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ኢትዮጵያ፤ የመዳኛ ወቅትና፤ የዕረቀሰላምጊዜ

Posted on , Updated on by Alemayehu G. Mariam

ከፕሮፌሰር ዓለማየሁ ገብረማርያም

ትርጉም ከነጻነት ለሃገሬ

የረፖርተር ድሕረ ገፅ ሲዘግብ:

‹‹በጎሳ ላይ የተመሰረተ ግጭት በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች መሃል በመጸዳጃ ቤቶች፤ በቤተመጻህፍትና በመኝታ ቤት  ግድግዳ ላይ፤የተጻፉ አስፀያፊ ክብረነክ ጸሁፎች ከስድስት በላይ የሆኑ ተማሪዎችን ለከፍተኛ የመቁሰል አደጋ ተጠቂ ዳርጓቸዋል:: በርካታዎችንም ለእስር አብቅቷል፡፡ ለላለፉት አሰርት ዓመታት፤በዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች መሃል ግጭቶችን ሲያስነሱ ከርመዋል፡፡ ይህም መሰረታዊ ችግሩና መንስኤው አስተዳደራዊ ድክመት ነው፡፡ ከዚሁ ጋር በተመሳሳይ ባለፈው በእለተ ዕረቡ ጃንዋሪ 2 2013 የተቀሰቀሰው ግጭትም በተለይ በሁለት ጎሳዎች በኦሮሞና በትግራይ ተማሪዎች መሃል የተከሰተ ነበር፡፡ ምስክሮች እንደሚሉት፤ግጭቱ የተቀሰቀሰው የትግራይ ተወላጅ የሆነው ተማሪ፤ በመጸዳጃ ቤት፤ በቤተመጻህፍትና በተማሪዎች መኝታ ቤቶች  ግድግዳዎች ላይ የጎሳን ክብር የሚነካ ጽሁፍ በመጻፉ ነበር፡፡››

እንደ የአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ባለስልጣን አባባል ‹‹ግጭቱ የተቀሰቀሰው ያንን የጎሣ ክብር የሚነካ ክብረነክ ጽሁፍ በተመለከቱት ተማሪዎች  መሆኑን ነው::›› በዚህም የተነሳ 20 ተማሪዎች መቁሰላችውንና 3ቱ የጠናባቸው ወደ ሆስፒታ፤ል መወሰዳቸውን በተጨማሪ ሁለቱ የቀዶ ጥገና እንደተደረገላቸው ታውቋል፡፡ ሌሎች 20ዎችም በፖሊስ ባልለየለት ውንጀላ ለእስር ተዳርገዋል፡፡

ስለኢትዮጵያ ‹‹የብልሆች መፍለቂያ ከነበረው ዩኒቨርሲቲ›› ይህን ሁኔታ ሳነበው ያደረብኝ ግብታዊ አስተያየት፤ ማመን እስኪያቅተኝ ነበር፡፡ ሳስበዉም ‹‹ይህ ፈጽሞ ሊታመን የሚችል ጉዳይ አይደልም፡፡ ይህ ከኢትዮጵያ አነሮች ትውልድ (ወጣቱ ትውልድ) በዚህ ፈሪነትና የማያስፈራራ አስከፊ ሁኔታ ውስጥ መግባት ተግባራቸው አይደለም፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች በዚህ ቆሻሻ እና እጣቢ አተላ የጎሳ ፖለቲካ ውስጥ ከመንደፋደፍ የተሸለና የበለጠ ተግባር ማከናውን ይችላሉ›› አልኩኝ :: ይህን የመሰለ የረከሰ የጥላቻ ምግባር፤የወዲፊቶቹ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ምሁራን፤የቀጣዩ ትውልድ መምህራን፤ ሳይንቲስቶች፤ እና የፈጠራ ሰዎች ምግባር እንዳልሆነ ነበር እራሴን ማሳመን የሞከርኩት፡፡

ነገሩን የበለጠ ሳጤነው አምአሮ የሚነካና የሚአስቀፍፍ ሆኖ አገኘሁት፡፡ እራሴንም ጠየቅሁ፡፡ ምናልባትስ ይህ የጎሳ ክብር የሚነካ ጽሁፍ በሌሎች የአ አ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች  የተፈጠረ ቢሆንስ? ይህን የመሰለው ዝቃጭ፤ወኔቢስ፤ባለጌ ተግባር ስለነዚህ ተማሪዎች ምን ይላል? ስለአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎችስ? ስለአጠቃላዮቹ የኢትዮጵያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎችስ? ስለ መላው የኢትዮጵያ ወጣቶችስ?

ከዚህ ጥየቄ ጋር በመታገል ላይ እንዳለሁ፤ ሊገታ የማይችል ሃፍረትና ውርደት ሰሜት ወረረኝ፡፡ እራሴን ደጋግሜ መረመርኩት፡፡ ‹‹የኢትዮጵያ ምርጥና ብሩህ አእምሮ ያለቸው ተማሪዎች—- የኢዮጵያ አነሮች —- ይህን በመሰል ኋላ ቀር፤ አረመኔያዊ፤ ጨካኝና አሰቃቂ፤ ተናካሽ፤ ተንኮል የተመላበት፤ተግባር አንዴት ሊሰሩ ይችላሉ?  በምን መንስኤ ነው፤ አንድ የኢትዮጵያ ተማሪዎች ስብስብ ሌላውን ወገን ስብእና ለመድፈር፤ የጋኔን ተግባር ለመፈጸም፤ ዝቅ አድርጎ ለመመልከት፤ አውሬ በማስመሰል፤ አካሄድና ተግባር የሚሰማሩት? ለምን? እኮ ለምን? ለነዚህ ጥያቄዎች አንዳችም ምክንያታዊ ምላሽ ላገኝ አልቻልኩም፡፡

ይህ የ ጎሳ  ጥላቻ ወንጀል የተፈጸመው ባለፈው ሳምንት ሰለ አትዮጴያ ወጣቶች ክብርና ወደፊት ላገራቸው ሰለምተበቀባቸው ግዴታ በመፅፈበት ወቅት ነበር :: ሆነ በተባለው የጎሳ ጥላቻ ወንጀል የበለጠ ግራ እየተጋባሁ ሄድኩ፡፡ ይህን አስጠያፊና አስፈሪ፤ ቀፋፊ ሁኔታ በምክንያታዊነት በጥልቀት ለመረዳትና በዚህ አስገራሚ ትርኢት ውስጥ አንዳንድ የኢትዮጵያ አነሮች እንደ ጉማሬዎቹ በመንቀሳቀስ እንደጅቦቹ ለመሆን መከጀላቸው አስገረመኝ፡፡ አሳፈረኝ፡፡ አሳዘነኝ፡፡

ያን ግልብ ስሜቴን ወደ ጎን አልኩና ረጋ ብዬ ማሰብ ጀመርኩ:: ከምር ጠንክሬ አሰብኩ፡፡ ይህ በዩኒቨርሲቲው የተከናወነው ‹‹በጎሳ ላይ የተመሰረተውን አልመግባባት›› ድርጊት ከጥሩ እምነት ካላቸው ሁነኛ መደበኛ ተማሪዎች ተጠንስሶ በስራ ላይ የዋለ ነው  ለማለት ምን ማስረጃ ሊቀርብ ይችላል? በእውነትስ  የተባለውና በዚህ በየግድግዳው ላይ የሰፈሩትን ክብረ ነክ ጽሁፎች የጻፈው ‹‹ተማሪ›› ማነው?  በዚህ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የሙዚቃ ሸክላ አጫዋች መሰል የህዝብ ግንኙነት ጽህፈት ቤት ተቀምሞ የተበተነውን መሸንገያ አባባል ማመን አለብን? እንዴት ነው የዩኒቨርሲቲ አስተዳዳሪዎች  ‹‹ለአሰርት ዓመታት በዩኒቨርሲቲዎች ሲከናወኑ የነበሩትን የጎሳ ግጭቶች” ያሳለፏቸውና አሁንም ሲቀጥሉ  አጃቸዉን አጣጥፈው  መመልከት የቻሉት? በዩኒቨርሲቲውስ ውስጥ ምራቃቸውን የዋጡና የበሰሉ፤ችግሮችን ለማክሸፍና ለማግባባት ፈቃደኛ የሆኑ አመራሮች የሉም?

ጥርጣሬ ቀስ እያለ፤ድንጋጤዬንና ሃፍረቴ  መተካት ስለጀመረ፤ የዚህ ‹‹በጎሳ ላይ የተመሰረተ ብጥብጥ›› በገዢው መንግስት ጀብደኛ ባለማዕረግ የተዋቀረና፤ የተተለመ እንደሆነስ የሚለው ጥያቄ አያፈጠጠ ያየኝ ጀመር፡፡ በኋላም የወንጀል መመርመርያ ማስረጃ ማፈላለጊያ “መነጽሬን” ሳደርገው፤ እንደገና በመሹለክለክ ድምጽዋን አጥፍታ ጨለማና ወቅትን መከለያ በማድረግ አንዲት መናጢና ቆሻሻ አይጥ ተንኮሏን ከፈጸመችና ተልእኮዋን ከፈጸመች በኋላ ሳትታይ ጥላው  የሄደችውን የእጇንና የእግሯን አሸራ በግድገዳ ላይ ከተጻፈው አስጠያፊ ጥሁፍ አግርጌ ታትሞ አየሁት፡፡

በሜይ 2010 ጃዋር ሲራጅ ሞሃመድ ወጣቱ ኢትዮጵያዊ የፖለቲካ ሐተታ ሰጪ እንዲሁም የኮሎምቢያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተመራቂ ተማሪ እንደዘገበው  በዩኒ ቨርሲቲው ግቢ ውስጥ ከተማሪዎች ጋር በርካታ ውይይት ካካሄደ በኋላ እንዲሁም በሁለት ክፍል በሃራማያና፤በአዳማ  ዩኒ ቨርሲቲ በ2006 የተከናወነውን ድርጊት  ሰበቡን የአካዳሚክ ነጻነት ማጣትና በኢትዮጵያ የደህንነት ሚስጥራዊ ተቀጣሪዎች ተማሪ በመምሰል ሰርገው በመግባት የግጭቱ መሰሪ ጠንሳሾች መሆናቸውን ለማመን በቅቷል፡፡

ደግሞም በሴፕቴምበር 2011 ላይ በይፋ የዎጣው ማስረጃ አንዳሳየው በሴፕቴምበር 16 2006 “ የኢትዮጵያ የደህንነት ሃይሎች በኢትዮጵያ ዋና ከተማ አዲስ አበባ 3 ፈንጂዎች መቅበራቸውንና በመፈንዳቱና፤ በወቅቱም የአፍሪካ ሕብረት ስብሰባ የሚካሄድበት ስለነበረ ከረር ያለ ጥያቄ ያስነሳውን  ፍንዳታም ኤርትራንና የኦሮሞ ነጻ አውጪ ግንባርን ተጠያቂ እንዳደረጉ ነበር::” በአዲስ አበባ የሚገኘው የአሜሪካን መንግስት ኤምባሲ ባካሄደው ‹‹የሚስጢር ዘገባ›› በጉዳዩ ላይ የመርማሪዎቹ ጣት  ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ገዢ መንግስት የደህንነት አባላትን በመጠቆም ለዚህ የወንጀል ድርጊት ተጠያቂ አድርጓቸዋል፡፡

በሌላም በኩል በ2006 የተገኘው ሚስጥራዊው ባለ 52 ገጽ በውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር የተዘጋጀው ሰነድ፤ የዲያስፖራው ዳይሬክቶሬት በዲያስፖራው ያሉትን የተቃዋሚ ሃይላትና አባሎቻቸውን የሚነዘንዝ፤ በሃይማኖት፤ በዘር፤ በፖለቲካ ጥላቻ የሚከፋፍልና ማንኛቸውንም ገዢውን ፓርቲ የሚቃወሙትን ለመከፋፈልና በመሃላቸው መግባባት እንዲጠፋ ያደረገው ጥረትና ዝግጅት ተጋልጦ ነበር ፡፡ ስለ አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች አጋጣሚ በይበልጥ ባሰብኩ ቁጥር፤የገዢው መንግስት ተቃዋሚዎችን ለማስጠላት ለመከፋፈል ለመበታተን ለማክሸፍ ብሎ የሚዘራውን ቆሻሻና የብልግና ባህሪ ያጋልጡት ጀምረዋል፡፡

በተጨባጭ ምርምሬ አንደተርዳሁት ‹‹በጎሳ ላይ ለተመሰረተው ግጭት›› ወንጀል በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ  ተጠያቂው ማን እንደሆነ ግልጽ የሆነው ማስረጃ  የሚጠቆመው ወደ ተለመዱት ወንጀል ፈጻሚ የገዢው መንገስት ወንጀለኞች ነው፡፡

ሊታለፍ የማይችለው መደምደሚያም፤ (ሌላ ተቃራኒ  ማስረጃ  እስካልቀረበ ድረስ) በጃንዋሪ 2 በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ለተፈጸመው ወንጀላዊ  ተግባር ተጠያቂዎቹ፤ በግቢው ውስጥ በድብቅ የተቀመጡት መዘዝ ፈጣሪዎችና ምግባረ ብልሹ ሕሊና ቢስ  ወኪል ተንኳሾችና ደባ ፈጻሚዎች እንጂ ጨርሶ ለጥሩ ዕምነት የተፈጠሩት ወጣት አቦሸማኔዎቹ የነገ የሃገር አለኝተ ዎች ሊሆኑ አይችሉም፡፡

የማጠቃለያው ግምገማም ይህንን መደምደሚያ የማያጠያይቅ ማስረጃ በመሆን ያረጋግጠዋል፡፡ ያለዉን ማስረጃ በጥቂቱ ብንመለከተው: በመጀመርያ እንድ ብቸኛ “ተማሪ”ብቻ ነው ድርጊቱን በመተንኮሱ  የተወነጀለው፡፡ ይህ ደግሞ ተማሪዎች በአንድ ጎሳ ስር ተቧድነው ለዚህ ድርጊት መንቀሳቀሳቸውንና በዩኒቨርሲቲው ቅጥር ግቢ ውስጥ ሰላም ለማጥፋት ወንጀል ለመፈጸም፤ መደራጀታቸውን ተአማኒነት ያሳጣዋል፡፡  ይህን እንቅሳቃሴ ለመጀመርና መነሻ ሆነ የተባለውም ብቸኛ “ተማሪ” የየት ጎሳ አባል እንደሆነ በግልጽ አልተረጋገጠም፡፡ የዩኒቨርሲቲው ባለስልጣናት: ስምና መለያው ያልታወቀ፤ አንድ ተማሪ በማለት ወንጀለኛ ብለውታል፡፡ ይሁንና ይህ ‹‹ተማሪ›› ዓላማ ያለው እርገግጠኛ  መደበኛ “ተማሪስ” ነው? ወይስ ተቀጣሪ ነገር ቆስቋሽ የስለላ ድርጅት ወኪል ግን እንደተማሪ ተመሳስሎ ተወሻቂ አባል (የቀበሮ መንኩሴ በግ መሃል ይጸለያል አንደሚባለው ሁሉ ) ነው? ይህስ ተማሪ በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተ የጥላቻ ባሕሪ ግለ ታሪክስ ያለው ነው?

