Meles Zenawi seems to have a morbid fascination with genocide. Whenever the going gets tough — bad news, tightening election campaigns, stiffening political opposition — he whips out the specter of Rwandan-style “interhamwe” (which in Kinyarwanda or Rwanda means “those who stand, work, fight, attack together”) in Ethiopia to change the subject. Predictably, as recent news of his rebel group’s use of famine aid money in 1984 for weapons purchases received massive international coverage, the opposition stepped up its campaign for the so-called May elections, the U.S. State Department issued its condemnatory human rights report on his regime and Bob Geldof went bananas, Zenawi resurrected his favorite “interhamwe” bogeyman to justify his decision to jam the Voice of America:
We have been convinced for many years that in many respects, the VOA Amharic Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda in its wanton disregard of minimum ethics of journalism and engaging in destabilizing propaganda.[1]
The last time Zenawi pulled the same “interhamwe” cock-and-bull story, he was smacked down by the European Union Election Observation Mission for engaging in “unacceptable and extremist rhetoric”. The EU Final Mission Report on Ethiopia’s Legislative Elections (2005) stated[2]:
The end of the campaign became more heated, with parties accusing each other of numerous violations of campaign rules. Campaign rhetoric became insulting. The most extreme example of this came from the Deputy Prime Minister, Addisu Legesse, who, in a public debate on 15 April, compared the opposition parties with the Interhamwe militia, which perpetrated the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The Prime Minister made the same comparison on 5 May in relation to the CUD. The EPRDF made the same associations during its free slots on radio and TV… Such rhetoric is unacceptable in a democratic election.
Welcome back to the future. We are still living in 2005, except in 2010 Zenawi is trying sneak into the political arena the ghosts of Rwanda using a new spiritual medium, the Voice of America’s Amharic Radio Service. Nice try, but nothing doing. “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
What is this “interhamwe” Zenawi is talking about?
In 1993, a year before the Rwandan genocide, a notorious “privately-owned” radio station calling itself Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines began broadcasting hate messages to incite Hutus to commit violent acts against Tutsis. It also broadcast racist and hateful messages against moderate Hutus, Belgians and the U.N. mission in the country. When President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was killed after his plane was shot down in April, 1994, Mille Collines began calling for a “final war” to “exterminate the (Tutsi) cockroaches.” The station read on the air the names of people to be killed, and helped direct the murderous militias to different locations where victims could be found. It also emboldened and encouraged the killers by providing them updates on their genocidal activities: “In truth, all Tutsis will perish. They will vanish from this country … They are disappearing little by little thanks to the weapons hitting them, but also because they are being killed like rats.”
When Zenawi says, “the VOA Amharic Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines,” he is asserting that the Amharic service has called for a “final war” and the “extermination” of certain groups of Ethiopians like “cockroaches”, “vermins” and “rats”. He is also saying that the Amharic service is directing and coordinating murderous militias and groups for genocidal activities to make sure that some Ethiopians “will perish and vanish from the country.”
Has the VOA Amharic service in its history ever called for such genocidal and criminal actions?
Since Zenawi is accusing the VOA of the “worst practices” of genocidal radio, we challenge him to produce a single word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, story, analysis, commentary, editorial or any other broadcast whatsoever in audio, written or symbolic form to back up his reckless and irresponsible charges. We pledge to bring to the bar of American justice the VOA or any individual in that organization and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law if Zenawi could produce a single molecule or speck of evidence, or a single example of the “worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines” committed by the VOA!
The U.S. response to Zenawi’s bizarre allegations was uncharacteristically bold, and gave Zenawi a much needed introductory lesson in his own constitution.
The United States opposes Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles’ decision to jam Voice of America’s Amharic Service and condemns his comparison of their programming to Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda. Comparing a respected and professional news service to a group that called for genocide in Rwanda is a baseless and inflammatory accusation that seeks only to deflect attention away from the core issue… The Minister may disagree with news carried in Voice of America’s Amharic Service broadcasts; however, a decision to jam VOA broadcasts contradicts the Government of Ethiopia’s frequent public commitments to freedom of the press. We note that the Ethiopian Constitution states that all citizens have the right to freedom of expression ‘without any interference’ and that this right shall include freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, ‘regardless of frontiers.’ The Constitution further notes that freedom of the press shall specifically include ‘prohibition of any form of censorship.’ We look to the Government of Ethiopia to abide by its constitution.[3]
But while we are on the subject of “interhamwe”, who gave the following speech recently?[4]:
There are those who maintain an eagle eye on the regime with bitter animosity and sully it by painting and drenching it in soot. Regardless, our country has marched into democracy confidently and irreversibly. Anti-democratic and anti-people forces have so much contempt that they badger our uneducated people telling them chaff is wheat. However, our people are used to winnowing the chaff in the wind and keeping the wheat. Our enemies are peddling chaff to the people and trying to find holes to sabotage our peoples’ democracy, peace and development. But since our organization knows that our operation is airtight, we are not concerned. The chaff hope to provoke the people into anger and incite them to undemocratically resort to violence. Although they (the ‘chaff’) can not dirty up the people like themselves, they may try to smear the people with mud in the hope of inciting them into lawlessness.
