The recent “Scientific research finding†on the low IQs of Africans in general and Ethiopians in particular by a man called Satoshi Kanazawa associated with the London School Of Economics (LSE) is not less than a wild insult to humanity. I wonder if there is a universal measurement or method, which determines the IQ or intelligence of a
person. I wish to know if there is one. There are numerous organizations, schools of thoughts and centers of research institutions in our planet, which have developed their own doctrines in view of realizing their hidden interests.
In my lifetime, I have heard so many rubbish things what you may call “scientific researches†heralded by “reputable†media, which took the monopoly of news in our planet, such as the BBC, VOA and the like talking about various aspects of life including the consequences of drinking coffee. I mentioned coffee because it explains the credibility of the so-called scientific researches by reputable institutions. In
the past 25 years alone, I heard four scientific findings on coffee, each in different periods, probably in a span of three to five years, on the consequences of drinking coffee. The first report of the “scientific findings†revealed that drinking more than one cup of coffee per day causes high blood pressure and heart attack, and the second finding repeals the first one and goes on saying that drinking coffee is useful for those people suffering with high blood pressure and with heart problems. The same has happened with the third and fourth findings. What I can understand from such inconsistent “scientific researches†is interest groups or lack of knowledge influences the so-called scientists to talk about two realities where there is only one. The worst thing is reports of such institutions are widely heard, since they have access to the giant monopolies in the media.
In late 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s when I was working on my doctoral (PHD) dissertation thesis in one of the European countries, I knew that it will take me three years to get my PHD degree. A humble and an intelligent professor was assigned as an advisor to help me prepare my thesis. From time to time, I had to present a progress report on my findings to a group of professors. Fortunately, all the comments I got from the group of professors were encouraging and positive. At the end of the third year, when I was planning to finalize my research and go back home, my professor told me that I have to stay there and go on working on my research for one more year. Disappointed with his proposal, I asked the professor why he is proposing
one more year, since the evaluating professors, including himself, have positive comments on my research works. He then asked me to come to his residence and told me the following, which I will never forget in my life. He reminded me about my early
lessons on calculus. He mentioned about the Limit (∆) and the Infinity (∞) explaining that any scientific research is carried out within a limited period, otherwise there would be no limit for any research. He further explained that if one cannot make
a limit, he could go on researching and finding new results infinitively, but no results could be applicable in time. He concluded by telling me that everyone in the advisory board knows that there is additional cost for the university to cover my expenses. Had I not been a prospective researcher, this chance would have not been given to me. Instead, I would have been stopped within the limited period (three years) and get my grading accordingly.
I have no data on Mr. Kanazawa’s autobiography, his level of education, qualification or his method of research and motivation. Nonetheless, I question the IQ of the researcher Mr. Kanazawa. May be the time limit given to Mr. Kanazawa was too short to analyze his assignment. However, if he still wants to stay as a researcher and the LSE agrees with it, he should keep on working on his research infinitively and the
result will be nil (0+0=0). His attitude, however, looks like the dogs in the animal farm story, in a book written by George Orwell. The dogs were not equal with the pigs, but they always bark for the pigs. I write this with due respect to all nations and nationalities, including the Japanese people, since I believe the great majority of people on our planet are good, humane and not dogs barking for pigs.
I think it was ten years ago that I was invited to listen lectures on good governance and economic performances by two prominent personalities from Japan and South Korea in Addis Ababa. These lecturers were sharing their views with us about good governance and the economic performance of different countries. They were comparing the present and the past economic performances of Ethiopia and both North and South Korea. By presenting some statistical data, they told us that the GDP of Ethiopia in the beginning of the 1950s was more than three folds as compared with the GDP of both Koreans, and explained the present status by giving reasons. What I want to say is that the new formula found by Mr. Kanazawa, which determines
intelligence in association with poverty applies only to the present era of globalization by ignoring evolutionary processes and historical facts. What a wonderful revolutionary formula in the era of globalization! In my country, people say “too many axes on a fallen treeâ€Â
I do not intend to argue, by presenting scientific evidences, to show the IQs of black peoples, in general, and Ethiopians, in particular, are not less than the other races. I would rather like to ask Mr. Kanazawa to go to libraries and read about the history of
Ethiopians, compare their achievements with other nations, and rewrite his findings like the coffee researchers did. If he does that, I am sure he will surprise the world community by his ingenuity.
