“Who among us could write what I’m about to read,” asked Carl Bernstein, “spirit unbowed, faith in freedom and the power of the written word untrammeled?” That is how Bernstein, a legend of American journalism, paid tribute to one of Ethiopia’s most improbable convicted “terrorist,” Eskinder Nega, a brave fellow journalist who sits in jail for speaking truth to power at the Public Forum program about imprisoned writers and artists presented by The Public Theater and PEN American Center on December 3, 2012. Bernstein was reading an article Eskinder published just five days before his arrest. The article criticized the government’s arrest of a 72-old-year actor on terrorism charges and discussed the improbability of critical journalists and dissidents as terror suspects.
Year on year the numbers of men women and children leaving Ethiopia in search of work and freedom from repression in one of the Gulf States and beyond is increasing. Lured by the often hollow prospect of earning enough money to support their family, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimate around 85,000 men women and children, desperate and naïve, have this year, no matter the severe risks, made their way to Yemen, the hub of migration out of the Horn of Africa.
In the last six years around 250,000 Ethiopians have made the dangerous journey into this very poor, deeply divided country besieged with internal problems, which has limited resources, the second highest rate of chronic child malnutrition in the world and where 45% of the populations live in poverty.
Into this chaos step the Ethiopian migrants, who, unlike Somali’s have no refugee status, suffer from poor consular support and are seen by most Yemenis as an unwelcome burden. They sit low on the domestic workers hierarchy and, along with other African nationals are discriminated against throughout the Gulf region where xenophobia and racism has found expression in the region’s politics and government policies.
The majority of migrants leave the security of their home, the love and comfort of their families, not because they want to, but because they have, they believe, no alternative. Overwhelmingly young, 18–30 years of age, from rural or semi-rural environments, poorly educated with many lacking basic literacy, driven by poverty the majority go in search of work, whist around 25% are estimated to be from political opposition parties. The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) who make up almost 50% of all registered migrants arriving in Yemen, and the Ogoden National Liberation Front (ONLF). Legitimate groups persecuted and branded terrorists, by the EPRDF government that in all but name, rules over a single party state and allows no form of political dissent or opposition, no matter the constitutional content to the contrary.
The influence of smugglers, masquerading under the acceptable guise of ‘broker’ on many vulnerable individuals living in rural areas, with no knowledge of the wider world, is great. Imbedded within the community they paint a picture of migration coloured by wealth and prosperity, opportunity and excitement. Accounts of horrific migration experiences are known, but all too often ignored,’ smoking kills’ deterring nobody. Arguments of self-persuasion and denial reinforced by brokers who see another victim, another human commodity, to be wrung dry. Migrants and smugglers alike are pushed to extremes, desperately trying to survive in a ‘dog eat dog’ world, dominated by an unjust, corrupt market economy, that persecutes the poor and concentrates unlimited wealth and power in the hands of the few; causing extreme inequality, hardship and unbridled human and environmental destruction. A system In which huge corporations, banks and financial institutions of the developed nations along with their allied governments condition and define developing countries as they try against all odds to haul themselves out of poverty.
Hopeless journeys made in hope
Djibouti city is the first major stage in the harrowing journey to Yemen, here or at sea all possessions, including mobile phones, cash and clothes are stolen, by smugglers, corrupt police or border guards. The journey to Djibouti’s capital is harsh and dangerous, in which many Ethiopian migrants die of starvation, dehydration or are killed by bandits. Trafficking is also serious a danger, Djibouti the US state department say is “a transit, source, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking… [Migrant] women and girls may fall victim to domestic servitude or forced prostitution after reaching Djibouti City, the Ethiopia-Djibouti trucking corridor, or Obock – the preferred crossing point into Yemen,” and gateway to the Gulf. Here migrants “have no access to food, safe drinking water or shelter from the sun,” the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) report, ‘Desperate Choices’, states, and wait for days or weeks for favourable conditions to cross the perilous waters of the Gulf of Aden, in flimsy boats manned by vicious criminal gangs. They have usually come from Ethiopia by truck, although occasionally the entire journey is made on foot, over weeks through one of the hottest, most inhospitable areas in the world. Some aren’t lucky enough to get to the port, in September last year, IRIN 15/11/11 report, 60 Ethiopian migrants were found dead about 120 km west of Djibouti’s capital.
Abduction murder and rape
More shocking even than the numbers of people is the violent treatment they face. Murder, abduction and ransom demands, torture, rape, sexual abuse and more rape, are the nightmares many are subjected to by criminal gangs and smugglers. And all in the pursuit, not of happiness, which they left behind, but $100 a month, to feed and clothe their families 1000 kilometers or more away.
