Jimma Times reports that at least 60 million birr is missing from Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church’s bank accounts. A member of the Church’s governing body, the Holy Synod, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told local journalists the missing money is one of the sources of recent disputes inside the church’s top leadership… [read more]
The executive committee of Ethiopian People’s Patriotic Front (EPPF) issued a statement from its field office today urging Ethiopians in the Washington DC area to attend the town hall meeting organized for this coming Sunday, August 9. (Click here for more info.)
According to the EPPF Washington DC Chapter, the August 9 meeting will discuss the organization’s objectives, current activities, cooperation with other opposition parties, and the developing relationship between Ethiopians and Eritreans.
The EPPF statement, which is posted on its official web site, www.eppfOnline.org, also clarifies some issues such its organizational structure abroad.
By Obang Metho
On July 26, 2009 the SMNE held a forum in Washington D.C. on the topic: Breaking the Silence on Genocide, Tyranny and Dictatorship in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia today, the people have been silenced by the government, but the atrocities, the repression and the harsh authoritarian rule continue despite the many efforts of Ethiopians in the Diaspora.
Admittedly, we Ethiopians in the Diaspora have not been as effective as we could be in collaborating with each other, but the problem is worsened due to the foreign policies of some western countries who have aligned themselves with “our” dictator rather than with “our” people. Additionally, the media has not covered this story as closely as similar cases in other countries who are “out of favor” like Zimbabwe, Iran and Venezuela.
The question that was at the heart of the presentation by each speaker was:
“How can we expose the true nature of the Meles regime to such excruciating public scrutiny that the public and our government becomes outraged enough to demand that any previous support for this regime transfers to the people?”
Ethiopia can be compared to a patient from the past who is going through surgery with just enough anesthetic to make them unable to communicate, but not enough to stop the pain. Those who are in a position to help, do not, because they are unaware of the acute pain of the patient.
Just like the patient, the people in Ethiopia have no voice; yet, they are in acute distress and no one seems to recognize the severity of their pain. If they speak up, they end up in jail, so many will not take the risk. The purpose of this forum was to bring some experts together to guide us in finding more effective ways to “break the silence!”
On the other hand, the Meles regime understands the power of information and is doing all they can think of to suppress information. A video was shown regarding such efforts by the current government. We know that they bribe, threaten and intimidate people to remain silent. They underhandedly attempt to divide groups; infiltrating organizations, ethnic communities, political parties and religious groups in order to stir up inner conflicts resulting in limiting the effectiveness of these groups.
Unfortunately this tactic has found far too fertile ground in which to plant the seeds of destruction—a serious problem of ours. They have also blocked the media and communication system; even cell phone usage and the Internet. They repeatedly produce propaganda; lying, deceiving and purposefully misleading the people and outsiders as well. They have denied committing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, but at the forum, a video clip of the Anuak genocide gave visual evidence.
Dr. Stanton: Perpetrators of Genocide are Serial Killers Who Will Kill More if Not Stopped
Dr. Greg Stanton spoke on why the massacre of the Anuak met the definition of genocide. Along with a number of other reasons, he explained that in the case of the Anuak genocide, only one ethnic group, the Anuak, were targeted. He elaborated by saying that there are those who commit genocide and also incite others to do so; leading these others to believe they can get away with it. These instigators are serial killers who will go on to kill again because they basically have no remorse or respect for human life. He explained that the characteristics of these genocidal perpetrators are the same whether you look at those implicated in the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, in Yugoslavia, Cambodia or in Rwanda.
In the case of the Anuak, they were killed by the same Ethiopian government that had repeatedly been killing since 1991. If you look at the list of incidents, it shows a pattern of serial killing, not only in Gambella, which may be one of the best documented cases, but also in the Ogaden, in Awassa, Oromia, Tepi, Addis Ababa and a series of other locales and people. When looked at as a whole, it is easy to see the pattern emerge of incidents that fit the definition of genocide and crimes against humanity.