Could it be that “dirty chaff”, “anti-democratic and anti-people forces”, “enemies”, “saboteurs of the peoples’ democracy”, “inciters of violence” and “mud smearers” are kinder and gentler words for Radio Mille Collines’ “cockroaches, rats and vermins” who need to be “exterminated”?
The U.S. should demand proof of the allegations against the VOA or a prompt apology and a solemn promise never to pull this loony “interhamwe” hoax again. In the alternative, it is time for the U.S. to take decisive action against Zenawi’s dictatorship.
Zenawi can try to jam the VOA Amharic broadcast at the cost of tens of millions of dollars, resources that could be used to aid famine victims and provide health care and education. But we know the whole thing is a futile attempt to distract public attention from the recent stories about the millions of dollars stolen from famine aid to buy guns in 1984, the fantastic reception Medrek candidates are getting in Tigray, the murder of Aregawi Gebreyohannes in Tigray, the fact that no credible international observers will be coming to observe the “elections” in May, the damning U.S. State Department human rights report, the soaring inflation, corruption and on and on. Suffice it to say that Zenawi can fool some of the Ethiopian people all of the time, and all of the Ethiopian people some of the time, but it is unlikely that he will be able to fool the VOA, the BBC, Deutche Welle, Bloomberg News, the New York Times, the Guardian, the Associated Press, ABC, CBS, The Huffington Post….
In the name of decency, those of us who have listened to VOA’s Amharic service broadcasts over the years offer the VOA and its Amharic service our profound apologies for the deeply offensive and scurrilous remarks. Though we may have had reasonable differences of opinion with the Amharic service, we have never had cause to doubt the professionalism of the service’s reporters, editors and management, their commitment to fairness and accuracy in reporting and their strict adherence to the principle of fair play. For these qualities demonstrated consistently over the years, we express our deepest appreciation, gratitude and respect to the VOA and its Amharic service.
Alemayehu G. Mariam, is a professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, and an attorney based in Los Angeles. He writes a regular blog onThe Huffington Post, and his commentaries appear regularly on pambazuka.org, allafrica.com, newamericamedia.org and other sites.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and Energy told Reuters early this month that the country earned $47 million from gold and tantalum in the first half of its financial year. This amount doesn’t include the gold taken out of Ethiopia from Legedembi Gold Mine that is loaded on Sheik Mohammed Al Amoudi’s private planes and guarded by Meles Zenawi’s personal security. Al Amoudi sells the gold in London and deposits Meles Zenawi’s share in secret bank accounts in Europe and Asia. The Shakiso Gold Mine alone generates more revenue than the official amount. The Ministry of Mines has no clue as to how much gold is being smuggled out of Ethiopia every month.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) — Ethiopia made $47 million from gold and tantalum exports in the first half of its financial year, the ministry for mines and energy told Reuters on Wednesday.
“Most of the money was made by Midroc Gold Co., which earned $40 million from exports,” spokesman for the ministry, Bacha Fuji, said.
Midroc is owned by Ethiopian-born Saudi business tycoon Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi.
Tantalum exports by the state-owned Ethiopian Mines Development Share Association, earned more than $4 million, Bacha said. Tantalum is used in consumer electronic products.
The rest of the money was made by the country’s national bank from exporting gold found by artisan miners.
The Horn of Africa country is offering exploration licenses to foreign firms interested in mining unexploited gold reserves.
Mines and energy minister, Alemayehu Tegenu, told Reuters in November the country had signed agreements with Midroc and Britain’s Golden Prospecting Mining Co. to extract an estimated 43 tonnes of recoverable gold over the next 11 years.
The Ethiopian government says it has identified possible reserves of up to 500 tonnes in different regions.
The country made $105 million last year from gold exports, the ministry says.
