In this issue: * INVESTIGATOR FINDS AIDEED GUILTY OF JUNE 5 MASSACRE * ETHIOPIA AWARDED PEACE PRIZE * BELED WEYN DAM THREATENS SHABELLE POPULATION * BELGIANS ADMIT HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES ____________________________________________________________________ S O M A L I A N E W S U P D A T E ____________________________________________________________________ Vol 2, No 20 August 26, 1993. ISSN 1103-1999 ____________________________________________________________________ Somalia News Update is published irregularly via electronic mail and fax. Questions can be directed to antbh@strix.udac.uu.se or to fax number +46-18-151160. All SNU marked material is free to quote as long as the source is clearly stated. ____________________________________________________________________ INVESTIGATOR FINDS AIDEED GUILTY OF JUNE 5 MASSACRE (United Nations, New York, 25 August) THERE IS CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE that General Mohamed Farah Aideed authorized the 5 June attack which killed 24 Pakistani peace-keepers serving with the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II), and that the attack was carried out by elements of the Somali National Alliance (SNA), according to a report issued today. The report was compiled after a comprehensive investigation into the incident, conducted by an independent expert on behalf of the Secretary-General. The attack on the peace-keepers violated multiple provisions of the 1962 Somali Penal Code which had never been repealed, the report pointed out. It also violated international law and thus made General Aideed and his senior colleagues liable to prosecution before an international tribunal or the criminal courts of any State. There was also sufficient evidence to make a prima facie case that an attack on a Pakistani strong point in Mogadishu on 13 June had been designed by persons associated with the SNA to wound or kill non-combatants, the report went on to say. A central principle of international humanitarian law -- respect for the distinction between combatants and non-combatants -- was violated when individuals or organizations used civilians as shields for military operations or demonstrated a wanton indifference to the protection of non-combatants, the report noted. ETHIOPIA AWARDED PEACE PRIZE (Ethiopian Herald, Addis Ababa, 22 August) ETHIOPIA HAS BEEN AWARDED A PEACE PRIZE as a gesture of gratitude for its efforts towards the restoration of peace in Somalia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday. Ethiopia received the award last week at the end of a two-day conference organized by the "Peace Committee of Somalia" in Ottowa, Canada. The prize was handed over to Ato Tekle-Ab Kebede, Charge d'Affiares of the Ethiopian Embassy in Canada, at a ceremony attended by numerous Somali nationals and invited guests, according to the ministry. Ato Tekle-Ab said that the Ethiopian people and government were most concerned about the problem faced by the people of Somalia because Ethiopia was home for several ethnic Somalis.Mr David McDonald, member of the Canadian parliament and former ambassador of Canada to Ethiopia, commended the positive contribution being made by the Ethiopia government towards the prevalence of peace in Somalia. The ministry stated that Ethiopia was awarded a similar prize by a previous meeting organized by Somali citizens in New York. BELED WEYN DAM THREATENS SHABELLE POPULATION (SNU, Uppsala, 26 August) THE GERMAN-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATION Eco Terra yesterday has warned that the plans to construct a dam to enchance the water-supply to the UN troops stationed in Beled Weyn will give drastic conseqences for large parts of southern Somalia. Shabelle river, one of the two rivers in Somalia that has a permanent water-flow, is a very fragile ecosystem. Subsistence activities along its lower stretches will be greatly affected if a dam up-stream further reduces the water. The former regime of Siyad Barre, through several development projects, increased the off-take of water so much that Shabelle river no longer reaches its natural outlet in Jubba river. "Now it will be finally destroyed, if these plans are not stopped immediately, and the result will be not only long term environmental destruction and tremenduous decline in productivity downstream, where the traditional, floodbased adapted agriculture still exists, but also war between the clans will be the result of any change in the water regime" argues Eco Terra in an appeal issued yesterday. Eco Terra has worked in Somalia since many years and consists of well-established tropical ecologists such as Dr. Steinhauer. A spokesperson for the organization in Germany told SNU that "we do not see the environmental concerns as opposed to humanitarian assistance, but on the contrary these plans will, if implemented, gravely affect subsistence along the entire Shabelle river. Therefore the dam is a humanitarian hazard as well as an ecological one". Water-supply in Somalia has already been affected during the civil war. "ICRC's kitchens in Mogadishu are fuelled largely by the bushes and trees from the Balad and Kilometre 16 hills. These hills are the main water-sources for Mogadishu and with the rapid rate of deforestation and loss of vegetation cover to bind water there, Mogadishu's water-supply is already becoming affected", says Eco Terra. "We have spoken to ICRC about this without result", the spokesperson adds. The environmental degradation caused by the deforestation is already visible in the outskirts of Mogadishu. "We have documented a large number of new sand-dunes in an area just south of Mogadishu where", continues the spokesperson. "The important thing right now is to stop the plans for the dam before they mature any further", summarizes Eco Terra. BELGIANS ADMIT HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES (New York Transfer, New York, 25 August) THE DUTCH PAPER 'Algemeen Dagblad' reported on Wednesday Aug.25 the confessions from Belgian Commandos who served in Somalia under the flag of the UN. They admitted that they "often without any reason and probably due to stress manhandled, beated till death or shot dead inhabitants of Somalia". This appeared from testimonies from Belgian militaries in a radioprogram 'Actueel', which is broadcasted by the BRTN (Belgian broadcasting organisation). Earlier this week, the Belgian Minister of Defence, Lacroix, denied serious accusations towards the Belgian commandos. He indignantly stated that this accusations were slander. Further he said he has complete confidence in his men. During the BRTN-broadcast the soldiers admitted that the orders to shoot only in self-defence are not seldomly broken. Also when, during a house-search they ran into people who were carrying a weapon, this often lead to shooting them at once. ____________________________________________________________________ SNU is an entirely independent newsletter devoted to critical analysis of the political and humanitarian developments in Somalia and Somaliland. SNU is piblished by Dr. Bernhard Helander in Uppsala, Sweden. ____________________________________________________________________