This 8 February 2011 video is called Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi is responsible for war crimes, including genocide, torture and rape.
Though the war in Somalia has brought death, injuries, homelessness and hunger to millions of civilians, Western media don’t really mention it much.
And IF they mention it, they often support the military attacks by United States forces ever since George W. Bush. They often support the invasive forces of the Ethiopian dictatorship, US proxies ever since George W.Bush (“So, they slit Somalis’ throats? Don’t put it on the front page; that would be bad PR for Western democracy and its “War on Terror”!”). They often support other armed forces propping up the “transitional provisional government” in Somalia (consisting of warlords, some with records of dragging United States soldiers’ death bodies through streets; but now rebranded as paragons of “Western democracy”.) They often depict all Somalis who don’t like the invaders’ war as Al Qaeda or worse.
However, according to this report by Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu, Somalia), there seem to be conflicts within the ranks of the pro US so-called good guys; conflicts between pro US Ethiopian occupiers and pro US Somali MP’s:
Somalia: Deputy Speaker Calls Ethiopia, Governments to Release Detained MPs
23 February 2010
Osman Elmi Boqore, the deputy speaker of the transitional parliamentarians of Somalia has Tuesday called for the Ethiopian and Somali governments talk releasing detained Somalia MPs in Ethiopia.
Mr. Boqore said in an interview with Shabelle radio that both governments Somali and Ethiopian were required to discuss more on releasing the Somali lawmakers and officer who were jailed in Jig-Jiga town in the Somali region under the Ethiopian colony.
The official said that he and the speaker of the transitional parliamentarians were talking about the reason that brought the arrest of the Somali government officials in Ethiopia adding that the lawmakers would hold a meeting to discuss the release of those MPs.
“We heard that the two MPs, Hussein Muhummed Mohamud (Gagale), Abdullahi Mohamed (Farey) and government police officer Ahmed Ugas were jailed in Jig-jiga town in Ethiopia. They are all from Hiran region in central Somalia.
He said that they did not know why they went to Ethiopia pointing out that all the Somali lawmakers could not return to the country due to lack of economic and his statement comes as Ethiopia had not yet commented on the arrest against the Somalis MPs.
The Washington-backed Transitional Federal Government of Somalia is reported to be preparing a major offensive against Islamist rebels who control the bulk of the country: here.
U.S. Wages Food War Against Somalia: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
Somalia: Fire Exchange Between Soldiers Injure About 10 Civilians in Mogadishu
Hassan Osman Abdi
24 February 2010
Somalia — About 10 ten people were injured in Mogadishu after fire exchange between the transitional government soldiers started at Villa Baidoa, large base for the Somali government military troops in the capital, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Wednesday.
Reports say that the fighting started on midday as some of the government troops tried to rob students of the universities and high schools around KM5 zone which is very close to the military compound of the government which caused other troops to protect them that lately resulted in fighting, wounding 7 civilians there in south of Mogadishu.
One of the businessmen around the area told Shabelle’s reporter Mohamed Bashir Hashi that the clash continued for a while adding that some of the government soldiers had forcibly entered to a public traffic that was traveling around where the fighting continued pointing out that he could not confirm the real casualties of the confrontation.
There had been confrontations between the government troops that had been increasingly happening in the areas under the control of the transitional government which often causes casualties to the civilians in Mogadishu.
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Garowe Online (Garowe)
Somalia: New Row Emerges Between Top TFG Officials
27 February 2010
New row has emerged between Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and parliament speaker Sheikh Aden Mohammed Nur Madobe over speaker’s tenure.
The two met on Thursday at Villa Somalia but failed to come to a census over the issue, a well informed lawmaker told Garowe Online on condition of anonymity.
The source further states that the speaker rebuffed president’s plans to replace him, a plan that is supported by many of Sheikh Sharif’s close associates.
The speaker is said to be adamant to bow to the pressure of stepping down, arguing that his mandate goes hand in hand with the formation of the transition government.