Ethiopia has made $450.5 million from about 48 tonnes of gold exports in the last 10 years, according to the National Bank of Ethiopia.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It was a costly mistake for the U.S. to prop up the Woyanne thugocracy in Ethiopia with billions of dollars during the past 18 years while there are better and more reliable partners in the Horn of Africa region. Hopefully the U.S. Gov’t is finally waking up to the reality that Woyanne is a criminal gang that deserves to face justice, not receive financial and political support.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States condemned Ethiopia’s blocking of Voice of America broadcasts, calling the country’s accusations of the US radio service “baseless and inflammatory.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister war criminal Meles Zenawi earlier admitted to jamming the US government-funded VOA broadcasts in Amharic, saying he was prepared to censor the broadcasts because of the service’s “destabilizing propaganda.”
He said Ethiopian authorities had been testing jamming equipment although there had been no formal decision to block the US radio station.
But Washington said Addis Ababa was already jamming VOA transmissions in Amharic, Ethiopia’s main language. The United States “opposes” the move, US State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said in a statement.
The Ethiopian leader warlord also compared VOA to Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda, which incited the population to exterminate minority Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide.
Duguid condemned the comparison to the infamous Rwandan station.
“Comparing a respected and professional news service to a group that called for genocide in Rwanda is a baseless and inflammatory accusation that seeks only to deflect attention away from the core issue,” he said on Friday.
“The prime minister may disagree with news carried in Voice of America’s Amharic service broadcasts; however, a decision to jam VOA broadcasts contradicts the government of Ethiopia’s frequent public commitments to freedom of the press.”
He noted that the Ethiopian Constitutions upholds people’s right to freedom of expression “without any interference” and that freedom of the press includes “prohibition of any form of censorship.”
“We look to the government of Ethiopia to abide by its constitution,” Duguid said.
Addis Ababa often accuses VOA of bias toward the opposition and of attempting to foment chaos in the country.
The Horn of Africa nation holds elections on May 23, but human rights groups have accused Meles’s regime of instilling a climate of fear ahead of the polls.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned Ethiopia for “maintaining hostilities.”
“Invoking the Rwandan genocide is an excuse to silence legitimate criticism and scrutiny. The Ethiopian government used this reasoning to crack down on the country’s once-vibrant Amharic press after the disputed 2005 elections,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes.
“As Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stands for re-election in May, we urge him to show leadership on constructive reforms to make press freedom, as guaranteed under Article 29 of the Ethiopian constitution, a reality.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: For Meles and gang dialogue is a tactic to be used as a trap, not a way to reach a mutually acceptable agreement. Every one who tried dialogue with Woyanne has been burned. OLF and Kinijit are good examples. Eritrean government knows this more than any one else. For peace to prevail in the Horn of Africa, Woyanne must be eliminated.
By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) — Ethiopian Prime Minister warlord Meles Zenawi said he is willing to meet Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki despite more than 10 years of bitter words and a bloody border war.
Eritrea last month accused Ethiopia of blocking its participation in African Union (AU) summits in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa — seat of the 53-nation body.
Responding to questions, Meles denied the claims and said Isaias was welcome in Ethiopia.
“If the Eritrean government is eager to send any person, whether the president himself or any person, and participate in meetings they will be treated exactly like any other delegation,” Meles told reporters late on Thursday.
Meles said it was Addis Ababa’s obligation as AU headquarters.
The 1998-2000 war between two of the world’s poorest countries killed at least 70,000 people. An independent border commission in 2002 awarded the flashpoint town of Badme to Eritrea but Ethiopia still occupies the territory.
“I am prepared to talk to anybody on matters that help peace in the neighbourhood,” Meles said. “So as I have made it very clear on many occasions we are ready to talk to them at any level, at any time, any place.”
Meles did not say whether he was willing to discuss the border issue.
“I have no obligation to meet him at the airport,” Meles added.
In December, the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Eritrea, accusing it of backing rebel groups in Somalia, where at least 21,000 people have been killed in violence since the beginning of 2007.
The sanctions, adopted in December and backed by 13 of the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council, include an arms embargo, travel restrictions and asset freezes for some of the country’s top officials.
Asmara says the Security Council is a proxy for the United States and says the multi-state body continues to ignore the fact that their territory is being occupied by Ethiopia, Washington’s strongest ally in the Horn of Africa.
