Commemoration events for the Ethiopian election massacre 5th anniversary were held Washington DC, and several cities around the world on November 7, 2010.
Silent prayer for the martyrs of Election 2005 – Sunday, November 7, 2010
The special remembrance event in Washington DC was broadcast live via video and audio. The event was held at the Washington Marriott Hotel starting at 2 PM.
The program was opened by Artist Tamagne Beyene who made an opening statement and showed a short video about the terror campaign that was unleashed against the World Bank-financed blood-thirsty dictatorship in Ethiopia following the May 2005 election.
Tamagne then introduced the guest speakers Judge Frehiwot Samuel, Dr Aklog Birara, Ato HaileGebriel Ayalew, Ato Henock Yeshitila, Dr Berhanu Nega, and Dr Gregory Stanton.
The first to speak was Judge Frehiwot Samuel, who asked why those who are accountable for the atrocities of June and November 2005 are still allowed to still roam freely.
Dr Aklog Birara discussed that Ethiopians must take matters into their own hands by waging a campaign boycotts such as rerouting remittances so that the hard currency is not used by the Meles dictatorship. He urged every Ethiopian to engage in civic actions that will help bring change in Ethiopia.
As a witness to the post-May 2005 elections massacre, Dr Berhanu Nega gave a firsthand account of Woyanne’s savagery.
Genocide Watch President Dr Gregory Stanton told the audience that Ethiopia, a country with rich history and long civilization, is currently ruled by a barbaric government. He urged Ethiopians in the Diaspora to get organized and work to remove the Meles dictatorship, pointing out that they could be a powerhouse for bringing change in Ethiopia. He also advised the tracking and registering of all Meles regime officials who are engaged in atrocities because there will come a time when they must face justice. He warned that the Meles apartheid dictatorship is hurting Tigreans more than any other ethnic group in the long term by fostering resentment toward them.
Similar events were held in several places around the world, including Seattle, Toronto, Las Vegas, North Carolina, Dallas, London, Stockholm, Cologne, Munich, and Melbourne.
In Ethiopia, due to the Meles regime’s repression, such events are not possible.
November is a cruel month. Bleak, woeful, and grim is the month of November in the melancholy verse of Thomas Hood:
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member–
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,
November!
And no justice for the hundreds massacred in Ethiopia in November (2005).
No redress for the countless men, women and children shot and wounded and left for dead.
No apologies for the tens of thousands illegally imprisoned.
No restitution for survivors or the families of the dead.
No trace of those who disappeared.
No atonement for the crimes of November.
No absolution for the slaughter of November.
November is to remember.
How Does One Remember the Slaughter of November?
Elie Wiesel, a Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, said we remember the innocent victims of evil by bearing witness for them.
For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time. The witness has forced himself to testify. For the youth of today, for the children who will be born tomorrow. He does not want his past to become their future.
For the past three years, I have chosen to bear witness for the hundreds of massacre victims of dictator Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia.[1] Wherever evil triumphs, all of humanity is victimized. I have never met any one of the massacre victims of June and November 2005, but that does not matter. I remember each and every one of them. So I bear witness once more on behalf of Tensae Zegeye, age 14; Habtamu Tola, age 16; Binyam Degefa, age 18; Behailu Tesfaye, age 20; Kasim Ali Rashid, age 21. Teodros Giday Hailu, age 23. Adissu Belachew, age 25; Milion Kebede Robi, age 32; Desta Umma Birru, age 37; Tiruwork G. Tsadik, age 41; Elfnesh Tekle, age 45. Abebeth Huletu, age 50; Regassa Feyessa, age 55; Teshome Addis Kidane, age 65; Victim No. 21762, age 75, female, and Victim No. 21760, male, age unknown and hundreds more shot and killed or wounded while protesting stolen elections.[2] Once again, I point an accusatory finger at the policemen who pulled the trigger, the invisible hands that pulled the fingers of the policemen who pulled the trigger and the mastermind who orchestrated the whole bloody carnage.