On arrival in Yemen men and women are separated, wives taken from husbands, daughters from Fathers brothers from sisters. Trafficking and multiple rape of women is widespread, IRIN 12/03/12 state “the majority of the approximately 3,000 women held by smugglers in Haradh [on the border with Saudi Arabia] over the past year were raped, many of them repeatedly.”DRC relate this account from a 15-year-old boy, who “was captured by Abd al-Qawi’s gang. They tied a rope round my legs and hung me upside down and beat me almost to death for three days. I was made to watch an Ethiopian woman being raped and an Ethiopian baby about one year old being killed.”Cases of male rape, punishment for trying to stop the rape of a wife or sister, have also been documented.
On a positive note, deaths at the hands of smugglers have dramatically decreased, only to be replaced by another atrocity – abduction, the terrifying experience of the majority. With $100 – 300 being demanded from family members who can barely feed themselves, let alone pay a ransom. Torture and violence at the hands of hostage takers is brutal; pulling teeth, gouging eyes, driving nails through hands and feet, cigarette burns are all reported, and if ransoms are not paid, migrants, after this hell are often beaten to death. In March this year 70 Ethiopian men and women were discovered in Yemen’s Hajjah Governorate, again near the border with Saudi Arabia, the UN humanitarian news and analysis, reports, “their captors, they said, had beaten them with pipes, burned them with cigarettes and poured liniment in their eyes making them scream in pain.” This horrific incident indicative of many follows close on the heels of the killing of three Ethiopian men in January, shot while trying to escape from smugglers. They had made the arduous journey from rural Ethiopia to Yemen, full of hope, only to be tortured and finally murdered.
The ordeal of women begins in Djibouti, DRC report an Ethiopian man recounting the sea passage when “four Yemeni smugglers were on board the boat. They raped the girls in front of us, we were not able to move or to speak, and those girls were already sold to Yemeni traffickers.” Many are abducted and held captive, sometimes for months on end, their experiences are harrowing in the extreme, DRC tell of a 16 year old girl from Wollo who was imprisoned for six months and repeatedly raped by gang members. Far from being the exception the majority relate incidents of sexual abuse, with “many reporting being raped at almost every stage in their journey and stay within Yemen.” They “are often captured, kidnapped and disappear and it is believed they are trafficked for sexual or domestic slavery”. It is unclear where women are trafficked, it is suggested they are sold to Saudi families as “virtual slaves”, many no doubt end up in some kind of sex trade, those that eventually make it out of Saudi Arabia relate incidents of rape at the hands of brokers or employers. The horrific stories are endless, extreme abuse and brutality by vicious criminals who are destroying lives in the thousands, and it seems, with impunity. Those victims lucky enough to make it home need therapeutic support and time to gently heal, the Ethiopian government in partnership with international and national NGO’s, in addition addressing the reasons why their citizens are leaving home, need to provide professional care to help the victims overcame such trauma.
Yemeni collusion
The smugglers are organized and well armed, raiding their houses, the Chief of Police for Haradh District that borders Saudi Arabia, where 4,000Ethiopians currently await repatriation, said, Reuters report, “we face fierce resistance and shootouts. It’s like fighting an insurgency… As long as these people keep arriving the smugglers will keep taking them. There is nothing we can do.” The Yemeni and Ethiopian governments have been discussing ways to present “all facilities required to return the Ethiopian refugees to their home,” said the Yemeni Interior Minister, with standard political ambiguity, failing to mention the brutal criminality taking place inside his country, the security services corruption and the complete lack of police activity to apprehend the smugglers, protect the migrants and bring the trafficking to an end.
The Yemeni authorities shamefully complicit in the violence are portraying Ethiopian and other migrants as the cause of and reason for the increased level of extreme criminality, and as UNHCR report with internal instability giving rise to “reduced police presence…[that is] giving human traffickers and smugglers more room to operate.” And in a sign that suggests further state collusion with criminal gangs, we are informed that police activity “is also frequently preventing patrols along Yemen’s shores by humanitarian teams as they try to reach new arrivals before the smugglers.” Corruption is endemic, with security officials coordinating with smugglers on the border with Saudi Arabia, “a climate of collusion and low political will to apprehend and prosecute smugglers is allowing the trade and abuse of migrants to flourish” (Reuters). The country is run, a military officer on the payroll of the smugglers to the tune of $2,000 a month says, “by tribes not policemen: these people are my friends.” ‘These people’ are turning a blind eye to the murder, rape and trafficking of innocent migrants seeking work to feed their families.
