What Ethiopia Is Up Against

by Messay Kebede

A friend recently sent me a video presenting Sebhat Nega’s defense of the TPLF constitution. My friend was rightly

Sebhat Nega

amazed at the dismissive and arrogant nature of the defense.  My reaction wandered a bit in the direction of assessing the origin of the defense: I could not help but ask what torturous path led a Tigrean to a defense erasing the shared legacy of a very long history.  Let me first briefly summarize the content of Sebhat’s discourse.

Sebhat refers to a hypothetical situation where opponents intent on dismissing the TPLF constitution succeed in seizing power. Sebhat emphatically predicts the inevitable disintegration of Ethiopia and the outbreak of war. According to him, the TPLF constitution is the foundation of Ethiopian unity. It originated from a consensus of all the peoples of Ethiopia and remains the sole guarantee of equality. Since equality is the basis of unity, any change altering its main principles inexorably entails the collapse of unity. In his assumption, this almost happened in 2005 when forces inimical to the constitution scored important electoral gains. If the movement had not been violently crushed, it would have certainly resulting in war and disintegration.

By way of illustration, Sebhat takes the case of the United States. The foundation of the American federation is the Constitution, which, if changed, will entail the disintegration of the country. For Sebhat, what Ethiopians have in common with Americans is precisely that for both of them constitutional consensus is the source of nationalism. Just as American nationalism is tied to a constitutional document, so too Ethiopian nationalism derives from the TPLF constitution.

I leave out Sebhat’s illusion that the TPLF constitution originated from a consensus of all the peoples of Ethiopia when we know too well that said consensus was imposed on powerless peoples by the victorious Tigrean and Eritrean guerrilla armies. However, the illusion metamorphoses into arrogance when Sebhat compares the TPLF constitution with the American Constitution. The latter promotes individual rights while the TPLF constitution gives primacy to group rights, that is, to ethnic belonging, the consequence of which is that it works against national integration by isolating and nurturing ethnic states. States in Ethiopia are not administrative units that decentralize power and empower localcommunities but ethnic enclaves that create national borders within the nation and grant them with the right to secede.

What is most appalling and utterly false is Sebhat’s declaration that the fundamental act of being Ethiopian is an outcome of the TPLF constitution. How could it be so when what we all know so far is that the Ethiopian state and society have their origin in the distant history of the Aksumite kingdom and that their cultural features and history testify to a long and uninterrupted legacy that equally involved Tigreans and Amharas?  Even our recent history defines Yohannes, not as the emperor of Tigray, but as the emperor of Ethiopia. The unequivocal reality is thus that Ethiopian nationhood is defined by history, and not by the acceptance of the 1994 constitution. Here we can extend to Ethiopia Margaret Thatcher’s famous statement, to wit, “Europe was created by History; America by Philosophy.” Rather than the constitution begetting Ethiopian nationhood, it presupposes it as the object of its rectification. This reversal of the correct order is typical of the thinking of the TPLF and is reflected in the first statement of the preamble in the form of “We, the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia.”

Let me ask a question: when the guerrilla army of the TPLF marched into Amhara territory and finally into Addis Ababa and seized state power, were we supposed to assume that Ethiopia did not exist yet? But then, there is nothing that prevents us from qualifying the march as an invasion of foreign troops, nay, as a colonial conquest. Since I am sure that Sebhat will contest such a characterization, then why does he keep defining Ethiopianness by a constitution when the country existed for a long time prior to the writing of the constitution?

What Sebhat is in reality revealing is the conditional nature of his Ethiopianism. He is Ethiopian so long as the constitution, imposed by the TPLF and conducive to its hegemony over Ethiopia, is the supreme law of the land. What this means if not that Tigray will not agree to remain within Ethiopia if the TPLF loses its hegemonic position. I cannot speak for all Tigreans, among whom many are dedicated Ethiopians, but Sebhat’s position shows that the leadership of the TPLF has been and still is appropriated by individuals who have always posed the issue of Ethiopian unity in conditional terms.

This conditionality explains why many pro-Ethiopian activists and intellectuals consider Sebhat and his likes as nothing more than stooges of the EPLF. Yet, their support for Eritrean independence is just a logical conclusion of their conditional Ethiopianness. One cannot be conditionally Ethiopian while being a resolute defender of the territorial integrity of Ethiopia. Moreover, the hegemonic goal of the TPLF could hardly accommodate a rival organization like the EPLF. Both ideological consistency and interest dictated the TPLF’s determined effort to oust Eritrea from Ethiopia.

