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Ginbot 7, a Movement for Justice and Democracy is formed

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

May 14, 2008
Press Release

Ethiopians’ long quest and struggle for justice and freedom is continuing today. The march, though torturous, towards democracy is on. The millions that participated in the May 15, 2005, general election have vowed that no amount treachery and oppression shall break their will to live in a just, free, prosperous and united Ethiopia.

In 2005, 25 million Ethiopians, trusting the words of the ruling party and its western backers and hoping that the election of 2005 will be different from previous elections, went out and registered to vote. The people, along with opposition, were led to believe that for the first time in the country’s history will have the right to elect those who should assume power and put an end to the chaos and misery associated with the thorny issue of power struggle.

Even though there were tough challenges, both to the electorate and the opposition, in contrast to the 2005 election process before voting day was remarkably fair and free.
On May 15, 2005, over 96% of the 25 million registered voters, went to the polling stations, and voted despite the long wait of eight to twelve hours. In unparalleled dignity and orderliness rarely displayed, Ethiopians proved to the world that they had been ready for democracy long before their rulers allowed them to taste it.

Upon learning that the public had voted for the opposition groups, especially in the major cities across the country, on May 16, 2005 the Prime Minister went on Television at 9:00 P.M. and declared a “State of Emergency”. In the Capital Addis Ababa peaceful gatherings and demonstrations were banned. The Prime Minister personally took a direct command of the Police and security forces. In the rural areas, where international observers were absent and it was easy to apply coercion, the ruling party forcibly removed the opposition poll watchers and began counting votes. On May 17 2005, when less that 20% of the total votes were counted, the incumbent declared the election victory. By blatantly rigging the votes of millions it made its intent how it will cling to power. On June 8 2005, protesters who were outraged by the stolen election went out to peacefully protest in the streets of Addis Ababa. In response over 50 innocent civilian were shot and murdered in cold blood.

All offers of negotiations to placate the wounded ruling tyrants were ineffective. The proposal put by the opposition to allow the ruling party stay in power with votes it has misappropriated, provided it agrees to lay the foundation of democratic institutions necessary to curb the abuse of power by ruling parties and make elections fair, free and meaningful met outright rejection by the government. Further repression ensued.

In October 22 2006, the entire leadership of the main opposition party were rounded up and thrown in to Jail. Many more, journalists, civil rights advocates and human rights activists were added to the prison list. A trumped up charge of treason and genocide was prepared and an 18 month illegal incarceration followed. In the same fateful October day of 2005, the prime minister dispatched the heavily armed and equipped special force of the Agazi brigade and murdered over 193 citizens in the Capital Addis Ababa. The carnage in the rest of the country, away from the prying eyes of international media, was brutal and in mass.

The government unleashed a house to house search and hand picked the supporters of the opposition that it has come to identify through their participation and support for the opposition in the 2005 election. In two weeks alone nearly 100,000 innocent citizens were sent to camps and prisons, and were subjected to in human and degrading treatment. The whole country was turned into a mass concentration camp.

In its own perverse sense of justice, the ruling party wanted to pin the mayhem and the killing that took place after the election onto the opposition. The incarcerated CUD leaders became perfect scapegoats. In unimaginable shamelessness and using treachery, deceit and manipulating mediators, the government coerced CUD leaders into signing a document stating: “…taking responsibility or an admission of guilt and plea for clemency” in exchange for their release from prison.

Since the shock the ruling party suffered in an election it called with the certainty of wining it, its sole occupation has become to terrorize, weaken all opposition forces and remain unchallenged in power. Using the cover of legality of the laws that are designed in its favor, the government destroyed all major political parties, thereby destroying the fledgling pluralism in the country.

Upon denying recognition and legal status to CUDP, and after merely three years it had suffered a crashing defeat at the polls by the opposition, the government now claims that it has won back all seats it lost to CUDP in a recent election conducted to replace the parliamentary seats rejected by CUDP. The CUD refusal to take the seats was to protest against the government refusal to negotiate on future election and parliamentary procedures. Ironically, in the recent election, it was only the ruling party that filed candidates making it clear that the claimed victory is hollow.