ሶስተኛ፤ በሶስት ቦታዎች ማለትም በላይብረሪ፤ በመጻሕፍት ቤትና በተማሪ  መኝታ ቤት ይህን መሰሉን የጎሳን ክብር የሚያዋርድና የሚያንቋሽሽ ጽሁፍ ለመጻፉ ምንም የተጠቀሰ ማስረጃ የለም፡፡ በጥላቻ ወንጀል ድርጊት፤ እንዲህ መሰሎች የጥላቻና የማዋረድ ተግባር ያለባቸው ጽሁፎች ሲጻፉ ዓላማቸው አንድን የጎሳ አባል የሚመለከቱ ሲሆኑ፤ ኢላማ የተደረጉት ግለሰብም ይሁን ቡድኖች ሊደርሱበትና ሊያዩት በሚችሉት ስፍራ ይሆናል እንጂ የግል ጥላቻውንና ብሶት ጣውን  ከተለያዩ ብዙ ጎሳዎች የመጡ በሚገኙበት ግቢ ውስጥ የማይመለከታቸውም እንዲመለከቱት ለምን ይደረጋል?

አራተኛ፤ ከዚህ አስቀያሚ  የግድግዳ ጽሁፍ ሌላ ማስረጃ ሊሆን የሚችል አንዳችም ነገር ከዚህ የችግሩ ጠንሳሽ በተባለው ‹‹ተማሪ›› ላይ አልተገኘም፡፡

አምስተኛ፤ በጃንዋሪ 2 በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የተፈጸመው ደባ የተለየ ሁኔታ ሆኖ ሊታይ አይችልም፡፡ ላለፉት በርካታ አሰርት ዓመታት ይህን መሰል በጎሳ ላይ ተመሰረተ አምባጓሮ ይነሳ እንደነበር የማያጠያይቅ ነው፡፡ ለምንስ የዩኒቨርሲቲው ባለስልጣናት ጉዳዩ ሲያቆጠቁጥ አፋጣኝ እርምጃ በመውሰድ ለዚህ ከመብቃቱ ቀደም ብለው አላከሸፉትም፡፡ ድርጊቱ በአስከፊና ሊቀለበስ ወደማይችልበት ሁኔታ ከደረሰና አዳገው ሁሉ ከተከናወነም በኋላ በሌሎች ተማሪዎች ላይ አመጹ ተስፋፍቶ እንዳይቀጥልም ባለስላጣናቱ የወሰዱት እርምጃ የለም፡፡

ስድስተኛ፤ በነጻ አካላት ጉዳዩ ሙሉ በሙሉ ከመጣራቱስ አስቀድመው የዩኒቨርሲቲው ባለስልጣናት “አመጹ የተጀመረው በግድግዳዎች ላይ የተጻፈውን ምግባረ ብልሹና ጎሳን የሚያንኳስስ ጥሁፍ ያዩት ተማሪዎች ነው በማለት ለምነስ መግለጫ አወጡ? ጉዳዩን ከመሰረቱ አንስተው የሚያጣሩ ገለልተኛ ወገኖች በማዋቀርና በመመርመር ለወዲቱ ይህን መሰል ድርጊት በድጋሚ እንዳይከሰት ማድረግ የሚቻልበትን ዘዴ ለምን አልቀያሱም? የዩኒቬርሲቲው ባለስልጣናት ጉዳዩን እራሳቸውን ከተጠያቂነትና ከሃላፊነት በማግለል ለፖሊስ ሙሉ በሙሉ ለምን አስረከቡት? ምናልባት በዩኒቨርሲቲው የሚከሰተውን የጎሳ ጥላቻ ወንጀል ቸል ያሉት አይታችሁ እንዳላየ ሁኑ የሚል መመርያ ስለተሰጣቸው ይሆን?

ሰባተኛ፤ የዚህ የጥላቻ ብጥብጥ ወንጀል ተጠቂ የሆኑትስ በፖሊስ ለመደብደብ ለመያዝና ለመታሰር ለጉዳት ለምን ተዳረጉ?

በአጭሩ በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በተፈጸመው የጥላቻ ወንጀል የቀረበው ሁኔታና ማስረጃ ጨርሶ ወደ ተከሳሾቹ ተማሪዎች ጣት አያመላክትም፡፡ ይልቁንስ ያአመልካች ጣት በወንጀለከኝነት የሚጠቁመው ወደ ከሳሾቹ ነው፡፡ የዚህን የጥላቻ ወንጀል ፈጻሚዎች ለማጣራትና ለመያዝ የሚያስፈልገው፤ ያንን የግድግዳ ላይ ጽሁፍ የከተቡትን የማይታዩ ጣቶች ብቻ ሳይሆን  እነዚያን ተማሪዎቹን እስኪጠወልጉ ድረስ የቀጠቀጡና ያሰቃዩ፤ ከዚያም በረጩት የአመጽ ነዳጅ ላይ እንዳይጠፋና የበለጥ እንዲቀጣጠል ንዳድ የረጩበትንና የጎሳ ግጭቱን ያቀጣጠሉትን፤በተማሪዎች መሃል ጥላቻ  ንትረክና ዉዝግብ አንድፈጠር የሚዶልቱ ወንጀል ጠንሳሶች ነው፡፡

ያም እንዳለ ሆኖ፤አሁን ወቅቱ ነው፤ አስፈላጊው ወቅት ነው፤ትክክለኛው ጊዜ ……..

የማገገሚያጊዜ፤የመቀበያውየመተቃቀፊያ  የእርቀሠላምጊዜ አሁን ነው

በክዱስ ጽሁፍ እንደሰፈረው፤ ‹‹ለማንኛውም ሁኔታ ወቅት አለው፤ከሰማይ በታች ላሉት ነገሮች ሁሉ  ለየምክንያቱ ጊዜ አለው::›› ለማልቀስ ጊዜ አለው፤ ለሃዘንም ወቅት አለው፤ ድንጋይ ለመወርወርም ጊዜ አለው፡፡ ለመገንባትም ጊዜ አለው፤ ለመናገርም ጊዜ አለው፡፡ እንዲሁም ለመተቃቀፍም ጊዜ አለው ለሠላምና ለማገገምም ጊዜ አለው፡፡ ለእርቀሰላምም  የራሱ ጊዜ አለው፡፡

አሁን ነው ጊዜው፤ — ትክለኛው ጊዜ– ለኢትዮጵያውያን ወጣቶች በትምህርት ቤቶች፤ በዩኒቬርስቲዎች፤ በስራ ቦታዎች፤ በአጎራባች መንደሮችና በመንገድም ላይ  የማገገሚያው ወቅት፡፡ ጊዜው—– ትክክለኛው ጊዜ—- የኢትዮጵያ ወጣቶች በወንድማማችነት በአህትማማችነት ስሜት መተቃቀፍ  መተሳሰብ እጅ ለእጅ በመያያዝና አንድ በመሆን ብዛታቸውን  ለቅድመአያቶቻቸው ክብርና ለታሪካቸው መከበርያ ማድረግ የሚገባቸው፡፡

ለሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊያን ወጣቶች የጎሳ ጥላቻን  የብጥብጥን አዙሪት የመበጠሻ ጊዜው አሁንነው:: አላስፈላጊውን የቅሬታ ልምድ የማክተሚያ፤ የፍርሃትን ባህል፤ ጥላቻን፤ አውልቆ የመጣያው ትክክለኛው ጊዜው አሁን ነው፡፡

ለኢትዮጵያውያን ወጣቶች ጣቶቻቸውን በማቆላለፍ እጅ ለእጅ በመያያዝ የፍርሃትን እከክ ማራገፊያቸው፤ ጥላቻን፤ግጭትን፤ከልባቸው ፤ ከሕሊናቸው፤ ከመንፈሳቸው አውጥተው መጣያ ጊዜያቸው አሁን ነው፡፡ ጓደኞቻቸውንና የትምህርት ባልደረቦቻቸውን እንደጠላትና  ባላጋራ መመልከትን ማቆሚያቸው ጊዜ አሁን ነው፡፡

ሰላም ፈጥረው እርስ በርሳቸው እንደወንድምና እህት የሚተቃቀፉበት ጊዜ አሁን ነው፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ ብልህና ምርጦች አንድ ላይ በመስራትና በመተጋገዝ የተሸለን ነገ ለመፍጠር የሚችሉበት፤በረጋና ጠንካራ በሆነ የሕግ የበላይነት ላይ፤ ሰብአዊ መብትና ዴሞክራሲ የተከበሩበት አማራጭ ሂደቶች ያሉበት መትለሚያው ጊዜ አሁን ነው፡፡ ኔልሰን ማንዴላ እንዳስተማሩት ‹‹ከጠላት ጋር ሠላምን መፍጠር ካስፈለገህ፤ከጠላትህ ጋር ተጓድነህ መስራት አለብህ፤ ያን ጊዜ ጠላትህ ወዳጅህ ይሆናል::›› እነዚያን ጠላት የምንላቸውን ወንድምና አህት አብሮ ተማሪዎች  ና ወዳጅ ማድረጊያ ጊዜው አሁን ነው፡፡

በዩኒቨርሲቲ ግቢያችን ውስጥና ከግቢያችንም ውጪ ጥላቻንና የጥላቻ ወንጀልን ለማጥፋት መተባበርያው ጊዜ አሁን ነው፡፡

ከሕሊናችንና ከመንፈሳችን ውስጥ የጥላቻ ቋጠሯችንን ማጥፊያው፤ የፍርሃትን ሰንሰለትና ካቴና መበጠሸውጊዜ አሁን ነው፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ አቦሸማኔዎች ካለፈው ጫና እራሳቸውን ለማላቀቅና ነጻ ለማድረግ ጊዜው አሁን ነው፡፡

ለሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊያን ወጣቶች ቆንጨራውን በመቅበር ለአንድዬና ለመጨረሻው ጊዜ ‹‹አሻፈረን! አንዳችን ሌላውን የዚህ ወይም የዚያ ጎሳ ስለሆንን ለመጠላላት አሻፈረን፤ እምቢ! መባያችን ጊዜው አሁን ነው፡፡ አሻፈረን! ምክንያቱም ሁላችንም በተለያየ ስም በምንጠራው የጋራችን በሆነው አምላክ ስር አለያም የሁላችን በሆነችው ሀጋራችን የተለያየ ማእዘን ነዋሪዎች ነንና፡፡ እምቢ! በምንም መልኩ ለመጠቀሚያነትና እንደ አሻንጉሊትነት ሆነን በሚጠቀሙብን ለጥላቻ ለእርስ በርስ መቆራቆስ መጠቀሚያ አንሆንም፤ እምቢኝ! የሠለጠንን ነንና ለጥላቻ አንሰለፍም፡፡ አዳኝ እንደሚያሳድደው የሚታደን አውሬ ለመሆን እምቢኝ!

ከአንድጉማሬጥቂትቃላትለበርካታዎቹአቦሸማኔዎች

በርካታ አቦሸማኔዎች ምናልባትም ጉማሬውን ትውልድ ማዳመጡ ያስገርማቸው ይሆናል፡፡

እኛ ጉማሬዎች ‹‹በዕውቀት የተጋረድን›› ‹‹ራዕይ የጎደለን››  ‹‹የራሳችን ምንጭ እስካልደረቀብን ድረስ ጠቅላላው ሃገር ቢደረማመስ ደንታ የሌለን ›› ነን ተበለን አነታወቃለን:: ያም ሆኖ ወጣቱን ትውልድ  በአክብሮት እባካችሁ ጆሯችሁን አውሱኝና ለመደመጥ እድል ስጡኝ እላለሁ፡፡

ጀግኑ!

የመጀመርያው የኢትዮጵያ ትውልድ በመሆን፤ እራሳችሁን ከሰንሰለቱ ነጻ በማድረግ ካለፈው የጫና ሰቆቃ እኛንም አራሳችህሁንም ለማላቀቅ ብቁ፡፡

የመጀመርያው የኢትዮጵያ ትውልድ በመሆን፤ ታሪካዊ ጥላቻን፤ ቅሬታን በማጥፋት፤ መግባባትንና መቻቻልን በማምጣት አዲስ እርቀሰላም በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ጀምሩ፡፡

የጥላቻን ቁስል ለማዳን የመጀመርያዎቹ ትውልዶች በመሆን ለዘመናት ያመረቀዘውን በማጥፋት ለመጪው ትውልድ ያለፈው ትውልድ ስህተትና ጥፋት እስረኞች እንደማይሆኑ አረጋግጡላቸው፡፡

የመጀመርያዎቹ ትውልዶች በመሆን ሁላችንም በእኩልነት የሰው ዘር አባላት በመሆናችን ይህንንም በጎሰኝነት ለማቀደም ብለን አዘቅት አንውረድ ::

የመጀመርያዎቹ ትውልዶች በመሆን አንደኛችን ለሌላው ይቅርታን በመቸር ለአንድዬና ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ ቆንጨራውን በመቅበር፤ ጣቶቻችንም የጠመንጃ  ቃታና ምላጭ ለመሳብ፤ጣቶቻችን የጥላቻ መነሾ የሆኑ ቃላትን በየግድግዳው ላይ ለመለቅለቅ ሳይሆን እጆቻችን የሚዘረጉት የመግባባት የመተሳሰብ ሰላምታ ለመለዋወጥና ለችግርም ይሁን ለደስታ እጅ ለመዋዋስ ብቻ አንድሆን ማረግ ያሻል፡፡

የመጀመርያዎቹ ትውልዶች በመሆን የተለያዩት እምነቶቻችን መለኮታዊነታቸውን ማረጋገጥ እንቻል::

የመጀመርያዎቹ ትውልዶች በመሆን አሻፈረኝ! አምቢ! በማለት ውስጥ ውስጡን ከሚበላን የጎሳ የሃይሞነት የጻታ ልዩነት በተቃርኖ እንቁም::

የመጀመርያዎቹ ትውልዶች በመሆን በመኝታ ቤቶች፤ በቤተመጻህፍት፤በመጸዳጃ ቤቶችም ያሉትን አስነዋሪና በታታኝ፤ ጎሰኝነትን የሚያቅራሩ ቃላታን በእርቀሰላም፤ በመግባባት፤ በውህደት፤ በፍቅር አሰባሳቢ ቃላቶች እንሸፍናቸው፡፡

የመጀመርያዎቹ ትውልዶች በመሆን የወደፊቷ ሃገራችን መሪ ሻምበሎች እናንት ኩሩ አቦሸማኔዎችእንጂ፤ የደከሙት፤ሙሰኞቹ፤ ምግባረብልሹዎቹ፤ እራሳቸውን የሚያስተናግዱ ጉማሬዎች ሊሆኑ አይችሉም፡፡

የመጀመርያዎቹ ትውልዶች በመሆን  ለመሆን የምትመኘውን ሁሉ በመሆን፤ለመሆንም ለማሰብ ቀደምት አንሁን፡፡

የመጀመርያዎቹ ትውልዶች በመሆን  የትላንቱን የመረረ ስሜት በዛሬውና በነገው ጣፋጭ እርቀሰላም፤ መግባባት፤ አንድነት፤ መሰረት ላይ መልሳችሁ አዋቅሩት፡፡

የሃቅ ወቅቱ ደርሷል፡ አቦሸማኔዎቹ እራሳቸውን በማዳን ለእኛም መድህን ይሆኑን ይሆን ?

