February 23, 2010
By REUTERS
Filed at 7:42 a.m. ET
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Reuters) - Egyptian police shot and killed an Ethiopian migrant Tuesday, injured two others and arrested 10 as they tried to cross the Egyptian-Israeli border, medical and security sources said.
The death is the third this week and brings the toll of migrants killed at the sensitive border this year to eight. At least 19 migrants were killed by Egyptian border guards last year.
The Sinai border is a main transit route for African migrants and refugees seeking work or asylum in Israel. Egypt has come under pressure from Israel to staunch the flow, while rights groups complain about the methods of the border police.
The man was shot in the back at the border and later died in a hospital in Egyptian Rafah. He identified himself as an Ethiopian but did not carry documentation, medical sources said.
The two injured, a 23-year-old Eritrean and 20-year-old Ethiopian, were transferred to el-Arish hospital.
Analysts and aid workers say the flow of migrants from the Horn of Africa through Egypt to Israel has increased as it has become more difficult to travel on other routes, such as via Libya to Europe.
Eritreans make up the largest single group of people trying to cross into Israel from Egypt, though Ethiopians and Sudanese also make the trek.
Amnesty International earlier this month called on Egypt to check their border guards use of excessive force against unarmed migrants, in a week when four migrants were killed.
Security forces say they only fire at migrants after repeated orders to stop are disregarded and that smugglers who ferry migrants to the border sometimes fire on security forces.
(Reporting by Rasha Kamal and Yusri Mohamed; Writing by Dina
Zayed; Jon Boyle)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Foreign Agro Firms Scoop Up Ethiopian Farmland
Peter Heinlein Addis Ababa22 February 2010
VOAnews.com
The Green Revolution that ended food shortages in parts of the world decades ago may be coming to East Africa, bringing the promise of bountiful harvests in a region more often associated with drought and famine. But from the Oromia region of Ethiopia, critics see the project as a neo-colonial land grab.
Farming in Ethiopia is a battle for survival. Peasants using ancient methods are totally dependent on the weather, and on the government, which owns the land and provides fertilizer subsidies. When the rains fail, as they often do, their very survival depends on food aid from abroad.
It has proven to be a recipe for perpetual poverty. In a country where 80 percent of the population works in the farm sector, one in six needs food assistance.
To breathe new life into Ethiopia's stagnant agriculture sector, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is wooing foreign firms with offers to lease huge tracts of land at rock bottom prices.
"The policy of the government of Ethiopia regarding agricultural land development has always been based on the small-scale farmer," said Meles Zenawi. "But the strategy also included the possibility of the private sector playing a supplementary but vital role."
The offer of cheap land has attracted wide interest, from governments like Saudi Arabia that import most of their food, to multi-nationals like the Indian giant Karuturi Global. At two sprawling farms totaling more than 300,000 hectares, Karuturi earth movers, tractors, and water well drilling rigs are transforming the pastoral landscape.
Critics describe Karuturi as a neo-colonialist or agro-imperialist, grabbing Ethiopia's land at bargain prices and exporting profits and food while Ethiopians go hungry. But owner Ram Karuturi says food grown here will be consumed here.
"What Karuturi is doing is what Africa needs, wants and deserves," said Ram Karuturi. "What we put in is our money into Africa, which nobody else is doing."
Karuturi says his big machinery more than doubles the output of traditional farms, and creates jobs where there were none. Speaking through a translator, 30-year-old Ababu Nagari says the roughly 80 cents a day she earns harvesting maize is changing her life.
"I don't have my own land, so I have no way of feeding my family," said Ababu Nagari. "Now I have work and a little money. I am happy these investors come."
But not everyone is happy. Four hundred people have signed a petition saying they received no compensation after being evicted from land taken over by Karuturi. They say their families have farmed and grazed their animals here for generations. One farmer spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity.
"We are for development of our country, but we cannot develop our country when land is in the hands of the government," he said. "You can work on your land, and all of a sudden, they push you out of your land."
Environmentalists say land already degraded by farming will suffer, and loss of trees will cause an imbalance in the eco-system.
Opposition politicians say the government is giving away land to buy diplomatic support, and that wages paid to farm workers are below the World Bank's poverty threshold.
But Ram Karuturi argues investments like his, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, are revolutionizing African agriculture.
"The Green Revolution missed this continent 20 years ago," he said. "There are not more than 1,000 tractors in private hands in this country. And for a country of 80 million people and 120 million hectares, that's a tragic situation."
So is Africa witnessing its Green Revolution, or simply a neo-imperialist land grab? Ethiopia is betting that the World Bank is right when it says investing in agriculture is one of the most effective ways to speed economic development in Africa.
Source: http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Foreign-Agro-Firms-Scoop-Up-Ethiopian-Farmland--84973402.html
VOAnews.com
The Green Revolution that ended food shortages in parts of the world decades ago may be coming to East Africa, bringing the promise of bountiful harvests in a region more often associated with drought and famine. But from the Oromia region of Ethiopia, critics see the project as a neo-colonial land grab.
Farming in Ethiopia is a battle for survival. Peasants using ancient methods are totally dependent on the weather, and on the government, which owns the land and provides fertilizer subsidies. When the rains fail, as they often do, their very survival depends on food aid from abroad.
It has proven to be a recipe for perpetual poverty. In a country where 80 percent of the population works in the farm sector, one in six needs food assistance.
To breathe new life into Ethiopia's stagnant agriculture sector, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is wooing foreign firms with offers to lease huge tracts of land at rock bottom prices.
"The policy of the government of Ethiopia regarding agricultural land development has always been based on the small-scale farmer," said Meles Zenawi. "But the strategy also included the possibility of the private sector playing a supplementary but vital role."
The offer of cheap land has attracted wide interest, from governments like Saudi Arabia that import most of their food, to multi-nationals like the Indian giant Karuturi Global. At two sprawling farms totaling more than 300,000 hectares, Karuturi earth movers, tractors, and water well drilling rigs are transforming the pastoral landscape.
Critics describe Karuturi as a neo-colonialist or agro-imperialist, grabbing Ethiopia's land at bargain prices and exporting profits and food while Ethiopians go hungry. But owner Ram Karuturi says food grown here will be consumed here.
"What Karuturi is doing is what Africa needs, wants and deserves," said Ram Karuturi. "What we put in is our money into Africa, which nobody else is doing."
Karuturi says his big machinery more than doubles the output of traditional farms, and creates jobs where there were none. Speaking through a translator, 30-year-old Ababu Nagari says the roughly 80 cents a day she earns harvesting maize is changing her life.
"I don't have my own land, so I have no way of feeding my family," said Ababu Nagari. "Now I have work and a little money. I am happy these investors come."
But not everyone is happy. Four hundred people have signed a petition saying they received no compensation after being evicted from land taken over by Karuturi. They say their families have farmed and grazed their animals here for generations. One farmer spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity.
"We are for development of our country, but we cannot develop our country when land is in the hands of the government," he said. "You can work on your land, and all of a sudden, they push you out of your land."
Environmentalists say land already degraded by farming will suffer, and loss of trees will cause an imbalance in the eco-system.
Opposition politicians say the government is giving away land to buy diplomatic support, and that wages paid to farm workers are below the World Bank's poverty threshold.
But Ram Karuturi argues investments like his, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, are revolutionizing African agriculture.
"The Green Revolution missed this continent 20 years ago," he said. "There are not more than 1,000 tractors in private hands in this country. And for a country of 80 million people and 120 million hectares, that's a tragic situation."
So is Africa witnessing its Green Revolution, or simply a neo-imperialist land grab? Ethiopia is betting that the World Bank is right when it says investing in agriculture is one of the most effective ways to speed economic development in Africa.
Source: http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Foreign-Agro-Firms-Scoop-Up-Ethiopian-Farmland--84973402.html
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
CPJ urges Ethiopia's Zenawi to pursue press reforms
February 16, 2010
His Excellency Meles Zenawi
Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Via facsimile: (251) 11 1552020
Mr. Prime Minister,
We are writing to draw your attention to conditions that undermine press freedom as guaranteed in Article 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution. We would welcome your leadership in furthering reform by working for the repeal of draconian provisions in recent antiterrorism and media legislation. We also call on your administration to abandon practices that obstruct the free flow of information, such as the ruling EPRDF’s absolute control of the government-subsidized and publicly funded national press, the government’s restrictive media regulation and licensing practices, and the state’s censorship of Internet content.
Five journalists are currently in Ethiopian prisons in connection with their work, according to our research, making your country the second worst jailer of the press in Sub-Saharan Africa. Only Eritrea jails more. Three of the journalists were sentenced to prison for their independent coverage of government affairs dating as far back as 2004 under Ethiopia’s now-obsolete 1992 press law, according to our research. The government has declined CPJ’s repeated requests to account for the whereabouts, health, and legal status of two others—Eritrean state television journalists Saleh Idris Gama and producer Tesfalidet Kidane Tesfazghi—who have been held incommunicado and without charge or trial since 2006.
We are also concerned about the administration’s continued prosecution of journalists on charges dating back several years, despite your personal pledge to a CPJ delegation in 2006 to reconsider the practice. In 2009, a contributor to the U.S. government-funded Voice of America, Meleskachew Amaha, spent three weeks in prison in connection with tax charges first filed in 2006, according to news reports. The charges were eventually dismissed. In another case, prosecutors continue to pursue fines that first were imposed in 2007 against four opposition newspaper publishers but were tossed out by a court, according to local journalists. A ruling in that case is expected in March.
Restrictive provisions in two laws have drawn our concern. While we welcome the ban against pre-trial detention of journalists under legislation known as the Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation, we call on you to push for the repeal of draconian provisions increasing criminal penalties for libel and allowing censorship based on vague national security considerations. We would also welcome your leadership in amending repressive provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation that criminalize reporting deemed favorable to entities the government labels terrorists, including banned opposition groups. We are concerned that the broad and vaguely defined terms will be used to imprison a journalist for up to 20 years for legitimate, independent news coverage.
CPJ research shows that at least a dozen independent journalists fled Ethiopia in 2009 for what they described as harassment, intimidation, threats, and censorship from officials or government supporters. This was the second largest exodus of journalists in Africa after Somalia, according to our research. The journalists who fled include Kassahun Addis, a Washington Post and Time contributor whose independent coverage drew government intimidation, and the editors and staff of the now-defunct independent weekly Addis Neger.
Addis Neger was distinguished for its critical coverage of public affairs, according to local sources, and had been the target of criminal charges and intimidation by security forces, officials, and government supporters during its 26 months of circulation, according to our research. Its managers announced in November 2009 that they could no longer work in safety after the state daily Addis Zemen published opinion columns calling its coverage antistate, according to news reports. The Addis Zemen columns also attacked the weekly Awramba Times, according to local journalists. In press conferences in December, you denied knowledge of the columns but questioned the integrity of the Addis Neger staff, according to media reports. In the weeks following your statements, government-controlled media aired programs that lambasted Addis Neger, Awramba Times and others in the private media, according to media reports.
We would also welcome your leadership in initiating reforms to bring the administration’s management of the government-subsidized and publicly-funded national press in line with the Ethiopian constitution. We believe that the constitutional provision that “any media financed by or under the control of the state shall be operated in a manner ensuring its capacity to entertain diversity in the expression of opinion,” (Article 29, clause 4) is undermined when the board chairmen of Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) and Ethiopian Press, the state publisher, are both ruling party officials accountable to your office.
We also urge you to implement reforms to ensure the independence of the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority, which issues print and broadcast licenses. In 2009, the authority ordered private Radio Sheger to stop carrying the programs of Voice of America, or VOA; briefly revoked the accreditations of two VOA stringers; and denied print licenses to three journalists who had been imprisoned in 2005, according to our research. The agency is headed by Shemelis Kemal, the prosecutor in the trial of 15 journalists jailed on allegations of antistate crimes in 2005.
Finally, a September 2009 study by OpenNet Initiative, an internationally respected group that examines Internet censorship, identified Ethiopia as the only country in sub-Saharan Africa with “consistent” and “substantial” filtering of critical Web sites. Our own Web site, cpj.org, is among those blocked. We believe Internet filtering violates the right to information as guaranteed by the Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation and we would welcome your leadership in ensuring an end to this practice.
We welcome any opportunity to constructively work with you on addressing these issues.
Joel Simon
Executive Director
His Excellency Meles Zenawi
Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Via facsimile: (251) 11 1552020
Mr. Prime Minister,
We are writing to draw your attention to conditions that undermine press freedom as guaranteed in Article 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution. We would welcome your leadership in furthering reform by working for the repeal of draconian provisions in recent antiterrorism and media legislation. We also call on your administration to abandon practices that obstruct the free flow of information, such as the ruling EPRDF’s absolute control of the government-subsidized and publicly funded national press, the government’s restrictive media regulation and licensing practices, and the state’s censorship of Internet content.
