes and took away cash, gold jewelry, cell phones, laptops, religious books and other items of personal property.
One of the police officials Solomon interviewed to get reaction and clarification was police chief Zemedkun of Bole (an area close to the international airport in the capital).
VOA: Are you in the area of Bole. The reason I called…
Police Chief Zemedkun: Yes. You are correct.
VOA: There are allegation that homes belonging to Muslim Ethiopians have been targeted for illegal search and seizure. I am calling to get clarification.
Police Chief Zemedkun: Yes (continue).
VOA: Is it true that you are conducting such a search?
Police Chief Zemedkun: No, sir. I don’t know about this. Who told you that?
VOA: Individuals who say they are victims of such searches; Muslims who live in the area.
Police Chief Zemedkun: If they said that, you should ask them.
VOA: I can tell you what they said.
Police Chief Zemedkun: What did they say?
VOA: They said “the search is conducted by police officers; they [the police] threaten us without a court order; they take our property, particularly they focus on taking our Holy Qurans and mobile phones. Such are the allegations and I am calling to get clarification.
Police Chief Zemedkun: Wouldn’t it be better to talk to the people who told you that? I don’t know anything about that.
VOA: I just told you about the allegations the people are making.
Police Chief Zemedkun: Enough! There is nothing I know about this.
VOA: I will mention (to our listeners) what you said Chief Zemedkun. Are you the police chief of the sub-district ( of Bole)?
Police Chief Zemedkun: Yes. I am something like that.
VOA: Chief Zemedkun, may I have your last name?
Police Chief Zemedkun: Excuse me!! I don’t want to talk to anyone on this type of [issue] phone call. I am going to hang up. If you call again, I will come and get you from your address. I want you to know that!! From now on, you should not call this number again. If you do, I will come to wherever you are and arrest you. I mean right now!!
VOA: But I am in Washington (D.C)?
Police Chief Zemedkun: 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!!
VOA: Are you going to come and arrest me?
End of interview.
Meles’ legacy: mini Me-leses, Meles wannabes and a police state
Flying off the handle, exploding in anger and igniting into spontaneous self-combustion is the hallmark of the leaders of the dictatorial regime in Ethiopia. The late Meles Zenawi was the icon of spontaneous self- combustion. Anytime Meles was challenged on facts or policy, he would explode in anger and have a complete meltdown.
Just before Meles jailed virtually the entire opposition leadership, civil society leaders and human rights advocates following the 2005 elections for nearly two years, he did exactly what police chief Zemedkun threatened to do to VOA reporter Solomon. Congressman Christopher Smith, Chairman of the House Africa Subcommitte in 2005 could not believe his ears as Meles’ arrogantly threatened to arrest and jail opposition leaders and let them rot in jail. Smith reported:
Finally, when I asked the Prime Minister to work with the opposition and show respect and tolerance for those with differing views on the challenges facing Ethiopia he said, ‘I have a file on all of them; they are all guilty of treason.’ I was struck by his all-knowing tone. Guilty! They’re all guilty simply because Meles says so? No trial? Not even a Kangaroo court? I urged Prime Minister Meles not to take that route.
In 2010, Meles erupted at a press conference by comparing the Voice of America (Amharic) radio broadcasts to Ethiopia with broadcasts of Radio Mille Collines which directed some of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Pointing an accusatory finger at the VOA, Meles charged: “We have been convinced for many years that in many respects, the VOA Amharic Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda in its wanton disregard of minimum ethics of journalism and engaging in destabilizing propaganda.” (It seems one of Meles’ surviving police chiefs is ready to make good on Meles’ threat by travelling to Washington, D.C. and arresting a VOA reporter.)
Meles routinely called his opponents “dirty”, “mud dwellers”, “pompous egotists” and good-for-nothing “chaff” and “husk.” He took sadistic pleasure in humiliating and demeaning parliamentarians who challenged him with probing questions or merely disagreed with him. His put-downs were so humiliating, few parliamentarians dared to stand up to his bullying.
