By William Easterly
I have been getting a lot of email from Ethiopian-Americans who are very upset that Columbia University has invited Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to speak this coming Wednesday, like this one:
Most of the professors who come across him, in most cases are neutralized or transformed as his advocates. So far, you are the only one standing clear, so the Ethiopian people need one intellectual friend like you to make their case. Please don’t be afraid and help our people and speak up.
I am both moved and extremely uncomfortable. The Ethiopian diaspora critics of Meles are upset about the support for Meles coming from Professors Sachs and Stiglitz at Columbia (note: I hear from critics in the diaspora, because its nearly impossible to be a critic from inside Ethiopia). I have criticized the Meles regime here and here (2nd one joint with Laura). But it should not be up to the faranji to conduct the debate. None of us know enough or have enough at stake to get it right.
But I am happy to give the opposition a platform in this blog, without necessarily endorsing any one viewpoint, individual, or movement. Nor do I imply that any one I quote is necessarily representing a majority of Ethiopians. I have previously given space on the blog to a supporter of Meles.
So what are the issues? The Columbia student newspaper noted how Columbia’s original speech announcement had a laudatory bio of Meles (since removed), further outraging the Ethiopian opposition.
Under the seasoned governmental leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi … Ethiopia has made and continues to make progresses in many areas including in education, transportation, health and energy.
Obang Metho, the director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia, wrote me with an alternative bio:
Electoral manipulations, harassment, intimidation,beatings, political imprisonments and the withholding of humanitarianaid for any who do not support Meles ‘ethnic-based EPRDF party, have effectively closed all political space to any opposing groups. The criminalization of dissent, advanced through new repressive laws regarding civil society and vague antiterrorism laws that could make nearly anyone guilty, have further silenced the people and the media.
Columbia University has the right to invite whomever they choose, but yet, such an invitation will only be misused to further elevate a dictator who is oppressing the people of Ethiopia.
Political science professor Alemayehu Mariam wrote an open letter to Columbia president Lee Bollinger on the Huffington Post:
There is widespread belief among Ethiopian Americans that Mr. Zenawi’s invitation to speak …necessarily implies the University’s endorsement and support of Mr. Zenawi’s views, policies and actions in Ethiopia. I am writing to request your office to issue an official statement clarifying your position concerning Mr. Zenawi as you so eloquently did when Mahmood Ahmadinejad of Iran spoke on your campus on September 24, 2007.
Professor Mariam cites some of the credentials of Meles Zenawi to get the Ahmadinejad treatment:
In 2005, security forces under the personal command and control of Mr. Zenawi massacred 193 unarmed protesters and inflicted severe gunshot wounds on 763 others…
In December 2008, Mr. Zenawi arrested and reinstated a life sentence on Birtukan Midekssa, the only woman political party leader in Ethiopian history. He kept her under extreme conditions in prison.
He quotes the Committee to Protect Journalists:
The government enacted harsh legislation that criminalized coverage of vaguely defined “terrorist” activities, and used administrative restrictions, criminal prosecutions, and imprisonments to induce self-censorship… The government has had a longstanding practice of bringing trumped-up criminal cases against critical journalists, leaving the charges unresolved for years as a means of intimidating the defendants… Ethiopia as the only country in sub-Saharan Africa with ‘consistent’ and ‘substantial’ filtering of web sites…
Even it’s not up to the faranji to debate Ethiopia’s politics, we can all certainly comment on what support is given to each side by our governments, our aid agencies, and our universities.
What do you think of Columbia’s invitation to Meles? Should President Bollinger issue the “Ahmadinejad” disclaimer requested by the critics?
(William Easterly is Professor of Economics at New York University. Easterly is Co-Director of the Development Research Institute, Co-Editor of the Journal of Development Economics, and editor of the Aid Watch blog. He is also the author of The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, several other books, and dozens of peer-reviewed academic papers.)
14 thoughts on “Prof. Easterly on Columbia’s invitation to Ethiopia’s tyrant”
Columbia University is doing its job by promoting “friendly tyrants” like MELES.
http://www.namebase.org/columbia.html
The United States Government unfortunately while speaking in public about peace and democracy supports “friendly tyrants” like Meles showing that in reality what it wants is war and state terrorism.