Police Riots: Understanding the True Scope of the Massacres in 2005
There are two astonishing facts about the massacres of June and November, 2005. The first is that the policemen sent out to contain the “disturbances” literally had a riot shooting up anything that moved in the streets. The second is the manifest undercount of the actual fatalities and casualties of the massacres. When an Inquiry Commission was established by Zenawi under Proclamation 478/2005 to investigate post-election “disturbances”, its investigation of incidents was limited to specific dates and places, namely: violence that occurred on June 8, 2005 in Addis Ababa and 2) violence that occurred from November 1 to 10, 2005 and from November 14 to 16, 2005 in identified locations in Addis Ababa and other specifically designated towns and cities outside the capital.
In public presentations, Inquiry Commission Chairman Judge Frehiwot Samuel has indicated that the Commission’s charge prevented it from including evidence of casualties and fatalities that occurred in close proximity to the dates and places set forth in the Proclamation. There is little doubt that a full and comprehensive investigation of the post-election “disturbances” in 2005 would reveal casualty and fatality figures that are many times the number reported in the Commission’s report.
In its investigation, the Inquiry Commission examined 16,990 documents, and received testimony form 1,300 witnesses. Commission members visited prisons and hospitals, and interviewed members of the regime’s officialdom over several months. In the end, the Commission determined[3] that the police shot and killed 193 persons and wounded 763 others on the specific dates and in the specific places identified in the Proclamation. Further, the Commission documented that on November 3, 2005, during an alleged disturbance in Kality prison that lasted 15 minutes, prison guards fired more than 1500 bullets into inmate housing units leaving 17 dead, and 53 severely wounded. Commission Chairman Judge Frehiwot commented: “Many people were killed arbitrarily. Old men were killed while in their homes, and children were also victims of the attack while playing in the garden.” Over 30,000 civilians were arrested without warrant and held in detention.
By an 8-2 vote, the Commission made specific factual conclusions about the “disturbances”: 1) The persons killed or wounded during the violence were unarmed protesters. “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)”. 2) The shots fired by government forces into crowds of protesters were not intended to disperse but to kill by targeting the head and chest of the protesters. 3) There was no evidence that any security officers involved in the shootings were attacked or killed by the demonstrators: “Security forces which are alleged to be killed by demonstrators were not taken to autopsy, even there is no evidence of either photograph or death certificate showing the reason of death and couldn’t be produced for police as opposed to that of civilians.”
There is a Certified List of 237 Killers in the Massacres of 2005
In 2008, a “think tank that met regularly at the Ethiopian Embassy in London” commissioned an “internal security study” to counter criticism by various international human rights organizations following the 2005 elections. In a report entitled “Modernizing Internal Security in Ethiopia”[4] (see fn. 4 for copy of original study), counterterrorism expert Col. Michael Dewar, British Army (Rtd.) revealed some shocking facts about the federal police, detention facilities and riot control capabilities and procedures in Ethiopia. One of the most surprising facts revealed by Col. Dewars was the existence of a certified list of policemen involved in the massacres. Col. Dewars stated in his report that “after three hours of one to one conversation”, Werkneh Gebeyehu, the Director General of the Ethiopian Federal Police, told him that “As a direct result of the 2005 riots, he [had] sacked 237 policemen.” The Director General’s admission to Col. Dewars conclusively establishes the existence of a list of names of at least 275 policemen who are prime suspects in the massacres of unarmed protesters in June and November of 2005. These criminals must be brought to justice immediately for prosecution on charges of murder and crimes against humanity.
Understanding the Historic Significance of the Massacres of June and November, 2005
On March 21, 1960, South African police without provocation slaughtered 69 unarmed black protesters in the township of Sharpeville and wounded 180, exposing the savagery of the apartheid system for the world to see. In 2005, security forces loyal to Meles Zenawi slaughtered 193 unarmed protesters and wounded 763 others. As the Ethiopian protesters were “targeted in the head and chest” and shot, as documented by the Inquiry Commission, nearly all of the black South Africans in Sharpeville were shot in the back as they tried to flee the scene. The Sharpeville incident played a decisive role in the ultimate dismantling of apartheid rule in South Africa over three decades later.
