A massive funeral procession was held for Ethiopia’s legendary artist Tilahun Gessesse today in Addis Ababa, a city where he died unable to get the most basic emergency medical care. Tens of thousands of people participated in the procession as the video below shows. (Sorry for the quality of the video. It was recorded by the incompetent staff of the Woyanne-controlled ETV)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
By ARGAW ASHINE | The Daily Nation NATION
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Western diplomats based in one of the world’s largest diplomatic hubs, Addis Ababa boycotted a dinner party organized by the Ethiopian government to honor Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.
President al-Bashir had received a warm welcome from his Ethiopian hosts on his {www:arrival} in Addis Ababa on Tuesday morning for his two-day official visit.
Al-Bashir was welcomed by Ethiopian Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi and many other African diplomats at Bole international airport but no Western diplomat or representative showed up.
China, Venezuela Cuba and North Korean ambassadors joined their African counterparts at the airport to welcome President al-Bashir.
Hundreds of Sudanese living in Ethiopia warmly welcomed the president both at the airport and at a separate party.
The Ethiopian regime hosted a lavish state dinner in honor of President al-Bashir on Tuesday evening.
Though invited, US and many European diplomats boycotted the state dinner in {www:protest} against ad-Bashir whose arrest is sought by the International Criminal court over alleged abuse in Sudan’s Western Darfur region.
One Western diplomat told the Nation in Addis Ababa: “It’s not fair to sit for a dinner with a criminal”.
During a joint press conference with Mr Meles, President Bashir dismissed the notion that the {www:arrest} warrant could restrict him from traveling.
“We came to this meeting to show those who said we could not travel outside Sudan that we can travel outside Sudan,” President al-Bashir told journalists.
The Sudanese {www:leader} has visited Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia since the ICC issued an arrest warrant on March 4.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ENA) – Funeral procession program for Ethiopia’s renowned artiste Tilahun Gesesse has been issued. The funeral is due to be conducted on Thursday.
Accordingly, a requiem service would be held overnight at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
The remains of the departed is to be taken home. Then it is to be carried to Meskel Square on a carriage at 11:00 am.
Until 2:00 at Meskel Square, his obituary would be read out and messages by Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi (aka ‘The Butcher of Addis’) and his puppet President Girma Woldegiorgis is to be delivered.
Between 3:30 pm to 4:00 pm. the funeral is to be conducted at the cemetery of the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (AFP) – Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir yesterday taunted the international community by arguing that an arrest warrant against him for war crimes had earned him more support than ever.
Bashir made his statement after meeting Ethiopian Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi (who is also accused by international human rights groups of committing war crimes) in Addis Ababa, on his sixth foreign trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its warrant on March 4.
“For us, the ICC indictment has been positive,” Bashir told reporters.
The veteran leader is accused by the Hague-based court of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, where the UN says six years of conflict has killed 300,000 people.
The arrest warrant was the court’s first against a sitting head of state and was seen as a key step in making world leaders accountable.
But Bashir, who has ruled over Africa’s fractious largest country for two decades, suggested the move had enhanced his domestic and regional standing.
“For the internal front in Sudan, we have all seen how the Sudanese people have come out in a spontaneous way to support the president of Sudan,” he said.
“We have found a very strong stance from the regional organisations like the Arab League and the African Union,” Bashir also said.
No Western representatives were at the airport for Bashir’s arrival yesterday.
A diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said Western ambassadors and envoys would boycott a state dinner in Bashir’s honour after receiving instructions from their capitals not to attend.
But Meles, whose country has often had tense relations with Sudan, stood by his neighbour and said the ICC’s landmark decision was “totally unacceptable”.
“What was done by the ICC to President Omar al-Bashir is an initiative with great implications not only for the people of Sudan, but also for Africans and for Ethiopia,” he said before going into talks with Bashir.
Meles condemned what he said was the “overpolitisation of the humanitarian issues and the overpolitisation of the international justice.”
Bashir has dismissed the notion that the warrant could restrict his travel.