Five journalists are currently in Ethiopian prisons in connection with their work, according to our research, making your country the second worst jailer of the press in Sub-Saharan Africa. Only Eritrea jails more. Three of the journalists were sentenced to prison for their independent coverage of government affairs dating as far back as 2004 under Ethiopia’s now-obsolete 1992 press law, according to our research. The government has declined CPJ’s repeated requests to account for the whereabouts, health, and legal status of two others—Eritrean state television journalists Saleh Idris Gama and producer Tesfalidet Kidane Tesfazghi—who have been held incommunicado and without charge or trial since 2006.
We are also concerned about the administration’s continued prosecution of journalists on charges dating back several years, despite your personal pledge to a CPJ delegation in 2006 to reconsider the practice. In 2009, a contributor to the U.S. government-funded Voice of America, Meleskachew Amaha, spent three weeks in prison in connection with tax charges first filed in 2006, according to news reports. The charges were eventually dismissed. In another case, prosecutors continue to pursue fines that first were imposed in 2007 against four opposition newspaper publishers but were tossed out by a court, according to local journalists. A ruling in that case is expected in March.
Restrictive provisions in two laws have drawn our concern. While we welcome the ban against pre-trial detention of journalists under legislation known as the Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation, we call on you to push for the repeal of draconian provisions increasing criminal penalties for libel and allowing censorship based on vague national security considerations. We would also welcome your leadership in amending repressive provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation that criminalize reporting deemed favorable to entities the government labels terrorists, including banned opposition groups. We are concerned that the broad and vaguely defined terms will be used to imprison a journalist for up to 20 years for legitimate, independent news coverage.
CPJ research shows that at least a dozen independent journalists fled Ethiopia in 2009 for what they described as harassment, intimidation, threats, and censorship from officials or government supporters. This was the second largest exodus of journalists in Africa after Somalia, according to our research. The journalists who fled include Kassahun Addis, a Washington Post and Time contributor whose independent coverage drew government intimidation, and the editors and staff of the now-defunct independent weekly Addis Neger.
Addis Neger was distinguished for its critical coverage of public affairs, according to local sources, and had been the target of criminal charges and intimidation by security forces, officials, and government supporters during its 26 months of circulation, according to our research. Its managers announced in November 2009 that they could no longer work in safety after the state daily Addis Zemen published opinion columns calling its coverage antistate, according to news reports. The Addis Zemen columns also attacked the weekly Awramba Times, according to local journalists. In press conferences in December, you denied knowledge of the columns but questioned the integrity of the Addis Neger staff, according to media reports. In the weeks following your statements, government-controlled media aired programs that lambasted Addis Neger, Awramba Times and others in the private media, according to media reports.
We would also welcome your leadership in initiating reforms to bring the administration’s management of the government-subsidized and publicly-funded national press in line with the Ethiopian constitution. We believe that the constitutional provision that “any media financed by or under the control of the state shall be operated in a manner ensuring its capacity to entertain diversity in the expression of opinion,” (Article 29, clause 4) is undermined when the board chairmen of Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) and Ethiopian Press, the state publisher, are both ruling party officials accountable to your office.
We also urge you to implement reforms to ensure the independence of the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority, which issues print and broadcast licenses. In 2009, the authority ordered private Radio Sheger to stop carrying the programs of Voice of America, or VOA; briefly revoked the accreditations of two VOA stringers; and denied print licenses to three journalists who had been imprisoned in 2005, according to our research. The agency is headed by Shemelis Kemal, the prosecutor in the trial of 15 journalists jailed on allegations of antistate crimes in 2005.
Finally, a September 2009 study by OpenNet Initiative, an internationally respected group that examines Internet censorship, identified Ethiopia as the only country in sub-Saharan Africa with “consistent” and “substantial” filtering of critical Web sites. Our own Web site, cpj.org, is among those blocked. We believe Internet filtering violates the right to information as guaranteed by the Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation and we would welcome your leadership in ensuring an end to this practice.
We welcome any opportunity to constructively work with you on addressing these issues.
Joel Simon
Executive Director
Monday, February 15, 2010
His Grace Abune Zena Markos dies
Ethiomedia February 14, 2010SEATTLE - His Grace Abune Zena Markos died on Saturday here in Seattle. He was one of the most revered spiritual fathers for millions of Tewahdo Orthodox Christian Ethiopians.
We at Ethiomedia - who had the privilege of being blessed as the children of Abune Zena Markos, express our shock and sadness over the death of our father, His Holiness Abune Zena Markos.
In the short time we announced the passing away of His Grace Abune Zena Markos, who was the revered spiritual father at St. Gabriel's Church of Seattle, we received calls and email messages - some of sympathy and others seeking more information about his early life. "We in Seattle are greatly privileged to have in residence His Grace Abuna Zena Markos," Hizkias Woldegabriel emailed us prior to the death of the Abune Zena Marcos. Hizkias also included a short bio posted below:
Background
Abuna Zena Markos began his clerical education in 1952 in a monastic church school in Ethiopia. In 1960 he was ordained a priest for service at Debre Libanos Monastery in Ethiopia. In 1979 he was consecrated an Arch-bishop for service in Wollega, western Ethiopia. From 1985 to 1991, Abuna Zena Markos served as Assistant Patriarch in Ethiopia under First Patriarch Tekla Haimanot and then Patriarch Merkorewos. From 1991 to 1992 Abuna Zena served as the chairperson of the Holy Synod in Ethiopia. In 1990 he helped start St. Gabriel's parish in Seattle and on April 15, 1994 Abuna took up residence in Seattle.
'He fought a good fight'
“I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
From the messages we received, Kirubeal Bekele of Seattle began his thoughts with the quote above, and continues:
"We are witnesses to the good fight our father Abune Zena Markos fought. To the unwavering faith he kept. To the race he completed. And with a shining victory. We are his fruits. His children. Any body wants to know who Abuno Zena is all about? Look at us. So many of us. Too many to count. His spiritual babies. He brought all of us to the foot of the cross. We were hopeless and helpless. We were lost. We were slaves of sin. God was on the bottom of our list. But Abune Zena freed us from slavery. Freed us from the grip of the devil and the flesh. He filled us with love and unspeakable joy.
And here came Abune Zena to Seattle. Many years ago. We had no church of our own. Nobody listened. Nobody cared. But Abune Zena began the good fight. The fight to bring all of us to our almighty God. He awakened our spirits. Spirits that were long dead. Through thick and thin, he kept the faith. He completed the race. The result? Look at Seattle. We have our beautiful St. Gabriel Church. Look at all his beautiful children. He taught us to love God and love each other. We came back to Christ. We were born again. We were lost. But Abune Zena found us. Thanks to Abune Zena, Christ now lives in us. Thanks to Abune Zena, we now live and worship with joy."
"Dignified Father"
"In late 1991, Abune Zena Markos, a truly dignified and charismatic personality as is often the case with almost every Ethiopian Church Father, came to my office (as you may guess I was totally overwhelmed by his presence) to see me at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where I was holed up at the time, to discuss with me about several problems the Church was having and asked me for some help such as the opening of the main gate of the Cathedral of the Trinity, the return of the Church’s property near Arat Kilo, the release of budgetary fund for the Church et cetera. Of course, I protested to his visiting with me on the ground that as the august Father of our Church he could simply have summoned me to come to his office rather than make a trip to see some lowly advisor like me. [source: tekolahagos.com]
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Report from Special Prosecutor’s Office of Ethiopia: Half-way Transitional Justice
By Luelseged Degu
February 2010
Communism may be dead in much of the world but its brutal legacy still lingers on. Countries that endured communist regimes like in Africa and Latin America still find it difficult to break clean with their painful past in a bid to march on the road to the rule of law, peace and prosperity. A case in point is Ethiopia, whose Dergue military regime was toppled by TPLF rebels in 1991.
In the wake of the downfall of the regime, the new TPLF launched a Special Prosecutors' Office (SPO), charging it to prosecute Dergue junta officials. The international community knows this and other similar processes as Transitional Justice.
Purpose of Transitional Justice
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) does not consider transitional justice as a special form of justice but justice adapted to societies transforming themselves after a period of pervasive human rights abuse. In some cases, “these transformations happen suddenly; in others, they may take place over many decades.” Observers continuously attest that in Ethiopia whatever has been done under TPLF has not helped in healing the past wounds; rather, it created new wounds. The approach that emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, mainly in response to political changes in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe and to demands for justice is a far cry from achieving a real result in Ethiopia because the approach taken by the rest of the world doesn’t come close to the one which has been conducted by TPLF.
Action in line with Transitional Justice
The Office of the Special prosecutor was established on August 8, 1992 by law (Proclamation No. 22/1992) with a mandate “to establish for public knowledge and for posterity a historical record of the abuses of the Mengistu’s regime and to bring those criminally responsible for human rights violations and/or corruption to justice.”
Basically, the intention behind establishing SPO would have been commendable had it been true for its root-cause. What the international community had in mind was that this office had been established in response to Dergue’s “systematic or widespread violation of human rights” in its 17 years rule. However it seemed ambitious and broad the fact that the TPLF government became willing to accept its international legal obligations to investigate and bring to justice those involved in human rights crimes and embark on a policy choice regarding how a society can productively deal with past abuses to create a more democratic future was applauded by international human rights activists. Be this as it may, having witnessed the political limitations to do whatever it took in El Salvador, Haiti, Chile and Argentina, the international community did not hide its doubts that TPLF would be able to deliver as it had promised via Proclamation No. 22/1992.
To the disappointment of the international human right activists, the policy decision taken by TPLF left desirable and theoretically the most beneficial to the construction of a society based on the rule of law on paper. TPLF has become no different from the Dergue. It is not that the international community failed to see this ambitious nature of the decision to embark on such transitional justice had both risks and benefits, but the disappointment came from what TPLF came short in meeting the least expectations from the international human rights community, the donor community, and in the Ethiopian community, and here is why:
February 2010
Communism may be dead in much of the world but its brutal legacy still lingers on. Countries that endured communist regimes like in Africa and Latin America still find it difficult to break clean with their painful past in a bid to march on the road to the rule of law, peace and prosperity. A case in point is Ethiopia, whose Dergue military regime was toppled by TPLF rebels in 1991.
In the wake of the downfall of the regime, the new TPLF launched a Special Prosecutors' Office (SPO), charging it to prosecute Dergue junta officials. The international community knows this and other similar processes as Transitional Justice.
Purpose of Transitional Justice
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) does not consider transitional justice as a special form of justice but justice adapted to societies transforming themselves after a period of pervasive human rights abuse. In some cases, “these transformations happen suddenly; in others, they may take place over many decades.” Observers continuously attest that in Ethiopia whatever has been done under TPLF has not helped in healing the past wounds; rather, it created new wounds. The approach that emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, mainly in response to political changes in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe and to demands for justice is a far cry from achieving a real result in Ethiopia because the approach taken by the rest of the world doesn’t come close to the one which has been conducted by TPLF.
Action in line with Transitional Justice
The Office of the Special prosecutor was established on August 8, 1992 by law (Proclamation No. 22/1992) with a mandate “to establish for public knowledge and for posterity a historical record of the abuses of the Mengistu’s regime and to bring those criminally responsible for human rights violations and/or corruption to justice.”
Basically, the intention behind establishing SPO would have been commendable had it been true for its root-cause. What the international community had in mind was that this office had been established in response to Dergue’s “systematic or widespread violation of human rights” in its 17 years rule. However it seemed ambitious and broad the fact that the TPLF government became willing to accept its international legal obligations to investigate and bring to justice those involved in human rights crimes and embark on a policy choice regarding how a society can productively deal with past abuses to create a more democratic future was applauded by international human rights activists. Be this as it may, having witnessed the political limitations to do whatever it took in El Salvador, Haiti, Chile and Argentina, the international community did not hide its doubts that TPLF would be able to deliver as it had promised via Proclamation No. 22/1992.