Obviously, the perceived fragility of the system subsequent to the demise of Meles Zenawi now drives TPLF people to blackmail Ethiopians. If the TPLF does not rule, Sebhat promises the deluge. Is this not to admit that two decades of forceful enforcement of the constitution were not enough to generate even a semblance of consensus? What a brilliant achievement! Sebhat sounds like those children who agree to play with other children provided they always win.

Was the constitution an issue? The case of ONLF

we have to be aware of the log run plan of the missionary TPLF come to power by the west so as to implement their colonization ambition in the globalized era of 21st c.

After walking out of the recent peace conference with the ONLF, the Ethiopian delegation released a statement spelling outthe reason they left the conference via their embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. “The peace talks failed after the ONLF group refused to accept and respect the constitution of Ethiopia and work within the constitutional framework,” the statement said.

On its part, the ONLF didn’t reject this claim but explained why they objected to accepting the Ethiopian constitution as precondition and offered their take on this ‘contentious issue’ which had derailed the talks. “The ONLF position on the constitution is that it must reflect the will of the people and that the Somali people never exercised a referendum on the constitution. ONLF believes that the solution of the conflict in the Ogaden can only be achieved by accepting the principles of the right to exercise their self-determination without any preconditions or restrictions,” the ONLF statement read.

The irrelevance of the constitutional argument

For a start, the Ethiopian constitution does not concern the Somalis in Ogaden. Leaving aside the fact that the Ogaden has never been part of Ethiopia proper historically speaking and that Ethiopia occupies the Ogaden through illegitimate treaties it signed with Britain, France and Italy in the 19th century and the transfer of Ogaden to Ethiopia during the 2nd World War by Britain unwillingly after coercion by USA, the people of Ogaden have not voted for the current constitution when it was promulgated in 1994 nor have they had any input in its draft. (For more on this, please read: why the Haud was ceded).

Even if we were, hypothetically speaking, to accept the constitution in order to find a lasting solution, we must ask: why is the constitution not implemented in Ogaden? Where is this constitution when the people of Ogaden are arbitrarily arrested daily en masse and hoarded into military camps to be tortured, raped, and killed? Where is this document when our people are massacred, their villages burned, their meager belongings confiscated, and the rest forced to flee out of their country?

What happened to those beautiful statues enunciated in the constitution which guarantee the sanctity of the citizen’s life, property, and the many other rights such as the right to freedom of speech and association, where are these rights when it comes to Ogaden? If the constitution is truly the supreme law of the land which all must uphold, ‘respect and accept’, why is it not implemented in Ogaden?

So far we can only conclude from this and past experiences that the Ogaden is not part of Ethiopia proper, which means the writ of the Ethiopian constitution, does not reach or apply to the Ogaden. In any case, the constitutional issue was non starter in the first place which was introduced as scapegoat to derail the peace process. The Ethiopian government delegation, who comprised mostly of army officers and security personnel, came to the talks not to find amicable solution that suits both sides but to try arm-twist the ONLF and force the movement to surrender to their dictates; and when the ONLF rejected their demands outright, they walked-out of the meeting in protest. There was an agenda to deliberately stonewall the progress of talks when the regime’s delegates discovered that they were losing the argument to the ONLF.

After all, the ONLF argument was very simple and it all was about the implementation of the right to self-determination. Knowing that they cannot grant this right to the people of Ogaden for fear the region might cede from Ethiopia, the regime resorted to dilly-dally around the constitutional issue. The ONLF delegation asked for confidence building measures to be taken, such as monitored ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities, thereafter the region to be opened up to humanitarian agencies and the siege to be lifted. The Ethiopian delegation rejected it. Again, one may ask: does their constitution sanction the human rights abuses, the siege and starvation policy currently in place in Ogaden? Or is the land Ethiopia and not the people? In which case, the people of Ogaden are within their rights to reject this un-working document.

It is possible that the regime has not been genuine about the talks in the first place and they were using it as propaganda tool to convince their Western backers that they’re ready for peace and the ONLF is not.

Whatever their motivation was, it has miserably backfired as everyone saw the Ethiopian delegations as the one responsible for the failure of the talks.

The Ethiopian officials, who have been used to humiliate and buy Somali political figures over the years, must have been caught off-guard by the resolute and principled position taken by the ONLF delegates. Little do they know about ONLF; it seems years of fighting the ONLF in the bushes and cities of Ogaden have not acquainted them as to what makes this movement, which had survived every one of their assaults, tick and strong.

