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More questions for Col. Mengistu, and leadership criteria

Posted on , Updated on by EthiopianReview.com

By Fikre Tolossa

Greetings to you, Dear Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam, Ex-President of Ethiopia.

After I put my pen to rest having reviewed and analyzed your reminiscence, I thought I was through with you. However, readers flooded me over with letters encouraging me to ask you more questions. I accepted their request reluctantly as I wanted to move on with my own life instead of dealing with you. Since you are history now, I didn’t see why I should spend more time on you. On the other hand, it crossed my mind that we can learn a lot from your history so that we can gauge our present leaders and the ones that will appear in the future, by setting a criteria for leadership, using you as a measurement. People asked tons of questions and held discussions provoked by my review and analysis. Obviously the embers of their wounds inflicted upon them were buried deep down the ashes of their memories, but not extinguished. They feel like having a therapy to heal their physical, mental and spiritual afflictions for good, at least by discussing their past trauma which lurks in the recesses of their being. As I said above, I am only responding to the request s of the reading public by posing to you more questions.

Personally, you didn’t inflict any wounds on me. Nor did you leave any scar on my heart. You didn’t rule me, luckily. I escaped in 1973 (European Calendar) shortly before the reign of terror broke loose in Ethiopia, and headed for Russia to pursue my studies. It was the Emperor’s Government that sent me there to study creative writing, as Russia had produced great writers like Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. You see, it was not only your government that had a good relationship with the Soviet Union. The Emperor‘s too, had one. However, the wise leader chose the policy of neutrality. He was the first among African leaders who went to China in search of the best for his country. I am not out here to praise and defend his policy and regime. As a matter of fact, I am one of those who fought his regime in my student days thinking that the people of Ethiopia would live better if monarchy was replaced by a republic. Like I said, I hold no grudges against you though you attempted to take me and 12 of my fellow students from Russia back to Ethiopia to either execute us or let us languish in jail when some of your supporters who claimed to be Meison (All Ethiopia Socialist Party) members handed you over our names charging us of being against your Government while you were visiting the Soviet Union in 1977 (European Calendar). You requested the Russians to hand us over without questioning the charges, according to the Russian officials. My friends and I hindered your attempt, holding unexpected and illegal demonstration in Moscow. I contacted some BBC and VOA journalists and briefed them what was going to happen to us. They spread the news all over the world instantly. The Russians got scared of the scandal and allowed some of my friends to go on exile to Sweden and Germany. I was permitted to finish my studies. After I graduated a year later, I headed for West Germany and applied for a political asylum. The people you wanted to get then are now professional engineers, doctors and professors. Had they fallen in your hands, their future would have been uncertain. You might probably have forgotten about this incident as you had to deal with more serious problems that those of young students.

As I cannot question you about all those wonderful Ethiopians who perished under your regime, I will cite only a few cases. First and foremost, I will ask you about those in the military and then about civilian intellectuals. You are welcome to challenge me and refute my assertions, if I distort facts and said things wrongly. My intention is for you to respond on the cases and situations. Others who know the situation better than I do, could help us by serving as witnesses breaking out of their shells. Even though I was away from home during your reign of terror, I have followed the events in Ethiopia attentively reading every day Amharic, Russian and German papers, as well as listening to radios. I have recorded on a tape the utterances of many that had fled from Ethiopia surviving the so-called “Red Terror”, when the events and trauma were yet fresh in their minds. So, I feel that I am well-versed with what went on in Ethiopia despite my absence. Everything is fresh in my mind too. In fact, people who had lived through the revolution would forget some of the details when I talked to them about some remarkable phenomena after years had gone by, because they experienced wave after wave of rapid events which overwhelmed them, contrary to myself who had been following things from a distance without any physical involvement. Moreover, it seems that the real victims have chosen to be in a state of amnesia to forget deliberately those painful and agonizing moments.

Remember, Colonel, the issue is not about you per se. It is rather about the top place you occupied in the Ethiopian society. If you were not the head-of-state of Ethiopia once upon a time determining the fates of millions, who would bother themselves to think about you, let alone pose questions to you about your governance? For this reason, you have to assume now that you are at the court of the people facing a few of the questions that bother them. I am the presiding judge of the court of the people in this case, if you will. We will have a verdict in the end which will find you either innocent or guilty. Is this is okay with you, Colonel?

You have said time and again that the reason why you could not forgive the generals you had punished so severely was that you wouldn’t compromise your principle when it came to Ethiopian sovereignty and suzerainty. Applying your principle, I can’t refrain myself from asking you tough questions when it comes to Ethiopia, a nation I love so dearly.

Towards the end of this paper, I will list a criteria by which we should investigate the backgrounds of our future leaders. I will go ahead now and shoot a host of questions. My first question is about General Amand Andom. After that, I will ask you about Gneral Teferi Benti. My last questions in this thread will be about author Bealu Girma, Dr. Danagchew Yirgu, your Minster of Agriculture for a brief moment, Lij Kassa Woldemariam, the former President of Haile Selassie I University and Professor Getachew Haile, a noted scholar. I will ask you first and foremost about the two generals, because, if they were given an opportunity to materialize their initiations or proposals, Ethiopian history would have taken a different turn for the better.

Permit me to start with General Aman Andom. In one word, you charged General Aman with treason with regards to Eritrea. Consequently, you ordered your soldiers to have him arrested. He refused to surrender and committed suicide after a gun battle. By your own confession, you were the one who brought him to the Derg to lead it as a chairman. This you did because he was a popular hero and a national figure you devised to use as a front-man, since you and the rest of the Derg members were nobodies then. After his death, you sought and found another naïve front-man by the name of General Teferi Benti. I will bring up General Teferi Benti later on.

In his capacity as the Chairman of the Derg, General Aman Adndom toured all over Eritrea and convinced the people that, if their real reason why they desired to beak up with Ethiopia was the dismantling of the federation, he would see to it that it would be restored through negotiation. Once it is restored, however, all secessionists should stop fighting and join the people to live in a united Ethiopia under a genuine federation. If the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front or any secessionist forces continued to wage war against Ethiopia after that, the general explained, they would be dealt with severely once and for all. This impressed the people of Eritrea much. They trusted the integrity ofthe General. You, however, didn’t want to sit down and negotiate with a bunch of “ager gentayoch” or “agamido”. You decided to crush Shabia by force of arms. To this end, you convinced the Derg to send more tanks and troops to Eritrea. General Aman protested because this would have damaged his initiation to isolate the secessionists . His protest was perceived as being “treason” because he was of Eritrean origin. He got frustrated and embittered because the Derg he led as a Chairman wouldn’t consent to his noble proposal or initiation. He had no choice but to retreat to his home. Being scared that the popular general would break the news to the rank and file solders and fight you, you decided to silence him. So, you signed an order to arrest him immediately and confine him together with the senior officials of Emperor Haile Selassie. I have seen a copy of your order with your signature on it. But the brave General was not one to be dragged out of his house and arrested. He fought the troops and tanks you sent to his home, killed as many as he could, and committed suicide rather than be captured, in the tradition of Atse Theodros. Shocked by this, and to diminish the public reaction to the sudden death of the national hero, you and your Derg members hastily and nervously executed the rest of the Emperor’s officials that had never been brought to court, and buried them in a mass grave in Kerchele. Isn’t this true Colonel? If it is not, let us hear your version and let others witness.

If General Aman’s Eritrean initiation was implemented, Shabia would have been in a big mess. Surely, it would have collapsed eventually and Eritrea would probably not have separated from Ethiopia. Even the Tigray People’s Liberation Front would have found it hard to seize power. Thus a big chance was lost to stop Eritrea from seceding from Ethiopia.

Colonel, why didn’t you give General Aman Andom a chance to exercise his original approach and wisdom? You chose force over diplomacy. You unleashed force in Ethiopia for 17 years to resolve the Eritrean problem. Think of all the people who died because of the Eritrean war. How many people do you think lost their lives, perished and dislocated from both sides? A million? 500,000? 300.000? How about our financial and material loss? Billions? There is no doubt. How about the pain and sorrow? Incalculable!

Probably all this could have been averted if you patiently gave Aman a chance. Furthermore, you might probably be still in power in Ethiopia because, the restoration of the Eritrean federation would have made it impossible for the TPLF and EPLF to unite and attack your government successfully. True, believing he was the head-of-state since he was called the Chairman of the Derg, General Aman had attempted to exercise power without consulting the Derg on every issue or without reporting to it. That is why he could not understand when the Derg confronted him for acting independently. He didn’t want to play the role of a puppet. Therefore, in a state of confusion, he chose to go to his home threatening to resign. What else could he have done?

You suspected General Aman to be a traitor mainly for his refusal to send arms and troops to Eritrea since this would have jeopardized his design to isolate the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front from the populace by convincing it that there was a new government led by none other than himself. How would you suspect General Aman to be a traitor, colonel? If you say he was scheming to let Eritrea go, why didn’t he do so by joining the Eritrean liberation fronts way back during the reign of the Emperor? Why was he fighting as a common solder sleeping in the desert of Ogaden with the enlisted soldiers to preserve and protect the territorial integrity of Ethiopia? When Somalia was provoking Ethiopia endlessly didn’t General Aman fight ferociously marching inside Somalia? Didn’t the Emperor who was afraid that he would be accused of invading Somalia called him back to retreat and scold him for his act? Didn’t he even confine him in Addis as a member of his Crown Council which was a sort of house arrest, fearful of his increasing popularity? If this truly Ethiopian General didn’t champion the secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia during the reign of the Emperor, why would he do so when he believed himself to be the head-of-state of Ethiopia? Excuse me, Colonel, the track record of General Aman Andom was clean from treason. I am sure he would be tossing around in his grave endlessly for being treated as a traitor after having served his country so dedicatedly.

If he was not a genuine Ethiopian hero, why was he so popular? Even I used to hear about his love for Ethiopia and his bravery when I was growing up in Dire-Dawa. In your latest reminiscence you negate his heroism. If he was indeed not a hero, why did you choose and persuade him to lead you at a time when generals were being picked up and arrested by you? Was it not because of his good reputation as a brave soldier and a true Ethiopian patriot that you begged him to lead you leaving his life of “retirement” or call it “house arrest”, as a member of the Crown Council? Did he care to seize power then? Wasn’t he leading a quiet life of oblivion? I have heard that he was nice to you when you were serving under him in your youth in Harer. Was it not because you appreciated his patriotism, caliber, patriotism and charisma that you persuaded him to be the Chairman of the Drg, even though he had never contemplated to be in that dangerous position. Of course, you know deep down inside that General Aman Andom was not a traitor. He had a grand vision for Ethiopia. His vision was trampled over and it resulted in the destruction of Ethiopia. This is my personal opinion. As I said, if I am wrong, I am willing to be corrected. Let us hear your story.