To the disappointment of the international human right activists, the policy decision taken by TPLF left desirable and theoretically the most beneficial to the construction of a society based on the rule of law on paper. TPLF has become no different from the Dergue. It is not that the international community failed to see this ambitious nature of the decision to embark on such transitional justice had both risks and benefits, but the disappointment came from what TPLF came short in meeting the least expectations from the international human rights community, the donor community, and in the Ethiopian community, and here is why:
- The international community expected SPO to mirror UN War Crimes Tribunal so that it would pull together the most well-respected scholars and practitioners throughout the globe/ country. Common factoring human suffering, it was ruled and believed that the task facing the SPO and the UN Tribunal had been similar in scope and complexity. In order to secure efficiency and pragmatism, the involvement of the international community was thought would be necessary for the project to function. However, TPLF did not in a way let the international community and well-seasoned Ethiopians to be part of this project. Instead, its cadres and people like Paul Henze have been contacted and involved in the process. Henze famously suggested in the aftermath of 2005 election to limit Ethiopians’ movement in their country which he enjoys pursuant to US constitution. The result? Incomplete, if not failed, result of transitional justice…
- The government of TPLF itself, which did establish SPO, has been engaged in its own killing frenzy, mainly through its OPDO‘s massacring innocent citizens in Arba Gugu and Jimma. Its former ally OLF reportedly slaughtered innocent civilians including women and children in Grawa, Asebot, Assossa, and Bedno. Some say TPLF itself has been highly engaged in systematic ethnic cleansing mainly in Amhara and Oromo regions. The massacre in Ogaden, Awassa, Gambella, Addis Ababa, Somali and Amhara and Oromo regions are one of the most recent heinous crimes committed against humanity. Therefore, the government which established SPO in seeking recognition for victims of Dergue and promoting possibilities for peace, reconciliation and democracy has created its own victims all over the country, and yet it is still in the making.
Ethiopian Style Transitional Justice
The successful and exemplary transitional justices in several corners of the world have been highlighted in addressing the systematic abuses by former regimes but without endangering the political transformations that were underway. However, in Ethiopia from the outset, it started with ceding the Northern Province, alienating ethnic Amharas as chauvinists and oppressors and Oromos as narrow nationalists. People from the central and southern part of Ethiopia were displaced in mass for being Amhara, and from the Northern Province for being “non-Eritrean.” The displacement is still being carried out by TPLF and pro-TPLF political parties/fronts and hailed by Media outlets like Aigaforum and Ethiopiafirst. The massive displacement was conducted during the 1998-2000 Ethio-Eritrean senseless war.
Criminal Prosecutions of the Dergue (People involved in the red-terror).
Criminal prosecutions are part of the transitional justice. They are judicial investigations of those responsible for human rights violations. ICTJ states that prosecutors frequently emphasize investigations of the main perpetrators, actors “considered most responsible for massive or systematic crimes.” However, SPO prosecuted about 5119 people and out of which 3583 were convicted and sentenced to death, life in prison, and prison for a number of years. SPO admitted about 656 innocent people were languishing in prison for years, but are freed now. This admission confirms in part that the US Department of State report which noted that opposition groups alleged that some of the persons detained by the SPO were held for political reasons, an allegation that the TPLF denied, was correct.
A couple of days ago, without embracing the past injustice in its entirety and trying to stop the current injustice (for lack of mandate or other reason), SPO reportedly presented its long awaited report to the Parliament of Ethiopia; while other countries adopted many of what became the basic approaches to transitional justice, the report by the SPO was mainly focused on the criminal Prosecution of the Previous Government Officials.
- The report did not include if there was an organ like Truth Commission which was effective in South Africa. Such a commission of inquiry could have the primary purposes of investigating and reporting on key periods of red/ white terror and other past abuses. Even though it could have been official state body that would make recommendations to remedy such abuse and to prevent its recurrence, we have not seen such commission in Ethiopia.
- Except the Tigrai region, other regions like Ogaden (which was affected in Ethio-Somali war) have not been considered for reparations programs. In fact, the report did not mention reparations programs. As reparations are often state-sponsored initiatives that help repair the material and moral damages of past abuse, it is not clear the one TPLF applied in Tigrai will continue in Ogaden, Arba Gugu, Bedeno, Grawa, Awassa, Gambella, Assossa, Gondar, Bahir Dar, Asossa, Addis Abababa and other cities, towns and rural areas.
- TPLF has reportedly distributed a mix of material and symbolic benefits to the victims of Dergue in Tigrai. Woyanne has also established business moguls like EFFORT for the benefit of the people of Tigrai in line with financial compensation programs of transitional justice. In his recent article, Abebe Gelaw of Addisvoice stated that the TPLF government and deserters of this group unanimously agree that EFFORT has been established for the benefit of the people of Tigrai. However, Gelaw belived that EFFORT is only benefiting the ruling ethnic-junta and not the people of Tigrai. According to him and other reports, if true, even Tigrai is yet to benefit from financial compensation of the transitional justice programs. Some people say that the only reparation which seemed other countries’ reparations was the one conducted for Eritrea which included financial compensation and official apologies. The government of the former Prime Minster Tamrat Layne officially apologized to Eritrea. Eritrea even benefited from wealth succession of the 1991-1993 ceded country, between Eritrea and the Ethiopia-proper, according to the international principles of successions of states.
- Furthermore, Ethiopia is yet to catch up in full with gender justice, efforts to challenge impunity for sexual and gender based violence and ensure women's equal access to redress of human rights violations and security system reform, which mainly are controlled by ethnic-Tigrians. TPLF has not yet made an effort to transform the military, police, judiciary and related state institutions from instruments of repression and corruption into instruments of public service and integrity.
- On the other hand, TPLF has erected memorials in Bahir Dar, Meqelle, and Nazareth; even a memorial has been erected for Dessalegn, a donkey which helped to transport money robbed by TPLF from Ethiopian government banks during their guerrilla years.
Conclusion
Full-fledged Transitional Justice in Ethiopia has not been entertained. Any effort without national reconciliation and participation of all stakeholders seem futile. If we are to embark on democracy, the transitional justice process has to be in our to-do list. Whatever SPO has conducted did not go far enough and even its effort has been curtailed as a result of TPLF’s aggression towards humanity.
The writer can be reached at luelman@gmail.com.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
በረዶ (ኩችዬ)
ወዳጄ ልጅ አበራ! ሲፈራ-ሲቸር ያደረ መንፈሴን እንደምንም አነቃቃሁና ቀያችን የተከመረውን በረዶ ለመዛቅ ጧቱ ላይ ብቅ ብዬ ነበር -“ላይቀርልኝ ዕዳ!” ተብሎ የለ። ታዲያ ያልጠበቅሁት ነገር ገጠመኝ። ባወራረድ ውበቱና በነጠረ ንጣቱ ትናንት ሲያማልለኝና እንደመፈላሰፍም ሲያደርገኝ የነበረ ገራ-ገር በረዶ ዛሬ ፍጹም ጠባዩን ቀይሮ፤ እብሪተኛ “በላ ልበልሃ!” የሚል ጉድ ሆኖ አገኘሁት።
መቼም ዳጎስ ያለ ቁርስ ጎርሶና ትከሻውን ቼብ-ቼብ ተደርጎ የወጣ ወንድ የልብ ሳያደርስ አይመለስምና ወርደ-ሰፊ አካፋየን እያውልለበለብሁና ውርድ ከርሱ እንደሚሆን እያስጠነቀቅሁ በረዶ ላይ ጦርነት ከፈትሁ። አጀማመሬን በጣሙን ወደድሁት። በዚህ አያያዝ በራሴ ቀዬ ላይ የሚደነፋው ብቻ ሳይሆን ጎረቤት ያሉ መበለት ደጃፍ የተከመረውም እንደማይተርፈኝ አረጋገጥሁ። የልብ ልብ ተሰማኝና አካፋውን ካፍ-እስከገደፉ እየሞላሁ አቶ በረዶን በትከሻየ ላይ እያሻገርሁ አሺቀነጥረው ጀመር።
እንተዬ! በ17 ዲግሪ ፋራናይት ሰው ያልበዋል እንዴ? ደግሞ ትንፋሺ ቁርጥ-ቁርጥን ምን አመጣው? እስቲ ትንሺ አረፍ ልበል አልኩና አካፋዬ ላይ ደገፍ እንዳልሁ ሀሳብ አነጎደኝ። ያ ያዲሳባው ዘበኛችን አያልነህ ፊቴ ላይ ድቅን አለ። አይ ግቢ ሲያሳምር! አይ መኪና ሲወለውል! የወዳጄ የመንግሥቱ ለማ “ባሻ አሸብር” ያገር ናፍቆት መነሻውና ሰበቡ ከምንጊዜም በበለጠ ውስጤ ገባ … “አወይ አዲሳባ ወይ አራዳ ሆይ፤ አገርም እንደሰው ይናፍቃል ወይ?!”
ጀመርኩ ደግሞ መዛቄን። ከፊቴ የተደቀነውንና ከኋላየ ያጠራሁትን ማነጻጸርም ዳዳኝ፤ ግን ውጤቱን ፈርቼ ተውሁት። “ደሞ ይሄ አካፋ ምን ነካው? ቅድም ካፍ-እስከገደፉ ይሞላ አልነበረም እንዴ? ያ ትከሻዬ አካባቢ ዞሮ የነበረው ሥር ሊያገረሺበት ፈለገ እንዴ ደሞ?”
እንዲህ ያካፋውን ስነፈትና የትከሻየን ልግመት በመታዘብ ላይ እንዳለሁ ነው ከመበለቷ ቤት አቅጣጫ “ርርርርርርር!” የሚል የሞተር ድምጽ ሰምቼ ዞር ያልሁት። እመቤቲቱ በረዶ መንፊያ መንኮራኩራቸው ላይ ቂጢጥ ብለው ቀያቸው ላይ በድፍረት የተጋረጠውን በረዶ የመነጥሩታል። እጃቸውን አውለበለቡልኝ። እኔም አውለበለብሁላቸው።
“አይ ተወው፤ የዘድሮው በረዶ ባካፋ የሚሞከር አይደለም! አንዳፍታ ጠብቀኝ እረዳሀለሁ!” አሉ ድምጻቸውን ከሞተሩ ድምጽ በላይ ከፍ አድርገው።
“ቀድሞውንም አውቄዋለሁ! የዘንድሮው በረዶ ልዩ ስለሆነ እንጂ የኔም የትከሻየም ያካፋውም መዳከም አይደለም” አልኩ ለራሴ።
“ኸረ ግዴለም ደህና ይዣለሁ!” አልኳቸው የሚያለከልክና የሚያሳጣ ድምጼን መደበቅ እያቃተኝ።
አባባሌ ከላይ እስከታች የመግደርደር ስሜት እንደተጻፈበት ያነበቡት እሜቲቴ መልስ እንኳ አልሰጡኝም። የራሳቸውን ቀዬ ከምኔ ፉት እንዳሉት ሳላውቅ መንኮራክራቸውን እያውተረተሩ ከች አሉ። በራሳቸውም ይችን መንኮራኩር ለመግዛት ባደረጉት ውሳኔም የቱን ያህል ኩራት እንዳደረባቸው መላ ፊታቸው ላይ ተጽፏል። እንኳንስ እኔ በረዶውም ከምሬት ጋር እንዳነበበው ታወቀኝ።
“ርርርር!” ከላይ እታች ተመላለሱበት። ጠላትህ ብን ይበል ያ ሲያሾፍብኝ ያረፈደ በረዶ ባንድ አፍታ ብን ብሎ ጠፋ። ካሁን ወዲያ በረዶ እሜቱቱም እኔም ቤት የሚደርስ አይመስለኝም። ካልቸገረው በቀር እኛ ሰፈር ዝር አይልም - ውርድ ከርሱ ነው ‘ሚሆነው!
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ኩችዬ
February 7, 2010
www.kuchiye.blogspot.com
መቼም ዳጎስ ያለ ቁርስ ጎርሶና ትከሻውን ቼብ-ቼብ ተደርጎ የወጣ ወንድ የልብ ሳያደርስ አይመለስምና ወርደ-ሰፊ አካፋየን እያውልለበለብሁና ውርድ ከርሱ እንደሚሆን እያስጠነቀቅሁ በረዶ ላይ ጦርነት ከፈትሁ። አጀማመሬን በጣሙን ወደድሁት። በዚህ አያያዝ በራሴ ቀዬ ላይ የሚደነፋው ብቻ ሳይሆን ጎረቤት ያሉ መበለት ደጃፍ የተከመረውም እንደማይተርፈኝ አረጋገጥሁ። የልብ ልብ ተሰማኝና አካፋውን ካፍ-እስከገደፉ እየሞላሁ አቶ በረዶን በትከሻየ ላይ እያሻገርሁ አሺቀነጥረው ጀመር።
እንተዬ! በ17 ዲግሪ ፋራናይት ሰው ያልበዋል እንዴ? ደግሞ ትንፋሺ ቁርጥ-ቁርጥን ምን አመጣው? እስቲ ትንሺ አረፍ ልበል አልኩና አካፋዬ ላይ ደገፍ እንዳልሁ ሀሳብ አነጎደኝ። ያ ያዲሳባው ዘበኛችን አያልነህ ፊቴ ላይ ድቅን አለ። አይ ግቢ ሲያሳምር! አይ መኪና ሲወለውል! የወዳጄ የመንግሥቱ ለማ “ባሻ አሸብር” ያገር ናፍቆት መነሻውና ሰበቡ ከምንጊዜም በበለጠ ውስጤ ገባ … “አወይ አዲሳባ ወይ አራዳ ሆይ፤ አገርም እንደሰው ይናፍቃል ወይ?!”