However, if Mr. Kanazawa can understand the very fact that civilization emanates out of intelligence, let us see some of the circumstances affecting the lives and contributions of the Ethiopians to the world’s civilization:
 Historical records and archaeological findings show that Ethiopia is a very old country with rich culture and civilization.
 Recent scientific researches show that Ethiopia is the origin of mankind with the excavations of fossils of early human ancestors (Ramides Afarensesis, Selam,
Lucy and many other fossils).
 It has a recorded history of more than three thousand years. If Mr. Kanazawa is not a frequent library visitor and he has no chance to read tones of facts written about Ethiopia, I recommend him, at least, to watch the Opera Aida, written by Jossepe Verdi, to have a simple observation about the intelligence of the Ethiopians.
 Ethiopia has its own alphabets and own numbers (different than the Arabic numbers) recognized as one of the thirteen old alphabets of the world.
 It also has its own calendar (different than the Gregorian) and its own time calculation and counting.
 When many of the nations in our planet, including the white people, lived on trees and in caves in uncivilized manner, the Ethiopians have built their temples, stales, churches, monasteries, mosques and palaces, since more than two thousand years ago, which evidently exist to date.
 When most of the people in Europe, America and in Asia lived in savagery, worshiping temples, trees, rivers and mountains, Ethiopians have accepted
Christianity, which was then a sign of civilization, in 330AD at a national level and have translated religious and other books from Hebrew, Arabic, Latin and Greek languages to their own language Geez.
 The peoples of Ethiopia have good records in religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence amongst the more than 80 different nation and nationalities, even though there is continuous interference by external forces to disrupt their ways of life. We
Ethiopians consider this is a higher level of civilization and intelligence, which differs us from selfishness and savagery.
 The peoples of Ethiopia are not a “give and take†society as one may think this is a sign of civilization. Ethiopians are primarily believers, they are also people with high level of integrity and with a strong sense of independence. Hence, for us the
measurement of intelligence is not the material possession alone, since there are other tangible and intangible values, which for some reasons or another, the give and take society can never understand.
 As opposed to the past millennia, it is true that we are at present one of the poorest nations in the world. Behind this scene, however, many reasons can be cited. Once, it was the Ethiopians, the Egyptians in the times of the Pharoses, the Mayas, the Babylonians and other non-white races ruled the world and introduced civilizations to the world. Hence, the recent scientific findings, which concentrate to show that the white race is the most intelligent race, do not have any scientific base other than superimposing doctrines of white supremacy and promoting neocolonialism.
 I wonder whether the author of IQ and human intelligence, Mr. Kanazawa, who is sponsored by LSE knows that Ethiopia is an independent country, which has never been colonized. I also wonder whether he understands what it means to be independent. It takes hundreds of pages to explain these questions for a nonprofessional, but a “scientist†like Mr. Kanazawa, would have visited his library before reaching at such a mistaken conclusion.
In conclusion, I kindly advise Mr. Kanazawa to apply proper research methodologies and adhere to the basic principles of research. If he wants to make his research on intelligence associated with poverty, he should first analyze the causes and effects of
poverty, and not to conclude his findings based on effects only. With proper analysis of causes of poverty, the black people, in general, and the Ethiopians, in particular, cannot be totally blamed for it, and most of all, their intelligence cannot be associated with it.
When Mr. Hastert bottled H.R. 5680 in the International Relations Committee just before the midterm recess, most supporters of the bill were deeply disappointed, and angry. We had labored long and hard to get the bill to the floor, and done a marvelous job of generating unanimous bipartisan support for it in committee. In the eleventh hour, we found out that we had been double-crossed by Speaker Hastert.
Hastert’s action in blocking the legislation from floor action was not entirely unanticipated, but we considered his intervention so remote that we failed to develop effective counter-strategies. After all, Hastert showed no signs of opposition to the bill at any prior time, nor did he manifest the slightest interest in it until late September. Hastert gave us a September surprise.