What needs to be done now is to expose them and to continue to gather the evidence of what was done. Once documented, we should expose the evidence; identifying who was involved, who gave the orders, who was behind it and who committed the crimes because once you have the information, it is only a matter of time before the perpetrator will be brought to justice. They might be brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or if the government changes, to an Ethiopian tribunal, but Stanton said, these people will someday stand before a court of law and find themselves accountable for these people they killed, as long as others document it and know who the perpetrators are that were involved. For example, if Meles is proven to be one of them who ordered these killings, he will be prosecuted along with the rest of them within his regime.
Video Clip: The Unchanging Harvest of Dictatorship
A video clip of starving Ethiopians, including children, was shown. The children in the short film could hardly move due to being so weak and emaciated from obvious starvation. It was heart-breaking to watch. When the video ended, I asked the audience about these suffering children before revealing to them that this was a clip from 1985 of starving Tigrayan children. At the time, Meles had accused Mengistu of starving his Tigrayan ethnic group; but now, Meles is accused of intentionally starving the Ogadenis and other Ethiopians! Who will be next? How can this cycle be broken? Yesterday it was the Tigrayans; but today, the Meles loyalists from the TPLF are in power and doing the same to others. This clip came from Bob Geldorf’s website and can be viewed there. See what you think!
Ahmed Hussein: The SMNE was Formed to Stop This Cycle!
Ato Hussein, a member of the SMNE, explained what the SMNE was and why it was formed; elaborating that if we are to break this cycle of abuse and killing of each other, we have to start by changing ourselves.
He talked about the importance of living by the principles of putting humanity before ethnicity or any other difference and of realizing that no one will be free until all are free. He said that if there was an institution or government that put humanity first in 1985, the Tigrayans would never have starved like they did, preparing them to do the same today to Ethiopians within other ethnic groups. If these principles would have been carried out over the years of the last regimes, there would never have been a TPLF, an EPLF, an OLF, an ONLF, a GPLF, an BPLF, ALF or any other liberation front that emerged out of the injustices perpetrated against them. They were all created as a result of a broken, feudal-based system that devalued and abused others.
In other words, we have been living under a belief that leads to our own mutual destruction and it is this belief that is threatening our survival. When we say that only “I” and my ethnic group or region can be free, we are in trouble. Liberation fronts were formed because no one else cared about “others,” but can only an Oromo free another Oromo? Can only an Amhara free other Amhara or an Anuak free an Anuak? Can’t a Tigrayan help free an Afar and the people of Benishangul-Gumuz free a Southerner?
This broken system is why the SMNE was created to say: “Until all of us are free, none of us are free!” This is why Ato Hussein said he joined the SMNE—because he believed if these principles were lived out in the lives of our leaders and citizenry, Ethiopia could become a healthy society and find a lasting solution to breaking this cycle. To him, as an Oromo, he said he felt that until all Ethiopians are free, none will be free; until justice come to all Ethiopian, justice will never come to the Oromo or anyone else. The survival of everybody depends on all of us, like the way it is basically done in America. He explained that this was why he believes in this movement and felt it was his duty to share these principles with others.
Lemlem Tsegaw: Corruption is just as bad as human rights abuses!
Ms Lemlem Tsegaw stimulated much thought when she said, “Corruption is just as bad as human rights abuse. It is killing the country.” She went on to explain that when a few dominate over everyone else through corruption, it is about survival! She analyzed this statement based on the MO Ibrahim Index.
She said, “If you don’t have food to eat, you won’t have energy to fight for your rights—good governance does not even come into your mind. Corruption leads the people to struggle for food, clean water, shelter and basic ways to live. Corruption shows a lack of sympathy for other people and a lack of morality. It allows a few to take all they want, robbing the country of its resources; thriving and living high, while the rest of the people are dying at the bottom. In order to save peoples’ lives, it is ‘a must’ to fight this battle against corruption. A few take everything and most get nothing. Without having any resources and struggling for daily survival, there is no way to fight back.