ጀመርኩ ደግሞ መዛቄን። ከፊቴ የተደቀነውንና ከኋላየ ያጠራሁትን ማነጻጸርም ዳዳኝ፤ ግን ውጤቱን ፈርቼ ተውሁት። “ደሞ ይሄ አካፋ ምን ነካው? ቅድም ካፍ-እስከገደፉ ይሞላ አልነበረም እንዴ? ያ ትከሻዬ አካባቢ ዞሮ የነበረው ሥር ሊያገረሺበት ፈለገ እንዴ ደሞ?”
እንዲህ ያካፋውን ስነፈትና የትከሻየን ልግመት በመታዘብ ላይ እንዳለሁ ነው ከመበለቷ ቤት አቅጣጫ “ርርርርርርር!” የሚል የሞተር ድምጽ ሰምቼ ዞር ያልሁት። እመቤቲቱ በረዶ መንፊያ መንኮራኩራቸው ላይ ቂጢጥ ብለው ቀያቸው ላይ በድፍረት የተጋረጠውን በረዶ የመነጥሩታል። እጃቸውን አውለበለቡልኝ። እኔም አውለበለብሁላቸው።
“አይ ተወው፤ የዘድሮው በረዶ ባካፋ የሚሞከር አይደለም! አንዳፍታ ጠብቀኝ እረዳሀለሁ!” አሉ ድምጻቸውን ከሞተሩ ድምጽ በላይ ከፍ አድርገው።
“ቀድሞውንም አውቄዋለሁ! የዘንድሮው በረዶ ልዩ ስለሆነ እንጂ የኔም የትከሻየም ያካፋውም መዳከም አይደለም” አልኩ ለራሴ።
“ኸረ ግዴለም ደህና ይዣለሁ!” አልኳቸው የሚያለከልክና የሚያሳጣ ድምጼን መደበቅ እያቃተኝ።
አባባሌ ከላይ እስከታች የመግደርደር ስሜት እንደተጻፈበት ያነበቡት እሜቲቴ መልስ እንኳ አልሰጡኝም። የራሳቸውን ቀዬ ከምኔ ፉት እንዳሉት ሳላውቅ መንኮራክራቸውን እያውተረተሩ ከች አሉ። በራሳቸውም ይችን መንኮራኩር ለመግዛት ባደረጉት ውሳኔም የቱን ያህል ኩራት እንዳደረባቸው መላ ፊታቸው ላይ ተጽፏል። እንኳንስ እኔ በረዶውም ከምሬት ጋር እንዳነበበው ታወቀኝ።
“ርርርር!” ከላይ እታች ተመላለሱበት። ጠላትህ ብን ይበል ያ ሲያሾፍብኝ ያረፈደ በረዶ ባንድ አፍታ ብን ብሎ ጠፋ። ካሁን ወዲያ በረዶ እሜቱቱም እኔም ቤት የሚደርስ አይመስለኝም። ካልቸገረው በቀር እኛ ሰፈር ዝር አይልም - ውርድ ከርሱ ነው ‘ሚሆነው!
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ኩችዬ
February 7, 2010
www.kuchiye.blogspot.com
የመጪው ምርጫ ቧልትና ቁምነገር (ይኸይስ ሞረዳ)
ይኸይስ ሞረዳ - ከአዲስ አበባ
yihemore@gmail.com
እንደመንደርደሪያ
በኪነ ጥበብ ዓለም ቧልታይ ተውኔት (Farce) የሚባል የኮሜዲ ዘውግ አለ። የቧልታይ ተውኔት ዋና ተግባር የተጋነኑና በእውኑ ዓለም ከምናያቸው ሁነቶች ወጣ ያሉ፣ ከዕለት ተዕለት የኑሯችን ገጠመኞች የራቁ ጉዳዮችን ይሁነኝ ብሎ (deliberately) በመከሰት ተመልካችን ወይም አድማጭን ማሳቅ፣ ማዝናናትና ማስደሰት ነው። የኮሜዲ ዘር በመሆኑም ፍጻሜው በደስታ የሚደመደም ታሪክ ያለው ተውኔት ወይም ድራማ ነው። አድማጭም ሆነ ተመልካች ብዙ ቁምነገር የሚገበይበት አይደለም- ምንም እንኳ ሳቅና መዝናናት በራሱ አንዳች ፋይዳ ያለው ነገር ቢሆንም።
የደላው ሕብረተሰብ በቧልታይ ተውኔት የፈጠራ ጥበቡን ከፍታ ይጨምርበታል፣ ይዝናናበታል፣ ይደሰትበታል። እንደኛ ያለ በብዙ ማሕበረሰባዊ እና ፖለቲካዊ ድቀት ውስጥ እየማቀቀ ያለ ሕብረተሰብ ደግሞ ላፍታም ቢሆን ከውጥንቅጡ ፣ ከትብትብ ችግሩ፣ ከቁም ሞቱ ፋታ ሊያገኝበትና ሳያሰልስ ከሚላተመው የኑሮ ጣጣው ሊሸሽበት ይሞክራል። ቢያንስ እስከተውኔቱ ፍጻሜ ዘና ይል ዘንድ ያደርገዋልና ቧልት አይኑር አይባልም።
አለቦታው፣ አለሰገባው የገባ ቧልት
ቧልት በቦታው ሲሆን መልካም ነው። ዘና ያደርጋል። የተቸገርነው አለቦታው እየገባብን ነው። የአብዛኛውን ኢትዮጵያዊ ጎስቋላ ኑሮ እና የአገራችንን የወደፊት ዕጣ በሚወስኑ ማሕበረ-ፖለቲካዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ ጥቂቶች የደላቸው ምርጫ የሚባል ቧልታይ ተውኔት እንደገና ወደመድረክ ይዘው ብቅ ሲሉ የመከራ ዘመናችን ያበቃ ዘንድ ከምር እንታገላለን የሚሉ ሃይሎች በዚህ የፌዝ ድግስ እንደተዋናይም ሆነ እንደታዳሚ ሲሳተፉ ቧልት ያለቦታው ገባ ያሰኛል። ለኢትዮጵያዊነት በሚያሳየው ንቀት፣ እንደሕዝብ ማንነታችንን ለሚያፀኑ እሴቶቻችን መሸርሸርና መጥፋት በሚሸርበው ሴራ እንዲሁም ሰብዓዊ ክብራችንን ለማዋረድ በሚወርደው ቆላና በሚወጣው ደጋ ተወዳዳሪ ላላገኘንለት መሰሪ ሥርአት ቀኝ እጅ ማዋስ እንዳይሆንም እሰጋለሁ። ስለዚህ ድራማው እንደተመልካች ያሳዝነናል እንጅ አያዝናናንም። ምክንያቱም ቧልቱ ከፈጠራ ምናብ የተቀዳ የጥበብ ሥራ ሳይሆን በኛው በጎስቋላዎቹ ዜጎች ዕውናዊ መከራ ላይ የሚሳለቅ ትርዒት በመሆኑ ነው። ይፍጠንም ይዘግይ አንድ ቀን ወደ ድል ጎዳና የምናደርገውን ጉዞ ይመሩልናል በምንላቸው ፖለቲከኞቻችን በኩል ሲቀለድብን የምሩ ይቅርና የማሽላውም ሳቅ ቅንጦት ይሆንብናል።
የመለስ ዜናዊን የጭቆና ቀንበር እንደግለሰብ ከራሳቸን፣ እንደሕዝብ ከኢትዮጵያውያን ጫንቃ ላይ አውርደን ዲሞክራሲያዊና ፍትሐዊ ሥርዓት እንዘረጋለን ብለው በአገር ውስጥ ከኛው ጋር የአገዛዙን የግፍ በትር ችለው እየታገሉ ላሉ የፖለቲካ ሃይሎች እውነተኛ አክብሮት አለኝ። ወቀሳዬም ሆነ ትዝብቴ የሚመነጨው ከዚሁ አክብሮቴ እንጅ ከጥላቻ ወይም ከንቀት የሚመነጭ እንዳልሆነ ቢገነዘቡልኝ ደስ ይለኛል። ይልቁንም ከእኔና ከመሰሎቼ ፍርሃት እና ዝምታ አንፃር ስመለከተው ከእንዲህ አይነት ጨካኝ እና አምባገነን ሥርዓት ጋር ለመላተም ያሳዩት ወኔ እና የደረሰባቸው ስቃይ ታሪካዊ ሥፍራ የሚያገኝ ለመሆኑ ጥርጥር የለኝም።
ይሁንና አሁን ባለው ሁኔታ ወደ ምርጫው የሚገቡ እውነተኛ ተቃዋሚዎች(በርግጥ እውነተኛ ከሆኑ) አውቀውም ሆነ በቸልታ ሁለት አሁናዊም ታሪካዊም ሊባሉ የሚችሉ ስህተቶችን እየፈጸሙ ነው ብዬ አምናለሁ። የመጀመሪያው ምርጫው ላይ በመሳተፍ ሊያገኙ ከሚችሉት ትርፍ ወይም ሊደርስባቸው ከሚችል ኪሳራ ጋር የተገናኘ ነው። በምርጫ 97 የተገኘው ሕዝባዊ ድል በህወሓት ማንአለብኝነት ከተቀለበሰ በሁዋላ የምርጫ ሂደት የሚፈልጋቸው መደላድሎች ሙሉ በሙሉ በሚባል ደረጃ እንደፈረሱ ለተቃዋሚዎች መንገር ለቀባሪው አረዱት ቢሆንም እናገራለሁ። ለአፈና ሥርዓቱ ፅኑ መሰረት የሚሆኑ ህጎች በወጡበት፣ ሚዲያው ክፉ አስም እንዳለበት አረጋዊ በታፈነበት፣ የፍትህ ሥርዓቱ (ድንቄም ሥርዓት) በገዢው መንግስት ሙሉ ቁጥጥር ሥር ሆኖ ለይሉኝታ ያህል እንኳ ለአፍታ ነጻ በማይመስልበት (በማይሆንበት አላልኩም- ኢሕአዲጋዊ ባህሪው ስለማይፈቅድለት)፣ እንዲሁም የሰብዓዊ መብት ረገጣው ጫፍ መድረሱን እኛ እየኖርነው የዓለም አቀፍ ማህበረሰቡ ደግሞ በሰብዓዊ መብት ጥበቃ ተቋማቶቹ በኩል ባረጋገጠበት ወቅት ተቃዋሚዎች ወደምርጫ እየገቡ መሆኑን ቢያውቁትም እገልጸዋለሁ። ዛሬ ተበዳዮች እንደምርጫ 97ቱ ቅሬታዎችን ወደ ፍርድ ቤት በመውሰድ የፍትህ ሥርዓቱን እንፈትናለን፤ የምርጫ ቦርድን ገመና እናጋልጣለን፤ መንግስትን ፋታ እናሳጣለን ወዘተ እየተባለ አገዛዙን እሚገዳደሩበት ጊዜ ላይ እንዳልሆኑ ሊያውቁ ይገባል። በዚህ ረገድ ከድል ወዲህ ያሉ መለስተኛ የፖለቲካ ትርፎች የሚገኙበት ሁኔታ አይታየኝም። ምክንያቱም ከመነሻው እነዚህ የዲሞክራሲ ሥርዓት ግንባታ የሚፈልጋቸው ተቋማት የመንግስት የቁጥጥር ማነቆ አላላውስ ያላቸው መሆኑንና ለተቋቋሙበት ዓላማ ያላቸው ውክልና ከቀድሞውም በባሰ ደብዛው የጠፋባቸው መሆኑን እኛም ሌላውም ዓለም አውቆታል። ለዚህ የሰብዓዊ መብት ተቋማትን ዝርዝር ሪፖርቶች፣ የነ ዘኢኮኖሚስትንና መሰል ዓለም ዓቀፍ ሚዲያዎችን የሁኔታ ትንታኔ (Situational Analysis)፣ የአሜሪካ መንግስትን ተደጋጋሚ መግለጫዎች ወዘተ ዋቢ መጥቀሱ አይገድም። እነዚህ ተቋማት የመለስ ዜናዊ መንግስት የቆመበትን አምባገነናዊ መሰረት በሚገባ የተረዱት ይመስለኛል። ውጤቱ አስቀድሞ የታወቀን ምርጫ ትንሽም ቢሆን ተጠቃሚ ሳይሆኑ እውነተኛ ተቃዋሚዎች በምን ስሌት ሊገቡበት እንደፈለጉ ቢያንስ ለእኔ ዓይነት ደጋፊዎቻቸው ግልጽ ሊሆንልን ይገባል።