Sharpeville and the massacres in Ethiopia were not random events. Both the apartheid and Zenawi’s regimes used cold blooded massacres as a deliberate tactic to ruthlessly crush and wipe out all political opposition. It was their way of saying that they will do anything to stay in power. The Sharpeville massacre was intended to “teach the kaffirs a lesson” they will not forget. Zenawi intended to teach his opposition a lesson they will not forget by indiscriminately massacring men, women and children in the streets or in their homes, as the Inquiry Commission has documented. It was a deliberate and calculated act designed to break the backbone of the opposition and make sure that no opposition will ever rise again.
It is characteristic of dictatorships to massacre their opposition as a demonstration of strength. History, however, shows that massacres are often manifestations of weakness, vulnerability and fear of popular uprising by oppressive regimes. South Africans were not intimidated by the Sharpeville massacre; they came out in full force to challenge the pass laws in every major city in South Africa as the masters of apartheid unleashed unspeakable violence against them. Sharpeville caused the apartheid regime to intensify its repression by tightening the pass laws (pass books required for black South Africans to travel within their country) and rigidly enforcing regulations to keep black South Africans in the Bantustans (black African “homelands” or “reservations”). Sharpeville also stoked the imagination of black South African youth and energized and inspired all freedom-loving South Africans to fight against apartheid with determination.
Following the 2005 elections, Zenawi went on a rampage. He jailed nearly all of the leading opposition leaders, civic society organizers, human rights advocates and journalists in the country on trumped up treason charges. He passed “laws” clamping down on independent journalists and newspapers and criminalized civil society institutions. Zenawi even jailed and put in prolonged solitary confinement Birtukan Midekssa, a young woman — indeed a highly respected former judge, learned lawyer and a much admired and loved opposition leader — openly and unequivocally committed to peaceful change and constitutional governance. A few months ago, Zenawi declared he had won the election by 99.6 percent.
Sharpeville marked a defining moment in the South African struggle for liberation from apartheid. The June and November massacres (and many others that have yet to be investigated) will in the same way mark a watershed in the march towards democracy and resistance to dictatorship in Ethiopia.
One of the most important lessons of Sharpeville is the role that massacre played in mobilizing international support for ending the apartheid regime. It was after Sharpeville that international efforts to isolate and sanction the apartheid regime began to roll unstoppably. Sharpeville gave the first signal to the foreign investors that apartheid is no longer tenable and a transition to majority rule absolutely necessary. Shortly after Sharpeville, foreign investors pulled out tens of millions of dollars out of South Africa draining that country’s reserves and bringing the economy to the verge of collapse. In the years that followed, as more countries adopted trade and financial sanctions and significant amounts of foreign investments began to be withdrawn from South Africa, it became clear to the apartheid regime that political change was inevitable and it had to accept majority rule.
End the Culture of Impunity: Demand an ICC Investigation into the Massacres of November, 2005
There is an entrenched and pervasive culture of impunity in Ethiopia as I have written previously[5]. Gross and widespread abuses of human rights are perpetrated without so much as a preliminary investigation being done to identify and hold the criminals accountable. Those in power feel that they can commit any act or crime and get away with it. The leaders of the ruling regime believe they are above the law, indeed they are the law. This culture of impunity must end, and a new civic culture based on strict observance of the rule of law must be instituted.
There is much to be learned about accountability from the recent history of a neighboring country. In the 2007 presidential election in Kenya, over 1,500 people were killed. Over 300,000 people were displaced as a result of the violence. The Waki Commission which investigated the violence fingered some high level government officials as prime suspects in the perpetration of the violence. The Waki Report which was passed on to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), identified 19 politicians on a list of 219 alleged perpetrators including six cabinet ministers of the Kibaki government for possible prosecution for crimes against humanity.
ICC investigations cannot be initiated at the request of private parties. The ICC Prosecutor could initiate investigations only if he receives a referral from States or the U.N. Security Council. He could also initiate an investigation on his own. Despite the procedural hurdles, an organized and sustained demand for an investigation by the Prosecutor’s office could play a decisive role in persuading Moreno-Ocampo to consider launching a comprehensive inquiry into the massacres of 2005 in Ethiopia.
