By Alemayehu G Mariam
Remember June and November, 2005
“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it,” cautioned Albert Einstein. Because Germans who could have done something did not, on 9-10 November 1938, the Nazis killed nearly 100 innocent Jewish people and arrested and deported 30,000 others. They also burned thousands of Jewish synagogues and businesses. That was Krystallnacht (Night of Broken Glass). It was the forerunner to the Jewish Holocaust.
On 6-8 June and 1-4 November 2005, following the Ethiopian elections that year, scores of unarmed men, women and children were killed by security personnel loyal to the ruling regime. An official Inquiry Commission established by dictator Meles Zenawi documented that 193 unarmed Ethiopians demonstrating in the streets and others held in detention were intentionally shot and killed by police and paramilitary forces and 763 wounded. The Commission completely {www:exonerate}d the victims and pinned the entire blame on the police and paramilitary forces and those who had command and control over them:
There was no property destroyed [by 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). The Commission members agreed that the shots fired by government forces were not to disperse the crowd of protesters but to kill by targeting the head and chest of the protesters.
To testify against Evil is the moral and civic duty of the living. Elie Wiesel, the {www:Holocaust} survivor and the man the Nobel Committee called the “messenger to mankind”, reminds us all that as the survivors of the victims of Evil we have to make a choice:
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 five years, I have sought to testify against Evil by bearing witness for the victims of June and November 2005, and for Ethiopia’s youth of today and for the children who will be born tomorrow. In 2007, I appeared in the court of world opinion and testified for the first time on behalf of the innocent victims of crimes against humanity. I testified for them in 2008. I testified for them in 2009, and again in 2010. I shall continue to testify because that is my way of making the “world a less dangerous place” for the powerless, the voiceless, the hopeless, the voteless, the defenseless, the nameless, the faceless, the jobless, the foodless, the landless, the leaderless, the homeless and the parentless. It is also my way of making the world a more accountable place for the conscienceless, the ruthless, the merciless, the remorseless, the reckless, the senseless, the shameless, the soulless, the thoughtless and the thankless.
The high and mighty who reigned over the 2005 massacres now sit ensconced in their stately pleasure domes drunk with power, consumed by hate and frolicking in decadence. They look down swaggering with hubris, sneering at justice, scorning truth, and desecrating the memory of the innocent. But recent history teaches a harsh lesson: “Truth and justice will not forever hang on the scaffold nor wrong cling to the throne forever.” Justice shall “roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
As we remember the martyrs of June and November, let us also remember the debt of gratitude we owe our Ethiopian heroes who stood up for justice and truth in revealing and documenting the horrific stories of the 2005 massacres. These monstrous crimes against humanity would have been swept into the dustbin of oblivion and lost in the mist of time but for the courageous and meticulous investigations carried out by Inquiry Commission chairman and vice chairman and former judges Frehiwot Samuel and Woldemichael Meshesha, lawyer Mitiku Teshome and human rights investigator/defender Yared Hailemariam. These individuals chose to testify and paid a high personal price for telling the gut-wrenching, heartbreaking and mindbending truth about the massacres. They now live in exile facing extreme hardship, separated from their families and unable to pursue the professions they cherished so much.
When the modern history of Ethiopia is written, their names will be listed at the very top for displaying courage under fire, hope in the face of despair, bravery in the face of personal danger, and unflinching fortitude in the face of extreme adversity. I can only offer them my profound thanks and express my deepest appreciation for what they have done. An entire nation, indeed an entire continent, owes them a heavy debt of gratitude: “Never have so many owed so much to so few!”
Remember the Martyrs of June and November 2005
On May 15, 2005, Meles Zenawi declared a State of Emergency in Ethiopia and brought all security and military forces in the country under his personal command and control: “As of tomorrow, for the next one month no demonstrations of any sort will be allowed within the city and its environs. As peace should be respected within the city and its environs, the government has decided to bring all the security forces, the police and the local militias, under one command accountable to the prime minister.”