ሁለተኛው የቧልቱ ገጽታ የተቀዋሚዎች የርስ በርስ ትርምስና ጥል ነው። አንዳንድ የተቃውሞ ሃይሎችና የትግል መሪዎች የምርጫ ድራማው ሳያንስ ትግላቸውን አተካራ የበዛበት ራስ- ወግ የክፍፍል ገቢር ጨምረውለታል። ለነዚህ ወገኖች ብዙዎቻችን የምናስተላልፈው መልዕክት አጭርና ግልጽ ይመስለኛል- አዝነንባችኋልና በዳግም ሕብረት ካሱን የሚል። “ዝም አንልም” እያሉ የኢሕአዲግን ድግስ እያደመቁለተ ላሉትም ሆነ በጨዋ ደንብ በመመካከር ችግሮችን ለመፍታት ቁርጠኝነቱ ለጎደላቸው አመራሮች “አዝነንባችኋል” ነው የትዝብታችን መነሻ። ለህወሃት/ኢሕአዲግ ቧልት እያበረከታችሁለት ያለው ትዕይንታዊ አስተዋጽኦ ራሱም ከጠበቀው በላይ ሆኖለት ሲዝናናብን እኛ ተስፋ የሰነቅንባችሁ ዜጎች ግን ቧልት አለሰገባው ገብቶብን አልተመቸንም። ተቃዋሚዎች ከመቸውም ጊዜ በበለጠ ሳሎናቸው ባቢሎን ሆኖ እያየንና የጣልንባቸው እምነት በእጅጉ ተፈትኖ እያለ ቤታቸውን ሳያስተካክሉ ምርጫ ውጡ ሊሉን አይችሉም ባይ ነኝ - Keep your house in order እንዲል ፈረንጅ። ጊዜው ሕብረታቸውን ከምር ለማጠንከር የሚሰሩበት እንጂ የመለስ የምርጫ ተውኔት አሳላጭ ሆነው መሳቂያ መሳለቂያ የሚሆኑበት እነዳልሆነ እንዲሁም ለአምባገነናዊ ስርዓት ህጋዊ መሰረት ላለመስጠት ጥንቃቄ ሊያደርጉ የሚገባበት እንደሆነ ነጋሪ ሊያስፈልጋቸወ አይገባም።
ለዚህ ሥርዓት መጠናከር አውቀውም ሆነ በግዴለሽነት አስተዋጽኦ የሚያደርጉ ፖለቲከኞቻችን የአብዛኛውን ኢትዮጵያዊ ልባዊ ድጋፍ እንደሚያጡት ሊያውቁት ይገባል። ሥርዓቱ በርሃባችን የሚያላግጥ፣ በነጻነት ጥማታችን ላይ የሚያላግጥ ብቻ አይደለም፤ ተርበንም ሥርዓቱ የፈጠራቸውን ዘመነኛ ጥጋበኞችን ቤት እንዳንሰብር፣ ጓዳ ጎድጓዳቸውን እንዳንበረብር አድርጎ ያሳደገንን ኢትዮጵያዊ ጨዋነት ጭምር የሚንቅና የሚያጥላላ ሥርዓት ነው። ሥር በሰደደ የአድልዎ አሰራር ሥራ አጥ ቀፍቅፎ አደገኛ ቦዘኔ እያለ የሚሰድበን፣ በፖሊስና ‘ደህንነት’ መዋቅሩ ህግ አልባ በትሩ መቆሚያ መቀመጫ ያሳጣን መንግስት እንደመሆኑ መጠን ልንታገለው ሥንረባረብ “አባሎችና ደጋፊዎች ቢታሰሩብንም፣ መሪያችን ያለሕግ ወህኒ ብትወርድም፣ የስብሰባ አዳራሽ ባይፈቀድልንም፣ ከህዝብ ጋር ተገናኝተን እንዳንወያይ እየተደረግን ብንሆንም ወዘተ” የሚል የዋህ ስሌት በሚያወጡ ሃይሎች አመራር የትም ልንደርስ እንደማንችል ግልጽ መሆን ይኖርበታል።
ይልቁንስ መከፋፈሉ ቀርቶ ለአዋጭ የትግል ስትራቴጂና ስልት መተባበሩ ያዋጣል። የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ እጅግ ፈታኝ ዘመናትን የተሻገራቸው በህብረቱና በአንድነቱ ነውና ይህ አንድነት በተለይ በአገር በቀል ጠላት የአመታት ሴራ እንዳይላላ (የልዩነት ጥላው እንዳጠላብን እናውቃለንና) መስራት ያለባቸው ወገኖች ልዩነታቸውን አቻችለው አገራችንንና ህዝቡን የመታደግ ተግባር ለመፈጸም መረባረብ ቀዳሚ ሥራቸው መሆን ይኖርበታል ብዬ አምናለሁ። “ኢህአዲግ ከፋፈለን” በሚል ሰበብ ሳይጠፋፉ የትብብር ሥራው የምርጫ ዘመቻውን ሊቀድም ይገባል። ያን ጊዜ የተሰራብንን አዲስ የዘር መራሽ ሥርዓት ማገር ሆነን ባለማጥበቃችን ግፍ እየዋለብን ያለውን ጎጠኛ አገዛዝ መጣል እንችላለን። ይህ ካልሆነ ግን በዘር መዋቅሮቹ አማካይነት የሚዘርፈንን ፣ በጥይት አረር የሚቆላንን፣ በችግጋር አለንጋ የሚገርፈንን አገዛዝ አሁን በተተበተብንበት የክፍፍል መረብ ውስጥ ሆነን መውጫችንን ሳንተልም በቧልታይ የምርጫ ተውኔት ማስወገድ ይቅርና ማሻሻል አይቻለንም። በችጋር ከሚገርፈው ህዝብ ሰቆቃ ሳይቀር በርዳታ እህል መያዣነት ፖለቲካዊ ትርፍ ለማግኘት ሲሞክር ሀፍረት ለማይሰማው አገዛዝ፣ “የሞተው 193 ሰው ብቻ ነው፤ የተራበው 6 ሚሊዮን ብቻ ነው” ወዘተ በሚል አሳፋሪ መከራከሪያ የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ ሥቃይ ከስታትስቲካዊ ዋጋው አሳልፎ ለማያይ ሥርዓት ህጋዊ መሰረትን ሊያሰፋ ለሚችል ምርጫ መሽቀዳደሙ ከእውነተኛ የዲሞክራሲ ሃይሎች የሚጠበቅ ተግባር አይደለም። በተለይም ከመራጭ ህዝብ ጋር ተገናኝቶ የምር ለመወያየት ባልተቻለበት፣ የምርጫ ሂደት የሚፈልጋቸው ቅድመ ሁኔታዎች ለምልክት ያህል እንኳ በማይታዩበት ብቻ ሳይሆን ተቃዋሚዎች በጨዋታው ሜዳ አይነትና ምንነት ላይ የመደራደር አቅማቸው በተሟጠጠበት ሁኔታ ወደምርጫ መግባት የዋህነት ከፍ ሲልም ራስ ወዳድነት ይመስለኛል።
እንደ መውጫ
ይህ እንግዲህ የአንድ ተራ ታዛቢ አቋም ነው። ቀደም ሲል እንደገለጽኩት የምር ለሆነ ፀረ-ህውሃት/ኢህአዲግ ትግልና ለትግሉ አራማጆች አድናቆት አለኝ። በመሆኑም ምርጫው የፈታኙ የትግል ሒደት አንድ አካል ስለሆነ የሚገኝበት ጥቅም ይኖራል ብለው የሚያምኑ እውነተኛ የዲሞክራሲ ሃይሎች ካሉ ሃሳባቸውን አከብራለሁ። ይሁንና በዚህ ቀመር ወደ ምርጫው የሚገቡ ወገኖች ከተሳትፎው የሚገኘውን ተጨባጭ ጥቅም በግልጽ ሊያስረዱን ይገባል። አሳማኝ የሆነ ምክንያት ካላቸውና ሂደቱ የሚፈጥራቸውን መልካም አጋጣሚዎች ከአብራሩልን እንዲሁም ድምጻችን እንደማይሰረቅ ያለንን መተማመኛ ከአመላከቱን ምናልባት ወጥተን እንመርጣቸው ይሆናል። ይህ ግን አሁን ባለኝ ግንዛቤ የሚቻላቸው ስለማይመስለኝ ምርጫው እዚህ ግባ የሚባል ፋይዳ ይኖረዋል የሚል ቅዠት የለኝም። ስለዚህ በእኔ እይታ ገዢው ፓርቲ ጥቅሙን በሚገባ አስልቶ ለእይታ ሊያበቃው ተፍ ተፍ ከሚልለት የምርጫ ቧልት ተቃዋሚዎች ሊመዙት የሚችሉት የቁም ነገር ሰበዝ የምርጫ መድረኩን ጥሎ በመውጣትና ለፌዝ ድግሱ ዕውቅና በመንሳት ቆራጥ ርምጃ ላይ የተንጠለጠለ ይመስነኛል።
ይኸይስ ሞረዳ - ከአዲስ አበባ
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እንደመንደርደሪያ
በኪነ ጥበብ ዓለም ቧልታይ ተውኔት (Farce) የሚባል የኮሜዲ ዘውግ አለ። የቧልታይ ተውኔት ዋና ተግባር የተጋነኑና በእውኑ ዓለም ከምናያቸው ሁነቶች ወጣ ያሉ፣ ከዕለት ተዕለት የኑሯችን ገጠመኞች የራቁ ጉዳዮችን ይሁነኝ ብሎ (deliberately) በመከሰት ተመልካችን ወይም አድማጭን ማሳቅ፣ ማዝናናትና ማስደሰት ነው። የኮሜዲ ዘር በመሆኑም ፍጻሜው በደስታ የሚደመደም ታሪክ ያለው ተውኔት ወይም ድራማ ነው። አድማጭም ሆነ ተመልካች ብዙ ቁምነገር የሚገበይበት አይደለም- ምንም እንኳ ሳቅና መዝናናት በራሱ አንዳች ፋይዳ ያለው ነገር ቢሆንም።
የደላው ሕብረተሰብ በቧልታይ ተውኔት የፈጠራ ጥበቡን ከፍታ ይጨምርበታል፣ ይዝናናበታል፣ ይደሰትበታል። እንደኛ ያለ በብዙ ማሕበረሰባዊ እና ፖለቲካዊ ድቀት ውስጥ እየማቀቀ ያለ ሕብረተሰብ ደግሞ ላፍታም ቢሆን ከውጥንቅጡ ፣ ከትብትብ ችግሩ፣ ከቁም ሞቱ ፋታ ሊያገኝበትና ሳያሰልስ ከሚላተመው የኑሮ ጣጣው ሊሸሽበት ይሞክራል። ቢያንስ እስከተውኔቱ ፍጻሜ ዘና ይል ዘንድ ያደርገዋልና ቧልት አይኑር አይባልም።
አለቦታው፣ አለሰገባው የገባ ቧልት
ቧልት በቦታው ሲሆን መልካም ነው። ዘና ያደርጋል። የተቸገርነው አለቦታው እየገባብን ነው። የአብዛኛውን ኢትዮጵያዊ ጎስቋላ ኑሮ እና የአገራችንን የወደፊት ዕጣ በሚወስኑ ማሕበረ-ፖለቲካዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ ጥቂቶች የደላቸው ምርጫ የሚባል ቧልታይ ተውኔት እንደገና ወደመድረክ ይዘው ብቅ ሲሉ የመከራ ዘመናችን ያበቃ ዘንድ ከምር እንታገላለን የሚሉ ሃይሎች በዚህ የፌዝ ድግስ እንደተዋናይም ሆነ እንደታዳሚ ሲሳተፉ ቧልት ያለቦታው ገባ ያሰኛል። ለኢትዮጵያዊነት በሚያሳየው ንቀት፣ እንደሕዝብ ማንነታችንን ለሚያፀኑ እሴቶቻችን መሸርሸርና መጥፋት በሚሸርበው ሴራ እንዲሁም ሰብዓዊ ክብራችንን ለማዋረድ በሚወርደው ቆላና በሚወጣው ደጋ ተወዳዳሪ ላላገኘንለት መሰሪ ሥርአት ቀኝ እጅ ማዋስ እንዳይሆንም እሰጋለሁ። ስለዚህ ድራማው እንደተመልካች ያሳዝነናል እንጅ አያዝናናንም። ምክንያቱም ቧልቱ ከፈጠራ ምናብ የተቀዳ የጥበብ ሥራ ሳይሆን በኛው በጎስቋላዎቹ ዜጎች ዕውናዊ መከራ ላይ የሚሳለቅ ትርዒት በመሆኑ ነው። ይፍጠንም ይዘግይ አንድ ቀን ወደ ድል ጎዳና የምናደርገውን ጉዞ ይመሩልናል በምንላቸው ፖለቲከኞቻችን በኩል ሲቀለድብን የምሩ ይቅርና የማሽላውም ሳቅ ቅንጦት ይሆንብናል።
የመለስ ዜናዊን የጭቆና ቀንበር እንደግለሰብ ከራሳቸን፣ እንደሕዝብ ከኢትዮጵያውያን ጫንቃ ላይ አውርደን ዲሞክራሲያዊና ፍትሐዊ ሥርዓት እንዘረጋለን ብለው በአገር ውስጥ ከኛው ጋር የአገዛዙን የግፍ በትር ችለው እየታገሉ ላሉ የፖለቲካ ሃይሎች እውነተኛ አክብሮት አለኝ። ወቀሳዬም ሆነ ትዝብቴ የሚመነጨው ከዚሁ አክብሮቴ እንጅ ከጥላቻ ወይም ከንቀት የሚመነጭ እንዳልሆነ ቢገነዘቡልኝ ደስ ይለኛል። ይልቁንም ከእኔና ከመሰሎቼ ፍርሃት እና ዝምታ አንፃር ስመለከተው ከእንዲህ አይነት ጨካኝ እና አምባገነን ሥርዓት ጋር ለመላተም ያሳዩት ወኔ እና የደረሰባቸው ስቃይ ታሪካዊ ሥፍራ የሚያገኝ ለመሆኑ ጥርጥር የለኝም።