“Corruption in Ethiopia is a microcosm of what it is going on all over Africa. If there were good governance, the rule of law, safety and security, sustainable development, transparency and accountability in Ethiopia instead of pervasive corruption, the Ethiopian people would be able to feed themselves. The reason why Africa is not moving forward is corruption!
Following her talk, a PowerPoint presentation with four different pictures was shown. The first picture was of a young woman, Neda Soltani, killed in Iran during the election protests.
She was born in 1982 and died in 2009. The story was all over the media, who were all outraged over the incident. Even the president talked about her death and coverage continued for the next 24 hours. Almost all in the audience had seen her picture.
The next slide was of a young Ethiopian woman, Shibire Desalegne, born in 1984 and was killed in 2005 in Addis Ababa during the election protests.
I asked how many present had seen her picture in the western media. No one in the room raised their hand even though the cause of her death was the same—a repressive government who killed someone for peacefully protesting.
The next person shown was imprisoned BurmesedemocracyleaderAung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who has been imprisoned for years. Many in the audience had seen her picture in the media a number of times. Then a picture of Birtukan Mideksa was shown and I asked the same question as to how many had seen her picture in the western media, but none in the audience had.
These women all had something in common, but the way they have been covered in the world is totally different. We Ethiopians have to take some responsibility for this because in order to free us and our people, we have to break silence. Africa must want to break the silence and take action for we have had enough of genocide, tyranny and dictatorship!
Dr. George Ayittey: Freeing Ethiopia and Africa!
Dr. Ayittey gave a stimulating and inspiring talk on how Africa can be freed, emphasizing that Ethiopians must free Ethiopia and Africans must free Africa! Ayittey gave reasons for our “chains.” He said the reason was “failed leadership.” He explained that it was the leaders of Africa who were killing the continent. He spoke of the corruption and the way that western governments have sided with the dictators instead of with the people.
He stated that Ethiopians can learn from what worked in Ghana. He emphasized that the problem of Ethiopia cannot be solved by the political parties or the political leaders. Instead, he said, Ethiopians have to create a non-political alliance; explaining that it had to be non-political because when organizations were political in their intent, they would start to fight over becoming popular and being the next to lead the country. This infighting falls right in the open hands of a dictator who only stands to benefit from it.
Ayittey then advised that in the case of Ethiopia, the tribal issues must be dealt with as a priority, saying, “It’s not about one group, but it must be about all of the people standing together for the joint survival of their country. This is the supreme task.” He went on to say that right now, what is happening in Ethiopia is a tribal apartheid system. He warned, “If thee tribal problems are not dealt with effectively and some seek revenge for the past 18 years, the outcome could be terrible.”
He gave a famous and sobering quote regarding the Holocaust referring to a similar time when many did not stand up for their fellow humans. He adapted it to Ethiopia saying, “When ‘they’ came for the Anuak, I did not do anything because they were Anuak. When they came for the Oromo, I did nothing because I was not Oromo. When they came for the Ogadeni, I did nothing because I was not an Ogadeni. When they came for me, there was no one left.”
He concluded by saying, “Right now, Ethiopians have to work in solidarity, not for a political party, but instead should create an alliance, in the Diaspora as well as within Ethiopia. This is how the Ghanaians did it and Ethiopians can learn from this model.” He then said he would help in any way he could and re-emphasized that there must be unity for the sake of the country and to find a lasting peace. People have to put their nation above their ethnic group or political party. It must be something like this that can break the silence, expose the truth and revive the country through a peaceful transition to a new and healthier system for everybody.
Next Steps:
In conclusion, from what we learned from this meeting, there is more work to be done and this is the beginning. Some of those steps include finding experts who will work in five different areas:
The SMNE is urging Ethiopians to send us a proposal or your CV (resume’) indicating in which areas you would like to get involved.
September 13th March to Stop Genocide and Dictatorship in Ethiopia/Africa in Washington DC:
Also, we urge every Ethiopian to join and contribute to this September 13th March so it is more than successful.
