Ethiopia: On the Road to Constitutional Democracy

JUNE 11, 2012 1:16AM

Byprof :Almariam

                                                 

Over the past few months, I have been penning occasional commentaries in a series I called "Ethiopia’s transition from dictatorship and democracy". In my last such commentary, I argued that "on the bridge to democracy, there is often a collision between individuals and groups doggedly pursuing power, the common people tired of those who abuse and misuse power and the dictators who want to cling to power.

The chaos that occurs on the transitional bridge from dictatorship to democracy creates the ideal conditions for the hijacking of political power, theft of democracy and the reinstitution of dictatorship in the name of democracy." In this commentary, I focus on the need for constitutional "pre-dialogue" (preparatory conversations) in anticipation of some potential roadblocks on Ethiopia’s inexorable march to a constitutional democracy.

　

Roadblocks to Democracy

Most societies that have sought to make a transition from tyranny and dictatorship to democracy have faced challenging and complex roadblocks. After the Americans effectively ended Britain’s tyrannical rule in 1776, the 13 colonies experimented on their own until 1781 when they signed articles of confederation creating a loose political association and a national government.

That effort failed because the states had reserved important powers over commerce, foreign trade and affairs to themselves and denied the national government the power to tax, raise an army or regulate trade. They overcame these and other major problems when they adopted their current constitution in 1787.

More recent history shows the extraordinary difficulties countries face in transitioning from dictatorship to democracy. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of communist regimes behind the Iron Curtain, the transition democracy has been difficult and incomplete. The wave of democratization in the Eastern Bloc countries and the former Soviet states in the 1990s lifted only a few of them into the ranks of liberal democracies with free elections, multiparty democracy, independent media and judiciary and so on.

Various explanations have been offered for the stillbirth of democracy in these countries. One persuasive explanation suggests that in those countries where democracy succeeded, there were strong democratic forces with sufficient power to impose hegemony on supporters of the moribund communist dictatorships. Dictatorships reinvented themselves and reemerged in new configurations where supporters of the previous dictatorship maintained a decisive power advantage.

The "Arab Spring" that signaled the dawn of democracy in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries today faces formidable challenges. In Egypt, the "interim" military government runs the transition to constitutional civilian rule. The sly military fox is guarding the henhouse of democracy in Egypt. Many Egyptians openly question whether the military is window dressing democracy to whisk Egypt back to the old Mubarak-style dictatorship with a democratic façade.

The fact that Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, is a leading candidate (and widely perceived as shoo-in) in the presidential race in mid-June lends support to the cynical view that the more things change in Egypt, the more they remain the same.

But more alarming is the fact that since the onset of the revolution in Tahrir Square in January 2011, there have been more than 12,000 Egyptians arrested and many brought to trial before military courts on a variety of questionable charges. Many respected human rights organizations have been subjected to harassment and investigation for "treason" by the state security prosecutor’s office. Is Egypt skating on the slippery slope of dictatorship?

In Tunisia, the Constitutional Assembly elected last October to draft a new Constitution within one year seems to show some hopeful signs. The most encouraging sign comes from the fact that the constitutional drafters do not seems preoccupied with time consuming divisive political issue but instead are focusing their efforts on establishing a robust constitutional structure that addresses potential abuses of power and prevent the future rise of a dictatorship.

Using different "commissions", the drafters are discussing the suitability of parliamentary or presidential systems, the structural controls needed to maintain the balance of power in the branches of government and institutionalizing legislative oversight of the executive branch, the need for a constitutional court, decentralization of power and other issues.

Libya’s progress on the road to democracy is not very encouraging. In August 2011, an anonymously published "Draft Constitutional Charter for the Transitional Stage" of Libya was circulated widely. It seemed to be a cut-and-paste job festooned with the buzzwords of Western liberal democracies about the rule of law, personal freedoms of speech and religion, multiparty democracy and so on. Other drafts are also in circulation.

This past March a 60-person constitution drafting committee was appointed equally representing Libya’s three main regions. But it seems the Libyans have more urgent problems of stability and security. In the absence of an effective national army, the ragtag army of revolutionary fighters and militiamen who overthrew Gadhafi continue to clash with each other and operate in their respective areas with impunity.

The silver lining in the dark constitutional cloud over Libya appears to be the existence of independent groups of Libyan lawyers, jurists, scholars, intellectuals and others hard at work preparing draft constitutions. Though such disparate efforts could contribute to the existing constitutional chaos and confusion, it could ultimately contribute to broader public awareness and participation in the constitution-making process in Libya.

Roadblocks to Constitutional Democracy in Ethiopia?