When the European Union Election Observer Group confronted Meles with the truth about his theft of the May 2010 election by 99.6 percent, Meles had another public meltdown. He condemned the EU Group for preparing a “trash report that deserves to be thrown in the garbage.”
When Ken Ohashi, the former country director for the World Bank debunked Meles’ voodoo economics in July 2011, Meles went ballistic: “The individual [Ohashi) is used to giving directions along his neo-liberal views. The individual was on his way to retirement. He has no accountability in distorting the institutions positions and in settling his accounts. The Ethiopian government has its own view that is different from the individual.” (Meles talking about accountability is like the devil quoting Scripture.)
In a meeting with high level U.S. officials in advance of the May 2010 election, Meles went apoplectic telling the diplomats that “If opposition groups resort to violence in an attempt to discredit the election, we will crush them with our full force; they will all vegetate like Birtukan (Midekssa) in jail forever.”
Meles’ hatred for Birtukan Midekssa (a former judge and the first woman political party leader in Ethiopian history), a woman of extraordinary intelligence and unrivalled courage, was as incomprehensible as it was bottomless. After throwing Birtukan in prison in 2008 without trial or any form of judicial proceeding, Meles added insult to injury by publicly calling her a “chicken”. When asked how Birtukan was doing in prison, Meles, with sarcastic derision replied, “Birtukan Midiksa is fine but she may have gained weight due to lack of exercise.” (When Meles made the statement, Birtukan was actually in solitary confinement in Kality prison on the ridiculous charge that she “had denied receiving a pardon” when she was released in July 2007.) When asked if he might consider releasing her, Meles said emphatically and sadistically, “there will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan. Ever. Full stop. That’s a dead issue.”
Internationally acclaimed journalists Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye are all victims of arbitrary arrests and detentions. So are opposition party leaders and dissidents Andualem Arage, Nathnael Mekonnen, Mitiku Damte, Yeshiwas Yehunalem, Kinfemichael Debebe, Andualem Ayalew, Nathnael Mekonnen, Yohannes Terefe, Zerihun Gebre-Egziabher and many others.
Police chief Zemedkun is a mini-Me-les, a Meles wannabe. He is a mini tin pot tyrant. Like Meles, Zemedkun not only lost his cool but also all commonsense, rationality and proportionality. Like Meles, Zemedkun is filled with hubris (extreme arrogance which causes the person to lose contact with reality and feel invincible, unaccountable and above and beyond the law). Zemedkun, like Meles, is so full of himself that no one dare ask him a question: “I am the omnipotent police chief Zemedkun, the Absolute Master of Bole; the demigod with the power of arrest and detention. I am Police Chief Zemedkun created in the divine likeness of Meles Zenawi!”
What a crock of …!
When Meles massacred 193 unarmed protesters and wounded 763 others following the elections in 2005, he set the standard for official accountability, which happens to be lower than a snake’s knee. For over two decades, Meles created and nurtured a pervasive and ubiquitous culture of official impunity, criminality, untouchability, unaccountablity, brutality, incivility, illegality and immorality in Ethiopia.
The frightening fact of the matter is that today there are tens of thousands of mini-Me-leses and Meles wannabes in Ethiopia. What police chief Zemedkun did during the VOA interview is a simple case of monkey see, monkey do. Zemedkun could confidently threaten VOA reporter Solomon because he has seen Meles and his disciples do the same thing for over two decades with impunity. Zemedkun is not alone in trashing the human rights of Ethiopian citizens. He is not some rogue or witless policeman doing his thing on the fringe. Zemedkun is merely one clone of his Master. There are more wicked and depraved versions of Zemedkun masquerading as ministers of state. There are thousands of faceless and nameless “Zemedkunesque” bureaucrats, generals, judges and prosecutors abusing their powers with impunity. There are even soulless and heartless Zemedkuns pretending to be “holy men” of faith. But they are all petty tyrants who believe that they are not only above the law, but also that they are the personification of the law.
