Stop the withering away of human rights and rule of law in Ethiopia
Press Release
Kinijit-Europe Chapter
On July 9th 2007, the prosecutor acting for the ruling party in Ethiopia, at the kangaroo court in Kaliti of Addis Ababa, demanded the imposition of the death penalty on all of the 38 prisoners of conscience which include the entire leadership of the main opposition party, the Coalition for unity and Democracy Party (CUDP), elected Parliamentarians, the Mayor elect of the city of Addis Ababa, human right defenders and members of the free press. While the trumped up charges against the accused remain high treason, in truth their crime is, according to Congressman Donald Payne and MEP Ana Gomes (leader of the EU election observation mission) is running for parliament and winning the May 2005 National Election.
The audacity of Meles Zenawi’s regime to publicly affront the rule of law and the sense of justice is a direct consequence of the international community’s grossly feeble and unprincipled stance towards the litany of crimes committed against humanity by the tyrannical ruler of Ethiopia. Since May 2005 alone, there were a number of instances of gross human right abuses that should have prompted open condemnation of the regime and firm actions by the international community, especially those who see themselves as great democracies.
This lack of condemnation and resolute action from the west against the most egregious crimes committed by the security forces of Meles Zenawi has only emboldened him to commit even more horrendous crimes. The catalogue of gross human rights abuses committed by the regime is extensively covered by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and surprisingly by the State Department of the United States Administration.
The recent shameful demand, by the prosecutor in Kalti’s kangaroo court, for the death sentence on CUDP leaders is ample proof that the regime of Meles Zenawi has never faced a genuine moral outrage from those who give it succor. The financial, diplomatic, and militarily support that kept on flowing from the West while extra-judicial killings and mass imprisonments were taking place could not have had any other effect, except emboldening Meles Zenawi’s regime to be more daring in the magnitude and array of crimes it kept on committing.
History has taught us that appeasing dictators will not stop them from sowing death and destruction. Europe is no strange to this historical fact, considering the suffering of its citizens like Ethiopians today, in the hands of fascists whose appetite for wanton destruction knew no bounds. That is why Ethiopians are disgusted by the disingenuous excuse given by Western governments, and their diplomats claiming that confronting Meles Zenawi will make things much worse than it already is, in Ethiopia.
Ethiopians, incredulously ask how could it get any worse? It has been a while now since Ethiopia has been turned into a living hell for the overwhelming majority of its citizens.
If hell is not a place where citizens have been stripped of their dignity and reduced to subjects; one is robbed of one’s liberty and property with impunity; living in a police state under constant fear and terror; arbitrary killings, disappearance torture and incarceration are common place; men and women are forced to flee into exile in precarious circumstances leaving behind their loved ones for uncertain fate; one out of every 25 Ethiopian is living with the scourge of HIV/AIDS; and millions live in perennial starvation, while a few rulers with ill gotten wealth can afford to pay $165.00 for a shot of vintage cognac, what else could it be?
The gravity of the situation has reached such a critical mass that no excuse can justify the status quo with the regime of Meles Zenawi ruling Ethiopia by brute force. To allow a regime that has no popular mandate to rule by terror is a liability to the vital long-term interests of the West too. The tarnished image of Western democracies for closely aligning themselves with tyrannical regimes like Meles Zenawi leaves a scar on the conscience of those who are forced to suffer oppression. Standing firm with those seeking freedom and liberty is not only the honourable and moral course to pursue, but also the only way to build lasting friendship between nations and people.
The choice not to stand up to Meles Zenawi’s tyranny now will have serious repercussion to the future relationship of the people of Ethiopia and nations known to stand for freedom and liberty. It is not only in the interest of 80 million Ethiopians and the people of the Horn of Africa, but also in the interest of the international community, especially western democracies, to stop Meles Zenawi without any further delay.
We believe the time has come for those who stand for human rights and justice to come out in the open and condemn the recent shameful drama played in Meles Zenawi’s kangaroo court. We plead, on behalf of the prisoners of conscience and the people of Ethiopia that have pinned much of their hope for a free future on their elected leaders, for you to do what ever you can within the power of your office, the political establishment and beyond to demand for the immediate and unconditional release of the CUDP leaders, and human right defenders and members of the free press.
We all should be aware that as the “dictator par excellence” Meles Zenawi who is engaged in some sick game had instructed the prosecutor to demand for the death penalty so that the attention of the international community will be focused on stopping the death sentence. Nobody should fall into this trap and begin bargaining on the type of sentence applicable to the illegally incarcerated prisoners of conscience who should never have spent a single day in prison and suffer the indignity of being tried in a kangaroo court. The urgent call should be, as all credible international human right organisations and jurists have been demanding for sometime now, for the immediate and unconditional release of these prisoners.
.