Not unlike the "Arab Spring" countries, Ethiopia will likely face the critical question of what to do with the current constitution after the fall of the ruling dictatorship. One could reasonably expect vociferous calls for the adoption of an interim constitution (assuming the military will not make a naked power grab) and establish a transitional government. The Ethiopian Constitution was originally engineered by one-man to divide, rule and control and for one party to exert total domination. Its general application has been minimal.

Its provisions are systematically and routinely ignored, avoided and overlooked by the ruling dictatorship (see reference below to the recent U.S. State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Ethiopia). There is widespread dissatisfaction about its uses, misuses and abuses by the ruling party and its iron-fisted leader; and there are compelling reasons for dissatisfaction.

In 2009,the International Crises Group, a highly respected non-partisan and independent organization which gives advice on the prevention and resolution of deadly conflict to the United Nations, European Union and World Bank, pinpointed one of the most contentious issues that has caused wide dissatisfaction:

The EPRDF’s ethnic federalism has not dampened conflict, but rather increased competition among groups that vie over land and natural resources, as well as administrative boundaries and government budgets. Furthermore, ethnic federalism has failed to resolve the "national question".

The EPRDF’s ethnic policy has empowered some groups but has not been accompanied by dialogue and reconciliation. For Amhara and national elites, ethnic federalism impedes a strong, unitary nation-state. For ethno-national rebel groups like the ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front; Somalis in the Ogaden) and OLF (Oromo Liberation Front; the Oromo), ethnic federalism remains artificial.

Accountability for abuses of power, human rights violations and corruption are equally likely to be compelling reasons for an interim constitution. This is evident in the findings of the recently issued U.S. State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011:

Membership in the EPRDF [the ruling party] conferred advantages upon its members; the party directly owned many businesses and was broadly perceived to award jobs and business contracts to loyal supporters.

The opposition reported that in many instances local authorities told its members to renounce their party membership and join the EPRDF if they wanted access to subsidized seeds and fertilizer; food relief; civil service job assignment, promotion, or retention; student university assignment and postgraduate employment; and other benefits controlled by the government… Some government officials appeared to manipulate the privatization process, and state- and party-owned businesses received preferential access to land leases and credit…

The law requires authorities to obtain judicial warrants to search private property; however, in practice police often ignored the law… The government reportedly used a widespread system of paid informants to report on the activities of particular individuals… Security forces continued to detain family members of persons sought for questioning by the government…The national government and regional governments continued to put in place "villagization" plans in the Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Somali regions… According to the [Human Rights Watch] report, security forces beat (sometimes leading to death), threatened, arrested without charge, and detained persons who were critical of planned villagization of their communities, and this caused persons to fear speaking out against the process…

While the constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and press, the government did not respect these rights in practice… The government continued to arrest, harass, and prosecute journalists, publishers, and editors… Students in schools and universities were indoctrinated in the core precepts of the ruling EPDRF party’s concept of ‘revolutionary democracy’…

Learning From the Mistakes and Successes of Others: Pre-Dialogue for a Constitution-Making Process in Ethiopia

If the recent history of upheavals in North Africa offers a lesson to Ethiopia, it is the fact that it will likely necessary to establish a "caretaker government" to lead in the transitional period. Such a government could facilitate governance during the transitional period, expedite the drafting of a permanent constitution and address critical political and security issues that may arise until a democratically elected government is installed.

Although one could endlessly speculate on alternative scenarios in the aftermath of the fall of dictatorship in Ethiopia (including direct military intervention, installation of pre-arranged leaders by international interests, severe political strife, a "unity government", etc.,), the important thing in my view is to start an informed constitutional conversation (a "pre-dialogue") now, and not wait for some some dramatic event to happen to begin discussion.

One of the important lessons of the "Arab Spring" is that those who led the struggle against dictatorship had failed to seriously consider the question of who should lead the constitutional review and drafting process in the transitional period.

Western nations were too eager to bridge the gap by sending their constitutional experts, specialists, scholars and tons of instructional materials on how to structure a robust democratic constitution.

National stakeholders representing political parties and organizations were quickly organized as transitional governments and allowed to operate within the parameters set by the military backing them up. This approach to "democratization" has not been particularly conducive to giving voice and allowing meaningful participation by ordinary citizens, civic society and grassroots organizations.

As a result, it appears the constitution-making efforts in those countries undergoing the proverbial "Spring" reflects the general desires and wishes of the elites much more than the ordinary citizens who do not have sufficient familiarity with the process or the substance of the draft constitutional provisions.

This underscores the importance of inclusiveness of all segments of society in any constitutional pre-dialogue (and dialogue) in Ethiopia and in the Ethiopian Diaspora. An elite and expert-driven dialogue which excludes or underrepresents grassroots and civil society organizations is likely to be an exercise in constitutional window-dressing.

While expert and elite participation is necessary because of the technical skills required in drafting and compromises that need to be made by the major stakeholders, the debates and conflicts between political parties, organizations and leaders should not and must not be allowed to dominate or overshadow the vital need for mass public participation in the constitutional dialogue.

