August 19, 2003

How Long Should the World Tolerate ‘Idi Amins’?

By Fitsum Getachew

With the death of Idi Amin Dada a few days ago, a tragic chapter in the history of Uganda/Africa /World came to an epilogue. One of the most brutal and ferocious heads of state that the world ever came to experience, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who has been living in a quiet and luxurious residence in Saudi Arabia for the last 25 years (ever since his atrocious rule was aborted by a Tanzanian supported force of Ugandans), had expired. This was courtesy of the humanitarian gesture the Saudi princes accorded to a fellow Moslem.

Ever since Amin seized power in a coup deposing President Milton Obote, he distinguished himself as being a merciless dictator. One of the most controversial of his decisions was the one he took pertaining to Ugandan Asians who used to trade in the country having established their livelihood there. In the summer of 1972, Amin created a big row with Britain by expelling these ten thousand Asians, after expropriating every thing they had. He accused them of the failures of the country’s economy. Amin was also notorious for suppressing all opposition in the country, including their summary killing, and preservation of some of their heads in his private refrigerator! There were also ghastly stories of his ‘eating’ such remains to avoid the effects of their ‘bad spirit’. There have been thousands of murders and deaths unaccounted for, caused by his orders to subordinates and followers. And Uganda had come under a reign of terror for almost a decade, between 1971 and 1979. Uganda was identified as a country where human rights were violated everyday and there was no rule of law. The dreams and objectives of its independence from Britain had been betrayed.

Today, Uganda under the rule of Yuweri Museveni is considered by many as one of the most progressive societies in Sub-Saharan Africa, with many democratic principles taking root. There is freedom of press and there are various parties operating throughout the country. The society is also showing a certain economic progress enjoying relative peace and stability despite recent episodes of fighting in some parts of the country claiming to overthrow the government of Museveni. A friend of mine who just returned after a visit there was telling me that, unlike Addis, there were no beggars, nor people dressed in tatters roaming around the cities!

The undisturbed life of Idi Amin, in a sort of paradise in Saudi Arabia, has been considered as a motive of discomfort, if not an ‘insult’, not only to the families of all those who had fallen prey to his brutal regime, but also to the people of Uganda and Africa at large. For many, it may have appeared as a forgotten story, but who ever lived during the days in which Amin was in power, remembers vividly what sort of hell Uganda had been. Tales told by many who visited Uganda in the seventies, about the atrocities continuously committed by the Ugandan army, the injustices that used to pervade every facet of Ugandan civil life by the various hierarchies of his reign, were disturbing if not outrageous. Who ever was a supporter of Amin’s regime had a sort of ‘carte blanche’ to do whatever they fancied on the ‘common’ Ugandan. Amnesty International, the organization that campaigns for the respect of human rights throughout the world, had put Uganda on the top of the list of countries where violations of human rights were rife and rampant.

It was a shame that no force managed to oust such a brutal regime for nine years in which hundreds of thousands Ugandan nationals lost their lives, the economy was put in shambles, also due to the expulsion of the ten thousand diligent Ugandan Asians. ( Former British Foreign Secretary Lord Owen is said not to have regretted for suggesting that Amin be assassinated, given his atrocious regime on the par of Pol Pot in Cambodia, although the matter was considered as outrageous by British authorities!) The various bizarre and at times crazy statements that Amin used to pronounce from Kampala had made Uganda a spotlight of the international media.

Among others, Idi Amin publicly praised the deeds of Nazi leader Hitler, arousing international indignation. He declared himself ‘King of Scotland’ and appeared in a Saudi Prince’s funeral dressed in Scottish robes! He declared himself ‘President of Uganda for life’ and claimed more authority than the Queen of England to be considered as the legitimate head of the Commonwealth beside decorating himself with the medal ‘Cross of Queen Victoria’. He passed a death sentence on a certain British scholar called Dennis Hills for criticising him in his book, and killed the Archbishop of the Ugandan Anglican Church. This was one of the major political assassinations that happened during his reign.

For his widely publicized acts, Amin constituted a constant embarrassment and shame for Africa and African leaders, just as people such as Jean Bedel Bokassa of the Central African Republic was. He was at times considered as a buffoon, a clown, but many had labelled him as ‘crazy’ and therefore very dangerous. Africa had its own problems, even under normal circumstances, let alone adding such personalities as Amin, who at the apex of the regime of a country, added fuel to the fire.

