From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue Mar 31 2009 - 15:17:46 EST
Genocide Watch calls on UN to initiate action against Meles
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
Click here for pdf. version
http://ecadforum.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/genocide.pdf
March 30, 2009 [Washington DC.] Genocide Watch, the international
campaign to end genocide, has called on United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights, Justice Navanathem, to initiate an investigation
against the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Genocide Watch
cited the atrocities committed in Gambela against the Anuaks and ethnic
Somalis in the Ogaden as examples of the crimes that have not been
seriously investigated by the UN body.
In an open letter Genocide Watch President Dr Gregory Stanton wrote to
the Commissioner, he commended the International Criminal Court for
indicting the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan Al Bashir, but noted that
"one of the first leaders to defend Omar al-Bashir and condemn the
warrant was Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, whose government
has also been implicated in a pattern of widespread perpetration of
serious human rights atrocities in Ethiopia and in Somalia."
"He and those within his government may be keenly aware of their own
vulnerability to similar actions by the ICC in the future that could
upend a deeply entrenched system of government-supported impunity that
has protected perpetrators from any accountability," Dr Stanton noted.
The Genocide Watch President asserted that a UN investigation was
justified due to the culture of impunity that existed within Ethiopia
and underlined that "extensive documentation is available to examine the
violations, most of which has been compiled in independent investigative
reports completed by international human rights organizations."
"We also believe that the Ethiopian people have been waiting long enough
for genuine justice and relief from the harsh oppression and brutal
tactics committed by a government that purports to be a partner in the
War on Terror, while terrorizing their own people," the letter noted.
Dr Stanton said that Genocide Watch and Survivors International
confirmed that the atrocities committed in Gamballa against the Anuaks
in 2005 "fit the definitions of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Human Rights Watch also conducted two investigations of their own and
determined that the crimes against the Anuak meet the stringent
definition of crimes against humanity." He also indicated that Genocide
Watch was willing in providing assistance to the Commission in carrying
out the investigation.
"We in Genocide Watch, and other human rights organizations are
determined to pursue justice, even long after violations have occurred,
as part of our mission. Investigative reports, contacts and other
information can be provided should you need them," he said.
http://ecadforum.com/blog/tag/genocide-watch-calls-on-un-to-initiate-act
ion-against-meles/
<http://www.anuakjustice.org/images2/stanton_and_metho.jpg>
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