Article 12 and constitutional accountability
Article 12 of the Ethiopian Constitution requires accountability of all public officials: “The activities of government shall be undertaken in a manner which is open and transparent to the public… Any public official or elected representative shall be made accountable for breach of his official duties.”
Meles when he was alive, and his surviving disciples, police chiefs, generals and bureaucrats today are in a state of willful denial of the fact of constitutional accountability. (Meles believed accountability applied only to Ken Ohashi, the former World Bank country director.) The doltish police chief Zemedkun is clueless not only about constitutional standards of accountability for police search and seizure in private homes but also his affirmative constitutional obligation to perform his duties with transparency. This ignoramus-cum-police chief believes he is the Constitution, the law of the land, at least of Bole’s. He has the gall to verbally terrorize the VOA reporter, “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!!”
Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, unbeknown to police chief Zemedkun, is guaranteed by Article 17 (Liberty) of the Ethiopian Constitution: “No one shall be deprived of his liberty except in accordance with such procedures as are laid down by law. No one shall be arrested or detained without being charged or convicted of a crime except in accordance with such procedures as are laid down by law.” Article 19 (Rights of Persons under Arrest) provides, “Anyone arrested on criminal charges shall have the right to be informed promptly and in detail… the nature and cause of the charge against him… Everyone shall have the right to be… specifically informed that there is sufficient cause for his arrest as soon as he appears in court. Zemedkun is ready to arrest the VOA reporter simply because the reporter asked him for his last name. What arrogance! What chutzpah!
It is a mystery to police chief Zemedkun that arbitrary deprivation of liberty is also a crime against humanity. Article 9 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights decrees that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights similarly provides: “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” The deprivation of physical liberty (arbitrary arrest) constitutes a crime against humanity under Art. 7 (e) and (g) of the Rome Statute if there is evidence to show that the deprivation occurred as a result of systematic attack on a civilian population and in violation of international fair trial guarantees. The statements of the victims interviewed by VOA reporter Solomon appear to provide prima facie evidence sufficient to trigger an Article 7 investigation since there appears to be an official policy of systematic targeting of Muslims for arbitrary arrest and detention as part of a widespread campaign of religious persecution. The new prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Fatou B. Bensouda, should launch such an investigation in proprio motu (on her own motion).
Meles has left an Orwellian legacy in Ethiopia. Police chief Zemedkun is only one policeman in a vast police state. He reaffirms the daily fact of life for the vast majority of Ethiopians that anyone who opposes, criticizes or disagrees with members of the post-Meles officialdom, however low or petty, will be picked up and jailed, and even tortured and killed. In “Mel-welliana” (the Orwellian police state legacy of Meles) Ethiopia, asking the name of a public official is a crime subject to immediate arrest and detention! In “Mel-welliana”, thinking is a crime. Dissent is a crime. Speaking the truth is a crime. Having a conscience is a crime. Peaceful protest is a crime. Refusing to sell out one’s soul is a crime. Standing up for democracy and human rights is a crime. Defending the rule of law is a crime. Peaceful resistance of state terrorism is a crime.
A police chief, a police thug and a police thug state
It seems police chief Zemedkun is more of a police thug than a police chief. But listening to Zemedkun go into full meltdown mode, one cannot help but imagine him to be a cartoonish thug. As comical as it may sound, police chief Zemedkun reminded me of Yosemite Sam, that Looney Tunes cartoon character known for his grouchiness, hair-trigger temper and readiness to “blast anyone to smithereens”. The not-so-comical part of this farce is that police chief Zemedkun manifests no professionalism, civility or ethical awareness. He is obviously clueless about media decorum. Listening to him, it is apparent that Zemedkun has the personality of a porcupine, the temper of a Tasmanian Devil, the charm of an African badger, the intelligence of an Afghan Hound and the social graces of a dung beetle. But the rest of the high and mighty flouting the Constitution and abusing their powers like Zemedkun are no different.
