By Elias Kifle

The Asmara office of Ethiopian People’s Patriotic Front (EPPF) has issued a statement disputing a recent report on Ethiomedia.com about the execution of 17 members, including the former secretary general.

According to the statement that was sent to Ethiomedia.com yesterday, the EPPF leadership does not recognize the 17 individuals who are listed in the report as being executed.

The statement left me speechless since I have met some of the individuals at the Feb. 2010 EPPF general assembly that was held in Eritrea. The general secretary and the commanders in particular are well known by even those Ethiopians in the Diaspora who have been visiting and supporting EPPF during the past several years.

I have no doubt that the outrageous statement — written in a broken Amharic — was prepared by Col. Fitsum Yisehak, an Eritrean “adviser” to EPPF who has hijacked the organization and became its de facto leader. Following the Feb. 2010 assembly, he has dismissed and arrested many of the newly elected central committee members. Currently, the EPPF officials are nothing more than prisoners of the colonel and have no power to issue any statement. Nevertheless, who ever authored the release of such a blatantly false statement that can easily be proven wrong must be a bumbling idiot or an extremely arrogant person who has contempt toward all Ethiopians.

Ethiopian Review will continue to gather information on the disappearances (and possible execution) of the 17 patriots, as well as many others. I also urge the Government of Eritrea to conduct investigation for the sake of justice and peace. The colonel and his willing collaborators must be brought to justice.

By Desta Joy

It is no wonder that the possible pardoning of former Derg officials has become a subject of heated controversy among Ethiopians. After all, it is about bunch of people who used (misused) the whole state machinery to brutalize and terrorize the whole country for seventeen long years! After all it is about people who were at the helm of a regime that unsparingly annihilated thousands Ethiopians of all walks of life, probably the summary execution of the top officials of the Imperial regime being the most high profile case. It would be downright wrong, however, to think that the case of those anonymous Ethiopians who were brutally murdered during those trying days is less important.

The vexing question now is whether pardoning those people would be unjust. Some victims’ families (well, if at all there is a family that had not been victimized by the regime) believe pardoning these criminals would be a mockery of justice. Indeed, their pain cannot be overstated. In the nature of things, their opposition to the possible pardon seems to muster sympathy and support. Tekola W. Hagos wrote, with his usual passion and eloquence, but also disturbingly:

[i]n case of those brutal murderers who are under the control of the Ethiopian Government, individuals who had spilt so much innocent blood, execution should be carried out by hanging them from Bole Airport to Meskel Square and also in other Squares, on electric power poles.’’

Such demands are disturbing not because the crimes the convicts are responsible for are any less horrendous, but rather because such kind of punishment serves none of the purposes of criminal punishment, and is, perhaps a little too backward. So, although the author argues otherwise, such vehement desire to see them hanged in public squares are animated by sense vendetta rather than yearning for justice. Yet, it should not be surprising that those who personally witnessed those atrocities feel more strongly towards the perpetrators than those of us who were either not born at the time or were just too young to comprehend what was going on.

Having sad that let me state what I think are critical issues:

1. First, criminal justice is inherently a public affair (not an issue between the perpetrators and victims). It becomes even a national issue when the crime involves not just theft, robbery, or other ordinary crime, but rather genocide (which Derg officials are convicted of) perpetrated by an entire regime over many years practically against the whole nation. My argument is that the crimes committed decades ago had national character. Whether pardoning the convicts (who are ‘vegetating’ in prison anyway) has any national significance at this point in time is something else altogether.
2. Accordingly, it is unequivocally wrong to try to ‘privatize’ the issue. It must be clear to everyone that justice is a function of rules and principles, not feelings (as the writer quoted above has argued). If we are talking about modern criminal justice, the feeling of victims (or towards perpetrators, for that matter) is a completely irrelevant concept.
3. Therefore, the question of whether pardoning Derg officials is just or unjust should be judged based on rules, principles, and its socio-political significance to the nation’s present and future, if any.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])

Tomorrow, January 13, 2010, is the 5th anniversary of the passing away of Ethiopian scientist and patriot Kitaw Ejigu. Ethiopian Review pays tribute to this great Ethiopian whose life was cut short at a young age.

Brief biography of Dr Kitaw Ejigu (Source: Wikipedia)

Kitaw Ejigu (February 25, 1948 – January 13, 2006) was an Ethiopian-American scientist who worked for NASA as Chief of Spacecraft and Satellite Systems engineer. He was also a political leader.