New York (CPJ) — Ethiopia’s regime is preparing to jam the Amharic-language broadcasts of the U.S. government-funded Voice of America (VOA), Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi declared Thursday in a press briefing with international media correspondents based in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The prime minister dictator accused VOA’s Amharic service of “engaging in destabilizing propaganda,” comparing it to Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, the Rwandan station whose inflammatory broadcasts helped stoke the 1994 genocide. In a statement, VOA rejected the comparison as “incorrect and unfortunate.”
The issue arose Thursday when a reporter asked Zenawi about interference that VOA listeners had experienced since late February. Zenawi said the government has been testing equipment that would allow it to block VOA broadcasts, according to news reports. He said a final decision on the jamming had not been made.
“We have to know before we make the decision to jam whether we have the capacity to do it,” Zenawi told reporters, according to news accounts. But he left little doubt he would authorize jamming once the government had the capability, saying “I can assure you” the plan will go forward once it is feasible.
Zenawi’s statements were the first acknowledgment of government interference with VOA broadcasts, which are beamed by satellite from Washington and received in Ethiopia via short-wave radio. Just two weeks earlier, Shemelis Kemal, a government spokesman, told CPJ that any suggestion of government involvement in the interference was an “absolute sham.” He said such practices were unconstitutional.
“Invoking the Rwandan genocide is an excuse to silence legitimate criticism and scrutiny. The Ethiopian government used this reasoning to crack down on the country’s once-vibrant Amharic press after the disputed 2005 elections,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “As Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stands for re-election in May, we urge him to show leadership on constructive reforms to make press freedom, as guaranteed under Article 29 of the Ethiopian constitution, a reality.” The Ethiopian government has taken draconian measures to limit independent coverage of the May elections, revising a media law to stiffen penalties for libel and adopting anti-terrorism legislation that requires journalists to disclose sources, according to CPJ research. This month, the National Electoral BoardofEthiopia issued a code of conduct for the media restricting the activities of journalists covering the polls, according to news reports. Meanwhile, the government has continued to jail and persecute its critics in the press.
I am sure you are familiar with all the big numbers thrown around when it comes to the number of Ethiopians in the US. Hundreds here thousands there add up to make an impressive amount. My travels the last few years have taken me to different parts of the Country. To tell you the truth I was not ready for DC metro area. The sheer number of Abeshas in all walks of life begs the question ‘who is left in Ethiopia?’
Why bother traveling to Addis when you can just drop by U Street. The smell of freshly brewed coffee with a whiff of caramelized onions and itan (እጣን) smoke was permeating the air. On U Street the mind plays tricks on you. One is virtually transported back to Ethiopia. A certain UN describable spirit takes over. It is Merkato tossed with Bole and a sprinkle of Piazza but cleaner. And a procession of never ending Ethiopians. This scenario is repeated in most metropolitan areas of the continent.
From Toronto to Vancouver BC, from New York to LA and from Seattle to Dallas there are Ethiopian enclaves mimicking life at home. Telegraph Avenue of Berkeley/Oakland is the same as Little Ethiopia in Los Angles. 12th. Street of Seattle resembles U Street of DC. It is all about Ethiopians working with Ethiopians making each other proud for being able to create such a vibrant community in exile. The Restaurant owner, the shop keeper, the lawyer, taxi driver, university professor, house wife, Beauty saloon operator, contractor, real estate agent etc. etc. mingling to help their community thrive.
Damn, I said to myself ‘there sure is plenty of us in exile.’ All available evidence points to a resourceful people that have managed to adapt to a new and strange environment. We have also managed to make our new home resemble the one we left behind. We can make any mother proud. But, there is always a ‘but’ isn’t there? That’s life. It is a shock to find out the appearance is what we are into. Just like Hollywood creates illusion to simulate the imagined event we have created our own façade to hide our indifference. We wave the flag to show our love while we feed the monster that devours the flag.
Our behavior is very perplexing. It is very unreasonable. It is just not like us. When did we change? That is what brought the memory of Ato Ketema into my head. The story of Ato Ketema was a ‘teachable moment’ in my life. It was a powerful lesson. It was an incident that was etched in my brain.
I was in my teens in a small town in southern Ethiopia. It was a time an organization called ‘From Alem Gena to Wollamo road building project.’ (ከአለም ገና አስከ ወላሞ የመንገድ ሥራ ድርጅት) was founded. As the name implies the idea was to build a highway between the two cities. They were going to issue stocks to build the road and recover their investment by running a bus system on the new highway. Thus the directors of the organization travel to all the major towns and meet town elders to assess the situation. Based on income they will levy an amount the individual or his family is expected to invest in the project.
