In the Winter of our discontent, we complained about the wasted years of antagonism, discord and strife among pro-democracy elements of the Ethiopian Diaspora. We deplored the years of infighting and useless bickering which had given much delight and merriment to the ruthless dictators. We expressed collective regret over our shortsightedness and inability to see the big picture, and to work collaboratively for the great cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in the motherland. We chafed about lost opportunities to become effective instruments for the protection of human rights in Ethiopia. We found ourselves gripped by a pervasive sense of powerlessness and political paralysis. Then we had our “Aha!” moment, that moment ringing with the “fierce urgency of now”. We we declared, “We must learn from past mistakes, overcome our differences and march forward together to the exhilarating drumbeat of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia.”
We are now in our Spring of hope and renewal. Our hope comes from a new sense of unbridled optimism guided by the principle that Ethiopians united can never be defeated. Our renewal comes in the form of a new consciousness: 1) that we can do things much better than before and differently, and by harnessing our resources worldwide, we can effectively promote the cause of freedom, human rights and democracy in Ethiopia; 2) by remaining divided and fragmented, we would be effectively aiding and abetting in the continuing criminal enterprise of the ruthless dictators. This Spring, for many pro-democracy Ethiopians throughout the world, is a time for a new commitment to the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. The seeds of goodwill planted in dialogue and consultation in the Winter are now sprouting as seedlings of collaborative action, cooperation and worldwide consolidation in the struggle for the protection of human rights in Ethiopia. This Spring, pro-democracy Ethiopians can be heard all over the world saying, “Enough talk. Shake hands. Let’s get busy!”
Fired Up and Ready to Rumble!
We are fired up and ready to rumble! Everywhere we turn, we find an overwhelming consensus among pro-democracy Ethiopians that building respect for human rights and the rule of law will help ensure the dignity to which every Ethiopian is entitled, and stem the arbitrary powers of dictators, reduce intolerance and political violence. Validation of this truth comes from all sectors. The refugees who fled the persecution of the ruling dictators in Ethiopia testify to it. Former political prisoners, dissidents, exiled journalists, human rights advocates and all who believe in democracy, freedom and the rule of law say in a single voice that it is time to act. The victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity call upon us in exile to champion their cause and alleviate their suffering.
Spring Into Action
Ethiopians in exile are excited about the prospect of working together to help alleviate human rights violations in Ethiopia. There is unquestionably massive consensus among pro-democracy Ethiopian exiles to forge a common human rights agenda. But there are issues that bear directly upon the practical formulation and implementation of such an agenda. We are wrestling with two such issues now: 1) determining the most effective method to bring together divergent elements in the worldwide Ethiopian exile community to work and act together in common cause, and 2) identifying a set of actions and outcomes that can be taken to produce tangible and quantifiable results in improving the human rights situation in Ethiopia. These two questions require careful and thoughtful consideration.
Bringing together groups and individuals that have often been at odds with each other, or have not worked together much in the past is not an easy task. Harmonizing different organizational styles and practices requires careful balancing. But we believe we have made significant strides in seating diverse Ethiopian pro-democracy elements at the grand table of human rights dialogue and consultations. We are making good progress in our coalition-building efforts and in beginning to develop a comprehensive strategy to achieve the multiple purposes of advocacy, education, mobilization and action in support of Ethiopian human rights issues. We are going through a natural period of “acclimatization” learning about each other and our unique organizational styles and methods. But we do our best to practice what we preach. Our dialogues are open, civil and intellectually engaging. Our communications are transparent, and all input from participants are integrated in our deliberations. We build upon each other’s strengths.
Identifying a set of advocacy issues and developing an action plan for implementation of a human rights agenda presents its own challenges. We have a sense of our unique assets and resources which can be used to achieve our purposes. We are acutely aware that our issues can be paired with some extraordinary opportunities that were not available to us in the past. For instance, in the U.S. context, the change in administration offers fresh opportunities to revisit the issue of human rights in Ethiopia. We believe the blank check given to the dictators during the Bush era is likely to be a thing of the past. We also believe the continuing, sustained and flagrant human rights violations will figure prominently on the Congressional radar screen. We hope to harness our energies and resources and employ different strategies to advance the cause of human rights in Ethiopia.