The giving away of the land from Quara region, a birth place of Ethiopia’s greatest hero Emperor Tewodros to the Sudan, and detaining and abusing Teddy Afro, an artist whose songs of love, unity, hope and tolerance has inspired millions of Ethiopians at home and abroad has no other intent but to cause pain to the public. It is clearly a demonstration of an utter lack of respect and insult to the people of Ethiopia.

It is, therefore, the continuance of these and similar litany of repression, degradation, trampling on individual and national pride and heritage that resulted in the formation of the Movement, Ginbot 7. As proud Ethiopians whose ancestors have paid untold sacrifice to save us from the type of humiliating treatment by others we say no to life without freedom and honor. No to the home made tyrants whose appetite for blood, treachery, embezzlement and betrayal has surpassed all records.

We are continuing what we began on May 15th 2005 and October of 2006 in which we promised to make the people of Ethiopia the sole source of political power, and that is why we decided to form the “Ginbot 7 Movement.”

The primary objective of our movement is to stir our country towards a stable democratic process and transition. We recognize that this effort or task will not be achieved by one political party alone, or by few political parties who share similar ideologies. It needs a willing coalition of and collective effort of all parties who feel or claim to have a stake in Ethiopia’s political future. We see the need that all stakeholders need to discuss and reach a mutual agreement on how to achieve the stated objective. Our movement is fully committed and dedicated in bringing all parties together to begin dialogue. To that end, we are already seeing promising signs.

The government that is subjecting our people to misery and humiliation is being aided and abated by Western governments’ money, material, training, and other benefits as a reward for its questionable services. Thus, we ought to organize and work tirelessly throughout the world to have Western countries support democracy and correct their misguided policies and challenge the tyrants in Addis Ababa. To illicit the support and camaraderie of citizens of Western Nations, in opposing and pressuring their governments to change their misguided policies on Ethiopia, Ginbot 7 will work tirelessly with Ethiopians in the Diaspora. We are certain that with an intense campaign of “Know Ethiopia” we will put the struggle for justice, freedom and democracy in Ethiopia in frame.

Our Movement would like to make it clear, to foes and friends, that in order to avert the current humiliation and disgrace to our country and ourselves the Movement will cooperate, assist, and form alliance with others who believe in the principle of democracy and human rights. The Movement shall not seek the consent or permission of the tyrannical regime of Ethiopia in any of its future undertakings.

While the EPRDF is invading Somalia, ceding land to the Sudan, making our country landlocked, and remaining in power through treason as it has ascended to power trough similar means, we hereby declare that we shall not sit idle only for the sake of holding the moral high ground and watch the dismantling of our beloved country. We will engage in any action the movement deems proper in advancing our struggle for freedom and democracy. Along this line, the Movement has a plan to forge relationships, immediately, with neighboring countries and others based on mutual benefit and in an effort to rid Meles Zenawi’s destructive practices in the region.

Our Movement shall employ all kinds and means of struggle to reach its stated goal. If there is an opportunity to negotiate with EPRDF in implementing basic democratic principles, the Movement remains open to accommodate such discussions or negotiations. In fact, the Movement full-heartedly gives priority and prefers this method of resolving disputes than all others. However this should not be construed as groveling. This is simply a call stemming from calm and rational thinking that dialogue is beneficial for all involved. Still, our call to negotiate and our willingness to talk will not, under any circumstances, delay, derail, or hinder our zeal and passionate determination of our pursuit of liberty, justice, and democracy.

To Ethiopians, who have had enough of atrocity, who can no longer take humiliation, who yearn for freedom/liberty, we are confident that you will join us, and we are certain that our united struggle shall prevail in the shortest possible time.

We will forever remember May 15!!

The Spirit of Ginbot 7 will prevail!!

26 thoughts on “Ginbot 7, a Movement for Justice and Democracy is formed”

  1. WOW! ELias thank you for such enterviewwww!!!!!!!!!!!!

    But can you tell us what he was feeling for Federalism? Does he agree with Oromia Amhara Tigre Gambela so on?