Next on Geneal Teferi Benti. You replaced General Aman with this gentleman to use him as a front- man again. In your recent memoir and elsewhere, you have said that General Teferi Benti was like a father to you, giving you good advices when you needed it badly. According to you, he was misled or misguided by others who were either EPRP members or sympathizers. I was in Ethiopia on vacation in September 1976 (European Calendar) at Abyot Adebabai when General Teferi Benti was addressing the Ethiopian nation with a message of reconciliation. He stressed the importance of all revolutionary groups including the EPRP to work together for the well-being of Ethiopia leaving their differences aside. He was backed within the Derg with Captain Moges W.Michael, Capitain Tefera Deneke and Lieutenant Alemayehu Haile. These people were instrumental in restructuring the Derg and curbing your increasing power and influence, as you recall. These junior officers were reportedly either EPRP members or sympathizers. You and your party, Seded , however, were collaborating mainly with the members of the Woz League led by Dr. Senai Likke, and to a significant extent, the Meisone Party that had established for you theKebeles and the office of mass organization, besides providing you with valuable ideological advices. Did they urge you to take immediate action against General Teferi Benti and the rest or was it purely your plot and that of your friend, Colonel Daniel Asfaw , the Derg’s Chief of Security, that prompted you to eliminate General Teferi Benti and the rest? Now my question to you, Colonel, is this- Instead of worrying about losing your own power and influence in the Derg besides siding only with one or two groups of revolutionaries such as Woz League and the Meisone, why didn’t you take to heart General Teferi’s call for national reconciliation as a principle whether he sympathized with EPRP or not, for the sake of Ethiopia? In other words, why didn’t you embrace all the progressive groups of the country and resolve the conflict amicably and peacefully? Why didn’t you go for it when the idea of a provisional peoples’ government was floating around long before the EPRP had become aggressive? If your were less ambitious of seizing power yourself, and if you had attempted to champion the formation of a provisional popular government, the course of Ethiopian history would have taken a different turn, and all the bloodshed and destruction that followed could have been prevented. Don’t you think so, Colonel?

Imagine a scenario whereby EPRP, Meisone, Woz League, Seded, the Derg and any other progressive forces joined hands united under one government bearing one banner called “Ethiopia’s Well-being”, or even for that matter, your own initial motto, “Ethiopia Tikdem’’ (Ethiopia First) for there was nothing wrong if Ethiopia came first of all. In such a scenario, the EPRP would not have a reason to oppose the Derg and to make an attempt on your life and others. You too, would not have a reason to unleash the “Red Terror”. And if you wouldn’t unleash the Red Terror, EPRP wouldn’t retaliate. If EPRP wouldn’t retaliate, the Kebele cadres, Mesone members and some Derg officials wouldn’t die. The EPRP wouldn’t be divided into factions and annihilate each other. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians would not languish in prison and flee Ethiopia for their lives. The army would be strong and Eritrea would find it hard to secede. The founders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front would perhaps join the popular government rather than running to the bush. Human lives would be preserved. Democracy would flourish. Mind, energy and wealth would be invested on nation building. You see the picture I am trying to draw, Colonel? Instead, you chose the path you took and that made all the difference.

True, the Mesone and EPRP had their own differences. Non-the-less, since both professed socialism (and who didn’t profess socialism, ironically) as their ultimate goal or strategy, you, General Teferi and the rest of the Derg members could have persuaded them to resolve their differences and to rally around the strategy they shared in common, lest they were tossed out of the band wagon of the revolution. If they still refused to cooperate harmoniously for a common cause and end, history would have judged them and they would have gone down the drench of oblivion. Do I sound naive? Maybe. But some times, the naïve comes up with an idea that serves as a spark of hope.

If you permit me to continue to ask you, I have a question about author Be’alu Girma. This budding author believed in you or appeared to do so, for his own reasons. I understand that he had let you and Captain Fike-selassie Wogderess read his manuscript, Oromay, to get your approval before he published it. He praised you in this novel about the hopeless Eritrean war, calling you “Tikur Nebir” (black tiger) that had been emotional in the beginning, and got seasoned ultimately getting matured during the course of the Revolution. I read this book over 25 years ago. I am depending on my memory for this quote. A friend of mine who had befriended with Ato Be’alu told me then that the author had revealed to him that you and Captain Fikre-selassie had read the book and approved it prior to publication. The author trusted the two of you and depended especially on you for protection against the people he was criticizing harshly in the book. According to Ato Be’alu, when his would-be assassins bothered you too much for letting him circulate this book unhindered and unpunished, you called him and asked him afresh what the book was about, as if you didn’t know its content. Then you advised him not to go back to work. In other words, you fired him to appease his accusers who were bothering you too much. You knew they were capable of endangering him, particularly your Chief of Security, Col Tesfaye-woldeselassie. Be’alu Girma lost his life helplessly for writing a book. He would have composed many fine books had he lived a bit longer, and Ethiopia could have benefited from his skill. His wife would not have been widowed, and his children orphaned, if he was not murdered prematurely. Why didn’t you protect the very person who had believed in you and praised you in his book? If the pressure was indeed too much on you, why didn’t you get him an exit visa to find a safe haven outside Ethiopia? Or at least, why didn’t you provide some kind of assistance to his wife and children that were desperate to make ends meet when their bread-winner was gone? Furthermore, why didn’t you investigate his case and punish his killers, if you were uneasy and perturbed by his death? Or may we conclude that you were not that concerned about the death of a person who believed in your integrity and leadership quality, and got your approval for the publication of his book? If all this is not true, what is the truth then?

Countless are the intellectuals that perished as a result of the brutality of your regime. It is impossible to list their exact number. Let me ask you just about one who was not even politically involved. In fact, he was one of your cabinet ministers briefly on the merit of his profession as a superb agronomist. His name was Dr. Danagchew Yirgu . Does this name ring a bell in your ears? Indeed, Dr. Dangachew was a great scientist that researched on and revolutionized Ethiopian agriculture. When he graduated with honors from the University of Purdue in the US, the Americans offered him a teaching position. He turned it down telling them he wanted to go back home and teach and research. This he did at the then Alemaya, now Haromaya University. He inspired many students and enhanced agriculture. Applying genetic engineering he discovered means and ways of solving the problems of famine and drought. He was dragged into your Government to serve as minister of agriculture. He clashed head on with your agricultural policy (communal land allocation and farming that didn’t work in Russia) which he thought would cause further famine and drought. He suggested a better means of solving the recurring problem hunger. You and some of your cabinet members didn’t like his guts for daring to speak his mind when most people chose silence fearful of the consequence of speaking the truth. Now Dr. Danagchew was sent out of town on a dubious mission of no return where he was assassinated. When some of your officials were asked about his whereabouts, they answered mockingly, “jib belaw” (the hyena ate him up). Of course, the “jib” (hyena) were none other than your henchmen themselves. Shortly after that, they were seen in Addis Abeba driving his fancy vehicle. Did they kill him to confiscate his car? Please read a book about him by his school mate, Mr. Mezgebu G.Amlak, for details. Now Colonel, what is the circumstance of his death? Why was this great Ethiopian murdered just because he desired to alleviate the suffering of his people? Instead of condemning him to die, why didn’t you assign him to a different post or let him go back to academia? Seeing what happened to great scholars and intellectuals like Dr. Danagchew, numerous educated people whose training had cost Ethiopia a fortune, had to stay away overseas on political asylums or flee from that unfortunate land to serve other nations.

I have a question about one more intellectual, Lij Kassa Wolde-mariam, the ex-president of Addis Abeba University. Lij Kassa was serving as a governor of Wollega when he was picked up and arrested by the Derg. About two and half years after he was languishing in prison in 1976, he was taken out ofprison and murdered in cold blood. Why? He was not found guilty of anything except being the son of a nobleman and married to a royal. He was not a threat to your revolution because he was your captive and you had almost consolidated your power. There were many people who were executed like that long after you had stabilized and were in a tight control of Ethiopia. Why were people killed when they were not proven guilty and no longer a threat to your regime?

Speaking of intellectuals and scholars, what did Professor Getachew Haile do to deserve the gunfire set on him by your crude security agents that left him for dead in his house? Who do you think was responsible for gluing him to a wheel chair for the rest of his life, banning him into a life of exile, instead of serving his county? Who will pay for the suffering and pain he and his family went through? The cunning Colonel Tesfaye Wolde-selassie, your Security Chief? Wasn’t he reporting to you?

You critics contend that you showed no mercy when you were in power even to your closest allies including the Meison members. The Meison stuck around as much as they deemed it necessary and desired to leave your Government when they thought they could no longer bear it. You caught most of the leaders including Ato Haile Fidda, the brothers Daniel and Desta Tadesse, Dr. Negist Adane, the wife of Desta Tadesse, while trying to flee. Why did you not spare the lives of your old allies when they were at your mercy? They didn’t shoot at you, did they? They may have talked of going underground and waging armed struggle, but you knew that it was only a talk. Under which earth or ground would they have gone? Didn’t you catch them fleeing to cross Ethiopian borders? It was not in their nature to shoot bullets at you. They were calling those who were shooting bullets such as the EPRP “temenja nekash” (gun-bitters.) Surely, the Meison were as harmless as garden-snakes to you. If you waged war against the EPRP, the reason was obvious. They too were engaged in arms struggle against your government in the cities and countryside. Why was it then necessary to annihilate the members of the Meison that had served you well? Didn’t you ascend to power partly because of them? What did you benefit in condemning them to death except a feeling of vindication? What did Ethiopia gain from their going out of existence? Since most of them were well-educated, Ethiopia could have made some use of their education had you allowed them to exist.

To extend the above questions, of what good was the death of all those educated and uneducated individuals who perished during the Red Terror including the members of EPRP and those attacked by EPRP? You said that it was the EPRP that started the killing. The EPRP asserts that it was your agents that had shot the first bullets killing workers and suspected EPRP members as back as 1975 and 1976 (European Calendar).They cite Shaleka Getachew Shibeshi and Shaleka Birhanu, for example. They alleged that these two had shot to death striking workers at Akaki and Metehara areas. I heard some EPRP members whispering in 1976 when I was on vacation in Ethiopia that some Derg security agents were killing suspects with silencers. In any case, whoever had started the killing, it was on a small scale before you declared the so-called “Red Terror” on a mass level after EPRP attempted on your life. I have no clue how you understood the term “Red Terror”, which originated in the Russian Bolshevik Revolution, but its impact on Ethiopia was devastating.

Ethiopians have been devastated by the Red Terror. People hold grudges against you mainly because of the brutality unleashed and the atrocities committed during this tragic and horrible period of Ethiopian history. Colonel, please allow me to ask you a few questions regarding this period. Where were you when your Kebele cadres were torturing and killing EPRP suspect youngsters by pouring out boiling water and oil on them, by muffling their mouths with rags and were beating them mercilessly, by burning their bleeding bodies with matches, by raping young girls, by picking them from prison at random and shooting them in their drunken stupor, by deforming their bodies and mutilating them and by pulling out their nails? What were you doing Colonel when they were murdering pregnant women, laying the bodies of little boys at the front-yards of their parents’ houses with a label, “I am anarchist dog, etc.” and forcing their parents to sing songs of joy over them? Furthermore, Colonel, what were you doing when the parents of the dead were demanded to pay money for “wasted bullets” in exchange for having the bodies of their beloved, and when the streets of Ethiopian towns were littered with dead bodies? Weren’t you around when elderly parents were arrested, tortured and killed because of their rebellious children and because they didn’t know their whereabouts, and when your henchmen slaughtered husbands to get their wives and wealth? Was this your perception of the Red Terror when you launched it? Were you expecting less horrendous agony and nightmare?