ይሁንና አሁን ባለው ሁኔታ ወደ ምርጫው የሚገቡ እውነተኛ ተቃዋሚዎች(በርግጥ እውነተኛ ከሆኑ) አውቀውም ሆነ በቸልታ ሁለት አሁናዊም ታሪካዊም ሊባሉ የሚችሉ ስህተቶችን እየፈጸሙ ነው ብዬ አምናለሁ። የመጀመሪያው ምርጫው ላይ በመሳተፍ ሊያገኙ ከሚችሉት ትርፍ ወይም ሊደርስባቸው ከሚችል ኪሳራ ጋር የተገናኘ ነው። በምርጫ 97 የተገኘው ሕዝባዊ ድል በህወሓት ማንአለብኝነት ከተቀለበሰ በሁዋላ የምርጫ ሂደት የሚፈልጋቸው መደላድሎች ሙሉ በሙሉ በሚባል ደረጃ እንደፈረሱ ለተቃዋሚዎች መንገር ለቀባሪው አረዱት ቢሆንም እናገራለሁ። ለአፈና ሥርዓቱ ፅኑ መሰረት የሚሆኑ ህጎች በወጡበት፣ ሚዲያው ክፉ አስም እንዳለበት አረጋዊ በታፈነበት፣ የፍትህ ሥርዓቱ (ድንቄም ሥርዓት) በገዢው መንግስት ሙሉ ቁጥጥር ሥር ሆኖ ለይሉኝታ ያህል እንኳ ለአፍታ ነጻ በማይመስልበት (በማይሆንበት አላልኩም- ኢሕአዲጋዊ ባህሪው ስለማይፈቅድለት)፣ እንዲሁም የሰብዓዊ መብት ረገጣው ጫፍ መድረሱን እኛ እየኖርነው የዓለም አቀፍ ማህበረሰቡ ደግሞ በሰብዓዊ መብት ጥበቃ ተቋማቶቹ በኩል ባረጋገጠበት ወቅት ተቃዋሚዎች ወደምርጫ እየገቡ መሆኑን ቢያውቁትም እገልጸዋለሁ። ዛሬ ተበዳዮች እንደምርጫ 97ቱ ቅሬታዎችን ወደ ፍርድ ቤት በመውሰድ የፍትህ ሥርዓቱን እንፈትናለን፤ የምርጫ ቦርድን ገመና እናጋልጣለን፤ መንግስትን ፋታ እናሳጣለን ወዘተ እየተባለ አገዛዙን እሚገዳደሩበት ጊዜ ላይ እንዳልሆኑ ሊያውቁ ይገባል። በዚህ ረገድ ከድል ወዲህ ያሉ መለስተኛ የፖለቲካ ትርፎች የሚገኙበት ሁኔታ አይታየኝም። ምክንያቱም ከመነሻው እነዚህ የዲሞክራሲ ሥርዓት ግንባታ የሚፈልጋቸው ተቋማት የመንግስት የቁጥጥር ማነቆ አላላውስ ያላቸው መሆኑንና ለተቋቋሙበት ዓላማ ያላቸው ውክልና ከቀድሞውም በባሰ ደብዛው የጠፋባቸው መሆኑን እኛም ሌላውም ዓለም አውቆታል። ለዚህ የሰብዓዊ መብት ተቋማትን ዝርዝር ሪፖርቶች፣ የነ ዘኢኮኖሚስትንና መሰል ዓለም ዓቀፍ ሚዲያዎችን የሁኔታ ትንታኔ (Situational Analysis)፣ የአሜሪካ መንግስትን ተደጋጋሚ መግለጫዎች ወዘተ ዋቢ መጥቀሱ አይገድም። እነዚህ ተቋማት የመለስ ዜናዊ መንግስት የቆመበትን አምባገነናዊ መሰረት በሚገባ የተረዱት ይመስለኛል። ውጤቱ አስቀድሞ የታወቀን ምርጫ ትንሽም ቢሆን ተጠቃሚ ሳይሆኑ እውነተኛ ተቃዋሚዎች በምን ስሌት ሊገቡበት እንደፈለጉ ቢያንስ ለእኔ ዓይነት ደጋፊዎቻቸው ግልጽ ሊሆንልን ይገባል።
ሁለተኛው የቧልቱ ገጽታ የተቀዋሚዎች የርስ በርስ ትርምስና ጥል ነው። አንዳንድ የተቃውሞ ሃይሎችና የትግል መሪዎች የምርጫ ድራማው ሳያንስ ትግላቸውን አተካራ የበዛበት ራስ- ወግ የክፍፍል ገቢር ጨምረውለታል። ለነዚህ ወገኖች ብዙዎቻችን የምናስተላልፈው መልዕክት አጭርና ግልጽ ይመስለኛል- አዝነንባችኋልና በዳግም ሕብረት ካሱን የሚል። “ዝም አንልም” እያሉ የኢሕአዲግን ድግስ እያደመቁለተ ላሉትም ሆነ በጨዋ ደንብ በመመካከር ችግሮችን ለመፍታት ቁርጠኝነቱ ለጎደላቸው አመራሮች “አዝነንባችኋል” ነው የትዝብታችን መነሻ። ለህወሃት/ኢሕአዲግ ቧልት እያበረከታችሁለት ያለው ትዕይንታዊ አስተዋጽኦ ራሱም ከጠበቀው በላይ ሆኖለት ሲዝናናብን እኛ ተስፋ የሰነቅንባችሁ ዜጎች ግን ቧልት አለሰገባው ገብቶብን አልተመቸንም። ተቃዋሚዎች ከመቸውም ጊዜ በበለጠ ሳሎናቸው ባቢሎን ሆኖ እያየንና የጣልንባቸው እምነት በእጅጉ ተፈትኖ እያለ ቤታቸውን ሳያስተካክሉ ምርጫ ውጡ ሊሉን አይችሉም ባይ ነኝ - Keep your house in order እንዲል ፈረንጅ። ጊዜው ሕብረታቸውን ከምር ለማጠንከር የሚሰሩበት እንጂ የመለስ የምርጫ ተውኔት አሳላጭ ሆነው መሳቂያ መሳለቂያ የሚሆኑበት እነዳልሆነ እንዲሁም ለአምባገነናዊ ስርዓት ህጋዊ መሰረት ላለመስጠት ጥንቃቄ ሊያደርጉ የሚገባበት እንደሆነ ነጋሪ ሊያስፈልጋቸወ አይገባም።
ለዚህ ሥርዓት መጠናከር አውቀውም ሆነ በግዴለሽነት አስተዋጽኦ የሚያደርጉ ፖለቲከኞቻችን የአብዛኛውን ኢትዮጵያዊ ልባዊ ድጋፍ እንደሚያጡት ሊያውቁት ይገባል። ሥርዓቱ በርሃባችን የሚያላግጥ፣ በነጻነት ጥማታችን ላይ የሚያላግጥ ብቻ አይደለም፤ ተርበንም ሥርዓቱ የፈጠራቸውን ዘመነኛ ጥጋበኞችን ቤት እንዳንሰብር፣ ጓዳ ጎድጓዳቸውን እንዳንበረብር አድርጎ ያሳደገንን ኢትዮጵያዊ ጨዋነት ጭምር የሚንቅና የሚያጥላላ ሥርዓት ነው። ሥር በሰደደ የአድልዎ አሰራር ሥራ አጥ ቀፍቅፎ አደገኛ ቦዘኔ እያለ የሚሰድበን፣ በፖሊስና ‘ደህንነት’ መዋቅሩ ህግ አልባ በትሩ መቆሚያ መቀመጫ ያሳጣን መንግስት እንደመሆኑ መጠን ልንታገለው ሥንረባረብ “አባሎችና ደጋፊዎች ቢታሰሩብንም፣ መሪያችን ያለሕግ ወህኒ ብትወርድም፣ የስብሰባ አዳራሽ ባይፈቀድልንም፣ ከህዝብ ጋር ተገናኝተን እንዳንወያይ እየተደረግን ብንሆንም ወዘተ” የሚል የዋህ ስሌት በሚያወጡ ሃይሎች አመራር የትም ልንደርስ እንደማንችል ግልጽ መሆን ይኖርበታል።
ይልቁንስ መከፋፈሉ ቀርቶ ለአዋጭ የትግል ስትራቴጂና ስልት መተባበሩ ያዋጣል። የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ እጅግ ፈታኝ ዘመናትን የተሻገራቸው በህብረቱና በአንድነቱ ነውና ይህ አንድነት በተለይ በአገር በቀል ጠላት የአመታት ሴራ እንዳይላላ (የልዩነት ጥላው እንዳጠላብን እናውቃለንና) መስራት ያለባቸው ወገኖች ልዩነታቸውን አቻችለው አገራችንንና ህዝቡን የመታደግ ተግባር ለመፈጸም መረባረብ ቀዳሚ ሥራቸው መሆን ይኖርበታል ብዬ አምናለሁ። “ኢህአዲግ ከፋፈለን” በሚል ሰበብ ሳይጠፋፉ የትብብር ሥራው የምርጫ ዘመቻውን ሊቀድም ይገባል። ያን ጊዜ የተሰራብንን አዲስ የዘር መራሽ ሥርዓት ማገር ሆነን ባለማጥበቃችን ግፍ እየዋለብን ያለውን ጎጠኛ አገዛዝ መጣል እንችላለን። ይህ ካልሆነ ግን በዘር መዋቅሮቹ አማካይነት የሚዘርፈንን ፣ በጥይት አረር የሚቆላንን፣ በችግጋር አለንጋ የሚገርፈንን አገዛዝ አሁን በተተበተብንበት የክፍፍል መረብ ውስጥ ሆነን መውጫችንን ሳንተልም በቧልታይ የምርጫ ተውኔት ማስወገድ ይቅርና ማሻሻል አይቻለንም። በችጋር ከሚገርፈው ህዝብ ሰቆቃ ሳይቀር በርዳታ እህል መያዣነት ፖለቲካዊ ትርፍ ለማግኘት ሲሞክር ሀፍረት ለማይሰማው አገዛዝ፣ “የሞተው 193 ሰው ብቻ ነው፤ የተራበው 6 ሚሊዮን ብቻ ነው” ወዘተ በሚል አሳፋሪ መከራከሪያ የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ ሥቃይ ከስታትስቲካዊ ዋጋው አሳልፎ ለማያይ ሥርዓት ህጋዊ መሰረትን ሊያሰፋ ለሚችል ምርጫ መሽቀዳደሙ ከእውነተኛ የዲሞክራሲ ሃይሎች የሚጠበቅ ተግባር አይደለም። በተለይም ከመራጭ ህዝብ ጋር ተገናኝቶ የምር ለመወያየት ባልተቻለበት፣ የምርጫ ሂደት የሚፈልጋቸው ቅድመ ሁኔታዎች ለምልክት ያህል እንኳ በማይታዩበት ብቻ ሳይሆን ተቃዋሚዎች በጨዋታው ሜዳ አይነትና ምንነት ላይ የመደራደር አቅማቸው በተሟጠጠበት ሁኔታ ወደምርጫ መግባት የዋህነት ከፍ ሲልም ራስ ወዳድነት ይመስለኛል።
እንደ መውጫ
ይህ እንግዲህ የአንድ ተራ ታዛቢ አቋም ነው። ቀደም ሲል እንደገለጽኩት የምር ለሆነ ፀረ-ህውሃት/ኢህአዲግ ትግልና ለትግሉ አራማጆች አድናቆት አለኝ። በመሆኑም ምርጫው የፈታኙ የትግል ሒደት አንድ አካል ስለሆነ የሚገኝበት ጥቅም ይኖራል ብለው የሚያምኑ እውነተኛ የዲሞክራሲ ሃይሎች ካሉ ሃሳባቸውን አከብራለሁ። ይሁንና በዚህ ቀመር ወደ ምርጫው የሚገቡ ወገኖች ከተሳትፎው የሚገኘውን ተጨባጭ ጥቅም በግልጽ ሊያስረዱን ይገባል። አሳማኝ የሆነ ምክንያት ካላቸውና ሂደቱ የሚፈጥራቸውን መልካም አጋጣሚዎች ከአብራሩልን እንዲሁም ድምጻችን እንደማይሰረቅ ያለንን መተማመኛ ከአመላከቱን ምናልባት ወጥተን እንመርጣቸው ይሆናል። ይህ ግን አሁን ባለኝ ግንዛቤ የሚቻላቸው ስለማይመስለኝ ምርጫው እዚህ ግባ የሚባል ፋይዳ ይኖረዋል የሚል ቅዠት የለኝም። ስለዚህ በእኔ እይታ ገዢው ፓርቲ ጥቅሙን በሚገባ አስልቶ ለእይታ ሊያበቃው ተፍ ተፍ ከሚልለት የምርጫ ቧልት ተቃዋሚዎች ሊመዙት የሚችሉት የቁም ነገር ሰበዝ የምርጫ መድረኩን ጥሎ በመውጣትና ለፌዝ ድግሱ ዕውቅና በመንሳት ቆራጥ ርምጃ ላይ የተንጠለጠለ ይመስነኛል።
ይኸይስ ሞረዳ - ከአዲስ አበባ
ሿ ሿ ... ዳግም ምርጫ (የምርጫ ጭውውት ክፍል ሁለት)
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com
ደሞ ምርጫ! ሿ ሿ ዳግም ምርጫ!
