Below is a powerful letter addressed to Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz who has invited Ethiopia’s genocidal tyrant to Columbia University to talk about “leadership” in Africa.
– – – – –
Joseph E. Stiglitz
University Professor
Uris Hall, Room 814, Columbia University
3022 Broadway, New York, NY 10027
It is with a great sense of dismay and incredulity that we learned about the invitation extended to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia as a keynote speaker to launch “The World and Africa” series organized by your Committee on Global Thought (CGE) at Columbia.
As recently as May of this year, he stunned the democratic world by declaring a 99.6% victory in an election that was characterized by fraud, intimidation, deceit and coercion. As documented by all credible human rights groups and other international observers, in the run-up to the elections, which were reminiscent of the dark days of communism and fascism, he utterly incapacitated all potential threats to his monopoly of power and subjected the populace to unimaginable degrees of social and economic suffering and political repression.
As a man of letters, we trust that you are all too familiar with the Prime Minister’s appalling records on academic freedom. In Zenawi’s Ethiopia, universities and other institutions of learning are under a state of siege. Absolute loyalty to the ethno-centric regime is a pre-requisite for admission to colleges, and consideration for employment requires card-holding membership to the ruling party. Armed cadres planted among the students openly terrorize those with views that are at variance with the party line, and peaceful protests in campuses are violently crushed, as was the case, for example, on April 18, 2001 when the Special Forces police opened fire on a peaceful protest at Addis Ababa University and killed at least 41 people and wounded 250, or when in January of 1993, hundreds of students were shot and mutilated by Zenawi’s police for peacefully exercising their freedom of expression.
As a respected economist and Nobel Prize laureate, we have no doubt in your appreciation of the spurious growth figures Zenawi fabricates to attract foreign aid, while the country he has governed with an iron fist for two decades ranks at the bottom of the developing world with respect to every index of human development. Despite the billions of dollars in aid that he has amassed and embezzled since he snatched power from another dictator, a recent report placed Ethiopia as the second poorest nation in the world, with 90% of the population living in poverty, and 61.5% deprived of adequate schooling.
We do understand your close partnership with the despot, and your effort to give him legitimacy in the aftermath of his dubious 99.6% victory. The people of Ethiopia still remember the similar effort by your colleague, Jeffrey Sachs, who came to Zenawi’s rescue with the Yara Prize following his crushing defeat in the 2005 elections. Nonetheless, we believe that the motive of giving the dictator a cover for his crimes against humanity through a platform at Columbia University would be inconsistent with the image of the university as a bulwark of human rights, social justice and good governance.
We, therefore, ask that you demonstrate your sensitivity to the plights of the millions of Ethiopians who are suffering under the yolk of dictatorship by withdrawing the invitation extended to Zenawi and using the forum instead for a more genuine discourse on the promotion of democracy and good governance in that part of the world.
The world has never forgiven those intellectuals who willfully embraced and promoted Hitler’s atrocious policies that resulted in the extermination of millions of innocent lives. The verdict of history will be equally unkind on the erudite of our time that collude and cuddle with dictators at the expense of the suffering of millions in one of the poorest countries in the world.
President Lee Bollinger
202 Low Library
535 West 116th Street, Mail Code 4309
New York, NY 10027 [email protected]
University Programs and Events
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Columbia University in the City of New York
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New York, NY 10027
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The Trustees of Columbia University
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In announcing the invitation to Ethiopia’s brutal tyrant, Columbia University had posted the following appalling statement on its web site:
Under the seasoned governmental leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, now in his fourth term, and vision of the Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Ethiopia has made and continues to make progresses in many areas including in education, transportation, health and energy.
After being bombarded by angry Ethiopians yesterday, the university removed the statement and left only the following:
An address by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi followed by a question and answer session with the audience. (read here)
Ethiopian Review has saved a screenshot of the University’s outrageous statement. See the screenshot here. Compare it with what is posted now.
Removing the statement is not enough. The University needs to investigate how such a blatantly false statement that is offensive to 80 million Ethiopians was posted on its web site to begin with.
Columbia University needs to also rescind its invitation to the tyrant.
Make your voice heard. Write or call:
Lee C. Bollinger, President, Columbia University
Phone: (212) 854-9970; Fax: (212) 854-9973
Email: [email protected]
University Programs and Events
Office of the President
Columbia University in the City of New York
202 Low Library, 535 West 116th Street, New York, NY 10027
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear President Bollinger:
We are astounded to learn Columbia University has invited Meles Zenawi, a cruel dictator whose legacy is the repression of his own people to the World Leaders Forum as a keynote speaker on the topic of Ethiopia and African Leadership.
The Ethiopian-American Community and other advocates of human rights are outraged that Columbia University is willing to give a forum to the head of a repressive regime that has maladministered Ethiopia for the past 20years.
In the May 23, 2010 election, Meles Zenawi stifled all voices of freedom and declared a sham 99.6% victory that further de legitimized his brutal regime. In a May 25, 2010 statement, http://www.america.gov/st/democracyhrnglish/2010/May/20100526144415esnamfuak0.5419123.html , National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said, “An environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place even before election day.”