There is no question pro-democracy Ethiopians in exile are fired up and ready to act on improving human rights in Ethiopia. The action items are self evident: 1) Human Rights Monitoring: We must work to ensure the regime conforms its conduct to the standards of international human rights conventions which are part of the constitutional law of the regime. Such efforts span a wide variety of activities ranging from factual investigation to documentation and reporting. 2) Advocacy: We must develop a multi-pronged approach to advocacy. There is consensus that advocacy at the highest levels of international policymaking should be a priority. We are also aware of the importance of utilizing resources at the local levels in seeking policy changes at the national level. 3) Release of All Ethiopian Political Prisoners: Recent official reports indicate that a large number of political prisoners continue to languish in the ruling regime’s prisons. Impressive public demonstrations have been held recently to call international attention to the plight of political prisoners in Ethiopia. Additional steps can certainly be taken to champion the cause of Ethiopian political prisoners. 4) Accountability: There is substantial evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ethiopia. In the past year alone, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have published reports documenting such violations of international law. There is also evidence in the form of a certified list of criminal suspects in the post-election massacres in 2005.
There are other related issues which are integral to the success of the foregoing tasks. There is a critical need for human rights education and awareness in the Ethiopian exile community worldwide. One of the reasons why international human rights advocates speak on our behalf has to do with our lack of knowledge and expertise to speak for ourselves on important human rights issues. There is also a need to engage “silently concerned” exiled Ethiopians in the global human rights effort. This requires developing a clear and convincing message and creating practical ways of participation and engagement by such individuals. Increased awareness and access to accurate information on human rights is one of the best methods of mobilizing those who remain marginalized.
We Can Move Mountains!
From our efforts in supporting H.R. 2003 and predecessor bills, we have learned that a well coordinated advocacy campaign can produce significant results in terms of generating wide support for human rights in Ethiopia. The power of advocacy, we believe, lies in the simplicity and purity of the advocacy mission, the passion and commitment of the advocates and supporters and the clarity of vision about the task ahead. We believe in empowering every Ethiopian to become a human rights advocate, and to feel emboldened to take action even when confronted with seemingly impossible obstacles.
We expect bumps in the road. Despite good intentions, grassroots advocacy campaigns will hit snags from time to time. Sometimes efforts may be disjointed and progress may not be visible in linear fashion. But such is the nature of grassroots advocacy. The alternative is to hire the fat cat lobbyists of “K” Street in Washington, D.C. and feed them a princely sum of $50,000 per month. As we have seen, even fat cat lobbyists can be defeated and routed from the legislative battlefield by a disciplined and tenacious army of fleas. We are fired up and ready to rumble! We can move mountains!
WASHINGTON DC – Ethiopians Demesse Tefera and Hirut Mandefro co-opted the Irish theme by winning the men’s and women’s titles at the 21st St. Patrick’s Day 8K downtown yesterday.
Tefera, 27, twice New York Road Runners runner of the year and currently living in Silver Spring, led from the start and was alone by a mile and a half; he broke the tape in 24 minutes 19 seconds, nearly half a minute ahead of runner-up Will Viviani. Mandefro, who lives in Silver Spring with the same Ethiopian contingent as Tefera, ran 27:06 and beat training partner Muluye Gurma (28:40) by a quarter-mile.
The winners earned $300 for their efforts and have set their sights on Saturday’s National Half Marathon, which awards $1,000 for first place.
“They’re both full-time runners,” said the group’s agent and coach, Jonas Mekonnon. “It’s not an easy way to make a living.” Gurmessa Kumsa, also in the group and the race winner two years ago, started yesterday but was not among the 4,319 finishers because of an injury.