The right to be free and safe
The realization of freedom for the people is the solemn duty of the Ethiopian government, it is the foundation of democracy without which no true and lasting human development will take place, it is however a duty regarded by the TPLF/EPRDF with contempt and disregarded totally. The quest and heartfelt desire of the people of Ethiopia is for social justice and liberty not migration to the Gulf or beyond. They are deeply proud, dignified and many devoutly religious, who love the land of their birth. Overwhelmingly they risk life and limb not in search of material wealth but to escape economic hardship and political imprisonment at the hands of a highly repressive regime that seeks total control and denies all freedom of speech, acknowledged as a human right in the federal constitution.
The political space, narrow in the extreme must be opened, to allow, indeed encourage political and social participation and responsibility. Participation feared only and always by the dictator, would enrich the society, allowing the free flow of ideas to address the many issues facing the country. Such inclusive measures, in keeping with the time and the aspirations of the people would cultivate an atmosphere of hope and strengthen the community. A nationwide programme to raise awareness of the dangers inherent in migration via Yemen and to Gulf countries more broadly, aimed at deterring the unknowing is an imperative responsibility of the government, designed and delivered perhaps in collaboration with international NGO’s working throughout the country, further facilitating involvement and cooperation.
The non-partisan distribution of development aid, an ignored legal requirement, would be a positive step in bringing relief from extreme economic hardship and curtailing migration. Currently, grain fertilizer and food, are selectively distributed by regime stooges based, not on need, but on political affiliation. Ethiopia’s primary donors, America Britain and the European Union, have a responsibility to ensure this is addressed, in addition to insisting the Ethiopian government observes human rights, adheres to federal and international law and dismantles mechanisms of state repression. All such steps would build confidence in change, reducing the need to migrate. Development that does not address humanitarian needs justly, and denies the observation of basic human rights enshrined in law, pollutes the notion of change, allows state corruption and limits government responsibility to the realization of targets set by international institutions seeking to maximize their return and build political/economic models of conformity and control.
In accordance with the responsibilities of office, the Ethiopian government must take all necessary steps to safeguard its citizens. Appropriate consular support is essential in offering protection, advice and sanctuary to migrants, no matter their political affiliation or ethnicity. Urgent, sustained and coordinated efforts are needed by the affected countries law enforcement agencies and judiciary to close down the criminal networks, route out corruption and safeguard migrants. The innocent men women and children from Ethiopia making an impossible choice, with they see no alternatives, are not the villains in this ongoing human tragedy they are the victims trapped in a terrifying nightmare.
If History is on the Side of Brave Africans, Shouldn’t the U.S. be Too?
When President Obama visited Accra, Ghana in 2009, he delivered two distinct political messages within one overarching moral imperative: “History is on the side of brave Africans”. His message to African governments and leaders was emphatic:
…Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans, and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions… [G]overnments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable, and more successful…
His message to the people of Africa was inspiring, upbeat and passionate:
…You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can conquer disease, end conflicts, and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can. Because in this moment, history is on the move.
President Obama also made a solemn promise to Africans:
… What we will do is increase assistance for responsible individuals and institutions, with a focus on supporting good governance – on parliaments, which check abuses of power and ensure that opposition voices are heard; on the rule of law, which ensures the equal administration of justice; on civic participation, so that young people get involved; and on concrete solutions to corruption… to advance transparency and accountability.
Now, at the cusp of the beginning of President Obama’s second term, we have to ask some tough questions: Are there more African strongmen in 2012 than in 2009? Are there fewer brave Africans on the streets and more of them in jail in 2012 than in 2009? Does Africa today have more debilitated institutions than it had in 2009? Do more African governments respect the will of their people today than they did in 2009? Is there less conflict in Africa today than in 2009? Does Africa today have good governance and is the rule of law the rule in Africa? Are more opposition voices heard, more civic participation seen and more youth and women involved in the political process in Africa today than they did in 2009? Does the U.S. today “stand with all those who seek to advance human dignity”? Is history in Africa today on the move forward to democracy, freedom and human rights, or is Africa marching backwards into the darkness of dictatorship and tyranny?
Is the U.S. today standing tall with the brave Africans or in bed with Africa’s strongmen?
Whatever Happened to the Brave Africans President Obama Spoke About in 2009?
According to the U.S. Department of State’s Human Rights Practices Report for 2011 (May 2012), many of the “brave Africans” President Obama spoke about in 2009 are jailed, tortured, silenced, on the run, dead or just scared stiff under relentless official harassment and persecution. Arbitrary arrests, lengthy pretrial detentions, torture, and mistreatment of detainees by security forces, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, illegal searches and seizures and infringements of citizens’ privacy rights, restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press and assembly in one form or another are the common facts of African daily life. African societies and institutions are decimated by official corruption and bloated bureaucracies. Justice is traded to the highest bidder in politically-controlled judiciaries; and rubberstamp parliaments crank out laws and proclamations like a Chinese toy factory. African societies are plagued by discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, gender, language, religion, culture and region.
An environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place even before Election Day. In recent years, the Ethiopian government has taken steps to restrict political space for the opposition through intimidation and harassment, tighten its control over civil society, and curtail the activities of independent media. We are concerned that these actions have restricted freedom of expression and association…
… In Ethiopia, we are faced with a challenge. The principal question is how to work constructively with both the government and civil society to advance democracy and human rights when the government has limited political and civil space. This has included restrictions on civil society organizations, the curtailment of media freedom, and the conviction of journalists and members of the political opposition under the Anti-terrorism Proclamation. We’re particularly concerned about the Charities and Societies Proclamation and the Anti-terrorism Proclamation…
The “challenge” Hanrahan talks about includes the arrest of “more than 100 opposition political figures, activists, journalists, and bloggers,” massive suppression of the independent press, virtual bans on civil society and nongovernmental organizations,beatings and torturing of detainees by security forces and poor prison conditions. It also includes the unlawful persecution and imprionsment of the 2012 PEN America Freedom to Write Award winner Eskinder Nega; Reeyot Alemu, the 2012 winner of the International Women’s Media Fund’s Courage in Journalism Award; Woubshet Taye, editor of a popular weekly, opposition party leaders Andualem Aragie and Natnael Mekonnen among many others. The evidence reported in the latest U.S. State Department Human Rights Practices Report on Ethiopia (May 2012) shows that describing the human rights situation in Ethiopia as a “challenge” and glossing it over with a polite expression of “concern” is tantamount to adding insult to injury. The human rights situation in that country should provoke unmitigated moral outrage and immediate and direct action to uphold democratic principles and standards of universal human rights.
Perhaps current U.S. leaders could learn valuable lessons from their predecessors who faced similar “challenges” posed by tyrannies and dictatorships. President Truman once said, “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of the opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” Such is the indisputable fact of life in Ethiopia today and no amount of empty talk about “concerns” and hollow promises about overcoming “challenges” will change the situation!
The U.S. Record in Africa Today Leaves Much to be Desired
According to Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson who heads the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs, there are “five pillars that serve as the foundation of U.S. policy toward Africa.” These include “(1) support for democracy and the strengthening of democratic institutions including free, fair, and transparent elections; (2) support for African economic growth and development; (3) conflict prevention, mitigation, and resolution; (4) support for Presidential initiatives such as the Global Health Initiative, Feed the Future, and the Global Climate Change Initiative and (5) working with African nations on transnational issues such as drug smuggling, money laundering and trafficking in persons.” Carson reported that U.S. policy in Africa “in recent years”
has contributed to democratic transitions in Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Niger; successful elections in Nigeria; and a referendum that led to the independence of South Sudan. The Bureau promotes African economic development through the annual Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forums. It is actively striving to end sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and eliminate the atrocities perpetrated by the Lord’s Resistance Army throughout Central Africa. Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global food security initiative, is focused on 12 African countries…
In my travels around the world as Secretary of State, I have met many individuals who put their lives on the line to advance the cause of human rights and justice. In ways small and large, they hold their governments accountable for upholding universal human rights… The United States stands with all those who seek to advance human dignity…
These quite modest accomplishments in Africa fall far short of President Obama’s lofty and eloquent words and majestic promises in Accra and his Administration’s actions to support good governance and promote human rights in Africa. Shakespeare said, “Action is eloquence.” Though there is always a gap between political rhetoric and political action, one should not confuse the eloquence of words with the eloquence of action. But this is not the time to look back and engage in recriminations, teeth-gnashing, belly-aching and finger pointing. We shall march to our President’s battle cry and “Keep Moving Forward”.
Time to Put Up or Shut Up?
Americans are generally known for straight talk, cutting down to the chase or cutting out the bull. It is one of the great qualities I have always appreciated in ordinary Americans and some of their great leaders. They say what they mean and mean what they say. It was “plain talkin’” President Harry S. Truman who said, “I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.” So, I will do a little bit of straight talking. We have heard enough of human rights pontifications and declarations. We know all about the “challenges”, “problems”, “difficulties” and “issues” in improving human rights and good governance in Ethiopia and the rest of Africa. We have also heard enough grousing, whining and complaining in Diaspora Ethiopian communities, particularly in the U.S., about what the U.S. has done, not done or could have done to to promote good governance, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. In President Obama’s second term, there are only two choices: Put up or Shut Up! Put another way, the U.S. can step up and stand tall with the brave Africans or roll over in bed with the shameless and cowardly dictators who cling to power through handouts, World Bank and IMF loans and the barrel of the gun.
How to Help the Brave Ethiopians: Where to Start?
