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EU lawyers mull war crime warning over Somalia aid

European lawyers are examining whether alleged war crimes committed by Ethiopian and Somali troops in Mogadishu last week could expose the EU to accusations of complicity because of its formidable financial assistance to the two countries.

A massive Ethiopian-led offensive to pacify an insurgency in the Somali capital left nearly 400 people dead between March 29 and April 1. Human rights groups say many of the victims were civilians and accuse the Ethiopians of using tanks and attack helicopters to fire indiscriminately into densely populated areas. Some analysts in Somalia have backed the war crimes allegations, saying that specific clans in Mogadishu have been targeted for "cleansing" by pro-government forces.

Reports of the troop attacks prompted the European commission's senior adviser on security for Somalia to send a letter to Eric van der Linden, the commission's head of delegation in Kenya, on April 2, alerting him to the "significance of the events of the past four days in Mogadishu in terms of the international law on conflict."

The security adviser, who has wide experience in African conflict zones, including Darfur, said that the head of the African Union peacekeeping mission, Amison, might also be guilty of war crimes for failing to act responsibly.

"I need to advise you that there are strong grounds to believe that the Ethiopian government and the transitional federal government of Somalia and the Amison force commander ... have through commission or omission violated the Rome statute of the international criminal court [ICC]," he wrote.

He accused Ethiopian and Somali troops of breaking international law by intentionally attacking civilians in Mogadishu and ordering their displacement.

Ethiopia ousted the Somali Council of Islamic Courts from power in late December but has been unable to pacify Mogadishu, which is controlled by the powerful Hawiye clan. Though the insurgents are former Islamist fighters and clan and warlord militias, the Ethiopians and the Somali government have singled out two subclans as bearing the greatest responsibility.

Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda vehemently reject the war crimes allegations. Van der Linden said it was up the ICC to look at war crimes.

Lawyers will look at the security adviser's warning about the European commission's potential culpability as the largest donor to both Somalia and Ethiopia and as a big financial backer of the peacekeeping mission.
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