    OLF are they now support 1 Ethiopia?

    thanks Elias!

  2. The long awaited leadership has arrived . Kidues, kiduse.

    is it me or “Ginbot” should be spelled “Ginbote”, so we can get the strong “O” we get when we spell “boat”.

    If it spells Ginbot, we get the soft “O” we find when we spell “Bots”. (my suggestion is based on American Pronunciation)

    Selam

  3. Thanks Elias for the Live broadcast!

    Their website is already up and running (ginbot7.org). Their logo seems to suggest they are a hybrid/combination of Kinijit (the V sign in the middle) and UDJP (a balance-the universal sign of justice). Well good luck to the participants, I wish them all the best.

  8. Yes in deed!!!! now we are on the right truck with the heroes like Dr. Bire & Co. Today is Ginbot 7, by which we have voted for our likes, but forcefully averted by the cruel & anti Ethiopia fascists. As a result many had killed, detained & others forced to leave our land (Including me). Therefore it is time to say enough is enough to the cruel woyane & organize ourselves to freedom.

    God bless U all & our beloved land!!!!!!!!
    Victory will trumpth!!!!!!!!

  11. The year 2000 Ginbot 7 is sad day for Woyane and its followers, as was the Ginbot 7 of 1997. Woyane was voted out on Ginbot 7, 1997. Their refusal to accept the verdict of the election sparked the fire that burns them out to last.
    VIVA Ginbot7 Movement!

  16. We shall fight for freedom,
    live for love
    struggle for peace
    till the end of time,
    for we belive in, the almighty lord
    vow to die
    for his holly word
    Never shall Cowardice fill our hearts
    burning flesh, bood bath nor breaking bones
    allow them hurt no more
    touch tiny hair strand
    To the end rise up,
    fight to the end
    Let peace and prospherity
    spread up on the land!
    ONE LOVE ETHIOPIA

  18. እነዶ/ር ብርሃኑ ነጋ “ግንቦት 7” ንቅናቄን በይፋ አሳወቁ

    Ethiopia Zare (ረቡዕ ግንቦት 6 ቀን 2000 ዓ.ም. May 14, 2008)፦ ዶ/ር ብርሃኑ ነጋን ጨምሮ አምስት የቀድሞ የቅንጅት የላዕላይ ምክር ቤት አባላት ስላቋቋሙት “ግንቦት 7 የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዴሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ” በተሰኘው አዲስ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲን አስመልክቶ በኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቭዥን ኔትዎርክ (ኢ.ቲ.ኤን.) መግለጫ ሰጡ።

    የንቅናቄው መስራቾች የሆኑት የቀድሞ የቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ የላዕላይ ምክር ቤት አባላት የነበሩት ዶ/ር ብርሃኑን ጨምሮ በቅርቡ ከቀድሞው ቅንጅትም ሆነ ከአሁኑ አንድነት ፓርቲ ራሳቸውን ማግላላቸውን ያሳወቁት አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ፅጌ፣ አቶ መስፍን አማን፣ አቶ ዳንኤል አሰፋ እና አቶ ቸኮል ጌታሁን ናቸው።

    በኢ.ቲ.ኤን. በአካል ተገኝተው የድርጅቱን መመስረት በኦፊሴል ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ በመስጠት ያሳወቁት ዶ/ር ብርሃኑ ነጋ እና አቶ ዳንኤል አሰፋ ሲሆኑ ሌሎቹ ከአውሮፓ በስልክ ኮንፈረንስ ተቀላቅለዋቸው ነበር።

    የንቅናቄው አመራሮች በጋዜጣዊ መግለጫው ላይ በአካል መገኘት ከቻሉት ጋዜጠኞች ሌላ በስልክ ኮንፈረንስ ከተለያዩ ዓለማት ተካፍለው ለነበሩ ጋዜጠኞች ለተሰነዘሩላቸው ጥያቄዎች ምላሽ ሰጥተዋል።

