Former Norfold State University professor is among 38 political prisoners freed in Ethiopia
Amanuel Mengistu, 30, from left, Tegist Hailemariam, 58, Seyenie Yacob, 31, and Sefonias Yacob, 23, pray before dinner, thanking God for the release of their father and husband, Yacob Hailemariam. ANDREW HENDERSON PHOTOS | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Former Norfolk State University professor Yacob Hailemariam had spent 21 months in an Ethiopian prison, been branded a traitor to that country, threatened with the death penalty, and sentenced just five days ago to life in prison.
Yacob Hailemariam
But when his wife and daughter, hearing he may have been freed unexpectedly, phoned him 7,000 miles away on Friday, he answered with, “Hi, how are you guys?”
“He said don’t worry, he’s healthy, he’s fine,” his daughter, Seyenie Yacob, said about the brief call early Friday morning, barely an hour after he was released by prison officials. “I think he wanted to reassure us.”
Today, his first full day of freedom, he celebrates his 63rd birthday.
Hailemariam was among 38 high-ranking opposition politicians and activists that the Ethiopian government pardoned and released, The Associated Press reported Friday.
Hailemariam returned to his homeland, Ethiopia, in late 2004 to run for parliament in what were called that country’s first democratic elections. He won a seat in 2005, but voting results were disputed, violence flared, and he and scores of others were arrested later that year and charged with treason and other crimes.
Many of those who went to trial, including Hailemariam, called the proceeding a political sham and declined to defend themselves.
Amnesty International called them “prisoners of conscience.”
Friday, Hailemariam’s wife, Tegist, who lives in Virginia Beach, heard his voice for the first time since October.
“Yes, I am very delighted,” she said. She said she didn’t know when he might return to the United States.
Tegist Hailemariam hangs a homemade banner Friday with a little help from her grandson, Biruk Mengistu, 2, commemorating the freeing of her husband from an Ethiopian prison.
She thanked those who supported her husband and the family, and looked ahead.
“We are very hopeful that this will be an era of peace and hope… for Ethiopia,” she said.
Seyenie Yacob said she expected her father’s release “because of the atrociousness of the charges and the case.”
“We knew from the very beginning that there was nothing that he had done wrong,” she said.
Among Tegist Hailemariam’s first calls was to countryman and family friend Berhanu Mengistu, a professor at Old Dominion University. It was a happy call, he said.
“I’ve cried enough,” he said. “Today was a day to laugh.”
Mengistu, who visited Yacob Hailemariam three weeks ago during a trip to Africa, believes his friend might return to Ethiopia to continue trying to build a democracy.
The pardon restored his rights to vote and run for office, The Associated Press reported.
“He’s not doing this because he needs the job – he’s doing this because he’s committed to the cause,” Mengistu said.
Yacob Hailemariam taught business law for 18 years at Norfolk State and served as a U.N. special envoy.
His former college colleagues and students wrote letters, held rallies and set up a Web site pushing for his release.
“The university is just elated that he’s out,” said Larry Curtis, vice president for student affairs.
U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake, whose district includes Virginia Beach, said in a statement that Yacob Hailemariam’s ordeal “has reminded all Americans of the true cost of freedom” and that “we must remain committed to those who continue this noble fight today for others across the globe.”
Mogadishu 21, July.07 (Sh.M.Network)- One person was killed and number of other people has been wounded after Ethiopian [Woyanne] troops opened fire at a crowd of Somalis in Yaqshid neighborhood, north of the capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday.
Witnesses said the incident happened after unknown gunmen hurled a grenade at the Woyannes passing around Arafat Hospital in the neighborhood. The blast occurred at 1: 30 p.m. local time.
“A Woyanne convoy was moving along the street and suddenly a grenade was thrown at them and the explosion sparked confusion among the troops. They opened fire at every direction,” said Mohammed Aden, a witness.
He said a civilian, who was selling Khat was killed by the crossfire, while unidentified number of others were wounded.
The Woyanne troops sealed off the area and began searching the houses near by for the insurgents and weapons, witnesses said.
Also two civilians have been killed and three others have been wounded after three grenade explosions targeting government soldiers based in Mogadishu’s Bakara market occurred minutes of one another on Saturday.
Witnesses said the blasts occurred minutes of one another.
A government official killed overnight
Unknown gunmen killed the chairman of Hodan district in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, last night. The victim was in his drugstore doing his private business when unknown gunmen shot him dead.
Abdirahman Hussein was shot eight times by the gunmen, according witnesses in the district.
Mohammed Hassan, Shabelle reporter who lives in the district, told Shabelle that at least three men armed with pistols and one AK 47 gun made their way into the victim’s pharmacy and started shooting.
“Abdirahman Hussein, Hodan district commissioner, was selling medicine to his customers, when the gunmen shot him dead at 8: 10 p.m. local time. The attackers steadily walked away without confronting the government soldiers in the area,” he said.
Several district commissioners have been assassinated in the capital since the Ethiopian led massive military offensive ousted the Union of Islamic Courts that ruled swathe of southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, and enabled the Western backed transitional government to move in to the capital.