Overall Lesson to Learn:
If we want real change in Ethiopia, every Ethiopian must not look for others to do it for them, but instead, it comes to the need for every person to commit and sacrifice. You do not need an invitation, you have to step up and do your share. Can we count on you?
(Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia, can be reached at: [email protected])
PRESS RELEASE by Ogaden Human Rights Committee
Background
In June 1963, the Ogaden Liberation Front was founded by Garad Makhtal Garad Dahir, who is Mr Bashir’s grandfather.
According to his family Mr Bashir was born, in Dagah-bour, the capital of Jarar region.
In his childhood his town was burned and razed to the ground and he witnessed the death of many of his close relatives and clansmen at that time.
After the destruction of his hometown, his family like many other Somali-Ogaden families fled to the neighbouring Somalia seeking safe shelter.
In 1991, Somalia plunged into bloody civil war. Warring militias in Somalia carried out horrendous massacres, which claimed many innocent lives in the refugee camps, in northern and southern Somalia.
Mr Bashir arrived in Canada, in 1991, as a refugee. He studied, worked and then became a Canadian citizen in 1994.
In 2001, he established his own business and returned to East Africa, where he ran a used-clothing enterprise.
TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS OF ILLEGAL IMPRISONMENT AND TORTURE
On December 31st 2006, Mr Bashir Ahmed Makhtal, a prominent Canadian businessman, who originates from the Ogaden region, was arrested by the Kenyan authorities while he was crossing the border between Kenya and Somalia with a valid Canadian passport. No reason was given for his illegal detention. (See OHRC’s press release Kenya: Illegally arrests and renders Ogaden Somalis to Ethiopian military in Somalia ref: OHRC/PRO/0207).
On January 21st 2007, Mr Makhtal and three other Somalis from the Ogaden region were airlifted secretly to Mogadishu airport and then handed over to the Ethiopian Woyanne authorities against their will. They were beaten up, blindfolded and then transferred to secret military detention center in Ethiopia. (See OHRC’s press release Kenya: Illegally arrests and renders Ogaden Somalis to Ethiopian military in Somalia ref: OHRC/PRO/0207).
According to his co-detainees who were released lately, they have been constantly interrogated under torture and did not get any medical treatment for their injuries.
Mr Bashir was accused of being a member of the Ogaden National Liberation Front. He has been brought before an Ethiopian Woyanne court several times. Each time, he was taken back to his cell for lack of evidence.
On July 27th 2009, an Ethiopian Woyanne court in Addis Ababa convicted him of being a member of the ONLF and supporting terrorism in the Ogaden.
Today Mr Bashir was given a life sentence by the same kangaroo court.
Throughout his appearances in the court he pleaded not guilty. But as usual in Ethiopian justice system, the court’s verdict was fait accompli.
He was not informed the particulars of the charges and reasons for his arrest, has not had access to any evidence presented against him and was not represented by a proper legal counsel and his trial was marred by many problems and irregularities. The court proceedings were in Amharic; a language which he could not understand and he was not provided with an accurate account of it in his mother tongue or in English.
Hence, he did not receive fair trial in accordance with recognized international standards.
On the basis of available information about his case, the OHRC believes that there was not credible evidence for his conviction, and his trial was a travesty of justice, and considers him prisoner of conscience and a victim of political vendetta.
To the best of OHRC’s knowledge, Mr Bashir Ahmed Makhtal was not involved in any illegal activities, and has no political affiliation whatsoever.
The Ogaden Human Rights Committee is concerned about his safety and well-being and condemns the sentence of the Ethiopian Court, which is gross miscarriage of justice, and demands his unconditional and immediate release.
The Ogaden Human Rights Committee urges the Canadian Government to seek the immediate and unconditional release of its citizen as well as his family members who are being held without charge or trial in notorious Ethiopian Woyanne jails.
The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) was established with an ambitious goal of eliminating food shortages and hunger in Ethiopia by creating an efficient marketing system for agricultural commodities. Barely two months after its launch, the highly praised exchange platform found itself caught in the midst of the complex global coffee trade, an undertaking that is entirely different and farther from its original vision of “revolutionizing” the inefficient domestic commodity market.
