Committing a crime against humanity.

by Eze Eluchie

The Death Sentence imposed on 528 members/supporters of the Egyptian Brotherhood Party after a 1-day sham trial during which Attorneys for the defendants were not allowed to act for their clients and the prosecution presented no evidence linking the accused persons, gives credence to the fact that the military dictators who have seized control of the ancient land of the Pharaohs appear to be losing their minds.

With the arraignment today, of other leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood (inclusive of its spiritual guide, Mohammed Badie, and Saad al-Katatni, the chairman of the Brotherhoods’ Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), in a second batch comprising 683 accused persons, all of whom are likely to be equally sentenced to death, one can say without equivocation that the General al-Sisi junta is intent on annihilating the entirety of the leadership and membership of the Muslim Brotherhood

History and commonsense has severally proved that it is always better to have a known physical adversary than to push such adversaries underground and have to deal with ‘unknown enemies’

General al-Sisi and his gang are out to murder sleep - and as all who murder sleep have found out to their chagrin, they shall indeed sleep no more.

So unfortunate! One wonders if the nightmare called the General al-Sisi led junta would have been avoided if a coup had appropriately been referred to as a coup, when it took place?

http://ezeluchie.blogspot.com/2013/07/redefining-coup.html

As I have repeatedly stated in other fora and on this blog, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood party, during the period it held sway over the governance of Egypt, itself acted in a draconian undemocratic manner. Such display of poor leadership skills and inability to effectively manage the affairs of the state of Egypt when it was in charge, can in no way justify the actions of the General al-Sisi's junta against the Muslim Brotherhood.

If the Egyptian junta goes ahead and executes any of the persons it has condemned to death under this most draconian, illegitimate, unjust and unfair legal process, a crime against humanity under the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court  would have been consummated. 

In the event of the execution of any of the accused persons sentenced under the judgment in focus here, it will be appropriate to set in process the necessary mechanisms to investigate, prosecute and where found culpable punish, the leadership of the present junta ruling over Egypt and their agents linked to this international crime for crimes against humanity.

Picture: Anti-coup protests in Egypt.

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The Law as a tool of societal protection.

by Eze Eluchie

The primary function of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, in addition to prosecution of offenders is the protection of the general population from the antics of unscrupulous private and public entities.

In furtherance of this noble role, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation in several sane climes has penalized several corporate conglomerates, public agencies and  individuals who have in one way or the other tried to abuse, cheat, undermine, defraud, under-change or in any way short-change the public or State interests.

The Office of the Attorney General of the United States of America has just announced (19th March 2014), an agreement under which Toyota Motors will pay the people and Government of the United States the sum of over U.S. $ 1,2 Billion for wrongs committed by Toyota in amongst other infractions, failing to expeditiously  recall defective Toyota vehicles, some of which caused the death of American citizens.

The same Office of the Attorney General of the United States of America in collaboration with the Offices of Attorney General of several component States of the American federation, had under the Masters Settlement Agreement (MSA)  forced Cigarette manufacturers (Multinational Tobacco Conglomerates) to pay an astonishing U.S. $ 25 Billion over some years, for the damages caused by cigarette products to the peoples of the United States.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, all the national, regional and State Governments have enshrined in their structure an ‘Office of the Attorney General’, which on paper are charged with similar functions as their counterparts  in the US and across member States of the European Union. Unfortunately however, that is where the comparison expires.

Corporate bodies across sub-Saharan Africa commit and get away with all manners of crimes and at times partake in the ultimate crime (murder), as was the case with the killing of environmental activists in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Rather than act to protect the interests of the domestic population and State, our Attorney Generals often times exert their intellect (or whatever is left of it), to re-write, obviate and truncate the intendments of domestic statutes to ensure that those who trample on the local populations, not only get away with their crimes, but also make financial benefits therefrom.

When will the various corporate giants which thrive on corruption, bribery and brazen theft across sub-Saharan Africa be made to account for their wrongs by the public office charged with that responsibility?

When will our laws begin to serve as a tool for development and not an avenue for continued degradation of the hapless populations in sub-Saharan Africa?

When will vehicle/product recalls and other actions taken against corporate entities at their countries of origin be replicated in sub-Saharan African States?

When will the various Office of the Attorney General in sub-Saharan Africa assume the responsibilities for which they are created?

Picture: The Law 

Cold War II, officially on?

by Eze Eluchie

I usually tend to proffer answers to questions or project perspectives from a sub-Saharan viewpoint in my Blogposts – the fluidity of the evolving Ukrainian situation makes it imperative to ask quite a lot of questions, The answers to these questions will serve to found subsequent perspectives on the rather interesting (to the observer from afar, certainly not to those living in the front-lines in Ukraine) developments in Ukraine and the volatile Black Sea region.

Some of the intriguing questions include:

1.      Could any discerning observer have predicted the robust reaction by the Russian Federation to the unfolding crisis in Ukraine?

2.      If yes, should stop-gap measures not have been thought out in advance to ameliorate the reactions now evolving?

3.      Did Russia’s offer of Billions of Dollars in economic aid to the ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich a few weeks ago not serve as sufficient indication to all concerned o f the extent to which the Russian Federation was willing to go to protect its historical cultural, economic and political ties to Ukraine?

4.      Did the aggressive support given to the opposition to Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich by the European Union and its member States, inclusive of the leaked private conversations where the US Ambassador to Ukraine was discussing preferred outcomes of the Ukrainian ‘revolution’, serve as sufficient impetus to raise Russian fears as to the purport and direction of the Ukrainian opposition?

5.      Was there a bit too much haste in ‘recognizing’ the ‘opposition’ as the defacto government in Ukraine – long before the said ‘opposition’ had actually formed anything akin to a Government?

6.      In the light of the February 21^st agreement brokered between the Ukrainian opposition and the President Viktor Yanukovich administration by a group of European Union Foreign Ministers with the tacit approval of the Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, was the forced removal and sack from office of President Viktor Yanukovich legitimate under International Laws?

With the entry of Russia’s Armed Forces into Ukraine, Cold War II, which has been brewing for years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, is officially on. The Russian Army is clearly not in Ukraine to see the sights.

What implications for us in sub-Saharan Africa, and Nigeria in particular, we will have to deal with our domestic situation by ourselves, the best ways we deem fit. There will be far greater things of concern to the United States and its allies in the short-term than which terror group is blowing up school buildings across West African States or which East African country is passing laws to protect its social values.

Let’s be ready, we are living in quite interesting times.

Picture: Flags of Russia and the United States of America