We need really intellectuals who can rise beyond the teaching and make their impact like this even if it’s uncomfortable to confront dictators. We need you Prof Easterly.
Keep informing us. Let’s all put the pressure on the entrepreneurs and puppet dictators!!
One suggestion Elias or Administrator(s), last time I got the link from your site to Columbia University Newspaper. Can you put the link again? I am having a hard time finding it. So, we can put our comments and put your site link for more information. Wow!! This is the best time for all Ethiopians to be heard whether this Tyrant is going to speak or not. As usual thank you, Elias
Hello all:
we should start leaving comments on the Columbia University newspaper and put EthiopianReview.com site for more information.
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2010/09/16/ethiopian-leader-s-bio-wlf-site-raises-eyebrows
Elias, thank you for your service to our country.
Thank you very much the good professor Easterly for your balanced and truthful contribution and giving your own share of the voice to the voiceless and suffocated 80 million impoverished Ethiopians under Meles Zenawi’s globally known minority brutal dictatorship.
Now that he has just robbed 99.6% of the wretched Ethiopian voices in order to locally and globally position himself as a GREAT DICTATOR” he is now trying to export the filthy and shameful misrule and BAD GOVERNANCE even to the USA through corrupt and morally bankrupt surrogates.
Under the circumstance, ” All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is due to the lack of enough good persons to do something.” ~Edmund Burk’s relevant quote applies.
The fact that an individual human being is a Faranji, none faranji or in between is NOT the issues at all.
Every one has the right to his voice in unity within diversity in this global village of ours contrary to dictator Mele’s self serving propaganda.
The fundamental issue is whether we get together and resist/oppose minority inhuman criminal endless human rights violators both locally and globally for the purpose of supporting equality, freedom, justice and peace, etc. for the majority as to make our open common world a comfortable living place for all.
The dictator conducts his usual cheap self serving racist propaganda arts and crafts by labeling Europeans and Americans who oppose his endless inhuman brutalities as “faranjis” with no credible rights of interferences in Ethiopian politics.
At the same time, the cunning fox dictator puts on himself an innocent looking sheep skin suits and secretly in the dark conspires with some of those morally bankrupt people he calls again “faranji” lobbyists to help him milk international aid money and other funds to be washed, recycled and deposited in his private bank accounts and chosen investment targets for further impoverishing and dehumanizing 80 million already wretched Ethiopians.
Of course genocides and constant criminal human rights violations and other gross injustices concerns us both at the local and global levels and as such needs to be the rights of all to debate.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
THANK YOU INDEED!!
Professor Easterly!
Thank you for your support of our (Ethiopians) quest for freedom.
Mr. Meles Zenawi is using two “faranji”s to advance his oppressive government. What is the problem of the average Ethiopians using a “faranji” like you to voice their concerns? It is, therefore, okay for you to speak up on our behalf.
By the way, for those of you who are not familiar with the term “faranji”, actually, “Ferenji,” is a term used by the Ethiopians to refer to foreigners in general. Originally, it was used to refer to the French who used to frequent travel to Ethiopia for trading purposes.
No one should compare the invitation of Ahmed Ahmadinejad’s of Iran to Meles’s invitation to Columbia University. There is no doubt that the President of Columbia University invited the Ahmadinejad to challenge him and be challenged by his students, and Ballinger knew very well that the invitation of a man that hates Americans to his CU campus could bring an outrage by all Americans and by all media. To his credit, CU president Ballinger expressed his opposition and disgusted of the controversial figure of Ahmadinejad and gave the microphone to his students to challenge him more.
But in Meles’s case, it seems to be that President of Columbia, Ballinger has shown strong support and admiration of the bloody-hand criminal tyrant Meles, by only listening to the dictator Meles’ acquaintances, without conducting an independent study of the Human Rights abuse, torture and murder that has been going on in Ethiopia for the last twenty years under the crime master manipulator, illegitimate Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Z. Let’s hope that, President Ballinger has done some research of his own, at least in the last few days to come to know that, all Ethiopians, again I repeat all Ethiopians (not only Amharas, as he has been falsely informed) are against Meles and disgusted with Meles, as Ballinger has been with Ahmadinejad. We are waiting to see if President Ballinger will show his disgust for the atrocities that have been committed on Ethiopians, and recognize the real Meles, the Human Rights Abuser, Tribalism, Looter, Torturer and Killer of innocent Ethiopians.