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.
For well over a decade, international human rights organizations and others have been reporting on large scale arbitrary arrests and detentions in Ethiopia. The 2011 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (issued on May 24, 2012) reported:
Although the constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, the government often ignored these provisions in practice… The government rarely publicly disclosed the results of investigations into abuses by local security forces, such as arbitrary detention and beatings of civilians… Authorities regularly detained persons without warrants and denied access to counsel and in some cases to family members, particularly in outlying regions… Other human rights problems included torture, beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees by security forces; harsh and at times life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; detention without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights, including illegal searches…
In its 2013 World Report, Human Rights Watch reported: “Ethiopian authorities continued to severely restrict basic rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly in 2012… The security forces responded to protests by the Muslim community in Oromia and Addis Ababa, the capital, with arbitrary arrests, detentions, and beatings.”
Rarely does one hear human rights abusers publicly showing their true faces and confirming their victims’ allegations in such breathtakingly dramatic form. Police chief Zemedkun gave all Ethiopians a glimpse of the arrogant and lawless officialdom of Post-Meles Ethiopia. It is a glimpse of a police state in which an ignorant local police chief could feel so comfortable in his abuse of power that he believes he can travel to the United States of America and arrest and detain a journalist working for an independent agency of the United States Government. If this ill-mannered, ill-bred, cantankerous and boorish policeman could speak and act with such impunity, is it that difficult to imagine how the ministers, generals, prosecutors, judges and bureaucrats higher up the food chain feel about their abuses of power?
But one has to listen to and read the words of those whose heads are being crushed by the police in a police state. When it comes to crushing heads, themodus operandi is always the same. Use “robocops”. In 2005, Meles brought in hundreds of police and security men from different parts of the country who have limited proficiency in the country’s official language and used them to massacre 193 unarmed protesters and wound another 763. These “robocops” are pre-programmed killing machines, arresting machines and torture machines. They do what they are told. They ask no questions. They shoot and ask questions later. Hadid Shafi Ousman, a victim of illegal search and seizure, who spoke to VOA reporter Solomon, recounted in chilling detail what it meant to have one’s home searched by “robocop” thugs and goons who do not speak or have extremely limited understanding the official language of the country:
These are federal police. There are also civilian cadres. Sometimes they come in groups of 5-10. They are dressed in federal police uniform…. They are armed and carry clubs. They don’t have court orders. There are instances where they jump over fences and bust down doors… When they come, people are terrified. They come at night. You can’t say anything. They take mobile phones, laptops, the Koran and other things… They cover their faces so they can’t be identified. We try to explain to them. Isn’t this our country? If you are here to take anything, go ahead and take it…. They beat you up with clubs. If you ask questions, they beat you up and call you terrorists… First of all, these policemen do not speak Amharic well. So it is hard to understand them. When you ask them what we did wrong, they threaten to beat us. I told them I am a university student, so what is the problem? As a citizen, as a human being…Even they struggled and paid high sacrifices [fighting in the bush] to bring about good governance [to the people]. They did not do it so that some petty official could harass the people. When you say this to them, they beat you up…
Let there be no mistake. Zemedkun is not some isolated freakish rogue police chief in the Ethiopian police state. He is the gold standard for post-Meles governance. There are thousands of Zemedkuns that have infested the state apparatus and metastasized through the body politics of that country. For these Meles wannabes, constitutional accountability means personal impunity; illegal official activity means prosecutorial immunity; moral depravity means moral probity and crimes against humanity means legal impunity.
Cry, the beloved country
In 1948, the same year Apartheid became law in South Africa, Alan Paton wrote in “Cry, the Beloved Country”, his feeling of despair over the fate of South Africa:
Cry for the broken tribe, for the law and the custom that is gone. Aye, and cry aloud for the man who is dead, for the woman and children bereaved. Cry, the beloved country, these things are not yet at an end. The sun pours down on the earth, on the lovely land that man cannot enjoy. He knows only the fear of his heart.”