No attempt has been made to arrest him during any of his recent trips, all to countries — Ethiopia included — that were not signatories to the 2002 international convention that created the ICC. Prior to his Ethiopian visit, Bashir on April 1 travelled to Saudi Arabia, where he performed the Umrah, or minor pilgrimage.
On March 30, he attended the Arab League summit in Doha, where other Arab leaders formally pledged their support for the indicted leader and condemned the court’s actions.
“We stress our solidarity with Sudan and our rejection of the ICC decision against President Omar al-Bashir,” the Arab leaders said in the summit’s final declaration.
Bashir has also travelled to Egypt and Libya since the warrant was issued but reserved his first trip for Eritrea.
By Kashmir Hill | Above the Law
Some of our DC-based readers may have spotted this anti-DLA Piper (a law firm) ad making its way around town via taxi. A reader sent us this photo, saying: :I saw this cab on Connecticut Ave. in front of the Mayflower yesterday and it caught my attention. Strange.”
Our first response was, “Bad PR for DLA Piper, but doesn’t everybody already know that blood money is the currency of Biglaw?” Our second response was to find out about this legislation and reach out to the firm.
The American Lawyer wrote in 2008 about the Piper’s playing the flute for the Ethiopian government. Partners Dick Armey, a former House majority leader, and Gary Klein lobbied on Capitol Hill on behalf of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who angered human rights advocates in 2005 with violent crackdowns on protesters during the elections there. The American Lawyer reports that the Piper was playing to the tune of over $50,000 a month. That’s a whole lot of injera.
The taxi ad refers to a bill, {www:S.3457}, introduced by Senators Feingold and Leahy “to reaffirm United States objectives in Ethiopia and encourage critical democratic and humanitarian principles and practices.” Or, in other words, a bill to encourage Ethiopia not to inflict violent crackdowns on its citizens. DLA Piper’s lobbying efforts may have paid off. The bill has been languishing with the Committee on Foreign Relations since 2008.
DLA Piper’s spokesman told us that the firm’s representation of the Ethiopian government actually ended in November. A statement from the firm refers indirectly to the protesting taxi driver (and other DLA Piper opponents): “There are some very vocal elements of the Ethiopian Diaspora, particularly in the Washington area, who are opponents of the current administration in Ethiopia and go to great lengths to try to embarrass or demean those who are associated with it.”
See the full statement, after the jump. DLA Piper may no longer have Ethiopia as a client, but the firm is actively helping to churn out new lawyers over in Addis Ababa.
DLA Piper says its representation of the Ethiopians ceased in November, though it’s still involved in pro bono initiative sending its lawyers to Addis Ababa to teach law school to aspiring Ethiopian esquires.
STATEMENT FROM DLA PIPER
For several years, DLA Piper provided advice and counsel to the democratically elected government of Ethiopia on a wide range of public policy, regulatory, legislative and legal matters. Our work focused on strengthening bilateral relations with the US, including humanitarian, economic and development assistance, trade and investment opportunities, and enhancing relationships with Congress and the Administration. In the past, the firm also provided legal support to the Government of Ethiopia at the International Court of Justice at the Hague on the Ethiopia-Eritrean border dispute. Our government affairs teams have worked with them in London and Brussels as well as Washington, DC.
This representation has ended, but we are continuing to assist Ethiopia on pro bono initiatives. In conjunction with the Northwestern University Law School, DLA Piper lawyers are teaching classes for the next generation of aspiring legal professionals at the law school in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. This is in addition to a number of major pro bono projects we are working on across Africa, including a new project to document systematic sexual violence by the Mugabe government against politically active women in Zimbabwe.
Ethiopia is an emerging democracy and an important ally of the United States in a troubled region of the world. The country has made remarkable progress in the last two decades, moving from dictatorship to a system of free elections, and a commitment to prosperity and greater inclusiveness. There are some very vocal elements of the Ethiopian Diaspora, particularly in the Washington area, who are opponents of the current administration in Ethiopia and go to great lengths to try to embarrass or demean those who are associated with it. While we disagree with these individuals and do not believe their views reflect the majority of Ethiopian Americans, we fully support their right to voice their opinions on this matter.
