Mengistu passport “illegal”

The Ethiopian former ruler, Mengistu Hailemariam, was not entitled to a Zimbabwean passport recently issued to him, the ‘Zimbabwe Independent’ said on Friday, 6 March. Government officials in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, had “broken the law” by granting passports to Mengistu and his family, the Harare-based newspaper said. The Zimbabwean home affairs minister, John Nkomo, told the newspaper that he was unaware Mengistu held a Zimbabwean passport. “In any case, one has to be a Zimbabwean citizen first in order to get a Zimbabwean passport,” he said. Mengistu had recently been granted permanent residency, and would normally have to wait a further two years to apply for citizenship and a passport, he said. According to the paper, citizenship could allow for Mengistu’s extradition to Ethiopia to face charges of crimes against humanity. He had previously held refugee status in Zimbabwe, and been protected from extradition by international conventions. Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 after his notorious government was overthrown. He was tried in absentia in 1995 - a year in which he also survived an assassination attempt.