Cry for our beloved Ethiopia!!
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/
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
Minister of Liivestock Hon. Dr. Abdi Aw Dahir has refuted reports carried in local newspapers that the management of privately owned Al Jaaberi livestock holding pens is planning to relocate to neighboring Somalia.
Dr. Abdi Aw Dahir speaking during a press conference held in his office yesterday said “Business is as usual at the privately owned Al Jaaberi livestock holding grounds which is situated in the port city of Berbera”.
“Both two livestock quarantines are operating normally and I can assure that neither of them plans to relocate simply because they have everything to gain and nothing to lose, a fact proven by the recent Hajj Pilgrim in which more than 1,200,000 herd of livestock was shipped to Saudi Arabia”< stated Dr. Abdi Aw Dahir.
The Livestock minister also revealed plans to export meat slaughtered in the country to Asian regions in the near future.
“Demand for meat is on the rise and new markets are opening up in successful Asia economies and we (Government) are determined to explore this markets so as find alternatives to the traditional Saudi Arabia market which has in the past been the main destination”.
The security personnel sent to comb the city in a night of security operation had all the moral and justified rights to go on about their duties.
This is because when it comes to the securities of a people, an area or a state, the government of the day has to, on an express card, call the day.
This is the basic, fundamental and primary incumbency of the administration of the day.
In other words, the government reins supreme in all matters of security, whether breaches are from within or without.
This guardianship role has to, without question fall on a government’s lap -primarily- for, or on, behalf of her subjects.
The subjects for that matter read -the people- ought to play as secondary vigilantes.
Together, or both, therefore makes a fortification that enables the security of an area, zone or location, be watertight.
We today emphasize this because it is rather important to sway voices of discord seen last week when a short spate of security check was done blanketly overnight.
In the same breath we take to dissuade media fraternity who abetted in the misinformation to a similar repeat.
The servicemen have to deal with tentative security management while on patrol just as when they have to or are dealing with pre-ordained tasks on security risks. Ensuing cases are handled as they unfold.
Whatever the case we ought to have been on our toes all along, before, just as we have to be vigil now and in the future.
When such operations are done, members of the public also ought to know the significance hence dutifully have to duly support all through.
It is not only sad but quite disgusting when there abounds distorted information which are tailored towards either belittling, demeaning damaging or vilifying the actual noble act of combing the towns off security breaches.
To see allegations that falsely claim that security personnel plucked off patrons from a given inn which never happened is breach of peace in itself.
Anyhow we acknowledge the fact that the majority of the populace saw, felt and basked in noble faith of their security services, something which speaks a lot in as far as trust in their country is concerned.
As concerns one or two cases of assumed heavy-handedness on the part of expediency, the impact seems negligible as far as the general overview is concerned. However, even for the couple of presumed arbitrary specks of tinges in security management, whatever resultant blots have a set of regulatory addressing to be adhered in thrashing out any discrepancies.
In any case we support security operations regularly done as necessity applies hence decry the tendency of the few who are bent on creating mountains out of mole hills.
More than 11 people were killed in clashes between rival pro-government clan-based militias in the southern Somalia port of Kismayo on Saturday, witnesses said.
Report indicate that a fierce Firefight broke took place in the center of Kismayo between two rival pro government militia with the heaviest fighting taking place in the suburbs of Calanleey, Farjano and Fanoole ,although it is hard to verify the scope of the damage ,unconfirmed sources say both sides have incurred heavy losses .
The rival sides exchanged fire heavy arms including mortars and artillery last several hours today,said witnesses .
“We saw at least 11 people, among them two senior KMG officers but most were rival fighters, killed in these battles, “unnamed Kismayo residents.
Kenyan army assisted by AMISOM later intervened by persuading both sides to cease fire and lay down their firearms.