Viviani, a Yorktown High School graduate who returned to Arlington after seven years in Eugene, Ore., shared hugs with friends and family after his 24:44 second-place finish. “I was by myself after halfway,” Viviani said, “so that was hard. I’m a 5K guy, trying to move up to 10K. So this was a good race for me.”
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – Eritrean Minister of Information {www:Ali Abdu} accused some parties in the Ethiopian government of aiding and abetting pirates off the coast of Somalia in the Red Sea.
“They are extending logistic support to the pirates besides harboring them at the Ethiopian {www:Woyanne} camps located on the Somali-Ethiopian boarder regions. Ethiopian Woyanne troops gave them protection even inside Somali territories before their pull out,” he said.
Speaking to Gulf News during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, Ali Abdu accused that some decision makers at the Ethiopian Woyanne Woyanne government in Ethiopia are the real beneficiaries of piracy, which brought them millions of dollars.
“After carrying out each and every act of piracy, pirates used to flee into the Ethiopian Woyanne camps on the Somali border,” he said while reiterating that it is impossible to end this criminal activity without returning sovereignty to the government of Somalia and driving out all the regional and international players, especially the Ethiopian Woyanne elements that are interfering in the internal affairs of the lawless country.
According to Ali Abdu, the issue of piracy on the Red Sea is directly linked to the anarchy and political instability in Somalia. “If this is not the position, why are these acts of piracy restricted to the Somali coast alone? Why aren’t they taking place on the coasts of Eritrea or Sudan or Yemen? he asked.
Denying reports about Iranian security or military presences on the Eritrean coast, the minister challenged those who raise such claims to produce substantial evidence for it.
“These were false notions and were tantamount to the claims that have been raised ever since 15 years about the security and military presence of Israel on the Red Sea off the cost of Eritrea,” he said while stressing that Eritrea is an independent sovereign country maintaining diplomatic relations with various countries in a way protecting the interests of the people of the country.
“We have never made relations with any country either in the East or the West in a way putting at risk the interests of our people. Likewise, we are not in need of the support of the military forces of any country,” he clarified.
Replying to a question about Eritrea’s continued opposition to the new government of Somalia under President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed even though several countries came forward in recognizing it, Ali Abdu said that this was nothing to do with Sharif Sheikh Ahmed or Abdullah Yousuf or anybody else.
“Rather we are only concerned about the security, sovereignty and stability of Somalia. It is unacceptable for Eritrea to recognize any government in Somalia that was imposed by one foreign country or the other,” he asserted.
According to Ali Abdu, the government of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is a group of individuals pushed to the Somali leadership. “Recognition of the new Somali government by some countries is not a significant thing as these countries’ role in Somalia was that of mediation.
That doesn’t mean that the government is really representing the people of Somalia,” he said while drawing attention to the fact that the new government, though recognized by a large number of countries, is still facing stiff popular resistance in the country.
Ali Abdu noted that Eritrean government last month underlined the need for pulling out of the African Peace Keeping Forces (AMISOM), comprising of 3200 troops from Uganda and Burundi, from Somalia in order to ensure peace and security in the violent-stricken Horn of Africa country. “Eritrea sees that it is inevitable to establish durable peace in Somalia. Ending the so called foreign interference and occupation should be put as a mandatory condition for realizing the aspirations of Somali people in rebuilding the war-ravaged country,” he said.
The Eritrean minister renewed his country’s solidarity with the government and people of Sudan against the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Sudanese President Omar Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Darfur region. “Such decisions would undermine the sovereignty and unity of Sudan.
Eritrea has rejected outright the arbitrary move of ICC on the very first day. We are of the firm view that the ICC move is posing a threat not merely to Sudan and its president but to all the countries in the region as well,” the minister said.
Referring to a question about Eritrea’s rejection of a Libyan initiative to solve the border dispute with Ethiopia, Ali Abdu said that the International Border Commission that was constituted following the Algiers Accord of 2000, had come forward with the final settlement of the border dispute between the two countries. “There was an agreement between the two countries earlier to accept provisions of the settlement.
