Mugabe protects Mengistu after guilty verdict in Ethiopia

By Tererai Karimakwenda
13 December 2006

Zimbabwe has announced that former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam will not be handed over to Ethiopian authorities after the country he once led pronounced him guilty of genocide on Tuesday. Mengistu has lived in Zimbabwe since he asked for asylum in 1991 after being toppled by an armed rebellion. He is being accused of killing thousands of his own people using the military during a 17-year reign.
The decision to protect Mengistu from Ethiopian justice is no surprise as the Zimbabwe government refused previous requests to hand him over during the last 12 years he has been on trial. On Tuesday a court in Ethiopia decided to sentence him in absentia. Mugabe himself is believed to be holding on to power fearing prosecution. We reported this week that the ZANU-PF conference which opened Wednesday may be the platform he chooses to launch his bid to extend his tenure by 2 years.

So is this a classic case of “Birds of a feather?” Mengistu is reported to be serving as a security consultant to Robert Mugabe while living a luxurious life in Harare. It is widely believed it was he who advised Mugabe to launch the demolition exercise Operation Murambatsvina which displaced nearly a million people in 2005. Mengistu’s legacy is one marked by reports of brutal suppression of opponents, wars with his neighbours and the politicisation of food to gain support from peasants. Mugabe has been accused of perpetrating the same human rights abuses including murder and genocide.

Tim Hughes, a research fellow at The South African Institute of International Affairs, said he was pleased to hear Mengistu had been pronounced guilty. He said there has been too much of the “Darfur” (Sudan) scenario in Africa lately and found it interesting that two of the continent’s pariahs were now finding a safe haven in the same place. By that he meant Mugabe and Mengistu.

Hughes pointed to the recent extradition of Liberia’s Charles Taylor from Nigeria as a good sign. Recounting how Nigeria’s president Obasanjo eventually gave into international pressure after protecting Taylor, he said Mugabe will be alienated further if he continues to shield Mengistu. Hughes believes South Africa’s role and position on good governance will have to be clarified when it takes up a seat on the United Nations Security Council next year. He said failure to do so would compromise the African renaissance, NEPAD and The African Union.