Now that the talks have stalled, or ‘failed’ according to the regime version, any future gung-ho mentality aimed to coerce the ONLF is sure to fail again, in case the Ethiopian regime returns to the negotiation table. The ONLF represents the collective wishes and aspirations of the masses of Ogaden and swore to fulfill them to the end. That is why the movement survives and blossoms, defying all odds and overcoming difficulties through the resilience and dedication of the Ogaden people’s selfless sacrifices and heroism. The Ogaden peoples’ demand is very simple: they want to exercise the right to self-determination.

Our advice to the Ethiopian government is to stop hiding behind an irrelevant constitutional argument to obfuscate attempts aimed at finding a just and lasting solution to this long simmering conflict.

Ginbot 7 urges Ethiopians to stand with Muslim brothers and sisters

Brutal Killings Inside Mosques Will Not Deter The Resolve Of The Ethiopian Muslim Community
Ginbot 7 Press Release

Ethiopia: Time for a Paradigm Shift (II) By Zelalem Eshete, Ph.D.

 

It takes two to tango. In part 1 of my article, I focused mostly on the opposition. Now, I present my reflections regarding the call for a paradigm shift targeted primarily to the government. I also touch on a paradigm shift for all, because we all need it.

It is Morning in Ethiopia – Make it Real
The peaceful power transfer from the old generation to the new generation, unlike any time in the past, ushered in our first morning ever in Ethiopia. The architect, late PM Meles Zenawi, has taken his seat in history on this matter without contention. The new PM, Hailemariam Desalegn, has been given unprecedented political capital unlike any other leader of Ethiopia.
Now that it is morning in Ethiopia, what is the new Prime Minister going to do with it? The opportunity presented to you demands a paradigm shift that is fitting to the new game changer event in Ethiopia. To squander the political capital given to you by acting in the same ways as those who had not been given such a gift would be a far more distressing mistake than any of the mistakes of past rulers of Ethiopia from the beginning of time.
You are positioned to start afresh, and your party should take advantage of this instead of wasting the opportunity to unite the country. A new morning demands a new beginning. You have a great opportunity to mobilize the nation as never before. The silent majority that has been waiting four decades for a better day is tired of waiting, but it is still willing to give you a chance if you just make a gesture by treating the peaceful opposition fairly. You have a great moment to harness the great optimism in the air for the development of Ethiopia, if you just embrace the blessings extended to you.
Bring good news to our land by granting amnesty to all political prisoners with a commitment to non-violent struggle as a breath of fresh air and good will. Limit the prosecution of crimes of treason and terrorism to real offenders and not as an excuse to silence freedom of speech. To this end, make the trial of the crime of treason and terrorism transparent and just; ideally, televise the court proceedings.
Let democracy ring in peace. Empower the peaceful opposition through fairness in genuine ways as you battle against the militant opposition. By doing this, you are marginalizing the militant opposition and forcing them to join the peaceful struggle. That is a good thing for Ethiopia. Your integrity on this matter is the single most important factor to galvanize the people as one to move Ethiopia forward.
For ages, it has been known that Ethiopian politics is like an electric line that you don’t touch. If you touch it, it will kill you. As a result, only a few people who are literally willing to risk their lives have dominated Ethiopian politics. When those few people win and take power, they feel entitled to be in power for the price they were willing to pay. The silent majority stands by the sideline and watch the costly drama without end.
The new morning in Ethiopia should signify that this journey of madness has stopped today. Today, it should no longer be necessary to risk one’s very life to engage in politics. The political struggle should be peaceful and safe so that all Ethiopians from all walks of life can take part in the political dialogue freely. In the 21st century, one should be free to think differently. The government should take the responsibility to break this millennial curse and encourage all the people to participate and truly engage in Ethiopian politics without fear and intimidation.
The government claimed that it had garnered 99.6% of the seats in parliament. But, the government’s handling of human and democratic rights shows that the government is still acting out of insecurity rather than out of confidence. That puts the truthfulness of the claim in question. Why not trust the people who voted for you and open the political space wide open for the opposition? As long as the constitutional mandates are honored, why not let the opposition function uninhibited? Why not make access to the media outlets free, equal and fair to all?
It would be unfair to leave your success untold. Economists may debate the virtues of your effort in economic development; but to the necked eye, there is evidence of economic growth, social development and infrastructure development that have been unseen in the land in our long history. Your grand desire to move Ethiopia from a poor to a middle-income country in the short time frame of a decade is inspiring. Your pioneering act to transfer power from one to another in a civilized and a peaceful manner is encouraging.
You are poised to be a history maker not only in the eyes of Ethiopia but also in the eyes of Africa and the world. One thing is blocking you from assuming your destiny. That is, the meager state of human and democratic rights compared to what should have been at this time of your tenure as the governing body. Unless you take action to expand human and democratic rights with much vigor and honesty in par with your commitment to the economy, you will be just another wannabe with the true identity of dictatorship that sets itself up for an inevitable fall.

