ICC Justice for Ethiopians victims in the Hand of Butcher Meles?

Justice Delayed, But Hopefully Not For Long!

Washington,Dc(galbeed.com) Editorial : The top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) sought the arrest of Sudan ’s President Omar Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur .

Bashir had “personally instructed” his forces to annihilate three ethnic groups in the western Sudanese region. However, Meles Zenawi and his gang are perpetuating the worse crime against humanity in Horn of Africa. The question that is begging million dollars is why the Western is playing a double standard. It is also paying Meles and his soldiers to massacre, rape and dislodge innocent civilians in Horn of Africa.

The indictment issued against Sudan ’s President Hassan el-Bashir by the International Criminal Court is the single most important development in the long struggle to end the mass slaughter in the Darfur region and in the world. The threat of arrest and trial for crimes against humanity should send a very strong message to leaders everywhere who have no regard for the sanctity of human life. Indeed, it is a blessing message to stop criminal leaders, but it should enforce the same rights across the globe and brink to justice those butchers such as Meles and his happy trigger soldiers.

Africa has been subjected to incalculable abuse and exploitation by a series of mostly European colonial powers who, in their merciless pursuit of domination and Africa’s resources have wreaked destruction that will take the continent generations to undo. And they are still applying the same old tactics while they are supporting leaders such as Meles who has slaughtering many innocent and poor civilians particularly the genocide against Ethiopian Somalis as result of nine Chinese oil drillers killed in the remote area of Somali Regional state in Ethiopia.

Meles has given the green light to apply scourge and inhuman tactics of destroying houses and killing women, children and elders. Are those perished lives different from Darfur’s ones or Western visions have been blurred with oil and precious materials of phosphates?

In Ethiopia, the crime against humanity has been accomplished with absolute impunity to which advanced justice systems of Western countries have turned a convenient blind eye. To add insult to injury, American and British governments have supported Meles to displace millions of Somalis, to obstruct the distribution of food to drought and famine affected regions of Ethiopia and to kill civilians without mercy.

Truth be told, ICC has more than sufficient grounds to indict those responsible for historical crimes which have enduring consequences. For example, President of Somali Region, Abdillahi Hassen, has recently admitted on BBC radio’s interview that his Federal soldiers and security forces have killed and will do it in the name of terrorist carte blanche that they are given by Western leaders.

According to UN and Human rights Watch estimates, thousands people have been killed and 2 m forced from their homes since conflict began 17 years ago in Ethiopia between the government and rebels fighting against the region’s marginalisation.

Ethiopian and Somalis don’t have to go that far back in history to find justifiable grievances. It needs only to look at what happened 14 years ago. It is no secret that the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis of Rwanda was planned and executed by Rwandans. But that is not the whole story; Rwandans did it with the help of many foreigners, their money, their equipment and their advice.

Surely, if the concept of universal jurisdiction has to be worth its name and have any benefits at all, Horn of Africa civilians should reap many of them

For the average non-legal person in Ethiopia, this concept translates as follows: if you have anything to do with grave crimes such as genocide, then no matter where you are, no matter how long, no matter whom you know, the long arm of justice should catch up with you. Meles and his happy trigger should be caught with long hand of justice.

Human Rights Watch has frequently called on the government to stop the arbitrary detention of civilians in Ethiopia and Somalia . Ethiopian government shouldn’t treat civilians as criminals just because they’re fleeing a conflict area. The solution to Ethiopian and Somali’s conflicts must be political, not military.

Trust me, Monsieur Ocampo, most of those killed in Ethiopia and Somalia had been innocent too. And while you are administering justice, could you please also remember the people who have been waiting for justice in Horn of Africa? They call themselves Ethiopians and Somalis. In Somalia , Meles stole their country one year ago, driving them from their homes and still forcing them to flee their homes. And they have been waiting for justice and deliverance ever since. They die every day but refuse to let their free spirits die. They have lost generations and generations of the young and old, men and women to this daily war that is their existence. They have simply lost count of how many loved ones they have buried over the past years since Meles and his gang took the power in Ethiopia .

Can they hope for justice too, ICC?

Afghans call for new strategy as Obama visits

KABUL, July 19 (Reuters) – U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has called for more U.S. troops to be sent to Afghanistan, but many in the war-torn country doubt whether more soldiers will help stem the rising tide of violence.