ለኢትዮጵያ ምርጡና ብሩሁ የሃቅ ወቅት ደርሷል!

የኢትዮጵያ ምርጥና ብሩህ አቦሸማኔዎች ካለፈው ጫናና መከራ እራሳቸውን በማዳንና የጎሳ መጎጃጃ፤ የሃይሞነት አክራሪነትን  የጨቋኝ ስጦታ በመጣል እራሳቸውን ማዳን ይችሉ ይሆን?

እነዚህ አቦሸማኔዎች ተጠራጣሪዎቹን፤ የመሸጉትን ምስኪን ጉማሬዎች ከራሳቸው ነጻ ያወጧቸው ይሆን?

ከጎሳ መቆራቆስ ወደ ጎሳ ፍቅር፤መቻቻል አንድነት፤ መግባባትን ያበቁን ይሆን?

አቦሸማኔዎቹ ስብእናችንን ከጎግፍ ማነቆና ከአውሬ አስተሳሰብ ያላቅቁን ይሆን?

አቦሸማኔዎች የእርቀ ሰላምን ጥበብ ያስተምሩን ይሆን? በእርቀሰላም ቋንቋ ያናግሩን ይሆን?

የኢትዮጵያ ብልህና ብሩሆች አንድ የወጣት ግብረሃይል በመሆን 2013ን የአቦሸማኔዎች ዓመት ያደርጉት ይሆን? አንድ ላይ በመቆም የጎሳ ጥላቻን ቆንጨራ በመስበር የወገንተኛነትን ጎራዴ በማቅለጥ የእርቀሰላምን ሙሉነት ያስመርቱን ይሆን?

የአላንዳች ጥርጥር አዎን ይቻላቸዋል!

ባለፈው ሳምንት 2013 የኢትዮጵያ አቦሸማኔዎች ዓመት ብዬ ስተነብይ፤  የኢትዮጵያን ወጣቶች ለማስተማር፤ ለማዳረስ፤ለማሳመን ቃል ገብቼ ነበር፡፡ አኛ ጉማሬዎች አቦሸማነዎችን አናስተመራለን የሚል አምነትም ነበረኝ:: ጉማሬዎችን አቦሸማኔዎችን ያስተምራሉ ብዬ አልገመትኩም ነበር::  ለዚህ ነው እኛ ጉማሬዎች ግራ የተጋባ ሸውራራ (የተዛባ አመለካከት) ቅርብ አዳሪነት፤ጠባብ አስተሳሰብ፤ የምያጠቃን::  ለአቦሸማኔዎች የማስተማርያ ወቅት ሊኖር ስለመቻሉ ጥርጣሬዬ የመጣው::

ስለዚህም የኢትዮጵያ አቦሸማኔዎችና ጉማሬዎች በርካታ ግብግቦች የሚገጥሟቸው፡፡ የአቦሸማኔዎቹ ፈታና ጉማሬዎቹን የእርቀሰላምን ጥበብ ማስተማሩ ላይ ነው፡፡ የጉማሬዎቹ ፈተና ደግሞ ከአቦሸማኔዎች የእርቀሰላምን ጥበብ መማሩ ላይ ነው፡፡

አቦሸማኔዎች ታሪካዊ ገድል የመፈጸም እድል ቀርቦላቸዋል፡- ይሄዉም በምሳሌነት ማስተማር፡፡

በአዲስ አበባው ዩኒቨርሲቲ አጋጣሚ የተሳተፉትን፤ ወዳዳጆቻቸውንና ሌሎቹም ጭምር በግቢያቸው የተፈጸመውን አስጸያፊ የግጭት ሁኔታና ሁከት አስመልክቼ የማቀርበው ጥሪ ሁኔታውን ወደ ውብና ያማረ ፍቅርና ሰላም የሞላበት ፍሬያማ ውጤት ለማምጣት የአንድነት አውድማ ላይ እንዲሰባሰቡ ነው፡፡ እያንዳንዳቸው ወደ ሌላው በመቅረብ ይቅርታን እንዲጠይቁና እንዲቀባበሉ እጠይቃለሁ፡፡ አንዲት በጣም ትንሽ የሆነችውን ‹‹ይቅርታ›› የምትለውን ቃል ለመተንፈስ ወኔ ይጠይቃል፡፡

በራሳቸው ውህደት እንዲፈጥሩ እጠይቃለሁ—-አንድ ለአንድ፤ በትንሹና በበርካታው ስብስብ—–ልዩነታቸውን ይወያዩበት ይነጋገሩበት ይምከሩበት፡፡ አንደኛቸው የሌላው ጉዳትና ግፍ ይሰማው፡፡ አንዱ የሌላው ፍርሃትና ጥርጣሬ ይሰማው:: አንዱ ለሌላው እንባ ንቀት አይኑረው፡፡

 

በብሩህ ህሊና፤ በንጹህ ልቦና፤ አእምሮና መንፈስ ሊነጋገሩ ግድ ነውና ይህንንም እጠይቃለሁ፡፡

እያንዳንዳቸው የሌላውን ስሜትና ጥርጣሬ እንዲረዱ እጠይቃለሁ፡፡ በጓደኞቻቸው ጫማ ውስጥ ሆነው ለኪሎሜትር  እንዲራመዱ እጠይቃለሁ:: በመጫሚያም ይሁን በባዶ እግራቸው ፈገግ ሊያሰኛቸው የሚችል ሁኔታ ያጋጥማቸዋል፡፡

የኢትጵያ አቦሸማኔዎችን 2013ን የእርቀሰላምና የሰላም ዓመት እንዲያደርጉት እጠይቃለሁ፡፡

ጃንዋሪ 2 1013 በታሪክ የኢትዮጵያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች  የጎሳ ጥላቻን ቆንጨራ፤የሃይሞነት ወገንተኝነት፤ የጾታ ልዩነት የተቀበሩበት ዕለት ሆኖ ዘወትር አንድታሰብ ይሁን፡፡ በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የተከሰተው አስጸያፊ ሁኔታ ለሕዝብ ማስተማሪያነት ያገልግል፡፡

ጥንካሬን ከችግር ወልዳችሁ፤ አንድነትን ከከፋፋይ ተምራችሁ፤ ከጓደኞቻችሁ ተማሪዎች ጋር ለመደማመጥና የመግባባትን፤ የመቻቻልን፤ የውህደትን ዘር ለማፈስ እንድትበቁ እማጸናችኋለሁ፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ አቦሸማኔዎች ጉማሬዎችን እንደመሩ እጠይቃለሁ፡፡ እኛን አትከተሉን፤መሄጃችንን አናውቀውምና፡፡እኛ የጠፋው የጉማሬ ትውልዶች ነን፡፡

ይህን ግብግብ በመቀበል፤ትክክለኛውን እንደትክክል፤ስህተቱንም ወደ ትክክለኛነት ካልለወጣችሁት፤ አቦሸማኔዎች በስልጠና ላይ ያሉ ደካማ ጉማሬዎች ናቸው የሚል ትችት ላይ መውደቅ ይመጣል::

ለሁሉም ጊዜ አለው::   ለኢትዮጵያ አቦሸማኔዎች፤ ለማገገምና ለእርቀሰላም ሰዓቱ አሁን ነው፡፡

የኔ ጥያቄ ለእዮጵያ ወጣቶች  ይህ ነው:-  አሁን ስንት ሰአት ነው!?!

የተባበሩት የኢትዮጵያ አቦሸማኔዎች ፈጽሞ ለውድቀትና ለሽንፈት አይዳረጉም!

*የተቶረገመው ጽሁፍ (translated from):

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/2013/01/13/ethiopia_a_time_to_heal_a_time_to_reconcile

(ይህን ጦማር ለሌሎችም ያካፍሉ::) ካሁን በፊት የቀረቡ የጸሃፊው ጦማሮችን  ለማግኘት እዚህ ይጫኑ::

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic

http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

 

 

 

Ethiopia: A Time to Heal, A Time to Reconcile

Posted on by Alemayehu G. Mariam

aauLast week, The Reporter reported:

An ethnic-based conflict between Addis Ababa University (AAU) students following derogatory graffiti posted on toilet-walls and library walls has left half a dozen students with severe injuries while others had faced arrest. For decades, the clash between students at universities has witnessed many ethnic-based conflicts which many observers claim it to be the weakness of the administering body. Likewise, the Wednesday [January 2] conflict was particularly between those from the ethnic lines of Oromo and Tigre. Reports indicate that the conflict was instigated when member (sic) of the latter ethnic group scrawled derogatory remarks on the walls of toilets and the library and in his own dormitory as well.

An official of Addis Ababa University alleged the “conflict was instigated by students who found derogatory statements posted on the wall”. Some 20 students were reportedly injured in the incident and three hospitalized including two who underwent surgery. Police reportedly arrested 20 students on unspecified charges.

My initial reaction reading this report about Ethiopia’s “best and brightest” was sheer disbelief.  “This just can’t be true. It is beneath the dignity of Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation (young people) to engage in such a cowardly and dastardly act. Ethiopia’s university students know better than to wrestle in the filth and sewage of ethnic politics.” I kept on reassuring myself that such wicked hatemongering could not possibly  be the work of Ethiopia’s budding intellectuals, future scholars, scientists and literary men and women.

My certitude slowly gave way to gnawing disquietude. I asked myself, “Supposing the inflammatory graffiti and “derogatory statements” were written by bona fide AAU students? What would such a vile, gutless and vulgar act say about these students? About the injured students who reacted with righteous indignation? About the AAU student body? About all Ethiopian university students? About all of Ethiopia’s young people?”

As I wrestled with these questions, I was overcome by an irrepressible feeling of shame and ignominy.  I kept interrogating myself, “How is it even possible for Ethiopia’s best and brightest — Ethiopia’s Cheetahs — to engage in such backward, barbaric, cruel, vicious and villainous act? Why would one group of young Ethiopian university students deliberately plan and scheme to dehumanize, demoralize, demonize, degrade and brutalize  another? Why? Why? I could not come up with a rational answer.

I became even more bewildered trying to answer these questions as I was drafting my “proclamation” to make  2013 the Year of the Ethiopian Cheetahs.  I could not logically fathom the occurrence of this disgusting and horrifying  drama in which some Ethiopian Cheetahs were acting like Hippos and behaving like hyenas.

I put aside my roiled emotions and paused to think, and think really hard. What evidence is there to factually establish the “ethnic-based conflict” was the work of a bona fide AAU “student”? Who really is the alleged “student” who put up the offensive “graffiti and derogatory statements”? Must we believe the story line about the incident concocted by a wily university public relations desk jokey?  How is it that Ethiopian “universities have witnessed many ethnic-based conflicts for decades” and continue to witness them with predictable regularity?  Are there no adults in charge at the universities ready, able and willing to take preemptive and preventive action?

Doubt slowly began to displace my disappointment, shock and shame as I pondered the real possibility of this so-called “ethnic-based conflict” being stage-managed by the invisible knights of the empire.

When I finally put on my forensic lenses, I could clearly see the fingerprints and footprints of a dirty rat lurking on campus once again undetected.

In May 2010, Jawar Siraj Mohammed, a young Ethiopian political commentator and graduate student at Columbia University reported, “After interviewing several students involved in these [campus] conflicts and witnessing two violent episodes in Haramaya and Adama universities in 2006, I have come to the conclusion that lack of academic freedom at the universities and infiltration by agents of Ethiopia’s secret police and security services are the major sources of conflict.”

It also dawned on me that in September 2011 we learned  “Ethiopian security forces (had) planted 3 bombs that went off in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on September 16, 2006  and then blamed Eritrea and the Oromo resistance for the blasts in a case that raised serious questions about the claims made about the bombing attempt against the African Union summit earlier this year in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.” It was the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa which conducted its own “clandestine reporting” and fingered “GoE (Government of Ethiopia) security forces” for this criminal act.

I also recalled a 2006 secret 52-page document written in Amharic and prepared by the so-called Directorate of the Diaspora of the Foreign Ministry in Addis Ababa detailing strategy and tactics to harass, persecute and smear critics and opponents of the ruling regime and spread ethnic strife in the Ethiopian Diaspora.  As I thought more about the AAU incident, the anecdotal evidence of regime dirty tricks used to undermine, neutralize and destroy opposition parties, harass and persecute dissidents and others kept popping out.

My preliminary analysis of the circumstantial evidence on who is responsible for the “ethnic-based conflict” at the AAU campus points exclusively at the usual suspects. The inescapable conclusion (until substantial counterfactual evidence is presented) is that the hate crime that took place on the AAU campus on January 2 is likely the work of anagent provocateur (s) (one or few individuals placed on campus to act as agitators and instigators) and not a bona fide student(s).

A summary review of the uncontroverted evidence supports this conclusion. First, a single “student” is officially blamed for causing the incident. This factually negates the existence of an organized hate group of students of one ethnic group engaged in the persecution of another and intent on causing ethnic strife, dissension and discord on campus.  Second, the identity, background and affiliation (ethnic and otherwise) of the “student” who is said to be responsible for the criminal act has not been factually established. University officials fingered an unidentified student as being responsible. But is this “student”  a bona fide student or a regime undercoveragent provocateur masquerading as a student? Does this “student” have a history of ethnic animus against students of other ethnic groups?

Third, no motive has been established for the “student” who put up the graffiti and derogatory statements in multiple locations including the “walls of toilets, the library and in his own dormitory as well.”  In hate crime situations, when derogatory graffiti are directed toward a group, they are usually displayed in locations likely to be seen by the target group and intended to spark random expressions of outrage. Why would the “student” fingered for this crime target all students of an entire ethnic group as the object of his personal fury?

Fourth, other than the graffiti depicting the offensive statements, no additional evidence of hate crime was found in the possession of the “student” who committed the hate crime.

Fifth, the January 2 hate crime incident on the AAU campus cannot be seen as an isolated incident. The fact that periodic and recurrent campus hate crimes have been occurring “for decades” on Ethiopian university campuses is  uncontro- verted.  Why haven’t university officials taken swift and decisive action to prevent campus hate crimes with full foreknowledge of the occurrence of such incidents? Is the lack of action and intervention by university officials evidence of official tolerance, complicity, indifference and/or gross incompetence in the investigation and prevention of the occurrence of campus hate crimes? The evidence further shows that in the aftermath of the hate crime, university officials took no decisive action or implemented no preventive measures to ensure the safety of other students who could be targets of ethnic harassment on campus from a potential flare up of violence.

