QUESTION: Yeah. Has the State Department or USAID investigated claims by the country’s opposition, including a former president and defense minister that some of the $850 million in food and anti-poverty aid from the U.S. is being distributed on the basis of political favoritism by the current prime minister’s party? And then, also when the Secretary met with the Ethiopian foreign minister last week, did she bring up the issue of the jailed opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa, and did she express any concerns about the fairness of the upcoming Ethiopian elections in May?
MR. KELLY: Yeah. Well, regarding the assistance, we’re committed to assisting people in need all over the world. And we provide humanitarian assistance that is politically neutral, socially impartial, and based on people’s needs, rather than on political factors. And we’re, of course, aware of these reports that you raise, Indira, about the politicization of humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia. Regarding that, let me say that we have monitoring systems in place to prevent or expose such activities, which we are continually reviewing and working to improve. Personnel from U.S. Embassy in Addis are increasing their field visits to observe how the assistance is distributed, and they’re aware of these allegations, so they’re conducting these monitoring activities specifically with these allegations in mind. We are committed to the people of Ethiopia and ensuring that our humanitarian assistance does reach those most in need.
In fiscal year 2008, the U.S. provided $934 million in overall assistance to Ethiopia, of which $479 million was humanitarian assistance. The fiscal year 2009 numbers will be available at the end of the calendar year. This – the meeting last week, I was not in that meeting, but I understand that a full range of issues were discussed. And in general, human rights are at the center of our bilateral dialogues with Ethiopia.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. KELLY: Thanks.
U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC, November 12, 2009
Click here for the Full transcript.
In his book Night, Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and the man the Nobel Committee called the “messenger to mankind” when it awarded him the peace prize in 1986, wrote:
For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time. The witness has forced himself to testify. For the youth of today, for the children who will be born tomorrow. He does not want his past to become their future.
On November 9-10, 1938, the Nazis destroyed thousands of Jewish homes, synagogues and businesses throughout Germany, killing nearly 100 and arresting and deporting some 30,000 to concentration camps. That was Krystallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), the forerunner to the Holocaust. On March 21, 1960, apartheid security forces in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa, fired 705 bullets in two minutes to disperse a crowd of protesting Africans. When the shooting spree stopped, 69 black Africans lay dead, shot in the back; and 186 suffered severe gunshot wounds.
Following the May, 2005 Ethiopian parliamentary elections, paramilitary forces under the direct command and control of regime leader Meles Zenawi massacred 193 innocent men, women and children and wounded 763 persons engaged in ordinary civil protest. Nearly all of the victims shot and killed died from injuries to their heads or upper torso, and there was evidence that sharpshooters were used in the indiscriminate and wanton attack on the protesters. On November 3, 2005, during an alleged disturbance at the infamous Kality prison near Addis Abeba, guards sprayed more than 1500 bullets into inmate cells in 15 minutes killing 17 and severely wounding 53. These facts were meticulously documented by a 10-member Inquiry Commission established by Zenawi himself after examining 16,990 documents, receiving testimony from 1,300 witnesses and undertaking months of investigation in the field.
Under constant threat by the regime and afraid to make these facts public in Ethiopia, the Commission’s chairman Judge Frehiwot Samuel, vice chair Woldemichael Meshesha, and member attorney Teshome Mitiku fled the country with the evidence. They made their findings public on November 16, 2006, before a committee of the U.S. Congress. Their report completely exonerated the protesters and pinned the blame for the massacres entirely on the regime and its security forces. No protesters possessed, used or attempted to use firearms, explosives or any other objects that could be used as a weapon. No protester set or attempted to set fire to public or private property, robbed or attempted to rob a bank.[1]
The victims of the post-election massacres were not faceless and nameless images in the crowd. They were individuals with identities. Among the victims were Tensae Zegeye, age 14; Habtamu Tola, age 16; Binyam Degefa, age 18; Behailu Tesfaye, age 20; Kasim Ali Rashid, age 21. Teodros Giday Hailu, age 23. Adissu Belachew, age 25; Milion Kebede Robi, age 32; Desta Umma Birru, age 37; Tiruwork G. Tsadik, age 41; Elfnesh Tekle, age 45. Abebeth Huletu, age 50; Regassa Feyessa, age 55; Teshome Addis Kidane, age 65; Victim No. 21762, age 75, female, and Victim No. 21760, male, age unknown and many dozens more.[2]
Ethiopians have a special duty to bear witness for these innocent victims who died as eye witnesses to the theft of an election and the mugging of democracy in Ethiopia in 2005. They went into the streets to peacefully defend their right to vote and have their votes count, and defend the first democratic election in Ethiopia’s 3,000-year history. We must force ourselves to testify for them not just as victims of monstrous crimes but also as true patriots. For they acted out of a sense of duty, honor, love of country and deep concern for the future of Ethiopia. They died so that 80 million Ethiopians could live free.