However, the Ethiopian regime disavowed the agreement and refused to implement its provisions,” he said while rejecting any new initiative to settle the differences with Ethiopia as ‘they are not at all political’. “On the other hand, they are purely legal concerning with occupation of our land. We are determined not to hold talks with the neighboring country unless it withdraw forces from the Eritrean territories,” he said.
Ali Abdu refused to comment on the allegations of former US Administration that Eritrea was behind inciting troubles in Somalia. “False accusations against Eritrea were gone with the Bush Administration. Everybody knows the positive role of Eritrean government in Somalia as well as in its efforts to solve the problems in eastern Sudan, its mediatory role between Sudan and Chad and efforts to solve the Darfur problem,’ he said.
Referring to the government of Barack Obama, he hoped that the new US Administration would adopt a balanced and peaceful approach in its dealings with Eritrea. Ali Abdu blamed former President Bush for deteriorating the relations between Eritrea and the United States.
Several exiled members of Ethiopian armed forces have created a support group for Ethiopian People Patriotic Forces (EPPF), a statement issued by the group announced on Sunday. Click here to read their statement.
‘If we think we’ve got a health care crisis, let me take you to Ethiopia’ – Dr. Matt Campbell
Dr. Matt Campbell was ready to call it a night after a long first day in an Ethiopia hospital when a messenger said he was needed in the operating room.
A woman who had walked 15 days from a distant village just to arrive at Soddo Christian Hospital on her due date was in labor. After eight stillbirths, she needed a cesarean section to deliver her ninth baby if the child had any hope of survival.
But Campbell, 32, a general surgeon with Holy Family Memorial, hadn’t done a c-section in years. He and Dr. John Foor, a longtime friend and fellow missionary, grabbed a copy of Williams’ Obstetrics, crammed in the surgeons’ lounge and hoped for the best.
Then came the power outage.
The two operated by flashlight as they waited for a generator to kick in. Moments later, a baby boy emerged — happy, healthy and, best of all, breathing.
The Jan. 12 delivery was the first of 55 operations for Campbell of Manitowoc and Foor of Columbus, Ohio, during a two-week missionary trip to work at the hospital in Soddo, Ethiopia. The two cared for nearly 45 inpatients and 15 outpatients each day as they covered for two general surgeons, an orthopedic surgeon, a gynecologist and five surgical residents. Their stay was arranged through World Medical Mission, also known as Samaritan’s Purse.
“They knew that hospital was going to be without,” Campbell said, explaining the various reasons the medical professionals were away from Soddo at the time. “If you’re not there, there is no one else to treat their illnesses. Anything that could possibly need surgery, we were there for.”
Campbell and Foor trained together back in Ohio, Campbell’s home state, and opted for careers in medicine as a result of the same mentor-missionary, Dr. Pedro Obregon, also of Columbus.
“It’s doing trips like this that got me into medicine in the first place,” Campbell said. “It really lets you practice medicine as it was intended — to treat sick people.”
What most American medical professionals probably don’t expect to treat, however, are wild animal attacks — even “minor” ones. Campbell naturally was taken aback when a patient — with some severe scratches to his arm — arrived one day to have an eye tumor operated on.
“He wasn’t going to mention it,” Campbell recalled. “But we asked what happened to his arm and he said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s from the lion.’ He had actually been mauled by a lion on his way to the hospital.”
More surprising for Campbell, however, was the scope of the operations he was called to do while in Ethiopia. Like in the United States, patients arrive with bad cancers and require large operations — even with less equipment.
“You just have to do everything the old-fashioned way,” he said. “And everyone else just throws all their support behind you.”
He also got a quick lesson in true “general” surgery, as he was expected to perform all essential procedures, even those he typically wouldn’t do at Holy Family Memorial. In Ethiopia, Campbell removed a 5-pound kidney tumor from a 4-year-old boy. Here, he said he would have “very quickly” referred the child to a pediatric cancer specialist.
Campbell said the experience taught him to complain less, appreciate the luxuries of working in a well-stocked hospital, be thankful for the simple things — like nurses who speak English — and be more patient overall.
