Chancellor Angela Merkel
c/o Mr. Klaus Scharioth
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States of America
German Embassy
4645 Reservoir Road NW
Washington, DC, 20007-1998
(202) 298-4000
Dear Chancellor Merkel,
It is with much trepidation that the people of Ethiopia are awaiting your reported visit to their country, which is ruled by a brutal regime that has lost the people’s vote of confidence in the elections of 15 May 2005 and has been terrorizing the citizens in violation of fundamental human rights principles.
As the Honorable Ana Gomes, the EU observer of the May 2005 elections affirmed, “… the current regime in Ethiopia is repressing the people because it lacks democratic legitimacy.”
Ethiopians are concerned that your visit will give the illegitimate regime undeserved recognition, and will further embolden it to continue to terrorize the people, squander their meager resources, and thwart their fight for freedom, democracy and social justice.
As holder of the European Union Presidency during 2007, you have enormous responsibility and influence on the world stage to ensure that brutal and illegitimate regimes do not oppress their people while projecting a false image of democracy to the outside world.
You have said, “….Africa now has more economic growth, more democratic governments and less conflicts.” Regrettably, the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has mismanaged the country’s economy, suppressed the people’s democratic rights, and has caused instability in the region by attacking a neighboring country.
In an editorial of July 18, 2007, The Wall Street Journal declared, “… [Zenawi’s] democracy is on paper only.” In a recent statement, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy stated, “…the 2005 election was not the turning point many had hoped for.” 3 On July 23, U.S. Congressman Christopher Smith called Zenawi “a vicious dictator.”
Even by the accounts of the U.S. State Department Country Report,5 Ethiopia is a police state. The situation in that country today evokes an atmosphere of life under siege.
On the tragic days following Zenawi’s defeat in the 15 May 2005 elections, his special forces, the Agazi, mowed down 193 unarmed civilians, and maimed thousands of hapless city residents. Young college kids were inhumanly bayoneted;6 and unarmed civilians were brutally shot in the back as they ran for shelter. When the indiscriminate killings subsided, hospitals in Addis were crowded with mutilated bodies and gruesome pictures of the disfigured bodies of the victims filled the airwaves. The world watched in disbelief that such atrocities and brutality could be happening in these days and ages. A commission set up by his own government found Zenawi guilty of the massacre,10 and international human rights organizations roundly condemned the action as barbaric.
Several times earlier, the campuses of the country’s universities had also been scenes of experimentation for indiscriminate killings. On April 18, 2001 the Special Forces police opened fire12 on a peaceful protest organized by students of Addis Ababa University and killed at least 41 people and wounded 250. In January of 1993, hundreds of students were shot and mutilated by Zenawi’s police for peacefully exercising their freedom of expression.
Zenawi’s other crimes have also been fully documented. In the Gambella area, the Anuaks have been subjected to a government-sponsored genocide, and many more have been displaced from their homes. The Oromo people have been targeted for constant harassment, killings and torture for refusing to submit to Zenawi’s ethnic policy of divide and rule. In the Ogaden region, he has continued to commit war crimes, “… burning homes and property, including the recent harvest and other food stocks intended for the civilian population, confiscating livestock and, …, firing upon and killing fleeing civilians.” [HRW]
Zenawi has suppressed freedom of speech and the press, while projecting an image of an open society to donor countries. In a recent report, the Committee to Protect Journalists found Ethiopia at the top of a list of 10 countries where press freedom has deteriorated over the past five years.[IHT] In 2006 alone, eight newspapers were banned, two foreign reporters were expelled and several websites were blocked.
The government has used education and health as stealth weapons of oppression. According to the 2007 World Economic Forum report, Zenawi’s government occupies the dismal position of 124th out of 128 countries in terms of health and primary education. In a 2006 Human Development finding, Ethiopia is ranked 170th out of 177 countries with respect to a composite measure of life-expectancy, education and standard of living.20 The tuberculosis death rate per 100,000 population has doubled since Zenawi snatched the reigns of power from the previous dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Added to the specter of terror is the grinding poverty that has gripped the populace, thanks to the widely publicized corruption of Zenawi’s government. According to the 2006 Global Transparency Corruption report Ethiopia had a Corruption Perception Index score of 2.4 out of a clean score of 10. Zenawi and his cronies continue to plunder, launder and squander the scarce resources of the country and the billions of dollars in aid money, through an elaborate financial, military and legal network. The government is run through a highly secretive and mafia-like clique that controls all the vital economic activities of that poor country through shadow corporations. As a consequence, the great majority of the people of Ethiopia are experiencing unprecedented economic hardships. Inflation has sky-rocketed,[CIA] and based on a recent World Economic Forum report, Ethiopia has slid to the rank of 123rd out of 128 countries in 2007 in the Global Competitive Index. Despite the grim economic figures, Zenawi and his cronies are laundering money in foreign bank accounts, and their spending spree on expensive lobbying is running high unbridled.[Harpers]
Chancellor Merkel,
In an eerie reminder of Stalin’s Great Purge, Zenawi recently coerced the opposition leaders he had illegally imprisoned into accepting responsibility for his own crimes, and mendaciously announced to the world his magnanimity in granting amnesty. Goethe said, “There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one’s self on lies and fables.” Prime Minister Zenawi has cunningly hoodwinked Western leaders into believing he was a “new breed” of African leader. In its June 2nd, 2007 issue, The Economist summed up as follows the bitter lesson Zenawi taught Mr. Blair:
“… If he [Blair] had left office a couple of years ago, his farewell safari might well have included Ethiopia. Meles Zenawi, …, was the most prominent African member of Mr Blair’s Commission for Africa but he repaid the compliment by allowing his police to shoot scores of protesters dead and arrest hundreds more in the wake of flawed elections in 2005. So now it is back to the old game of figuring out how to help people whose leaders are mainly interested in helping themselves.”
Fortunately, the world is now beginning to recognize Zenawi’s lies and viciousness, and newspapers all over the world are generously reporting his crimes against humanity. However, as Goethe also counseled, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” The people of Ethiopia are, therefore, pleading with you to exercise your enormous influence in the promotion of democracy and affirmation of the values that your government and the European Union uphold in the fight against tyranny and totalitarianism. In particular, they request that you stand on their side and support their demands for the:
1. Return of power to the legitimate winners of the 15 May 2005 elections.
2. Prosecution of those in power who are responsible for crimes against humanity.
3. Suspension of direct aid to the brutal and corrupt regime, so that donors’ money is not used for the purpose of oppressing the very people it is intended to help.
Yours sincerely,
Selam Beyene, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Cc:
Deutsche Welle, Amharische Redaktion, 53110 Bonn, Deutschland
E-mail: [email protected]
Mr. Günter Nooke, Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office, Auswärtiges Amt, Werderscher Markt 1, 10117 Berlin