AFRICA – WHERE IMPUNITY REIGNS SUPREME Since independence in 1960, there have been cases upon cases of mass deaths and horrific slaughter of the African people by brutal despots and rebel leaders. Specifically, 1— 3 million Nigerians died in the Biafra War (1967). 200,000 Ugandans were slaughtered by Idi Amin in 1970s. 100,000 were butchered by President Marcias Nguema in Equatorial Guinea in the 1970s. Over 400,000 Ethiopians perished under Comrade Mengistu Haile Mariam. Over 500,000 Somalis perished under Siad Barre. Man-made famines claimed over 2 million between 1980-2000. Over 2 million have died in the wars of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Over 1 million died in Mozambique’s civil war. 1.5 million in Angola’s civil war. 1 million perished in Rwanda’s genocide in 1994. 300,000 in Burundi in 1993-94. 4 million have perished in Sudan’s civil wars. 6 million have died from Congo’s wars. The rough total is over 20 million and this does not include deaths in Chad, Western Sahara, Algeria, Egypt, Libya and those who perished at refugee camps. And how many of these perpetrators of crimes against humanity were brought to justice by the OAU/African Union in its own court of justice? NONE — not even Hissene Habre, who fled Chad for Senegal. Even the AU’s own Court of Justice is a joke. Only 5 of the 55 African countries recognize it. Time and again, it is always an international court – UN Special Court in the case of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda and the ICC in the case of Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Taylor that bring these butchers to justice. Now, the AU wants African nations to pull out of the ICC so that the butchers can get away Scot free? There is something maddening and ugly about these posturing. Historians tell us that the total number black Africans shipped as slaves to the Americas in the 17 and 18 Centuries was about 10 million and Africa lost another 10 million through the trans-Saharan and East African slave trade ran by Arabs. This means that, in a space of just 50 years after independence in the 1960s, post colonial African leaders and rebel leaders have slaughtered or caused the deaths of about the same number of Africans than were lost to both the West and East African slave trades. So what moral authority do these leaders have to rail against the slave trade? And this leads to an ugly thought: Wouldn’t the dead have been better off if taken out of Africa as slaves? Think about it. - via Rotich Mike ICC may have its own deficiencies and biases but Africa has proved that it doesnt have the capacity to prosecute or stop atrocities on its own soil. Sovereignty aside, pause for a moment to think about the plight of ordinary Africans who bear the brunt of this madness. Ull realise that Africans bigmen are its own worst enemies.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 11:18:38 +0000
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