Many veteran Ethiopian human rights advocates will no doubt remember H.R. 2003 (“Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007”; originally introduced as H.R. 4423 “Ethiopia Consolidation Act of 2005” by Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey when he chaired the Subcommittee on Africa and later renumbered as H.R. 4423 and H.R. 5680 in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs). Congress Donald Payne of New Jersey took the lead on H.R. 2003 when he became chairman of the Africa Subcommittee in 2007 and obtained the co-sponsorship of some 85 members of Congress. That bill passed the House in October 2007. Its key provisions focused on a number of issues central to good governance and protection of human rights in Ethiopia, including the release and/or speedy trial of all political prisoners in the country, prosecution of persons who have committed gross human rights violations, financial support to strengthen human rights and civil society groups and establishment of an independent judiciary, support for independent media operations, training assistance to strengthen legislative bodies, electoral commission and civil society groups, among others. Unfortunately, the bill never made it for a floor vote in the Senate.
Recently, the U.S. Congress passed and the President signed an important piece of legislation last week known as the “Sergei Magnitsky Law” (Senate Bill 1039 sponsored by democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, a long-time civil rights and civil liberties advocate and co-sponsored by 33 other Senators; and H.R. 4405 in the House sponsored by the well-known human rights advocate and democratic Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and co-sponsored by 15 other members). This law is designed to “impose sanctions on persons responsible for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky, for the conspiracy to defraud the Russian Federation of taxes on corporate profits through fraudulent transactions and lawsuits and for other gross violations of human rights in the Russian Federation.” The “Magnitsky” language was incorporated in a larger legislation (‘‘Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012’’).
Sergei Magnitsky was a brave and principled 37-year-old Russian lawyer who exposed massive government corruption involving money-laundering by Russian officials. He died in prison in 2009. Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, citing the conclusions of the independent Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, reported that Magnitsky was illegally arrested, detained and denied justice by the very courts and prosecutors of the Russian Federation he was investigating and accusing. While in detention Magnitsky was denied necessary medical care and died from beatings he received by prison guards. Despite overwhelming evidence of official criminality in the Magnitsky case, no officials have yet to be brought to justice.
The key provisions of the Magnitsky Law requires the State Department to maintain a list of human rights abusers in Russia, freeze their assets and deny them U.S. visas.
Section 404 of the law (“Identification of Persons Responsible for the Detention, Abuse and Death of Sergei Magnitsky and Other Gross Violators of Human Rights”) requires the President to submit to Congress within 120 days “a list” of names of persons likely to have been involved directly or indirectly in “the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky” and other individuals “responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation.”
Section 406 requires the President to use his legal authority to “freeze and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property of a person who is on the list required by section 404(a) if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person.” The law further imposes penalties on any “person that violates or conspires to violate” the law to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act.
Helping Ethiopia’s “Magnitskys”
In his 2009 Accra speech, President Obama told Africans that the U.S. will “increase assistance for responsible individuals and institutions, with a focus on supporting good governance… to advance transparency and accountability.” He also said that it is possible to “make change from the bottom up because in this moment, history is on the move.” Well, the moment of history to get Ethiopian human rights legislation passed through the U.S. Congress is now! There is a perfect alignment of the bipartisan legislative stars. Human rights as a policy issue is taking front and center among both Democrats and Republicans. The Magnitsky Law was a significant legislative victory not only for the memory of the brave Sergei Magnitsky but for all brave victims of official human rights abuses everywhere. Senator Cardin toiled for years to get the bill through Congress and managed to do so with the support of senior republicans. (Truth be told, the Obama administration did not support linking the human rights legislation to a trade bill, but in the end had to give in.)
The bipartisan support for human rights as evidenced in the Magnitsky Law is refreshing, invigorating, inspiring and long overdue. Republican Arizona Senator John McCain said the United States had a moral obligation to speak out for Magnitsky, as well as others who are still alive and languishing unjustly in Russian prisons: “We are sending a signal to Vladimir Putin and the Russian kleptocracy that these kind of abuses of human rights will not be tolerated without us responding in some appropriate fashion. I believe that this legislation is not anti Russia. I believe it’s pro Russia…. I continue to worry about them and I pray for them.” Republican Arizona Senator Jon Kyl said the bill should have applied to all countries. Democratic New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen said that the United States intends to pay attention to human rights everywhere. “We will stand up for those who dare to speak out against corruption. This bill is for all the Magnitskys around the world.” Senator Ben Cardin said he would push to make it universal in scope so it could be used to punish other human rights violators around the world. “Now we start a new chapter in human rights. The legislation sets a precedent for international conduct that we expect will be honored globally.” Even the White House issued a Statement indicating that the President will support legislation that will “promote the rule of law and respect for human rights around the world”.