The fighting in Kismayo comes as talks to form a regional administration in Jubbaland were about to begin today.
Somali Prime Minister Abdi Said Shirdon called on the two clans to lay down their armsand sovle their differences in a civilized manner.
Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Hon Abdillahi Jama Osman (Geeljire) has announced that a French University which teaches Marine Science and Technology will in the near future begin to make provisions for advisory and research services with Berbera Maritime and Fisheries Academy.
Hon Abdillahi Jama Osman (Geeljire) who is currently in the UK, said Somaliland will benefit from lately forged partnership with EU countries during the recently held Paris conference on Maritime and piracy issues affecting the Navies of EU countries of which Somaliland was among the few countries invited.
“During the conference, I had the opportunity to meet with the head of East African Desk for maritime affairs and development and also the head of anti-piracy department in the French navy of which we discussed many issues which the French will assist Somaliland e.g. the French government can provide logistical support and steps to tackle piracy since the sea carnage has proven to be a a threat to international maritime security”, said Hon Geeljire.
Hon Geeljire stated “Somaliland is a country of agro-pastoralists with a strong nomadic tradition and there is a huge potential for the consumption and export of fish and our friends (French) are ready to provide assistance and to develop this crucial sector”.
According to the minister, i n addition to these pledges by the French government, Berbera Maritime and Fisheries Academy will in the near future be the working together with a renowned French university which provides a single base for all education, innovation and research related to the sea and will also provide a friendly and flourishing research culture.
DJIBOUTI (Reuters) – Djibouti’s ruling coalition declared victory on Saturday in the Red Sea state’s parliamentary election, but the opposition rejected the vote as flawed and said it planned demonstrations to protest against the outcome.
The disputed result raises the possibility of instability in Djibouti, which hosts the United States’ only military base in Africa and is an ally in the West’s fight against militant Islam.
Interior Minister Hassan Darar Houffaneh said provisional results showed that President Ismail Omar Guelleh’s Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP) had won 49 out of 65 seats in Friday’s election.
A spokesman for the Union of National Salvation (USN) opposition alliance said the vote was rigged. He said results were announced too quickly and there were incidences of ballot-stuffing and double voting.
“It is a joke that does not match the reality of what took place in the capital and in the regions of the interior,” Daher Ahmed Farah said.
“That the results were announced at 5.00 am when the polls closed at 7.00 pm is quite significant. The regime has cooked it and the Djiboutian population will take note.”
The ruling coalition leaders of UMP were unreachable for comment.
Farah said opposition politicians had called for protests over the vote. There was a heavy police presence in Djibouti city in a district where protesters were likely to converge.
In power since 1999, Guelleh has effectively controlled a one-party state for his last 10 years in the former French colony, whose port is used by foreign navies patrolling busy shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy.
Chaotic Somalia, a haven for al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist rebels, is among its neighbours.
Friday’s election was the first contested parliamentary vote since 2003 when Guelleh’s party swept all 65 seats in a poll marred by allegations of fraud.
The opposition boycotted a parliamentary election in 2008 and then refused to field a candidate in the 2011 presidential election, saying that the vote would not be free and fair.
Formed in December, the USN bloc is composed of the Republican Alliance for Development, the Djibouti Development Party and the National Democratic Party.
While the provisional results showed the opposition had eaten into the UMP’s complete dominance of parliament, the USN alliance said they were not a fair reflection of actual voting.
Polls had shown that support for the opposition USN alliance surged in the run-up to the election, and the group’s rallies in the capital attracted large crowds.
The opposition’s main goal was to overturn what they say is Guelleh’s policy to stifle dissent and the right to assembly in the tiny country of about 920,000 people.
In February 2011, galvanised by the success of Arab Spring revolts that toppled dictators in Egypt and Tunisia, anti-government demonstrators in Djibouti demanded Guelleh step down and clashed with riot police.