The Blessings of the Ethiopian Spirit – Make it Count


THE ETHIOPIAN HEART: The government and the opposition need to accept the fact that both have good hearts for Ethiopia. That is what it means to be Ethiopian – to have a good heart. Both want to make Ethiopia rise and shine. Don’t look each other through your glasses of what happened in the past. Take off your glasses that distort the true colors of the heart of the other. There is a need to be known as you truly are on both sides of the political spectrum. That is, you both have truly good hearts for the beloved Ethiopia.
THE ETHIOPIAN MIND: The government and the opposition need to accept the fact that their respective ideas as to how to govern Ethiopia are not by themselves right or wrong. True, conflict arises when your ideas and programs to reach the common goal of a bright Ethiopia are divergent. That is human and understandable. There will always be a debate as to how to take Ethiopia from poverty to prosperity, or how to go about forming a more perfect united Ethiopia or any other policy for that matter. Again, accept that there are no right or wrong ideas but rather alternatives that compete to be the best ideas for Ethiopia. And it is the people who decide whose idea is good for the country through the ballot. That is the beauty of democracy at work.
THE ETHIOPIAN SPIRIT: The government and the opposition need to accept the fact that they both have the Ethiopian spirit – the “I can do” spirit of Ethiopians. This is that feeling of being proud to be Ethiopian. The Ethiopian spirit is what makes the distance runners win time and time again; what transpired the Ethiopians at the time of King Lalibela build the wonder Lalibela churches out of a single rock; and what enabled the Ethiopians at the time of King Minelik defeat back colonization against all odds to the amazement of the world.
However, the Ethiopian spirit has never been harnessed in our political culture for good use. Dynamite can turn to either of two ways depending on how we use it: harness it to build roads or misuse it to kill people. So it is with the Ethiopian spirit. The only tool to harness the blessings of the Ethiopian spirit is democracy. Democracy is not a luxury that Ethiopia can live without. It is an absolute necessity.
Take away democracy, and the Ethiopian spirit turns the government into a dictatorial regime that forces its ideas as an absolute on the people by the power of the gun. In response to this, the Ethiopian spirit makes the militant opposition force its ideas as an absolute on the people by the power of the gun. This drama has to stop, and democracy needs to be our avenue to reap the blessings of the Ethiopian spirit.
The Ethiopian spirit has not gotten its chance to shine in its beauty to its fullest capacity. It has been hijacked in the realm of politics for lack of democracy in the land. At the present time, history has given the government a chance to reinvent Ethiopian politics for the better. You have the potential to make everything new in Ethiopia. You would do that not alone, but by working together with the opposition in developing our democratic culture. Hear destiny calling – and let the Ethiopian spirit soar in democracy to do amazing things by putting Ethiopia on the map of the developed and civilized nations sooner rather than later. This is truly possible – isn’t that so obvious? So what are you waiting?

Impossible Mission – Make it Happen

It will not be easy. Our past has a firm grip on each of us, causing us not to trust each other. Things have been said that should not have been said. Things have been done that should not have been done. From everyone’s perspective, the situation is cruel and it fuels anger and hatred toward each other. What is our hope? We are smart and know how to lecture each other about civility, but our wounded hearts prevent us not to walk the talk. It is time to try something different and voice a hope of healing.
How can we break the ice and usher in a new era of optimism and dynamics that leads to better opportunities for all of us? Who is the one that is going to make the first move? I am afraid that our leaders in both camps may not listen to common sense. Therefore, I humbly take my case to the great and loving people of Ethiopia with great reverence. Let the people break the standoff between the government and the opposition. Let’s show that at the end of the day, we all love Ethiopia and we are all family. And we believe that we are one big, intelligent family that is able to find ways to make our democracy work in peaceful ways.
Imagine this. History tells us to march to the White House at Washington DC, but how about deploying the power of love to petition directly to the new government for the new beginning? Imagine sending a postcard to the new PM Hailemariam Desalegn carrying the hope of your aspiration to embrace the new morning. He needs more than time to do the right thing; he also needs to hear the voice of the people loud and unmistakably clear.
You want him to know that you wish him the best. You petition that all political prisoners be freed in a spirit of good will. You state that the PM can make the morning in Ethiopia real by being genuinely committed to the democratization process. Would you dare for once not to be pro-opposition, pro-government, or silent majority but just to be a concerned Ethiopian who dares to overwhelm hostility with love?
Would you stand up and let your voice be heard first hand? Would you reach for the stars in your dream to bring about a new Ethiopia – the village of love? Many suffer and die for Ethiopia; would you choose to be part of impossible mission for a price of the cup of coffee? Believe and see the power of love. You tried everything else for the last 21 years; why not also give a chance for a simple act of kindness? I beg you to reach deep down inside yourself and let the innocence within you believe so that it reasons together with the decency that is in all humanity.
Here is the postal address:
His Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn
Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia
Office of the Prime Minister
P.O. Box – 1031
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
In conclusion, it is worth repeating: time will tell, between the government and the opposition, who will assume the higher moral ground and lead Ethiopia into democracy and prosperity instead of being mired in the status quo. This is an independent voice of truth in love. So help us Almighty.
The writer can be reached at (Z@myEthiopia.com)