We felt Hastert had bushwacked us, mugged us in broad daylight. But we could not figure out why he would block the bill. H.R. 5680 was ready for floor action. He could have worked with the International Relations Committee and addressed any concerns he may have had about the bill. Supporters felt betrayed. For the first time in Diaspora history, Ethiopian Americans were poised to use the American legislative process to advance the cause of human rights and democracy in their homeland; and as we hurtled to the end zone for a touchdown, we ran into a stonewall.
But we did not take it lying down. We went directly to Hastert’s constituents and made our case. They listened to us, and in less than a week we were able to enlist the support of local evangelical, civic and media leaders. The heat was on! Hundreds of telephone calls poured into Hastert’s Hill office from the 14th Congressional district. His staffers were amazed, but not amused, by the ferocity of our grassroots efforts.
As Congress recessed for the midterm elections, we had made extensive plans to undertake grassroots work in Hastert’s backyard with support from key individuals in the local media, academic institutions, churches and synagogues and civic institutions. We were ready to take on the Speaker; but we did not have to: Divine intervention was to deliver Hastert an October surprise. Within days of sabotaging H.R. 5680, “Stonewall†Hastert, principal linebacker for Zenawi’s regime, was himself backed into a corner with the Mark Foley scandal. He had apparently been coddling a pedophile who preyed on Congressional pages (high school students who serve as messengers for members).
Early in the Hastert controversy, I had a chance encounter with an elderly lady who tried to cheer me up after listening to my tales of woe over the recent turn of events in Hastert’s office. Her words proved prophetic: “ayozoh lije, gid yelem, yeEtiopia amlak yikeflewal.†(It’s alright my son, the God of Ethiopia will hold him accountable.â€Â) What a difference a few weeks can make! And how the God of Ethiopia has worked in mysterious ways!
In a speech I gave at the University of California, Los Angeles on September 16, 2006, the premier of Obang Metho’s documentary “Betrayal of Democracy,†I urged supporters of H.R. 5680 to shout a great shout around the U.S. Congress, like Joshua’s army fighting the Battle of Jericho, and bring down the walls of DLA Piper lobbyists. And we made a great shout on the Hill, and thank God, our mighty adversaries — those on the Hill and their lackeys peddling influence on the Hill– have fallen down like the walls of Jericho.
Mr. Hastert is now history, repudiated by the American people. Mr. Armey and the whole lot of parasitical lobbyists of his ilk that thrive on the misery and suffering of poor countries like Ethiopia will now be forced to seek a more humane line of work.
But we are the survivors. We are still here, strong and determined than ever, to make history.
Lessons to be learned…
There are many lessons to be learned from the 2006 midterm elections. What the American people did on November 7 is not unlike what the Ethiopian people did on May 15, 2005. They did major house cleaning (no pun intended). After 12 years in power, the Republicans had grown arrogant, disdainful and imperious. Corruption was rampant among some of their members, and a number of their senior lawmakers were selling influence, taking bribes, engaged in sexual debauchery and all sorts of other unethical and immoral conduct. In the end, the Republican House was sending a steady supply of its convicted members to the jail house, or the Big House.
Lesson #1: When the Republicans launched their revolution in 1994, the Democrats had held control of Congress for nearly four decades, and in the end they had fallen from grace. In their “Contract With America,†Republicans promised greater fiscal responsibility, middle class tax relief, legal reform, enhanced national security and many other things. But after only 12 years of controlling the legislative branch of government, the Republicans had abused their power and the trust of the American people. The American people said: “It is time to throw out the rascals!†And a boatload of Republicans was thrown out, and President Bush magnanimously admitted: “We got thumped, it’s time, let’s go.â€Â
In May 2005, Ethiopians voted for fundamental change in their system of governance. They wanted to sweep out 14 years of EPDRF mismanagement. 14 years of misrule. 14 years of misgovernment. 14 years of malfeasance. And 14 years of corruption. And when they voted with a 90 per cent turn out, they thought they had thrown out the EPDRF rascals, given them a good “thumping.†But the rascals would not accept the verdict of the people. Instead, they jailed the opposition leaders for having won the election fair and square. The lesson for Zenawi and company is that when you are repudiated by the people, you graciously accept your fate and work to create an atmosphere of bipartisanship for the good of the country. Even die-hard communist and socialists have figured this one out. Just this week Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, leader of the Sandanista socialist revolution in the 1980s, won the presidential election after 16 years of conservative rule. Zenawi and his party have a great opportunity to do the right thing. Acknowledge the people’s verdict of May 2005. Be magnanimous. Step aside, become part of the loyal opposition, and give the opposition a run for their money in the next election.
