Aqeel: Ethiopia has violated the protocol attached to the Convention on International Civil Aviation

Pasha: The incident makes the worsening humanitarian situation in Somalia difficult

Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights condemns the downing of an African Express plane by Ethiopian forces in the city of Brdali in the Bay region in southwestern Somalia on May 4, which was transporting supplies for use in the fight against the Corona virus.

The Foundation denounces the way the Ethiopian forces dealt with that civilian plane, which they shot down under the pretext that "the plane was seeking to carry out a suicide operation at Brdali airport in Somalia." A report by the African Union Mission in Somalia "AMISOM" confirms that the lack of communications was the reason for the downing of the plane, which caused the death of 3 Kenyans and 2 Somali citizens.

Ayman Akil, President of the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights stated that Ethiopia, in that incident, is violating the protocol attached to the amendment of the International Civil Aviation Agreement in Article 3 bis, related to the non-use of weapons against civilian aircraft during flight. Aqeel stressed the need to hold the accused accountable for taking this decision, which killed civilians.

Abdulrahman Pasha, a senior researcher at the African Affairs and Sustainable Development Unit, said that such irresponsible incidents affect the humanitarian operations in Somalia and make the situation more difficult, especially at a time when Somalia suffers from terrorism and the emerging corona virus at the same time. "Pasha" recommended the necessity of making sure to provide compensation to the families of the victims in Kenya and Somalia, as stipulated in the Convention on the Standardization of International Air Transport Rules.

It is worth noting that Africa comes within the interest of the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, as it is a member of the General Assembly in the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, as well as the North Africa region coordinator in the group of major NGOs in Africa of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.