Ethiopia’s dictators would have the world believe that the victims of their carnage were nobodies who did not matter. It is true they were all ordinary people of the humblest origins. But we value them not for their wealth and social status but for their patriotism and sacrifices in the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights.
Elie Weisel is absolutely right. We have a duty to bear witness against those who commit crimes against humanity and for the innocent victims of tyranny and dictatorship. We have to “force” ourselves to testify not only for the dead but also “for the youth of today, for the children who will be born tomorrow.” We do not want the massacres of 2005 to become the future of Ethiopia.
When we bear witness for Ethiopia’s innocent victims, we bear witness for all victims of tyranny and dictatorships. For the cause of the innocent transcends race, ethnicity, religion, language, country or continent. It even transcends time and space because the innocent represent humanity’s infinite capacity for virtue as dictators and tyrants represent humanity’s dregs. When we bear witness for them, we also testify in our own behalf against that evil lurking secretly and deep in our souls and hearts. But by not forcing ourselves to testify against evil, we become an inseparable part of it. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” That is also the essential message of Elie Weisel.
Let us bear witness now for Zenawi’s victims. Let us tell the world that they cry out for justice from the grave. Let us testify that they died on the bloody battlefield of dictatorship with nothing in their hands, but peace and love in their hearts, justice in their minds and passion for the cause of freedom and democracy in their spirits and bodies. Let us remember and honor them, not in sorrow, but in gratitude and eternal indebtedness. Let us make sure that their sacrifices will tell generations of Ethiopians to come stories of personal bravery and courage and an abiding and unflinching faith in democracy and the rule of law. And when we despair over what appears to be the victory of evil over good, let us be inspired by Gandhi’s words: “There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall — think of it, ALWAYS.” Let us remind ourselves every day that “All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men and women do nothing.”
[1] These victims were documented by the Inquiry Commission in its investigation of shootings of unarmed protesters in Addis Ababa on June 8, and November 1-10 and 14-16, 2005 in Oromia and Amhara “regional states”. See, http://www.ethiomedia.com/addfile/ethiopian_inquiry_commission_briefs_congress.html
(Alemayehu G. Mariam, is a professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, and an attorney based in Los Angeles. He writes a regular blog on The Huffington Post, and his commentaries appear regularly on Pambazuka News and New American Media.)
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), an Ethiopian rebel group operating in eastern Ethiopia, said today that its fighters have killed 626 Woyanne regime troops in latest fighting since Nov. 10, 2009. ONLF sent the following military communique to Ethiopian Review:
The Ogaden National Liberation Front’s latest multi-front offensive, which began on 10 November 2009, has resulted in a total of 626 Woyanne regime troops killed thus far. Among the killed are twelve field officers.
The ONLF has captured sensitive intelligence gathering material including communications monitoring equipment.
ONLF casualties were minimal given that our forces had the element of surprise on all fronts.
A significant amount of military hardware has been captured or destroyed including small
arms, ammunition, and communications equipment. Military grade maps have also been captured. A total of 4 large military transport vehicles have been destroyed.
ONLF field commanders are encouraging scattered regime troops still in the vicinity to surrender. They will be treated humanely and those wishing to be transferred to our allies the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) will receive safe passage to OLF units.
A significant number of civilians are now receiving medical care from ONLF units. Our forces have also freed Somali civilians which were detained in several of the regimes barracks taken by our forces during this operation. Many of those civilians show signs of torture.
The bodies of the regimes troops are still scattered on the battlefield in places such as Obolka where they present a health hazard to the local Somali community. Military operations are still ongoing.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — The 46 detainees who are currently on trial after being accused by the tribal junta in Ethiopia of trying to overthrow the regime have told the court on Friday that they are being savagely beaten up by security personnel.
One of the accused, Ato Asaminew Tsige, told the court that he has lost sight in one eye from the beatings.
Upon hearing Ato Asaminew’s claim, family members started to cry loudly, prompting the judges to remove every one from the court room except the accused, the prosecutors, the defense lawyers, the police, and some journalists.