Immortalizing the Victims of Police Riots in Ethiopia
In November 2005, hundreds of Ethiopian men, women and children paid with their lives for the causes of freedom, democracy and human rights. Truth be told, the world does not remember the massacres of June and November, 2005. That is in good part because many of us in the Diaspora have done a poor job of remembering them ourselves and publicizing their cause and creating awareness worldwide. Thanks to so many dedicated individuals and groups that is changing. In this month of November, Ethiopians the world over are commemorating the 5th anniversary of Ethiopian election massacres.
The Ethiopian massacre victims now belong to the whole of humanity. They must be remembered by all freedom-loving peoples throughout the world, not just Ethiopians. In the U.S., we often hear members of Congress delivering stirring floor speeches in remembrance of massacres that took place half way across the globe. We have seen official proclamations and statements in memoriam for massacre victims in remote corners of the world. We have even read statements issued by U.S. Presidents reflecting on the historic significance of such events. American newspapers report on massacres that took place decades ago; houses of worship offer special prayers and even school children do special memorial projects in remembrance of massacre victims in different parts of the world. Perhaps next year, we may be able to do more things that will help create greater international awareness of the crimes against humanity that were committed in Ethiopia in June and November, 2005. By remembering the atrocities and spreading word about gross human rights abuses in Ethiopia, we not only keep alive the memory of the innocent victims of 2005 but also hasten the day when the criminals will be brought to justice.
Defining Moments: A Personal Reflection on the Slaughter of 2005
It seems to me that in the course of human events, most people face their own “defining moments”. Often that “moment” is a point in time when we gain a certain clarity about things that may have eluded us in the past or cloud our judgment. These moments are often random events beyond our control but define us as the persons we truly are. They come to us in the form of a choice: to be or not to be; to do or not to do; to speak up or not to speak up. By making the right choice we define the moment; and by making the wrong choice or not choosing at all, we allow the moment to define us. Frehiwot Samuel, Woldemichael Meshesha and Mitiku Teshome had their defining moments when they completed their report in 2006. They could have turned in a whitewash and received riches from Zenawi beyond their imagination. They chose to carry the truth into exile at extraordinary risk to their lives and began uncertain futures in foreign lands. When the modern history of Ethiopia is written, their names will be listed at the very top for displaying courage under fire, audacity in the face of despair, bravery in the face of personal danger, and unflinching fortitude in the face of extreme adversity. We can only thank them. “Never have so many owed so much to so few!”
Tyrants also have their defining moments and their lasting legacy for which they will be remembered in history. Adolf Hitler will be remembered for the Holocaust. Pol Pot will be the eternal symbol of the killing fields of Cambodia; and Saddam Hussien’s name will live infamy for his poison gas massacre in Halabja. Omar Bashir of Sudan, an indicted war criminal, will be remembered (and one day face face prosecution in the International Criminal Court) for this his genocidal campaigns against the Fur, Marsalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups in Darfur. Mengistu Hailemariam, the former military dictator in Ethiopia, will be remembered for his ruthless Red Terror campaign; and Meles Zenawi will forever be defined by the massacres of June and November, 2005 and many others that history will reveal.
The massacres of June and November 2005 were defining moments for me as an individual. I had to make a choice. The easy thing for me to do at the time was to shake my head in disbelief, cover my eyes in horror, roll my eyes in disgust and purse my lips in sorrow and move on to something else. That would have been tantamount to capitulating to evil and turning a blind eye to monstrous crimes committed against innocent human beings in my native homeland. My other choice was to muster the energy and courage to stand up and speak up against the personification of pure evil. I now live by the timeless maxim: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.” Affirmatively stated, I believe all that is necessary to triumph over evil is for all good men, women and young people to do something.
The slaughter of 2005 must be made a warning to each new generation of Ethiopians of what happens when human rights are abused, the rule of law trashed, democracy trampled and freedom crushed. To paraphrase Elie Weisel, we must seek justice for the victims of yesterday not only because it is the right thing to do, but also to protect the youth of today, and the children who will be born tomorrow from similar injustice and wrong. We do not want the past to become the future of our children and grandchildren. That is why all of the criminals responsible for the 2005 massacre must be held accountable. Delaying justice to the Ethiopian massacre victims is to invite the harsh verdict of history upon ourselves and future generations: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE SLAUGHTER OF NOVEMBER (2005)!