Kitaw was born in Bonga, Kaffa, Ethiopia. He attended the Miazia 27th High School in Jimma. He then went to Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute, and in 1966, as the top student in his class, he received his diploma in mechanical engineering with specialization in agricultural technology. After graduating from the Institute, Kitaw worked at the Ethiopian Automotive Services and Sales Company (EASSCO) as chief technical advisor and assistant manager for two years.

In 1972, he won a scholarship from the Japanese Overseas Technical Association and traveled to Japan where he studied automotive engineering at Hiroshima University, as well as language and economics at Osaka University. He later moved to the United States and began his intensive research and training and earned an MBA in 1979. He then completed his doctorate in space vehicle systems engineering from Northrop University in California.

Upon completion of his studies and researches in the late 1970s, he started working for NASA as a system engineer and space research scientist. He collaborated with other scientists on the space shuttle and other rocketry projects. Kitaw Ejigu was Ethiopia’s first aerospace scientist. The only Ethiopian in the field, Kitaw also worked for Rockwell International and Boeing.

Apart from his work as an aerospace scientist, he was also known for his efforts to bring about political change in Ethiopia. He publicly denounced the regime in Ethiopia and its actions and policies. Even though he was ambitious about using his knowledge, experience and high-status to help his homeland Ethiopia , he repeatedly said he was not made welcome by the regime. In 2002, he founded a political party, the Ethiopian National United Front, to help overthrow Meles Zenawi’s regime.

Kitaw Ejigu died at the age of 58 on 13 January, 2006 in the United States.

Shaleqa Dawit Woldegiorgis, the author of Red Tears and former high-level Ethiopian government official, has released a new novel based on true stories. The book is written in Amharic and it is currently being distributed in Ethiopia through underground networks. Artist Debebe Eshetu has written the following book review:

እስከዳር:- ከዳዊት ወ/ጊዮርጊስ

እስከዳርን አነበብኩት፡፡ዳዊት ወ/ጊዮርጊስን እንደገና አወቅሁት፡፡እንደ ደራሲ፤አስተማሪ፤ታሪክ አሰታዋሽቱ፡በቅድሚያ አንዲት ገጸ ባሕሪን ከሃዲስ ዓለማየሁ ‹‹ትዝታ›› ወስዶ የበለጠ ነፍስ፤ጀግንነት፤ሰብአዊነት አላብሶ በግሏ ጠንክራ እንድትወጣና የራሷን አካሄድ በማጉላት ሲያቀርብልን አዲስ ምዕራፍ ከፍቶ ሰጠን፡

እስከዳር ከላይ እንዳልኩት የአንዲት የትዝታ ባሕሪ ታሪክ ብቻ እንዳልሆነም ሊጤን የሚገባው ጉዳይ ነው፡፡ ለልጆቻችን ለልጅ ልጆቻችን ስለ ቀድሞው ኢትዮጵያዊነት፤ አባቶቻችን ስለአሳለፉት የሃገር ፍቅር ወኔያቸውና የቆራጥ ትግል ውሳኔያቸው የት እንዳደረሳቸውና ሃገርን ሲሉ ከነሙሉ ክብሩና ማዕረጉ እንጂ፤ ሃገርን ሲሉ ከነክፉ አጋጣሚና ስለሚያስከፍለውም መስዋእትነት እንጂ፤ ሃገርን ሲሉ ኢትዮጵያን ከፍ አድርገው እራሳቸውን አውርደው እንጂ ጥቅምን በዚያ ውስጥ በማየትና ክብርና ዝናን ለመጎናጸፍ እንዳልሆነ አሳምሮ አሳየኝ፡፡አሳወቀኝ አስታማረኝ ለማለት እደፍራለሁ፡፡

ዳዊት በአጻጻፉ ልራቀቅ ብሎ አበባዊ ቃላቶች ድርደራ ጊዜ አላባከነም፡፡ ሁሉም ሰው እለት በእለት በሚጠቀምበት ቋንቋ ተጠቅሞ ግን ሊረሳ የተቃረበውን፤ ልጆቻችን ጭርሱን ሰምተውት የማያውቁትን ባህላችንን አመላከተን፡፡እዚህ ላይ አንድ ማስረጃ ላቅርብ፡፡ በገጽ 252 ላይ ‹‹እንማን ናቸው›› ብሎ ያስቀመጣቸው ኢትዮጵያዊያን የኢትዮጵያ ዳር ድንብር አስከባሪ ሃይሎች አቀናጆች የነበሩትን በስማቸው ብቻ ጠቅሶ አላለፈም፡፡ ማዕረጋቸውንም ደርቦላቸው አልተዋቸውም፡፡ ይልቁንስ ምን አደረጉ፤ ከየት ተወለዱ፤የሚለውን በአናሳ በአናሳው ቦታ ሰጥቶ ለማወቅ የሚፈልግ ትንሽ አፈላልጎ እንዲያነብና እንዲያውቅ መንገዱን አሳይቶናል፡፡ ከዚህ በመነሳትም ጸሃፍት ስለነዚህ ሀገር ጠባቂዎች፤ ከምንም በላይ ከምንም በፊት ሃገሬ ያሉትን አባቶች አያቶቻችንን በማንሳት ተመራምሮ መጻፍ የሚገባው መሆኑን ጠቁሞናል፡፡