On June 6-8 and November 1-4, 2005, the following individuals were gunned down by state security forces in street demonstrations or trapped in their cells at Kality Prison just outside the capital Addis Ababa. The victims enumerated below are included in the Testimony of Yared Hailemariam, investigator for the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) and human rights defender in exile (extremely graphic pictures included in report, reader discretion advised), before the Extraordinary Joint Committee Meeting of the European Parliament on Development and Foreign Affairs and Subcommittee on Human Rights, “Crimes Against Humanity in Ethiopia: The Addis Ababa Massacres of June and November, 2005”.
The number of victims reported in the Inquiry Commission report list only those casualties for the particular dates in June and November. There is undisclosed evidence by the Commission which shows a much higher casualty figure than those reported if other dates in 2005 were included. No one has yet to be held accountable for these crimes against humanity. In fact, there is a confirmed list of at least 237 policemen who actually pulled the trigger to cause the carnage, and all of them are still walking the streets free today.
Our heads bowed in honor and respect for these martyrs, our hearts filled with the hope of justice to flow like a mighty stream and our minds resolved in steely determination, let us read out the names of the victims and reflect on their sacrifices for the youth of Ethiopia today and the children who will be born tomorrow:
1. Shibre Delelegn, age 23, female, shot in the neck and killed.
2. Yesuf Abdela, age 23, male, student at Kotebe Teachers’ College, shot in the back with two bullets and killed.
3. Hadra Shikurana, age 20, male, shot in the forehead and killed.
4. Nebiy Alemayehu, age 16, male, 10th grade student, shot in the chest on the way to school and killed.
5. Yonas Asseffa, age 24, male, shot through the right ear and killed.
6. Dawit Fekadu, age 18, male, shot in the chest and killed.
7. Melisachew Demissie, age 16, male, 6th grade student on the way to school to take his examination, shot in the forehead and killed.
8. Wessen Assefa, age 28, male, a trader, shot in the chest and killed.
9. Zulufa Surur, age 50, male, a mother of seven shot in the back while standing in the doorway of her house and killed.
10. Fekadu Negash, age 22, male, shot in the chest and killed as he stood near his residence.
11. Abraham Yilma, age 16, male, brother of Fekadu (victim no. 10), upon hearing that his brother was shot by the police, Abraham ran to aid his brother. As he lifted up his dying brother to help, a policeman shot him. Both brothers died on the scene.
12. Biniyam Dembel, age 19, male, shot and killed.
13. Negussie Wabedo and Mohammed Hassen, ages unknown, male, both individuals were shot in the forehead and killed.
14. Beliyu Dufa, age 20, male, shot in the chest and killed.
15. Redela Kombado, age 26, male, an assistant to a taxi driver, shot in the chest and killed.
16. Milion Kebede, age 30, male, a cashier with Anbessa city bus, shot and killed on the way to work.
17. Getnet Ayalew, age 24, male, first shot and wounded in his right thigh. As a friend was helping him to reach a safe place, the policeman realized that he was still alive and shot him in the abdomen for the second time. The friend ran away terrified. When Getnet’s family members came, the policeman took aim and threatened to shoot them if they tried to help him. He bled for about half an hour and died in the hospital.