Source: Reuters
Last year Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle East was largely determined the constraints of the Syrian problem. Despite this Turkey managed to increase its influence in the Middle East by creating a strategic relationship with Egypt. Meanwhile it is now virtually essential that Turkey increase its foreign policy involvement in Africa in order to protect its interests.
Turkey
As for the countries which were not affected by the Arab Spring, they are currently experiencing serious anxiety about how they should preserve their stability. In all these tremors, Turkish diplomacy undertook active initiatives of approching somaliland because of it’s stability, in order to undertake humanitarian and political tasks. In some situations lost by Arabs. Because of the troubles in somalia,Turke is convenced the undeniable chance that can be created a bond of friendship that opted out by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to develop its relations with Somaliland as part of its search for new allies in the East Africa ( Horn) to protect its interests. The clearest illustration of this new relationship is the flow of visits by senior government officials in both Somaliland and Turkey. The two countries and the economic and strategic agreements signed as a result of them..
Turkey and Africa
Ankara continues to support the political process in Somaliland and Somalia. Mr Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey Foreign Minister, has had the honour of being the first foreign guest ever to address the enemty between tow Somalis. As far as humanitarian aspects are concerned, Turkish institutions and organisations are continuing to send aid to both countries.
At the same time, it is also abundantly clear that the fact that Turkey’s position in regional affairs is steadily growing stronger has made certain powers anxious. There are also some tribal leaders and “war chieftains” who object to Turkey having such a role. A glance at the history of Somalia shows that the situation there has to do with the interaction of regional and national short-comings and that a struggle over its security which is totally different the situation in Somaliland.can be discerned coming over the horizon. It may be recalled in this context that an armed attack was carried out in October against Mr Mustafa El Haşimi, Africa Chief of TIKA [the Turkish International Aid Organisation] in the town of Galkayo in central Somalia and details of it have never been made public. Then there is the fact that a Turkish petroleum company made an investment of $1 billion in Somaliland, and that some officials in the region have interpreted this as support for the Somaliland declaration of independence. Another section of opinion in Mogadishu believes that the investment was aimed at detaching that region from the other Somali territories and shuold dealt only with Somaliland and Somalia.The crisis was obviously chiefly about the desire to strengthen bilateral economic relations, most importantly over petrol of Somaliland.
Talk of the point now reached in Turkish-African relations takes us on to the greatest market crisis in Africa, So Turkish foreign policy towards the Horn of Africa last year in general developed within the constraints of the Somalis ( Somaliland & Somalia) problem. Despite this, Turkey extended its influence and creating a bridge of strategic relationship with Africa to protect its interests affecting in both the short and the long term.
By Fuad Ferhavi, Researcher at USAK Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies.
*The original version of this piece was published in Turkish ANALIST Journal on January 2013.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Mr.Bekir Bozdag accompanied by a high level delegation has arrived in Mogadishu, the Somalian capital today.
The Turkish Delegation headed by Deputy PM was received by his Somalian counterpart and also the mini ster of Foreign Affairs Madam Fozia Yusuf Haji Adan at the Aden Cadde International Airport , Turkish official who gave a brief conference there said he was visiting to asses’ ongoing development projects and to renew Turkey’s commitment in Somalia.
This is the second time Turkish Official is visiting Somalia and he is accompanied by businessmen from turkey currently in the country to inspect ongoing development projects been implemented in Somalia which are funded by his country.
During his stay the deputy Prime Minister Mr.Bekir Bozdag will lay the foundation stone to a brand new Academy of Agriculture and research center, he had on his previous visit laid the foundation to a new airport tower, which is to be financed fully by Ankara. He also stated that a new children hospital with a capacity of 100 beds was near its completion in Mogadishu, the facility, which includes education centre, a mosque and a guest house will become the largest children hospital and research centre in East Africa.
Turkish Foreign Policy toward Africa is not only based on economic and trade objectives but also incorporates a comprehensive approach which includes initiating much need development through project assistance.