    ንቅናቄው በየሣምንቱ የሚወጣ “የግንቦት 7 ድምጽ” የተሰኘ ልሳን የሚኖረው ሲሆን፣ http://www.ginbot7.org (ግንቦት 7 ዶት ኦርግ) የተሰኘ ኦፊሴላዊ ድረ ገጽ እንደሚኖረው ታውቋል። ይህንን ዜና በምናጠናክርበት ወቅት የድርጅቱ ድረ ገጽ መሥራት የጀመረ ሲሆን፣ “የግንቦት 7 ድምጽ” የተሰኘው ልሳን ልዩ ዕትምም ተሰራጭቷል።

    የግንቦት 7 ድምጽ ልሳን ኤዲቶሪያል ቦርድ አባላት ዶ/ር ብርሃኑ ነጋ፣ አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ፣ አቶ መስፍን አማን እና አቶ ቸኮል ጌታሁን ሲሆኑ፣ አዘጋጆቹ ደግሞ አቶ ፋሲል የኔዓለም የቀድሞ የአዲስ ዜና ጋዜጣ አዘጋጅ እና አቶ ደረጀ ኃ/ወልድ የቀድሞ የነፃነት ጋዜጣ አዘጋጅ መሆናቸው ታውቋል።

    ልሳኑ በዚህ የመጀመሪያው ልዩ ዕትሙ “ነፃነት የቀደምቶቻችን ውርስ፣ ዴሞክራሲ የዜግነት መብት እንጂ የአምባገነኖች ችሮታ አይደለም” በሚል ርዕስ ባቀረበው ርዕሰ አንቀጹ፤ “… ግንቦት 7 ስንሰኝ፣ ለአስርተ ሰዓታት ላንቃቸው በውሃ ጥም ደርቆ፣ በብብታቸው የምርጫ ካርዳቸውን ደብቀው፣ የአዲስ ቀን ተስፋ ሰንቀው፣ ለለውጥ እግራቸው እስከሚዝል የተሰለፉትን አረጋውያንና ባልቴቶች፣ ሲቪሎችና ወታደሮች፣ ወጣቶችና ሴቶችን የተስፋ ስነቃችሁ ተቀምቶ አየቀርም ለማለት ነው። …

    “… አዎን! ባለፉት ሦስት ዓመታት፣ ብዙዎች የተስፋቸውን ውጤት ሳያዩ ከሕይወት ተለይተውናል። ያለፉቱ፣ ለሰዓታት በመዎም ታሪክ በሠሩበት ቀን፣ በግንቦት 7 ስም በመሠረትነው ሕዝባዊ ንቅናቄ፣ የዕብሪተኞችን ተራራ ልንደረምስ መነሳታችንን ልናበስራቸው ቆርጠናል። ግንቦት ሰባት የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዴሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ እምቢ ለእብሪት፣ እሺ ለሁሉም ዴሞክራሲያዊ ኃይሎች ሕብረት፣ እሺ ለሁለገብ የትግል ስልት፣ እሹ ከብልጣብልጥነት ነፃ ለሆነ፣ የዜጎችን መብት ከምር ለተቀበለ፣ ሀገራዊ ድርድርና ስምምነት ይላል። ዓላማው ቀና፣ ጥሪው ሀገራዊ ነው” ሲል “የግንቦት 7 ድምጽ” በርዕሰ አንቀጹ ላይ አስፍሯል።

  19. Ginbot 7 [ MJL D] IS THE BEGINNING OF THE EAST AFRICA TALIBANS’S NIGHTMARE . THIS IS WHAT WE ETHIOPIANS NEED TO HAVE. THE RIGHT LEADERS IN THE RIGHT TIME. For God’s , and our poor and innocent people , let us unite ,stand together firmly as our fathers ,and fore fathers had done beforew and we will see the out come.SHAME ON US.80M PEOPLE AGAINST THIS FOREGN MECERNARRY , BUT STILL THEY ARE THERE BECAUSE OF LACK OF COORDINATION. FROM NOW ON MELSE AND HIS CRIMINALS MUST CHANGE THEIR CLOTHES THREE TIMES PERDAY. ALL ISRAEL’S HOSPITALS SHOULD FULL OF THESE CRIMINALS AS LIKE BEFORE