18. Wassihun Kebede, age 22, male, shot in the head and killed.
19. Dereje Damena, age 24, male, shot in the forehead and killed.
20. Esubalew Ashenafi, age unknown, male, shot and killed near his home.
21. Addisu Belachew, age 23, male, a businessman and father of 3 children, shot in the eye and killed.
22. Legesse Tulu, age 64, male, a carpenter and father of 5, shot and killed as he looked for his son.
23. Jafar Seid, age 28, male, shot in the forehead and killed.
24. Ashenafi Derese, age 22, male, shot and killed near his home.
25. Girma Alemu, age 38, male, shot the chest and killed.
26. Meki Negash, age unknown, male, shot and killed while going to mosque at Sebategna Agip.
27. Desta, age 28, female, (her father listed at #28) shot in the chest and killed.
28. Beliyu Bayu, age 20, male, shot in the left side of his body and killed.
29. Endalkachew Megersa, age 18, male, shot in the forehead and killed.
30. Demeke Kassa, age 24, male, shot in the forehead and killed.
31. Anwar Kiyar Surur, age 20, male, shot in the forehead and killed.
32. Kasim Ali, age 23, male, shot in the forehead and killed.
33. Berhanu Aynie, age estimated 20-25, male, shot and killed in front of Addis Ketema School.
34. Imamu Ali, age 21, male, shot and killed.
35. Ermias Fekadu, age 20, male, shot and killed.
36. Aliyu Yusuf, age 20, male, shot and killed.
37. Tesfaye Delgeba, age 19, male, shot and killed.
38. Habtamu Amensisa, age 30, male, shot and killed.
39. Gezahegn Mengesha, age 15, male, shot and killed.
40. Asnakech Asseffa, age 35, female, shot and killed.
41. Rebuma Eshete, age 34, male, shot and killed
42. Samson Negash, age unknown, male, shot dead killed. (Police record number 13097.)
43. Fekadu Haile, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
45. Fekadu Hailu, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 13903.)
44. Mubarek, shot and killed. (Police record number 00426)
45. Beyene Nuru Bizu, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00437.)
46. Abebe Antenehi, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00441.)
47. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00447.)
48. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 57351.)
49. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00429.)
50. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00438.)
51. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00425.)
52. Unidentified, shot and killed. (Police record number 00432.)
53. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00428.)
54. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00450.)
55. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00431.)
56. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00430.)
57. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00436.)
58. Mitiku Wendima, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 00427.)
59. Tesfaye Adane Garo, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
60. Tadele Kambado Awel, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
61. Mubarek Mebratu, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
62. Meteek Zeleke, age 24, male, shot and killed.
63. Kibret Edelu, age 45, male, shot and killed.
64. Mekoya Mebratu, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
65. Alemayehu Zewde, age 25, male, shot and killed.
66. Fekadu Amele Delgae, age 32, male, shot and killed.
67. Mesaye Adiss, age 30, male, shot and killed.
68. Beailu Tesfay, age 22, male, student, shot and killed.
69. Siraj Nure, age 18, male, student, shot and killed
70. Abebech Bekele, age 57, female, shot and killed.
71. Etenesh Yimam, age 52, female, shot and killed while protesting the arrest of her husband, a CUD member.
72. Giksa Tolla Setegne, age 18, female, 6th grade student; shot and killed.
73. Kebneshe Melke, age 50, female, a mother of 5 children; shot and killed.
74. Abyaneh Sissay, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
75. Tsegahun W/Michal, age unknown, male, college student, shot and killed.
76. Yassin Nuredin, age 10, male, shot and killed while playing football.
77. Kebede Bedada, age 20, male, college student; shot and killed.
78. Tadele Shere, age 28, male, daily laborer; shot and killed.
79. Jaqema Bedane, age 20, male, student, shot and killed.
80. Hassen Dulla, age 70, male, shot and killed.
81. Hussen Hassen, age 30, male, shot and killed.
82. Elfnesh Tekele, age 35, female, shot and killed.
83. Belaye Dejene, age 15, male, shot and killed.
84. Teshome Addis, age 71, male, shot and killed.
85. Bademaw Mogese, age 20, male, shot and killed.
86. Dessalgne Kende, age 20, male, shot and killed.
87. Yesuf Mohammed, age 20, male, shot and killed.
88. Mulu Muche, age unknown, female, shot and killed.
89. Zemedhun Agedw, age 18, male, shot and killed.
90. Tewodros Zewde, age 17, male, shot and killed.
91. Sintayehu Estifanos, age 14, male, student, shot and killed.
92. Tewodros Kebede, age 25, male, shot and killed.
93. Ambaw Legesse, age 60, male, shot and killed.
94. Zelalem Ketsela, age 31, male, shot and killed.
95. Degene Yilma Gebre, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
96. Melaku Mekonnen Kebede, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
97. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 359180.)
98. Mebratu Wubshet Zewide, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
99. Mitiku Zeleqe, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
100. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 359180.)