So one summer they showed up in our little town. They went about their business of asking merchants for investment. I remember my family being exited about the shares they acquired. There is always one nay sayer in any gathering. Ato Ketema was one. Ato Ketema is a well to do shop keeper with a thriving business. In fact his store was so big that it has two doors. I believe the investment asked of him was not much. It was definitly something he can afford. For some odd reason Ato Keteka refused to buy shares and help his people. His friends, family and neighbors were sent to appeal to him. He refused. What do you think they did? They decided to punish his anti social behavior by utilizing the power of boycott. A gathering was called and his refusal to give back to the community that sustains him was condemned. People were instructed not to enter his store, associate with him and not even invite him to weedings and funerals. He was made a pariahs by the town.
It was not long before Ato Ketema was reduced into a shadow of his former self. His store was empty and his friends were avoiding him like the plague. Within a matter of weeks Ato Ketema was walking down the street talking to himself and dispalying strange behavior. Ato Ketema was finding out the cost of his one man stand against the many. Ato Ketema was forced to come infront of the elders accompanied by religious leaders and beg for forgivness. He was made to pay a fine and the social curse was lifted. No matter, Ato ketema never recovered from the humiliation.
As a young person I was impressed by the powerful show of force by the community. The good of the many can not be overriden by the benifit to the individual. I saw the effect of social sanction to modify a persons anti social behavior.
Imagine my surprise later in life when I found out what the people of my town did was duplicted both by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Our town used the weapon to change the behavior of an individual while our two teachers used it to challange and change an unjust law.
In 1930 the British colonizers passed the Salt Tax. It made it illigal to collect salt from the coast, sell or produce salt. The British assumed monopoly on salt. Gandhi wrote to the viceroy and told him of his plan to march 248 miles to the coast in defiace. He said ‘I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man’s standpoint. As the Independence movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil.’ The Mahatma gathered seventy-eight of his pupils and made the jorney attracting many followes along the road. The salt march ushered in the struggle for independence that ultimately succeed and was able to create a stable democracy.
Martin Luther King led the boycott of Montegomery, Albama bus system to oppose the city’s policy of racial segrgation on its transit system. The boycott caused financial hardship on the transit system. The refusal of Mrs. Rosa parks to surrender her seat to a white person led the US supreme Court to rule segregation of the bus system to be unconstitutional.
Gandhi challanged the British law. Gandhi showed the Indian people that un just law does not have to be obyed. Disobdience comes with a price. Being shot at, thrown in jail or exiled is the price leaders pay. That is what is called the burden of leadership. Ask Gandhi, ask Mandella, ask MLK or ask Bertukan. They will tell you freedom by petition is not going to happen. Experience shows freedom is attained using a combination of bullets, boycots, marches and international awareness. That is what is called the stick and the carrott approach.
Martin Luther King took the route of boycott as a weapon of prefrence to challange the system. He was aware that the system will not tolerate killing. They can use water hose, tear gas, police dogs or police battons but not live bullets. He used that to the maximun.
In todays Ethiopia where the dictator has his own Agazi militia, Kilil dogs and the whole military under his command the picture is a little different. He shots to kill. He has been killing the last seventeen years. Whether we like it or not a force will emerge that will successfuly challange the clueless regime. Where there is repression there is resistance. That is the law of nature.
On the other hand one can’t just sit and wait for a redemer. When it comes to our self interest we seem to be action oriented. We walk/fly over oceans and mountains to get away and start a new life. That is why we are here. Because we wanted to do better. To be free. To thrive. How come that is not translated into helping those that were left behind. ‘Is it a case of I got my share the rest be damned?’ (እኔከሞትኩ ሰርዶ አይብቀል እኮ የአሀያ አስተሳሰብ ነው።) That is not going to work. That little voice inside of us can not be silenced.
We should do what we can to help. We should be very careful not to hurt. We should use everything in our power to uphold the sacredness of human life. We should work to shame those that abuse human beings and bring sadness and agony on their people. We are not against individuals. It is their lawless act we fight against. When we say no and deny them our support they will be forced to modify their destructive behavior. When we refrain from being part of their ponzi investment scheme, when we refuse to fly their private airlines, when we do not participate in their illigal land grabs they will be forced to listen to us. Money is their aphrodisiac. Without it they shrivel. My town people knew the power of not rewarding a destructive behavior. We should learn to use the power of “NO”!
