Ethiopia’s brutal former president Mengistu Haile Mariam, who was this week convicted of genocide, is an unwelcome guest in Zimbabwe and must be extradited to face justice, the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Thursday.
Mengistu was granted refuge by the Zimbabwean government of President Robert Mugabe in 1991 and has been living, some say luxuriously, in Harare ever since.
Reports say the authorities here have indicated they will not hand over Mengistu for prosecution, despite his conviction in absentia earlier this week of killing thousands during his brutal, 17-year rule.
In a statement, MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said most Zimbabweans regard Mengistu as an unwelcome guest who has overstretched the natural benignity of the average Zimbabwean.
There have been allegations — not confirmed by Mugabe’s government — that Mengistu, as a security adviser to the Zimbabwean president, had a hand in plotting last year’s devastating campaign of shack demolitions, which left up to 700 000 Zimbabweans homeless and jobless.
Chamisa said the government’s refusal to hand over Mengistu betrays its inner fear of international law. ”The days in which dictators would consort in a boys’ club and luxuriously look after themselves are over,” said Chamisa in a statement. ”Mr Mengistu may be safe in Harare for now, but for how long?”
The genocide verdict carries a death sentence in Ethiopia. — Sapa-dpa