101. Yohannes Hailu, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
102. Walye Hussen Melese, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 21520.)
103. Haile Girma, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
104. Sintayehu Wubet Melese, shot and killed.
105. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
106. Fikremariam Kumbi, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
107. Kassa Beyene Rora, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
108. Ayalewu Mamo, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
109. Mulualem, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
110. Getu Shewangizawu, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
111. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 21526.)
112. Henok Qetsela, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
113. Alemayehu Afa Zewude, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
114. Unidentified, age unknown, male,shot and killed. (Police record number 21760.)
115. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 21761.)
116. Tieizazu Welde Mekuriya, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
117. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 21763.)
118. Tewodros Gebrewold, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
119. Fikadu Made, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
120. Shewarega Bekele, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
121. Mesfin Gebrewold, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
122. Bisrat Tessfaye, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
123. Shemsu Kelid, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
124. Eyob Gebremdihin, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
125. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 13087.)
126. Unidentified, age unknown, male, shot and killed. (Police record number 13088.)
127. Abaynehi Sara, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
128 Admassu Tegegne Ababe, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
129. Habtamu Zegeye, age unknown, male, shot and killed.
Mass Killing of Prisoners at Kaliti Prison on November 2, 2005
(Prisoners massacred while trapped in their cells.)
1. Tteyib Shemsu Mohammed, age unknown, male, charged with instigating armed insurrection.
2. Sali Kebede, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
3. Sefiw Endrias Tafesse Woreda, age unknown, male, charged with rape.
4. Zegeye Tenkolu Belay, age unknown, male, charged with robbery.
5. Biyadgligne Tamene, age unknown, male, charges unknown.
6. Gebre Mesfin Dagne, age unknown, male, charges unknown.
7. Bekele Abraham Taye, age unknown, male, charged with hooliganism.
8. Abesha Guta Mola, age unknown, male, charges unknown.
9. Kurfa Melka Telila, convicted of making threats.
10. Begashaw Terefe Gudeta, age unknown, male, charged with brawling [breach of peace].
11. Abdulwehab Ahmedin, age unknown, male, charged with robbery.
12. Tesfaye Abiy Mulugeta, age unknown, male, charged with instigating armed insurrection.
13. Adane Bireda, age unknown, male, charged with murder.
14. Yirdaw Kersema, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
15. Balcha Alemu Regassa, age unknown, male, charged with robbery.
16. Abush Belew Wodajo, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
17. Waleligne Tamire Belay, age unknown, male, charged with rape.
18. Cherinet Haile Tolla, age unknown, male, convicted of robbery.
19. Temam Shemsu Gole, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
20. Gebeyehu Bekele Alene, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
21. Daniel Taye Leku, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
22. Mohammed Tuji Kene, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
23. Abdu Nejib Nur, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
24. Yemataw Serbelo, charged with rape.
25. Fikru Natna’el Sewneh, age unknown, male, charged with making threats.
26. Munir Kelil Adem, age unknown, male, charged with hooliganism.
27. Haimanot Bedlu Teshome, age unknown, male, convicted of infringement.
28. Tesfaye Kibrom Tekne, age unknown, male, charged with robbery.
29. Workneh Teferra Hunde, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
30. Sisay Mitiku Hunegne, charged with fraud.
31. Muluneh Aynalem Mamo, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
32. Taddese Rufe Yeneneh, charged with making threats.
33. Anteneh Beyecha Qebeta, age unknown, male, charged with instigating armed insurrection.
34. Zerihun Meresa, age unknown, male, convicted of damage to property.
35. Wogayehu Zerihun Argaw, charged with robbery.
36. Bekelkay Tamiru, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
37. Yeraswork Anteneh, age unknown, male, charged with fraud.
38. Bazezew Berhanu, age unknown, male, charged with engaging in homosexual act.
39. Solomon Iyob Guta, age unknown, male, charged with rape.
40. Asayu Mitiku Arage, age unknown, male, charged with making threats.
41. Game Hailu Zeye, age unknown, male, charged with brawling [public disorder]