In retaliation, some lawmakers allied to the speaker have also put Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke on the spot over what they termed his failure to implement pledges he made when appointed to the post.
The internal wrangles have also spread to the military and police, whose commandants are said to have divided their loyalties across the two leaders.
The political dispute between top TFG officials comes at a time when the fragile UN-backed government is preparing to launch attacks on the powerful insurgents who are determined to run the war-torn nation.
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The Nation (Nairobi)
Somalia: Stop Meddling in Somalia, UN Urges Foreigners
Peter Mwai
1 March 2010
Nairobi — The United Nation Monday called on foreign governments to stop meddling with Somali affairs, as the country celebrated the first anniversary of the government led by Prime Minister Omar Abidirashid Ali Sharmarke.
The UN Special Representative for Somalia, Mr Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said external interference is to blame for many of the woes facing the war torn country.
“Today, external political interference perpetuates instability and encourages illegal fishing, as well as piracy and other criminal economic activities,” he said.
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Garowe Online (Garowe)
Somalia: MPs to Table No-Confidence Vote Against Prime Minister
2 March 2010
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke will face a vote on a motion of no confidence that some 200 Somali lawmakers are planning to table against him in the parliament.
The members of parliament accuse Omar’s government of not doing enough to change the worsening security situation in country, urging to him to face the parliament and get its confidence.
“If Sharmarke’s government gets vote of confidence from the parliament, then it can continue with its work. But if it fails, then the president is required to appoint a new premier who forms a new government,” said one of the MPs.
The MP said that the current government is more preoccupied by foreign trips without a giving a thought about the current situation in the country.
However, some other lawmakers have drumming up support for the current government, arguing that it has done wonderful job compared to the parliament, which they was lurked behind.
They are said to be preparing also a motion against Speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe, whom they accuse of the bickering in the parliament.
President Sheikh Sharif is said to be confused by the turn of the events.
Meanwhile, Somalia’s Constitution and Federalism minister Madobe Nunow Mohamed announced that the current Transitional Government would be the last one to govern the Horn of African nation if the ongoing new constitution is finalized and passed.
“The formation of the political parties is the major issue in the constitution which my ministry is working on it right now,” he said.
He adds, “The new constitution would be based on Islamic law, and the committee involved in making is independent.”
He argued that the country would move from one group dominance to civilian oriented government.
The minister of constitution and federalism appointed a committee, which consist of 30 members from the civil society and the government and it will gather ideas from population and orientation.
However, Somalia’s Puntland state, which maintains to remain in a federal Somalia, says it would not take part in any constitutional reform for the country because it was not consulted in the matter and is a unilateral decision.
Representatives of both governments on November failed to agree to harmonize an accord which its first phase was signed by Somali PM and Puntland President on August 23 in central Somali town of Galkayo.
If passed, the new constitution will change the national charter of Somali TFG, which was formed six years ago in neighboring Kenya. It would allow Somali citizens to elect their representatives directly rather than pin pointed by the clan.
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Garowe Online (Garowe)
Somalia: 17 Killed in Mogadishu Clashes
3 March 2010
At least 17 people have been killed and over 45 others injured in heavy fighting that pitted Somali rebel fighters against government troops backed by African Union forces in the restive capital Mogadishu, witnesses and medics said on Wednesday.
The fighting erupted in the capital’s Hodan district where government forces carried out surprise attacks on Al-Shabaab positions.
“Mortar shells that landed at our neighborhoods killed several people and injuring more others. It was the worst fighting that I witnessed,” said Nasteh Isse, one of Hodan’s remaining residents.
However, both sides involved in the violent clashes claimed to have achieved substantial victory.
Somalia’s state minister for defense Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad aka Indha’adde said government forces have conquered new positions after driving rebel fighters out of the district.
“We have killed several rebel fighters including senior ones. They (Al-Shabaab) could not even pick up their slain fighters,” he told reporters.
In response, Sheikh Ali Mohammed Hussein, Al-Shabaab’s Mogadishu boss said they have successfully repelled and dealt a blow to the attacking forces.