Lesson #2: Abe Lincoln was right: You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time. After 12 years of Republican control of national government, the American people were tired of being fooled. They had enough of the lies and deceptions, and the diversionary tactics and campaign tricks of Karl Rove. In the end, the Republicans could not fool anybody, except themselves. The jig was up! The outcome is no different for Mr. Zenawi: The jig was up for him in May, 2005.
As country folks like to say: “You can’t fool nobody, no more, no how.†Sure, you can arrest your opponents, jail them, torture them, exile them, whatever. You can terrorize and make the lives of ordinary Ethiopians hell. But despite your army, your money and you influence, there is one thing you can’t and will never be able to do: Fool the Ethiopian people anymore. They know who you are!
Lesson #3: The imperative of democracy is that you must accept the judgment of the people. When the American people voted for the Republicans in 1994 and elected President Bush in a tightly contested race in 2000, they made a decision. Americans who did not support President Bush accepted the verdict of the razor thin majority that elected President Bush along with the electoral college system that made it possible for the candidate with the fewer number of popular votes to win over the candidate who had the most popular votes.
Strange things happen in the polling booths. Things like people getting disgusted with the way their leaders exercise political power and authority. Americans struck back and withdrew their consent on November 7. But Republicans did not see it coming, or were blinded by their own arrogance. They got zapped by the people, and they will have many years to pay the price of their arrogance.
Well, strange things also happened to Zenawi and company in May, 2005. Ethiopian voters went to the polls and said: “We don’t want you. We want the opposition.†Very simple and clear message.
The lesson for Zenawi and company is that when you play by democratic rules, you always take a chance. If you have not been doing a good enough job while in power, you get “thumped.†Zenawi and his EPDRF party should understand that a thumped party is a dumped party. Their best option is to accept the fact that they have been rejected by the people, and organize to win the next election. That is what the Republicans will do, and that’s the price you pay in a democratic system when you lose an election.
Lesson #4: Democracy is a funny thing: When you thumb your nose at the people, exploit and oppress them, mistreat and terrorize them and violate the very rights guaranteed them in the Ethiopian Constitution, they grow weary and impatient. Americans learned the lesson of tyrannical abuse of power in their struggle for independence. Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence:
* But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security… The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world….â€Â
Ethiopians can do better, and bring about a just and fair society through democratic and peaceful means. They are ready, willing and able to do so. In May 2005, they demonstrated their ability and readiness to engage in democratic selfgovernance beyond a shadow of a doubt. Ninety percent of the eligible voters turned out and said: “Meles, EPDRF and the whole lot of you, you gotta go!†Let the people’s decision stand, and Zenawi and his party stand down.
Lesson #5: There comes a time in all human events when enough is enough. That time came for the Republicans on November 7, 2006. They lost their way after 12 years of controlling Congress, and now they must find their way back to the political wilderness.
For Zenawi and the EPDRF, enough was enough on May 15, 2005. Zenawi and the EPDRF have lost their vision, if they ever had one. Ethiopia remains at the bottom of the list on indicators of human rights, democracy and economic development. Famine, HIV and other plagues menace the country year after year. Our youth wander aimlessly and hopelessly. The rich get richer and the poor are reduced to subhuman levels of existence. Government officials and their cronies line their pockets and accumulate wealth while young people are executed in the streets like wild animals. Dissidents and ethnic minorities are massacred and
persecuted. Mr. Zenawi: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
On November 7, 2006, the American people spoke. And Mr. Hastert got the message: “It’s time to pack it up and go.†So, “Farewell, Mr. Hastert, Good Bye, Mr. Armey!†And Mr. Zenawi: If you are listening to the voice of your people which still echoes from May 15, 2005: The jig is up! “You got thumped, it’s time, let’s go.†So long!
On Sunday, Nov. 5, at 10:30 pm, a sophomore student from Admas College was killed by a federal police officer on Bole Road.