Ato Asaminew asked the court to appoint an independent physician to give the detainees medical treatment and investigate the tortures.
An official representing the prison denied the torture charge. The judges hearing the case told the detainees to file their complaints in writing.
More by Tamiru Tsige, a correspondent for The Reporter:
BEIJING (CNN) — Large African communities are forming in China, from Guangzhou to Beijing. Many of the migrants are traders and entrepreneurs hoping to make a profit by sending China’s cheap manufactured goods back home.
Ethiopian David Bekele is searching for space to open a new restaurant in Beijing. “Almost every African country has an embassy here in Beijing,” says Bekele. “There’s a huge number of students from Africa who come on scholarships funded by the Chinese government. And there are a lot businessmen come from Africa to buy goods and do trading.”
Beijing’s first Ethiopian restaurant, Ras Ethiopian Cuisine, was opened on March 6, 2008.
As U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao and the highest-ranking members of the Chinese Politburo, one has to wonder if he is sizing up the competition.
China appears to be leaving the United States in the dust by taking off on a global shopping spree from South America to the Middle East and especially Africa. The question is, can the U.S. keep up and does it want to?
The presidents did not address Africa in their joint statements on Tuesday in Beijing, but no doubt it is on both of their agendas.
So far this year, Obama has stopped in Ghana and Egypt while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped a seven-nation African tour in August.
Hu has stopped in Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius while Premier Wen Jiabao just attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Cairo. Among other things, he pledged $10 billion in loans to developing African countries. That is double what China promised at the same forum in 2006.
Wen emphasized that China is taking another step forward with its relationships with African countries. “This represents a new stage of development in relations with Africa,” he said earlier this month.
So far this year, China’s foreign direct investment in Africa is up 77.5 percent. China’s trade with Africa has multiplied 10 times in the last decade to more than $107 billion.
If anyone is keeping score, some analysts say the U.S. is behind.
“To my mind, the U.S. is already on the backfoot in Africa,” says David Kelly, Professor of China Studies at University of Technology Sydney. “The American public may not be terribly aware but basically most of Africa thinks it’s a great thing that China has come into the game, not necessarily because of the public goods that China provides or those alone, (but) because it must force America to raise its game.”
As the son of a Kenyan, Obama may have won African hearts, but it is China’s deep pockets that have been winning over African governments.
In the last few years, China has struck deal after deal with African countries, often buying natural resources in exchange for building infrastructure and providing loans. It is typical that the roads, hospitals, schools and more must be built primarily by Chinese workers.
In Gabon, the Chinese recently financed $800 million in railways, dams and ports in exchange for access to iron ore.
Critics say China’s actions have propped up dictatorships in Zimbabwe and Sudan. The Chinese have been supporting oil production in Sudan for years. China International Fund, a little-known Chinese company, reportedly signed a $7 billion mining deal with Guinea’s repressive military regime.
In response to criticism, Wen recently stated, “There has long been the argument that China is plundering Africa’s resources … Anyone who is familiar with history would know that the friendly relations and cooperation between China and Africa did not start just yesterday but as early as half a century ago. In those years, we helped Africa build the Tanzara railway and sent to Africa large numbers of medical teams. But we did not take away a single drop of oil or a single ton of mineral ores from Africa.”
Some leaders of African countries have indicated Africa will take money from anyone who is giving.
“Foreign direct investment has no fixed allegiance or nationality – it goes where it is most welcome,” said Ghanaian president John Atta Mills at a recent conference in Washington.
While China’s relationship with Africa strengthens, analysts say the United States may be too focused on the Middle East and, ironically this week, China to notice. Previous U.S. administrations placed Africa relatively high on their list of priorities. President George W. Bush’s heavy investment in HIV and AIDS prevention on the continent is largely considered a success.
In early October, Obama supported a $3.5 billion hunger and food security initiative focused on agriculture over the next three years in developing countries. Much of the money is intended for Africa. However, at this stage Obama’s Africa strategy has yet to be solidified.
But the vast opportunities in Africa are not without challenges. Poverty, corruption and instability are constantly changing the game. The question is how the U.S. and China choose to play.
Some analysts say Africa gives the U.S. and China a chance not necessarily to compete, but to cooperate and to make vital changes on a developing continent. Zha Daojiong, Professor of International Relations at Peking University, says the U.S. and China should consider working together on humanitarian issues including health care and food security.
“I think it is a meaningful issue for both governments to discuss,” says Zha. “Clearly there is a great potential there. We should put the interests of the African people in the center of these considerations.”