Medics at Mogadishu’s main hospitals of Medina and Daynile reported that several civilians have been admitted on Wednesday with bullet and shrapnel wounds.
The violence breaks several days of lull in the chaotic capital of the war-torn country.
Tension has been rising over a government-planned onslaught against the rebels in the capital and other parts of the war-torn country. But the offensives seem to have been delayed indefinitely.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991 and, almost half of its population– 3.8 million people–are in dire need of humanitarian food aid.
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UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
Somalia: Poverty Pushes Bosasso Children On to Streets
8 March 2010
Bosasso — A long civil war, frequent droughts, unemployment and high food prices have led to an increase in the number of street children in Bosasso, the commercial capital of Somalia’s self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, with NGOs and government officials calling for urgent steps to resolve the problem.
“In the past, most of the children on the streets of Bosasso were from south-central Somalia,” said Muse Ghele, governor of Bari region. “Now we are noticing more and more locals both from urban and rural areas.”
Between 4,500 and 5,500 children are on Bosasso’s streets, according to the governor.
Abdulaziz Mohamed Hamud, child protection consultant with OxfamNovib, told IRIN: “You have to understand that numbers of street children are estimates and could be even higher… There are no exact figures but the numbers seem to be increasing daily.”
Young providers
The children, according to Abdihakim Farah Arush, chairman of the Bari Child Protection Network (BCPN), fall into two categories: those who work to help their families, mostly local and internally displaced (IDPs) who go home at night; as well as those who sleep on the street, mostly substance abusers.
The reasons for the children being on the street vary, he said. Many of those from south-central Somalia were separated from their families on their way north while others end up on the streets to help their families, or fend for themselves.
Shoe-shining and car-washing, serving as porters or washing sacks in the market are the jobs of most of the street boys in Bosasso.
Arush said while most street children were boys, more and more girls were joining them, cleaning business premises or people’s homes. Some children as young as two or three were put on the streets to beg by desperate families.
Abdullahi Said, 12, says he is trying to help his family
Hamud of OxfamNovib said most of the children suffered abuse and physical violence. “Many of them have the scars as proof. On the street at night they are easy prey with no one to protect them.”
Risks
Many have been infected with “all sort of diseases, such as TB, skin diseases; while many others suffer from malnutrition. Most don’t know what they suffer from,” Hamud added.
Abdullahi Said, 12, is on the street because he has to help his mother with his three younger siblings. He collects garabo (leftover khat) and sells it to those who cannot afford the good khat or he shines shoes. On average, he takes home 30,000 Somali shillings (about US$1) a day.
“What I make from garabo and shining shoes is what I take home to help my mother feed us,” he told IRIN. Said’s father died in 2009 so the responsibility of helping his mother care for the family fell on him.
“My mother used to go to the market and do any job she could find but now she cannot even do that. She just had the baby,” he said.
There are no agencies that help the street children directly, said Hamud.
Arush’s agency is part of a child protection network in Puntland. “Unfortunately we cannot provide material support but we advocate for them and when we get information that they are in trouble we try to intervene,” Arush said.
Hamud said a lot more was needed to help the children. “First, serious assessments need to be carried out to determine the extent of the problem,” he said. Many of the older children were turning to crime. “They not only pose a security, but also a social, risk. We need to address their needs as a matter of great urgency.”
Legal intervention needed
He said Puntland should have a separate juvenile justice system to deal with child offenders. “Now, children arrested by the police end up in the same cells as adults, where they are vulnerable to abuse.”
He said those involved in child protection were trying to lobby the legislature for a Juvenile Justice Law, aimed at guaranteeing children’s rights, so that children would no longer be kept in jail with adults or tried in adult courts.
“Agencies and local authorities should do everything possible to provide them with an alternative to the streets.”