Sixth, why did AAU officials publicly announce, without a full and independent fact finding investigation, that the “conflict was instigated by students who found derogatory statements posted on the wall”? Why haven’t AAU officials empaneled an internal and/or outside independent investigation to thoroughly examine  the causes and participants in the hate crime and make recommendations to prevent such incidents in the future? Why have university officials left this incident entirely to the police?  Could it be that university officials turn a blind eye to campus hate crimes because they are directed to do so?

Seventh, why are the victims of this hate crime also the targets of arrest and detention by police?

In short, the totality of the circumstantial evidence on the hate crime committed on the AAU campus does not point an accusatory finger at students. The evidence points an accusatory finger at an invisible hand. To identify and apprehend the perpetrators of this hate crime, one must look not only for the invisible fingers that wrote the graffiti and derogatory statements on library and dormitory walls but also the hands that beat up the students to a pulp and ceaselessly bellow blasts of  hot air to spread and ignite ethnic strife, fear, hate and loathing among university students.

Be that as it may, it is now time, high time, the right time…

A Time to Heal, A Time to Embrace and a Time to Reconcile

It is written that “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” There is a time to weep, a time to mourn, a time to cast away stones. There is a time to build up and a time to speak up. Then there is a time to embrace, a time for peace and a time to heal. There is a time to reconcile.

This is the time — the right time — for Ethiopia’s young people to heal in the schools, universities, the work places, the neighborhoods and in the streets. This is the time — the right time — for Ethiopia’s young people to embrace each other in the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood; to hold hands and celebrate their diversity and honor their common ancestry and history.

This is the right time for all of Ethiopia’s young people  to break the cycle of ethnic hatred and violence; the right time to end the futile tradition of grievance and victimhood; the right time to abandon the culture of fear, hatred and loathing.

This is the right time for Ethiopia’s youth to lock fingers and join hands to heal the open wounds of fear, loathing and antagonism in their hearts, minds and souls. This the right time to stop seeing fellow students as enemies and adversaries. It is the right time to make peace and embrace each other as brothers, sisters and partners. This is the time for Ethiopia’s  best and brightest to work together for a better future, to dream of  alternative futures built on a solid foundation of the rule of law, respect for human rights and democracy. As Nelson Mandela taught, “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”  It is time to make those we perceive to be enemies our partners.

This is the right time to unite against hate and hate crimes on and off campus. It is the right time to purge hatred from our minds and hearts; the right time to break the chains of fear that shackle and cripple young minds and hearts. It is time for Ethiopia’s Cheetahs to liberate themselves from the burdens of the past.

This is the right time for all of Ethiopia’s young people  to bury the hatchet, to declare once and for all, “No! We refuse to hate each other because we belong to one ethnic group or another. No! we refuse to hate each other  because we worship the same God by a different name or live in different corners of the land. No! We WILL NOT be manipulated or puppet-mastered to hate each other. We will not hate because we are civilized humans. We will not behave like predatory beasts who prey.”

This is also the right time not to do the wrong thing. This is the wrong time to engage in finger-pointing, teeth-gnashing, bellyaching or revenge planning. This is the wrong time to demonize and scapegoat one group of students as predatory beasts and disempower another group as helpless and hopeless prey. Both groups of students are the prey of those who write words of hate on library and dorm room walls.

A Word or Two from One Hippo to Many Cheetahs

Many young Cheetahs may find it amusing to listen to a member of the Hippo Generation. After all, we Hippos are known for being “intellectually astigmatic”, “lacking in vision”  and “not caring if the whole country collapses around us as long as our pond is secure.”  But I respectfully ask the youth to lend me your ears and hear me out.

Be courageous!

Be the first generation of Ethiopians to unchain yourselves and the rest of us from the burdens of the past.

Be the first generation to put an end to historic hatreds and resentments, sow the seeds of understanding and tolerance and open a new chapter of truth and reconciliation in Ethiopia’s history.

Be the first generation to close the wounds of hatred that have festered for generations and declare to future generations that they will not be prisoners of the mistakes and blunders of the past generations.

Be the first generation to accept the fact that we are all equal members of the human race and will not race to the bottom to affirm our ethnicity over our common humanity.

Be the first generation to make a peace offering to each other; to bury the hatchet once and for all; to use your fingers not to pull triggers and write hateful graffiti but stretch out your fingers to shake hands, to hold hands and to lend hands.

Be the first generation to affirm the divinity in our religious diversity.

Be the first generation to say No! to insidious ethnic, religious and gender divisions.

Be the first generation to cover the walls of the libraries, dorm rooms and even toilets with graffiti of  reconciliation, understanding, harmony and love.

Be the first generation to declare that you, the proud Cheetahs, are the captains of your country’s destiny and not the tired, corrupt, scheming, unprincipled and self-serving Hippos.

Be the first generation to be all you can be and to think what you will.

Be the first generation to win the war declared on our human dignity and common humanity, on our civility, morality, cordiality, integrity, and national unity by winning the struggle for the hearts and minds of your fellow youths.

Be the first generation to end the bitterness of yesterday and restore it with the sweetness of reconciliation today and tomorrow.

The Moment of Truth Has Arrived: Can the Cheetahs Save Themselves and Us? 

The moment of truth for Ethiopia’s best and brightest has arrived!

Can Ethiopia’s best and brightest Cheetahs rescue themselves from the burden of the past and the legacy of ethnic prejudice and religious bigotry?

Can these Cheetahs save the cynical, wretched and laggard Hippos from themselves?

Can they teach us to create ethnic harmony out of ethnic strife, understanding out of intolerance? Can they transform sectarian discord into spiritual concord for themselves and the people of Ethiopia?

Can the Cheetahs rescue our humanity from clutches of ethnic and sectarian inhumanity and bestiality?

Can Ethiopia’s Cheetah teach us the art of reconciliation? Can they enlighten us on the science of reconciliation?  Can they show us the path to reconciliation? Can they speak to us in words of reconciliation?

Can Ethiopia’s best and brightest come together as one Youth Force and make 2013 the Year of Ethiopian Cheetahs? Come together and bury the hatchet of ethnic strife and beat the swords of sectarianism into  ploughshares and harvest a plenitude of reconciliation?

Yes, indeed they can!

When I “proclaimed” 2013 as the Year of Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation last week, I promised to reach, teach and preach to Ethiopia’s youth. Little did I think about the possibility of Cheetahs reaching, teaching and preaching to  me and my fellow Hippos. (That is why we Hippos are astigmatic (have distorted view) and myopic (near-sighted and narrow-minded; natural hazards of being a Hippo). Little did I think of a teachable moment coming for Cheetah’s and Hippos so soon.

So Ethiopia’s Cheetahs  and Hippos face an enormous challenge. The challenge for the Cheetah’s is they must now teach the Hippos the art of reconciliation. The challenge for the Hippos is that they must learn the art of reconciliation from the Cheetahs.

The Cheetahs now have a chance to play a historic role: Teach by example.

So I call upon the young men who were involved in the incident at Addis Ababa University and their friends and all of the other students to transform this ugly moment of conflict and strife on their campus into a beautiful moment of reconciliation. I ask them to reach out to each other and ask forgiveness. It takes great courage to say something as simple as, “I am sorry.”

I call on them to come together on their own —  one-on-one, in small and large groups — and discuss their  differences. Try to feel each other’s pain and anguish. Be sensitive to each other’s fears and never scorn each other’s tears.

I ask them to talk to each other with open minds, open hearts and open spirits. I ask them to listen to each other’s concerns, fears, hopes and despair. I ask them to walk a mile in the shoes of their fellow students. If their fellow students do not have shoes, I ask them to walk a mile bare feet and feel the sharp-edged rocks. I believe if  they walk hand in hand for a mile, with shoes or bare feet, they will have reasons to smile.

I ask Ethiopia’s Cheetahs to make 2013 the Year of Reconciliation and Peace.

Let January 2, 2013 be remembered in all history as the day Ethiopia’s university students  buried the hatchets of ethnic division, religious sectarianism and gender inequality.  Let the ugly incident at AAU serve as a teachable moment for the nation.

Take up the challenge to talk and listen to your fellow students and sow the seeds of understanding, tolerance and harmony.

I ask Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation to lead the Hippo Generation. Do not follow us, for we know not where we are going. We are the Hippo Generation, the lost generation.

If you don’t accept the challenge and do what is right and right what is wrong, then you would have proved to the world that Ethiopia’s Cheetahs are only Hippos in training.

To everything there is a season, a time. This is the time for Ethiopia’s Cheetahs to heal and to reconcile.

Ethiopia’s Cheetahs! What time is it?

Ethiopia’s Cheetahs united can never be defeated!

 

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

Previous commentaries by the author are available at:

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/

www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ 

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic

http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

 

Ethiopia 2013: Year of the Cheetah Generation

Posted on , Updated on by Alemayehu G. Mariam

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Year of the Cheetahs

2013 shall be the Year of Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation.

“The Cheetah Generation refers to the new and angry generation of young African graduates and professionals, who look at African issues and problems from a totally different and unique perspective. They are dynamic, intellectually agile, and pragmatic. They may be the ‘restless generation’ but they are Africa’s new hope. They understand and stress transparency, accountability, human rights, and good governance. They also know that many of their current leaders are hopelessly corrupt and that their governments are contumaciously dysfunctional and commit flagitious human rights violations”, explained George Ayittey, the distingushed Ghanaian economist.

Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation includes not only graduates and professionals — the “best and the brightest” — but also the huddled masses of youth yearning to breathe free; the millions of youth victimized by nepotism, cronyism and corruption and those who face brutal suppression and those who have been subjected to illegal incarceration for protesting human rights violations. Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation is Eskinder Nega’s and Serkalem Fasil’s Generation. It is the generation of  Andualem Aragie, Woubshet Alemu, Reeyot Alemu, Bekele Gerba, Olbana Lelisa and so many others like them. Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation is the only generation that could rescue Ethiopia from the steel  claws of tyranny and dictatorship. It is the only generation that can deliver Ethiopia from the fangs of a benighted dictatorship and transform a decaying and decomposing garrison state built on a foundation of lies into one that is deeply rooted in the consent and sovereignty of the people.

Ethiopia’s Hippo Generation should move over and make way for the Cheetahs. As Ayittey said, Africa’s “Hippo Generation is intellectually astigmatic and stuck in their muddy colonialist pedagogical patch. They are stodgy, pudgy, and wedded to the old ‘colonialism-imperialism’ paradigm with an abiding faith in the potency of the state. They lack vision and sit comfortable in their belief that the state can solve all of Africa’s problems. All the state needs is more power and more foreign aid. They care less if the whole country collapses around them, but are content as long as their pond is secure…”

Ethiopia’s Hippo Generation is not only astigmatic with distorted vision, it is also myopic and narrow- minded preoccupied with mindless self-aggrandizement. The Hippos in power are stuck in the quicksand of divisive ethnic politics and the bog of revenge politics. They proclaim the omnipotence of their state, which is nothing more than a thugtatorship.  Their lips drip with condemnation of  “neoliberalism”, the very system they shamelessly panhandle for their daily bread and ensures that they cling to power like barnacles on a sunken ship. They try to palm off foreign project handouts as real economic growth and development.  To these Hippos, the youth are of peripheral importance. They give them lip service. In his “victory” speech celebrating his 99.6 percent win in the May 2010 “election”, Meles Zenawi showered the youth with hollow gratitude: “We are also proud of the youth of our country who have started to benefit from the ongoing development and also those who are in the process of applying efforts to be productively employed! We offer our thanks and salute the youth of Ethiopia for their unwavering support and enthusiasm!”

The Hippos out of power have failed to effectively integrate and mobilize the youth and women in their party leadership structure and organizational activities. As a result, they find themselves in a state of political stagnation and paralysis. They need youth power to rejuvenate themselves and to become dynamic, resilient and irrepressible. Unpowered by youth, the Hippos out of power have become the object of ridicule, contempt and insolence for the Hippos in power.

Ethiopia’s intellectual Hippos by and large have chosen to stand on the sidelines with arms folded, ears plugged, mouths  sealed shut and eyes blindfolded. They have chosen to remain silent fearful that anything they say can and will be used against them as they obsequiously  curry favor with the Hippos in power. They have broken faith with the youth.  Instead of becoming  transformational and visionary thinkers capable of inspiring the youth with creative ideas, the majority of the intellectual Hippos have chosen to dissociate themselves from the youth or have joined the service of the dictators to advance their own self-interests.

Chained Cheetahs

The shameless canard is that Ethiopia’s youth “have started to benefit from the ongoing development.” The facts tell a completely different story. Though the Ethiopian population under the age of 18 is estimated to be 41 million or just over half of Ethiopia’s  population, UNICEF estimates that malnutrition is responsible for more than half of all deaths among children under age five. Ethiopia has an estimated 5 million orphans; or approximately 15 per cent of all children are orphans! Some 800,000 children are estimated to be orphaned as a result of AIDS. Urban youth unemployment is estimated at over 70 per cent. Ethiopia has one of the lowest youth literacy rate in Africa according to a 2011 report of the United Nations Capital Development Fund. Literacy in the 15-24 age group is a dismal 43 percent; gross enrollment at the secondary level is a mere 30.9 percent! A shocking 77.8 per cent of the Ethiopian youth population lives on less than USD$2 per day! Young people have to sell their souls to get a job.  According to  the 2010 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report, “Reliable reports establish that unemployed youth who were not affiliated with the ruling coalition sometimes had trouble receiving the ‘support letters’ from their kebeles necessary to get jobs.” Party memberships is the sine qua non for government employment, educational and business opportunity and the key to survival in a police state. The 2011 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report concluded, “According to credible sources, the ruling party ‘stacks’ student enrollment at Addis Ababa University, which is the nation’s largest and most influential university, with students loyal to the party to ensure further adherence to the party’s principles and to forestall any student protest.”

Frustrated and in despair, many youths drop out of school and engage in a fatalistic pattern of risky behaviors including drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, crime and delinquency and sexual activity which exposes them to a risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.  Poor  youths (the overwhelming majority of youth population) deprived of educational and employment opportunity, have lost faith in their own and their country’s future. When I contemplate the situation of Ethiopia’s youth, I am haunted by the penetrating question recently posed by Hajj Mohamed Seid, the prominent Ethiopian Muslim leader in exile in Toronto: “Is there an Ethiopian generation left now? The students who enrolled in the universities are demoralized; their minds are afflicted chewing khat (a mild drug) and smoking cigarettes. They [the ruling regime] have destroyed a generation.”