thiopia and Eritrea: An elusive peace on the cards?

By Isaac Esipisu (reuters) – Ethiopia and Eritrea are still at each others’ throats. The two neighbours fought hammer and tongs in sun-baked trenches during a two-year war over a decade ago, before a peace deal ended their World War I-style conflict in 2000. Furious veRed Sea, UNrbal battles, however, have continued to this day.

Yet, amid the blistering rhetoric and scares over a return to war, analysts say the feuding rivals are reluctant to lock horns once again. Neighbouring South Sudan and some Ethiopian politicians are working on plans to bring both sides to the negotiating table.

Asmara has been named, shamed and then slapped with two sets of U.N. sanctions over charges that it was aiding and abetting al Qaeda-linked rebels in lawless Somalia in its proxy war with Ethiopia. However, a panel tasked with monitoring violations of an arms embargo on Somalia said it had no proof of Eritrean support to the Islamist militants in the last year.

Nevertheless, Eritrea’s foreign ministry wasted little time in pointing a finger of accusation at its perennial rival. “The events over the past year have clearly shown that it is in fact Ethiopia that is actively engaged in destabilising Eritrea in addition to its continued occupation of sovereign Eritrean territory in violation of the U.N. Charter,” the ministry said in a statement last month.

The Red Sea state was referring to Addis Ababa’s open declaration in 2011 in which its late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his country would no longer take a “passive stance” towards its rival following Eritrea’s alleged plot to bomb targets in the Ethiopian capital during an African Union gathering of heads of state.

Then foreign minister (and now premier) Hailemariam Desalegn followed up on the rhetoric soon afterwards by disclosing his government’s support to Eritrean rebels. Meles and Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki were once comrades-in-arms, even rumoured to be distant relatives. Ethiopia’s late leader rubber-stamped a 1993 referendum that granted independence to the former province after their rebel groups jointly toppled Communist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam’s military junta two years earlier.

The love affair did not last long. The pair fell out spectacularly after Eritrea introduced its own currency in 1997 and Ethiopia responded by insisting on trading in dollars. Their economic spat aggravated already simmering border tensions, which culminated in Eritrea deploying its tanks months later and occupying hotly disputed territory that was under Addis Ababa’s administration.

Ethiopian troops breached Eritrea’s trenches nearly a year later and retook contested ground – namely the flashpoint town of Badme – before a peace deal was signed. What then followed is the sticking point that remains today. An independent boundary commission awarded Badme to Eritrea in 2002 but the ruling is yet to take effect. Ethiopia wants to negotiate its implementation and warns that delimitation of the border as per the finding would unreasonably split towns and other geographical locations into two.

Asmara on the other hand insists on an immediate hand-over. The bickering has evolved into a proxy war and diplomatic skulduggery as both sides attempt to bring about regime change in the other. But despite the harsh words, mediation efforts are in the pipeline. Deng Alor, neighbouring South Sudan’s Minister for Cabinet Affairs, told Reuters on Wednesday his newly-independent country is about to embark on rounds of shuttle diplomacy between the capitals of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Both countries, he said, have given their blessing.

A handful of Ethiopian members of parliament are also devising a similar initiative, local sources say. Addis Ababa has never ruled out mediation. But even though Eritrea publicly dismisses any idea of a thaw in strained relations before the Badme spat is resolved, recent developments might change its mind, some believe.