42. Maru Enawgaw Dinbere, age unknown, male, charged with rape.
43. Ejigu Minale, age unknown, male, charged with attempted murder.
44. Hailu Bosne Habib, age unknown, male, convicted of providing sanctuary.
45. Tilahun Meseret, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
46. Negusse Belayneh, age unknown, male, charged with robbery.
47. Ashenafi Abebaw, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
48. Feleke Dinke, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
49. Jenbere Dinkineh Bilew, age unknown, male, charged with brawling [public disorder].
50. Tolesa Worku Debebe, age unknown, male, charged with robbery.
51. Mekasha Belayneh Tamiru, age unknown, male, charged with hooliganism.
52. Yifru Aderaw, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
53. Fantahun Dagne, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
54. Tibebe Wakene Tufa, age unknown, male, charged with instigating armed insurrection.
55. Solomon Gebre Amlak, age unknown, male, charged with hooliganism.
56. Banjaw Chuchu Kassahun, age unknown, male, charged with robbery.
57. Demeke Abeje, age unknown, male, charged with attempted murder.
58. Endale Ewnetu Mengiste, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
59. Alemayehu Garba, age unknown, male, detained in connection with Addis Ababa University student demonstration in 2004.
60. Morkota Edosa, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
“I remember the killers, I remember the victims, even as I struggle to invent a thousand and one reasons to hope. Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair. Hope is possible beyond despair.” Elie Wiesel
Photo inset 1, L to R- Inquiry Commission Chair Frehiwot Samuel, Congressman Donald Payne, attorney Mitiku Teshome and Amnesty International’s Lynn Fredriksson at a Congressional hearing held on November 16, 2006.
Photo inset 2, L to R- Inquiry Commission Chair Frehiwot Samuel, Co-Chair Woldemichael Meshesha, and attorney Mitiku Teshome.
Photo inset 3- Collage of some of the victims of the massacres of June and November, 2005.
Alemayehu G. Mariam
In 1987 when Time Magazine featured a famine-stricken Ethiopian mother on its cover page, it failed to ask the most important question of all: What should Ethiopians do and not do to help themselves?
It is the privilege of those who give to pity those who receive. One of the great indignities of being a perennial object of charity and handouts is the perception by those lending a hand that handout recipients are not only moneyless and helpless but also hopeless and clueless about what they need to do to help themselves. Well-intentioned donors and benefactors often mistakenly assume that recipients of charity should “ask what the world can do for them, and not what they can do for themselves.” But history shows that all societies that have succeeded economically, socially and politically had to pull themselves up by their bootstraps with a little help from friends. Ethiopians are no exception; they must do all of the heavy lifting by themselves if they are to permanently cast off the burdens of poverty, famine, disease, dictatorship and corruption. What should Ethiopians do to save themselves?
Ten Things Ethiopians Can Do to Help Themselves [1]
It is all about humanity, community and civility, NOT ethnicity, nationality, sovereignty, animosity or disunity.
If Ethiopians have a chance of overcoming their enormous economic and political problems, they must first make fundamental choices. They can choose the politics of their common humanity and collectively build a harmonious civil community, or remain trapped in the dungeon of identity politics and become pawns in the ethnic chess game of uber-dictator Meles Zenawi. If Ethiopians affirm their common humanity, they will see that human rights abuses do not have an ethnic face, nor poverty a nationality. They will understand religion is not a weapon of animosity but a way to divinity. National disunity will never produce prosperity, but it will surely keep the people in perpetual poverty. Ethnicity and identity add diversity in a genuine democratic system. Under a dictatorship, they become powerful tools of dehumanization breeding fear, hatred and distrust among the people. Ethiopians must choose to climb up and steer the Ship of Ethiopia into the horizon or remain lost in their ethnic boats on a sea of tyranny, poverty and famine. That is why I believe Ethiopians need a new unifying civic ideology that transcends ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, language and other classifications susceptible to insidious use. Ethiopians inside the country and in the Diaspora must build a civic culture based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the most translated document in the world. If the values of the UDHR are widely accepted and practiced, Ethiopia will be able to overcome poverty, famine and internal division and achieve prosperity and greatness within a generation.
Ethiopians must become a little bit utopian.
