I am writing to express my disappointment and dejection vis-à-vis your article titled “It’s time to give Ethiopia the diplomatic tools that it requires.” By any measure, your article is untimely, inappropriate, and unethical. Are you advising the current regime to hang on to power? Is it not undemocratic and high-handed for any elected official, to endorse the ruling clique before even the votes were cast and ballots have been tallied? Do you really have up-to-date information how our people in Ethiopia are dealing presently with the régime?
When in 1999 you were elected for European Parliament, I had a great appreciation for your decision to give up your highly-regarded psychiatry practice to take office in Brussels. I honestly believed at that time that you as a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists would be one of the elected officials, who will forever have a great respect for human rights of any society in our planet, including that of Ethiopians.
It is a candid statement that past policies of western governments were geared up around the idea that “strongmen” bring stability. Due to their misguided geopolitics, western countries have contributed in the past to instabilities around the world. But we are noticing at present the downside of such unwise and precarious strategy. This is due to the fact that the rulers, which were supported in the past by western governments, have become recurrently oppressive and totalitarian. It is also our recent memory that removing dictators from such countries has required quiet significant human lives and enormous material resources. Despite some progress, several regions of the world are still volatile and above all instability is a looming threat in Western-allied dictatorships that are currently embraced as bulwarks of stability.
In case of Ethiopia, it is no more hush-hush that there are widespread violations of human-rights and annihilation of self-esteem of citizens by the régime. At this instant, Ethiopians are dying from hunger and starvation; this incessant suffering of our fellow Ethiopians is breaking our heart; and absolutely unbearable for any human being. The people of Ethiopia opposite to that you may believe, being in western democracy, are living daily in trepidation and under terror from the régime. There is confrontation between the ruling party and the downhearted people in every corner of Ethiopia. Moreover, due to the discontent and harassment from the régime, there are skirmishes between the régime and several armed groups all over the country. Our unity and existence as a country is in jeopardy. I want to assure you that as noble, proud, and very tranquil people, we Ethiopians wish for ourselves a united, secured, democratic, and wealthy nation; as others do.
Don’t you believe that the innocent British geologist, who was lately shot dead in an ambush, had incorrect information about the security in Ethiopia? Is he got killed by bandits as the Ethiopian regime claims? Is Ethiopia a stable country as you may think, to send your skilled countrymen (http://www.fco.gov.uk /en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/sub-saharan-africa/ethiopia)? Aren’t you accountable as a British diplomat for not informing your citizens about security issues in any part of the world? Besides, isn’t it appropriate and valuable for you and your colleagues to help Ethiopians to build a democratic and secured nation in the currently unstable Horn of Africa?
I indisputably believe that for a stability of any country it is crucial to have a leader that is intelligent, strong, caring, and devoted to his people. Ethiopians were assiduously looking-for such a leader for several decades. Nevertheless, we were unfortunate and our effort couldn’t bear fruit. That is why; it is deplorable for us at this time to tolerate a ruler, who drove us to more misery and insecurity for more than two decades.
Other issue that I want to bring to your attention is that the régime in power, to extend its survival, is seeding detestation and driving wedges among various ethnic groups in Ethiopia; which is by far the most precarious and dangerous action that is expected only from irresponsible and immature government. As you know that, the circumstance that happened in Rwanda due to the administration in power at that time is not a distant memory. Therefore, I want you and your colleagues in the European Parliament to be aware of the state of affairs in Ethiopia. We do not need any apology in the future, either from you or your colleagues, similar to that of western diplomats’ for their silence in the face of the Rwanda genocide. We call for your support now!
Finally, I want to let you know that freedom is non-negotiable and a question of survival for Ethiopians. I have wished for myself and preferred that your article read “It’s time for western countries to help Ethiopians to build a stable, democratic, and prosperous society.” I hope you as a member of the Europe for freedom and democracy Group will agree with me that Ethiopia as a nation deserves liberty.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The European Union has agreed to monitor Ethiopia’s elections in May, nearly five years after Addis Ababa accused the EU’s chief observer in the last poll of helping to spark violence.
The U.S.-based Carter Centre declined an invitation to observe, saying there was not enough time to prepare for the May 23 vote in the impoverished nation on the Horn of Africa.
“(EU foreign affairs chief) Baroness (Catherine) Ashton last week decided to send a full observation team for the elections,” EU ambassador to Ethiopia, Dino Sinigallia, said late on Tuesday on state-run Ethiopian television.
The monitoring team will be 200-strong and have a budget of about $10 million, Sinigallia said.
Next month’s election will be the first since a government victory in 2005 was disputed by opposition parties and some observers. Monitors said the poll fell short of global standards.
Security forces killed about 200 protesters and imprisoned the main opposition leaders in the aftermath of the vote five years ago.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had accused the chief EU observer of siding with the opposition and stoking the violence.
Some critics and analysts say that the EU presence at the coming election risked legitimising a fraudulent poll, in a country of 80 million people and more than 80 ethnic groups.