Were you not in town when “Aremenew Girma” the butcher of Arat Kilo, was mowing down anybody that came to his view? Was it not after a list of people that he was about to annihilate including your brother was discovered in his pocket or office that you ordered his execution? Could you, being the head-of-state of Ethiopia then, be absolved completely from responsibility for the atrocities committed by your cadres after they carried out the Red Terror you sanctioned and launched officially?

It looked as if the Derg’s solution to every problem was to kill and kill. But killing and more killing did not alleviate the sufferings of the Ethiopian people. Nor did it improve their lives. None whatsoever. Ethiopia lost the cream of the crops. Ethiopia became bereft of her best children as a result. There is a humor about one of your Derg members. He was asked, “what did you guys do for Ethiopia during your 17 years of reign?” The Derg member answered proudly, “We wiped out the enemies of Ethiopia. We imprisoned a million of them and killed about five hundred thousand. Ethiopia is indebted to us for this great favor”. It seems that the notion of nation-building for you guys was killing and killing.

Colonel, you came to power accusing and condemning Emperor Haile Selassie and his officials for throwing a lavish party and enjoying themselves while the people of Welo were dying from hunger. Ironically enough, you and your officials repeated the same thing ten years after you seized power when millions of Ethiopians were affected by another famine and drought. Obviously, power numbs the powerful making them insensitive to the needs of their subjects in whose name they reign. This holds true even for those who are now in power after they replaced you. The great majority of the Ethiopian people are in no better shape economically than they were 36 years ago. I wonder why all the bloodshed, the torture, dislocation, exile and turmoil were necessary if the outcome is and was more torment and pain. The Ethiopian people have given up holding their hopes high on governments. Why did you repeat the same thing of which you had accused the Emperor? Or are you saying that the millions of Dollars you spent on whisky, food and other stuffs on the 10nth Anniversary of the formation of your party was not a lot of money? The Emperor would say the same about his party.

I cannot list all those brilliant and true sons and daughters of Ethiopia that lost their precious lives because of the murderous atmosphere created by the Derg that refused either to accommodate power sharing or allow the establishment of a civilian government. In the beginning, you and your Derg used to make a loud drumbeat that you were only a provisional military committee (Giziyawi Wotaderawi Derg) and that you would go back to your barracks as soon as a civilian government was established. You didn’t keep that promise. Instead, you yourselves evolved as a “civilian” government and you, Colonel Mengistu Haile-mariam, became the President of Ethiopia by taking off your uniforms after tons of havoc and a lot of carnage. If you really thought of the well-being of Ethiopia and not of your personal ascension to power, why didn’t you establish a civilian government which you were able to oversea as, for instance, did Lieutenant Jerry Rawllings of Ghana? Had you done that, not only you would have stopped all the subsequent tragedy that befell Ethiopia, but you would have gone into history as a great national hero. Instead, you and your Derg members chose to be a government violating the will of the armed forces that sent you to represent them in Addis Ababa. Didn’t you refuse to go back to your respective camps defying the very soldiers that had delegated you to represent them called you back emphasizing the fact that your mission was over? Moreover, you executed together with the officials of the Emperor sincere Ethiopian soldiers such as Yohanis Fitwi of the army aviation, Captain Demessie of the engineering division and Lieutenant Tesfaye Tekle of army aviation again, just to mention only the three, for calling for a civilian government. Lieutenant Tesfaye Tekle was a graduate of the Harer Military Academy with honors and the top of his class. You cut him off at a very young age! He could have served Ethiopia as a great soldier. Frankly, Colonel, did those poor soldiers like Tesfaye, Yohanis and Demessie have to die like that just because they called for a civilian government? They had nothing to do with the corruption of Haile Selassie’ Government, even like you had not. How do you feel when you look at in retrospect? After having posed these questions, I will now move on to the second part of this writing, namely, the criteria for leadership.

A I stated above, you are now history, and as such politically ineffective. However, we can draw a lesson from your story. The Ethiopian people never knew your psychological makeup as well as your social and political backgrounds. The barrel of the gun you were holding covered up all these factors. The people of Ethiopia don’t know much about the background of Ato Meles Zenawi either. Just like you, he seized power by force of arms and legalized it by means of “free and fair election”. Recently, he claimed to have “won” 96% of the votes. In your case you had no contenders even formally. You ran against yourself and “won” 100%. Since you ran against yourself, your 100% victory was not surprising. Ato Meles’ victory is phenomenal. Speaking of his victory, he is reported to have said, “We didn’t know that the people of Ethiopia favored us so much.” Nevertheless, the people of Ethiopia aspire to have leaders who appear on the political scene with fine minds and hearts instead of scary tanks and rockets. To this end, they should have every right to scrutinize their future leaders by investigating their backgrounds.

For example, I have read that you inspired immense fear when you got angry. I have no clue how many devastating actions you have taken in your state of rage and tantrum during the course of your stay in power affecting the lives of your subjects. I have also read that Ato Meles Zenawi loses his temper quickly. His good mother was worried about the fact that he used to scatter things he held in his hands whenever he was provoked to anger. If this is true, I wonder whether his rage has caused him to do things he wouldn’t do in his state of sobriety while he was in the bush and after he marched to Addis Abeba. Ideally, a leader should be more rational than emotional. Atse Tewodros committed untold atrocities after he was perturbed mentally towards the end of his life, such as throwing his subjects down a cliff and burning them alive behind closed doors. Despite his good intentions to unite the country, he had uncontrollable power over the destiny of his subjects. He too, came to power by the barrel of his gun and the sharpness of his sword. The people of Ethiopia then didn’t know about his background either. Our unfortunate people have never had a chance yet to put in power the leaders of their choice without being coerced to do so. From now on, they should know their leaders thoroughly ahead of time and they should set up criteria by which they could gage them before they let them climb the ladders of power.

You also used to get moody frequently. According to those who were associated with you, your face would turn furious whenever you lost tennis games. They had to wait until your bad mood subsided or until a joker made you smile, to ask a favor of you. They said that they would even lose a game or two to you deliberately, so that you wouldn’t get in a bad mood. Being constantly in a bad mood for petty matters is not the best trait of a leader. A good leader should be consistent with his moods, thoughts, emotions, feelings and actions.

Under a genuinely democratic form of government, people do examine the characters and other qualities of their would-be leaders. They have rights to “enthrone” and “dethrone” their leaders. In our case, in the future, the Ethiopian people are entitled to know ahead of election whether the candidates are free from corruption, addiction of drugs, crime, rage, mental disorder or psychopathic behavior , theft, nepotism, power mongering, fight-picking, lies, retribution, betrayal, cronyism , deceit, treason, inferiority or superiority complex and hatred of a particular ethnic group. The best candidates should be well-versed in Ethiopian politics, economy, geography, history, religions, sociology, anthropology, culture, literature and philosophy. Most of all, they should love Ethiopia and her heritage. If they don’t fulfill all or at least most of these criteria, the people of Ethiopia shouldn’t consider to vote for such candidates. A cunning wolf should not be allowed to lead a flock of 85 million innocent sheep. They need a good shepherd and not a wolf.

Colonel Mengistu Haile-mariam, former President of Ethiopia, you are not being charged with corruption, stealing, nepotism, treason, hatred for Ethiopia and denial and mockery of the rich and long history of Ethiopia. Congratulations! Your record is not tainted with these vices! You are only questioned why you seized absolute power by yourself, why you chose the use of force over negotiation, why you unleashed a reign of terror, why you didn’t democratize the county, and most of all, why you didn’t minimize human suffering and death.

During your tenure as a leader, you shone no rays of democracy, and your final years were marked by dictatorship with absolute power in your hand. You are held responsible further for misguided political decisions, unpractical agricultural policy that didn’t improve the lives of the farmers an iota, as well as wrong military administration that caused rifts and conflicts between lower-ranking, semi-literate, political commissars and highly-trained, senior military officers such as colonels and generals, resulting in the breaking of the chain of command and contributing to the defeat of the Ethiopian army.

To sum up, you made Ethiopia lose big time three times: first when you rejected Genal Aman’s plan for Eritrea and caused his untimely death, second when you turned down General Teferi Benti’s call for national reconciliation and you took his life whether he was affiliated with EPRP or not, and third, when you and your Derg refused to return to your camps when the very people who mandated you to go and represent them in Addis Abeba called you back so that a civilian government would be established. Had you done that, you would have stopped the tradition of seizing power by the barrel of the gun once and for all.

I admit that you can’t be blamed for everything that went wrong in Ethiopia. There were internal and external forces that influenced your actions. All these factors should be taken into consideration while assessing your tenure as a leader. And yet, in the final analysis, since you were the head-of-state, you can’t be discharged from responsibility for most of the things that took place during you reign. It waswrong in the first place to expect much from you. You were a soldier after all. Your job was to guard the territory of Ethiopia. When soldiers deviate from their training and duty, and try to lead a nation politically, the result is often catastrophic. It was because they understood this fact that Yohanis Fitwi and Lieutenant Tesfaye Tekele of Army Aviation and Captain Demessie of the army engineering division as well as other genuine soldiers demanded that you relinquish power to a civilian government and go back to your barrack. Instead of heeding to their good advice, you condemned them to die.

Dear Colonel Mengistu Haile-mariam, the people’s court represented by me just tried you. The verdict is here- without discounting your good heritage and some of your positive leadership qualities that I had mentioned in my recent review of the latest book on you, you are charged guilty on five major counts leaving the petty ones aside:

1. You approved and signed the death warranty of 55 of Atse Haile Selassie’s officials, as well as soldiers who demanded your return to the barracks, without their being proven guilty in a court of law. 2. You rejected General Aman’s plan for Eritrea and caused his untimely death contributing to the session of Eritrea. 3. You turned down General Teferi Benti’s call for national reconciliation, killed him and assumed absolute power by yourself resulting in your decree of The Red Terror which wiped out countless Ethiopians from all camps. 3. You refused to return to your barracks in an act of defiance with the desire to seize power illegally when the very soldiers that had mandated you to represent them called you back 4. You let hell loose on the people of Ethiopia when you allowed your henchmen to torture, imprison and kill your political opponents and even innocent individuals. 5.) You showed no mercy and clemency to spare the lives of the coup-makers that were under your custody. This demoralized the soldiers, caused desertions and the gradual defeat of the Ethiopian Army.

I could have gone into the details of a speech you made to your Party in which you spoke proudly how you bayoneted the butts of your generals, ripped off their “stars”, stripped off their ranks and humiliated them before the soldiers they commanded. It is too embarrassing to detail it here.

Colonel, it was your turn to be tried this time. Each leader will stand before the public and give an account of himself sooner or later. Verily, all leaders will be judged by people and history when their time for judgment comes. Tomorrow, it will be the turn of today’s leaders. Indeed, the people of Ethiopia shall judge today’s leaders tomorrow for what they have said and done in their name. I guess that is how history marches. On this occasion, I advice the current leaders not to undermine the people of Ethiopia however weak they may appear outwardly, and I urge them to shape up by drawing a lesson from your case.