In August 2008, the government enacted a new law that forces the trading of all of the country’s coffees through ECX and ECX welcomed the decision. Since then, the government confiscated stocks of coffee from exporters and revoked licenses, filled in the vacuum with the Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise (EGTE), and sold Specialty coffees at commodity grade coffee prices.
Following its first rough encounter, ECX is now engaged in talks with Specialty coffee buyers and faced with challenges of wining the hearts and minds of traders locally. But, the effect of ECX on coffee growers is yet to be noticed. This piece attempts to reveal the pitfalls of trading coffee through ECX and its impact on small-scale farmers.
Learning coffee on the fly
As it has now become apparent, ECX was not ready to accommodate trading operations of a complex global commodity when it embarked on coffee export. This partly explains why ECX has had to run into problems as soon as it started its coffee trade.
ECX was initially established to create a trading platform for domestic agricultural commodities, mainly grain. The ECX was created with primary purposes of eliminating the archaic marketing system whose inefficiency, according to ECX’s founder, Eleni Gebre-Medhin, are in part responsible for the recurring food shortages and hunger in parts of Ethiopia, and increasing the value of the domestic grain. Dr. Eleni described her vision in June 2007 at TED Talk as:
“Ethiopia’s domestic market is about $1 billion of value and we feel over the next five years, if Ethiopia can capture even 40%, just 40% of the domestic market and add jut 25% value to that market, the value of the market doubles. ECX, moreover, can become a trading platform for the Pan-African market in agricultural commodity. Ethiopia’s agricultural market is 30% higher than South Africa’s grain production; and, in fact, Ethiopia is the second largest maize producer in Africa.”
This ambition is founded on plausible assumptions about domestic grain trade but it did not take into consideration the state of coffee trade. Because the market system was designed to bring about changes in the grains trade – not in the coffee sector – ECX ended up further complicating the problems facing coffee growers when it suddenly decided to take on coffee trade.
Mandatory exchange
By requiring 100% of coffee trade be conducted through ECX, the government eliminated direct trades. The government says that was necessary in order to improve the sector and prices. This is frivolous.
Unlike grains, coffee trade is characterized by unregulated supply, market monopoly by a few multinationals companies, and stiff competitions among producing countries. Coffee is a global commodity. It is the world’s second most traded commodity next to oil with its prices determined at the New York exchange market. The trade is largely controlled by the world’s biggest coffee buyers. Five multinational companies, Nestlé, Philip Morris, Procter and Gamble, Sara Lee, and Kraft Foods buy about 70% of the world’s coffee and play pivotal roles in setting world coffee prices. Coffee growing nations do not have a say in this unregulated global market.
To mitigate the burden, other coffee growing countries are resorting to creating differentiations and to find a place in the Specialty niche market. The direct trade relationship with Specialty coffee buyers gives these nations a relative stability, premium prices, and incentives to increasing quality standards.
ECX, on the other hand, adopted a strategy of forced bulk trading through a warehouse receipt system and eliminated direct trade. Still, it hopes to improve prices and the sector.
Underestimating Specialty coffee
The global coffee industry is increasingly moving towards greater transparency of coffee origins and differentiation but the ECX system is heading in the opposite direction. Ethiopia is naturally endowed with the variety of coffees demanded by the Specialty coffee buyers. The fine quality of its coffees and the distinctive features of the sector, including its genetic resources, abundance of wild coffee trees, and the organic coffee production, earned Ethiopia a unique place in the global coffee marketplace. Ironically, instead of capitalizing on these unique attributes, ECX aims at bundling all of the coffees into commodity grades.
One possible explanation for this absurd strategy is ECX’s underestimation of the importance of Specialty grade coffees. “The “specialty-plus” market segment is only 3.7% of the total coffees exported, with the remainder to be considered as commodity coffee,” says ECX in its whitepaper titled What is in a Bean?