According to sources, Bereket Hadgu, 24, was shot through the back while walking with friends, who were talking and laughing loudly. No words were ever exchanged between the policeman and his victim.
The officer, who has reportedly been taken into custody, has claimed that the gun “misfired” while he was hitting another student with the butt of the weapon. However, witnesses confirm that the shot was fired intentionally and without provocation.
The body of the student was returned Monday to his parents in Mekele, Northern Ethiopia.
afrol News, 2 November – A recent survey reveals that a large majority of Ethiopian women believe that the harmful practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) should be discontinued. Data also shows they are getting it their way. While 80 percent of Ethiopia’s women were circumcised in 2000, by now only 38 percent cut their daughters.
A country-wide study conducted in Ethiopia last year by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia and the US survey companies ORC Macro and Measure DHS has now been released. The 433-page report – an updated national Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) – gives special weight to women’s reproductive health, therefore also including data on harmful practices such as FGM.
The survey reveals a rapid turnaround in Ethiopia regarding society attitudes towards harmful practices, and a strong victory for the many gender organisations fighting FGM in the country.
Interviews conducted with over 14,000 women and over 6,000 men showed that both FGM prevalence and acceptance was quickly dwindling. While in 2000, some 80 percent of all Ethiopian women older than 15 years were circumcised, this had gone down to 74 percent in 2005. This seemingly small reduction however only reveals how the practice of FGM started decreasing a decade ago, as most girls are cut at young age.
While their mothers were almost certain to fall victim to the knife, young Ethiopian girls by now are likely to avoid FGM. Indeed, only 37.7 percent of those women that were circumcised themselves said they had passed the harmful practice on to one of their own daughters – down from 52 percent in 2000. During the last few years, therefore, more than 60 percent of Ethiopian girls have avoided FGM.
This is also reflected by the question to Ethiopian women whether the practice of FGM “should be continued”. Only 31.4 percent favoured continuation – down from 60 percent in 2000 – while an overwhelming majority of almost 70 percent was against. Among the youngest age group (15 to 19 years), only 22.9 percent favoured continuing the practice of FGM and among Addis Ababa women, only 5.6 percent were in favour.
In all but one region, the trends towards rejecting FGM were clear, although the urban and the educated parts of the population has gone farthest in changing their attitudes. Thus, around 65 percent living in the capital or having at least secondary education are circumcised, contrasting 76 percent of rural women, 77 percent on non-educated women or more than 90 percent of women in the Somali and Afar regions.
The rural impact of anti-FGM campaigns nevertheless was strongly documented in the survey. In the Somali region, where 97.3 percent of all women over 15 years are FGM victims, only 28.1 percent of mothers say they have passed the practice on to their recent daughters. The Somali region is culturally close to Somalia, where FGM is almost generalised. In the culturally related Afar region, on the other hand, 85.1 percent of mothers had cut their daughters.
According to Dr Stanley Yoder, an anthropologist with ORC Macro and author of FGM chapter in the Demographic and Health Surveys, FGM practices in Ethiopia “range from a symbolic tiny cut on the clitoris to the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia and partial closure of the vaginal area (infibulation).” This most harmful form of FGM has been inflicted on 6.1 percent of women nationwide, while it remains the usual form in the Somali and Afar regions.
In some countries, like Egypt and Ethiopia, FGM is an ancient practice, predating Islam. In some parts of West Africa, on the other hand, the practice of FGM began only in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is wrongly understood as being part of Islamic practices. By now, it forms part of traditions in 28 African countries.
I felt compelled to write this short article after listening to an eyewitness video clip posted on Ethiopian Media Forum regarding religious conflicts that reportedly took place in the Jimmaa and Ilu-Abbaa-Boora zones of Oromia. I will briefly summarize the major political patterns demonstrated by the Woyane regime in the last 15 years in order to put into context the current political developments unfolding in Ethiopia, including this unprecedented religious conflict.