ደራሲ ዳዊት ከመነሻው ጀምሮ ስለ ሃገር ፍቅር በተለይ ለወጣቱ ትውልድ በሚገባና በሚነበብ መልኩ ነው ሊያስታውሰው የጀመረውና እስከ መጨረሻውም የሄደበት፡፡ ሃገር ምን ማለት ነው? ለሃገር መሰዋትስ? የሚለውን ከነሙሉ ግንዛቤው ሰጥቶናል፡፡

ሌላው የ‹‹እስከዳር›› አጻጻፍ ነው፡፡ መጽሐፉን ለልጆቻችን እንደተረት መጽሃፍ ብናነብላቸው በቀለለ አማርኛ የቀረበ በመሆኑ ይገባቸዋል ይወዱታል፡፡ ከሕጻኗ እስከዳር ጀምሮ ስለሚተርክ ልጆቹ እራሳቸውን ያገኙታል ወይም ጓደኛ አድርገው ያውቋታልና ልጆቻችንን ስለ ሃገራቸው፤ ስለ ሃገራቸው ጀግኖች፤ ሊኖራቸው ስለሚገባው የሃገር ፍቅር ሁሉ እየገባቸው እንዲያድጉየማድረግ ሃይ ስላለው በዚህም አቀራረቡ ሊመሰገን ሊደነቅ ይገባዋል እላለሁ፡፡

የጅግና ስሜት እንዴት የጀግናን ልብ እንደሚሰርቅና እንደሚያስቀና ሲያሳየንም ገጽ 47 ላይ‹‹…….ይህንን ሁሉ ትምለከት የነበረችው እስከዳር ልቧ ቅልጥ አለ፤በደስታ በኩራት ታፈነች፡፡ ያ የምትንቀው አጎናፍር ለካስ የወጣለት ወንድ ኖሯል፡፡ ጀግና ትወዳለች እስከዳር፡፡ የአጎናፍር ጀግንነት ሰውነቷን ወረረው፡፡ በዚያ ቅጽበትና ስፍራ ልቧ ውሃ ሆነ፤ፈሰሰ፡፡ሰውነቷን ነዘራት፡፡ ተሰምቷት የማታውቀው የሴትነት ስሜት ከውስጧ ገንፍሎ ሲወጣ በገሃድ ይታይ ነበር፡፡ፊቷ አበራ፡፡ የአልታያት የአጎናፍር ወንድነት፤ መልክና ቁመና፤ አሁን በድንገት ግልጥ ብሎ ታያት፡፡አራት ዓመት ሙሉ ስትሸሸው፤ ስትንቀው የነበረው አጎናፍርን ወደደችው፡፡ የማይነቀል የፍቅርና የአድናቆት ጦር በልቧ ተተከለ፡፡ ዓይነ ጥላዋ ተገፈፈ፡፡›› ሲል ጀግንነት ያለውን የመያዝ የመማረክ ስሜት ውብ አድርጎ አሳየን፡

ዳዊት በዚህ ‹‹እስከዳር›› ባለው ድርሰቱ ውስጥ ኢትዮጵያ ጥንታዊትነት ብቻ ሳይሆን ለሃገራቸው ቀናኢ የሆኑ ሕዝቦችም እንዳሏትና ዘወትር ተከባብረውና ተፋቅረው መኖርን ባህላቸው ያደረጉ አዋቂዎች እንደሆኑ በማስረጃ አቅርቦልናል፡፡

ከዚህ በተረፈ ደግሞ አንብቡትና ለልጆቻችሁም አስነብቡት አለያም ማታ ማታ ሲተኙ አንብቡላቸው፡፡ እኔ በበኩሌ የተሰማኝና ለደራሲ ዳዊት ወንድሜ ላሳስብ የምፈልገው በሲዲ አለያም በካሴት ተነቦ ቢቀርብስ የሚለውን ጉዳይ ነው፡፡

ደበበ እሸቱ