Governor Ghele said the authorities had identified a site to build a home for the children but did not have the financial resources to build and operate it. “We need a lot of support if we are going to put them in safe homes,” he said.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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America.gov (Washington, DC)
Ethiopia: U.S. Lawmakers Concerned Over Political Conditions in Ethiopia
Jim Fisher-Thompson
26 March 2010
Key U.S. lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, have expressed concern for political conditions in Ethiopia, citing authoritarian tendencies by its government as well as human rights abuses such as the continued detention of a prominent opposition leader.
Leading off a March 24 hearing on U.S. policy toward Africa, Representative Donald Payne (Democrat, New Jersey), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, said of the ruling party, “I am deeply concerned and troubled about the deteriorating [political] conditions in Ethiopia. The EPRDF [Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front] is becoming increasingly totalitarian.”
The chairman said he was particularly bothered by the Ethiopian government’s recent jamming of Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts after the government unjustly compared the official U.S. broadcasting agency to the Rwandan hate radio station Milles Collines. Payne said the Rwandan station was “used by those who committed the Rwandan genocide” in 1994.
The panel’s highest-ranking Republican, Representative Chris Smith (New Jersey), added, “Unfortunately, Prime Minister Meles [Zenawi] shows deteriorating signs of human rights practices.”
Payne expressed special concern for Birtukan Mideksa, a former Ethiopian judge and opposition leader convicted in 2005 of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order and sentenced to life in prison. She was pardoned in 2007, but rearrested and her sentence reinstated in December 2008.
According to the recently released State Department 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Birtukan, who led the opposition UDJ (Unity for Democracy and Justice) party, was “held in solitary confinement until June, despite a court ruling that indicated it was a violation of her constitutional rights. She was also denied access to visitors except for a few close family members, despite a court order granting visitor access without restrictions.”
The report added, “There were credible reports that Birtukan’s mental health deteriorated significantly during the year.” While critical of the Ethiopian government’s treatment of dissidents and the conditions of their imprisonment, the State Department report acknowledged that “the government continued efforts to train police and army recruits in human rights.”
Asked to comment by Payne, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said: “Ethiopia’s human rights record could be far better than it is right now. There are a number of allegations made that have been documented in the State Department’s Human Rights Report that indicate shortcomings in the government’s treatment of individuals that come under arrest. We encourage the government to treat everyone in a humane fashion.”
On Birtukan, Carson told the panel, “We have asked the Ethiopian authorities why she was rearrested after having been paroled and whether, in fact, we can expect her release anytime soon.”
During an official visit to Ethiopia three weeks ago, Carson said, he met with Prime Minister Meles and raised the case of Birtukan as well as a number of other individuals who are being held by the Ethiopian authorities. “I encouraged the government to act in a responsible fashion in dealing with these cases and noted very clearly that the continued imprisonment of people like Ms. Birtukan undermined the credibility and image of the Ethiopian government.”
Carson said he also spent more than an hour going over a range of issues related to democracy and good governance and “the need to have free and fair elections” during his discussion with the prime minister.
“We are watching with great interest … and encouraging the government of Ethiopia, as well as the opposition parties, to act responsibly during the election campaign and during the [May] election itself,” Carson said. “We think it is incumbent on the [Ethiopian] government to do everything it possibly can to ensure that the playing field is level in the run-up to the election, that there are opportunities for the opposition parties to participate prior to the elections in their campaigns and that they be allowed to vote freely and fairly on election day.
“We do not want to see a repetition of the violence that followed the flawed election of 2005,” Carson told the lawmakers.
Earl Gast, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) senior deputy assistant administrator for Africa, also cited the importance of elections to the democratic process in Africa, telling the House panel, “We believe that leaders who manipulate elections are living on borrowed time.”
“As African societies and political systems continue to develop, the expectations of people toward their governments will continue to rise,” he said. Political processes that don’t meet these expectations can trigger instability and even violent conflict, which can set a country’s development progress back a generation.”
And with more than 20 elections scheduled for Africa in 2010, the official said USAID in 2008-2009 devoted about $89 million for political competition and consensus building in Africa — a third of the development agency’s budget for democracy and governance on the continent. “Our goal is to support the creation of fair and credible election systems, not to determine electoral winners,” he said.
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