Response to Amnesty International
As one of the most reputable and respected organizations in the world, Amnesty International has fought for a noble cause for years. And the work and diligent efforts of its dedicated members have brought to light many unjust and vicious human rights abuse all over the world.
As a supporter of Amnesty International I have recently been puzzled by some of the information being released about the current crisis in Somalia. From my understanding, Amnesty does not have any members on the ground in Mogadishu to monitor the recent outbreak of hostilities between al-Shabaab (the militant breakaway group of the Islamic Court) and the Somali Transitional Government.
It has always been a no brainier that when one wants to be granted refugee or political asylum status, its common to exaggerate or even go as far as making up stories to get sympathy or some form of financial gain to get out either from a repressive political system or from economical depressed lifestyle. All one needs to do is talk to US, UK, French, Swedish, etc., immigration officials to find out what I mean when I talk about people making things up. People living in developing countries under tremendous pressure from what life has unfairly thrown at them are always in a hunt for a better life in a foreign land. In many cases one need not exaggerate one’s dire lifestyle to get any form of sympathy, but to be admitted and get legal status in any of the developed countries, one is better off showing political persecution as opposed to economical need.
So when Amnesty International quoting a
Somali refugee by the name of Haboon, about a neighbor’s daughter being raped by Ethiopian troops and
who also allegedly gouged out the eyes of two of the alleged victims brothers
that came to her assistance, that right there makes me a bit skeptical about
the authenticity of the information provided by Haboon.
Ethiopian troops have always served in many conflict zones since the time of
the late emperor Haile Sellasie. And even today they are found serving in the
capacity of peace keepers under the command of UN peace keeping force. And
since the early days, Ethiopian troops have always been commended for their
discipline and dedication in all the areas they have served. Also, Somalis
residing in Mogadishu can attest to the brotherly and cordial behavior shown by
Ethiopian troops since their arrival over a year ago.
[1]
Now just as Amnesty has used individual refugees and unnamed NGO’s, by the way I am wondering if Amnesty is familiar of the fact that most local NGO’s in Somalia are made up of Hawiye clan, which happens to be the same clan where Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys the head of Islamic Court is from, as its source for accusation of atrocities being committed by both Ethiopian and Somali troops, one can also go around town (Mogadishu) to find residents that can praise the presence of Ethiopian troops and how they have conducted themselves since their arrival. Now the question is, what can Amnesty gain by spreading rumors and innuendos? Since I believe Amnesty is run by intelligent and well meaning individuals and volunteers, why aren’t they inquiring about al-Shabaab’s atrocities? How about asking where the weapons and support of al-Shabaab is coming from? And how come the blame is solely on Ethiopian and Somali troops and only little blame goes to a terrorist organization like al-Shabaab? And isn’t common for terrorist groups to use civilians as human shield and places of worship to commit their horrendous crimes against society? Isn’t AI aware that reports like that can actually fuel more animosity and chaos in a state that has been through lawlessness for over a decade? In any conflict region be it Iraq, Afghanistan or Somalia for that matter, there will always be civilian casualties which unfortunately is a reality in any conflict zone. I do see the logic behind brining a well balanced account of human rights violation to the attention of the world; however, I fail to see a report solely based on individuals and unnamed NGO’s (affiliated with Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys) biased testimony about unfounded allegation committed by Ethiopian and Somali troops.
The least AI should have done is request the Somali government for access to residence of Mogadishu so they could send their people to do an honest assessment of the situation. When grotesque and graphic metaphors are used to report human rights violation, people do listen however, using unfounded and unsubstantiated facts to bring attention to a crisis beats the whole purpose of finding solutions to the ongoing crisis in Somalia.
I hope AI goes back to reassess its method of getting its information about conflicts around the world. Unless credibility and fairness is not used it will fall in the trap of being accused as another biased Western Based Organization out to create a mess in a continent that has still not recovered fully from the effects of colonialism that to this day bears responsibility for the many boarder conflicts found around the world.
Alemseged Kitaw
05/13/08