Ethiopia is today a dystopia– a society that writhes under a dictatorship that trashes human rights and decimates all opposition ruthlessly. Last year, Zenawi told two high level U.S. Government officials what he will do to his opposition: “We will crush them with our full force.” All Ethiopians, regardless of ethnicity, language, religion, class or region must be able to imagine an Ethiopia where no petty tyrant will ever have the power or even the audacity to say he will “crush” another fellow citizen, or has the ability to use “full force” against any person just because he can. Ethiopians must be able to dream of a future free of ethnic strife, famine and oppression; and strive to work together for a little utopia in Ethiopia where might is NOT right but the rule of law shields the defenseless poor and voiceless against the slings and arrows of the criminally rich and powerful. It is true that Utopians aspire for the perfect society, but Ethiopians should aspire and work collectively for a society in which human rights are respected, the voice of the people are heard and accepted (not stolen), those to whom power is entrusted perform their duties with transparency and are held accountable to the law and people.
Learn from the past, prepare for the future.
More often than not, many Ethiopians tend to dwell on the past than imagining an alternative future. The past is a great teacher; we must learn from past mistakes and do things better and differently. But the past can also be a mental prison. Zenawi always reminds us how we have been wicked to each other in the past and waxes eloquent on the alleged crimes, cruelty and inhumanity of long gone kings and princes. He never tires to tell us how this king, that aristocrat or soldier has been cruel and barbaric. He thinks he can make himself angelic by demonizing past leaders. Perhaps he does not see it, but when one points an index finger outwards, three fingers are pointing inwards. The moral lesson is that we need to find a way out of the mental prison of past grievances and liberate our minds with a new civic ideology to embrace a brave new democratic Ethiopia under the rule of law. As the old saying goes, “One can’t drive forward on the road of life if one is fixed looking in the rear view mirror.” So, we have to make another simple choice: Live in the past chewing on the cud of historical grievances or hold hands, learn from the past and put our collective shoulders to the grindstone and forge a new Ethiopia. If we fail to do that, those who cling to power will entrench and enrich themselves and laugh at the rest of us who remain trapped in the dungeons of our historical grievances.
No country or society ever got prosperity by begging or receiving alms.
No country or society ever got prosperity by begging or receiving alms. But recent evidence from Wikileaks cablegrams shows that Zenawi plans to bulldoze his way into economic development at an annual growth rate of 15 percent by panhandling the West. According to U.S. Assistant Secretary of Treasury Andy Baukol, the “Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has become more vocal about its need for sustained aid flows from the West and more recalcitrant about implementing any reforms or liberalization of key sectors such as banking and telecommunications.” A recent IMF report, which Zenawi wants kept hidden from public scrutiny, concluded that Ethiopia’s “macroeconomic performance has deteriorated markedly” because of loose monetary policy which has fueled stratospheric inflation and mindless government control and regulations which have undermined confidence in the private sector.
Foreign aid as a development vehicle has been thoroughly discredited. As Dambissa Moyo has argued, the “evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that aid to Africa has made the poor poorer, and the growth slower. The insidious aid culture has left African countries more debt-laden, more inflation-prone, more vulnerable to the vagaries of the currency markets and more unattractive to higher-quality investment.” Countries that have achieved rapid economic development have managed to create favorable politico-legal environments for business, industry and commerce, maintained low state debt and accumulated substantial fiscal reserves to meet emergency needs. The spirit of official mendicancy in Ethiopia must be replaced by a public spirit of unfettered entrepreneurship.
As long as Ethiopia remains under a dictatorship, there will always be famine, and not just of food.
