As a result of the political unrest in our country, following the May 2005 election, lives have been lost, human and democratic rights of numerous citizens have been violated and valuable property has been destroyed. Furthermore, our society has sustained a psychological wound that is not likely to heal easily. The problem that our country is facing at present will not be solved easily. However, it is our ardent hope that we as a nation will recuperate gradually and strive forward in the fulfillment of our objectives.
We the leaders of CUD are among the victims of the national and widespread unrest. We have now been released on July 20, 2007 after 20 months of imprisonment. Numerous domestic and foreign forces have made strong efforts to secure our release. Many Ethiopians at home and abroad have held prayer and fasting vigils in their places of worship. Others have shown their solidarity with us through public demonstrations, undetained by hostile weather.
National elders have strived to resolve the problem through peace and reconciliation. We wish to thank our Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian advocates of human rights and democracy for the support and the peace of mind they gave us when we were in detention.
We wish to express our deep respect to our compatriots who lost their lives during this time of difficulty. They shall be remembered by us, former detainees, and by Ethiopians as a whole as martyrs for democracy. We shall also remember their families that God may give them consolation.
It is to be recalled that national elders have been making concerted efforts to have us released from prison and to extricate the Ethiopian peaceful political process from the aggressive and intransigent state in which it finds itself. Their effort was focused not only on having us released from detention but also on restoring the derailed democratic process to its proper course. Based on this understanding, we have agreed to resolve the conflict through a reconciliation process as initiated by the elders. We have further agreed to forgive all those who have done wrong, to seek ways by which those who have been harmed could be healed, but above all to look to the future and concentrate on the positive conditions that would be created after the reconciliation.
Our common effort is aimed at protecting our country from plunging into a quagmire of problems. Because of this aim, we have endeavored from the start not to be guided by hatred and to bear with patience the wrongs inflicted upon us.
We have discussed, with the elders, various issues considered necessary for creating a spirit of reconciliation and we have reached agreement on many points. We have also been made to understand by the elders that the agreements reached between us and them are also agreed upon by other concerned parties. Even though the statement released by the government is different from the agreement reached between the elders and us, it is
our belief that the elders will make public the true content of the agreement at a time and in a manner that is convenient to them. It is also our belief that the people understand the true nature of the intensive propaganda campaign that the government is waging through the mass media after the conclusion of the agreement. We are also fully confident that the propaganda barrage will not, in any way, reduce the strong support that the people have for CUD. This support has been clearly affirmed by the respect and love the people have shown us after our release from detention.
We have chosen to overlook the government propaganda and not to respond in kind because it would serve no purpose other than poisoning the spirit of reconciliation that we, the elders and the Ethiopian people in general would like to see prevailing. Rather, as political leaders, we have chosen to look forward to a bright future, because we believe that this approach will provide us a sound foundation for the success of our struggle for democracy. We the leaders of CUD wish to reaffirm our firm commitment to this struggle.
Currently, the first measure that the Ethiopian people would like to see taken according to the reached agreement is the release of all our members accused in connection with the unrest following the May 2005 election and who are still in detention. It is our ardent hope that the elders will pursue the release of these prisoners as a matter of urgency.
Finally, we the leaders of CUD, reaffirm our commitment to seeing democracy prevail in our country, and our readiness to work with other national forces that go along with the principles that we hold. After discussing the current situation prevailing in our country, CUD will make public the activities that it will subsequently pursue for the fulfillment of its peaceful objectives.
KALAMAZOO–Pressing issues facing the second most populated country in Africa will bring scholars and policy-makers from around the globe to Western Michigan University in August.
The fourth “International Conference on Contemporary Development Issues in Ethiopia” will be held Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 2-4, for academics, policy makers, investors, donors, students and the public. The event explores the challenges to increasing development and reducing conflict in Ethiopia and Northeast Africa in particular and on the African continent in general.
Participants will be coming from across the United States as well as nations such as Austria, Canada, Denmark, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Japan, Somalia, Sudan and Sweden. This year’s main speakers will be a noted academic, Detroit humanitarian and state department official.
“Development remains one of the greatest challenges for Africa in the 21st century,” says Dr. Sisay Asefa, WMU professor of economics. “Our biennial conference provides an independent forum where people can freely discuss their research and views regarding development issues and how Ethiopia and other African nations can move forward.”
Conference registration will be held in the Fetzer Center from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 3-4. The academic sessions will take place across from Fetzer in Schneider Hall and begin on Friday. A key feature of this year’s event will be the exchange of scholarly papers–a select group of which will be considered for inclusion in a new online publication called the Journal of Ethiopian Development Studies.