On Thursday, six civilians were killed after insurgents fired several mortar bombs at neighborhoods closer the venue of the country’s national reconciliation congress. Witnesses told Shabelle that the venue was not hit.
Abdiwahab Ogli, a resident in Shibis neighborhood, told Shabelle that five young boys were killed in the blast while they were playing football in the neighborhood.
“One mortar bomb hit our residence, killing five young boys, three brothers and their two friends. They were right outside their home when the bomb hit there. The family members and the neighbors were busy collecting the bodies of their loved ones,” he said.
He also stated that number of other people has been wounded.
Also the capital’s biggest open-air market, Bakara, has been closed for 17th day despite traders’ appeal to U.S. and the international community to interfere the situation and to talk to the interim government in order that the embargo on Bakara be lifted.
The Somali government believes that the market was a hideout and financial source for the suspected Islamist insurgents.
The Ethiopian Women for Peace and Development (EWPD) is delighted about the release of the political prisoners in Ethiopia and the restoration of their political rights. We commend the political prisoners and the government for taking a positive step towards solvng the political problems of the country. Negotiation, dialogue and compromise are the route towards a lasting peace in our country.
We thank the elders who have worked hard and negotiated the release of the political prisoners. We also thank the international community and the different human rights organizations that have spoken strongly against the imprisonment of the opposition leaders, journalists and human right activists.
Building on this momentum, dialogue for serious political reconciliation with all opposition parties and organizations should begin. We appeal to the Ethiopian government to release all other political prisoners. The political tensions have to ease. The past should be behind us and we should focus to avoid political turmoil, war and famine that damaged our country for decades.
So much has to be done to bring Ethiopia to the 21st century. As we celebrate the end of our 2nd millennium in September 2007, let us commit ourselves to work together to establish a peaceful and just society. The beginning of the third millennium should be years of progress towards good governance, democracy and development.
Executive Committee of EWPD
July 21, 2007
EWPD is a non-partisan Ethiopian women’s organization created in 1991 in Washington, DC.
Ethiopian Women for Peace and Development (EWPD)
5505 Connecticut Avenue, #259, Washington, DC 20015
www.ewpd.info * [email protected]
Washington, DC (July 20, 2007) – U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today welcomed the release by the Ethiopian government of 38 of the country’s parliamentarians and leaders of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), journalists and civil society activists. The group was arrested in connection with demonstrations protesting the conduct and outcomes of the Ethiopian national elections of November 2005.
“While Ethiopia made enormous strides in laying the groundwork for the 2005 elections, many of these gains were wiped out by the subsequent police attacks on civilians and arrest of opposition leaders,” Lantos said. “The international community celebrates their rightful release. But let us remember that the crackdown, convictions and sentencing never should have taken place, and that the nearly 200 people who lost their lives in the protests will never be forgotten.”
In announcing the pardons, Prime-Minister Meles Zenawi assured the restoration of the detainees’ rights to vote and to participate fully in the political sphere in Ethiopia. At least 36 more activists remain in detention because they either refused to sign a required letter of remorse or because they signed the letter but their cases remain undecided. Another five have been sentenced, in absentia, to life in prison.
“I call on Prime Minster Zenawi to authorize the unconditional release of the remaining prisoners,” said Lantos, who is the founding co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. “And to raise the world’s estimation of Ethiopia as a nation that values justice, the government must take concrete steps towards establishing and respecting the freedom of press, assembly and rule of law.”
Pledging the support of the United Nations in efforts to resolve the stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the two countries to uphold their commitment signed agreements.
They must “respect the ceasefire and the integrity of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ), and refrain from any action that could undermine it or lead to an escalation of tensions between the two countries,” Mr. Ban wrote in a new report to the Security Council made public today.
He voiced deep concern regarding the “continuing serious violations” of the TSZ along the border between the Ethiopia and Eritrea.
While calling on Eritrea to withdraw its troops and heavily military equipment from the TSZ, he urged Ethiopia to de-escalate the situation by withdrawing forces it has recently stationed near the border.
Reiterating appeals from previous reports, the Secretary-General asked Eritrea to lift restrictions it has imposed on the UN peacekeeping mission deployed – known as UNMEE – deployed in the TSZ.
Mr. Ban also voiced concern for the continued impasse in the boundary demarcation process between the two countries. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission handed down a final and binding decision in 2002.
“I strongly urge both countries to take advantage of the Commission’s advice and assistance before it takes action to conclude its work at the end of November,” he noted.
Pledging his intention to “do everything possible” for the implementation of the Algiers Agreements – which ended the bloody war between the two countries – the Secretary-General pointed out that Ethiopia and Eritrea “bear the primary responsibility for a successful resolution of their border dispute and the establishment of lasting peace between themselves.”
In the report, Mr. Ban recommended that UNMEE’s mandate, set to expire at the end of this month, to be extended for six months until next January.
Both the farcical kangaroo court and the use of blackmail to extort guilt and demand for forgiveness reflect one goal and one goal only, namely, the resolution to humiliate CUD leaders. We must ask the question of knowing why a ruling party and the representative of a national state feel the need to humiliate their political adversaries. What does the commitment to humiliate tell us about the inner thought of the jailers of the CUD leaders and, by extension, of the Ethiopian people?
