The Honorable Congressman Richard Gephardt
Former House Democratic Leader
c/o : Richard A. Gephardt Institute for Public Service
Washington University in St. Louis
Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

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Dear Congressman Gephardt:

It was with a deep sense of betrayal and disbelief that we read a recent report suggesting that you might be involved in helping the Ethiopian dictator, Meles Zenawi, to derail the passage of a bill in Congress intended to protect the democratic rights of the people of Ethiopia.

If it is indeed true, your association with one of the most vicious dictators of the modern era would be inconsistent with your image as a leader who has dedicated his professional life to advancing the ideals of democracy and social justice.

Not too long ago, you declared to the world:

“One of the most important virtues of the American character is our ability to approach the complexities that life presents us with common sense and decency, … The considered judgment of the American people is not going to rise or fall on the fine distinctions of a legal argument but on straight talk and the truth.”

The truth, in this case, is that Meles Zenawi has violated every tenet of human rights, committed crimes against humanity, destroyed the democratic aspirations of the people of Ethiopia, and mismanaged the scares resources of that country. More specifically: 

• On May 15, 2005 the people of Ethiopia took to the polls in unprecedented record numbers, and cast a vote of no confidence in Zenawi’s minority government. Instead of accepting the people’s verdict, Zenawi proclaimed a state of emergency, and declared himself a winner, against the testimonials of credible observers, including one by the EU-EOM group.
• In the aftermath of the elections that he stole, Zenawi ordered the massacre of over 193 peaceful demonstrators, and imprisoned opposition leaders and thousands of opposition party members, as was unveiled by a commission set up by his own government.
• In a move reminiscent of Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge, he coerced the political prisoners into admitting responsibility for the crimes he had committed, and publicized to the world the confession obtained under duress.
• He promoted ethnic discord, and engaged in ethnic cleansing and genocide against various ethnic groups, including the Anuak in Gambela.
• In total indifference to the suffering of the people, he squanders the meager resources of the nation through corruption, embezzlement and expensive lobbying.

Honorable Congressman,

In your commencement address to recent graduates of Washington University in St. Louis, you declared:

“The long nighttime of communism and totalitarianism is not over, but we are entering a new era where ordinary citizens everywhere are speaking out freely and are no longer afraid of murderous dictators.”

Unfortunately, if the rest of the world is marching out of the “nighttime of totalitarianism,” it is still pitch dark for the people of Ethiopia. According to a recent report, Ethiopia topped the list of the worst countries for press freedom, with more jailed and exiled journalists than any other country in the world. In 2006 alone, eight newspapers were banned, two foreign reporters were expelled and several websites were blocked.

As the rest of the world enjoys the “peace dividend” from the end of the “Cold War,” the people of Ethiopia are going through extremely severe economic hardships, thanks to the rampant corruption and expensive lobbying that are characteristics of Zenawi’s regime. A recent World Economic Forum report indicated that Ethiopia had slid to the rank of 120th out of 125 countries in 2006 in the Global Competitive Index, down from the 116th place it had occupied in 2005. Economic analysts point out that the number of Ethiopians on less than a dollar a day, has nearly tripled since Zenawi took power in 1991, i.e., relative to the record of the discredited communist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

You once made the observation:

“It’s amazing what happens when you ask yourself this question before you speak or act. ‘How would I like this said or done to me?'” So, before you venture to work for Zenawi, the people of Ethiopia would wish to remind you of the above and to ask yourself: “How would I feel if I were an Ethiopian living under a dollar a day and my leader squandered the money on expensive lobbying?”

You have also been quoted as saying: “I think the most important thing in life, …., is credibility,…” Your demonstrated position against tyranny in Ethiopia would give more credibility to the mission of the Gephardt Institute for Public Service that you so generously helped to establish, and whose purpose you so eloquently described as an institute, “… to help spread freedom, democracy, and capitalism across the globe so we can better prevent the creation of terrorists.” The stand you now take in distancing yourself from a brutal dictator will certainly be a metric by which the image of this promising institution will be judged for a long time to come.

Honorable Congressman,

In the days and weeks to come, Ethiopian Americans and other Ethiopians in the US, who unlike their compatriots back home enjoy their freedom of speech, will be contacting you in thousands to ask you to disassociate yourself from a brutal dictator, and to stand on the side of democracy and social justice. They will be doing so, not out of impertinence, but in the full knowledge and conviction that, as a man of integrity, you will listen to the voices of the 70 million oppressed Ethiopians and be a part of their struggle against tyranny and injustice.

Sincerely,

Selam Beyene, Ph.D.
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