“The mission won’t be able to properly observe,” one analyst, who did not want to be named for fear he would be refused entry to Ethiopia, told Reuters.
PORTSMOUTH, UK (Portsmouth.co.uk) — Geologist Jason Read, 39, died on Monday, April 5, when his military escort were ambushed in the conflict ridden region of Ogaden in Ethiopia.
Mr Read was killed and his guards wounded before they were able to return fire.
Mr Read, well known in the Portsmouth area as Justin Packham before he changed his name approximately 15 years ago, had been working in Ethiopa for a geophysics company based in Derbyshire.
In a statement, his father, Stan Packham, said: ‘Justin lived his life to the full and made many friends. He will be sadly missed by a lot of people.
‘Everyone who knew him would have a different story to tell about him.
‘He was due to come home to see Pompey play in the semi-finals, but he never made it. He was Pompey-mad and would have been so pleased to see them win.
‘He grew up in Paulsgrove as a youngster and went to the City of Boys school.
‘He was extremely close to his grandmother. Wherever he was in the world, he would always send her a postcard and a gift home.
‘Justin loved his work because he hated being out of work. We’re a very large, close family. Justin’s got three brothers and a sister, and was uncle to 11 nieces and nephews. He’s also got two step-brothers and a step-sister
‘When he was home, he adored the kids. He went to see each one of his brothers and sisters to spend time with all of them. But once he’d done that, he had to get back to work wherever it was; he hated being out of work.
‘When Justin was 18, he bought a one-way ticket to Hong Kong and slept rough for about six weeks before he got a job at the airport. He ended up driving trucks with massive wheels without even knowing how to drive. When he came back to England, he flew straight back out to Germany to work with me as a bricklayer again.
‘It takes a certain breed of worker to do the jobs he did. He’s been to Uganda, Ethiopa, Madagascar, Somalia as well as Europe with the same firm.
‘He knew what to expect from the job he was doing. The firm, Tesla IMC, has been very good. They’ve been very supportive throughout.’
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA — A three-day conference that focused on good governance, peace and security as well as sustainable development in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa ended over the weekend in the Washington-Metro Area of Arlington, Virginia. Horn of Africa Conference in Washington DC, April 2010
Aklog Birara, a senior advisor at the World Bank and an organizer of the conference, said it was a soul-searching conference, adding that Ethiopia’s future and that of the Horn of Africa will largely depend on the talent pool of experts in the Diaspora.
“One of the features that really attracted me is the fact that it (conference) drew a cross-section of experts — foreign experts, Europeans, Americans, Ethiopians, and Ethiopian-Americans from different backgrounds. Overall, there were more than 70 speakers on different topics,” he said.
The conference organized by Advocacy for Ethiopia (AFE) and the Ethiopian National Priorities Consultative Process attracted specialists, former diplomats, human rights activists, and scholars, as well as top officials of the international community.
Birara said the conference also focused on how countrymen living abroad can help improve the lives of Ethiopians back home.
“The focus was on Ethiopia, the Ethiopian people, and the Horn of Africa particularly. What is it that all of us can do that will make a difference in terms of the ordinary people in Ethiopia. What is it that we can provide in terms of really engendering hope (and) aspiration. Bridging relations, for example, across ideological and ethnic lines,” Birara said.
The organizers believe that development in Ethiopia, the stability and its viability, as well as peace and economic development in the region are tied to how Addis Ababa and the international donor community can work together to address previously unmet challenges.
They also said the stakes for Ethiopia and its population of 83 million people are higher than at any other time in its history.
Birara said unity and dialogue among Ethiopians could help rebuilding efforts.
“One of the areas that we tried to explore was we can’t just be constant critics. How is it that we can bridge relationships in order to contribute our part at least in building durable, strong-pluralized institutions in Ethiopia? I think the fact is that we do not reach out to one another across ethnic lines. Dialogue among us, you know. And also dialogue between the opposition parties and government. We need to really accentuate the reaching out,” Birara said.
He added that if Ethiopians fail to come together, the challenges facing the country will persist.
Alexandria, VIRGINIA (NBC News) — Alexandria Police are searching for a man they believe murdered his own 3-year-old daughter and the child’s mother.
34-year-old Simon Bahta Asfeha is now wanted for first-degree murder in the deaths of 27-year old Seble Tessema and their child, according to police. Tessema and Asfeha reportedly had a prior relationship, but don’t appear to have been married.
Police were called out to the Brent Place apartments off of 375 S. Reynolds Street around 10:30 a.m. for reports of a domestic disturbance. Instead, they found the bodies of the mother and child. “They found two victims deceased on an apartment on the 14th floor. We’re investigating the case as a suspicious death right now,” said Deputy Chief of Alexandria Police Blaine Corle.
Asfeha is reportedly driving a 1999 silver Acura with Virginia tags XKS-1522. Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal Investigations Section of the Alexandria Police Department at 703.838.4444 or the Crime Solvers tip line at (703) 838-4858. Detectives would like to remind witnesses that they remain anonymous.