The Friday sessions will be devoted to examining issues related to the economy, culture, and natural and human resources. In addition, Dr. Donald N. Levine, the Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, will give a keynote luncheon address on “An Ethiopian Dilemma: Deep Structures, Wrenching Processes” at 1 p.m. in Fetzer. Levine, a consultant to several U.S. government agencies, served on the international team invited to monitor Ethiopia’s 1992 national elections and worked to mediate the crisis in that country following 2005’s elections.
Saturday, the conference will focus on globalization, conflict, institutions, politics and foreign investment and feature two main speakers. First up will be James C. Swan, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs. He will talk on “U.S. policy on the Horn of Africa” during a plenary luncheon lecture at 1 p.m. in the Fetzer Center. Swan is responsible for the bureau’s offices for Central Africa, East Africa and Regional Security Affairs.
Dr. Ingida Asfaw, chief of cardiovascular surgery at Detroit’s Sinai-Grace Hospital, will present a keynote lecture on “The Role of the Ethiopian North American Health Professional Association in the Health Care Sector and Forging Synergy Within the Diaspora” at 7 p.m. in the West Ballroom of the Bernhard Center. Asfaw is a world-renowned cardiac surgeon originally from Ethiopia. He has led numerous medical missions there and founded the Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association, an international network of nearly 1,000 medical and nonmedical professionals dedicated to promoting preventative care and better health in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is roughly the size of Texas yet has a population of 77 million people, making it the second most populated country in Africa. The nation is situated in northeast Africa, also known as the Horn of Africa, which includes Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti.
“Despite its many assets, the Horn is one of Africa’s poorest and most unstable sub-regions, suffering from conflicts and violence within and among its member states,” Asefa says. “The problems it faces have important implications for the rest of Africa and other developing nations. As a sub-region, the Horn is one of Africa’s and the global economy’s most strategic areas, serving as a bridge between Africa and the Middle East as well as the oil fields of the Persian Gulf.”
The conference is being sponsored by the WMU Center for African Development Policy Research, which Asefa directs; numerous other academic and administrative units at the University; and the Ethiopian Development Studies Association. The latter organization is based in Michigan and was created in March to engage in Ethiopian development activities and organize future conferences related to Ethiopia. It will be inaugurated at the upcoming conference.
For more information, visit international.wmich.edu or contact Sisay Asefa at [email protected] or (269) 387-5556.
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The expulsion of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) giving them only a weeks notice to leave Ogaden coupled with the ban on international journalists is designed to prevent any international organization or foreign correspondent from witnessing the war crimes taking place against the civilian population of Ogaden at the hands of the Meles regime in Ethiopia. The Meles regime has clearly recognized the failure of its military strategy in Ogaden and has set its sights on our civilian population.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) strongly condemns the expulsion of the ICRC and the ban on international journalists from entering Ogaden. We call on the world community to recognize that war crimes are taking place in Ogaden against our people requiring immediate international intervention. The Meles regime’s war crimes have targeted civilians in Ogaden and have done little to impact our armed forces which are largely intact, operational and and continue to be effective.
The ONLF wishes to reaffirm that humanitarian assistance continues to face direct interference from the Meles regime and that there continues to be a virtual blockade against aid and commercial goods in Ogaden. Humanitarian organizations like the WFP are unable to be fully effective because of restrictions imposed by this regime. This blockade coupled with the information blockade now in effect and strengthened by the expulsion of the ICRC should serve as a warning sign to the international community that the Ethiopian regime has no intention of ending its war crimes in Ogaden and will make every effort to conceal these atrocities from the world community.
The United Nations must not sit by idly and allow yet another preventable human tragedy to take place in Africa.
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Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—Five opposition members imprisoned since 2005 pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempting to overthrow Ethiopia’s government, but asked the judge for a pardon.
The Meles regime pardoned and freed 38 other opposition members in the same case last week after international condemnation and strong pressure from the United States. The detainees were all arrested in connection with deadly election protests.
The five defendants Wednesday submitted a letter saying, “I plead guilty and I don’t want to defend the case. I request the court give a judgment on me,” High Court Judge Adil Ahmed said, adding that they immediately asked for a pardon.
The defendants are accused of inciting violence in an attempt to overthrow the government. Prosecutors have been pushing for the death penalty.
The opposition won an unprecedented number of parliamentary seats in the 2005 vote, but not enough to topple Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The opposition claimed the voting was rigged, and European Union observers said it was marred by irregularities.
Last year, the Meles regime acknowledged its security forces killed 193 civilians protesting alleged election fraud but insisted they did not use excessive force. A senior judge appointed to investigate the violence disagreed, saying there was excessive force.
Initially, the opposition leaders, journalists and others were charged with treason, inciting violence and attempted genocide. Judges dropped the treason and attempted genocide charges in April and later that month freed 25 prisoners, among them eight journalists.