Ethiopian analysts think Asmara now realises that its neighbour may easily adopt a more belligerent stance following the sudden death of Meles, who they say stood firm against a potential slide towards full-scale conflict. And of course not all Ethiopians express enthusiasm about an independent Eritrea, the creation of which left their country without access to the Red Sea.

Some diplomats say the chances of both sides making drastic concessions from their current positions remain slim. So will the mediation efforts finally yield a deal?

Ethiopia’s Reeyot: “The Price for My Courage”

 

There are few things more difficult or dangerous than speaking truth to abusers of power. But for Reeyot Alemu, the 31 year-old young Ethiopian heroine of press freedom, no price is high enough to keep her from being “the voice of the voiceless”. She will speak truth to power even when she is muzzled and gagged and in prison: “I knew that I would pay the price for my courage and I was ready to accept that price,” said Reeyot in her moving handwritten letter covertly taken out of prison.

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently,” said Maya Angelou, the great African American civil rights advocate and literary figure. Last week, the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) awarded Reeyot Alemu its prestigious “2012 Courage in Journalism Award”. Last May, I wrote a column on Reeyot  (Young Heroine of Ethiopian Press Freedom), expressing my outrage over the “legal” process used to railroad her to prison:

The so-called evidence of “conspiracy” against Reeyot in kangaroo court consisted of intercepted emails and wiretapped telephone conversations she had about peaceful protests and change with other journalists. Reeyot’s articles in Feteh and other publications on the Ethiopian Review website on the activities of opposition groups were also introduced as evidence. Reeyot and Woubshet Taye [editor of Awramba Times] had no access to legal counsel  during their three months in pretrial detention. Both were denied counsel during interrogations. The kangaroo court refused to investigate their allegations of torture,  mistreatment and denial of medical care in detention…

Today, I am ecstatically proud to see Reeyot as a recipient of the IWMF award for 2012. When Serkalem Fasil won the same award in 2007, I was overjoyed. What can be more awesome than having young imprisoned  Ethiopian journalists standing up for the truth and against tyranny and lies being recognized, honored and celebrated for their heroic efforts by the world?

But what is the “courage” for which Reeyot and Serkalem were honored? Courage comes in many forms. The soldier who fights on the battlefield despite immediate danger to his life is driven by courage. A young woman who stands up to tyranny and defiantly declares, “I will be a voice for the voiceless and am prepared to pay the price”, is equally driven by courage. But what is courage itself? The great philosophers tell us that courage is a virtue that is manifested in the endurance of our body, mind and spirit. It enables us to “stand immovable in the midst of dangers”.  Others say courage is found between cowardice and rashness. Perhaps courage is a vessel that contains other virtues including perseverance, tenacity, determination, patience, compassion and moral conviction in one’s beliefs. Those who practice courage in their lives, like Reeyot and others, do so despite personal sorrow and hardship, popular opposition, condemnation or commendation or official persecution and prosecution. We should be proud to have young women like Reeyot and Serkalem and young men like Eskinder Nega and Woubshet Taye and so many other  jailed and exiled Ethiopian journalists who exemplify the highest standards of courage as human beings, citizens and journalists.

Reeyot’s handwritten statement read at the IWMF award ceremony in N.Y. on October 24, 2012 is a testament to courage for the ages. When the history of freedom — press freedom– in Ethiopia is written, future generations of Ethiopians will read the words of Reeyot and others like her and take pride in the fact that when the chips were down and the heavy boots of dictatorship crushed the people and trampled over their rights, there were few who stood for truth and against falsehood; for truth and against tyranny; and for truth, honor andcountry. It is truly inspiring to see a young woman who is confined in one of the worst prisons in the world (a prison described as barbaric and primitive by none other than a world renowned expert hired by the ruling regime in Ethiopia) standing up defiantly and fighting a ruthless dictatorship from prison with a ballpoint pen and scraps of paper:

I believe that I must contribute something to bring a better future [in Ethiopia]. Since there are a lot of injustices and oppressions in Ethiopia, I must reveal and oppose them in my articles.

Shooting the people who march through the streets demanding freedom and democracy, jailing the opposition party leaders and journalists because of only they have different looking from the ruling party, preventing freedom of speech, association and the press, corruption and domination of one tribe are some of the bad doings of our government. As a journalist who feels responsibility to change these bad facts, I was preparing articles that oppose the injustices I explained before. When I did it, I know that I would pay the price for my courage and I was ready to accept that price. Because journalism is a profession that I am willing to devote myself.  I know for EPRDF, journalists must be only propaganda machines for the ruling party. But for me, journalists are the voices of the voiceless. That’s why I wrote many articles which reveal the truth of the oppressed ones. Even if I am facing a lot of problems because of it, I always stand firmly for my principle and profession. Lastly, I want to ask the international community to understand about the real Ethiopia. The real Ethiopia isn’t like that you watch in Ethiopia television or as you listen to the government officials talk about it. In real Ethiopia, a lot of repressions are being done. My story can show you the story of many Ethiopians who are in prison because of their independent thinking. Please, try your best to change this bad reality.