Last and least, let me end your trial here. I am not a politician. Nor am I affiliated with any political organizations or groups. I consider myself an independent writer. I would like to think that I love Ethiopia. As a writer, I am duty-bound to expose despotism and falsehood wherever I detect them, and stand on the side of the truth and the people. Whatever I expressed to you was in my capacity as a concerned Ethiopian and a writer. As I said, nothing personal against you. I put on trial only the position you held as a head-of-state. And it was this fact that transpired all my undertaking. I hope this is my last writing to you and on you. If you care to address my concerns and defend yourself, you may do so for the public at large in any language you feel comfortable with. I bid you farewell with this, dear Colonel Mengistu Haile-mariam, First President of Ethiopia, Elect of Self, as opposed to Emperor Haileselassie, “Elect of God”. Or shall we say in both cases, “Elect Of The Barrel of The Gun”? And “elect” of what shall we say of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi now and when he was president? Don’t the two of you have something in common in conducting and winning elections as well as in possessing and controlling absolute power? Is there any possibility that you were his “mentor and role model” pertaining to these? I am just curious.

(Fikre Tolossa, PhD, is a poet-playwright, essayist and educator. His latest book entitled, The Hidden and Untold History of the Jewish People and Ethiopians, as well as his original songs that he himself has composed and plays on the Kirar, will be released soon to the public. His film in English, “Multi-colored Flowers” was featured with great resonance in the USA, Canada, Europe and Ethiopia. He has written extensively on Ethiopian history and culture for the past 20 years upholding the banner of Ethiopiansim high, finding common factors that united the peoples of Ethiopia at a time of identity crisis, historical confusion and denial. Dr. FikreTolossa has authored over forty published and unpublished articles and books in Amharic, German, English and Russian. He could be reached at: [email protected])

38 thoughts on “More questions for Col. Mengistu, and leadership criteria”

  2. Dr. Fikre,

    It is good that you portray yourself by yourself as a giant of a man and as a chicken that lays an ostrich’s huge eggs.

    It is also good that you remain as an outstanding advocate of Ethiopianism even though this pretty Innat Itiopia as clearly summed up and displayed in one single painting (Innat Itiopia,)by your professional colleague artist Afewrq Tekle seems to be in constant deep troubles and restlessness for centuries simply because human right and justice for all is completely missing.

    I am even more pleased in knowing that you even write in Russian which to me means that you are a mountain that lays mountain size eggs.

    On the other hand, and to counter balance the issue, may I HUMBLY ask you as to why you did not and could not write a single book in that uniquely rich, democratic and egalitarian extremely pleasant OROMO language being spoken by about 50% of all of these Ethiopians you love so dearly.

    To the extent that you “ignored and turned your back” on this uniquely democratic majority language, I may say that your character, but not you, amounts to a huge mountain that lays a small dwarf mouse.

    Last but not least, why are you getting so much overactive in flogging a dead horse(fallen and powerless ex-dictator Mengistu) while a voracious active Wayane dictator increasing monopolizing power and practically impoverishing the 80 million Ethiopians currently and forcing them to survive on shameless international hand outs from year to year?

    Even much more absurd in your logic is that you want an irrelevant ex-dictator to be brought to “justice” in front of the currently ruling minority Wayane dictatorship committing documented genocides and gross human rights violations for the last some 20 years that is still going strong even stronger.

    Or are you trying to coordinate and cunningly reconcile ex-dictator Mengistu with the current dictator Meles so that they may form a strong neo Menelik alliance and power base and go on a new conquest of new colonizations and new empire buildings from Shoa to the whole of Somalia, Djibouti the whole of Eritrea and along the way build a highly centralized authoritarian unitary new Abyssinian empire of the 21st century?

  3. Col.Mengistu acted as any brutal,power
    hungry,blood trusty fascist.I don’t believe he can explain any of his actions, and all that he did.I am certain he will not regret any of them. It would be nice to know why choose to flee and not fight to the end or kill himself like Hitler?

  4. Dr. Tolossa,

    Was there slavery in Ethiopia? Can you write about it as well? I agree that you are on to something that could heal our wounds and bring peace for our country and people. But I just wish you would lose your accusatory and judgmental tone, so emotions, feelings, thoughts can flow freely. Don’t dictate the direction of the conversation by passing verdict on anyone instead give those who are directly affected to contact you with whatever information they have so you could distil it in a compact form like this and present it to us. I hope this could grow in to live forum where people can express their sorrows freely so we could reach at some sort of healing and understanding. I’m sure all of us could give a justification for our evil actions and bedevil others. The problem is we will never settle scores and bring back our beloved ones. What we are left with is a chance to share our sadness with those who caused them and telling them that they really hurt us which have, as seen in many parts of the world, the potential for closure, reconciliation and peace. I don’t know where that could take the present political problem in our country. I’m sure it will be very hard to continue to commit atrocity after everyone decided to bury their hatchets and instead forgive each other. Revenge breads more atrocity and conflict and another round of revenge. However, I don’t think evil can stand in the face of forgiveness and peace.

    Great job!

  5. Forgive? This psychological mambo jambo does’t work with me. I have to see revang. Look this buffoon’s followers who were such a living hell to many families. He has to feel the pain. He destroyed the family steractue. He has to feel pain. he has to see what it means to be tortured and loose your life. It is very hard to visit Ethiopia. What can I tell to the families whose loved ones lost their live because of this dummy. Even though they put that red terror cardboard on my back I survived. Among the people shot that day I was the only one who survived. It is very hard to see the faces of those families. I wish him(mengistu) and his family slow and painful decath. Matter of fact I will not spend a dime to read this illiterate man’s story.

  6. Dear Peace:

    Thanks for your comment.

    Remember, I made it clear from the outset- I was assuming the role of the peoples’ judge in this writing. It was in keeping with my premise that I judged. It is to show that the people have power to judge versus governments. In any case drop the judgemental part and focus on the facts.

    Of course, there was slavery in Ethiopoia. We can’t deny this. If I get time, I may write on it.

    I send you peace, Mr. peace.

    Fikre

    Thanks for your comment.

    Fikre

  7. Prior to the UN resolution – 390A, that federated Eritrea with Ethiopia there were overwhelming presence of groups who were mobilizing the Eritrean population for independence – Eritrea Ni Eritrawian, Rabita Al Islamia to name a few.
    The Eritrean fight for independence started way before HaileSelasie annexed Eritrea in November 1962. In fact the armed struggle started in earnest in September 1961, after long peaceful opposition to the federation. So the author’s assertion that Eritrean’s would settle for federation is way of the mark. Aman Andom’s proposal of re-federating Eritrea would certainly be dead on arrival. If it wasn’t for the Soviet intervention masterminded by Mengistu, Eritria would be a free country back in 1977 when Ethiopian soldiers only controlled less than 5% of Eritrean territory. So give the man the credit he deserves.

  8. #2, Peace.
    I wonder, if you are the same “Peace” who is one of the biggest fan and supporter of Meles. Why go back hundreds years of history, if there was slavery or not in Ethiopia? Aren’t 75 millions of Ethiopians being enslaved by woyanes, as we speak? Starting in Egypt thousands of years ago, in India, Ireland, Spain, Chili, you name it — every country has its ugly history of slavery, and Ethiopia has its share of it. Unfortunately, slavery hasn’t end in Ethiopia till this day. TPLF are practicing the 21st. Century slavery on non-Ethiopians by taking their Freedom speech, Freedom of the press, their rights to vote, taking their lands away, throwing innocent people in prison, torturing, robbing and killing–that is my friend –“SLAVERY” at its best.

    Dr. Tolossa, thank you, it is an interesting article. However, I am surprised and strangling to understanding by this statement you made to tyrant Mengestu:
    “Personally, you didn’t inflict any wounds on me. Nor did you leave any scar on my heart. You didn’t rule me, luckily.”
    With all do respect, hasn’t Mengestu left a scar on all Ethiopian hearts for killing our friends, relatives and fellow Ethiopians and leaving our beloved country to another evil regime?

  9. Dr. Fikre,

    Thank you for an excellent analysis and searching questions. However, I doubt that Col. Mengistu will respond. After all, he has not killed even a fly:)!!!!

    I have one serious question for you. Why is it that you have not asked us, the Ethiopian people, why we have not demanded that Col. Mengistu H/Mariam be brought to justice at the Hague International Court of Justice. We all know that the crime he has commited in Ethiopia was, by far, much worse than that of Yugoslavia’s Millosovich and Liberia’s Taylor. Yet, while the latter two faced international justice, Mengistu is living a life of luxury with his partner in crime, Pres. Mugabe!

    You should have asked the basic question as to why we, Ethiopians, allow such criminals as Mengistu to literally get away with murder?! Why is it that we don’t recognize the fact that if we don’t insist on bringing about justice for the brutally murdered compatriots, we and the future generation will be faced with the same or worsew justice.

    Mengistu is still alive and has the temerity to produce a book in which I’m sure he will tell us that he has not killed a fly!

    It’s still not too late to bring him to justice in the Hague if we, Ethiopians, have the guts to bring him to trial where he should find a real day in court, NOT in Addis Ababa by his enemies as well as Ethiopia’s.

  10. Professor Fikre Tolossa’s intellectual dishonesty in regurgitating the myth that was concocted by Emperor Haile-Sellasie and later on embraced by Colonel Menghistu to obfuscate the true cause of the Eritrean struggle for liberation is very disappointing. Eritreans were not struggling to attain “autonomy” or “political power” as the writer seemingly to imply, rather their struggle was to correct the wrong decisions made by the world powers (not Ethiopia) that forcibly federated Eritrea to Ethiopia against the will of the Eritrean people. If the federation was wrong, the forcible annexation was a criminal act.

    Back in the 1950s, when the United Nations decided to federate Eritrea with Ethiopia, it was merely determined by the two Superpower countries – the United States of America and the British government (not Ethiopia). The United Nations was used as a facilitator to carry on the wishes of those two superpowers (not Ethiopia). Of course, the miscarriage of justice did not stop there. Ten years later, the Ethiopian emperor decided to forcibly annex Eritrea against the will of the people of Eritrea. The overwhelming majority of Eritreans felt betrayed not only by the Emperor, but also by the international community for not doing anything to reverse the annexation. Without a doubt, the annexation of Eritrea by Ethiopia was premeditated by the superpowers to benefit their foreign policy. It had nothing to do with Ethiopia.

    The statement made by the late John Foster Dulles back in 1952 was a manifestation of as to how much the U.S. wanted Eritrea to be under the control of Ethiopia for its strategic interest (not Ethiopia’s interest).

    The then U.S. secretary of state John Foster Dulles said:

    “From the point of view of justice, the opinion of the Eritrean people must receive consideration. Nevertheless, the strategic interests of the United States in the Red Sea Basin and world peace make it necessary that the country be linked with our ally Ethiopia.” (U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, 1952)

    If Professor Fikre Tolossa continues to hold the outdated and defeated belief that the U.S. strategic interest that stripped off Eritreans of their sovereignty and led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Eritrean civilians in the hands of successive brutal Ethiopian regimes was “just”, he then has no moral authority whatsoever to condemn the former Ethiopian President Colonel Menghistu Haile-Mariam for the crimes he had committed driven by the same backward belief and defective mentality!