አንዋጋም ብለን … ካልን ሠላም ብቻ
እርስ በእርስ መናቆር … ሳናቆም ጥላቻ
ውስጣችን ሳይጠራ … አንቅረብ ለምርጫ!
እስኪ ሠላም ይውረድ! …
እስኪ ውስኪ እንራጭ! …
ካልቻልን አረንቻታ
ውስኪው ሠላም ይሁን- ፍቅር አረንቻታ!
ምርጫ ቦርዱ ቢለኝ … አልኩት አላውቀውም
ፍርድ ቤቱስ ሲለኝ … አልኩት አላምነውም
ሰብዓዊ-መብት ሲል … አልኩት አልታደልንም
መከላከያ ሲል … ነገርኩት እንዲል ዝም
ተቃዋሚወችስ ሲል … አልኩት አሳመሙኝ
እየተጣሉ አልኩት … ለምን ብሎ ቢለኝ
ፌደራል ሲጠይቅ … ለሞቴ ፈራሁኝ
ታድያ ዝግጅቱስ? ... አልኩት ምንም የለም
ማሸንፉስ ሲለኝ - እሱ አይታሰብም
ታድያ ትርፉስ ሲለኝ - አልኩት አላውቀውም።
ፏ! ፏ! ብሏል መለስ- ፏ! አለ እንጅ በሸገር
መተባበር ጠፍቶ …
መቻቻሉ ጠፍቶ
አገር ትቅደምቀርቶ
ቀና ማሰብ ቀርቶ … ደግ መስራት ለአገር
ህዝብ ማዳን ቀርቶ … ዘራፍ ማለት ለአገር!
ጠላት ቢደነፋም - ቢበዛ እንቅፋቱ
አይከፋንም ነበር - ለህዝብ መሞቱ
እናንት ሳትስማሙ - ገብታችሁ ለምርጫ
አይፈስም አልልም - የደም አረንቻታ።
ደሞ ምርጫ! ሿ ሿ ዳግም ምርጫ!
አንዋጋም ብለን … ካልን ሠላም ብቻ
እርስ በእርስ መናቆር … ሳናቆም ጥላቻ
ውስጣችን ሳይጠራ … አንቅረብ ለምርጫ!
እስኪ ሰላም ይውረድ! …
እስኪ ውስኪ እንራጭ! …
ካልቻልን አረንቻታ
ውስኪው ሰላም ይሁን - ፍቅር አረንቻታ!
እናንት ልብ ብትሉ - ግለኝነት ቀርቶ
አገር ማዳን ቢሆን - የዘንድሮው “ሞቶ”
ሕዝብ ማዳን ቢሆን - የዘንድሮው ጥረት
ለፍትህ ተታግልን - ለፍትህ ብንሞት
እንኳን አንድ መለስ - በህዝብ የተተፋ - የጋጠ-ወጥ አውራ
ገፍተን ባስወገድን - ግዙፉን ተራራ
ጣጥሰነው ገብተን …
ድሉን ተቀናጅተን …
በህዝብ ለህዝብ የቆመ - መሪያችንን መርጠን
ሠላም ብልፅግናን - ገንዝብ ባደረግን።
ደሞ ምርጫ! ሿ ሿ ዳግም ምርጫ!
አንዋጋም ብለን … ካልን ሰላም ብቻ
እርስ በእርስ መናቆር … ሳናቆም ጥላቻ
ውስጣችን ሳይጠራ … አንቅረብ ለምርጫ!
እስኪ ሰላም ይውረድ! …
እስኪ ውስኪ እንራጭ!…
ካልቻልን አረንቻታ
ውስኪው ሠላም ይሁን - ፍቅር አሪንቻታ!
ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com
ደሞ ምርጫ! ሿ ሿ ዳግም ምርጫ!
አንዋጋም ብለን … ካልን ሠላም ብቻ
እርስ በእርስ መናቆር … ሳናቆም ጥላቻ
ውስጣችን ሳይጠራ … አንቅረብ ለምርጫ!
እስኪ ሠላም ይውረድ! …
እስኪ ውስኪ እንራጭ! …
ካልቻልን አረንቻታ
ውስኪው ሠላም ይሁን- ፍቅር አረንቻታ!
ምርጫ ቦርዱ ቢለኝ … አልኩት አላውቀውም
ፍርድ ቤቱስ ሲለኝ … አልኩት አላምነውም
ሰብዓዊ-መብት ሲል … አልኩት አልታደልንም
መከላከያ ሲል … ነገርኩት እንዲል ዝም
ተቃዋሚወችስ ሲል … አልኩት አሳመሙኝ
እየተጣሉ አልኩት … ለምን ብሎ ቢለኝ
ፌደራል ሲጠይቅ … ለሞቴ ፈራሁኝ
ታድያ ዝግጅቱስ? ... አልኩት ምንም የለም
ማሸንፉስ ሲለኝ - እሱ አይታሰብም
ታድያ ትርፉስ ሲለኝ - አልኩት አላውቀውም።
ፏ! ፏ! ብሏል መለስ- ፏ! አለ እንጅ በሸገር
መተባበር ጠፍቶ …
መቻቻሉ ጠፍቶ
አገር ትቅደምቀርቶ
ቀና ማሰብ ቀርቶ … ደግ መስራት ለአገር
ህዝብ ማዳን ቀርቶ … ዘራፍ ማለት ለአገር!
ጠላት ቢደነፋም - ቢበዛ እንቅፋቱ
አይከፋንም ነበር - ለህዝብ መሞቱ
እናንት ሳትስማሙ - ገብታችሁ ለምርጫ
አይፈስም አልልም - የደም አረንቻታ።
ደሞ ምርጫ! ሿ ሿ ዳግም ምርጫ!
አንዋጋም ብለን … ካልን ሠላም ብቻ
እርስ በእርስ መናቆር … ሳናቆም ጥላቻ
ውስጣችን ሳይጠራ … አንቅረብ ለምርጫ!
እስኪ ሰላም ይውረድ! …
እስኪ ውስኪ እንራጭ! …
ካልቻልን አረንቻታ
ውስኪው ሰላም ይሁን - ፍቅር አረንቻታ!
እናንት ልብ ብትሉ - ግለኝነት ቀርቶ
አገር ማዳን ቢሆን - የዘንድሮው “ሞቶ”
ሕዝብ ማዳን ቢሆን - የዘንድሮው ጥረት
ለፍትህ ተታግልን - ለፍትህ ብንሞት
እንኳን አንድ መለስ - በህዝብ የተተፋ - የጋጠ-ወጥ አውራ
ገፍተን ባስወገድን - ግዙፉን ተራራ
ጣጥሰነው ገብተን …
ድሉን ተቀናጅተን …
በህዝብ ለህዝብ የቆመ - መሪያችንን መርጠን
ሠላም ብልፅግናን - ገንዝብ ባደረግን።
ደሞ ምርጫ! ሿ ሿ ዳግም ምርጫ!
አንዋጋም ብለን … ካልን ሰላም ብቻ
እርስ በእርስ መናቆር … ሳናቆም ጥላቻ
ውስጣችን ሳይጠራ … አንቅረብ ለምርጫ!
እስኪ ሰላም ይውረድ! …
እስኪ ውስኪ እንራጭ!…
ካልቻልን አረንቻታ
ውስኪው ሠላም ይሁን - ፍቅር አሪንቻታ!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Proud Teddy at the Proud Bird in L.A.
By Alemayehu G. Mariam February 4, 2010
Ethiomedia
It is really great to be young; but for those who are not, the next best thing is to be at a Teddy Afro concert and jam late into the night with a ballroom full of irrepressible and euphoric young Ethiopian Angelinos. On January 30, Proud Teddy brought his triumphant “Love Conquers All” world tour to the Proud Bird, a well-known LA institution for one-half century themed around vintage WW II war birds. Teddy was in top form belting out one hit after another as he almost levitated on stage. His Abugida Band and backup singers bellowed flaming rhythms and roots-style music combining traditional Ethiopian melodies with reggae beats. Teddy was on fire at the Proud Bird, as was his enraptured audience. more
Ethiomedia
It is really great to be young; but for those who are not, the next best thing is to be at a Teddy Afro concert and jam late into the night with a ballroom full of irrepressible and euphoric young Ethiopian Angelinos. On January 30, Proud Teddy brought his triumphant “Love Conquers All” world tour to the Proud Bird, a well-known LA institution for one-half century themed around vintage WW II war birds. Teddy was in top form belting out one hit after another as he almost levitated on stage. His Abugida Band and backup singers bellowed flaming rhythms and roots-style music combining traditional Ethiopian melodies with reggae beats. Teddy was on fire at the Proud Bird, as was his enraptured audience. more
ውሽት ነገሠ!
መስቀል አደባባይ- ሀዝባችን ተጠርቶ
ሕጻን ሽማግሌው ባልቴት እና አዋቂው-
ግልብጥ ብሎ ወጥቶ
የክብር እንግዶች- ከአውሮጳ ከእስያ
ከጎረቤት ሃገር- ጅቡቲ ኬንያ
የአማሪካው ቆንሲል- ሚስተርም ተገኝተው
ጳጳሱ ተጠርተው- ካህናት ቀድሰው
ቅባ-ቅዱስ ፈልቶ-በአናቱም አፍስሰው
አክሊል ተደፋለት- እምቢልታ ተነፋ
ሕዝብ ሠገደለት- ሥልጣን ክብሩ ሰፋ
ከበሮ ተመታ-ሆታውም ቀለጠ- እልልታ ተሰማ
ውሸት ንጉሥ ሆነ- ሰርቆት አልጋ ወራሽ-በአገሬ ከተማ።
እናም የእኛ ሰፈር- ትልቅ ሽማግሌ
አንቱ የተባሉት- ትናንት እና ዛሬ
በቁርባን ያገቡት- በክርስትናቸው
ይኸው በአደባባይ -ሲዋሹ ያዝናቸው።
መቸ ይኸ ብቻ- ሆነና ነገሩ
በሃሰት ተከስው- ተሰማና ፋይሉ
ደግነት ቅንነት- እስር ቤት ገቡ አሉ።
እንግዲህ ምን ይሉ- ዘመን ተቀየረ
ውሃ ሽቅብ አይፈስ- ሲባልም ነበረ
ዘመን ተገላብጦ - ውሸት ተከበረ።
ኑሯችን ሆነና- ከደሃው ቀምተን
እውነትን ንቀነው- ውሸትን አንግሰን
ወደፊት ለመሄድ - መራመድ አቃተን።
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
የካቲት 2002 ዓ.ም.