In the "Arab Spring", civil society and grassroots organizations, women, the youth, and other underrepresented groups have not been adequately included in the formal dialogue and will likely not be involved in the final negotiations and drafting of a new constitution. Is it not ironic that the young Egyptians who sparked the revolution and sacrificed their lives in overthrowing Mubarak now have so little voice in the drafting of the new constitution?

There are other important lessons Ethiopians can learn from the general experience of the "Arab Spring". Public civic education on a new constitution must be provided in the transitional period. Ethiopian political parties, organizations, leaders, scholars, human rights advocates and others should undertake a systematic program of public education and mobilization for democratization and transition to a genuine constitutional democracy. They must initiate and lead broad and ongoing dialogue on the current constitution, its advantages and disadvantages and present constitutional alternatives for a new and genuinely democratic Ethiopia.

Political polarization of society is a predictable outcome in a post-dictatorship period. To overcome conflict and effect a peaceful transition, competing factions must work together, which requires the development of consensus on core values.

The "Arab Spring" experience shows the difficulty in developing consensus as they seem to be bogged down in all sorts of divisive issues rooted in religion, identity, ethnicity and so on. What should be the core values of a new democratic Ethiopia? How does one transform subnational fragmentation and disintegration into national cohesion and integration?

To have a successful transition from dictatorship to constitutional democracy, Ethiopians need to practice the arts of civil discourse and negotiations. As difficult and embarrassing as it is to admit, many Ethiopian elites on all sides seem to suffer from a culture of inflexibility and zero sum gamesmanship. In other words, one has to win always, and the rest must always lose. We have seen absurd zero sum games played over the past 21 years.

In May 2010, the ruling party claimed it had won 99.6 percent of the legislative seats! In 2008, the same ruling party claimed that in the local and by-elections it had won all but four of 3.4 million contested seats! A clean break from such zero sum culture and zero sum mentality is needed. Such absurdity and rigidity is also the perfect breeding ground for the re-emergence of a new dictatorship. It must be replaced by a culture of tolerance, good will, civility and respect in national dialogue.

One of the criticism aimed at the interim and transitional governments in the "Arab Spring" countries is lack of transparency in the constitution-making process. In Egypt, it seems clear that regardless of any new constitution, the military is unlikely to give up its control to civilian supremacy and risk losing its massive economic holdings in real estate and the services sector.

In a transitional period, the public is often left in the dark about the constitution drafting process process and transitional governments tend to be somewhat secretive about their activities. In Libya, political activists in major cities have held demonstrations demanding more transparency in the transitional council’s decision-making process.

The absence of transparency diminishes public confidence and increases popular cynicism. Broad citizen engagement is one of the most effective ways of maximizing transparency. Ethiopian political parties and organizations, civic and grassroots organizations, advocacy groups and the independent press could play a decisive role in promoting and maintaining transparency in the constitutional dialogue and constitution making process. They could play important roles in educating and informing the public and by monitoring official activities to safeguard against manipulation and underhandedness by those entrusted with drafting the constitution.

Kenya’s Constitutional Model for Ethiopia?

Kenya’s constitutional reform in the aftermath of the crises in the 2007-07 presidential elections has been praised by various international organizations and governments. The Kenyans formed a "national unity" government before embarking on a constitutional drafting process. Most independent commentators have noted the inclusiveness and transparency of the constitution drafting process, the extensive consultations among stakeholders, the wide availability of constitutional civic education and the high level of civic engagement.

The new constitution adopted in 2010 makes significant changes by imposing constitutional limits on executive power, replacement of powerful provincial governments with smaller counties, a citizens’ Bill of Rights and a landcommission to return stolen property and review past abuses, among others. The Constitution was approved by 70 percent of the Kenyan electorate.

The Search of a Democratic Constitution and a Constitutional Democracy in Ethiopia

The search for a democratic constitution and the goal of a constitutional democracy in Ethiopia will be a circuitous, arduous and challenging task. But it can be done! My views on the subject are pretty straightforward: A constitution is the supreme law of the land, which simply means that it is the fountainhead of all laws and all other laws in the land are subordinate to it. A constitution is fundamentally a limitation on government (not an empowerment of government). I think of it as the people’s iron chain leash on the "government dog".

The shorter the leash, the better and safter it is for the dog’s masters. A constitution is also the sword that guarantees individual liberties and human rights against abuse by those exercising power. Only when those who are entrusted with the sacred duty of governance are put on a short leash and guarded by an independent judiciary wielding the sword of accountability will there be a true constitutional democracy in Ethiopia.

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

Ethiopia: MENELIK THE GREAT OF ADWA

by Msmaku Asrat

March 1st 1896 is the

117^{th anniversary of the Battle of Adwa}.