  11. ከዚህ በፊት ዶክተር ፍቅሬ ኮሎኔል መንግስቱ የፃፉትን መፅሃፍ አስመልክተው ያቀረቡትን ግምገማ አንብቤያለሁ። በኔ አመለካከት ግምገማቸው በአብዛኛው ሚዛናዊ ይመስለኛል። ሆኖም አንዳንድ ያልተስማማሁባቸውንና በተለይም የኢትዮጵያን ነባራዊ ሁኔታ ያላገናዘበ ጥያቂዎችንም አንስተዋል። ለምሳሌ ያህል መንግስቱ ኃይለማርያምን የትውልድ ቦታ፣ የት እንዳገጉ ፣ ከማን እንድተውለዱ፣ ስለ አባታቸውና እናታቸው ወዘተ በዝርዘር አጥንታቸውን እየቆጠሩ ያቀረቡት ጥያቄ ሰውየውን በተገባራቸውና በስራቸው ከመገምገም ይልቅ በማንነታችው ላይ ለማተኮር የሚደረገው አካሄድ ኢትዮጵያን ለማስተዳዳር ብቃት ያለው የት ያደገና የት የተወለደ ነው መሆን ያለበት የሚል ሌላ ጥያቄ እንዲነሳ በር ይከፍታል። ማንም ግለሰብ ኢትዮጵያዊ እስክሆነ ድረስ የትም ይወለድና ይደግ በስራው ብቻ ነው መገምገም ያለበት። ኢትዮጵያ በድህነት የደቀቀች የበርካታ ብሔረሰቦች አገር መሆኗን መዘንጋት የለብንም።

  12. I wonder if there be something wrong about the people of Ethiopia, for not being frank open and straight forward about their leaders of lack of civilized agreement. I believe something wrong is lies in the mind set of the public either religious or cultural.

    Or the general public fears the military unlike other people, why then suffer slavery than mass disobedience or organized under united motto of electing its own leaders

    I think a lot to learn from the people of India, taking their number into consideration, they are able to sift and elect their true leader democratically organized.

    I don’t leave this question to Dr Fikre but to who are professionals in the field of politics, social studies….

    thank you and I am ashamed by the personalitities of Mengistu and Meles who share common trait and whom i happened to leave under their leadership.

    Long live Ethiopia but I don’t know how?

  13. The article by a distinguished scholar is not only addressed to Mengistu, a person no longer relevant, but to those who still view him as hero, and to the evil among us who, given the opportunity, would repeat bloody history.

  14. If Gen Aman Micheal Andom was a leading at that criticaly time I think the Eritreans case were in danger.Jebha callad him I remember kahdi 1974 and they were willing and ready to kill him.
    Aman was born in Kartum 1924 and came to Ethiopia with the king 1941.His brother Meles and Yohannes were both Ambassador in Egybtian and Yemen and His Sister Elsabiet dead att early 16 year old age ,but Tsion Micheal is still a live in Addis.

  15. ለ ጸሀፊ ዶክ- ፍቅሬ ቶሎሳ አንዳንድ ያልተስማማሁባቸን ሀሳቦችና ያለኝ አስተያየት። 1- 9 ቁጥር የጻፈዉን እንዳለ። 2ኛ ድሮም ወታደር ስለሆንክ አገር መምራት አትችልም ላልከዉ አማን ቢመራ ኖሮ ከምትለዉ ሀሳብህ ይቃረናል በነገራችን ላይ በዛ ጊዜ የነበሩ መኮንኖች አብዛኞቹ በሚሊተሪ አካዳሚ ና በተለያዩ አገሮች በከፍተኛ ትምህርት የተመረቁ ነበሩ በተረፈ አገር የመምራት ሞያ ትምህርትቤት ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ አልሰማሁም በኒዉዮርክ ዳዉንታዉን ማንሀተን አይቻለሁ 3ኛጥያቄዎችህ ላይ ትንሽ ወደ ንጉሣዉያኑ ያደላህ ይመስላል በተጨማሪም ወያኔን ትንሽ ገረፍ እንዳረግከዉ ሀይለሥላሴንስ ለምሳሌ በኤርትራ ምዕራባዊ ቆላ ለሚገኙ ህዝቦች ከመንግስቱ በከፋ መልኩ መንደሮችን በወታደሮች በመክመብ ጨፍጭፈዋል አቃጥለዋል ሌላም ዛሬ በኢራን እንደምንሰማዉ አስመራ ዉስጥ ስዉ ዕዳጋ ሐሙስ በተባለ ሥፍራ በበግ ተራ ገበያ ላይ ሰዉ ይሰቀል ነበር ቀይሽብር የተጀመረዉ የዛኔ ነበርእ 4ኛ አዎ መንግስቱ በትክክል ነፍሰገዳይ ወንጀለኛ ነው ነገር ግን አንድ እጅግ የሚገርም ነገር ከህዝቡም ከወታደሩም ብዙ ተባባሪ ወንጀለኞች ነበሩት ለምሳሌ አንዱን እንግደለዉ ከተባለ አዎ አዎ የለም እንተወ ካለ ሌላዉ ልክነዉ አዎ በማለት ማጨብጨብ በመፈንቅለ መንግሥቱ ከተገደሉት ጀነራሎች አዲ ጋእዳድ በተባለ ቦታ በፓንት ብቻ ራቆታቸዉን በመረሸን ነዳጅ ጨምረዉ በማቃጠል ለግማሹ ደግሞ በሂወት እያለ በመኪና አስረዉ በመጎተት ገደልዋቸዉ እና የህ ዛሬ ሶማሌ ዉስጥ የምናየዉ ሰዉ ሬሳ መጎተት የተጀመረዉ ያዉም ከነ ሂወቱ ሌላ ይህ መንደር በወታደር እየከበቡ ማቃጠል ህዝብን ሠብስቦ ታንክ በላየቸዉ ላይ መንዳት በመንግሥቱም ጊዜም ቀጠለ ይህ ሁሉ ወታደር ሆኜ ያየሁት ሀቅ ነዉ ያዉም ከብዙ በጥቂቱ ፀረ ህዝብ ሸሸ ስካር ሸጠ እየተባለ የተረሸነ ወታደር ቁጥር የለዉም ስለዚህ ፈጻሚዎችም መልቀምና ለፍርድ ማቅረብ 5ኛ አማን ሰለ ፌደረሽኑ ያቀረበዉን ሀሳብ ደርግ ስላልተቀበለዉ ስብሰባዉን ጥሎ ወደቤቱ ሄደና መንግሥቱ ደግሞ አማን ለህዝብ በማሳወቅ ድጋፍ እንዳያገኝ በመሥጋት ቀደመው ትልቁ ጥያቄ ታድያ አንተ በወቅቱ ለህዝብ አስታዉቀሀል ራሻ ሆነህ ስለ ራስህ ለቢቢሲ እንደተናገርከዉ 6ኛየመሬት ጉዳይ ስላልከዉ እንድያዉም ደርግ መርየት ላራሹ በማለቱ የተወደደበት ጉዳይ ይመስለኛል 7ኛ አማን ለኤርትራ ህዝብ እርግጠኛ ፍላጎታቹ ፌዴሬሽን ከሆነ ይሳካል በማለት የሰጠዉ ተስፋ ቢሳካ ኖሮ ላልከዉ ነገር ግን ሀቁ የኤርትራ ህዝብ ጥያቄግን ነጻነት በቻ ነበርና አማንም አዲስ ነገር ሊፈጥር አይችልም ደግሞም ግለሰብ አስተዋጽዖ ከማድረግ አልፎ ታሪክ መስራት አይችልምደርግ በዙ ነገር ዋሸን አሁንም ቢሆን ሩቅ ሳንሄድ በቅኝ ግዛት የነበሩ አገሮች በሙሉ ነጻ ሲሆኑ ኤርትራም ነጻ ሀገር ነች ስለዚህ አማራጩ ተባብሮ መሥራት ብቻ ነዉ ።

  16. በእኔ አመለካከት እነዚህ ጥያቄዎች መላክ ያለባቸው ለአሳታሚው ለፀሃይ አሳታሚ መሆን አለበት። ለእነዚህ ጥያቄዎች በቂ መልስ ካልሰጡ አላትምም ማለት መቻል አለበት። አለዚያ አንባቢያንም “የለም አንገዛም” ማለት መቻል አለባቸው። በገነት አየለ አማካይነት የነገሩንን የ“ትንኝ እንኳን አልገደልኩም” አይነት ክህደትና ቅጥፈት እንዲደግሙትና ገንዘባችንን እንደገና በከንቱ እንድናጠፋ አንፈልግም። ስለዚህ ዶ/ር ፍቅሬ ቶሎሳና ሌሎችም ኢትዮጵያውያን ያቀረቡዋቸው ጥያቄዎች ለአቶ ኤልያስ፣ የፀሃይ አሳታሚ ባለቤት ይላኩና በእሳቸውም በኩል ግፊት ይደረግ። እዚህ በውጪ ያለን በፖለቲካው መስክ የምንሳተፍ ወገኖችም ጫና እናድርግ። እስከመቼ ድምፃችን ሳይሰማ ይቆያል?የኢትዮጵያን ሪቪው አቶ ኤልያስም ሌላ ጊዜ እንደምታደርገው በዚሁ ጉዳይ ላይ በእውነት ላይ የተመሠረተ ግፊት እንድታደርግ ትጠበቃለህ።
    አመሰግናለሁ
    በሃይሉ

  17. ኢትዮጵያ ታደሺ – እንድትቀደሺ

    በሐጢአታችን ምክንያት የመጣብሽን መከራ ኢትዮጵያ ታግሰሽ:
    የጥፋትሽን ዘመን ስንቆጥረው በ1928 በጣልያን እረክሰሽ:
    የጥፋት ዘመንሽ ሰባ-አምስት ዓመት ተቆጠረ ፍርድሽ:
    በላተኛው አሞራ ተዋርዶ ሄደልሽ ያርከሰሽ ጠላትሽ:
    አራት አመት ቀረ ቅድስናሽ በተስፋ ለሚጠብቁሽ:
    ስንወድቅ ስንነሳ ስንወጣ ስንወርድ ተቆጠረ ሱባኤሽ:
    ከረከሽበት እስከ ትንሳኤሽ ስሌቱን ስንቆጥረው ሰባ-ሰባት
    ዓመት ሆነ ዘመነ ማቴዎስ መታደሻሽ:
    ኢትዮጵያ ተምነሽነሺ ዳንውንታውንሽ ከተማሽ ምርቱ ተትረፈረፈልሽ:
    በላተኛው ሄዶ ጾመኛው ይምጣልሽ ለቅድስናሽ:
    ንሰሓ ያልገቡ ተጠርጉልሽ እንደጉሺ ስትነሺ:
    ንጉሱ ይወጣል ከመሃል ከተማሽ ለዘውድሽ:
    ጠቅላይ ምንስቴሩም ይመረጠል ከሕዝብሽ:
    ከምስራቅ ይወጣል ሊቀ-ጳጳስሽ ሊቀድስሽ:
    ኢትዮጵያ ሆይ የምስራች እንኳን ደስ አለሽ:
    ጦርነት ስደት ረሀብና ችግር ይብቃሽ:
    ኢትዮጵያ ሆይ እግዚአብኤር ታድጎ ለሁለተኛው ዘመነ ማቴዎስ በሰላም ያድርስሽ::

    – ልሳነ ኢትዮጵያ – መጋቢት 1, 2000

  18. The most ruthless leaders throughout world history – by Ian Farquharson

    While many leaders in the history of the world have earned the loyalty of their people through kindness, strength and generosity there are others that have taken the opposite route. Many leaders have chosen to control their population and put fear into their enemies through intimidation, torture and much worse. There have been a host of kings, princes and other leaders that have gone down in history with ruthless reputations and these are just a few of them

    Vlad the Impaler

    Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia earned the nickname Vlad the Impaler during his reign, which gives an indication of the man. He gained and lost power in Wallachia three times during the years 1456 to 1462 and had a fearsome reputation amongst his own population as well as his enemies. He was known to inflict cruel punishment on his enemies and those of his own people that displeased him. Impalement was said to be his favored method of torture and execution, hence the name he came to be remembered by, although many other forms of torture were used. His Romanian surname was Dracula leading to speculation that he was in part an inspiration for the famous Vampire character. However his deeds in real life outdid anything that fiction could imagine and this has earned him a reputation as one of the most ruthless leaders in world history.