  20. When a dictator loses an election, he with his cabinet members, declares ‘state of emergency’ on his country and punishes those who support the opposing party. Therefore, one of the goals of Ginbot 7 should be to win not an election in Ethiopia under Dictator Meles Seitanawi but the hearts and minds of the American people and the European Union. If Ginbot 7 comes with new techniques to get the support of Washington and the European people and succeeds in winning them, then the days of Meles Seitanawi will be over because we know without the help and support of these wealthy nations, Meles Seitanawi fades away and disappears without a blood shed.

    Simply joining the armed resistance groups and sending some innocent Ethiopians to the battle field to engage with American well-trained army of Meles Seitanawi is cruel and an ethical. So Ginbot 7 with its educated Ethiopian political leaders and its supports should work hard to unify all political parties and have one clear objective – to bring down Meles Seitanawi without firing a single shot indiscriminately at the innocent Ethiopian civilians. We should not shoot and kill our enemies without first bringing them to justice and trial by our own well-trained judges in front of all the Ethiopian people.

    Ginbot 7 may succeed if we all Ethiopians in diaspora and at home work for it to excel other political parties in its inclusiveness and achievable goals. Leaders of Ginbot 7 must accept with their open hands only those with their hearts and souls support its goal and objective. This helps to avoid latter problems and confusions as it happens in many political parties. I don’t mean Ginbot 7 should discriminate those who want to join it, but it must be prudent to avoid those wolves in sheep skins.

    Yes, in a democratic organization, it is common to find communist-, socialist-, anarchist-, monarchist- and dictator-oriented persons; however, a person’s political orientation should not hinder Ginbot 7 from admitting to its political parties all kinds of people but those troublemakers whose purposes are to dismantle Ginbot 7 and continue to support Meles Seitanawi’s tyrannical regime.

    Ginbot 7, for its survival and for the sake of the Ethiopian people, must identify such Meles sympathizers and deracinate them without a second thought. Taking such decisive actions on certain people confirms that Ginbot 7 is serious about its business – to bring democracy and the rule of law to the Ethiopian people.

    Good leadership is a gift from the Almighty God, and I hope Dr. Berhanu Nega has this indispensable gift to run his Ginbot 7 successfully and lead the Ethiopian people to final victory.

  21. It is the right time to strike back against the tribalist regime.People have lost their patience,indeed.If Western countries support the struggle of the 70 million people of Ethiopa OK,if not we should be able to do the job with out them.There are alternatives.
    We should depend on our selves first.We should also remember the patriotic deeds of of our fathers.We should be able to enjure any kind of adversity.The opportunism of Western countries in a well known fact.They always persue their economic intrest.Many of them still support the brutal dictatorship of Meles Zenawi against the intrests of the people of Ethiopia.Fighting Terrorism is one thing and supporting a brutal dictator is another thing. The requst of the people of Ethiopia is to fight Terrorism under a democratic government!

  26. As we all know the society is divided by age , race , sex , marital status , economic status , diaspora , native , the list goes on and on.All these group happen to be jelous or “MIKEGNA” a word which I cann’t find a direct translation in any other society’s language.We should stop blaming and start admiting and start changing ourselves because nobody even the control freaks don’t have the power to change others unless a person changes on his own refrain from corruption and stealing in the name of the people of Ethiopia the poorest in the world or unless the Ethiopian habtam/rich know when it is time to give back the Billions of money they gathered overnight world people’s cry won’t be fullfilled.According to the world bank there is enough resources to change the misery .
    World Bank urges Ethiopia to update farming systems
    Wed 18 Jun 2008, 11:10 GMT

    [-] Text [+] ADDIS ABABA, June 18 (Reuters) – Drought-ravaged Ethiopia should improve its “backward” farming systems to curb acute food shortages, which have left millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian aid, a top World Bank official said on Wednesday

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