This is not like an American politics like “Gore verses Bush”— I beg you, Mr. president Ballinger to hear the agony of Ethiopian parents that have been loosing their precious children by Prime Minister Meles’s Agazi Army bullets—to listen to the cries of Ethiopian people whose innocent children, fathers, mothers, brothers and sister that have been thrown in jail. Please find out the whole truth about the heartless murderer Meles. Save your conscience from regrets for not doing something or say something to stop the human abuse in Ethiopia — when you discover the well hidden Human Abuse that has been committed on innocent Ethiopians by Meles and Co. — “DON’T SAY YOU DID NOT KNOW”
September 16, 2010
Robert Hornsby
Director of Media Relations
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
Columbia University in the City of New York
Rm. 402 Low Library, Mail code 4321
535 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10027
Open Letter to Columbia University
I am writing this open letter to express my deepest dissatisfaction on the invitation of Mr. Meles
Zenawi, the leader of the TPLF currently governing Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is a country of approximately 80 million people of which close to 5 million are Tigreans. Mr.
Zenawi fought to liberate the people of Tigray from Ethiopia. The abbreviation TPLF (the party that
is ruling Ethiopia today) stands for Tigray People Liberation Front and is established with the sole
purpose of liberating the people of Tigray from Ethiopian domination and to secede and establish
an independent country. It has been twenty years since TPLF liberated Tigray but to this day TPLF
neither secede from Ethiopia nor abandoned its quest for independence. That is why TPLF still
maintains its liberation front status. It is a paradox to Ethiopians that, on one hand Mr. Zenawi
wants an independent Tigray but on the other hand he wants to continue governing Ethiopia – the
very country he wants to separate his region from. That is why Ethiopians feel that they are under
the colony of the ethnically confused TPLF and with good reasons. The Ethiopian military elite is
almost 00% from Tigray as is all state executive powers. After watching TPLF devour Ethiopian
wealth for 20 years Ethiopians have come to realize that TPLF will never go away from Ethiopia on
its own accord.
Mr. Zenawi is one of the most ruthless dictators that Africa has ever produced. His crimes against
humanity are well documented by national and international organizations such as Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, and Genocide Watch. His genocidal crimes against the Anuak
people in Gambella region and the Ogaden people of eastern Ethiopia is not only well documented
but also led the United Nations to conduct independent investigations.
During the 2005 elections, Mr. Zenawi’s private Tigrean Army known as the Agazi massacred
hundreds of innocent Ethiopians and imprisoned tens of thousands of people. I refer to this army
as private because the army takes orders directly from Mr. Zenawi and him alone. Mr. Zenawi
himself admitted to this fact during the 2005 elections when he declared a state of emergency
through out the country.
The crimes of Mr. Zenawi are well known to any individual who follows the horn of Africa politics let
alone a fine educational institution like Columbia University. However, please allow me to highlight
some of them here below.
• Mr. Zenawi came to Ethiopia with empty pockets. Today Mr. Zenawi and his wife own and
control almost all of the main businesses in Ethiopia
• All decision making power is controlled by Tigreans and Tigreans only who account less
than 5% of the Ethiopian people. Other government officials are there as placeholders with
no executive power. Their job is to carry out orders given by their Tigrean deputies
• 99.9% of the Ethiopian Generals are Tigreans
• Almost all viable businesses are controlled by Tigreans
• The Tigrean province took by force most of the fertile lands from northern Ethiopian people
and incorporated it into their region.
• TPLF practiced human engineering on the people of Wolqait and adjacent regions (people
who lost their land to Tigreans) by managing births and forcing the people to speak
Tigrigna (the mother tongue of Mr. Zenawi). There are even allegations of state sponsored
rape by Tigrean army members to increase the number of Tigreans born in the region. For
greater understanding please see the website.