This unsubstantiated analysis has led ECX to a mistaken conclusion, thus its decision to neglect the Specialty market and focus on aggregate coffee production. ECX’s estimation is flawed and can be proved wrong by the following cursory appraisal of empirical evidences.
In 2008, Starbucks, the world’s largest Specialty coffee buyer, bought 192,500 tons of Specialty coffee, of which 5-10% (the company’s official numbers always fall within this range) was directly sourced from East Africa. (The major coffee growers in East Africa are Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda.) Since Ethiopia is the largest exporter of Specialty coffee in Africa, and, given Starbucks’ long history of close relationship with coffee growers in the country, it is reasonable to assume around 3% of Starbucks’ purchase (or about 60% of its East African purchase) comes from Ethiopia. Meaning, around 5,775 tons of Starbucks’ 2008 purchases is practically from Ethiopia. Since Ethiopia’s export during that year was 170,888 tons, Starbucks’ purchase only represents 3.4% of Ethiopia’s export.
So, if at least 3.4% of Ethiopia’s Specialty grade was directly sold to Starbucks, one can imagine how the number can easily jump to a range of upper teens to twenties when the quantity that Starbucks bought through Germany (Starbucks buys most of its coffee from Germany which is also one of Ethiopia’s major export markets) and the coffees directly sold to other small buyers through direct trade.
It is thus extraordinary that ECX diminishes the roles of Specialty coffee in Ethiopia. Furthermore, it is unbelievable that ECX failed to see the fact that Specialty coffees drive the global coffee trade.
Marketing experts agree that the prestigious coffees such as Sidama, Yirgacheffe, and Harar serve marketers as ingredient brands. The prominent Oxford Professor Douglas Holt defines ingredient brands as: “brands that are used as one component “ingredient” of another branded product or service. Gore waterproof fabric and Intel computer chips are classic examples.”
Dr. Holt argues, “Consumers view the ingredient’s inclusion as a distinctive and valuable addition to the offer. The ingredient is revealed to end-consumers through some sort of distinctive mark (name, logo, etc.) so that the inclusion of the ingredient increases the perceived value of the offering.”
By undermining the roles played by Specialty coffees to promote the sale of Ethiopia’s aggregate coffee export, ECX’s bulk trading system poses a threat to commoditizing some of the distinct coffees in the world. Farmers that grow some these finest beans expect their produce to fetch them a price better than that of the run-of-the-mill beans. The lack of incentive for their hard work may have adverse effect on the country’s Specialty coffee production. As quality deteriorates, the country’s prestigious brands water down as well.
Unfair competition
When responding to criticisms about its position on direct trade, ECX cites as an example the cooperatives and commercial farms that are directly selling Specialty coffee outside of the ECX system. This is true but the problem is, by allowing selected group of growers to have access to the Specialty market, ECX leaves out the smallholder families that are not organized in cooperatives. This practice deprives farmers of the privilege of establishing business relationship with external buyers.
In addition, the current ECX system also subjects small-scale farmers to a potential market monopoly by a few exporters. Farmers are not represented in the ECX Board of Directors, a body that currently comprises three major coffee exporters, including Berhane Hailu, General Manager of EGTE, and seven government officials. This degree of power imbalance puts farmers at a disadvantage.
Coffee trade under current ECX system is far from being a level playing field. It is difficult to imagine a marketplace that is fair to farmers in a setting where the government owned enterprise, EGTE, working to maximize profit and ensure uninterrupted inflow of foreign exchange also directs ECX. As far as small-scale coffee growers are concerned, ECX has so far not been “fair, independent, and free.”
If ECX were to be of any benefit to the poor farmers, it should create an environment where the bulk trading system functions alongside a direct trading system for Specialty coffees and other certifications such as Bird Friendly, forest, and organic coffees. This is a lifeline for many smallholder farmers and that is where they have comparative advantage over competitors.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected])
Teddy Afro is one of Ethiopia’s most popular singers. Afro, whom fans call Ethiopia’s Bob Marley, is in prison. Many are convinced that his legal troubles are related to his music. Some of Afro’s songs seem critical of Ethiopia’s government… [more]