“If we think we’ve got a health care crisis, let me take you to Ethiopia,” he said.
Tack those lessons onto the countless others he’s taken from past missionary trips to Myanmar, Thailand, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mongolia, Rwanda and the Philippines, and you’ll understand his drive to serve. His goal is to continue working one or two missionary trips every year.
“My passion is to get back in Myanmar and have a recurring presence there,” he said, acknowledging the current challenges of getting into the country. “In the meantime, I may go back to Ethiopia on a regular basis.”
The downside of Campbell’s trips is time away from his wife, Wendy, and daughters, Emma, 4, and Tessa, 2. The family moved to Manitowoc last summer, and Campbell started his post at Holy Family Memorial in July.
“Holy Family’s mission of community service was consistent with what I wanted to do,” Campbell said. “I’m loving the job here, too. I’m taking care of my neighbors every day.”
To learn more about Soddo Christian Hospital, visit www.soddo.org. For more about Holy Family Memorial, visit www.hfmhealth.org.
Binyam Mohamed, the former Guantánamo Bay detainee and an immigrant from Ethiopia who claims that MI5 colluded in his torture, should be considered for deportation, the Conservative Party said.
David Lidington, the shadow foreign minister, said there was a “serious question” over whether Mr Mohamed, 30, should be allowed to remain in Britain indefinitely.
Mr Mohamed arrived in Britain as an asylum seeker in 1994, having lived in Washington DC for two years after his family fled Ethiopia after a regime change, and was granted exceptional leave to remain.
This permission to live in Britain expired while he was in detention abroad for seven years and he has now been granted temporary leave to remain.
Mr Lidington said: “There are some serious questions to be asked about his immigration status in this country which are separate from the questions about the alleged torture.
“I believe that these allegations of torture do need to be properly investigated by the judicial authorities. But I think there is also a question about whether Mr Mohamed should remain permanently in the UK.”
Mr Mohamed’s father was a senior executive with airline Ethiopian Airways. The family fled to the US following the ousting of dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991.
Under current rules, asylum seekers would not be allowed to come to Britain after spending a period in a third country.
Mr Mohamed’s father returned to the US leaving his son to fend for himself and the Ethiopian is now thought to have no relatives in Britain. He is currently in hiding in west Dorset after returning from the military prison in Guantánamo Bay last month.
Mr Lidington said: “The government of Ethiopia has changed, and in recent times the majority of asylum applications in the UK from Ethiopians have failed.
“Given the state of Binyam Mohammed’s health and the gravity of the accusations he’s made I can understand why the Government has not moved quickly in the question of his permanent immigration status, but I think there are serious questions which still remain.
“If there is a strong case for him to remain in the UK that is something that ministers should be prepared to argue publicly.”
Latest Home Office figures show that only 90 Ethiopian nationals claimed asylum last year, of whom 25 were successful – although there were a further 55 appeals of which 15 were successful.
Mr Mohamed last week accused the UK of “selling me out” and disclosed extracts of secret telegrams between MI5, the British Security Service, and the American Central Intelligence Agency which he claimed showed co-operation during torture sessions.
He insisted that he wanted to remain in Britain, claiming: “It’s the only place I can call home.”
Tefera, 27, twice New York Road Runners runner of the year and currently living in Silver Spring, led from the start and was alone by a mile and a half; he broke the tape in 24 minutes 19 seconds, nearly half a minute ahead of runner-up Will Viviani. Mandefro, who lives in Silver Spring with the same Ethiopian contingent as Tefera, ran 27:06 and beat training partner Muluye Gurma (28:40) by a quarter-mile.
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – Eritrean Minister of Information {www:Ali Abdu} accused some parties in the Ethiopian government of aiding and abetting pirates off the coast of Somalia in the Red Sea.
Binyam Mohamed, the former Guantánamo Bay detainee and an immigrant from Ethiopia who claims that MI5 colluded in his torture, should be considered for deportation, the Conservative Party said.