Unchain the Cheetahs

Many of my readers are familiar with my numerous commentaries on Ethiopia’s chained youth yearning for freedom and change. My readers will also remember my fierce and unremitting defense of Ethiopia’s Proudest  Cheetahs — Eskinder Nega, Serkalem Faisl, Andualem Aragie, Woubshet Alemu, Reeyot Alemu, Bekele Gerba, Olbana Lelisa and so many others — jailed for exercising their constitutional rights and for speaking truth to power. But in the Year of the Cheetahs, I aim to call attention to the extreme challenges faced by Ethiopia’s youth and make a moral appeal to all Hippos, particularly the intellectual Hippos in the Diaspora, to stand up and be counted with the youth by providing support, guidance and inspiration. In June 2010, I called attention to some undeniable facts:

The wretched conditions of Ethiopia’s youth point to the fact that they are a ticking demographic time bomb. The evidence of youth frustration, discontent, disillusionment and discouragement by the protracted economic crisis, lack of economic opportunities and political repression is manifest, overwhelming and irrefutable. The yearning of youth for freedom and change is self-evident. The only question is whether the country’s youth will seek change through increased militancy or by other peaceful means. On the other hand, many thousands gripped by despair and hopelessness and convinced they have no future in Ethiopia continue to vote with their feet. Today, young Ethiopian refugees can be found in large numbers from South Africa to North America and the Middle East to the Far East.

In this Year of the Ethiopian Cheetahs, those of us with a conscience in the Hippo Generation must do a few things to atone for our failures and make amends to our youth. President Obama, though short on action, is nearly always right in his analysis of Africa’s plight: “We’ve learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will determine Africa’s future. It will be the young people brimming with talent and energy and hope who can claim the future that so many in previous generations never realized.” We, learned Hippos, must learn that Ethiopia’s destiny will not be determined by the specter of dead dictators or their dopplegangers. It will not be determined by those who use the state as their private fiefdom and playground, or those who spread  the poison of ethnic politics to prolong their lease on power. Ethiopia’s destiny will be determined by a robust coalition of Cheetahs who must unite, speak in one voice and act like fingers in a clenched fist to achieve a common destiny.

I craft my message here to the Hippos out of power and the intellectual Hippos standing on the sidelines. I say step up, stand up and be counted with the youth. Know that they are the only ones who can unchain us from the cages of our own hateful ethnic politics. Only they can liberate us from the curse of religious sectarianism. They are the ones who can free us from our destructive ideological conflicts. They are the ones who can emancipate us from the despair and misery of dictatorship. We need to reach, teach and preach to the Cheetahs to free their minds from mental slavery and help them develop their creative powers.

We must reach out to the Cheetahs using all available technology and share with them our knowledge and expertise in all fields. We must listen to what they have to say. We need to understand their views and perspectives on the issues and problems that are vital to them. It is a fact that we have for far too long marginalized the youth in our discussions and debates. We are quick to tell them what to do but turn a deaf ear to what they have to say. We lecture them when we are not ignoring them. Rarely do we show our young people the respect they deserve. We tend to underestimate their intelligence and overestimate our abilities and craftiness to manipulate and use them for our own cynical ends. In the Year of the Cheetah, I plead with my fellow intellectual Hippos to reach out and touch the youth.

We must teach the youth the values that are vital to all of us. Hajj Mohamed Seid has warned us that without unity, we have nothing.   “If there is no country, there is no religion. It is only when we have a country that we find everything.” That is why we must teach the youth they must unite as the children of Mother Ethiopia, and reject any ideology, scheme or effort that seeks to divide them on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, language, region or class. We must teach to enlighten, to uncover and illuminate the lies and proclaim the truth. It is easier for tyrants and dictators to rob the rights of youth who are ignorant and fearful. “Ignorance has always been the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of tyrants.” Nelson Mandela has taught us that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Educating and teaching the youth is the most powerful weapon in the fight against tyranny and dictatorship. In the Year of the Cheetah, I plead with my fellow intellectual Hippos to teach the Cheetahs to fight ignorance and ignoramuses with knowledge, enlightenment and intelligence.

We must also preach the way of peace, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, accountability and transparency. No man shall make himself the law. Those who have committed crimes against humanity and genocide must be held to account. There shall be no state within the state. Exercise of one’s constitutional rights should not be criminalized. Might does not make right! In the Year of the Cheetah, I plead with my fellow intellectual Hippos to preach till kingdom come.

We need to find ways to link Ethiopian Diaspora youth with youth in Ethiopia in a Chain of Destiny. Today, we see a big disconnect and a huge gulf between young Ethiopians in the Diaspora and those in Ethiopia. That is partly a function of geography, but also class. It needs to be bridged. We need to help organize and provide support to Ethiopian Diaspora youth to link up with their counterparts in Ethiopia so that they could have meaningful dialogue and interaction and work together to ensure a common democratic future.

The challenges facing Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation are enormous, but we must do all we can to prepare the youth to take leadership roles in their future. We need to help them develop a formal youth agenda that addresses the wide range of problems, challenges and issues facing them. All we need to do is provide them guidance, counsel and  advice. The Cheetahs are fully capable of doing the heavy lifting if the Hippos are willing to carry water to them.

Ethiopian Youth Must Lead a National Dialogue in Search of a Path to Peaceful Change

I have said it before and I will say is again and again. For the past year, I have been talking and writing about Ethiopia’s inevitable transition from dictatorship to democracy. I have also called for a national dialogue to facilitate the transition  and appealed to Ethiopia’s youth to lead a grassroots and one-on-one dialogue across  ethnic, religious, linguistic and religious lines. I made the appeal because I believe Ethiopia’s salvation and destiny rests not in the fossilized jaws of power-hungry Hippos but in the soft and delicate paws of the Cheetahs. In the Year of the Cheetahs, I plead with Ethiopia’s youth inside the country and in the Diaspora to take upon the challenge and begin a process of reconciliation. I have come to the regrettable conclusion that most Hippos are hardwired not to reconcile. Hippos have been “reconciling” for decades using the language of finger pointing, fear and smear, mudslinging and grudge holding. But Cheetahs have no choice but to genuinely reconcile because if they do not, they will inherit the winds of ethnic and sectarian strife.

In making my plea to Ethiopia’s Cheetahs, I only ask them to begin an informal dialogue among themselves. Let them define national reconciliation as they see it. They should empower themselves to create their own political space and to talk one-on-one across ethnic, religious, linguistic, gender, regional and class lines. I underscore the importance of closing the gender gap and maximizing the participation of young women in the national reconciliation conversations. It is an established social scientific fact that women do a far superior job than men when it comes to conciliation, reconciliation  and mediation. Dialogue involves not only talking to each other but also listening to one another. Ethiopia’s Cheetahs should use their diversity as a strength and must never allow their diversity to be used to divide and conquer them.

Up With Ethiopian Cheetahs!

Africans know all too well that hippos (including their metaphorical human counterparts) are dangerous animals that are fiercely territorial and attack anything that comes into their turf. Every year more people are killed by hippos (both the real and metaphorical ones) in Africa than lions or elephants. Cheetahs are known to be the fastest animals, but their weakness is that they give up the chase easily or surrender their prey when challenged by other predators including hyenas. A group of hippos is known as a crash. A group of cheetahs is called a “coalition”. Only a coalition of cheetahs organized across ethnic, religious, linguistic and regional lines can crash a crash of hippos and a cackle of hyenas and save Ethiopia.

In this Year of Ethiopian Cheetahs, I expect to make my full contribution to uplift and support Ethiopia’s youth and to challenge them to rise up to newer heights. I appeal to all of my brother and sister Hippos to join me in this effort.  As for the Cheetahs, I say, darkness always give way to light. “It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars.” Ethiopia’s Cheetahs must be strong in spirit and in will. As Gandhi said, “Strength does not come from physical capacity”, nor does it come from guns, tanks and war planes. “It comes from an indomitable will.” Winston Churchill must have learned something from Gandhi when he said, “Never give in–never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Ethiopian Cheetahs must never give in!

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

Previous commentaries by the author are available at:

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/

www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ 

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic

http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

 

 

Ring in Redress to All Humankind

Posted on , Updated on by Alemayehu G. Mariam

HR 2012 is gone. 2013 is on the way. Let us ring in redress to all humankind.

I wish a happy and prosperous new year to all of my readers throughout the world. To those who have unwearyingly followed my columns for nearly three hundred uninterrupted weeks, I wish to express my deep gratitude and appreciation. I am thankful for all of the support and encouragement I have received from my readers in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Diaspora and others throughout the world.

I ask my readers to ring in the new year with a firm resolution to seek redress for human rights violations in Ethiopia, other parts of Africa and throughout the world. As Dr. Martin Luther King taught, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly…”

Let us bid farewell to the old year and greet the new one with the poetic words of Lord Alfred  Tennyson:

Ring out the old, ring in the new,…

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,…

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws…

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good…

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

Ring out the darkness of the land,…

Ringing Out 2012

I thought I would ring out 2012 by extracting snippets from selected weekly commentaries I wrote during the year.

In January 2012, I wondered aloud if there will be an “African Spring” or “Ethiopian Tsedey (Spring)” in 2012.  I cryptically answered my own question taking cover in Albert Camus’ book “The Rebel”.  “What is a rebel?”, asked Camus. “A man who says no… A slave who has taken orders all his life suddenly decides that he cannot obey some new command. What does he mean by saying ‘no’? He means, for example, that ‘this has been going on too long,’ ‘up to this point yes, beyond it no’, ‘you are going too far,’ or, again, ‘there is a limit beyond which you shall not go.’ But from the moment that the rebel finds his voice — even though he says nothing but ‘no’ — he begins to desire and to judge. The rebel confronts an order of things which oppresses him with the insistence on a kind of right not to be oppressed beyond the limit that he can tolerate.”

Africa’s Spring will arrive when enough Africans including Ethiopians collectively resolve to rise up from the winter of their discontent and make glorious spring and summer by declaring, “No! Enough is Enough!”

In February 2012,  I pointed out the shame and humiliation in receiving a Chinese handout (“gift”) in the form of  a gleaming “African Union Hall” to 50 plus African countries who could not afford the measly $200 million needed to  build such a quintessentially symbolic continental edifice.  I christened it “African Beggars Union Hall”.

The Chinese Dragon is dancing the Watusi shuffle with African Hyenas. Things could not be better for the Dragon in Africa. In the middle of what once used to be the African Pride Land now stands a brand-spanking new hyenas’ den called the African Union Hall (AU). Every penny of the USD$200 million stately pleasure dome was paid for by China. It is said to be “China’s gift to Africa.” Sooner or later China has to come to terms with three simple questions: Can it afford to fasten its destiny to Africa’s dictators, genociders and despots? How long can China pretend to turn a blind eye to the misery of the African people suffering under ruthless dictatorships? Will there be a price to pay once the African dictators that China supported are forced out of power in a popular uprising? To update the old saying, “Beware of Chinese who bear gifts.”

In March 2012, I boldly predicted that Ethiopia will transition from dictatorship to democracy. But I also cautiously suggested that dissolution of the dictatorship in Ethiopia does not guarantee the birth of democracy. There is no phoenix of democracy that will rise gloriously from the trash heap of dictatorship. Birthing democracy will require a lot of collaborative hard work, massive amounts of creative problem solving and plenty of good luck and good will. A lot of heavy lifting needs to be done to propel Ethiopia from the abyss of dictatorship to the heights of democracy. It will be necessary to undertake a collective effort now to chart a clear course on how that long-suffering country will emerge from decades of dictatorship, without the benefit of any viable democratic political institutions, a functional political party system, a system of civil society institutions and an independent press to kindle a democratic renaissance.

In April 2012 , I paid a special tribute to my personal hero Eskinder Nega, winner of the 2012 PEN Freedom to Write Award. Eskinder Nega (to me Eskinder Invictus) has been jailed as a “terrorist” by the powers that be in Ethiopia. But Eskinder is a hero’s hero. His cause was taken up by an army of world renowned journalists who have themselves suffered at the hands of dictatorships including Kenneth Best, founder of the Daily Observer (Liberia’s first independent daily); Lydia Cacho, arguably the most famous Mexican journalist; Akbar Ganji Faraj Sarkohi Iran’s foremost dissidents; Arun Shourie, one of India’s most renowned and controversial journalists and many others. Recently,  Carl Bernstein (one of the two journalists who exposed the Watergate scandal leading to the resignation of President Richard Nixon) and Liev Schreiber paid extraordinary homage to Eskinder Nega.  Bernstein said, “No honor can be greater than to read Eskinder Nega’s words. He is more than a symbol. He is the embodiment of the greatness of truth, of writing and reporting real truth, of persisting in truth and resisting the oppression of untruths,…”

Eskinder Nega is my special hero because he fought tyranny with nothing more than ideas and the truth. He slew falsehoods with the sword of truth. Armed only with a pen, Eskinder fought despair with hope; fear with courage; anger with reason; arrogance with humility; ignorance with knowledge; intolerance with forbearance; oppression with perseverance; doubt with trust and cruelty with compassion. I lack the words to express my deep pride and gratitude to Eskinder and his wife, journalist Serkalem Fasil (winner of the 2007 International Women’s Media Foundation “Courage in Journalism Award”), for their boundless courage and extraordinary sacrifices in the cause of press freedom in Ethiopia. It is said that history is written by the victor. When truth becomes the victor in Ethiopia, the names Eskinder Nega and Serkalem Fasil will be inscribed in the Hall of Fame for unfaltering courage and steadfast endurance in the face of Evil.

In May 2012, Abebe Gelaw, a young Ethiopian journalist stood up in the audience at the Food Security 2012  G8 Summit in Washington, D.C. and cried freedom. The late Meles Zenawi sat in catatonic silence as the young journalist shouted out: “Meles Zenawi is a dictator! Meles Zenawi is a dictator! Free Eskinder Nega! Free Political Prisoners! You are a dictator. You are committing crimes against humanity. Food is nothing without freedom! Meles has committed crimes against humanity! We Need Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!”

The “heckler’s veto” is one of the most precious rights of American citizens. The idea is really simple. It is always governments who abuse their power to silence their critics and those who disagree with them. With the “heckler’s veto”, the individual silences the government and the powerful. The tables are turned. Zenawi was silenced by Abebe! In that moment, Abebe gloriously realized the true meaning of the tagline of his website addisvoice.com – “A Voice of the Voiceless”. Ironically, the voice of the voiceless rendered speechless the man who had rendered millions voiceless!

In June 2012, I joyously witnessed the unity of Christian and Muslim religious leaders against those seeking to divide them. Hajj Mohamed Seid, a prominent Ethiopian Muslim leader in exile in Toronto, made an extraordinary statement that should be a lesson to all Ethiopians: “As you know Ethiopia is a country that has different religions. Ethiopia is a country where Muslims and followers of the Orthodox faith have lived and loved each other throughout recorded history.  Even in our lifetimes — 50 to 60 years — we have not seen Ethiopia in so much suffering and tribulation. Religion is a private choice, but country is a collective responsibility. If there is no country, there is no religion. It is only when we have a country that we find everything… They [the rulers in Ethiopia] have sold the land [to foreigners] and have kept the most arable land to themselves. The money from the sale is not in our country. It is in their pockets… Is there an Ethiopian generation left now? The students who enrolled in the universities are demoralized; their minds are afflicted chewing khat (a mild drug) and smoking cigarettes. They [the ruling regime] have destroyed a generation…

In July 2012, I held a private celebration on the occasion of the ninety-fourth birthday of  President Nelson Mandela. May he live long with gladness and good health! Madiba has been a great inspiration for me very much like Gandhi. Madiba and Gandhi were lawyers who spoke truth to power fearlessly. For Madiba, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, true human rights advocacy was devoid of all political ambition. The politics of human rights is the politics of human dignity, not ideology, political partisanship or the pursuit of political office. The committed human rights advocate thrives on hopes and dreams of a better future, not the lust for political power or craving for status, position or privilege. I have been relentlessly “sermonizing” (as some affectionately refer to my weekly commentaries) on human rights in Ethiopia and against dictatorship for many years now. I have done so not because I believed my efforts will produce immediate political results or expected structural changes overnight. I stayed in for the long haul because I believe defending, advocating and writing about human rights and righting government wrongs is right, good and the moral thing to do.