For any objective observer patterns in Woyane’s political behavior in the last 15 years indicate one basic fact, i.e., their strategy for ensuring endless dominance on Ethiopian state machinery is solely based on the infamous old approach of divide and rule, historically used by colonialists and later widely adopted by minority regimes across the world. During the heydays of the Woyane regime in the 1990s, the Woyane political elites cleverly charted out every conceivable lines along which the Ethiopian society can be partitioned. The first easy pick was to capitalize on the historic inequalities and repressions perpetrated by successive Ethiopian governments, chiefly directed at the peoples of the South. They cleverly manipulated these genuine grievances to pit the two largest ethnic groups (Oromo versus Amhara) against one another. Encouraged by Woyane’s rhetoric of correcting the historical injustice, the oppressed nations and nationalities immediately moved to demand for their legitimate places in the political life of the country. As this was not the intended outcome of the Woyane tactics, the regime was forced to tone down its original rhetoric, forced to expel independent political organization from the transitional government and forced to put cap on what the Woyane-made ethnic organization (PDOs) could demand for their peoples. These measures hinted the first sign as to what the Woyane regime is all about. It sent a shockwave across the files and ranks of the PDOs leading to expulsions or otherwise voluntary departure of well-versed members of these organizations, essentially turning these organizations into collections of opportunistic individuals who go to any length to please the regime and virtually out of touch with the aspirations of their respective peoples. Failing to rally the mass, these incompetent PDOs, ruling the regions, unleashed terror on their own people further alienating the mass. Unable to effectively function, the PDOs finally resorted to producing inflated statistics about their governments’ performances, falsely claiming an unprecedented popularity of their governments. This led the Woyane elites to believe that their tactics were working and their regime is comfortably seated and is ready to take on the next challenge.
Without carefully validating the reports filed by the PDOs, the Woyane elites foolishly embarked on their next move, which was aimed at gaining more trust from their Western financiers— earning the much needed international legitimacy. It is a common knowledge that the Western nations have been unconditionally supporting the Woyane regime, solely basing their logic on the carefully worded promises made by the regime about its commitments to democratizing Ethiopia. The Woyane felt that it is time to move beyond mere promises to showing something tangible in order to secure continued support from the West and also to counter accusations from opposition groups about its undemocratic practices. To this end, the Woyane elites carefully planned which opposition political organizations it would allow to participate in the 2005 elections and how much room it will allow for these organizations to maneuver. For obvious reasons, it picked the opposition groups that draw much of their supports from the Amhara ethnic group, without knowing the depth of public detest for its policies among non-Amhara ethnic groups. It also decided to use the Addis Ababa city election as its showcase, taking a well-calculated risk of loosing significant seats to the opposition in return for well-executed showcase that would secure Western confidence. Every step of the plan was wrong, as it was based on false reports filed by PDOs about the level of support the regime enjoyed among various ethnic groups. What happened in the aftermath of the 2005 elections is a too recent an episode and doesn’t need to be elaborated it here.
Panicked by the results of the elections, the Woyane picked up its old dividing tactic all over again, but this time around, they took it further by bring in the interhamwee rhetoric. It is aimed at separating the people of Tigray from the opposition groups, on the one hand, and to scare the world about the possibility for interhamwee style genocide in Ethiopia if the Woyane regime is removed from power. In a nutshell, they wanted to tell the world that the current regime is indispensable as the only regime that could play a balancing act between peoples of varying interests. They even went on charging the opposition leaders with ridiculous crimes as serious as treason and genocide to proof their claims. These measure finally brought to light what kind of beast the Woyane regime is.
The opposition groups quickly realized what this regime has in store for the country and promptly moved to counteract its plans. They made a great deal of compromise and created a broad alliance, AFD, to seal the cracks the regime sought to exploit for its malicious agenda of pitting ethnic groups against each other.
On its part, the regime appeared to have realized that the newly created understanding between various political organizations has effectively killed its old tactic and thus appeared to have embarked on yet another poisonous tactic with far reaching consequences. First, it jumped onto Somalia’s internal affairs in order to secure its position in the so-called “War on Terror.” In order to justify its actions in Somalia, the regime appeared to have decided to create connections between developments in Somalia by manipulating the delicate balance that existed between various religions in Ethiopian for centuries. Eyewitness reports coming from the fields indicate that in the religious conflicts that reportedly occurred in the Oromia zones of Jimmaa and Ilu-Abbaa-Boora, some of the perpetrates of the alleged crime were in army and police uniforms (click here listen to video eyewitness report)
Given the behaviors of this regime (highlighted above) and its recent adventure in Somalia, it is highly probable that the regime is behind such crime. No one in his/her right mind would underestimate the ramifications of such mindless acts. Therefore, it is high time that all political organizations and religious groups raise their voices against such acts before things get out of hand. If not cut short, it will be the deadliest political bomb used so far in Ethiopia and the region.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct. 18, 2006 — (AP) Ethiopian security forces massacred 193 people _triple the official death toll _ during anti-government protests following elections last year, a senior judge appointed to investigate the violence said Wednesday.