    Genghis Khan

    Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire which is one of the largest civilizations ever to be created in the history of mankind. While in some areas of the world he seen as a noble leader in others he is viewed as a genocidal warlord, bent on destruction. Whichever way you look at it there is no denying that he could be a ruthless leader and his military conquests are the stuff of legends. During his expansion of the Mongol Empire he took many cities and populations and there are a number of stories of the brutality he showed to those he conquered. This could include the destruction of whole cities and populations and gained him a legacy as one of the most ruthless tyrants in history.

    Pol Pot

    Pol Pot was Brother Number One of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia which came to power in the country during the mid 1970’s. They took the decision to impose an agrarian society on the people of Cambodia and most of the city dwellers were made to leave their homes and work as forced labor in collective farms in the country. Pol Pots reign also saw a backlash against the so called elite of Cambodia and anyone who was considered to be educated was likely to be tortured and executed. The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot were the architects of the killing fields where many Cambodians lost their lives in mass executions. During his time in control of the country it is estimated that around 2 to 2.5 million people died which was around 20% of the entire population. The reign of the Khmer Rouge was one of the most brutal in history and it was largely his fellow countrymen and women who suffered at the hands of Pol Pot.

    Adolf Hitler

    If you ask most people in the modern world the name of the most evil man in history, Adolf Hitler is likely to be at the top of the list. He was the leader of the Nazi Party in the lead up to and during the Second World War. During this he unleashed the Holocaust when claimed the lives of an estimated 11 to 17 million people. This specifically targeted the Jewish race, but also homosexuals, those with disabilities and a number of ethnic races from central European countries. With Concentration Camps set up to exterminate these people, Hitler was responsible for one of the worst cases of genocide in the history of mankind. His invasion of Poland also set in motion World War II and his war machine was responsible for many atrocities as they attempted to conquer many of the lands of Europe. Ultimately this proved to be futile as the Allies were successful, with Hitler committing suicide in a bunker in Berlin. However for the terror he unleashed Hitler ranks at the top end of the list of most ruthless leaders.

    Josef Stalin

    Stalin ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist from 1922 until he died in 1953. His rule was brutal and he was ruthless against his political enemies. He launched the Great Purge in the late 1930’s which was initially aimed at ridding the Communist Party of those Stalin considered to be treacherous, although this was widened to all societies of Russia and resulted in the deaths of millions of people. He also forced collective farming practices on Russia, although this turned out to be a disaster and the upheaval it caused resulted in widespread famine which was responsible for the deaths of millions more. During Stalin’s reign it is estimated that up to 20 to 30 million people may have died either as a result of his brutality or due to the practices he forced on the Russian population. This makes him one of the most ruthless leaders there has ever been.

    Many leaders over the years have earned brutal reputations as a result of their treatment of their own populations as well as their enemies. Those named above ended their reigns with much blood on their hands and are now looked upon as some of the most ruthless that have lived.

    [Mengistu has been called the Black Stalin]

  20. Dear Dr. Fikre,

    As usual, you inspire me and I always look forward to your writing every time about Ethiopia or other things. It is amazing there is hardly anyone telling us about our past and present hisotry or we ourselves bury it move on with ourlives for fear of being criticized or for loving Ethiopia too much. Your writing inspires me because in most of your writing you tend to be neutral and I can tell you do your extensive research before writing unlike those who are distorting Ethiopa’s history for their own objective. Our history is losing because no one is researching and writing on it but anti Ethioians are gaining momentum in spewing false history on Ethiopia. Ignorning this which we have done since the control of TPLF is causing Ethiopia in great danger not to mention division.

    Thank you, for the first time someone had said it, what the criteria should be when a nation elects a president. No one asks such questions. Especially demanding this should be easier for Western nations. Our second nation, U.S in my belief would have been spared todays’ economic woos, unnecessary wars that is breeding more anti Americanism if Bush Junior was not elected. When he took power, one can tell his emotions from his past that the purpose to be president was for his mere self interest rather than what would be good for the U.S. Bush Junior wanted to show his father what he is capable of since he had a fall out with his father. He also had vendatta against Sadam Hussein because Sadam embarrassed and crossed Bush senior during his presidency. What is more, Bush has been alcoholic and born again. People with such addiciton and righiousness tend not to be rational and in their decision making. People around him new that and they pushed their agenda because Bush completely relied on them.

    As leaders in Africa,since the majority are and were dictators, in most cases citizens have no power or the chance to elect the president they elect. Rememember also, one of the unfortunate thing about Africa is even thought there is beauty in diversity, our diversity in language and ethncity has also been curse and against unity. Until this day, what needs to change and be taught is about ethnicity, langauge differences and unity. These three need to be addressed from the grass roots so that out of this a good leader will be bred that holds the country safe in addition to democracy.

    Mengistu’s issue should be in ICC no doubt. As someone mentioned above, I am surprised even Weyanes are not demanding that. I wonder why? Coluld there be some kind of link between Mengistu and Weyanes? Perhaps people have not moved on because there is no closure for Mengistu’s attrocities by putting him on ICC. In addition putting him on ICC will bring Weyanes questions in their mind, this could be them tomorrow at ICC and better change their course.

    Finally, I wish I said hello to you Dr. Fikre when I saw you once when I visited the Bay Area. I know I can learn a lot from you. Please advice people to learn about the history of Ethiopia from depth not superficially, about its independence, rastafarianism, etc. the usual Mambo jumbo.

    Long live my beloved Ethiopia!

  21. OF THE COMING OF THE ANTICHRIST, THE SON OF PERDITION

    IN a week and half a week4 after the destruction of these wretches shall the son of destruction appear. He shall be conceived in Chorazin, born in Bethsaida, and reared in Capernaum. Chorazin shall exult because he was conceived in her, Bethsaida because he was born in her, and Capernaum because he was brought up in her; for this reason our Lord proclaimed Woe to these three (cities) in the Gospel5. As soon as the son of perdition is revealed, the king of the Greeks will go up and stand upon Golgotha, where our Lord was crucified; and he will set the royal crown upon the top of the holy Cross, upon which our Lord was p. 130 crucified; and he will stretch out his two hands to heaven; and will deliver over the kingdom to God the Father. The holy Cross will be taken up to heaven, and the royal crown with it; and the king will die immediately. The king who shall deliver over the kingdom to God will be descended from the seed of Kûshath the daughter of Pîl, the king of the Ethiopians; for Armelaus (Romulus) the king of the Greeks took Kûshath to wife, and the seed of the Ethiopians was mingled with that of the Greeks. From this seed shall a king arise who shall deliver the kingdom over to God, as the blessed David has said, ‘Cush will deliver the power to God1.’ When the Cross is raised up to heaven, straightway shall every head and every ruler and all powers be brought to nought, and God will withdraw His providential care from the earth. The heavens will be prevented from letting fall rain, and the earth from producing germs and plants; and the earth shall remain like iron through drought, and the heavens like brass. Then will the son of perdition appear, of the seed and of the tribe of Dan; and he will shew deluding phantasms, and lead astray the world, for the simple will see the lepers cleansed, the blind with their eyes opened, the paralytic walking, the devils cast out, the sun when he looks upon it becoming black, the moon when he commands it becoming changed, the trees putting forth fruit from their branches, and the earth making roots to grow. He will shew deluding phantasms (of this kind), but he will not be able to raise the dead. He will go into Jerusalem and will sit upon a throne in the temple saying, ‘I am the Christ;’ and he will be borne aloft by legions of devils like a king and a lawgiver, naming himself God, and saying, ‘I am the fulfilment of the types and the parables.’ He will put an end to prayers and offerings, as if at his appearance prayers are to be abolished and men will not need sacrifices and offerings along with him. He becomes a man incarnate by a married woman of the tribe of Dan. When this son of destruction becomes a man, he will be made a dwelling-place for devils, and all Satanic workings will be perfected in him. There will be gathered together with him all the devils and all the hosts of the Indians; and before all the Indians and before all men will the mad Jewish nation believe in him, saying, ‘This is the p. 131 Christ, the expectation of the world.’ The time of the error of the Antichrist will last two years and a half, but others say three years and six months. And when every one is standing in despair, then will Elijah (Elias) come from Paradise, and convict the deceiver, and turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers; and he will encourage and strengthen the hearts of the believers.

  22. OF THE HAPPINESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE TORMENT OF SINNERS, AND IN WHAT STATE THEY ARE THERE

    IT is right for us to know and explain how those suffer, who suffer in Gehenna. If they do suffer, how can we say that they are impassible? and if they do not suffer, then there is no torture for sinners; and if there be no torture for sinners in proportion to their sins, neither can there be happiness for the righteous as a reward for their labours. The suffering wherewith the Fathers say that sinners will suffer in Gehenna is not one that will pain the limbs, such as the blows of sticks, the mutilation of the flesh, and the breaking of the bones, but one that will afflict the soul, such as grief for the transgression of what is right, repentance for shameful deeds, and banishment from one to whom he is bound in love and for whom his affection is strong. For in the resurrection we shall not be without perception, like the sun which perceives not his splendour, nor the moon her brilliancy, nor the pearl its beauty; but by the power of reason we shall feel perfectly the delight of our happiness or the keen pain of our torture. So then by that which enables the righteous to perceive the pleasure of their happiness, by that selfsame thing will the wicked also perceive the suffering of their torment; (that is) by the power capable of receiving pleasure, which is the intelligence. Hence it is right for us to be certain that intelligence will not be taken p. 138 away from us, but it will receive the utmost purification and refinement. The glorious and good things of the world which is to come are not to be compared with those of this world; for if all the glorious and good things and delights of this world were given to us in the world which is to come, we should look upon them as hateful and abominable, and they would not be able to give us pleasure or to gladden us; and our nature by the blessedness of its immortality would be exalted above all their glory and desirability. And if all the torments and afflictions and troubles of this world were brought near to us in the world which is to come, the pain of them would make no impression upon our immortal and immutable nature. Hence the pleasure of that world is something beyond all comparison more glorious and excellent and exalted than those of this world; and the torment of yonder is likewise something beyond all comparison more severe and more bitter than any that is here. It is also right for us to explain the quality of the light of the righteous. The light of the righteous is not of a natural origin like this elemental light (of ours), but some of the light of our Lord–whose splendour surpasses ten thousand suns–is diffused and shed upon them. Each saint shines in proportion to his purity, and holiness and refinement and sincerity, as the blessed Paul has said, ‘One star surpasseth another in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead1.’ And although all the saints will be happy in one kingdom, yet he who is near to the King or the Bridegroom will be separated from him whose place is at the end of the guest-chamber, even though his place be in the same chamber. So also with the sinners in Gehenna; their sentence will not be alike, for in proportion to the sin of each will be his torment. And as the light of the sun is not to be compared with the light of the moon, nor is the light of the moon like that of the stars, so also will the happiness of the righteous be, although the name and honour of righteousness be laid upon and spread over all of them. And as the light of our Lord’s humanity will pass over all our limbs without distinction, and take the place of dress and ornament for us, so also with all our members shall we perceive the suffering and torment of Gehenna. The festal garments which our Lord has prepared for His saints, the children p. 139 of light, are impassibility; and the filthy garments which hinder us from entering into the spiritual bridal-chamber are the passions. In the new world there will be no distinctive names for ranks and conditions of human beings; and as every name and surname attributed to God and the angels had its origin from this world, and names for human beings were assigned and distributed by the government of this world, in the world of spiritual and intellectual natures there will be neither names nor surnames among them, nor male nor female, nor slave nor free, nor child nor old man, nor Ethiopian nor Roman (Greek); but they will all rise in the one perfect form of a man thirty-three years of age, as our Lord rose from the dead. In the world to come there will be no companies or bands but two; the one of the angels and the righteous, who will mingle and form one Church, and the other of the devils and sinners in Gehenna. –The Book of the Bee