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRSIONERS IN ETHIOPIA.
[1] http://www.abugidainfo.com/?p=6709 ; http://ethioforum.org/wp/archives/1515
[2] http://ethiomedia.com/carepress/yared_testimony.pdf
[3] http://www.ethiomedia.com/addfile/ethiopian_inquiry_commission_briefs_congress.html
[4] http://www.ethiomedia.com/accent/modernizing_internal_security_in_ethiopia.pdf
[5] http://abbaymedia.com/News/?p=2512
Senior OLF diplomat and the current head of OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) Diplomacy for The European Chamber, Dr. Shigux Geleta, has reaffirmed his organization’s commitment for partnership and called for united front against the TPLF dictatorship in Ethiopia.
Speaking at the Workshop Organized by Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) from 28-29th October 2010 RISC, Reading in United Kingdom, Dr. Shigux has praised the SMNE for helping organizations with different political outlook to engage in dialogue and discussed the effort of OLF in creating different form of political partnership which dates back to the formation of Transitional Government in Ethiopia, the 2000 Paris Conference and the recent 2006 achievement in the formation of AFD (Alliance for Democracy).
He also discussed the nature of Ethiopian state, how TPLF managed to establish its political hegemony, the economy, human right situation and the way forward. He talked about the biased understanding of OLF by some Pan Ethiopianists who still remain in their traditional juxtaposition of individual versus collective rights in which case they uphold the first while rejecting the latter.
He explained, be the liberal theory as it may be, in reality there is no individual without certain basic social traits such as language, social habit, custom and ways of life, to say the least. This means by virtue of the fact that a human individual is brought up by a certain family under a given social structure in a certain way, he is already a social animal. His individuality is inseparable from that social environment in which he/she is brought up. Therefore, an individual can never be considered to be an atom whose identity is immaterial irrespective of time and space. Had it not been the case, there would not also be Ethipianness “Ethiopiawinet” for this Ethiopiawinet is anchored in a certain collective identity. So for liberal Ethiopians it would be self-contradictory in terms to uphold Ethiopiawinet and deny the social character of an individual at the same time. As much as Ethiopiawinet is the social source of nourishment for the individual, the individuals are the perpetrators or the agents of Ethiopiawinet. So there is no way to mutually separate the individual from the social and vice-versa. [Read full text of the speech here.]
What is more, his paper on “Current political affairs from OLF’s perspective” on the forum organized by Horn Of African Solidarity Group on 22 of May 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany [read here] has attracted tremendous audience across Europe. Dr. Shigux have explained the absurd reality on the ground in the Horn of Africa due to the TPLF dictatorship and called for the much needed partnership to tackle the ever growing trait posed by the one man rule in Ethiopia. He also briefly discussed the damages caused by the regime on power on democracy, land, people and its environment.
As a conclusion he said, the Meles regime will certainly fall sooner or later as a result of its own policies. Its fall, however, could be hastened, said Dr. Shigux, if all forces opposing the regime cooperate with one another on the bases of mutual interest and equality.
It was 5 years ago on November 1, 2005, that the ruling Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne) under the leadership of Meles Zenawi unleashed a new form of terror on the people of Ethiopia. The repercussion of the terror campaign is still felt throughout Ethiopia and around the world where ever Ethiopians reside.
Following the May 5, 2005, elections, before the votes were counted, Meles declared victory and suspended his own constitution, stripping the people of Ethiopia the right to free speech, and other basic civil rights.
When Ethiopians peacefully protested the regime’s actions, Meles responded by giving a shot-to-kill order to his death squads. Meles Zenawi’s forces gunned down hundreds of unarmed citizens, rounded up over 40,000 young Ethiopians and sent them to detention camps in remote parts of the country. Meles also ordered the shutting down of independent newspapers and the arrest of their staff. November 2005 was one of the darkest moments in Ethiopia’s history.
Ethiopians around the world remember the November 2005 massacre, and the victims of the TPLF regime for the past 20 years by honoring the martyrs who paid the ultimate sacrifice and by also resolving to intensify the struggle for freedom and democracy against the anti-Ethiopia minority ethnic dictatorship of Meles Zenawi.