In Washington last week, a House subcommittee completed work on legislation that condemns Ethiopia’s recent human rights record and opens the door for sanctions. The bill would have to be passed by both houses and signed by President Bush.
There have been a series of accounts out of Ethiopia recently that describe a nasty situation there, including a Human Rights Watch report earlier this month that said the Ethiopian military had “forcibly displaced thousands of civilians in the country’s eastern Somali . . . while escalating its campaign against a separatist insurgency movement.” Government troops were “destroying villages and property, confiscating livestock, and forcing civilians to relocate,” according to Peter Takirambudde, Africa director of Human Rights Watch. “Whatever the military strategy behind them, these abuses violate the laws of war.” Eyewitness accounts offered to Human Rights Watch said Ethiopian troops had been “burning homes and property, including the recent harvest and other food stocks intended for the civilian population, confiscating livestock and, in a few cases, firing upon and killing fleeing civilians.”
Despite that record, the Bush Administration views Ethiopia as an important counterterrorism ally, especially given Ethiopia’s recent involvement in Somalia, and annually provides the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi with hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. But some in Congress have grown weary of abuses committed by Zenawi’s government. Earlier this month a House subcommittee passed a bill that would limit American aid to Ethiopia and ban government officials linked to human rights abuses from coming to the United States. In the Senate, Patrick Leahy of Vermont is seeking passage of a measure that would review some of the military assistance that is being provided.
But two congressmen-turned-lobbyists — former House Majority Leaders Richard Armey, the Republican from Texas, and Missouri Democrat Richard Gephardt — are working hard to block full congressional action against the Zenawi regime. The duo work with the firm of DLA Piper, which federal disclosure records show is being paid at least $50,000 per month by the Ethiopian government for “strategic advice and counsel.”
In 2006, the House International Relations Committee approved the Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act, which criticized the government for its human rights record, called for it to free jailed opposition leaders and restricted security assistance. But the full House never voted on the bill. Two sources that follow the issue — one a former Hill staffer and the other a lobbyist on African affairs–tell me that Armey twisted the arm of then — House Speaker Denny Hastert to ensure that it didn’t come up for a vote. “Armey has a lot of influence over there,” the former Hill staffer said. “A lot of people in the GOP leadership owe their positions to him.”
Armey has no pull with the new Democratic leadership so now Gephardt has apparently been called on to block full passage of this year’s version of the bill. Gephardt, incidentally, also lobbies for the government of Turkey (another Piper client to the tune of $100,000 per month), as was recently detailed in a terrific New Republic piece in which author Michael Crowley wrote about Gephardt’s efforts to stop Congress from declaring as genocide the Turkish massacre of Armenians during the early twentieth century:
A few years ago, [Gephardt] was a working-class populist who cast himself as a tribune of the underdog–including the Armenians. Back in 1998, Gephardt attended a memorial event hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America at which, according to a spokeswoman for the group, “he spoke about the importance of recognizing the genocide.” Two years later, Gephardt was one of three House Democrats who co-signed a letter to then House Speaker Dennis Hastert urging Hastert to schedule an immediate vote on a genocide resolution. “We implore you,” the letter read, arguing that Armenian-Americans “have waited long enough for Congress to recognize the horrible genocide.” Today, few people are doing more than Gephardt to ensure that the genocide bill goes nowhere. It’s one thing to flip-flop on, say, tax cuts or asbestos reform. But, when it comes to genocide, you would hope for high principle to carry the day.
Piper’s lobbyists have been working the “war on terrorism” angle hard, arguing that even a hand-slap of Ethiopia for human rights abuses will jeopardize its support in Somalia and the Horn of Africa. (And we all know what a smashingly successful collaboration that’s been.)
I called Armey and Gephardt but never heard back from them. Piper did, however, send me a statement which said:
The U.S. first established diplomatic relations with Ethiopia more than a century ago and Ethiopia remains a close ally today, particularly in the global war against terrorism. It is crucial for the United States to have friends and allies in the strategically important Horn of Africa region who are committed to democracy, stability and moderation. The firm is assisting Ethiopia in strengthening bilateral relations with the U.S., including increasing humanitarian, economic and development assistance, expanding trade and investment opportunities, and enhancing relationships with financial, academic and public policy institutions.
I had heard that former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine, Chairman of the Global Board of Piper and Co-Chair of its Government Controversies Practice Group, was also working on the account. The firm’s statement said that Mitchell “has never lobbied or done legal work on behalf of Ethiopia in connection with DLA Piper’s representation.” However, Piper declined to say whether Mitchell had played a role in winning the Ethiopia deal or whether he was offering strategic advice or playing some other role in the contract.