 The decisive victory at Adwa is a tale to be told every year on this day of its commemoration because it worms the heart and lifts the spirit of every black person in the world. Few places evoke stronger memories than places of triumphant victory or places of devastating defeat. Napoleon Bonaparte achieved his greatest fame at the battle of Austerlitz (now in Czech Republic) in 1805 where he decisively defeated the combined armies of the kings of Europe.                                          

Few defeats are as well registered as the defeat (by then Emperor) Napoleon, at the battle of Waterloo (now in Belgium, near Brussels) ten years later in 1815, where the Emperor after his army was defeated declared "flee those who can" and fled from the battlefield on horseback.

Adwa, a dusty little village in Tigre, was put on the map of the world by the mighty and valiant Emperor Menelik who decidedly defeated the Italian army there by a brilliant strategy not unlike that of Napoleon at the battle of Austerlitz.

So by that singular victory at ADWA , a place, a history, a legend and a myth of invincibility was born which throughout succeeding generations of black people everywhere, and Ethiopian people in particular, evoked a memory and a pride of staggering proportions.

The new generation of black people now say "those were the days" We need not bother the chattering of the magpies who try to erase this memory emanating from a burning envy and a searing white hatred – an outcome of a monumental inferiority complex.

People also shun and condemn defeat as could be discerned by the following couplet after the battle of Maichew and when Emperor Haile Selassie went into exile to Britain. ያልተገራ ፈረስ ጠቅል ብላችሁ ሄደ ገሠገሠ ባህር ገባላችሁ (an unbroken horse you named Tekil; but it galloped into the sea)

This was an unkind comment because the battle of the Maichew front was fought continually for six months and it was led by the Emperor all the way. Moreover, Italy had far superior arms this time while Ethiopian armament was still primitive. We should rather recall the valiant stand the Emperor took at the League of Nations in Geneva and his prophetic predictions "today it is us tomorrow it could be you" And that was exactly what happened.

Menelik was born in 1844 and was Emperor from 1889-1913. He was the greatest military general to emerge from Africa since Hannibal (247-183 B.C.) of Carthege (a place now in modern Tunisia) The Carthegian military commander moved over the Alps with elephants, conquered Rome and occupied it for 15 years until he was recalled back to Africa.

Menelik at 52 was a decade older than Hannibal when he marched to Adwa. Not only Ethiopians but the whole world associates Adwa with Menelik and not with the inhabitants who lived there at the time (much less with those who are living there now.)

This is how history is born and no amount of back peddling or attempt at rewriting of history could ever change that! What makes Menelik great, besides his other considerable accomplishments, is his towering achievement at the victory of Adwa, which place name will forever be associated with him.

He was a soldier’s soldier, instinctively brave, fearless and lion-heated. He was also a brilliant field commander and a military tactician. As an outstanding general he was able to evoke the absolute devotion and loyalty of his army. He did this by example.

His move from Addis Ababa to Adwa hundreds of kilometers away is a journey of epic proportions. His army travelled by foot and the provisions of the army were carried by thousands of pack animals – mules horses and donkeys. Animal fodder has to be provisioned and secured, watering holes have to be identified beforehand, and food for the army has to be supplied endlessly.

Menelik was leading a multiethnic army which in most cases do not speak the same language but were tied together by their fervent belief in their overarching Ethiopian identity and above all, in their absolute confidence that Menelik was their God appointed leader to whom they bestowed their total love and devotion. Watching the vast army of Menelik on the move is like witnessing the whole movement of a town being created and dismantled overnight, a feat which is impossible to imagine even now.

It is also like the movement of a huge meandering river from a distance. There were thousands of pack animals like donkeys and sturdy mules that carry food and drink, tents and firewood. Then there were the horses and mules for the leaders and commanders of the army

. Menelik had thirty well bred horses and mules at the ready for his personal use and he transferred himself from one tired horse or mule to a fresh one without breaking a stride. Another army was led by his wife itege Taitu and a smaller army led by his young and enthusiastic daughter Zewditu, the future Empress, a heroine of the war in her own right.

Much has been told about Itege Taitu but almost nothing about Weizero Zewditu who was beside her step mother every step of the way during the heat of battle. It is sad that in order to glorify Emperor Haile Selassie her contributions even during her reign was totally eclipsed, the same way as that of Lij Eyasu where even his resting place is still unknown. During Eyasu’s reign it was said
በኢያሱ ዳቦ ነው ትራሱ… በዘውዲቱ ተደፋ ሌማቱ… በተፈሪ ጠፋ ፍርፋሪ (during Eyasu’s time bread became a pillow; during Zewditu’ time the charger was overturned; during Teferi’s time not even crumps of bread were left)

Even recent writers continue to belittle the reign of Empress Zewditu. Suffice it to say that Ethiopia joined the League of Nations during her reign and she was an active partner of Ras Tafari in the modernization of Ethiopia. After all she was the daughter of Menelik the greatest modernizer of them all, who has inspired all his followers.