Five years earlier, he had thwarted the democratic aspirations of the people of Ethiopia and ordered the brutal massacre of over 193 unarmed peaceful protesters and jailed the entire opposition leadership and many of their supporters.
As the President of Columbia University and as a distinguished advocate of academic freedom, we acknowledge your right to invite speakers whom you believe will add to the academic experience of Columbia students. It is the essential element of American democracy and value system. We appreciate it and believe it is what makes America great.
But, neither freedom of speech nor academic freedom requires Columbia University to give its podium to a dictator who has actively and brutally suppressed academic freedom. On April 9, 1993, the Meles regime fired 42, some internationally acclaimed, professors from Addis Ababa University with negative implications for the university as well as the nation.
Using famine, illiteracy, and ethnic division as potent weapons, he has condemned a whole generation of Ethiopians to perpetual poverty and suffering. He has criminalized dissent and violently suppressed any threats to his despotic rule. He has sent to prison opposition party leaders, including the courageous political leader Judge Birtukan Mideksa, (the only woman political leader in Ethiopia). Journalists, and human rights activists are routinely jailed on trumped-up charges. In the name of bogus development, Meles Zenaw has embezzled international aid money and the country’s meager resources; and used land, jobs, and educational opportunities as tools of subjugation.
Does you University seriously believe that hearing the views of a brutal dictator sitting at the helm of a failed state would add to the “academic experience of your students”?
We respectfully request Columbia University to rescind the invitation to Meles Zenawi.
We also ask that you make a strong public statement against giving a podium to dictators like Meles Zenawi who are known for egregious human rights abuses and send a strong message to Ethiopians and all people suffering under the yoke of dictatorship .
A committee of Ethiopian in the Tri-State Area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) has issued a press release today calling for a “Grand Public Demonstration Against Dictator Meles Zenawi at Columbia University.”
Date/Time: Sep. 22, 2010, 3:00 PM
Place: Columbia University, Broadway and 116th Street, New York City
In the May 2010 election, Meles Zenawi stifled all voices of freedom and declared a sham 99.6% victory that further delegitimized his brutal regime.
Five years earlier, he had thwarted the democratic aspirations of the people of Ethiopia and ordered the brutal massacre of over 192 unarmed peaceful protesters.
Using famine, illiteracy, and ethnic division as potent weapons, he has condemned a whole generation of Ethiopians to perpetual poverty and suffering.
He has violently suppressed any threats to his despotic rule, and sent to prison opposition party leaders, including the courageous Birtukan Mideksa, journalists, and human rights activists on trumped-up charges.
In the name of bogus development, he has embezzled international aid money and the country’s meager resources; and used land, jobs, and educational opportunities as tools of subjugation.
Now, certain Columbia University professors, in blatant disregard of Zenawi’s crimes against humanity, have chosen to give the dictator a platform that he does not deserve. [read]
So, Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia everywhere are urged to come and show their solidarity with the people of Ethiopia.
Sponsored By: Ethiopians in the NY/NJ/CT Tri-State Area
Contact: Tel 917-670-0248; E-mail [email protected]
Under the seasoned governmental leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, now in his fourth term, and vision of the Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Ethiopia has made and continues to make progresses in many areas including in education, transportation, health and energy. – Source
It’s unbelievable that such a description about one of the world’s most vicious, corrupt, incompetent tyrants is posted on a prestigious American university’s web site. Only a hired lobby firm such as DLP Piper can come up with such a lie. The truth is that under Meles Zenawi and his tribal TPLF junta, most Ethiopians not only live in abject poverty, they are also being brutalized and systematically starved.
This invitation is a cruel insult against Ethiopians who are being brutalized by the fascist dictator.
Columbia University may not know who Meles Zenawi really is, so this is a good opportunity for Ethiopians around the world to educate them.
Lee C. Bollinger, President, Columbia University
Phone: (212) 854-9970; Fax: (212) 854-9973
Email: [email protected]
University Programs and Events
Office of the President
Columbia University in the City of New York
202 Low Library, 535 West 116th Street, New York, NY 10027
The great Nelson Mandela said, “In my country we go to prison first and then become President.” He assured the masters of the apartheid system, “You may succeed in delaying, but never in preventing the transition of South Africa to a democracy.” On the occasion of the Ethiopian New Year (2003) celebrated on September 11, I contemplate the words of Mandela as I admiringly think of Birtukan Midekssa, (Ethiopia’s No. 1 political prisoner and first ever political party leader), and the prospects of Ethiopia’s eventual transition from dictatorship to democracy.
In December 2008, Birtukan’s “pardon” from a kangaroo court conviction was revoked and her life sentence reinstated. She was literally snatched from the streets and thrown in solitary confinement for six months, despite a court ruling that such punishment was a violation of her constitutional rights. She is denied access to visitors except for her aging mother and five-year old daughter, despite a court order granting her visitor access without restrictions. She has been the object of ridicule by dictator-in-chief Meles Zenawi who has characterized her as a “chicken” who did herself in and an idle prisoner sitting around and “putting on weight”.