In August 2012, I bade farewell to Meles Zenawi who passed away from an undisclosed illness. It was a difficult farewell to write. For over two hundred seventy five weeks, without missing a single week, I wrote long expository commentaries on the deeds and misdeeds of the man who was at the helm of power in Ethiopia for over two decades. Meles and I would have never crossed paths but for the massacres of 2005 in which some 200 unarmed protesters were shot dead in the streets and another 800 wounded by police and security officials under Meles’ personal command and control.

Meles was a man who had an appointment with destiny. Fate had chosen him to play a historic role in Ethiopia and beyond. He was one of the leaders of a rebel group that fought and defeated a brutal military dictatorship that had been in power for 17 years. In victory, Meles promised democracy, respect for democratic liberties and development. But as the years wore on, Meles became increasingly repressive, intolerant of criticism and in the end became as tyrannical as the tyrant he had replaced. In his last years, he created a police state reinforced by a massive security network of spies and surveillance technology. He criminalized press freedom and civil society institutions. He crushed dissent and all opposition. He spread fear and loathing that penetrated the remotest parts of the countryside.  For over 21 years, Meles clutched the scepter of power in his hands and cast away the sword of justice he held when he marched into the capital from the bush in 1991. Meles was feared, disliked and demonized by his adversaries. He was loved, admired, idealized and idolized by his supporters. In the end, Meles died a man who had absolute power which had corrupted him absolutely. In his relentless pursuit of absolute power, Meles missed his appointment with destiny to become a peerless and exemplary Ethiopian leader.

In September 2012, I explained why I supported President Obama’s re-election. I tried to make an honest case for supporting the President’s re-election despite deep disappointments over his human rights records in Africa in his first term.   Did President Obama deliver on the promises he made for Africa to promote good governance, democracy and human rights? Did he deliver on human rights in Ethiopia? No. Are Ethiopian Americans disappointed over the unfulfilled promises President Obama made in Accra, Ghana in 2009 and his Administration’s support for a dictatorship in Ethiopia? Yes. We remember when President Obama talked about the need to develop robust democratic institutions, uphold the rule of law and the necessity of maintaining open political space and protecting human rights in Africa. We all remember what he said:  “Africa does not need strong men but strong institutions.”  “Development depends on good governance.” “No nation will create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy.” Was he just saying these words or did he truly believe them? Truth be told,  what the President has done or not done to promote good governance, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia is no different than what we, the vast majority of Ethiopian Americans, have done or not done  to promote the same values in Ethiopia. That is the painful truth we must face.

In October 2012, I wrote about breast cancer awareness for Ethiopian women and men. There is a strange and confounding culture of secrecy and silence about certain kinds of illnesses among many Ethiopians in the country and those in the Diaspora. Among the two taboo diseases are cancer and HIV/AIDS. The rule seems to be hide the illness until death, even after death. We saw this regrettable practice in the recent passing of Meles Zenawi. Meles’ illness and cause of death remain a closely guarded state secret. It is widely believed that he died from brain cancer. This culture of secrecy and silence has contributed significantly to the needless deaths of thousands of Ethiopians. There is substantial anecdotal evidence that far too many Ethiopian women living in the U.S. have needlessly died from breast cancer because they failed or avoided to get regular breast cancer screening fearing a positive diagnosis. Secrecy and silence when it comes to breast cancer is a self-imposed death warrant!

In November 2012, I remembered. I remembered the hundreds of unarmed citizens murdered in the streets by police and security officials under the personal command and control of Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia on June 6-8 and November 1-4, 2005, following the Ethiopian parliamentary elections in May of that year. According to an official Inquiry Commission, “There was not a single protester who was armed with a gun or a hand grenade as reported by the government-controlled media that some of the protesters were armed with guns and bombs. [The shots fired by government forces] were not intended to disperse the crowd but to kill by targeting the head and chest of the protesters.” I also remembered Yenesew Gebre, a 29 year-old Ethiopian school teacher and human rights activist set himself ablaze outside a public meeting hall in the town of Tarcha located in Dawro Zone in Southern Ethiopia on 11/11/11. He died three days later from his injuries.  Before torching himself, Yenesew told a gathered  crowd outside of a meeting hall,  “In a country where there is no justice and no fair administration, where human rights are not respected, I will sacrifice myself so that these young people will be set free.”  I remembered why I was transformed from a cloistered armchair academic and hardboiled defense lawyer to a (com)passionate human rights advocate and defender.

In December 2012, I fiercely opposed the potential nomination of Susan Rice, the current U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. I argued that Rice has been waltzing (or should I say do-se-do-ing) with Africa’s slyest, slickest and meanest dictators for nearly two decades. Rice and other top U.S. officials knew or should have known a genocide was underway or in the making once RAF and interahamwe militia began killing people in the streets and neighborhoods on April 6, the day Rwandan President Juvenal Habyiarimana was assassinated. They were receiving reports from the U.N. mission in Rwanda; and their own intelligence pointed to unspeakable massacres taking place in Kigali and elsewhere in the country. Rice feigned ignorance of the ongoing genocide, but the irrefutable documentary evidence showed that Rice, her boss Anthony Lake and other high level U.S. officials knew from the very beginning (April 6, 1994)  that genocide was in the making in Rwanda. On September 2, 2012 at the funeral of Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa and at a memorial service for Meles in New York City on October 27, 2012,  Rice delivered a eulogy that virtually canonized Meles. In her blind eulogy, Rice turned a blind eye to the thousands of Ethiopians who were victimized, imprisoned and killed by Meles Zenawi. Rice could not see the police state Meles had created. To literally add insult to injury, Rice called Meles’ opponents and critics “fools and idiots”. Truth be told, I was deeply offended by Rice’s hubristic remarks and her audacity, pomposity, nerve and insolence to insult and humiliate Ethiopians in their own country in such callous and contemptuious manner.  Ethiopians have been robbed of their dignity for 21 years. But I will be damned if any foreigner, however high or exalted, should feel free to demean, dehumanize and demonize my people as “fools and idoits”.  Recently, Rice explained: “I know I’m vilified for having said anything other than, ‘He [Meles] was a tyrant,’ … which would’ve been a little awkward, on behalf of the U.S. government and in front of all the mourning Ethiopians.” Rice has no qualms calling Ethiopians “fools and idiots” but she writhes in agony just thinking about calling Meles a tyrant?!? Some people just don’t get it!!!

In 1994, Rice was willfully blind to the genocide in Rwanda. In 2012, she was willfully blind to the long train of human rights abuses and atrocities in Ethiopia.

America does not need a friend and a buddy to African dictators as its Secretary of State. America does not need a Secretary of State with a heart of stone and tears of a crocodile. America does not need a “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” Secretary of State.  America needs a Secretary of State who can tell the difference between human rights and  government wrongs!

Let us join hands to ring in redress to all mankind in 2013. Let us all work together for human rights for all and against all government wrongs!

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

Previous commentaries by the author are available at:

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/

www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ 

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic

http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

ሰብአዊ መብት ለሰብአዊያን

Posted on , Updated on by Alemayehu G. Mariam

ከፕሮፌሰር ዓለማየሁ ገብረማርያም
ትርጉም ከነጻነት ለሃገሬ

በዓለም ዙርያ ያሉትን አንባቢዎቼን 2013 የደስታና የብልጽጋና ዓመት ይሁንላችሁ በማለት መልካም ምኞቴን እገልጻለሁ፡፡

ላለፉት ያልተቋረጡ 300 ሳምንታት ያህል ጦማሮቼን ለተከታተሉ ሁሉ፤ከልብ የመነጨ አክብሮቴንና ምስጋናዬን እገልጻለሁ፡፡ ከኢትዮጵያና ከዲያስፖራ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ለተቸረኝ ማበረታታት ምስጋናዬ ይድረስልኝ፡፡

አንባቢዎቼን፤ በኢትዮጵያና በዓለም ላይ ሁሉ የተደፈሩ ሰብአዊ መብቶችን ለሁሉም ሰብአዊ ፍጡራን እንዲዳረሱና እንዲከበሩ የመጠራሪያና የማንቂያ ደወል በአፍሪካና በዓለማቱ ሁሉ እንደውል እላለሁ፡፡ ዶክተር ማርቲን ሉተር ኪንግ አንዳሉት “በማይበጠስ የአንድነት ሰባዊ ሰንሰለት ተሳስረናል፡፡ በአንድ አይነት እጣ ፈንታ ተያይዘናል:: አንዱን በቀጥታ የሚያጠቃው ሌላውንም በተዘዋዋሪ ደግሞ አይተወውም፡፡

አንባቢዎቼን፤ በሎርድ አልፍሬድ ቴኒሰን የረቀቀ ለዛ ባለው ግጥም (“እንጠራራ፤ ለሰብአዊ ፍጡር ሁሉ”) አሮጌውን ዓመት በመሰናበት አዲሱን እንቀበል በማለት አጠይቃለሁ::

እንጠራራ፤ አሮጌውን አመት ለመሸኘት አዲሱን ለመቀበል

እንጠራራ፤ ሃሰትን ተገላግለን አውነትን ለማስገባት

እንጠራራ፤ ሃዘንና ትካዜን ከሕሊናችንን ለማስወገድ

እንጠራራ፤ በደሃና በሃብታም መሃል ያለዉን ቅራኔ ለመፍታት::

እንጠራራ፤ ለሰብአዊፍጡርሁሉአዲስስብእናእንተካለት::

እንጠራራ፤ የወደቀ ስራትን ለመሸኘት

ለመለወጥ ዘመን የሻረውን የፓርቲዎችን መናቆር

እንጠራራ የሕይወትን  ክቡርነት እናስመስክር

በጣፋጭ ባህል በንጹህ ሕግጋት::

እንጠራራ፤  አጉል ትምክህትን ለማጥፋት

በዜግነት ላይ ሀሜት ክፋትና እልህ እንዲወገድ

እንጠራራ፤  ፍቅርን ሃቅና እውነትን ለማስገባት

እንጠራራ፤ መልክምን ለመተግበር ለሁሉም በሚሆን መንገድ::

እንጠራራ፤ ያለፉትን ሺህ እልቂቶች ላለመድገም

እንጠራራ፤ ለቀጣዮቹ ሺህ ዓመታት ሰላም አንዲሰፍን

እንጠራራ፤ለነጻነት ወደሚያበቃን ጀግንነት

ለሩህሩህ ልብ፤ ለለጋሽ እጆች

እንጠራራ ጨለማ የዋጣትን ምድር ለማዳን::

2012ን ስንሸኘው: ባለፈው አመት ካቀረብክዋቸው ሳሚንታዊ  ጽሁፎቼ  ትንሽ  ቅንጣቢ በመውሰድ ነው::

በጃንዋሪ 2012 የአፍሪካ ስፕሪንግ አለያም ‹‹የኢትዮጵያ ጸደይ›› ይመጣ እንደሆነ በማለት አግራሞቴን ጎላ አድርጌ አሰምቼ ነበር፡፡

የራሴን ጥያቄ በአልበርት ካሙስ ‹‹ዘ ሪቤል›› (ተቃዋሚ) በተባለው መጽሃፍ ሚስጥራዊ ትርጉም ውስጥ ሆኜ  መልሼ ነበር፡፡ ተቃዋሚ ምንድን ነው? ሲል ጠየቀ ካሙስ………… ‹‹እምቢ የሚል ሰው ………ዕድሜውን ሙል እሺ ጌቶቼ፤ እሺ እመቤቶቼ ሲል የኖረ ሰው በድንገት ያንገሸግሸውና ዳግም ትእዛዝ አልቀበልም ብሎ እምቢ ይላል፡፡ እምቢ ሲልስ ምን ማለቱ ነው? የሚለውማ፤ ለምሳሌ ‹‹ይሄ ትእዛዝ በዛ፤ እስካሁን ድረስ እሺ ከእንግዲህ ግን አሻፈረኝ፤ መጠናችሁን አጣችሁ፤›› ወይም  ‹‹እሺ ለማለትና ለመቀበል በቃ ለማለትም ገደብ አለው:: እምቢተኛው የራሱን ድምጸ ውሳኔ ካገኘበት ጊዜ አንስቶ……. ከአሻፈረኝ ሌላ ቃል ባይወጣውም፤ መመኘትና መዳኘት ይጀምራል፡፡ እምቢተኛው የሚሰጠውን ትእዛዝ በመጋተር ሊቋቋመው ከሚችለው በላይ የሚጫንበትን ትእዛዝ ላለመቀበል ይወስናል፡፡›› የአፍሪካ ስፐሪንግ አፍሪካውያን ኢትዮጵያንም ጨምሮ፤ከተጫነባቸው የግፍ ጫና እንቅልፋቸው ነቅተው በብሩሁ ጸደይ  ተነቃቅተው ‹‹አሻፈረኝ! በቃ ማለት በቃ ነው!›› ማለት ሲችሉ ነው፡፡

በማርች 2012 ኢትዮጵያ ከዲክታተርሺፕ አገዛዝ ወደ ዴሞክራሲያዊ አስተዳደር ትሸጋገራለች ብዬ በድፍረት ተንብዬ ነበር፡፡. ከዚሁ ጋርም   የዲክተተርሺፕ ማብቃት፤ በኢትዮጵያ የዴሞክራሲን መወለድ አያረጋግጥም ብዬም ነበር፡፡ከሚገረሰሰው የበሰበሰ ዲክታተርሺፕ ሊፈለፈል የሚችል የዴሞክራሲ ዕውነታ ሊኖር አይችልም፡፡ ዴሞክራሲን ለማምጣት በርካታ የሕብረት አድካሚ ስራዎች ያስፈልጉታል፡፡ኢትዮጵያን ከተጫነባት የፈላጭ ቆራጭ ዲክታተርሺፕ አገዛዝ ለማላቀቅና ከግፈኞችን በደል ከማይጠግቡ የዓመጻ ልጆች ለማላቀቅ ብዙ ጉልበትና አንድነት መስማማት ይጠይቃል፡፡ይህን ለማድረግ ደግሞ ዴሞክራሲያዊ የፖለቲካ ተቋማት፤ተግባራዊነትን የሚያረጋግጥ የፖለቲካ ድርጅት፤የሲቪል ማሕበረሰብ ስርአት እና የብራሀን ፋና ወጊ የሆነ የነጻው ዴሞክራቲክ ፕሬስ ትንሳኤ የግድ አስፈላጊ ነው፡፡

በኤፕሪል 2012 ለጀግናዬና አልበገር ባዩ የፔን በነጻነት የመጻፍ ሽልማት አሸናፊ ለሆነው እስክንድር ነጋ አንድ ልዩ አክብሮት መግለጫ ጽፌ ነበር፡፡ እስክንድር ነጋ (ለኔ አይበገሬው እስክንድር ነጋ)ሽብርተኛ ተብሎ በኢትዮጵያ አለሁ በሚለው ገዢ መንግስት ለእስር ተዳርጓል፡፡ እስክንድር ግን የጀግኖች ጀግና ነው፡፡ የእስክንድር ለእስር መዳረግ በበርካታ ያገባናል በሚሉ ታዋቂ ጋዜጠኞች፤ በተመሳሳይ ስቃዩ በያሉበት የደረሰባቸው ኬነዝ ቤስት፤(የላይቤርያው ኢንድፔንዳንት ዴይሊ ጋዜጣ መስራች) ሊዲያ ካቾ፤ዝነኛው የሜክሲኮ ጋዜጠኛ፤ የኢራኩ እውቅ ተቃዋሚ፤አክባር ጋንጂ: ፋራጂ ሳርኮሂ፤በሕንዱ ታዋቂ አሩን ሹውሪ፤እና በበርካታ ሌሎች የእስሩ ተቃዋሚዎች ትኩረት ተሰጥቶታል፡፡ለኔ እስክንድር ልዩ ጀግናዬ ነው፤ ምክንያቱም፤ከሃሳብና ከእውነት ውጪ መሳርያ የሌለው ተሟጋች ነውና፡፡ ቅጥፈትን: በእውነት ስለት ብዕሩ ብቻ ሰየፈው:: ተስፋ መቁረጥን በተስፋ፤ፍርሃትን በድፍረት፤ ቁጣን በምክንያታዊነት፤ዕብሪትን በትህትና፤መሃይምነትን በዕውቀት፤አለመቻቻልን በትዕግስት፤ጥርጣሬን በዕምነት፤ ጭካኔን ደግሞ በርህራሄ እስክንድር ተዋጋው›፡፡ እስክንድር አልበገሬው!