Today, more than ever, the issue remains imperative about what to do with people such as Idi Amin, brutal dictators who abuse thoroughly of human rights, effect summary executions, mass killings, mass imprisonment and torture on innocent people, all under the pretext and authority of political leadership. Until when shall such figures evade accountability and enjoy impunity/immunity from their outrageous deeds, enjoy peaceful ‘exile’ in some safe haven as soon as they are ousted of power? Until when shall they enjoy a luxurious life with the robbed treasures from the coffers of their countries, with the complacent friends that they made while in power?

There are many former leaders of this sort still at large. Uganda’s other leader who was president before and after Amin, Milton Obote himself, was accused by many nationals as brutal as Amin was, although less conspicuous, and yet he is living in Zambia, undisturbed. In the case of Ethiopia, we have the case of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, undisputed leader for seventeen years ( today accused of many counts of genocide and crimes against humanity) in peaceful exile, with his family in Zimbabwe, thanks to the comfortable asylum that his friend President Mugabe of Zimbabwe has offered him! Recently, there was the case of Foday Sankoh, the cruel rebel leader, who got caught and was about to appear in court, but died before he was prosecuted for the various atrocities he used to commit on the Sierra Leonean people. Another instance is that of the just deposed leader of Liberia, Charles Taylor. He is accused of plenty of atrocities on his ‘enemies’, people who opposed his reign but is heading for a peaceful life in Nigeria. Outside Africa, there was the brutal leader of Haiti, in the Carribean, Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, who in 1986, fleeing a popular upsurge, went to live in the French Riviera in luxury, even though he had committed so many injustices in his 15-year rule, and never responded to the accusations.

In 1998, there was a huge international controversy, widely publicized by the media throughout the world, that accompanied the extradition of Augusto Pinochet, the former dictator of Chile, to Britain. Pinochet had been responsible for ousting a democratically elected President Salvador Allende of Chile in 1973 and getting to power, after which he had committed outrageous atrocities against his people and other nationals. He was brought to a court of law in England for the crimes he had allegedly committed against British subjects, although later on, his deteriorating state of health exempted him from prosecution (for inability to undergo a trial).

Perpetrators of international crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity, should not be exempted of prosecution, under whatever umbrella they might be. They should not be tolerated. There must be hard and fast rules that should be universally applied to bring such elements, to international tribunals and make them ‘pay’ for their deeds before they expire just as any common individual.

The initiative that has been effected by the United Nations tribunal for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, are cases in point to be supported universally and expanded. Unfortunately, there is reluctance on the part of certain countries in supporting such tribunal. All tyrants of today should realize that there is no way of escaping anywhere, tomorrow, after perpetrating sordid crimes on innocent and defenceless people under the guise of political motives or other pretexts. The distinction between political crimes and common crimes such as burglary and rape is narrowing when it comes to be used as a pretext to secure a safe haven or some sort of immunity. Times should change. There should be no frontier for the violations of certain fundamental principles of international law. Idi Amin’s peaceful death after an equally peaceful life in a safe haven should be viewed as a setback for for Ugandans/Africans. Justice failed the victims of his regime. According safe haven for people like him cannot be ‘justified’ under humanitarian pretexts. They should be viewed as an ‘offense’ to the victims! What shall we make of the estimated four hundred thousand deaths who remained unaccountable? There is no way that the massacre of thousands should be outweighed by the ‘peace’ or ‘safety’ of one person. Rather, justice should have been served whenever and wherever possible. The same is true for all dictators of the world, no matter what their colour, race or religion!

This episode therefore, should raise this crucial question for the up coming, aspiring tyrants and butchers of various make, who as usual plan to go and seek shelter somewhere, in a peaceful beach! They should be warned that ‘enough is enough’. The world should not be a safe haven for any blood thirsty tyrant, such as Idi Amin! If there are any, they should have their dues before their ‘natural death’. People like Idi Amin should not be allowed to die in their beds. I remember a certain Italian journalist once commenting on the immediate execution by a firing squad of the Patriotic Resistance Movement, after a summary trial, of the Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (he inflicted so much death and tragedy on Italians, and even Ethiopians, between the nineteen twenties and forties). She said it was an honour (and you can see the act in the film produced on the life of Mussolini) for the Italian people that this had happened, because that was what exactly he had deserved! His body was then hanged up side down, in public squares, so that the people could have a close look at it! This should be the end of all ruthless tyrants! We are longing for such days to come, to all tyrants, dictators and ‘butchers’ of all kinds that our continent continues to hatch. Africa, the world should be cleaned from such ‘race’!