Campaign for justice and freedom: part 2

The protest rallies are dying down. Ethiopians in the Diaspora as well as back home may be getting back to their everyday lives and concerns. The EPRDF government claims that all is calm as it continues arresting and prosecuting citizens for no other reason than exercising their rights. The EPRDF government has clearly shown itself to be a bona fide brutal dictatorship. This is not news to many but it may be news to some who have not paid enough attention to the two-faced (one for foreigners and one for the Ethiopian people) nature of the EPRDF beast. As I mentioned in my earlier post, we need to continue to communicate the plight of all Ethiopians with our elected representatives and other people and organizations of influence. All is not well with Ethiopia yet and we need to do more so that the sacrifices made by so many would not be in vain.

So, what more can we do? How do we move beyond dealing with the crisis of the day to forging a lasting solution to the long-suffering people of Ethiopia? I will share what is on my mind. Useful and constructive comments are appreciated as I don’t claim to have found the solution to what ails us.

I believe it is in the best interest of those who call Ethiopia as their home and/or their heritage to discuss ideas openly in order to lay a foundation that endures. There are various political and civic groups operating in and outside of Ethiopia. And there are people, like myself, who have not been active in the political dialogue until recently but now want to play a constructive role for the future of Ethiopia. We need to refocus the anger and sadness of the current crisis into an energetic campaign for freedom and justice for the people of Ethiopia. How do we do that?

• We need to bring all who have a stake in Ethiopia's future together.
• We need to hear from all voices even ones we prefer not to with the goal of finding a common ground on which to continue the struggle for a society based on liberty and justice for all.
• We need to remove or at least lower the barriers we have built between each other over time so we can build trust and work together for the common good.
• We need to accept and respect one another as Ethiopians who have concerns for the well being of all Ethiopians despite our disagreements.
• We need to work on a set of principles that will form the basis upon which a new Ethiopia will be founded. These principles shoul apply to all Ethiopians , should address most pressing concerns of the people and should be acceptable to the majority who have a stake in the future of Ethiopia. ( I say majority as it may be impossible to find something that every single stakeholder can agree on.)
• We need to articulate a vision for a united, just and strong Ethiopia that derives its strength from the diversity of its peoples.
• We need to work until the people, of their own free will, take ownership of the vision and establish a new and just union.

Such things may have been tried before but we need to continue until we find a way that has broad support and can capture the imagination of the people. I understand it is not as easy as putting a few bullet points together. But we have to start sharing our ideas, who knows how far we can go. Failure should not be an option if a dream of a society based on liberty and justice for all Ethiopians is to be fulfilled.

Some hard questions to ponder:

• what does a united Ethiopia look like?
• On what basis does this unity rest?
• How do we deal with the issues of past inequities and oppression while maintaining a united vision for Ethiopia?

These are some of the real questions we all have to struggle with in earnest if we are to get anywhere.

Campaign for justice and freedom: part 1

The organized protests of Ethiopians against the injustices of the EPRDF government around the world are very encouraging. This, I believe, is a first step but we need to continue making the plight of our people known to the outisde world by peaceful protests and letter writing campaigns to our elected representatives supported by evidence when possible. The journey to a democratic Ethiopia will be a long and hard one, but we should do what we can wherever we are to make the end of the journey nearer. Today, I share a letter I wrote to the White House regarding the current crisis in Ethiopia. We need to persuade all to the cause of democracy in Ethiopia.

Dear President Bush,

I am an American of Ethiopian descent and am very concerned by the brutal oppression of peaceful demonstrators by the government of Ethiopia. As a donor country to Ethiopia and an advocate for liberty and justice, I urge you to use your influence to let the Prime Minister of Ethiopia know that such actions are not tolerated. I am encouraged by what you said during your second inaugural address:

"America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies. We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people.

America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies. Yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators. They are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty. "

Dear President Bush, the Ethiopian government led by the Prime Minster's party (EPRDF) has been crushing dissent in everyway to keep itself in power. In an election that the opposition contested in good faith, he declared his party a winner even before the counting was over. Now, the opposition is expressing it's dissatisfaction with peaceful civil disobedience. Instead of addressing the concerns of the opposition the government has taken measures disproportionate to the situation as it has done before with little consequence from donor countries such as ours.

The Ethiopian people, for the last 14 years, have been living at the mercy of bullies and they want to be free of bullying and be governed by their freely elected representatives. It is my hope that our government does demand that the support of the United States of America to Ethiopia's leaders depends on the decent treatment of the Ethiopian people.

Thank you very much.

Rejoice but keep up the pressure

We are hearing that some of those that have been arrested are being released. It is good news that they are alive and well even though the experience may scar them for life. But the government should not be let off the hook just because it released these innocent citizens. The government should

1. apologize in public for arresting innocent citizens in contravention of their constitutional rights
2. pay restitution for the pain and suffering it has caused these innocent citizens
3. account for all the people it has arrested but not released or charged
4. give full access to family members of all arrested
5. bring to justice those who gave the unlawful orders for mass arrests, so no such thing is repeated.

It is only right that the victims should receive apology and restitution at a minimum for suffering without cause. We should not be satisfied with the fact that they are released. Mass arrest and release as a terror tool must end. It may be idealistic to wish the EPRDF government will do any of the listed things but we should press on until they right the wrongs. Since the decision to terrorize the people, I believe, was made at the highest levels of government, they may not willingly accept that they have done anything wrong. But we should continue to point the just way forward.

The Armed Forces: Protect the country or the government?

Article 87 of the Ethiopian constitituion relates to the Principles for National Defence . It is enumerated below. I would like to focus on the last three sub-articles.