በሜይ 2012  ላይ የጂ 8 የምግብ ዋስትና ስብሰባ በሚካሄድበት በዋሽንግቶን ዲ ሲ ወጣቱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ጋዜጠኛ አበበ ገላው ድምጹን ከፍ አድርጎ ነጻነት! እስክንድር ነጋ ይፈታ!  በማለት ድምጹን ከፍ አድርጎ ተናገረ!  ያለፈው መለስ ዜናዊ በዚያ በነበረበት ቦታ ላይ እንደተደገመባት ድመት አንገቱን ሰብሮ በዝምታ ወጣቱ ጋዜጠኛ፤ መለስ ዜናዊ ዲክታተር ነው ሲል ሰማው!  እስክንድር ነጋ ይፈታ! የፖለቲካ እስረኞች ይፈቱ! አንተ ዲክታተር ነህ መለስ! በማለት አበበ የተቃውሞ ጥሪውን አሰማ፡፡ አንተ በሰብአዊ ፍጡሮች ላይ ወንጀል ፈጽመሃል፤ ያለ ነጻነት ምግብ ዋጋ ቢስ ነው፤ የፖለቲካ እስረኞችን ልቀቅ! ነጻነት! ነጻነት! ነጻነት ያስፈልገናል! አለው፡፡ ለአሜሪካን ሕብረተሰብ የ‹‹ሄክለር ቬቶ›› በእጅጉ ክብር የሚያስገኝ መብት ነው፡፡ ሃሳቡ በጣም ቀላል ነው፡፡ምንግዜም መንግስታት ናቸው በሃሳባቸው የማይስማሙትንና ተቃዋሚዎቻቸውን ዝም ለማሰኘት ማፈኛ የሚያበጁ፡፡ ‹‹በሄክለር ቬቶ›› ደግሞ ግለሰቦች ጉልበተኛንና መንገስትን ዝም ጸጥ ማሰኘት ይችላሉ፡፡ ጠረጴዛው የግልብጥ ሆነ፡፡ መለስ ዜናዊ በአበበ ገላው ተለጉሞ ጸጥ እንዲል ተደረገ፡፡ አበበ ድሕረ  ገጽ መጠርያ ስሙ አዲስ ድምጽ ትርጉሙን በአግባቡ  አሳወቀበት ‹‹ድምጻቸው የታፈነባቸው ድምጽ››::

በጁን 2012 በሙስሊሙና በክርስቲያኑ የሃይሞነት መሪዎች ሊከፋፍሏቸው ባለሙት ላይ ባሳዩት ሕብረት ተገርሜ ነበር፡፡ በቶሮንቶ በስደት ላይ የሚገኙት፤ታዋቂው የሙስሊሙ እምነት ተከታዮች መሪ፤ ለሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ትምህርት የሚሆን መልዕክት አስተላለፉ፡፡‹‹ እንደምታውቁት ኢትዮጵያ ብዙ እምነቶች የሚከበሩባት ሃገር ናት፡፡ኢትዮጵያ ፣ሙሊሙና የኦርቶዶክስ እምነት ተከታይ ክርስቲያኖች በፍቅር ተከባብረው የኖሩባት ሃገር ለመሆኗ ታሪክ ይመሰክራል፡፡ አሁን እንኳነ 50ና 60 ዓመታት ጊዜ ውስጥ በኛው ዘመን፤አንዳችም ሁከትና አለመግባባት በመሃላቸው አይተን አናውቅም፡፡ ማንኛውንም ነገር የምናገኘው ሃገር ሲኖረን ነው፡፡ ሃይመኖት የግል ምርጫ ነው፡፡ ሃገር ደግሞ የጋራችን ነው:: ሃገር ከሌለ ሃይማኖትም አይኖርም፡፡……..እነሱ…ገዢዎቹ የገሃሪቱን መሬት ለውጭ ሰዎች ለባዕዳን እየሸጡት ነው፡፡ ተራፊውን ለም መሬትም ለራሳቸው ይዘውታል፡፡ ከሽያጩም የተገኘው ገንዘብ በሃገራችን አይቀመጥም፤ በግል ኪሳቸውና በሌላም ቦታ ባላቸው ኪሳቸው ነው፡፡ለመሆኑ አሁን የተረፈ ኢትዮጵያዊ ትውልድ አለ? በዩኒቬርሲቲ ለመማር የሚመዘገቡትም ቢሆኑ ሞራላቸው በተስፋ ማጣት ተዳክሟል፤በጫት ተለክፏል፤በሲጋራ ሱስ ተበክለዋል፤፡ ገዢው መንግስት ትውልዱን አጥፍተውታል፡፡

በጁላይ 2012 የፕሬዜዳንት ማንዴላን 94ኛ ዓመት የልደት በዓላቸውን በግሌ የአከባበር ስርአት አድርጌ ነበር፡፡ በጤንነትና በደስታ ረጂም ተጨማሪ ዓመታት እመኝላቸዋለሁ፡፡ ማዲባ ልክ እንደጋንዲ ለኔ ዋነኛ መኩሪያ የመንፈሴ አነሳሥ ናቸው፡፡ ማዲባና ጋንዲ ካለአንዳች ፍርሃት ዕውነትን ለባለስልጣናት ሲያውጁ ነበር፡፡ ለማዲባ፤ ጋንዲ፤ ማርቲን ሉተር ኪነግ: እውነተኛ የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋች፤ የፖለቲካ ፍላጎት ጨርሶ የሌለበት ነው:: የሰብአዊ መብት ፖለቲካ የሰብአዊ ክብር ነው እንጂ የፖለቲካ ዘይቤ፤የፖለቲካ መጎዳኘትም፤አለያም የፖለቲካ ስልጣን ፍቅር አይደለም፡፡ ቁርጠኛ የሆነ የሰብአዊ መብት ጠበቃ፤ለተሸለ ተስፋና ሕልም እውነታ የቆመ ነው፡፡እኔ ለብዙ ዓመታት በኢትዮጵያ ሰብአዊ መብት ጉዳይና በፈላጭ ቆራጭ ገዢዎች ላይ በርካታ መሟገቻ ጦማሮች አቅርቤያለሁ:: ይህ ጥረቴ ደግሞ አፋጣኝ ፖለቲካዊ ለውጥ ወይም አፋጣኝ መዋቅራዊ ለውጥ እንደሚያስገኙ እገምተለሁ፡፡ ይህንንም ለረጂም ጊዜ በማድረግ የቆየሁበት ሰበብ፤ስለሰብአዊ መብት መሟገት፤ መከራከር፤ ጥብቅና መቆም የገዢዎችን ድክመት ይፋ ማውጣት ልክ ስለሆነና ጥሩና የሞርል ጉዳይም ስለሆነ ነው፡፡

በኦገስት 2012 ይፋ ባልሆነና ባልታወቀ ሕመም በሞት ለተለየን መለስ ዜናዊ ስንብት አደረኩ፡፡ ስንብት ለመፃፍ በጣም አስቸጋሪ ነበር፡፡ ለሁለት መቶ ሰባ አምስት ሳምንታት፤አንድም ሳምንት ሳይታለፍ፤ለሁለት አሰርት ዓመታት ኢትዮጵያን ሲገዛ በነበረው ሰው ላይ ያደረሰውን በደልና የፈጸመውን ግፍ በተመለከተ በማጋለጥ በርካታ ጦማሮች አቅርቤያለሁ፡፡ በ2005 ያ ሁሉ የዜጎች ጭፍጨፋ ባይፈጸምና 200 ንጹሃን ዜጎች በጠራራ ጠሃይ በጎዳና ላይ ለሞት ባይዳረጉ፤ ከ800 በላይ ቁስለኛ ባይደረጉ፤መለስ ዜናዊንና እኔን የሚያገናኘን ጉዳይ አይኖረም ነበር::  ዕጣ ፈንታ መለስ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ታሪካዊ ሚና እንዲጫወት መርጦት ነበር፡፡ ለ17 ዓመታት ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ዲክቴተር ሆኖ ሲገዛ የነበረ ውን ወታደራዊ ጁንታ አሸንፎ ከገቡት የቡድኑ መሪዎች አንዱ ነበር፡፡ በድል ወቅት መለስ ስለ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ተግባራዊነት ምሎ ተገዝቶ፤ ልማትን ለማፋጠንምና ሃገርን ለመገንባት ቃሉን ሰጥቶ ነበር፡፡ ግና ዓመታቱ እየጨመሩና እያለፉ ሲሄዱ ቁጥር መለስ ጨቋኝ እየሆነ፤ትዕግስቱ ቅጥ እያጣ፤ አምባገነናዊ ትምከተኛ እየሆነ፤ከተካው ገዢ የበለጠ ጨካኝና ጨቁአኝ እየሆነ መጣ፡፡ በመጨረሻዎቹ ዘመኑ ላይ ብዙ የደህንነት አባላት ካድሬዎች የሚታገዝ የፖለስ ስርአተ መንግስት ፈጠረ፡፡ ዜጎች እንዳይነቃነቁና በነጻ እንዳያስቡ ቁጥጥሩን አጠናከረ፡፡ የሲቪሉን ማህበረሰብ ተቋማትንና የነጻውን ፕሬስ አባላት መወንጀል ያዘ፡፡ በሃገሪቱ የሩቅ ገጠር ሳይቀር ዘልቀው በመግባት ሕዘቡ ላይ  የግፍ ጫናቸውን አራገፉበት፡፡ ከ21 ዓመታት በላይ መለስ ስልጣኑን የሙጢኝ ብሎ ከጫካው ይዞት የመጣውን የፍትሕን ሰይፍ በግሉና ለራሱ ብቻ ጨብጦ፤ለመበታተኛነት እያዋለው፤ ሃሳቡን የሚሞግቱትንና ተቃዋሚዎችን በማስፈራራትና በደጋፊዎቻቸው ላይ ውንጀላና መጉላላትን እያካሄደ ፍጹም አምባገነናዊ በመሆነ ኖረ፡፡ ስልጣንን ከምንም በላይ አድርጎ በማየት ዕድል ሰጥቶት የነበረውን ቀጠሮ ስቶ በኢትዮጵያ አቻ የሌለው መሪ ሊባል የሚችልበትን ቀጠሮ አፋለሰ፡፡

በሴፕቴምበር 2012 የፕሬዜዳንት ኦባማን ዳግም ምርጫ ለምን እንደደገፍኩት አስረዳሁ፡፡ በመጀመርያ የምርጫ ዐመታቸው በአፍሪክ ውስጥ ስለነበራቸው አመለካከትና እንቅስቃሴ የሰብአዊ መብት መደፈር ቅሬታ ቢኖረኝም፤የፕሬዜዳንቱን ድጋሚ ምርጫ የመደገፌን መነሾ በሚገባ ገልጫለሁ፡፡ ፕሬዜዳንት ኦባማ በገቡት ቃል መሰረት ለአፍሪካ መልካም አስተዳደር የሰብአዊ መብት መከበርን፤ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሁኔታን አስገኝተዋል? በኢትዮጵያ የሰብአዊ መብት መከበርን አረጋግጠዋል? በጭራሽ! ፕሬዜዳንት ኦባማ በአክራ ጋና በገቡት ቃል መሰረት ምንም ባለማድረጋቸውና ቃላቸውን ባለመጠበቃቸው ኢትዮጵያዊያን አሜርካዊያን ቅር ተሰኝተዋል:: አስተዳደራቸውስ በኢትዮጵያ ላለው ዲክታተራዊ ገዢዎች ስለሚያደርገው ድጋፍስ፤ አዎን እናስታውሳለን ፕሬዜዳንት ኦባማ ያን የመሰለ ንግግር በማድረግ በአፍሪካ ውስጥ ጠንካራና ጤናማ አስተዳደር እንደሚያስፈልግ አድርገው እንደነበር፡፡ ሁላችንም ይህን አስመልክተው ምን እንዳሉ የምናስታውሰው ነው፡፡ ‹‹አፍሪካ ጡንቻማ መሪዎች አይደሉም የሚያስፈልጓት፤ የፈረጠመና መልካም አስተዳደራዊ ተቋም እንጂ›› ‹‹ልማት መሰረቱ መልካም አስተዳደር ነው›› ገዢዎች ኤኮኖሚውን የሚበዘብዙት ሃገር ጨርሶ ሊለማ አይችልም›› እነዚህን ቃላቶች ለይስሙላ ያሉዋቸው ናቸው ወይስ ከምር አምነውባቸው? ዕውነቱ መውጣት አለበት፤ ፕሬዜዳንቱ ያደረጉት አለያም ያላደረጉት መልካም አስተዳደርን፤ዴሞክራሲያዊ ስርአትን፤የሰብአዊ መብት መከበርን በኢትዮጵያ አለማስገኘቱ፤ እኛ እራሳችን ባለጉዳዮቹ በርካታ ቁጥር ያለን ኢትዮጵያዊያን አሜሪካውያን ያደረግነው አለያም ያላደረግነው ጋር የተለያየ አይደለም፡፡ ይሄ ነው የሚጎመዝዘው እውነትና መቀበልና ማመን ያለብን፡፡