It is great to see a sea change in the U.S. Congress on the issue of human rights. There seems to be a new attitude and renewed commitment to human rights and good governance and a recognition that human rights are an integral part of international law and civilized humanity. President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.” President Jimmy Carter said, “America did not invent human rights. Human rights invented America.” In Ethiopia and many parts of Africa, the noblest aspirations of the human spirit go unfulfilled. And just like human rights invented America, I believe it is time for human rights to reinvent Ethiopia and the rest of Africa.
With her decision to withdraw from consideration as secretary of state, Susan Rice—and her greatest champion, President Obama—is finally bowing to the inevitable. Her supporters concocted any number of reasons to promote her ascension to the top floor of Foggy Bottom. She was, they said, being demonized by the right. She was being subjected to racism. She was just trying to please her superiors. And so on.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice speaks during a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria in August in New York. (Stephen Chernin/AFP/Getty Images)
Don’t believe a word of it. The real problem is not that she bungled Libya. It’s that she should never have been ambassador to the United Nations in the first place—let alone become secretary of state.
Until recently, Rice was smoothly on track to become the Edmund Hillary of foreign-policy strivers. But unlike the legendary climber, she only glimpsed but never quite reached the summit. Her entire career has been based less on solid accomplishment than on her networking skills. In that regard, she exquisitely represents her generation, which largely consists of unwise men and women.
Even a cursory look at Rice’s résumé should induce some queasiness. Essentially, she was molded in Washington, D.C. She punched all the right tickets—National Cathedral School, Stanford, Rhodes scholarship, Brookings Institution. She is a perfect creature of the Beltway. But the downside is that there is scant evidence that she ever flourished outside the cozy ecosystem of the foreign-policy establishment.
It has not always been thus. Henry Kissinger produced serious books about international affairs. Further back, Dean Acheson was a successful lawyer. James Baker was both a shrewd lawyer and political operative whose wheeler-dealer skills translated well into dealing with foreign allies and adversaries. Now it’s not necessary to be all of these things at once. No one would claim that Hillary Clinton is a Kissingerian-style intellectual. But Clinton’s stature and political prowess allowed her to crack heads during the recent Gaza crisis.
What would Rice have brought to the State Department? The most she seems to have accomplished outside the foreign-policy world is to serve a stint as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. Otherwise, she has produced no memorable books or articles or even op-ed essays. The most interesting thing about Rice has been the kerfuffle over her move to become secretary of state.
Perhaps it should not be altogether surprising that her record in Africa seems to have been one of catering to some of the most loathsome dictators in the region.
Throughout, her most distinguishing trait seems to be an eagerness to please her superiors, which is entirely consistent with how she rode the escalator to success. Want to avoid declaring that genocide is taking place in Rwanda? Go to Rice. Want to fudge the facts in Libya? Rice is there again. Obama had it right when he observed that she “had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received.” But why, as Maureen Dowd asked, didn’t she question it? The answer is simple: because she rarely, if ever, questions authority. Instead she has made a career out of catering to it.
Perhaps, then, it should not be altogether surprising that her record in Africa seems to have been one of catering to some of the most loathsome dictators in the region. She fell over herself to praise the late Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi in September.
In a keen analysis in the National Journal, Michael Hirsh noted that she has come under severe fire from human-rights activists for her insouciance about Africa and that, “recently, during a meeting at the U.N. mission of France, after the French ambassador told Rice that the U.N. needed to do more to intervene in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rice was said to have replied: ‘It’s the eastern DRC. If it’s not M23, it’s going to be some other group,’” according to an account given by a human-rights worker who spoke with several people in the room. (Rice’s spokesman said he was familiar with the meeting, but did not know if she made the comment.)
Once again, this may not have been her personal predilection, but Rice was only too happy to try and bury foreign-policy problems rather than confront them.
Now that Rice has fallen short, she may be succeeded at the U.N. by her former antagonist Samantha Power, who originally reported that Rice had worked to whitewash events in Rwanda. Unlike Rice, Power has traveled extensively in dangerous regions, combining the professions of journalist and activist. She resembles a modern Rebecca West. Whether the acidulous Power can ultimately muster the diplomatic skills to surpass Rice will be one of the tantalizing mysteries of Obama’s second term. For now, it appears that Obama will select either John Kerry or Chuck Hagel to run the State Department. It will allow Rice to try and once more burnish her résumé. But the amazing thing isn’t that she failed to become secretary of state. It’s that Rice rose as high as she did.
Good news is always welcome. Then there is the extraordinarily good news that jars you from your slumber. And when the good news happens right around Christmas there is nothing one can do other than put more log in the fire place, take a generous helping of the twelve year old scotch light up a fat Cohibas and sit back with Cheshire cat smile imprinted on ones face. That is what I wanted to do yesterday if only I had a fireplace, aged scotch or a fat cigar. Not to worry I had the good news and it brought a wide smile.