Unarmed protesters were shot, beaten and strangled to death, said Wolde-Michael Meshesha, who was vice chairman of a government-backed inquiry but said he has fled the country after receiving threats. He said he believed the Ethiopian government was trying to cover up the findings.
Ethiopian officials refused to comment on the claims.
“This was a massacre,” Wolde-Michael said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “These demonstrators were unarmed yet the majority died from shots to the head.”
“There is no doubt that excessive force was used,” said Wolde-Michael, who left the country last month after receiving anonymous death threats, leaving his wife and five daughters behind. He is now claiming asylum in Europe and would not disclose his exact whereabouts out of fear for his safety.
Last year’s elections were followed by a government crackdown on its opposition and increasing questions about its commitment to democracy.
A draft of the inquiry team’s report, which was to have been presented to the Ethiopian parliament in early July and has since been obtained by the AP, says among those killed were 40 teenagers, including a boy and a girl, both 14. The two were fatally shot.
Six policemen were also killed in the June and November 2005 riots, bringing the overall death toll to 199. Some 763 people were injured, the report adds. Wolde-Michael says the figures could be higher because many people were too afraid to speak out.
The government claimed at the time that 35 civilians and seven police were killed in November and that in June, 26 people were killed.
Ana Gomes, who was the European Union’s chief observer during the May 2005 elections, told the AP the report “exposes the lie” that the Ethiopian government is moving toward democracy.
“It is time the EU and U.S. realize that the current regime in Ethiopia is repressing the people because it lacks democratic legitimacy and is actually weak,” she said by e-mail after reading the report. “It is driving Ethiopia to more poverty, conflict and war.”
Wolde-Michael and the other commissioners spent six months interviewing more than 600 people, including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, police officers, witnesses, and other government officials.
According to Wolde-Michael, Meles said he did not authorize police to use live bullets.
The inquiry’s mandate was to determine whether excessive force was used. In early July, shortly before completing its report, the team held a vote and ruled eight to two that excessive force was used.
The vote and comments of the commission members were recorded on video, a copy of which has also been obtained by the AP.
“Many people were killed arbitrarily,” said inquiry chairman and supreme court judge Frehiwot Samuel, who is also believed to have fled Ethiopia, was heard saying on the video. “Old men were killed while in their homes and children were also victims of the attack while playing in the garden.”
An Ethiopian Orthodox priest, Estatiose Gebrekristos, was recorded as saying, “Based on my eyes, ears and knowledge the actions taken were 100 percent wrong.”
But two of the commission members said the government responded appropriately.
“I consider the motives of the protesters was to overthrow the government,” Elias Redman, vice president of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Council, said on the video. “I therefore fully support the action taken by the police.”
The prime minister said at the time that demonstrators were trying to overthrow his government in an Ukraine-style revolution. Prior to the unrest he had banned all demonstrations and announced on state television he had put security forces under his direct control.
Wolde-Michael, who was appointed a judge by the current government in 1994, said the inquiry team came under intense pressure once the ruling party learned of its findings.
Electricity to their offices was cut and at one point their office was surrounded by security forces, he said. The team was also summoned by the prime minister, two days before the report was to be released, and told to reverse its findings, Wolde-Michael added.
Wolde-Michael said police records he saw showed 20,000 people were rounded up during the anti-government protests.
Of them more than 100 opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers are on trial for treason and attempted genocide.
Meles was once thought to be one of Africa’s more progressive leaders. However his reputation suffered in the aftermath of the elections. The EU and U.S. Carter Center expressed serious concerns over the vote.
In January of this year, Britain withheld $87 million in aid because of concerns about the government’s handling of the unrest.
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and more than half of its 77 million people live on less than $1 a day.