In Washington DC, there will be a public meeting on November 7.
Place: Washington Marriott Hotel located on 22nd and M Street NW, Washington DC.
Date/Time: Sunday, November 7, 2010, at 2 PM
In this month of November events will also be held in Denmark (Nov. 6), Stockholm (Nov. 6), Oslo (Nov. 6), Charlotte, NC (Nov. 6), Washington DC (Nov. 7), Denver, CO. (Nov. 7), Dallas, TX (Nov. 7), Seattle, WA, (Nov. 7), London, UK (Nov. 7), Las Vegas , NV (Nov. 10), Seoul, South Korea (Nov. 11), Vancouver, Canada, (Nov. 14), Melbourne, Australia (Nov. 14), Chicago, IL (Nov. 20), Cologne, Germany (Nov. 20).
The Washington DC event will be broadcast live via video and teleconference starting at 2 PM Washington DC time.
Boycott of alms by followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church (EOTC), following the erection of Ato Gebremedhin’s (formerly Aba Paulos, aka Aba Diabilos) statue in Addis Ababa, has forced priests and bishops throughout the country to rebel against the TPLF cadre who clams to be patriarch. Last week, several bishops who are members of the Church’s administrative decision making body (the synod), after weeks of arguing and debating, voted to dismantle Gebremedhin’s statue. Gebremedhin has refused to sign the minutes that contain the decision, and instead this week he went on a tour to various monasteries in Ethiopia to find statues of religious leaders to make a case that he is not the first to have a statue. He has also scheduled a trip to Egypt to find statues of religious leaders. His paid supporters have begun distributing a petition against the synod’s decision.
Meanwhile, EOTC followers continue to withhold alms until the statue comes down, drying up the Church’s income. There is also a strong movement within the church leadership inside the country, led by Abune Samuel and many others, to oust Gebremedhin, who is being accused of grave misconducts such as maladministration, corruption, nepotism, and behavior unbecoming of a patriarch.
Almost every year there appears to be some ritual around the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA) of creating a dust up, on issues big and small. I have always found myself on the side of the Federation and defended it to the best of my ability. I did so, like many others, largely because I respect ESFNA as one institution that has survived multiple intra-community rancors to become the only long standing good Ethiopian Diaspora institution we ever succeeded in creating. None of the controversies ESFNA faced so far however, rise to the magnitude I am observing now around the accusation that it reversed its own democratically made decision to invite Birtukan Mideksa as its official 2011 guest of honor. Unless we do a reasoned and civilized discussion and solve this impasse and if we keep digging our heels on all sides, I am afraid this one could end up being the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Already, I came across some Ethiopians who are planning on a huge cultural festival in Washington DC during the same week that ESFNA’s is to be held. We will be making a tragic mistake if we hurt this long standing organization by either diminishing its usefulness or break it up altogether. A good part of the responsibility sits on the Federation. The suggestion that the debate is driven by tabloids, as the recent statement from the Board states, underestimates the community’s knowledge and concerns. We all know a widespread wave is developing. Let’s reverse it.
I assigned myself the role of a shimagille and took some time to do some research to look at the facts before making any accusation or suggestion. Like a good shimagille, I will put the facts as I see them, and in the best traditions of our Shimgillina, I will make my suggestions for a remedy in clear language. I will keep an open mind to be corrected and informed if I am mistaken. I want ESFNA to be stronger and live longer and I want to keep supporting my Maryland teams every year. Far more importantly, I also want the events ESFNA holds annually to be, enjoyable, lively and live up to its motto of “bringing Ethiopians together”. Holding the annual event is not an end in itself. Nothing may stop the Board from holding the Atlanta event in 2011, but it is possible that it can hold it without “bringing Ethiopians together”.
I have tried to straddle both sides of the argument without flunking the facts and the substance. I see a lot of over explaining of the problem from both sides of the argument. But more often than not, the explanations veer way out of the core issue of contention and confound the misunderstanding even more. ESFNA’s official press releases and statements were more of defensive and fail all tests of our past experiences with it. It is not helping us, its supporters, or itself. Some accusations against the Board and its members were in many cases over the top and, in my view, should be replaced with more reasoned debate.