The good news is the exit of Susan Rice from the idea of becoming the Secretary of State. Poor Susan she did not even get nominated but they dangled her name out there to be trashed and mangled. They found out she is toxic. It looks like contemplating Susan Rice as foreign policy maker brought queasiness and nausea to some king makers.
Susan’s demise woke me up. The last few weeks I was in ‘Ground hog day’ land. Have you watched the movie ‘Ground Hog Day’? That was what I felt like. In that story the main character finds himself repeating the same day again and again. That is our country Ethiopia in a nutshell. The same crap story told over and over again until we become numb to it.
In the movie Phil the main character comes to face with his shallow and indifferent existence and is compelled to make amends. He was able to break the loop of indifference, apathy and selfishness. You know what my ultimate fear is? As an Ethiopian, it is to think that we are unable to get out of this loser loop we are wallowing for the last few decades.
We pride ourselves as being the oldest Nation State in history. We are quick to point out that we were never colonized. Both are commendable feats. The issue facing us now is what has that got to do with today. Those past accomplishments though daring have no relevance to the situation we are in now. Where exactly are we at today? We are with all due respect technologically backward, quality of life at the bottom any human achievement, a very inadequate educational and health system, an oppressive and lawless political arrangement and the epicenter of famine and starvation.
No need to deny that, no need to cringe and totally useless not to face realty. Unless one comes face to face with one’s ailment solution cannot be found. The first step towards recovery is realizing we have a problem and it is the cause of the many difficulties faced by our country and people. The best approach to bring about change is to look at the specific problems our behavior is causing and tackle that. For example being a coward makes us bow to authority, lack of character makes us lie and cheat to each other, our problem with low self-esteem makes us indifferent to the plight of fellow countrymen, our selfish attitude works against our own self-interest in the long run and we play the blame game to distance ourselves from the problem at hand and avoid responsibility.
The last few months have been trying times extraordinaire. It was like we were caught in a vortex, meaning a whirling mass of nothingness coming at us from all sides. I am of course talking about the US presidential elections and my Ethiopian brethren’s behavior here in good old America. I am sure glad it is over. The unbridled enthusiasm of my fellow Ethiopians escapes any and all explanations. Some were consumed by it, a few were stressed out plenty were hating on the Republican Party while lost souls like myself were diving for cover. It was not easy. There was no place to hide.
It was an impossible mission trying to get a response why my friends were gung ho about Barrack Obamas reelection. To tell you the truth I had nothing against it. At the same time I did not find any reason to be frenzied or extremely emotional either. Of course I will vote for him if given the chance but I wouldn’t be twisted out of shape or lose any sleep regarding the outcome if different.
Please note here that I am speaking as an Ethiopian since choosing someone is based on purely selfish needs. What is he gona do for me is the only question the average person asks of a candidate unless of course one is altruistic and I am afraid that is not what most people are. Most Americans voted for candidate Obama because he promised to lower taxes for the middle class, bring immigration reform, set a dead line regarding the country’s involvement in Afghanistan, killed Osama and seemed to have a functional family. Mr. Romney’s constant foot in the mouth situation and show of absolute detachment from reality was a great help towards Mr. Obama’s reelection attempt.
The crucial question to an Ethiopian is of course what is he going to do for my country Ethiopia? That was what I wanted to be addressed when conversing with my Ethiopian-American family and friends. If their support is due to the fact that he is the son of Africa or he shows empathy towards the middle class I completely agree. My problem was when a few want to drag poor Ethiopia into the equation and claim his reelection will help our country. As they say the devil is in the details and here is one situation where the truth does not jive with reality.
Four years ago Mr. Obama appeared on the scene as the messenger of change. In all his speeches he made it clear that the US under his leadership will stand with the down trodden and the oppressed in a new kind of way. Upon being elected that was his message when he toured the Middle East and that was his message to his African family when he made a brief stopover in Ghana. We were overjoyed when he put dictators everywhere on notice that their days of horror is over. Here is a long excerpt from President Obama’s speech to Africans from Accra, Ghana in July of 2009.
“We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans…..First, we must support strong and sustainable democratic governments……
As I said in Cairo, each nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable, and more successful than governments that do not.
This is about more than holding elections – it’s also about what happens between them. Repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end…. But I can promise you this: America will be with you. As a partner. As a friend.”
Beautifully said don’t you think so? No one could have said it better. I distinctly remember the time and place when I read that speech, would it be too much to reveal that it gave me mental orgasm? If mere words can intoxicate this was it. I cried. At last, I said a friend in a place of power, my prayers have been answered.