Western aid bureaucrats like to sugarcoat the famine in Ethiopia in the politically correct bureaucratese of “extreme malnutrition”, “food crises”, “green drought” and so on. Interestingly, in a recent official blog and testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Yamamoto and presently Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State acknowledged “famine [is] spreading across the Horn of Africa.” That should not come as a surprise as Yamamoto had long concluded that Ethiopia is trapped in a permanent and unbreakable cycle of famine and starvation. In a recently released Wikileaks cablegram,Yamamoto advised his superiors: “Ethiopia’s perennial emergency food dependence is, de facto, a permanent condition.” He outlined that the U.S. has three choices in light of the permanence of famine in the Ethiopian political economy: 1) “continue to provide massive food aid, which is unsustainable, in meeting Ethiopia’s permanent state of emergency food need each year,” 2) “provide significantly greater assistance for sustainable agricultural productivity”, or 3) “robustly to push for a shift in economic and agricultural policies (regarding land tenure, agricultural technologies and practices, agricultural inputs, etc.) to increase domestic agricultural productivity.” The bottom line is that as long as Ethiopia remains in the chokehold of the current dictatorship, there will always be a famine not only of food but also of democracy, human rights, rule of law, accountability, transparency and vision. Western donors must stop supporting oppression, corruption, persecution and repression in famine-stricken Ethiopia.
Plant and water the seeds of genuine multiparty democracy on the parched landscape of famine.
It is oft-repeated that “there has never been a famine in a functioning multi-party democracy” with a robust free press. In a competitive multi-party political process, there is a much higher degree of political and electoral accountability. A government that ignores or fails to prevent famine is surely destined to lose power. A free press will mobilize public opinion for official and civic action to deal with the problem. Multiparty democracy does not mean the six dozen ethno-tribal “parties” organized by the Zenawi dictatorship to serve as a Tower of Babel and facilitate its divide and rule strategy. It does mean the functioning of political organizations that compete for electoral support and have appeal across ethnic, linguistic, religious and regional lines. Ethiopia can learn a great lesson from Ghana in this regard in light of shared socio-economic and political experiences. Article 55 (4) of the Ghanaian Constitution expressly mandates political parties to have “national character”: “Every political party shall have a national character, and membership shall not be based on ethnic, religious, regional or other sectional divisions.” Any multiparty system to be established in Ethiopia must be guided by such constitutional language.
Ethiopia’s youth are the flowers of today and the seeds of hope tomorrow.
The old Ethiopian saying that the “youth are the flowers of today and the seeds of tomorrow” is true. They need to be carefully cultivated and grown. But the the data on these seeds of hope are discouraging. Forty six percent of Ethiopia’s 91 million population in 2011 is estimated to be under the age of 18. UNICEF estimates that malnutrition is responsible for more than half of all deaths among children under age five. An estimated 5 million children are orphans, a little less than one-fifths from AIDS. Urban youth unemployment is estimated at 70 per cent. The vast majority of Ethiopian adolescents live in rural areas. Some regions in the country have extremely high rates of early marriage. Frustrated and in despair of their future, many urban youths drop out of school and engage in risky behaviors including drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, crime and delinquency. The ruling dictatorship’s youth, sports and culture agency concedes that youth issues have been long neglected: “In Ethiopia, because of the fact that proper attention has not been given to addressing youth issues and their organizations, therefore, mutual cooperation and networking among youth, family, society, other partners and government had hardly been created.” Much needs to be done to give Ethiopia’s youth hope in the future. Whatever is to be done to help the youth, the starting point must necessarily be a de-marginalization of youth through an explicit acknowledgement of their role in solving problems affecting them. They must be included in all decision-making concerning youth issues and consulted extensively in the policy planning and implementation stages. The bottom line is that without the youth, Ethiopia has no future. Those who ignore the youth should understand that hungry children grow to be angry children and a ticking demographic time bomb.
Empower Ethiopian women.
Birtukan Midekssa, Ethiopia’s foremost political prisoner until her release last year and first woman political party leader in Ethiopian history, enjoyed talking about an allegorical ‘future country of Ethiopia’ that would become an African oasis of democracy and a bastion of human rights and the rule of law in the continent. In Birtukan’s ‘future Ethiopia’ women and men would live not only as equals under the law, but also work together to create a progressive and compassionate society in which women are free from domestic violence and sexual exploitation, have access to adequate health and maternal care and are provided education to free them from culturally-enforced ignorance, submissiveness and subjugation. But if the situation of women in the ‘present country of Ethiopia’ is any indication, Birtukans “future country” is in deep trouble.