1. The composition of the national armed forces shall reflect the equitable representation of the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia.
2. The Minister of Defence shall be a civilian.
3. The armed forces shall protect the sovereignty of the country and carry out any responsibilities as may be assigned to them under any state of emergency declared in accordance with the Constitution.
4. The armed forces shall at all times obey and respect the Constitution.
5. The armed forces shall carry out their functions free of any partisanship to any political organization(s).

Sub-article 3 shows that the role of the armed forces is

• to protect the sovereignty of the country and
• perform duties under state of emergency if the state of emergency is constitutional.

In performing their duties in sub-article 3 they are to also keep in mind what is in sub-articles 4 and 5, which is

• the armed forces are to obey and respect the constitution at all times and
• they are to show no partisanship to any political organization(s).

The fact that a state of emergency is delcared (not sure if it is true currently) can not be used as an excuse to ignore their duties under article 87 sub-articles 4 and 5. The duty to obey and respect the constitution is not the same as obeying the government. The armed forces need to understand that the people have rights under the constitution that no government official can deny. But the current crisis has shown us that the army neither obeys nor respects the constitution. Obeying and respecting the constitution requires disobeying the unconstitutional order of the Prime Minister or any government official to shoot, kill and arrest citizens for exercising their rights under the constitution.

It is clear the armed forces allegiance is to the Prime Minister not the constitution. This should not be acceptable. The Ethiopian people need the protection of their armed forces not bullets for freely exercising their rights.

Note: I am not a lawyer but just was curious as to the relationship between the role of the military under the constitution and what happened since the May 15, 2005 election.

Speak with one voice

Politics based on ethnicity has been the norm for the past 14 years of EPRDFs reign. Even though there were those who advocated principle based politics, they did not have much success until now. Unfortunately, this success is met with ruthless cruelty that has always shown its face when EPRDF fails to win hearts.

Now, we have a government that disregards the constitution but accuses its opponents of the same. We have a government that denies the rights enshrined in the constitution, takes extrajudicial steps to terrorize the people it is supposed to protect to retain its power. Whatever the EPRDF leaders may say to appease the western donors, the people of Ethiopia will face a depressing future unless the EPRDF led government is replaced by one that has respect for the people and the consititution.

In order to accomplish a change of government, ethnic based politics has to give way to politics based on ideas and principles that apply to all Ethiopians. This is not to say that we should ignore the fact that we are a nation of various nationalities. We should celebrate our diversity without making our diversity to work against us. We should never let our diversity be used to divide us. We have to realize that we have a shared destiny and work towards that end.

The seeds of division that ethnic politics has sown is a challenge we should overcome if we are to speak with one voice. We are to speak with one voice:

1. for the release of those who have been arrested and whose whereabouts is unknown
2. for the release of those who have been arrested and whose whereabouts known but have not committed any crime
3. so that our people can know and exercise their right under the consititution without fear of reprisals
4. so that those who ordered the killing, the arrest and banishment of political leaders and innocent civilians are brought to justice
5. for a new political order that respects the voice of the people, that strengthens the unity of the diverse cultures within our country and that fosters economic growth for the benefit of all its citizens

It is my hope that the sacrifice of those gallant Ethiopians will not be in vain. They faced EPRDFs bullets with only a stone in their hands and I pray their sacrifice will bring us the victory as David was victorious over Goliath.

May the almighty God remember us!

EPRDF unleashes its terror machine

A lot of people were excited about the elections in May. There was genuine hope that real change and progress were at hand. People came out and made their voices heard by voting. As the results were coming in, the ruling party (EPRDF) realized that it had been utterly rejected by the people. Once this realization dawned on them, they started their manipulation of the system in order to maintain power.

The oppositon, justifiably, cried foul. The oppostion contested the results in many areas but the final result let the ruling EPRDF's fradulent victory stand. When the opposition, mainly CUD, after exhausting all avenues decided to boycott the parliament. The ruling party changed parliamentary rules to make the incoming opposition ineffective. Despite the effort of foreign governments to mediate, the CUD and EPRDF could not come to agree on the way forward.

Finally, the CUD calls on civil disobedience by staying home. Before the call took effect, the government starts its crackdown on oppositon leaders and supporters. People start expressing their dissatisfaction of the election results by peaceful demonstration. The security forces deploy in force to crush the peaceful demonstration. It is not clear how the rock throwing started by the protestors but it is my belief it is instigated by the government in order to get a pretext for a full blown carckdown.

Using this rock throwing incident as a pretext, the so called democratic government of Ethiopia unleashes the full force of its military and police forces on its own people. They began by arresting all leaders of CUD and whoever else associated with them. In some case, killing wives and children of the leaders in the process. These forces using machine guns and tanks begin suppresing the demonstration. Indescriminate shooting and mass arrests of young people continues throughout the country. Only God knows where they have taken these young people and what treatment they are receivng.

It is hard to say how this situation will be resolved. I hope the donor nations that prop this government up will put extreme pressure on the government:

1. to immediately release everyone who is arrested and has not committed a crime
2. to bring those soldiers and their superiors who gave the shoot to kill order to justice
3. to have a truly independent (not one appointed by the criminal Prime Minister) committe to investigate everything that happend in the last week and report its findings to the world.
4. to agree to the fact that the army never be used to intimidate, arrest and kill innocent citizens for expressing their views and exercising their rights
5. to allow all Ethiopian citizens to exercise their right to free speech and all other rights as given in the constitution

The list could go on but the American taxpayer should not be funding the oppression of innocent citizens by dictators.