If anyone should seek the real definition of courage, let them not look for it in philosophical discourses or the annals of military history. Let them read these words from Reeyot and apply them to their cause.

But I often wonder: What makes individuals like Reeyot do what they do while the rest of us do very little or nothing? Were they born with courage or did they acquire it; and if so how and where? Was courage thrust upon them by circumstances? Why is it a moral imperative for Reeyot and others like her to “dream of things that never were, and ask why not” when many of us “look at things the way they are, and ask why?”. Why did Reeyot defiantly declare from prison, “I believe that I must contribute something to bring a better future [in Ethiopia]” while many of us sit comfortably in freedom and are only concerned about contributions to bettering ourselves only? Why did she resolutely proclaim, “I always stand firmly for my principle and profession.”? Why would she plead with the world, “Please, try your best to change this bad reality [in Ethiopia].” Why is it a moral imperative for Reeyot to pay a price for her courage while most of us expect to be paid handsomely for our cowardice?

I cannot even begin to fathom the extraordinary courage of young people like Reeyot. Perhaps courage is a virtue reserved for some very special young people. Perhaps many of us in the older generation have lost our nerve, our mettle, our consciences. Perhaps some of us believe courage is cowardice, shame is honor, fear is valor and falsehood is truth. I don’t know. But I do know many who live in the “capital of the free world” write lofty opinions using pen names, pseudonyms and noms de guerre. They will boldly profess the “truth” while hiding their identity in anonymity. I know many who shade, decorate and nuance the ugly truth about dictatorship with eloquent words of ambiguity, evasiveness and equivocation just to serve their personal interests. I know many who are willing to testify the whole truth about tyranny in private but not a word in public. I have heard many speak the language of silence against tyranny. I have seen many pretend to be deaf, mute and blind to crimes against humanity. I have also wondered why Reeyot and others like her are willing to pay the price for their courage and many of us lack courage.  Could it be that we are unwilling to pay the price for the courage of our convictions because they have neither courage nor convictions?

I do not know Reeyot, but I know and deeply honor the courage of her moral convictions. People like Reeyot live according to ideas and beliefs that originate in higher moral, spiritual and patriotic purposes. They take a moral stand and give everything they have got for what they believe ought or should be done. They have moral concerns which reside deep in their consciences. They are driven by irrepressible impulses to help create a better world, a more just, equal and compassionate society. They are deeply concerned about their fellow human beings and the human condition. They are outraged and disgusted by injustice, abuse of power and arbitrariness because it offends their basic sense of morality. Citizens like Reeyot are neither bound nor motivated by personal gain. They do not seek the approval of others. They reject herd mentality and groupthink.  They know there is a personal price to be paid for their courage and are willing to pay pay it come what may. They know the price for their courage is the price of their soul. Such is the life story of heroes and heroines!

Reeyot can walk out of that “barbaric” prison at any time. All she has to do is get down on her knees, bow down her head and beg to be “pardoned”. But Reeyot does not want a pardon because she has done nothing wrong for which she needs to be pardoned. Following her sentence in kangaroo court, Reeyot’s father, responding to a reporter’s question on whether he would advise his daughter to apologize and beg for a pardon, replied:

This is perhaps one of the most difficult questions a parent can face. As any one of us who are parents would readily admit, there is an innate biological chord that attaches us to our kids. We wish nothing but the best for them. We try as much as  humanly possible to keep them from harm…. Whether or not to beg for clemency is her right and her decision. I would honor and  respect whatever decision she makes… To answer your specific question  regarding my position on the issue by the fact of being her father, I would rather have her not plead for clemency, for she has not committed any crime.

Robert F. Kennedy once said, “moral courage is … the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, (s)he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” Because our sister Reeyot stood up and exposed the injustices of Ethiopia’s tyrants, she has sent a tiny ripple of hope to 90 million of her compatriots.