በኦክቶበር 2012 ስለሴቶችና ጡት ካንሰር ጥንቃቄ በኢትዮጵያ አንድ ጦማር አቅርቤ ነበር፡፡ በሃገር ውስጥም ሆነ በዲያስፖራው ኢትዮጵያዊያን መሃል ስለ አንዳንድ በሽታዎች ሚስጥራዊነት ጎጂ ባሕል አለን፡፡ ሁለቱ በድብቅ የተከተቱ በሽታዎች ካንሰርና ኤች አይ ቪ ኤይድስ ናቸው፡፡ባህሉም በሽታዎቹን እስከመጨረሻው ድረስ: ከሞትም በኋላ ደመደብቅ ነው፡፡ ይህን አስከፊና አሳዛኝ ባህል በቅርቡ በመለስ ዜናዊ ሞት መስክረነዋል፡፡ የመለስ በሽታና የሞቱ መንስኤ ሚስጥራዊነቱ በጥብቅ የሚጠበቅ የሃገር ሚስጢር ሆኗል፡፡ በስፋት እንደሚታመነው የሞተው በአእምሮ ካንሰር ነው ይባላል፡፡ ይህ በሚስጢር የመያዝ ባህላችን በርካታ ኢትዮጵያዊያኖችን ለሕልፈተ ሞት ዳርጓል፡፡ ለምሳሌ በአሜሪካን ሃገር በጉልህ የሚታወቅና የታይ የሕመም መደበቅ ባህላችን በርካታ ወገኖቻችንን ለሞት ዳርጓል፤ በዚህም ሳቢያ ብዙዎች ቅድመ ምርመራ በማድረግ በጊዜው ሊደርሱበት የሚችሉትን በሽታቸውን በሚስጢር በመያዝና ቅድመ ምርመራውም የሚያስከትለውን ውጤት ለማወቅ ካለመፈለግና በመፈራት በርካቶች ለሞት ተዳርገዋል፡፡ ካንሰርን በተመለከተ ሚስጥር ማድረግን ቅድመ ምርመራን አለማድረግ በራስ ላይ የሞት ደረሰኝ እንደመቁረጥ ያለ ነው፡፡

በኖቬምበር 2012 ማስታወሻዬ፡፡ በጁን 6-8 እና በኖቬምበር 1-4 በመለስ ዜናዊ ቀጥተኛ ትእዛዝና ቁጥጥር በዚያው ዓመት በሜይ የተካሄደውን ፓርላማዊ ምርጫ አስመልክቶ መብትና ሕገመንግስት ይከበርልን በማለት ባዶ እጃቸውን አደባባይ የወጡትን ንጹሃን ዜጎች ጭፍጨፋና ግፋዊ ግድያ አስታወስኩ፡፡ ሕጋዊ ሆኖ የተመረጠው አጣሪ ኮሚሽን ይፋ ባደረገው ዘገባ ባቀረበው መሰረት ከሰላማዊ ሰልፈኞቹ መሃል የመንግስት ሚዲያ እንዳለው አንድም ሰው ጠመንጃም/ሽጉጥ አለያም የእጅ ቦንብ የያዘ አልነበረም፡፡ በመንግስት ወታደሮችና የደህንነት ሰዎች የተተኮሱት ጥይቶች ሰልፈኛውን ለመበተን ተብለው የታለሙ ሳይሆኑ ደረትና ጭንቅላት ላይ ለመግደል ተብለው የተተኮሱ ነበሩ፡፡ ‹‹በወቅቱ የ29 ዓመቱን ኢትዮጵያዊ መምህርና የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋችና በደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ በ11/11/11 እራሱን በእሳት አቃጥሎ የተሰዋውን የዳውሮ ዞን ነዋሪውን የኔሰው ገብሬንም አስታውሻለሁ፡፡ የኔ ሰው በደረሰበት ቃጠሎ ከሶስት ቀናት በኋላ በሆስፒታል ሕይወቱ አልፏል፡፡ በስብሰባው አዳራሽ በራፍ ላይ ለነበሩትም ያስተላለፈው መልዕክት ‹‹መልካም አስተዳደርና ፍትሕ በሌለበት ሃገር፤ ሰብአዊ መብት በማይከበርበት ሃገር፤ እነዚህ ወጣቶች ነጻ እንዲሆኑ እኔ እራሴን አቃጥላለሁ›› ነበር፡፡

በዲሴምበር 2012 የሱዛን ራይስን የአሜሪካ የዉጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር ሹመትን በጥብቅ ተቃዉሜ ነበር፡፡ የወቅቱ የአሜሪካ የተባበሩት መንግስታት አምባሳደር፤ ከዘመነኞቹ የአፍሪካ ፈላጭ ቆራጭ ገዢዎች ጋር በሚፈጥሙት ግፍና በደል ሙዚቃ አብራቸው እስክስታዋን ሱዛን ራይስ ታቀልጠው ነበር፡፡ በኤፕሪል 6 በሩዋንዳ ተቀስቅሶ ያለውንና በሚሊሺያዎች የተነሳሳውን ኢንተርሃምዌ: ራይስና ሌሎችም የአሜሪካን ባለስልጣናት አስቀድመው አውቀውት ነበር፡፡ በሩዋንዳ ከሚገኘው የተባበሩት መንግስታት ቢሮ ስለ ጉዳዩ የእለት ተእለት መግለጫ ይደርሳቸው ነበር፡፡ በዚህም ባለስልጣኖቹ የዘር ማጥፋት ሂደት መጸነሱን አውቀውታል፡፡ በአዲስ አበባ በሴፕቴምበር 2 እና በኒውዮርክ በተካሄደው የመለስ ዜናዊ ሞት መታሰቢያ ስንብት ያቀረበችው  ከንቱ ውደሴ በእጅጉ አሳፋሪና ከአንድ የመንግስት ተወካይ ከፍተኛ ባለስልጣን የማይጠበቅ ነበር፡፡ ራይስ በመለስ ዜናዊ ቀጥተኛ ትእዛዝ ለሞት የተዳረጉትን ንጹሃን ዜጎች ከምንም አልቆጠረቻቸውም፡፡ በመለስ ትእዛዝ በወህኒ ሃሳባቸውን ስለገለጹና ሕዝብ ማወቅ ያለበትን ስላሳወቁ፤ የመንግስትን ሕጸጽ ይፋ ስላወጡ ብቻ ሕገመንግስታዊና ሰብአዊ መብታቸው ተገፎ ለወህኒ የተዳረጉትን ሁሉ ችላ ከማለት ባለፈ ትታቸዋለች፡፡ራይስ በሩዋንዳ የተፈጸመውን ግድያና ጭፍጨፋ ሆን ብላ ላለማየት አሁንም ካለፈ በኋላ ላለማስታወስ አይኗን ጨፍናለች፡፡ በኢትዮጵያም የተካሄደውንና እሁንም በመካሄድ ላይ ያለውን ጭፍጨፋ ግፍና በደል ግድያ እስራት እያወቀችና እየተረዳች አይኔን ግንባር ያድርገው ብላ ክዳለች፡፡ አሜሪካ ‹‹እያየሁ አላየሁም;; ‹‹እየሰማሁ አልሰማሁም›› ‹‹ብናገርም አልተነፈስኩም›› የሚል የዉጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር አያስፈልጋትም፡፡ አሜሪካ የሚያስፈልጋት የሃገር እስተዳዳር፤ በሰብአዊ መብትና በመንግስት ሕገወጥነት መሃል ያለውን ልዩነት የሚመለከትና የሚያውቅ የዉጭ ጉዳይ አስተዳዳሪ ነው የሚያስፈልጋት፡፡

እንጠራራ! ለሁሉም ሰብአዊ ፍጡራን ሰላምና ደህንነት በ2013፡፡ ሁላችንም ስለሰብአዊ መብት መከበርና የመንግስታትን እኩይ ተግባር በማጋለጥ ረገድ አብረን እንንቀሳቀስ!

ፕሮፌስር ዓለማየሁ ገብረማርያም በካሊፎርኒያ ስቴት ዩኒቨርሲቲ ሳን በርናርዲኆ የፖሊቲካ ሳይንስ መምሀርና የህግ ጠበቃ ናችው።

*የተቶረገመው ጽሁፍ (translated from):  http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/2012/12/29/ring_in_redress_to_all_humankind

(ይህን ጦማር ለሌሎችም ያካፍሉ::) ካሁን በፊት የቀረቡ የጸሃፊው ጦማሮችን  ለማግኘት እዚህ ይጫኑ::

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic 

http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

 

 

DLA Piper, a hired gun for rogue nations

Posted on , Updated on by EthiopianReview.com

DLA Piper chief executive Nigel Knowles poses with Obama

A Newsweek article by Joshua Kurlantzick points out the shameful activities of some law/lobbying firms in Washington DC that are hired guns for criminal regimes around the world who are terrorizing their people. The most notorious among them is DLA Piper that receives over $50,000 per month from the genocidal junta in Ethiopia for lobbying U.S. Government officials to play down the brutal repression in the country. DLA Piper has also been trying to shut down Ethiopian Review on behalf of the Meles regime’s moneyman Al Amoudi. The effects of DLA Piper’s lobbying has been disastrous to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region. Its client, the regime in Ethiopia, has been committing unspeakable atrocities through out Ethiopia and the region with impunity while getting billions of dollar in assistance from the US. In Ogaden and Gambella regions of Ethiopia, the regime’s troops wiped out entire villages, as documented by international human rights groups. The U.S. Government, which is quick to point out human rights violations around the world, has said little about Ethiopian regime’s crimes, due in large part to DLA Piper’s lobbying effort.

The Hired Guns: When leaders of rogue nations hire Washington lobbyists, opposition voices get crowded out.

By Joshua Kurlantzick | Newsweek

Once the province of a few fringe players operating on the margins of Washington, lobbying for foreign countries has become big business for the most prestigious firms in D.C. According to data from the Department of Justice, the number of registrants—forms submitted by people registered to represent foreign countries—grew from about 1,800 in the first half of 2005 to 1,900 in the first half of 2009, the most recent data available. Human-rights activists say there has been a steeper rise, particularly in terms of dollars spent, among some of the most brutal regimes on earth, including several sanctioned by the U.S. for their human-rights abuses.

The Republic of the Congo spent $1.5 million on lobbying and PR firms and other representation in the first half of 2009 alone, according to reports compiled by the Justice Department. Angola, one of the most corrupt nations in the world, spent more than $3 million in that period. Teodoro Nguema Obiang, the brutal dictator of African petrostate Equatorial Guinea, who took power more than three decades ago in a coup, has hired the law firm of former Bill Clinton aide Lanny Davis to lobby on his behalf, for the annual sum of $1 million. (Davis says the arrangement is contingent on Obiang’s progress on human-rights issues.) Chris Walker, of the NGO Freedom House, says this is all a reflection of the fact that “authoritarian regimes recognize there is a greater payoff in participating in and influencing the decision-making process, rather than sitting it out.”

In the past, foreign lobbying by rogues in Washington was a relatively small game. Nazi agents lobbying in Washington before World War II had tainted the whole enterprise, a stain that would take decades to erase. Though allies like Japan or Britain could find representation, the task of shilling for the nastiest governments fell to those like Edward von Kloberg III. Wearing a cape and calling himself “Baron,” a made-up honor, he represented Saddam Hussein and Nicolae Ceausescu, among others. Many developing nations, including China, meanwhile, had little idea how to win influence in Washington through lobbying. China has built a lobby since its harsh experience in 2005, when Congress, playing upon a strong anti-China sentiment among constituents, scuttled an attempt by China National Offshore Oil Corp. to purchase American petroleum firm Unocal. Now even new regimes waste no time finding their men in Washington. After seizing power in a coup last summer, and facing immediate criticism from the Obama administration, Honduras’s new military rulers quickly spent at least $400,000 to hire powerful American firms to lobby for them.

One result is that lobbying has become less transparent. U.S. law requires lobbyists to disclose all contracts with foreign clients, but the reality is that filings about foreign clients offer little information, and some lobbyists simply don’t file. “I was so careful to document every phone call, every meeting, and then I found that some other people, they don’t file at all,” says one lobbyist who works extensively with foreign clients. “Does anything happen to them? Not really.” Since the mid-1960s, in fact, the U.S. government has never successfully prosecuted anyone for violating the disclosure rules.

The rise in foreign lobbying may have also compromised the policymaking of current and future U.S. government officials. With little oversight, lobbyists can represent the most repressive regimes and then turn around and work in government. According to John Newhouse, author of a forthcoming book on the influence of foreign lobbies on American policies, one of John McCain’s senior foreign-policy advisers during his 2008 campaign, Randy Scheunemann, simultaneously worked for McCain and as a paid adviser to the government of Georgia, which had been accused of human-rights violations. Despite McCain’s reputation as a leading champion of human rights, Scheunemann largely escaped questions about whether his lobbying might have affected his foreign-policy advice to the powerful senator. Similarly, while at Cassidy & Associates, lobbyist Amos Hochstein oversaw the Equatorial Guinea account, which required him to argue the merits of one of the most repressive regimes on earth. Still, after leaving Cassidy, Hochstein landed a prominent job on the (ill-fated) 2008 presidential campaign of Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, a politician also known for his longstanding human-rights advocacy. Now Hochstein says he helped “move the ball forward on human rights” in the country.

Lobbying can turn down the pressure on authoritarian regimes. After years of intense lobbying, Equatorial Guinea’s Obiang managed to transform his image in Washington from a venal autocrat into a solid American ally and buddy of U.S. business. In 2006 he strode out of a meeting at Foggy Bottom with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who declared him “a good friend.” Last year Obiang met with Obama for a public photo op, which is coveted by foreign leaders. Similarly, according to several congressional staffers, the authoritarian regime in Kazakhstan won support for its chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe by hiring lobbyists to help quiet congressional critics of Kazakhstan’s human-rights record. Ethiopia’s lobbying, meanwhile, has helped to defuse charges that the government has turned increasingly authoritarian. In a memo sent to congressional offices, DLA Piper, representing Ethiopia, argued, “The terms ‘political prisoners’ and ‘prisoners of conscience’ are undefined and mischaracterize the situation in Ethiopia,” and should be removed from a bill that condemned the Ethiopian regime for detaining opposition activists.

All this has taken a toll. Many democratic countries retain lobbyists in Washington to handle issues like trade disputes or intellectual-property challenges. But in those free countries, human-rights activists or opponents of the government could hire their own lobbyists in Washington and make their cases to the American government. Not so in the world’s most repressive countries. Though there are rare exceptions, like the Tibetan government in exile, most human-rights activists in authoritarian countries cannot make the close connections in Washington, or come up with the funds needed to match the lobbying of leaders like Obiang. The result: while thugs get heard in Washington, the voices of their opponents remain silent.

(With R. M. Schneiderman in New York. Kurlantzick is a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.)