One thing that I clearly came to understand as I tried to study the problem is that all the members of the Board are admirers of Birtukan Mideksa as a person, particularly as a young woman, who made sacrifice to fight for freedom and justice in our tormented country. I have found out that even some among those who are accused of being on the side of the decision to reverse her invitation are her admirers. A good number of the members of the board may not be politically minded but all of them are patriots who love Ethiopia and admire what Birtukan did and the inspiration she has become for a generation of Ethiopians, particularly the women of our country. In fact, all the members of the Board believe they are contributing their share to mitigating the divisive policies of the dictators who divide and rule our country and people. The reference by some individuals on the media to some board members as stooges of the ruling regime is off the mark and should stop. If anything, this kind of accusations pushes innocent Ethiopians away from the community mainstream. It is important that we stop trashing their names and services. We should not lose sight of their contribution even when we have to criticize them harshly as I do right here. ESFNA’s board members are like every one of us, members of our community, who love their country and the freedom of our people, and whatever problem that they have are problems that each of us have as members of the community. They make mistakes. End of story.
Clearly the board has mangled its decision making process big time. In fact, I was ashamed to find out that they didn’t even follow elementary procedures of parliamentary democracy when they decided this controversial case. This cannot happen even in private clubs let alone a public nonprofit organization. That this kind of careless disregard for basic procedure happens in America makes it even more damning. Many of the board members are intelligent people and should know better. There is a sound and legitimate procedure we follow everywhere for changing any decision involving collective responsibility. The board has simply stampeded all civilized discourse in this case. To its credit, the Board does not deny that this unspeakable thing happened. The problem it is in now is that it is trying to correct a mistake by another mistake.
In my view the problem is solvable without a lot of legalism and lawyering. The suggestion that the Federation will violate its 501(C3) status if it invites Birtukan is the lamest of all the excuses I heard and read about. I have been a director of a 501(C3) organization for over three years and know how it works. The only time you will violate your 501(C3) status is when you endorse the political view of a partisan political organization of the United States. I suggest that everybody drop this dishonest crap from the argument.
The only plausible argument to exclude a political partisan Ethiopian or a US politician, for that matter, could be only if the bylaws of the Federation clearly state that it will not make political personalities its official gusts. Only then would the argument not to invite Birtukan or reconsider the decision to reverse her invitation will have any merit for debate. But even then that would not prohibit inviting Birtukan as a former prisoner of conscience, that Amnesty International, other human rights groups, the UN and even the government of the United States so declared. Strangely, the bylaws of ESFNA are not on its website. I haven’t read it. But multiple members of the Board told me that that is not clearly stated in the bylaws either. By removing its bylaws from the website, the Board is looking like it has something to hide and should post it at its earliest convenience. Transparency disinfects many things. Moreover, that there were precedents of inviting partisan politicians to speak at ESFNA events, though, in my view, not substantively pertinent to this argument, kills the nonprofit status excuse. I have confirmed from some members of the board that the Board has changed its decision to invite Birtukan after some emotional confrontations took place right after the voting ended and Birtukan was elected and some Board members have already left the hall. It is one thing to reconsider a decision through a normal procedure of submitting petition and reconvening a meeting for reconsideration at a later date, it is another to reverse it simply because an impassioned quarrel occurred right after the decision and some board members have felt the need to quell it. I wouldn’t be surprised if such a decision is made in Ethiopia where it routinely happens, but in America? Com’on!
Another credible argument from the side of those who are for reversing the decision is that her invitation will open precedence for inviting politicians from every political side. One Board member rhetorically asked me what would stop the board if some day it decides to invite Abadula Gemeda or Bereket Simon to be gusts of honor by securing a majority vote. The most reasonable response one could give to this argument is that, yes, if Bereket or Abadula touched our hearts by doing some magnificent things for our people and merit our gratitude they can be invited. If, for example, Abadula stands up to Meles and demands that the thousands of Oromo political prisoners rotting in the jails be released and succeeds in bringing redress to the plight of these citizens, I will consider him a good humanitarian deserving being a guest of honor. If I am a board member I will vote for him. I mean this sincerely. As long as he or she shows a demonstrable achievement that can make us proud as Ethiopians and solves some problems, anybody can be invited in recognition of the specific contribution they made irrespective of what political position he or she holds.