Source: DLA Piper Pleads Ethiopia’s Case Against Human Rights Sanctions [American Lawyer]
By Yilma Bekele
A very crude translation will be ‘trash finds its own kind’. That is what went in my mind when I heard the butcher of Darfur met the butcher of Mogashio, Gambella, Ogaden, Awasa and many other sites of atrocity in Ethiopia. ‘Gem legem abro yazem is what my mother used to say when she sees us with unsavory characters. It describes the situation in our capital city.
It is another low point in our current history of degradation. The Ethiopia we knew and the Ethiopia the whole world look at is not the same. The name Ethiopia plays prominent role in the Bible. Ethiopia is revered in the Quoran. The early Greek civilizations wrote about Ethiopia. Our name carried a lot of weight.
Our history is nothing but spectacular. We kept to our selves. We were insulated. We did not desire what was not ours. We defended what belonged to us. Surrounded by our mountainous terrain, cut of by our rift valley and our fierce lowlands we escaped from the world. The world forgot about us.
The League of Nations was the first worldwide organization to try to bring order to a chaotic planet. The year was 1919. There were fifty-eight members and our Ethiopia was one of them. We knew the supremacy of the law was our interest.
Our Emperor went in front of the League of Nations to appeal to the organization to stop Italian aggression. In a speech in Geneva in 1936 he said ‘I pray to Almighty God that He may spare nations the terrible sufferings that have just been inflicted on my people.’ They did not listen to him and suffered the consequences.
When the United Nations was founded in 1945 after World War II on the ruins of the League of Nations, Ethiopia was there.
When Africa was emerging from the yoke of colonialism Ethiopia facilitated the formation of Organization of African Union. Our country was chosen to be the seat of black power because of our independent and proud history. It was not an accident. It was well deserved due to the sacrifice and hard work of our ancestors.
Where do we place the illegal visit by the indicted Sudanese dictator to our country? Where does this shameful act fit in our honorable and righteous history?
The International Criminal Court was created by the United Nations that we are a founding member of. As a small developing country it is our interest to support and uphold the rule of law. In this day and age when a few countries have the power to inflict heavy damage on the small and weak shouldn’t we be clamoring for stricter safeguards and protection?
The ICC indicted General bashir after a lengthy period of investigation and fact finding. No body denies the atrocities committed against the people of Darfur. Darfur is a province of Sudan General Bashir is the de facto President and strong man of Sudan. He controls the army, security force and police of Sudan. By all accounts the General aided and abetted the perpetrators of this crime against the people of Darfur. He has been indicted. He is free to hire lawyers and argue his case in front of a court of justice. The people of Darfur were never given that chance. The General is lucky.
What is perplexing is why is Ethiopia entertaining an indicted criminal? Why is Ethiopia breaking the law that has been set up to protect the weak and poor?
May be the Ethiopian leaders are afraid of ‘neg be ne.’ That is what the Hard Talk interviewer sad to Ato Meles. She said to him are you supporting bashir because you now you are the next inline to be indicted? It seems she was right.
But what a feeble attempt if any. His coming to Addis only exposed the minority government to further humiliation. It is a stupid gesture of solidarity. It is further proof that the regime is neither responsive to International law nor to the sensibilities of its citizens. To expose one’s country to such ridicule in the international arena is madness.
This hollow attempt to show independence and national self-esteem is laughable and very weak. The Ethiopian people laughed about it. The foreign diplomats ignored it. The only ones who paid attention are the criminals themselves. So they wined and dined each other with our money to make the point that around his neighborhood Bashir is safe. Makes you wonder if Bashir will be as generous towards Meles when his time comes. I doubt we will get to see that. His own people will hand him over to ICC within a short time. Meles is on his own.