The 2000 US State Department Human Rights Country Report on Ethiopia described the status of women in appallingly disheartening terms: “The Constitution provides for the equality of women; however, these provisions often are not applied in practice… Discriminatory regulations in the civil code include recognizing the husband as the legal head of the family and designating him as the sole guardian of children over five years old. Domestic violence is not considered a serious justification under the law to obtain a divorce. Irrespective of the number of years the marriage has existed, the number of children raised and the joint property, the woman is entitled to only 3 months’ financial support should the relationship end.”
The 2010 US. State Department Human Rights Country Report on Ethiopia described the status of women in similar stark terms: “The constitution provides women the same rights and protections as men. Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs) such as FGM (female genital mutilation), abduction, and rape are explicitly criminalized; however, enforcement of these laws lagged. Women and girls experienced gender-based violence daily, but it was underreported due to shame, fear, or a victim’s ignorance of legal protections. Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, was a pervasive social problem. The 2005 Demographic and Health Survey found that 81 percent of women believed a husband had a right to beat his wife. Sexual harassment was widespread [and] harassment-related laws were not enforced.”
The current dictatorship in Ethiopia manifested its latent misogyny not only by giving lip service to women’s issues but also by dehumanizing the symbol of women in Ethiopia, young Birtukan Midekssa. During her incarceration, the U.S. Government regarded Birtukan a political prisoner because she was imprisoned for her political beliefs as did all other major international human rights organizations. But Zenawi threw Birtukan straight into solitary confinement after arresting her on the streets, and boasted to the world: “There will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan. Ever. Full stop. That’s a dead issue.” He later literally added insult to injury by mocking her that she was in “perfect condition” in solitary confinement and was eating and sitting around idly and likely to “have gained a few kilos”.
Ethiopian women need to be empowered in all spheres of life. But without young women leaders like Birtukan who can fight for Ethiopian democracy and human rights, and women’s rights, talk of improving the status of women in Ethiopia is a mockery of women.
Only Ethiopians can save themselves.
Ethiopians should know that the West and its billions in aid and loans will help but not save them from a famine of food and democracy. Ethiopians in the Diaspora can help by becoming the voice of Ethiopia’s voiceless. But only Ethiopians can save themselves from famine, poverty, dictatorship and division. Only they can solve their problems by creating common cause, building consensus and forging genuine brotherhood and sisterhood among themselves regardless of ethnicity or other factors. Only when they are able to forge unity of purpose and are irrevocably committed to democracy and the rule of law will they be able to cast off the boots of dictatorship from their necks. There is no need to look for answers to what troubles Ethiopia in Washington, D.C., London, Bonn or Beijing. The solution for Ethiopia’s problems is in Ethiopia.
Give hope. Always keep hope alive.
The old saying is true that “Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope.” When dictators swagger arrogantly to show the people that they are omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, they are telling them they have no hope. Their message is the same as the one inscribed on the gates of Dante’s Inferno: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” But Ethiopians must never abandon hope. To abandon hope is to lose faith in Ethiopia’s children. When the dictators say, “Look how powerful we are. Give up!”, hope says “keep on keeping on. Tyrants for a time seem invincible but in the end, they always fall.” As Martin L. King said, “We are now experiencing the darkest hour which is just before the dawn of freedom and human dignity.” That is why it is important to keep hope alive in Ethiopia.
Tyrants always fall, but what happens the morning after?
Gandhi spoke an eternal truth: “There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall — think of it, ALWAYS.” In just the past few months, Ben Ali fell in Tunisia; Hosni Mubarak fell and is standing trial in Egypt. Moammar Gadhafi fell and is hiding out in a spider hole somewhere in southern Libya. Bashir Al-Assad is teetering as he continues to butcher Syrians who have kept up the pressure through acts of mass civil disobedience. He too will fall. The question is never, never whether tyrants fall. The question is always, always what happens after they fall!
[1] This commentary builds upon my set of ten reasons to questions posed by Time Magazine nearly a quarter of a century ago: “Why are Ethiopians starving again? and “What should the world do and not do” to help them?
Previous commentaries by the author are available at: www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ and http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/