Nobody is arguing that Birtukan be invited as a guest of honor simply because she is a favorite opposition leader or millions of Ethiopians love her for her globally admired sacrifice for our people. The center of the contention is that her invitation which was decided by a majority vote of the members of the Board is reversed unlawfully. We are given this amazing excuse that the people who nominated and seconded her nomination withdrew their nomination after the vote was counted and Birtukan’s election was announced and some board members have already left. I understand they did it to avoid a serious and impassioned conflict that erupted in the meeting hall. That is the truth. But we have to agree that this is a very primitive way of making a collective decision. It is shameful to say the least. We have enough of this kind of things in Ethiopia to be ashamed about: why add one here where we live in freedom? Do you remember when Kenyans were saying, “This is not Ethiopia!” when Mbeki stole their votes in 2006 and went out to fight back to reclaim their votes? We should understand that we have a country where people were massacred demanding that their stolen votes be appropriately accounted for. Wasn’t ESFNA’s condemnation of the 2005 massacre one of its shining moments?
Here is the problem. If the intention of the board was to avoid a political person from invitation, it erred when it let the nomination stand in the first place and we wouldn’t have been in this argument. The decision was legal and binding whether some liked it or not. What the Board does since then is trying to solve a mistake by another mistake. By so doing the members of the Board are disrespecting the community and themselves.
I have no problem with the Federation of accepting the controversial Sheik’s funding. God love the Sheik and add more money in his pocket for that. The only problem I will have is if he demands some sort of a quid pro quo and the federation decides to engage in that. He has every right to support or fund the federation and hold any political view he wishes. The quarrel over this rich man’s funding of ESFNA, we have had so far, is a useless argument as far as I am concerned. But the Board should be reminded of a big hole in its repeatedly stated position. The rich sheik, a self admitted activist and financier of the ruling party in Ethiopia, is sitting as a permanent honoree of ESFNA. This will be hard to stack up what the rationalization of some Board members to revoke Birtukan’s invitation. Are we watching a double standard?
Some Board members are telling me that “ESFNA survived many controversies before and will ride out this one too.” I see this one to be more difficult to ride out without fixing the impasse.
My suggestions:
1. Reinstate the invitation of Birtukan and diffuse the widespread anger in the community and avert an impending danger to ESFNA’s survival as a respected organization. Acknowledgment and invitation of Birtukan can be made by referring to her as a former prisoner of conscience declared by International Human Rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, including the government of the United States. Her invitation should not state or relate to her being the leader of UDJ. If avoiding political personalities in the future is the issue, amend the bylaw carefully and apply it as of 2012 and make the decision on the same minutes Birtukans reinstatement is made.
2. ESFNA cannot live in a bubble, completely separated from the social, political and economic realities of our country. That was why it had to take the appropriate and honorable step of condemning the massacre five years ago. The public participating at ESFNA events does not participate because it is a soccer fan. The Board, I believe, understands there is more to ESFNA than pure soccer. I am not suggesting that it become a political activist organization. But nothing should stop it from expressing its position on violations of human rights in Ethiopia, war and peace, poverty, corruption and the like.
I trust that the members of the Board will do the right thing and continue to “Bringing Ethiopians Together” and more closer to one another with every passing year.
As a witness to the post-May 2005 elections massacre, Dr Berhanu Nega gave a firsthand account of Woyanne’s savagery.
Boycott of alms by followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church (EOTC), following the erection of Ato Gebremedhin’s (formerly Aba Paulos, aka Aba Diabilos) statue in Addis Ababa, has forced priests and bishops throughout the country to rebel against the TPLF cadre who clams to be patriarch. Last week, several bishops who are members of the Church’s administrative decision making body (the synod), after weeks of arguing and debating, voted to dismantle Gebremedhin’s statue. Gebremedhin has refused to sign the minutes that contain the decision, and instead this week he went on a tour to various monasteries in Ethiopia to find statues of religious leaders to make a case that he is not the first to have a statue. He has also scheduled a trip to Egypt to find statues of religious leaders. His paid supporters have begun distributing a petition against the synod’s decision.