ሕጻን ሽማግሌው ባልቴት እና አዋቂው-
ግልብጥ ብሎ ወጥቶ
የክብር እንግዶች- ከአውሮጳ ከእስያ
ከጎረቤት ሃገር- ጅቡቲ ኬንያ
የአማሪካው ቆንሲል- ሚስተርም ተገኝተው
ጳጳሱ ተጠርተው- ካህናት ቀድሰው
ቅባ-ቅዱስ ፈልቶ-በአናቱም አፍስሰው
አክሊል ተደፋለት- እምቢልታ ተነፋ
ሕዝብ ሠገደለት- ሥልጣን ክብሩ ሰፋ
ከበሮ ተመታ-ሆታውም ቀለጠ- እልልታ ተሰማ
ውሸት ንጉሥ ሆነ- ሰርቆት አልጋ ወራሽ-በአገሬ ከተማ።
እናም የእኛ ሰፈር- ትልቅ ሽማግሌ
አንቱ የተባሉት- ትናንት እና ዛሬ
በቁርባን ያገቡት- በክርስትናቸው
ይኸው በአደባባይ -ሲዋሹ ያዝናቸው።
መቸ ይኸ ብቻ- ሆነና ነገሩ
በሃሰት ተከስው- ተሰማና ፋይሉ
ደግነት ቅንነት- እስር ቤት ገቡ አሉ።
እንግዲህ ምን ይሉ- ዘመን ተቀየረ
ውሃ ሽቅብ አይፈስ- ሲባልም ነበረ
ዘመን ተገላብጦ - ውሸት ተከበረ።
ኑሯችን ሆነና- ከደሃው ቀምተን
እውነትን ንቀነው- ውሸትን አንግሰን
ወደፊት ለመሄድ - መራመድ አቃተን።
ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
የካቲት 2002 ዓ.ም.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Ethiopian air crash shines light on lives of migrant workers
By Alexandra Sandels and Borzou Daragahi
6:09 PM PST, February 2, 2010
Reporting from Beirut
Los Angles Times
The woman from the small Ethiopian village of Nazareth was never content to toil in the shadows as a maid or nanny, one of the thousands of poor migrant workers who make their way to Lebanon from Asia or Africa.
Over the last decade, Tigist Tadess Woldemariam tried hard to set down roots here, winning the adoration of the family that hired her, becoming a respected member of her church and earning the loyalty of her friends.
And it was that love and unflinching trust of friends that compounded the tragedy of her death when her jetliner crashed into the Mediterranean Sea last week on her first trip back to Ethiopia in seven years.
Aboard the doomed Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, the 41-year-old carried not only her belongings, but also the labors and dreams of fellow Ethiopians who had entrusted her with envelopes full of cash, precious bundles of jewelry and carefully wrapped gifts to take back home.
"She was like a sister, more than that even," said Genet Ylimia, a 26-year-old Ethiopian who shared a room with Woldemariam. "She cared about everyone. Whatever you needed, she helped you out with."
The crash of Flight 409 during a ferocious storm has sent shock waves of grief throughout this small country of 4 million. More than 50 of the 90 passengers and crew were Lebanese.
But also among the passengers were Woldemariam and 22 other Ethiopians on their way to their homeland. Their deaths shined a brief light on the often anonymous lives of African and Asian migrant workers in the Middle East, many of whom live in cramped quarters, lack basic legal rights and face economic exploitation.
Friends say Woldemariam tried to forge a different path for herself in Lebanon. She cultivated ties to the Ethiopians in her community and to the country where she worked.
At a teary ceremony Sunday at her evangelical Christian church, friends and her employers, the Talhouk family, mourned her amid her portraits placed along the walls.
Woldemariam came from humble origins in Nazareth, 60 miles from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. Her relatives worked for a small shop belonging to the Talhouks' previous maid, who recommended her to the French-Lebanese family about 10 years ago.
She immediately connected with the Talhouks. Their Francophonic daughter, 13-year-old Lea, practiced her English with Woldemariam, who also taught her words and songs in Amharic, the official Ethiopian language.
As a cook, she tried to invent new dishes for the Talhouks, who are vegetarians. "When she cooked and cleaned, she put her whole heart into it," said Sandrine Talhouk, the family matron.
At the Ethiopian Evangelical Church in the Badaro district of Beirut, Woldemariam served as a mentor to the younger domestic workers. "She was soft, kind . . . a lovely person," said pastor Elias Wolde. "She had a kind heart. She always gave people advice on life and spirituality."
Not only did Woldemariam send money home to her family, but she also gave donations to orphanages and charities in Ethiopia, despite her circumstances.
And she had a dream, said Lidet Tadese, 27, another of her friends. She was one of a group of Ethiopian women in Beirut saving money to launch a farming project in her homeland to provide jobs for fellow Ethiopians and a future for herself.
Her friends and employers said Woldemariam was thrilled to be going back to Ethiopia on a two-month visit for her brother's wedding. "She lived her last 10 days in total joy," Sandrine Talhouk said.
Friends at the church entrusted her with thousands of dollars in cash and valuables to take to their families. One gave her an envelope with $1,200, a year's savings for a migrant domestic worker. Another handed her gold she had bought during her years abroad.
Hours before the Talhouks' driver took her to the terminal, Woldemariam made one last batch of vegetarian lasagna for the family, which they ate together.
"We cried even then," Sandrine Talhouk said.
Addis Ababa-bound Flight 409 crashed into the sea minutes after it took off from Beirut's international airport about 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 25. All passengers aboard are presumed to have perished.
As of Tuesday, the flight data and voice recorders had yet to be recovered.
Tadese said she had planned to call her friend once Woldemariam landed in Addis Ababa.
"I wanted to talk to her to see if she got home safely," she said, tears in her eyes. "Now I make special prayers for her."
daragahi@latimes.com
Sandels is a special correspondent.
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
6:09 PM PST, February 2, 2010
Reporting from Beirut
Los Angles Times
The woman from the small Ethiopian village of Nazareth was never content to toil in the shadows as a maid or nanny, one of the thousands of poor migrant workers who make their way to Lebanon from Asia or Africa.
Over the last decade, Tigist Tadess Woldemariam tried hard to set down roots here, winning the adoration of the family that hired her, becoming a respected member of her church and earning the loyalty of her friends.
And it was that love and unflinching trust of friends that compounded the tragedy of her death when her jetliner crashed into the Mediterranean Sea last week on her first trip back to Ethiopia in seven years.
Aboard the doomed Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, the 41-year-old carried not only her belongings, but also the labors and dreams of fellow Ethiopians who had entrusted her with envelopes full of cash, precious bundles of jewelry and carefully wrapped gifts to take back home.
"She was like a sister, more than that even," said Genet Ylimia, a 26-year-old Ethiopian who shared a room with Woldemariam. "She cared about everyone. Whatever you needed, she helped you out with."
The crash of Flight 409 during a ferocious storm has sent shock waves of grief throughout this small country of 4 million. More than 50 of the 90 passengers and crew were Lebanese.
But also among the passengers were Woldemariam and 22 other Ethiopians on their way to their homeland. Their deaths shined a brief light on the often anonymous lives of African and Asian migrant workers in the Middle East, many of whom live in cramped quarters, lack basic legal rights and face economic exploitation.
Friends say Woldemariam tried to forge a different path for herself in Lebanon. She cultivated ties to the Ethiopians in her community and to the country where she worked.
At a teary ceremony Sunday at her evangelical Christian church, friends and her employers, the Talhouk family, mourned her amid her portraits placed along the walls.
Woldemariam came from humble origins in Nazareth, 60 miles from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. Her relatives worked for a small shop belonging to the Talhouks' previous maid, who recommended her to the French-Lebanese family about 10 years ago.
She immediately connected with the Talhouks. Their Francophonic daughter, 13-year-old Lea, practiced her English with Woldemariam, who also taught her words and songs in Amharic, the official Ethiopian language.
As a cook, she tried to invent new dishes for the Talhouks, who are vegetarians. "When she cooked and cleaned, she put her whole heart into it," said Sandrine Talhouk, the family matron.
At the Ethiopian Evangelical Church in the Badaro district of Beirut, Woldemariam served as a mentor to the younger domestic workers. "She was soft, kind . . . a lovely person," said pastor Elias Wolde. "She had a kind heart. She always gave people advice on life and spirituality."
Not only did Woldemariam send money home to her family, but she also gave donations to orphanages and charities in Ethiopia, despite her circumstances.
And she had a dream, said Lidet Tadese, 27, another of her friends. She was one of a group of Ethiopian women in Beirut saving money to launch a farming project in her homeland to provide jobs for fellow Ethiopians and a future for herself.
Her friends and employers said Woldemariam was thrilled to be going back to Ethiopia on a two-month visit for her brother's wedding. "She lived her last 10 days in total joy," Sandrine Talhouk said.
Friends at the church entrusted her with thousands of dollars in cash and valuables to take to their families. One gave her an envelope with $1,200, a year's savings for a migrant domestic worker. Another handed her gold she had bought during her years abroad.
Hours before the Talhouks' driver took her to the terminal, Woldemariam made one last batch of vegetarian lasagna for the family, which they ate together.
"We cried even then," Sandrine Talhouk said.
Addis Ababa-bound Flight 409 crashed into the sea minutes after it took off from Beirut's international airport about 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 25. All passengers aboard are presumed to have perished.
As of Tuesday, the flight data and voice recorders had yet to be recovered.
Tadese said she had planned to call her friend once Woldemariam landed in Addis Ababa.
"I wanted to talk to her to see if she got home safely," she said, tears in her eyes. "Now I make special prayers for her."
daragahi@latimes.com
Sandels is a special correspondent.
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
Eritrean government accuses Ethiopia of blocking its right to participate in African Union
By ARGAW ASHINE, NATIONCorrespondent Posted Tuesday, February 2 2010 at 20:04
ADDIS ABABA, Tuesday The Eritrean government has circulated a letter to African heads of state accusing Ethiopia of blocking its right to participate in African Union summits and meetings.
According to a letter by Eritrean, for the last 10 years Eritrea has been denied its right to participate in African Union summits and other meetings in Addis Ababa by Ethiopian refusal to extend proper diplomatic and security guarantee.
Ethiopia continues to obstruct Eritrea’s right to participate in AU Summits and other AU meetings in Addis Ababa by its refusal to observe the basic diplomatic provisions spelled out in the HQ Agreement and that are extended to all Member States,” the Eritrean government said.
Eritrea expressed its concern and asked issues related with Eritrea should not be discussed in the absence of Eritrea in Addis Ababa.
Imposed sanctions
Eritrea calls comes after an AU ministerial level meeting in Addis Ababa once again voiced support to UN imposed sanction and condemned Asmara to its negative roles in regional stability.
Eritrea also called on the African Union to stop holding its summits and other meetings in Addis Ababa.
African Union chief Jean Ping said Eritrea’s complaint was distributed to all member states and he assured Eritrea could participate in the AU activities and he informed that Ethiopian government assured AU to deliver all necessary security and diplomatic needs. Mr Ping said he told Ethiopian authorities Eritrea was free to establish a mission to AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
Mr Jean Ping urged Eritrean administration to resume its attendance and mission at AU.
Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a bloody war between1998-2000 which killed 70,000 people.
Leaders gathered
In another development, African leaders gathered at the summit disputed the outcome of Copenhagen climate change accord which was issued last December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark .
As part of AU summit, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who was head the Africa delegation in the Copenhagen summit briefed leaders on the agreement but some African leaders expressed their disappointment on the final deal.
Mr Meles said the perception of Africa among rich nations was a major challenge and they [the rich] perceive Africa’s justice request as a “begging”.
During the Copenhagen summit Mr Meles proposed $50 billion per year funding for Africa by 2015 and $100 billion by 2020. Senegalese president Abdulaye Wade said the Copenhagen deal did not really represent the interests of Africa.
Source: Daily Nation: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/854548/-/123rlblz/-/
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