• Mr. Zenawi’s army conducted a genocidal campaign against the Anuak people of Ethiopia.
Currently, their land is being sold by Mr. Zenawi to foreign interests at dirt cheap prices.
• Mr. Zenawi’s army conducted a genocidal campaign against the Ogaden people of
Ethiopia.
• Mr. Zenawi stole the people’s voice when he was elected out of office by the people of
Ethiopia in 2005. The terror campaign that Mr. Zenawi’s army brought on the people of
Ethiopia resulted in deaths of hundreds of people and imprisonment/banishment of tens of
thousands of Ethiopians. The 2010 Elections are declared as not meeting international
standards (diplomatic phrase for vote rigging) by international observers as well as by the
White House
• Mr. Zenawi blocks any independent media broadcasting including the Voice of America.
No private media is allowed in Ethiopia unless it is affiliated with TPLF.
The above are only a fraction of what TPLF under the leadership of Mr. Zenawi has done and
continues to do to the people of Ethiopia.
Therefore I consider the invitation of Mr. Zenawi as a great disservice to democracy and the
upholding of human rights principles. This invitation will no doubt will stain the university’s
reputation. Further more the invitation will be spin doctored by Mr. Zenawi’s private media inside
Ethiopia as a sign of Western acceptance of his government and to discourage Ethiopians that no
one in the world cares about their suffering. It is not fair to provide a speaking venue to a dictator
that has muzzled the right to speak freely to 80 million of his own subjects. We know Mr. Zenawi
can afford to spend millions of Ethiopian taxpayers’ money to promote himself. We poor Ethiopians
are starving people and cannot afford to promote our cause in the corridors of power and/or elite
institutions. But this we know for sure, Mr. Zenawi will be forced to step down like his predecessors
by the prayers and struggles of the Ethiopian people. We have no funds to lavish our admirers
with but we call the name of our God to defend for us.
Sincerely,
Concerned Ethiopian
PS: I could have provided you with links of websites that keep track of Mr. Zenawi’s crimes. But I
will spare you the gory details as you can easily Google them yourself if you are interested.
However, I have attached a blog site that chronicles the crimes of TPLF in the Wolqait region of
Ethiopia as this crime is the least covered story.
http://ethio-wolqait.blogspot.com/
Please Sachs and other prominent World economists who exacerbates our poverty, I want to tell you not about murderer and dictator nature of Meles,but his manuplation of the Statistics to foolish you and by foolishing you he prolonged our misery. Please try to get primary data, not processed and cooked by the number one world liar!
How do you recommend based on cooked data!!!
If you want to get a genuine assessment of Prof Sachs, you better contact the african economists: Prof Ayittey and Dr Moyo. Moyo has seen how Sachs economic philosphy shifted as he started to work with african leaders. He was an advocate of Market economy when he tought her at Harvard. Today he is creating welfare governments in our continent. I love Ayitte, he is another african genius along with Moyo and Soyinka. Watch his brilliant and moving speech in TEDTalks Playlist: http://www.ted.com/talks/george_ayittey_on_cheetahs_vs_hippos.html
He would spit on Sachs face if he meets him.
[…] why is it is always Brother Elias is the one who expose such hot topics first? I am finding out now that other similar websites with ‘Ethiopia’ prefixes or suffixes waited and all of the sudden jumped on the band wagon. Brother Elias and AL GM. May The Creator of ALL of US Bless You and Give ALL The Strength You Need To Keep Fighting For Human Rights and Freedom For All!!! Insha Allah!!!!!
Dear colombia university president;
Please don’t allow blood thrist Zenawi to your university. First of all, this PM have no respect for his people. You should hear his interview with local Ethiopian journalists. His answers are like a street gangster. He devalued our Flag when he comes to power. We have a land-locked country because of him and his party.This poor country have to use neigbouring ports since we had ours that was given else’s port that cost the country a lot. So the university consider this PM impressive? What about the genocide?
11# Selam Situn,
“…He would spit on Sach’s face if he meets him.”~Selam Situn stated.
So would even more the 80 million Ethiopians whom Sach’s barbaric policy of pampering brutal dictators while impoverishing, demeaning and “drinking the blood” of the poor majority.