The wisdom of Menelik is his ability to revive the ancient polity of multi-ethnic Ethiopia which was lost during the dark days of Zemene Mesafint. Atse Tewodros, his mentor and imprisoner, has tried but failed and Atse Yohannes has partly abandoned the quest. Menelik chose leaders by their ability and quality of character and NOT by their pedigree OR tribal origin. Menelik was a Shewan Amara and an Orthodox Christian.

His trusted generals were also Muslims and non Amaras. Menelik was born in the beautiful village of Angolela and his most illustrious Oromo general, Ras Gobena was born in Mendida a few miles away at the edge of the escarpment. He used to be a loyal follower of King Haile Melekot, the father of Menelik. Menelik has the uncanny ability to identify talent early and nurture it.

Among the army commanders who went to Adwa there was a small army commanded by the young Ato Habtegiorgis, who many years later became a Fitawrari and War Minister and close confident of Menelik.

So also was Dejach Balcha who grew up in Menilik’s court who later became an illustrious warrior and there were many, many more from all parts of Ethiopia. Berkley in his excellent book The Campaign of Adowa and the Rise of Menelik (1902) written shortly after battle of Adwa, has a map of battle zones where he puts Ato Habtegiorgis and his troops to left of the Emperor’s army.

The Emperor had a secret informant or a spy in the name of the enterprising Awalom who had penetrated the command post of General Baratrieri, the Italian commander and brought valuable information to Menelik.

The families Awalom fled from their village when the Italian army retuned to Ethiopia following the same route 40 years later. The Fascists had avowed to exact a revenge on the remnants of the family. During this war, to crown their achievements, the Fascist built a gigantic bust of Mussolini at Adwa at the very spot where they were defeated – a bust which was said could be seen from miles away.

This bust has been reproduced in some books written at the time (I have seen the pictures even though I could not remember which book) Five years later it was said that the British artillery unit blew it to pieces. This is how history marches through time.

The battle of Adwa ended with a decisive victory for Ethiopia, and due to the exhaustion of the army and dwindling of provisions Menelik did not push the Italians across the seas. Hundreds of Italian war prisoners were dispatched post haste to Addis Ababa before him. In a celebration of the victory of Adwa at Jan Meda, the prisoners were paraded before him and the conquering army.

They were, however, humanely treated, and returned to Italy after an impassioned appeal by the Vatican. Menelik was humane, magnanimous and generous to a fault. We may recall that JAN MEA (or Janhoy Meda meaning "the Emperors field") was the first open space which Menelik designated for the new Addis Ababa. Sadly more than a century later it remains as the ONLY public space in Addis Ababa. The city singularly lacks competent city planners and engineers.

A succession of so called "engineers" had completely cut down the gigantic trees of the city (shoals, zigbas, girars shrubs etc) which had given it an endearing beauty and which even we knew at a young age) and left it completely bare even affecting the famous mild climate.

They have also built roads with absolutely no sidewalks to speak of, and this in a city where 90% of the inhabitants have no car! A case of supreme ignorance which is even manifested to this day.

The Addis-Djibouti railway was also was the ONLY one in the country for a hundred years until it was permanently derailed and abandoned during the time of the Derg In 1986 an estimated one thousand Ethiopians perished when the trained went into a ravine at Awash .

This the greatest train disaster in Africa until this day. The insanely criminal and illiterate Derg forbade any news of the accident to leak out or any relatives to travel to the accident place. The brutal Derg controlled the news and only tidbits of it travelled by word of mouth. The incident came close to me when my neighbor’s son who was in the train during the accident was lucky to survive but lost part of his left leg.

The victory of Adwa had immediate repercussions around the World, beginning at the citadel of the Italian Army, Rome. There were spontaneous demonstration carrying placards which red VIVA MENELIK and DOWN WITH CRISPI (the Prime Minister of Italy at the time.) The most spectacular was what happened in far away Brazil which has the largest Black population outside Africa. The only black newspaper immediately changed its name to MENELIK.

In distant South Africa the new Ethiopiawinnet movement was born. Later spin offs were the Abyssinian church in Harlem, US and the Ras Tafarian movement in Jamaica. Menelik went into battle with a) the Ethiopian tri colored flag b) a quote from the Bible written on an emblem of the monarch which portrayed a crowned lion carrying the Ethiopian flag and read : THE LION OF JUDAH HAS PREVALED (which in the Bible is a reference to Christ) It is not the later adulteration of this phrase which became :"Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah." And c) Menelik had also another emblem with the famous quotation from the Bible, a phrase which has given comfort to Christian Ethiopians throughout the ages and it read: "ETHIOPIA STRETCHES HER HANDS UNTO GOD" With these three standards he marched onward to victory.