Mandela said, “Prison itself is a tremendous education in the need for patience and perseverance. It is above all a test of one’s commitment.” It is comforting to know that Birtukan is receiving “a tremendous education” at Kality “Unversity” Federal Prison where she continues to face daily humiliation, isolation, degradation and dehumanization. But Birtukan perseveres and shall certainly overcome. To paraphrase William Ernest Henley’s poem “Invictus” (Unconquered), for nearly two years Birtukan has been shackled in Zenawi’s “pit of wrath and tears” and faced the “horror” of solitary confinement and degradation without “wincing or crying out loud.” Her “head has been bloodied, but unbowed.” Though she faces the “menace of the years” in prison, she remains unafraid because she is the “mistress of her fate and the captain of her soul.”
It was in prison that Mandela realized the true meaning of freedom:
It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.
The Prisoner of the Prisoners of Hate, Prejudice and Narrow-Mindedness
It is remarkable how Birtukan’s views mirror Mandela’s. In all of my conversations with her during her visit to the U.S. in the Fall of 2007, (when she led the official delegation of the Coalition of Unity and Democracy [Kinijit]), her Mandela-like compassion and understanding of her jailors and tormentors was instructive and humbling. Like Mandela, Birtukan has steely resolve and unflinching commitment to the rule of law, democracy and human rights. But her political convictions never overpowered her deep compassion for others, including those who continue to mistreat and abuse her. Like Mandela who showed good will to the apartheid masters, Birtukan also shows genuine empathy and understanding for the ruthless dictators who are themselves “locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness”. Like Mandela, that makes Birtukan one of the most unique prisoners on the planet: A prisoner of the prisoners of hatred, prejudice and narrow-mindedness. Like Mandela, Birtukan understands that she must first free the prisoners of hatred, prejudice and narrow-mindedness before she can free herself or her country.
Like Mandela, Birtukan also hungers for freedom. Her hunger for freedom is not just for herself; it is for the freedom of all the Ethiopian people regardless of ethnicity, language, religion and region. Above all, she knows all too well “that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.”
My New Year’s Resolution
It is customary in free societies to make resolutions for the new year. Accordingly, I pledge to continue to call attention and raise awareness of Birtukan’s unjust imprisonment in the court of world opinion, unceasingly continue to demand her release and the release of all political prisoners in Ethiopia, and urge all freedom-loving people throughout the world to do whatever they can to help secure the release of all political prisoners in Ethiopia.
I am sure that Birtukan’s captors will snicker and giggle at the very idea of releasing her from prison. After all they have declared her release to be a “dead issue.” It does not matter if they giggle or heehaw; the truth about her unjust imprisonment and abject prison conditions will be told and re-told a million times to the world. I also do not believe that prisoners of hatred, prejudice and narrow-mindedness have the moral capacity or basic human decency to set Birtukan or any other prisoner free. Only the “truth shall set her free”; and if Birtukan were to read my words here, she would gently correct me and say: “The truth shall set them free too from nineteen years of solitary confinement behind the locked steel bars and stone walls of hatred, prejudice and narrow-mindedness”.
MELKAM ADIS AMET! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Our Great Sister and Ethiopia’s First Daughter Birtukan Invictus (Ayibegere)! The truth shall set you free!
FREE BIRTUKAN MIDEKSSA AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN ETHIOPIA.
The biggest loser in this week’s reshuffle inside the TPLF top leadership is the 72-year-old Sibhat Nega, who was a one-time chairman and most powerful person inside the tribal organization that is currently ruling Ethiopia.
The media that is under the control of Meles reported that Sibhat was not re-elected due to his age, which is far from the truth.
The reshuffle took place at Tigray People Liberation Front’s (TPLF) 10th conference in Mekele this week.
The feud between Sibhat Nega and Azeb Mesfin, the wife of Meles Zenawi, came out in the open about a year ago when she managed to force him out of EFFORT, a conglomerate of 60 corporations, to make a space for herself. That was followed by his ouster from the TPLF politburo. He expressed his displeasure publicly about his forced resignation when he was interviewed by VOA in June 2009 (listen here).
According to sources close to TPLF (Woyanne), Sebhat Nega is bitter about the way he was sent off from the organization by Meles and Azeb. After all, it was Sibhat who groomed Meles for leadership and brought him to power. He was a father figure and mentor to Meles. When Siye Abraha, Gebru Asrat and others were about to remove Meles from power in 2002, it was Sibhat who protected him and helped him remain in power. Now that Meles has secured his position, he returns the favor by throwing out Sibhat like an old rug. When a founding member and long time leader of an organization retires, one would expect at least some fanfare as a show of appreciation.
TPLF rank-and-file members are also unhappy about the promotion of Azeb Mesfin to the TPLF executive committee, which is the de facto supreme governing body of Ethiopia. They had hoped that new faces would come to the top leadership. Instead, the change was simply a consolidation of power by Meles and Azeb, who have now an unchecked power by surrounding themselves with loyalists and yes-men. Some are wondering if the next person to come to the executive committee is Semahal Meles.
The biggest loser in this week’s reshuffle inside the TPLF top leadership is the 72-year-old Sibhat Nega, who was a one-time chairman and most powerful person inside the tribal organization that is currently ruling Ethiopia.