From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Tue Dec 08 2009 - 20:35:53 EST
Tuesday, December 08, 2009 7:34:01 PM How the UN failed Human Rights and
How Africa failed itself
Saafi Labafidhin
December 07, 2009
Many people are convinced that countries must voluntarily agree on cutting
the emissions of CO2 in order to minimize the impact of climate change. One
of the biggest dilemmas of climate change is that the problem of global
warming being a universal one and therefore it emerges to be very difficult
to monitor the actions of all nations across the globe. Therefore, the
United Nations –which sees itself the global police –wants all
concerned parties to agree on predetermined targets. Their argument is
simply to save the world from itself. But I have a problem with the United
Nations, on the one hand and the African Leaders on the other hand.
My dissatisfaction with the UN stems from its lack of willingness and/or
inability to safeguard the basic human rights of citizens of the World they
want to save. What is the use of this globe without the Human Race? One can
cite a great number of different people living in dire situation throughout
the globe. Be it Uighurs oppressed in their own land, Palestinians evicted
from their own homes or Ogadens terrorized by TPLF of Meles Zenawi, and
many more in all continents of the world oppressed by dictators.
Or is it that, as the common sense tells me, UN only represents the
interests of some people. Why is it only active when the Washington
Administration wants it to act and silent when Washington wants it to be
passive? Why don´t they ring a bell when they know the tyrant Meles Zenawi
is coming to attend Copenhagen Climate Conference? If they are honest why
do they bark when the Danish government sends, as part of its host
obligations, an invitation to the president of Sudan, Umar Al-Bashir. Why
all these discrimination. Is the UN only for some? Then why talk about in
the name of the whole world. All these will only lead to many questions
than answers.
More worse than the silence of the UN is the African Union who failed the
good ones among us (and all of us) when they chose the tyrant Meles to
represent the whole African Continent in the high profile conference where
Africa is one of the top agendas. How can one of Africans worst dictators
speak on behalf of Africa´s more than one billion people in 52 countries?
Obviously, those who decided Meles to be the spokesperson of the continent
either do not know him or are worse than him; I think for most of them the
later is true! This is a dictator who believes, by his own words, in
bullets rather the ballot. He is the one who ordered the massacre of
thousands Somalis in the Ogaden. He is the butcher of Addis Ababa,
Gambella, Dhagaxbuur, Lebiga, Awasa, and Mogadishu. He is the main reason
of instability in the horn of Africa. He is the obstacle of the Hague court
decision on Ethio-Eritrea case. Yet Africa rewards him to be their model in
the eyes of the world. That is a slap in the face to all of us Africans, as
if there is no better than him. May be they were listening the likes of
David Shinn whom I suspect is employed by TPLF. I wonder why they did not
choose Robert Mogabe because at least Mogabe has not killed as many people
as Meles despite being longer time in office.
No matter what the outcome of the COP15 conference will be, there is one
fact that I want the UN and African leaders to know: the people of Ogaden
and the many others terrorized by Meles and his TPLF feel that you already
let them down by ignoring this thug´s serious criminal against humanity
and instead letting him represent Africa. However, you can still undo your
mistakes by distancing yourselves from this criminal and sending him to the
international tribunal court in The Hague. Otherwise your inaction will
only prove how untrue you are to your own word. The American Chronicle,
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