The only monument erected for Menelik by his grateful daughter was the equestrian statue at Arada in Addis Ababa It is the FIRST equestrian statue of its kind. The legs of the horse had a connection with the pedestal. (the second statue of its type is that of Simon Bolivar) It was dismantled and buried by Italian Fascists in the dead of night.

　

They were afraid about the reaction of the Ethiopian people. The place of burial was later identified dug out and put in its original By contrast the current Fascists, the t TPLF leaders who have a visceral hatred of Menelik and what he represents want to destroy it forever. Memories live forever, statues can be rebuilt.

They may melt this statue and make it into ornaments for themselves and their family thinking that they have got rid of Menelik forever. However, history never dies. No other monument exists for the heroes of Adwa.

The only structure, an internationally famous hotel in Arada named after Itegue Taitu, called ITEGUE HOTEL was given another name by the ignorant Derg but when they realized that it was named after Itegue Taitu and NOT itegue Menen, the renamed it the mundane name "Taitu Hotel".

The original name has to be restored to its glorious past as ITEGUE HOTEL and not Taitu which can mean anything without the title. But this hotel as well as Menilik’s palace are in state of ruin. The palace has leaking ceilings and creaking stairs and floors and may collapse any day.

Neither its former tenant Mengistu who desecrated the place repeatedly or the late Meles ever cared about Menelik’s palace except for its symbolism. Mengistu in particular has a strange affinity to Menelik. Strange because no two people could be so further apart. He also used the palace as a prison (I was imprisoned there.)

Menelik’s mausoleum is in the Church of Be"ata. There, within the church compound, Mengistu and his partner in crime in the Derg, the notorious henchman Captain Mengistu Gemechu, had two adjacent villas built for them. – another sacrileges desecration of our church by the godless criminals.

Why they did so is only known to them and their close associates. To say the least it was bizarre. The victory of the battle of Adwa had prompted one anonymous person to write a prophetic couplet which captures what would have happened had Ethiopia lost the war, and here it is:

ምኒልክ ተወልዶ ባያነሳ ጋሻ ግብሩ እንቁላል ነበር ይህን ጊዜ አበሻ

[If Menelik has not been born to raise his shield (in defense of his country); the taxation of the Habesha (Ethiopians) would have been to supply eggs]

Forty years later, when Fascist Italy came to Ethiopia that was exactly what they demanded from the occupied people. Deliver eggs and lots of them! I may digress here to say that almost all of our post -Liberation, early entrepreneurs stared their carriers as supplies of eggs and chicken during the Fascist era.

After the victory of Adwa the British, as was their practice, immediately named Menelik as THE GREAT. They have also done so to Shaka Zulu the great warrior of South Africa. But in Menelik’s case the affix was withdrawn a few years later with the intense lobbying of Italy which argued convincingly that calling Menelik "the great" will forever humiliate not only Italy but the entire White Race.

European Powers of the time also know the decisive and still secret role played by Menelik earlier during the debacle at Fashoda in 1987 when British and French force confronted each other. The fascinating story is recounted in a book The Race to Fashoda: European Colonialism and African Resistance in the Scramble for Africa by David Levering Lewis, (Weidenfeld&Nicolson, 1987).

When I was in College there were two professors who had an intensive interest in Ethiopian history. One was Rubenson, a Swede, who was an admirer of Tewedros and the other was Marcus, an American, whose obsession was Menelik. Both had subsequently written seminal studies about their heroes. Of course for our young minds Tewedros was the more romantic.

"I have intended to conquer the world if God has so decreed, and it is my intention to die if my wishes could not be fulfilled" so declared Tewedros. He forced the few foreigners to build a foundry from scratch to cast cannon in Gafat which he called "Sevastopol’ The cannon was dragged to this mountain fortress in Mekdela on the eve of battle. Unfortunately it exploded at its first try when enthusiastic soldiers fed it two cannon balls instead of one.

The cannon is still there. Pankhurst called Tewedros’s attempt with tongue in cheek as "the abortive industrial revolution of Ethiopia" Tewedros also resolved to free Jerusalem from the infidels on any given Friday: … አርብ አርብ ይሸበራል ኢየሩሳሌም (every Friday Jerusalem is in a state of agitation) The anecdotes of Marcus about Menelik were a wealth of information which delighted us with their inexhaustible wisdom. Menelik’s sturdy voice is preserved for posterity in the British Museum.

It is a message he sent to Queen Victoria. During my elementary school at TMS our Canadian Jesuit teachers were admiring Abraham Lincoln and I remember that in my fourth or fifth grade, myself as well as my classmates, committed Lincoln’s "Gettysburg Address" to memory and were able recite it by rote . I still remember part of it so many years later.