  23. HOW IT IS NOT A SEEMLY THING TO REVILE THE KING

    Now it is not a seemly thing to revile the king, for he is the anointed of God. It is neither seemly nor good. If he doeth that which is good he will not suffer loss in three kingdoms; First, God shall overthrow for him his enemy, and he shall not be seized by the hand of his enemy. Secondly, God shall make him reign with Him and with His righteousness, and shall make him to sit on His right hand. Thirdly, God shall make him to reign upon earth with glory and joy, and shall direct his kingdom for him, and shall bring down the nations under his feet. And if he treateth God lightly, and doth not do that which is good, and doth not himself walk in the path of uprightness, God shall work as He pleaseth against him; on earth He will make his days to be few, and in heaven (sic) his place of abode shall be the habitation of Sheôl with the Devil. And on earth he shall enjoy neither health nor gladness [and he shall live] in fear and terror, without peace and with perturbation.
    It is not a good thing for any of those who are under the dominion of a king to revile him, for retribution belongeth to God. Now the priests are like the prophets, only better than the prophets, for the mysteries are given unto them, so that they may lay hold upon the sun of righteousness, whilst the Seraphim, who were created out of fire, are only able to lay hold upon the mysteries with tongs. As for the priests He named them “salt,” and moreover, He named the priests “lamp” and also “light of the world,” and also “the sun that lighteneth the darkness,” Christ, the Sun of righteousness, being in their hearts. And a priest, who hath in him understanding, rebuketh the king concerning the work that he hath seen; and that which he hath not seen God will enquire into, and there is none who can call Him to account. Moreover, the people must not revile the bishops and the priests, for they are the children of God and the men of His house, for which reason they must rebuke [men] for their sins and errors. And thou, O priest, if thou seest sin in a well-known man, shalt not hesitate to rebuke him; let neither sword nor exile make thee afraid. And hear how angry God was with Isaiah because he did not rebuke King ‘Ûzyân (Uzziah). And hearken also concerning Samuel the Prophet, how he rebuked Saul 1 the king, being in no way afraid of him, and how he rent his kingdom [from him] by his word; and [hearken also] how Elijah [rebuked] Ahab. 2 Do thou then fear not, and rebuke and teach him that transgresseth.
    And Israel from of old reviled their kings and provoked their prophets to wrath, and in later times they crucified their Saviour. But believing Christian folk dwell in peace, without sickness and suffering, without hatred and offence, with our king who loveth God and who removeth not from his heart the thing of righteousness, and faith in the Churches and in the believers. And his enemies shall be scattered by the might of the Cross of Jesus Christ. –Kebre Negest

  24. WHETHER MERCY WILL BE SHEWN TO SINNERS AND THE DEVILS IN GEHENNA, AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN TORMENTED AND SUFFERED AND BEEN PUNISHED, OR NOT? AND IF MERCY IS TO BE SHEWN TO THEM, WHEN WILL IT BE?

    SOME of the Fathers terrify us beyond our strength and throw us into despair; and their opinion is well adapted to the simple-minded and trangressors of the law. Others of them encourage us and bid us rely upon Divine mercy; and their opinions are suitable and adapted to the perfect and those of settled minds and the pious. In the ‘Book of Memorials’ it is thus written: ‘This world is the world of repentance, but the world which is to come is the world of retribution. As in this world repentance saves until the last breath, so in the world to come justice exacts to the uttermost farthing. And as it is impossible to see here strict justice unmingled with mercy, so it is impossible to find there strict justice mingled with mercy.’ Mâr Isaac says thus: ‘Those who are to be scourged in Gehenna will be tortured with stripes of p. 140 love; they who feel that they have sinned against love will suffer harder and more severe pangs from love than the pain that springs from fear.’ Again he says: ‘The recompense of sinners will be this: the resurrection itself will be their recompense instead of the recompense of justice; and at the last He will clothe those bodies which have trodden down His laws with the glory of perfection. This act of grace to us after we have sinned is greater than that which, when we were not, brought our nature into being.’ Again he says: ‘In the world which is to come grace will be the judge and not justice.’ Mâr Theodore the Expositor says: ‘Those who have here chosen fair things will receive in the world to come the pleasure of good things with praises; but the wicked who have turned aside to evil things all their life, when they are become ordered in their minds by penalties and the fear that springs from them, and choose good things, and learn how much they have sinned by having persevered in evil things and not in good things, and by means of these things receive the knowledge of the highest doctrine of the fear of God, and become instructed to lay hold of it with a good will, will be deemed worthy of the happiness of the Divine liberality. For He would never have said, “Until thou payest the uttermost farthing,” unless it had been possible for us to be freed from our sins through having atoned for them by paying the penalty; neither would He have said, “he shall be beaten with many stripes,” or “he shall be beaten with few stripes,” unless it were that the penalties, being meted out according to the sins, should finally come to an end.’ These things the Expositor has handed down in his books clearly and distinctly. So also the blessed Diodorus, who says in the ‘Book of the Dispensation1:’ ‘A lasting reward, which is worthy of the justice of the Giver, is laid up for the good, in return for their labours; and torment for sinners, but not everlasting, that the immortality which is prepared for them may not be worthless. They must however be tormented for a short time, as they deserve, in proportion to the measure of their iniquity and wickedness, according to the amount of the wickedness of their deeds. This they will have to bear, that they suffer for a short time; but immortal and unending happiness is prepared for them. If it be then p. 141 that the rewards of good deeds are as great (in proportion to them) as the times of the immortality which are prepared for them are longer than the times of the limited contests which take place in this world, the torments for many and great sins must be very much less than the greatness of mercy. So then it is not for the good only that the grace of the resurrection from the dead is intended, but also for the wicked; for the grace of God greatly honours the good, but chastises the wicked sparingly.’ Again he says: ‘God pours out the wages of reward beyond the measure of the labours (wrought), and in the abundance of His goodness He lessens and diminishes the penalty of those who are to be tormented, and in His mercy He shortens and reduces the length of the time. But even thus He does not punish the whole time according to (the length of) the time of folly, seeing that He requites them far less than they deserve, just as He does the good beyond the measure and period (of their deserts); for the reward is everlasting. It has not been revealed whether the goodness of God wishes to punish without ceasing the blameworthy who have been found guilty of evil deeds (or not), as we have already said before. But if punishment is to be weighed out according to sin, not even so would punishment be endless. For as regards that which is said in the Gospel, ‘These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal4;’ this word ‘eternal’ (le-`âlam) is not definite: for if it be not so, how did Peter say to our Lord, ‘Thou shalt never wash my feet5,’ and yet He washed him? And of Babylon He said, ‘No man shall dwell therein for ever and ever6,’ and behold many generations dwell therein. In the ‘Book of Memorials’ he says: ‘I hold what the most celebrated of the holy Fathers say, that He cuts off a little from much. The penalty of Gehenna is a man’s mind; for the punishment p. 142 there is of two kinds, that of the body and that of the mind. That of the body is perhaps in proportion to the degree of sin, and He lessens and diminishes its duration; but that of the mind is for ever, and the judgment is for ever.’ But in the New Testament le-`âlam is not without end. To Him be glory and dominion and praise and exaltation and honour for ever and ever. Amen and Amen. –The Book of the Bee an Ethiopic extant.

  25. Mr/sealord- First of all I dont belive you are what you claimed to be.These days as there are not any ships to anchor at Massawa ,I assume that spot has become a lodging place for swarms of flies;In such a case I believe your lord ship has little to do with the sea but in real sense it has all to do being lord over swarms of flies.

    your cliam,

    “Eritreans were not struggling to attain “autonomy” or “political power” as the writer seemingly to imply.”

    The ELF was formed in the Sudan by
    Eritrian exiles in the later part of 1961.Until 1970 the only legitmate organization representing the eritrian people was ELF. out a myth that was popularized by Haileselase and derge.What myth are you talking about?Infact, the eritrian struggle started as an Arab struggle.What is more the ELF trainig camp in Kasala used Arabic to train its soldiers,in protest against Arabic as preferrd language over tigrigne, comander Tekli woldu and one hundred armed men under his command surrenderd to Ethiopian autorities.Osama sali sabe who held membership in both shabia and gevha,who himself was maried to a Syrian openly declared Eririans are Arabs.In his official position as shabia representatve in the Arab capital, he was able to secure financial support by presenting the Eritria struggle as the pan-Arab movement.In domestic front ,Eritrians had problem of waging a unified war aginst Ethiopia. Differences over language,religion,and culture is used as a guise to conceal the existing power struggle by the leaders.
    What is more, since there has never been an independent eritria before 1890, according to Elrich, Eritrians were unable to rally under the banner of “eritria our mother land”.
    In the absence of any commen organizing princple,Eritrians remain stuck in to their enternicen war.The leaders of the fronts by emphasizing the exsiting differences of religion,laguage,ribal failed to form unity.Thanks to the arival of tplf and Osman S sabe’s finacial drive that brought Shabia to Asmara.
    Last but not least what are you doing in the Ethiopian forum any way?

  26. Dr. Fikre and Ato Elias,

    Thank you for the article and its hosting in the Ethiopiran Review, a venue for great ideas and challenges.

    All the comments are interesting perspectives but I hope that all of us would not be satisfied with them. We need to take a concrete action to bring the criminal dictator to justice at ICC if, for nothing else, for the purpose of sending a clear message to current and future Ethiopian leaders that they could not get away with murder! By bringing justice to such brutal dictators, we would also enhance the dignity and respect for the Ethiopian people.

    Please launch a campaign to bring Murderer Mengistu to justice at the ICC as only a coordinated, effective action directed at the EU, AU, UN, and some influential countries such as USA would do the job.

    For those people who think that such an action against Mengistu would weaken the on-going struggle against the brutal regime in Ethiopia, let me say that (a)Melles Zenawi’s oppression is the consequence of Mengistu’s murderous oppression; and (b) we’re capable of conducting two forms of struggle at the same time. After all, both are complementary in their brutality against the Ethiopian people.

