Ethiopia PM accused of genocide is top
African negotiator
19 December, 2009 | By Alexander Kelly
conference center where negotiators tried to piece together a global
treaty to fight climate change today – chants that shed light on the
intricate nature of the talks and the difficulty of concluding a deal.
As 130 heads of state took their place at the negotiating table, just hours
before the talks were scheduled to come to a close, the cries outside
he was appointed as the African Union’s spokesman for the final days
of the UN climate talks. Now, as he appears to be willing to accept less
than most Africans want from the industrialized North out of a climate
finance deal, many – including the Ogadenians outside – are calling for
his removal from power as top-level negotiator.
“This is death to millions of Africans,” Mithika Mwenda of Pan-African
Climate Justice Alliance said in a prepared statement. “If Prime Minister
Meles (Zenawi) wants to sell out the lives and hopes of Africans for a
pittance, he is welcome to. But that is not Africa’s position.”
The rift among Africans calls into question whether most countries on
the continent will be willing to live by the terms of whatever agreement
is reached here. (Update: Late today news broke that President Obama
has worked out a deal with China, India, Brazil and South Africa.
Presumably those countries to will try to sell the plan to others
overnight. The climate talks have been extended by at least one day.)
Outside the Bella Center, where the climate talks are going on, it was
difficult counting all the African protesters rallying behind a flags in
bright blue, green, red and yellow representing the Ogaden National
Liberation Front and Oromo Liberation Front.*
The protesters warned that the money funneled into Africa to fight
climate change will likely be used to strengthen Zenawi’s campaigns
against Ogadenian resistance to his leadership.
“The Western world… their money is being used to buy weapons and
kill people,” said a man from Ogaden named Abdurahman.
“We are suffering from climate change,” said a boy named Nemarra.
“Of course the people are suffering, and also we truly need money to be
compensated, because our people are dying . . . but he needs the money
for another purpose.”
The charges of genocide relate to actions of Zenawi’s army in Ogaden,
which borders Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti and is populated largely by
ethnic Somalians. Ethiopia and Somalia for decades disputed ownership
of the land, until Somalia’s government fell apart and it descended into
lawlessness in 1991. Ogaden is also known as the Somali Regional
State.
In 2007, with the backing of the U.S. government – which considers
Zenawi an ally in the war on terror – Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia,
to the east of Ogaden. A UN-backed transitional government friendly to
Ethiopia took over early this year, although it faces resistance from
jihadist Muslims and has been unable to contain pirates based on its
shores.
Ethiopian troops also have been accused of killings, maimings and rape
in Ogaden. The Ethiopian military is trying to contain the Ogaden
National Liberation Front, which seeks to have Ogaden granted
autonomous status, something like the Kurds in northern Iraq. Over the
last half of the 20th century, various groups also dreamed of uniting
Ogaden and Somalia into “greater Somalia,” although those plans appear
moribund given the current Somali government.
The conflict in Ogaden bears some resemblance to the genocide in
Sudan, Ethiopia’s neighbor to the north: Both appear to stem at least in
part from climate change. Drought and desertification have been played
a role in the genocide in Sudan. In Ogaden, an unusually long and deep
drought also has figured into the conflict, from what outside observers
can find out. (It’s been difficult and dangerous for reporters from
outside Ethiopia – and sometimes inside the country – to report on
Ogaden because of government interference, according to a 2007 article
in Slate.)
Inside the Bella Center – where the InvestigateWest team finally was
admitted today after two weeks of denials by the United Nations –
Zenawi faced criticism from African environmental and “civil-society”
groups for agreeing to $10 billion a year in aid for Africa, instead of the
$67 billion the African nations said they wanted.
Environmentalists and others in an umbrella group that calls itself
African Civil Society released a statement deploring the move, saying it
would “allocate to the industrialized countries . . . atmospheric space
worth more than $10 trillion between now and 2050, denying it to
developing countries, and threatening Africa’s prospects of economic
and social development and the alleviation of poverty.”
Efforts to reach the Ethiopian consulate in Seattle for comment have not
yet been successful. We’ll update this post if we hear back from the
consulate.
* Due to an editing error, this post originally said the protesters were
waiving Ethiopia’s national flag. Sorry about that.
InvestigateWest senior environmental correspondent Robert
McClure contributed to this report.
Courtesy
African negotiator
19 December, 2009 | By Alexander Kelly
conference center where negotiators tried to piece together a global
treaty to fight climate change today – chants that shed light on the
intricate nature of the talks and the difficulty of concluding a deal.