To the extent that humiliation wants to degrade a person in his /her dignity, it is clear that one cannot degrade what one has not already recognized as superior or better. I want to humiliate means that I want to disgrace what is surpassing me, more exactly, what I have already recognized as being above me. To be sure, it is natural that loss frustrates me, but I harbor the resolution to humiliate only insofar as I admit my inability. Were I confident of my ability, I would refrain from humiliating my opponent. I want my adversary in full shape and armament, for only then does my victory reflect my inner ability. The more the integrity of my adversary is intact, the more shining is my victory.
In an unequal competition between two opponents, the high standing of one opponent induces meanness in the other, which meanness craves for nothing but the infliction of humiliation. Meanness carries the sense of inferiority: since I cannot be like him, I have to bring him down. But in order to hide my meanness to myself, I need to construe humiliation as punishment. I cannot do so, however, unless I obtain a confession of guilt. Without the admission of guilt, only my meanness, that is, my ingloriousness remains.
The German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, argued that the sole purpose of punishment must be to elevate the lawbreaker. In punishing criminals, society does not more than bring them back into the human community, which they left by violating its laws. Any motive for punishment other than the promotion of humanness is inspired by revenge. Inasmuch as revenge refuses integration, it directly targets the degradation of the criminal.
In their dealings with CUD leaders, Meles and the TPLF government have shown no other motive than revenge. The imprisonment and the court are punishment for their electoral success, which they thus secretly admit. Why, otherwise, would them become revengeful and resort to humiliating behavior? Suppose for one second that the TPLF was really convinced of its own electoral victory. It would have used all the available democratic means to make its case, thereby moving away from the use of violence and humiliating measures.
Meles and the TPLF government know that any agreement obtained while CUD leaders are in prison has neither moral nor legal value. The purpose of an agreement under duress cannot be the desire to achieve reconciliation, either: the latter is not in sight so long as freedom is made conditional on admission of guilt. Only the need to inflict humiliation makes sense of such a behavior. It is meant to show that CUD leaders are not so glorious after all. In admitting guilt, they exhibit how unwilling they are to sacrifice their freedom for their principles. The behavior squarely recalls the Derg’s cruelty toward the civilian left, which also originated from the inner sense of unworthiness.
Given this goal of humiliation, it is very hard to attribute any positive outcome to the effort of conciliators. If we are to believe the document released by the TPLF government, the signed agreement––assuming that it is authentic––puts the entire blame on the CUD leaders, thereby fully exonerating Meles and his government. The admission of guilt is exchanged for freedom obtained through the further humiliating condition of the jailed begging for forgiveness and of the government showing mercy. The intervention of conciliators has achieved nothing, since the same agreement, if such we can call a completely one-sided document, could have been obtained without their mediation. Worse yet, the mediators could be accused of participating in the conspiracy to humiliate the prisoners. Even if the released letter is proved to be forged, it does no more than confirm the intent to humiliate.
Let us briefly see what the terms of real reconciliation should have been. Since the imprisonment has created an impasse for both parties, the only way out beneficial for all is the strengthening of the democratic process. From this impasse, no one should benefit except democracy. For only one outcome can dilute the conflict: the victory of democracy, the continuation and strengthening of the democratic process.
The process should beginning by an assessment of the reasons why suspicions and conflicts emerged during and after the election. Both the TPLF and the CUD must recognize that they were dragged into conflictual attitudes and behaviors subsequent to the absence of trustworthy institutional mechanisms guaranteeing the fairness of the electoral process. This way of analyzing the situation gets us out of the impasse resulting from mutual accusation and suspicion. Such an approach can quickly move toward discussion over how to avoid future conflicts, thereby focusing on the strengthening of the democratic process.
The discussion implies the unconditional release of the jailed leaders while making them full partners in the continuation and strengthening of the democratic process. They no longer blame the government for past conducts; they work with the government to avoid similar derailments in the future. In return, the government is exonerated from its violent behavior insofar as the behavior is attributed to weak democratic mechanisms. In this way, everybody says: let by gone be by gone; on the basis of past lessons, let us move forward.
This way of solving the problem penalizes and humiliates nobody. The government comes out reinforced: the promotion of reconciliation and the continuation of the democratic process are none other than the virtues it needs to fare better in the coming election. I don’t see how people would not be sensitive to TPLF leaders arguing that the manner they solved the crisis validates their democratic credentials and their ability to promote a peaceful and prosperous Ethiopia. Such a party will become a much tougher adversary to beat in the next election.
As to CUD leaders, they secure their freedom without any humiliation, but regain their parliamentary seats and behave as leaders of a minority party. In exchange for recognizing the ruling party as a majority party, they secure constitutional and institutional changes preventing the occurrence of similar problems in the future. Their participation makes sense because they achieve what they had wanted all along, to wit, the promotion of democracy.
Messay Kebede, Professor of philosophy, University of Dayton, Ohio (USA). He can be reached at [email protected]