    Dr. Fikre and Ato Elias: please take your effort one step further by launching the campaign as you possess the required basic credibility, experience, and leadership qualities!!!!

  27. Where there is no prophecy the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

    When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

    He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.

    A wicked man accepts a bribe from the bosom to pervert the ways of justice.

    When wickedness comes, contempt comes also; and with dishonor comes disgrace.

    A wise king winnows the wicked,
    and drives the wheel over them.

    Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
    the lamp of the wicked, are sin.

    The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.

    The soul of the wicked desires evil;
    his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

    Fret not yourself because of evildoers,
    and be not envious of the wicked;
    for the evil man has no future;
    the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

    He who says to the wicked, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations; but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will be upon them.

    Take away the dross from the silver,
    and the smith has material for a vessel;
    take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

    Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

    He who hates, dissembles with his lips
    and harbors deceit in his heart;
    when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with guile, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

    The wicked flee when no one pursues,
    but the righteous are bold as a lion.

    Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them.

    When the righteous triumph, there is great glory; but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

    Like a roaring lion or a charging bear
    is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

    When the wicked rise, men hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase.

    The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, but lawlessness takes away lives.

    When the wicked dies, his hope perishes,
    and the expectation of the godless comes to nought.

    With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

    –The Proverbs, Old Testament, The Bible

  28. Dessta Tadesse was the first professional cameraman in Ethiopia. he graduated from renown cinematography institute in Moscow in early 70s. beyond that Dessta was a modest humble collegial person. he was the eon who established ye cinima maikel during derg time. great loss for miskin Ethiopia.

  29. And sew kemote sle ´su menager bizu asfelaghi ayhonm. Derg betam yemiaskafa shinfetun teknanbo ke Eritrea ´na ke Ethiopia keweta behwala be “ye Ethiopia asnwari yetarik mezgheb” wist sefro ynoral. Ye Derg tarik be dergawyan lisenned aychlem, be sefiw ye Ethiopia ´na Eritrea hizboch inji.
    Ye miyaznew ye dergen yemeselena kesu yebase tarik sideggem mayetachn new be Ethiopia. Yewega biresa yetewega ayresa teblo yelle. Teketatay ye Ethiopia mengistat be Ethiopia ´na Eritrea hizboch lay yaweredut ghif meqter yemichal aydellem.TG

  30. I too appreciated to disclose how and what the Mengistu régime did. But, one vital thing that was unseen is, we should also, mentioned those who carried out his wicked commands. I am one of the honest victims who wore terrorized, jailed, tortured and left to die. Unfortunately, I survived. I left my beloved country 25 years ago and I tell you what, to make the matter worst, about six months ago, I met the person who tortured me 25 years ago. I leave the judgment to you.

  31. Dear Dr Tollosa

    I have actually lived next to ato bealu girma’s family but we couldm”t even go amd see them as there was a constant police presence. You brought back memory very sad memories do you consider yourself lucky?

  32. What a revealing, informing and mesmerizing article. Assuming the additional almost two decades of age, possibly wisdom/regret/search for truth that exist in some people as they age had visited Col. Megistu, he will take his time to read it all and figure out how to respond.
    ———
    “I am duty-bound to expose despotism and falsehood wherever I detect them, and stand on the side of the truth and the people. Whatever I expressed to you was in my capacity as a concerned Ethiopian and a writer. As I said, nothing personal against you. I put on trial only the position you held as a head-of-state. And it was this fact that transpired all my undertaking.” F.T. Ph. D.

    “I hope this is my last writing to you and on you. If you care to address my concerns and defend yourself, you may do so for the public at large in any language you feel comfortable with. I bid you farewell with this, dear Colonel Mengistu Haile-mariam,…” F. T. Ph. D.

    I doubt if this will be your last time. If at all it is, still, the preceding article and this one will leave invaluable foot note in a nut shell for future researchers.

    Thank you for refreshing clarity on what took place

  34. Dr Tollosa

    You have certainly did your reading while lots of ethiopians who are now residents of Uk and America etc were in it I do remember my father when taking me and my brothers telling us to sleep in the car so we don’t have to see young boys and girls lying on the streets of Addis when I though about it was a punishment to be a parent in Mengistu’s regime at that time it was kind of true what it said in the bible “Yaleweledech mahitsen egziabherine tamesegimalech” then again that is not true because our neighbors didn’t have children but whenever abiyot tebakiwoch came to our house to take me and my brothers just because we didn’t attend one nikat program or just for the sake of taking us our neighbor came out with my mum cried and begged these evils how confusing nothing makes sense.

    Dr Tollosa what I am trying to get at here is thar Mengistu is suffering he is testing the water that millions of Ethiopians have tested he lives in fear I heard from somebody who went and visited him that he always had a gun in his lap he doesn’t trust his guards. And now I read on the papers here in Uk that president Mugabe is diagnosed with cancer and very frail. Believe me I wouldn’t have wished this on anybody but Mengistu’s days are numbered then again I don’t want him to go to woyanne’s kangaroo court and not to ICC either I will expect him to do the decent thing and kill himself. I remember my grandmother God rest her soul said “Jegna newe Wonde newe sufu hulu kumsatine atabo kaki yaslebese wonde newe til neber. So colonel Mengistu I would be very disappointed on you if you give up yourself to Woyanne or to anybody else for that matter you and your regime killed many people in my family alone but I still give you credit for your ONE ETHIOPIA SLOGAN. CHEERIO COLONEL CHEERIO

  35. Black Stalin by Alex Shoumatoff, Dispatches, from November 1991 issue of Vanity Fair

    With platform shoes to make him look taller, he was a bantamweight dictator, but did some heavyweight damage. He destroyed what had been a promising country, if slightly behind the times, the oldest black civilization and the only African nation besides Liberia never to have been colonized. Raising his clenched fist in the Black Power salute, his chin jutting out il Duce-Style, his eyes suffused with feline sangfroid, he would promise to crush into rivers of blood the secessionist traitors and tribal bandits, the sinister external forces and internal conspiracies bent on dismembering the country, while the men in the conscripted multitude chanted “Forward!” and the woman fluttered their shoulders and ululated in the traditional fashion. Now the square is deserted. No one is standing in the bleachers where Mengistu’s generals, ministers, and what was left of the Dergue , the committee of 108 idealistic junior officers who overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie seventeen years ago, had applauded nervously, not knowing who among them would be the next to be eliminated. Conspicuously absent is the huge, detested statue of Lenin, like Mengistu himself one of the last casualties of glasnost…. The whereabouts of the statue are unknown, shrouded in mystery like the whereabouts of Haile Sellasie’s body, and even the simplest, most harmless piece of information in this almost impenetrable society. Perhaps the way to penetrate it is to start with the Ethiopians who have withdrawn from it. I’ve heard from the Columbia University anthropologist William Bushell about these amazing hermits who are Christians – eremitic Christians (from which the word “hermit” comes) – but are more like Hindusadhus or Tibetan crazy yogins. They spend years in caves or trees (the latter are known as dendrites), using breath control to generate body heat and alter their consciousness. People claim to have seen them streaking across the desert at superhuman speed. A few weeks before Mengistus’s flight, one of these barefoot, wild-eyed desert mystics looking like John the Baptist with his dreadlocks and animal skin, appeared in Addis prophesying that a big black snake was going to fall from the sky, and it would soon be followed by lots of little snakes. Some of these hermits wall themselves up in tombs, living with the decaying corpses to remind them of their own mortality. People put their ears to the tomb, and the hermit speaks to them. We’ve gotten directions to one who has inhabited a succession of tombs since the revolution of 1974. His take on recent events ought to be interesting. The hermit’s current domicile is in a graveyard of the forested mountains outside of town. It is a flat, dressed-stone crypt, we discover, with an epitaph chiseled in Ethiopic script, and it is shaded by ancient tel cedars. The scent of frankincense and myrth drifts over from the nearby church. He comes down to meet us in a sort of consultation room below the tomb, where he receives his visitors, and old man wrapped in a wrinkled tan blanket, with matted coils of hair under a black qob ቆብ, or monk’s cap, and metal staff – the sort of dude who wouldn’t seem at all out of place these days in any good size American city. We belong to one of the most backward people, the hermit begins. God has blessed you with wisdom and peace. What is it that you want of me? I begin by asking, what make you renounce the world and become a bahitawi, a hermit? He is eunuch, translates Asefa, the young Ethiopian who has come with us. When he was child, he was castrated. Some of the tribal people in the backlands still castrate anybody they can find, as proof of their machismo. They present the balls to their prospective father-in-law when asking for his daughter’s hand or, reportedly, wear them around their necks. Next question: Do you ever pray for an end to the suffering of the Ethiopian people? Yes. But in monasteries all over the country, men of great prayer present this issue to the Almighty, so his role, he says, is insignificant. Are you aware of the suffering Mengistu caused? Yes. He followed events through the newspaper, and nothing escaped his attention. He had visions of impending disaster, so Mengistu’s overthrow came as no surprise. But Mengistu and his people were not righteous, so God did not reveal the future to them. Why has there been all this terrible suffering? What have the Ethiopians done to deserve the famine and Mengistu? It is Ye-Egzihabher Fird ፍርድ , the judgment of God. If the people had genuinely called the name of the Lord, the famine and Mengistu could not have happened. Our faith is questionable. Our nations is like a tree burned by fire, whose leaves have fallen. Will the leaves return? He is dead-sure, Asefa says.

    Ethiopica Calenderica: http://xrl.us/be8ou9

  37. Dear Sofia,

    Thank you for your remarks. I wish you and all the millions of Ethiopians who suffered imprisonment, torture, the loss of loved ones, and the huge indignities they suffered from one of the most oppressive regimes that Ethiopia was cursed with under Murderous Mengistu’s leadership.

    I’ve to point out that you’re remiss on three fundamental points:

    1. You wish that Mengistu killed himself! Knowing that he’s such a coward that he abandoned his comrades in crime and ran for shelter to Zimbabwe, how you expect him to perform a Tewodros style demise is beyond me.

    2. You also seem to miss the point about the wisdom of bringing Mengistu to justice at ICC. Please know that the main purpose for doing so is, for once in Ethiopian history, to establish the principle that any criminal ruler such as Mengistu will not escape justice even by dying!

    3. You also heap praises on Mengistu on being a nationalist. Who do you think brought Melles & Co to Ethiopia’s leadership? Do you think that it was their military power that defeated the Derg regime? No, it wasn’t. As was confirmed by Melles himself over the Ethiopian radio, TPLF wouldn’t have reached Addis if it were not for the fact that the Amharas carried him on their shoulders all the way to Addis. And, why do you think that happened? It was mainly due to the utter hatred that virtually all Ethiopians shared for Mengistu and his heinous leadership. I must state that it was also due to the tragically faulty concept that “the enemy of your enemy is your friend”. Unfortunately, in the case of the Woyane, it was later discovered that, in fact, the enemy of your enemy could be your worst enemy!

    Therefore, dear Sofia and all who read this piece, please let us reflect the dignity of the Ethiopian people by bringing the criminal Mengistu to justice at ICC before he dies by suicide or any other illegal means. We will otherwise regret the missed opportunity for ever and ever.

    Are we capable of standing for justice?!!!!

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