I waited and waited and waited some more. I told myself may be next week, next month you think next year? Unfortunately what Mr. Obama says and what President Obama does is not the same thing. There is a dis-connect between words and deeds. “Barack Obama became a less ideological but more effective version of George W Bush,” said Professor Aaron Miller, a vice-president at the Woodrow Wilson Centre. How true.
Thus the coddling of dictators continued unabated, the use of drones to kill from afar got accelerated and the marginalization of Africa did not cease. My country Ethiopia became a pawn in America’s war with its enemies. My dictator was invited to sit alongside his masters, the enablers that choose not to see what he was doing to my country as long as he served their purpose.
President Obama’s State department never stopped detailing the crimes of the dictator against his people while President Obama’s Pentagon was generous in furnishing weapons, transportation and training to those who use it against the same people and commit the crimes to be recited by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the victims themselves. And most of all Mr. Obama’s rhetoric against dictators, deniers of freedom and human right abusers never stopped.
Thus when my Ethiopian American friends were moving heaven and earth to get their candidate reelected I wondered why? What would the other guy running for the office do different than what is being done to us now? If they are supporting the President as an American citizen I understand but why are they throwing the word Ethiopian in front of their designation. That is not fair. To show them that they actually do not matter the newly re-elected President threw Susan Rice at us as a thank you prize. Take that my Ethiopian-American constituent.
Wait a minute isn’t this the same Susan Rice that insulted Meles Zenawi’s victims as fools? Is it the Susan Rice that travelled all the way to Addis to vouch the humanity of the butcher and mad man? Yes the one and only Susan Rice that went to Harlem to preach at the war lord’s memorial. Of course there is more to her than that. During the second term of Bill Clinton’s Presidency our Susan Rice was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and how do you think she showed her love to Africa? It was by friending characters such as Rwanda’s Kagame, Uganda’s Museveni, Ethiopia’s Zenawi, and Congo’s Kabila. Could you think of any loathsome characters as these? The five dysfunctional sycophants are responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Africans and Susan Rice shares the credit and blame.
Rumor had it Mr. Obama might nominate Susan Rice to be the next Secretary of State. Shall we say the response has been heartwarming to a marginalized Ethiopian? I have been sitting back and enjoying the dictator lover twist in the wind. Her recent problem started when Obama’s White House used her as a ‘fall guy’ for the Benghazi attack. She was paraded out with false intelligence to keep Mr. Obama out the headlines for the debacle during the election. Our intelligent and highly educated friend went on national TV distorting the truth and reality since making shit up is nothing new to her. I very much enjoy our ‘idiotic and foolish’ friend travelling from one Senator’s office to another with her tail between her legs begging for love. Watching her swatted like a pesky fly is as far as I am concerned a priceless sight.
The one thing I find curious is that when recounting her shortcomings no one seems to mention her love of dictators and mad Africans as worthwhile failing. They talk about her miserable performance at the UN, her Benghazi disinformation campaign and even her investment in the oil pipe line deal but nothing about her involvement in the Rwanda massacre, not a whisper regarding her friendship with the Ethiopian criminal PM and her love for African dictators. It shows you how much we matter.
So a few of my Ethiopian friends started a petition to let Mr. Obama know what they think of the lady. I mean she insulted our struggle for freedom, she mocked us and she did it all in public. It is like one of us calling Martin Luther king a fool or Malcolm X an idiot. How many Ethiopians do you think signed the petition? A minuscule amount did.
Why do you think that is so? You think it is due to that little sickness I mentioned earlier? The matter of low self-esteem, Cowardice, selfishness and ignorance all rolled in one? Thus we campaigned for Mr. Obama so he can look after our interest and when he acts against it we are afraid to say wait a minute that is not why we elected you! I don’t see labor unions, women’s organizations, Hispanic groups playing dead when their interest is threatened. What is it about us that is willing to make excuse when stepped on?
You see that same trait is displayed in our National politics. We are willing to dance with the criminals in powers as long as they throw a piece of land, cheap hotels and brothels to frequent when we visit home. When exactly did we become a nation of lemmings? Watch the YouTube video link at the end and you can see what I mean. Guess what there must be some kind of power that looks after us. The fact that every Christmas the giving to our nation and people never stops is one clue. Three years ago ESAT was established, a year ago OLF denounced the separate trail and joined the mother fold and this year the giving has been a little overwhelming. The sudden death of Dictator Meles Zenawi and the faux patriarch and now Susan Rice’s humiliation begs for an answer. Despite our cheap character and betrayal of our motherland those that harm or conspire to hurt good old Ethiopia live to regret their transgressions. It looks like harming our mother comes with ugly consequences.
If History is on the Side of Brave Africans, Shouldn’t the U.S. be Too?