So whenever March 1st comes let us celebrate the glory that is Adwa and the great leader Menelik. Let it be told over and over again to our children and succeeding generation. He is the pride of the black race. A gem of a human being who had the ability to bring all the ancient people of Ethiopia together and to reaffirm the Glory that was Ethiopia revered both in the Bible and the Koran and all the ancient manuscripts and artifacts.

Menelik grew up in Ankober and became a king there before became Emperor of Ethiopia. He was an Orthodox Christian and a Shewan Amara which the TpLF and its Woyane adherents have an undying hatred. As the famous Iranian poet Omar Khayyam (b.1048) said "The moving finger writes and having Writ moves on; Nor all thy piety nor Wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line"

Ethiopia stretches her hands to God

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Indian ambassador Vijay Sakhuja, Oakland Institute Executive Director Anuradha Mittal and New Ethiopia Executive Director Obang Metho discuss "Land Grab" in Ethiopia. The panel was led by Bharat Bhushan, host of India's World. While the ambassador defended the interests of Indian companies, the the two activists voiced the concern of the indigenous Ethiopian people being uprooted from their ancestral lands

In unusual rebuke, Saudi Arabia accuses Ethiopia of posing threats to Sudan & Egypt

    
February 26, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – A senior Saudi Arabian official unleashed a barrage of attack against Ethiopia saying that the Horn of Africa nation is posing a threat to the Nile water rights of Egypt and Sudan.

 by . EMF




“The [Grand] Renaissance dam has its capacity of flood waters reaching more than 70 billion cubic meters of water, and is located at an altitude of 700 meters and if it collapsed then Khartoum will drown completely and the impact will even reach the Aswan Dam,” the Saudi deputy defense minister Khalid Bin Sultan said at the meetings of the Arab Water Council in Cairo.
“Egypt is the most affected party from the Ethiopian Renaissance dam because they have no alternative water source compared to other Nile Basin countries and the establishment of the dam 12 kilometers from the Sudanese border is for political plotting rather than for economic gain and constitutes a threat to Egyptian and Sudanese national security “the Saudi official said.

The massive $4.8 billion dam is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2015. It lies close to Sudan’s eastern borders and has a power generating capacity of 6,000MW and when completed it will enable Ethiopia to export more power to its neighbors.
Egypt fears that the Nile dam will reduce the flow of the river’s waters further downstream and Addis Ababa has long complained that Cairo was pressuring donor countries and international lenders to withhold funding.

An international panel of experts is set to announce its findings on the impact of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile’s flow in May 2013.
The Saudi deputy defense minister went further saying that Ethiopia is keen on harming Arab nations.

Saudi deputy defense minister Khalid Bin Sultan (Al-Riyadh)

 

 

“There are fingers messing with water resources of Sudan and Egypt which are rooted in the mind and body of Ethiopia. They do not forsake an opportunity to harm Arabs without taking advantage of it” Prince Khalid said.

“The establishment of the dam leads to the transfer of water supply from the front of Lake Nasser to the Ethiopian plateau, which means full Ethiopian control of every drop of water, as well as [causing] an environmental imbalance stirring seismic activity in the region as a result of the massive water weight laden with silt withheld in front of the dam, estimated by experts at more than 63 billion tonnes,” he added.

The Saudi official added that Nile basin countries calling for reallocating Nile water shares is a “real threat” to Egypt’s future.
“The information is alarming and it is important that we do not underestimate the danger at the moment and its repercussions in the future,” he said.

It is unusual for Saudi officials known for being composed to make such damning criticism of other countries. It is not clear whether today’s remarks indicates hidden tensions with Ethiopia.
Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with Ethiopia, signed an agreement to overturn British-colonial-era agreements dating back to 1929.

These gave Egypt and Sudan 90 percent of the Nile’s water flow and the power of veto over dam-building, even though 85 percent of the river’s water flows from the Ethiopian highlands.
Ethiopia and the upstream states contend they need more water because of burgeoning populations, industrialization and agricultural projects.

Water needs are expected to rise as the Nile basin population is projected to reach 654 million by 2030, up from 372 million in 2005, according to UN estimates.
Source: Sudan Tribune

Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson Press Konference must wach

Jorda rundt for fri TV

tirsdag 26. februar 2013       
AKTIVIST: Etiopiske Tamagne Beyene
reiser Europa rundt for å samla inn
pengar til den uavhengige
kringkastingsstasjonen Esat.
Foto: Andrea Thiis-Evensen
90 millionar menneske i Etiopia har éin tv- og radiostasjon - kontrollert av regjeringa. Tamagne Beyene reiser jorda rundt for å samle inn pengar til den uavhengige kanalen Esat.