I want to thank and honor Reeyot for teaching us the real meaning of courage. I thank her for sending a tiny ripple of hope to her generation (though I strongly doubt my generation could feel the tiny ripples); for standing up against tyrants and clawing at the mightiest walls of oppression with a ballpoint pen and scraps of paper. Reeyot and so many others languish in prison while the rest of close our eyes, seal our lips and plug our ears so we hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil about evil. I believe we all have three choices in the face of the evil of tyranny. We can evade and avoid it behind a badge of shame. We can pretend there is no evil behind a badge of indifference. Or we can, like Reeyot, face evil wearing the red badge of courage and become the voice for the voiceless. If we can’t be a voice for the voiceless, could we at least be a voice for those imprisoned voices of the voiceless?

Postscript:  It is painful and embarassing for me to see many Ethiopian heroes and heroines like Reeyot, Serkalem, Eskinder Nega, Woubshet Taye, Dawit Kebede and others recognized, honored and celebrated by international human and press rights organizations year after year while we seem oblivious to their extraordinary plight and personal sacrifices. Why can’t we honor them? Celebrate them?  Pay tribute to them? If we don’t show love, honor and respect to our Reeyots, Serkalems, Eskinders and …, why should others?

“I believe that I must contribute something to bring a better future in Ethiopia.” Reeyot 

Bereket Simon denouncing ethnic cleansing committed by himself

 

The Horn Times Newsletter-26 October, 2012
by Getahune Bekele

Dutch courage? A TPLF warlord denounces the 1998 ethnic cleansing campaign.

Described as the late fuehrer Meles Zenawi’s lap dog and a pathological anti- Ethiopianism, Bereket Simon, have caused a massive controversy by openly denouncing Africa’s biggest post colonial ethnic cleansing campaign of 1998, committed by himself and the dead tyrant.

The massive campaign of forcibly removing Ethio-Eritreans, including women and children was started in 1998 immediately after Eritrean war planes raided Mekele, the capital of Tigray republic, killing several students at Aider primary school.

The incident later grow into full blown boarder war where more than 70,000 souls perished in a battle resembled the bloody trench warfare of the first world war; just for control of a tiny dust bowl known as Badime.

Appearing as guest speaker on Eritrean oppositions Arabic paltalk  chat room on line ,on Saturday, the controversial Eritrean born warlord, Bereket Simon, accused top Tigray born warlords Seye Abraha and the illiterate Gebru Asrat of spear heading the yet to be investigated ethnic cleansing campaign.

“If we don’t like the color of their eyes, we have the right to chase them away”, was Meles Zenawis’ response to the concern of human right organizations during the mass deportation.

“We were wrong to chase away Eritreans” Bereket admits, for the first time contradicting the dead despot “It should not have happened and it will never happen.”

Bereket, the man who single handedly picked the current PM of Ethiopia; Hailemariam Desalegn to succeed his late boss also spoke on the issue of Badime.

“Badime is not our land. It belongs to Eritrea and we don’t have a problem of handing it over to Eritrea. The problem we have is how to go about it” Bereket said, in the process showing contempt to pro Badime Tigre warlords such as Abbay Woldu, General Samora Yenus, Seyoum Mesfin and Berhane Gebrekirstos, who still sees Badime as an integral part of the future Tigray republic.

It is not clear what gave Bereket the Dutch courage to openly defy the feared group of Tigray nationalists with more than one million foot soldiers under their command.

Zenawi’s 40 years of homework for TPLF By Robele Ababya

26 October 2012 |

I chose to start writing this peace with this quotation by Thomas Jefferson: “Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty”. I chose it because liberty cannot be guaranteed to the vast majority of humankind as long as merciless dictators with lust for power exist on our planet. I submit that the struggle to defeat tyranny must be continuous.

Thomas Jefferson was: one of the Founding Fathers of the USA; the principal author of the Declaration of Independence; and the 3^rdPresident of the United States. Benjamin Franklin was also one of the Founding Fathers of the United States; the famous quote: “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God” was in 1976 suggested by him to appear on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the USA so that it would echo the Declaration of Independence. I ask the present US leaders whether they still uphold the ideals of the Founding Fathers enshrined in the Constitution of the United States of America

So my fellow Ethiopians, liberty comes and then kept at a hefty price paid for incessantly, more so now that the new ‘do-as-told’ Prime Minister of Ethiopia, inter alia: (1) has clearly, arrogantly and defiantly declared repeatedly that the policy of his notorious predecessor shall continue intact; (2) has ignored earnest calls for the release of all political prisoners and relax the political space; is denying the constitutional right of freedom of expression.  Does he, as a professed Christian, understand the grief, despair and agony that this beautiful Ethiopian young lady in picture had suffered under the tyrannical rule of his predecessor?