As 130 heads of state took their place at the negotiating table, just hours
before the talks were scheduled to come to a close, the cries outside
- came largely from
Ogadenians, people
from a southeastern
territory in Ethiopia,
3,600 miles from
Denmark. They made
their way to
Copenhagen to tell
United Nations leaders
not to negotiate a
climate deal with an
alleged génocidaire.
he was appointed as the African Union’s spokesman for the final days
of the UN climate talks. Now, as he appears to be willing to accept less
than most Africans want from the industrialized North out of a climate
finance deal, many – including the Ogadenians outside – are calling for
his removal from power as top-level negotiator.
“This is death to millions of Africans,” Mithika Mwenda of Pan-African
Climate Justice Alliance said in a prepared statement. “If Prime Minister
Meles (Zenawi) wants to sell out the lives and hopes of Africans for a
pittance, he is welcome to. But that is not Africa’s position.”
The rift among Africans calls into question whether most countries on
the continent will be willing to live by the terms of whatever agreement
is reached here. (Update: Late today news broke that President Obama
has worked out a deal with China, India, Brazil and South Africa.
Presumably those countries to will try to sell the plan to others
overnight. The climate talks have been extended by at least one day.)
Outside the Bella Center, where the climate talks are going on, it was
difficult counting all the African protesters rallying behind a flags in
bright blue, green, red and yellow representing the Ogaden National
Liberation Front and Oromo Liberation Front.*
The protesters warned that the money funneled into Africa to fight
climate change will likely be used to strengthen Zenawi’s campaigns
against Ogadenian resistance to his leadership.
“The Western world… their money is being used to buy weapons and
kill people,” said a man from Ogaden named Abdurahman.
“We are suffering from climate change,” said a boy named Nemarra.
“Of course the people are suffering, and also we truly need money to be
compensated, because our people are dying . . . but he needs the money
for another purpose.”
The charges of genocide relate to actions of Zenawi’s army in Ogaden,
which borders Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti and is populated largely by
ethnic Somalians. Ethiopia and Somalia for decades disputed ownership
of the land, until Somalia’s government fell apart and it descended into
lawlessness in 1991. Ogaden is also known as the Somali Regional
State.
In 2007, with the backing of the U.S. government – which considers
Zenawi an ally in the war on terror – Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia,
to the east of Ogaden. A UN-backed transitional government friendly to
Ethiopia took over early this year, although it faces resistance from
jihadist Muslims and has been unable to contain pirates based on its
shores.
Ethiopian troops also have been accused of killings, maimings and rape
in Ogaden. The Ethiopian military is trying to contain the Ogaden
National Liberation Front, which seeks to have Ogaden granted
autonomous status, something like the Kurds in northern Iraq. Over the
last half of the 20th century, various groups also dreamed of uniting
Ogaden and Somalia into “greater Somalia,” although those plans appear
moribund given the current Somali government.
The conflict in Ogaden bears some resemblance to the genocide in
Sudan, Ethiopia’s neighbor to the north: Both appear to stem at least in
part from climate change. Drought and desertification have been played
a role in the genocide in Sudan. In Ogaden, an unusually long and deep
drought also has figured into the conflict, from what outside observers
can find out. (It’s been difficult and dangerous for reporters from
outside Ethiopia – and sometimes inside the country – to report on
Ogaden because of government interference, according to a 2007 article
in Slate.)
Inside the Bella Center – where the InvestigateWest team finally was
admitted today after two weeks of denials by the United Nations –
Zenawi faced criticism from African environmental and “civil-society”
groups for agreeing to $10 billion a year in aid for Africa, instead of the
$67 billion the African nations said they wanted.
Environmentalists and others in an umbrella group that calls itself
African Civil Society released a statement deploring the move, saying it
would “allocate to the industrialized countries . . . atmospheric space
worth more than $10 trillion between now and 2050, denying it to
developing countries, and threatening Africa’s prospects of economic
and social development and the alleviation of poverty.”
Efforts to reach the Ethiopian consulate in Seattle for comment have not
yet been successful. We’ll update this post if we hear back from the
consulate.
* Due to an editing error, this post originally said the protesters were
waiving Ethiopia’s national flag. Sorry about that.
InvestigateWest senior environmental correspondent Robert
McClure contributed to this report.
Courtesy
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| Ethio Quest News Together We Can Make It! |
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| Useful Links - Akababi - Ethiopia Environment News - Environment of Ethiopia - Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority - Environmental issues in Ethiopia - Geography & Environment |
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