Sakset fra: Klassekampen 26. februar 2013

Skrevet av: Magnhild Folkvord

Lengeverande flyktningar frå Etiopia fryktar tvangsutsending og kjempar for retten til å bli i Noreg, slik som sjuåringen Nathan Eshete og foreldra

hans. På same tid reiser ein annan etiopiar Europa rundt for å samla pengar til ein kringkastingsstasjon som kan gi annan informasjon til folk i Etiopia enn dei får via regjeringskontrollerte media.

Festkveld

Sia 2005 har Tamagne Beyene vore heiltidsaktivist for Ethiopian Satellite Television (Esat). Han gjennomfører no ein turné i Europa for å skaffa pengar.

Meir enn 500 etiopiarar samla seg til ein stor festkveld da Beyene besøkte Oslo for eit par veker sia. Somme av dei hadde reist langt, frå asylmottak langt unna hovudstaden. Hovudføremålet med Beyene sitt Oslo-besøk var å samla inn pengar til den frittståande tv- og radiostasjonen Esat, som når over heile Etiopia og kan følgjast via internett rundt omkring i verda.

Beyene har bak seg ein karriere som komikar og underhaldar i Etiopia. I 1996 vart han arrestert fordi styresmaktene mislikte noko av innhaldet i ei framføring han hadde. Ikkje lenge etter flytta han til USA, der han no bur med familien sin.

Intoleranse

Esat-aktivisten fortel om eit regime i Etiopia som ikkje tolererer ulike meiningar.

- Fram til 2005 hadde vi ein heil del ulike aviser. No er det ingen toleranse for ulike meiningar, berre eitt parti og berre éin tv-stasjon. 150 journalistar har forlate landet, seier han til Klassekampen.

Han er uroleg for situasjonen i heimlandet og over at eit land som Noreg gir økonomisk støtte til regimet.

- Noreg støttar korrupsjon og kriminalitet. Norske styremakter må opna auga og sjå om dei støttar folket eller regimet i Etiopia, seier Beyene.

- Vår oppgåve er å skaffa informasjon og arbeida for toleranse. Greier vi ikkje det, blir det borgarkrig. Regjeringa, som representerer ein etnisk minoritet, promoterer splitting. Det er ein farleg situasjon. Ein må vera medlem av regjeringspartiet for å få jobb, seier han og legg til at hovudvekta for Esat ligg på nyhendesendingar, men det blir også sendt underhaldningsprogram.

Vellykka tiggarferd

Den frittståande tv- og radiostasjonen Esat, som har sine viktigaste basar i Amsterdam og Washington D.C., har vore på lufta sia 2008, men ikkje utan problem.

- Vi må samarbeida med eit satellittselskap, leiga ein kanal og betala for den, forklarer Beyene og legg til at både den etiopiske og den kinesiske regjeringa har prøvd å blokkera Esat.

- Kina investerer i å kontrollera heile Afrika. Dei støttar den etiopiske regjeringa og bryr seg ikkje om menneskerettar, seier han.

Erfaringa så langt er at etiopiarar som er busette utanfor heimlandet sluttar opp om Esat i stor grad.

I 2012 vart det samla inn 120.000 dollar berre i Australia.

- Denne rekorden vil vi slå. Målet er å få 5000 personar til å binda seg til å gi 20 dollar i månaden, forklarer Esat-aktivisten.

Frå Oslo reiste han vidare til både München, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London og Brussel.

magnhild.folkvord@klassekampen.no

London Debretsion Church and the Ethiopians

     

                                 by Yilma Bekele

                                 Watch the YouTube video before reading this article

This is Debretsion Ethiopian Orthodox Church in London England. The picture seems to have been taken on a cold winter day. It is such a beautiful church. Doesn’t it look so serene and peaceful? I am sure it is that most of the time. But according to this video it was nothing but serene a few weeks back. The best way to express the twenty one minute video is it felt like was watching a scene where the mental patients have taken over the asylum.
I agree it is totally depressing to see all classic Ethiopian behavior on display in a controlled environment. The location being a church gives it that special quality of raising the bar to show how low we have sunk. Such a brawl in some obscure hall, how ugly it is, normally is not worth a mention.

 I guess we get so consumed with the righteousness of our cause that we toss out all civilized behavior out of the window regardless of the place or the time.

The video is not intended to be a work of art. It is not fiction that jumped out of some ones imagination. This play does not have a director, a producer or a lead actor. This video is real unrehearsed presentation of Ethiopians and their social interaction. The setting adds to the drama of the moment. We thank the individual who had the patience to record reality in that hallow ground.
If you care to dig deep deeper into the story you will find out the reason to the madness you are subjected to watch but that is another story all by itself. Unfortunately having an excuse does not justify bad and shameful behavior. Wrong or right does matter but with this short presentation that we are left with all we can do is watch and marvel at the utter stupidity our situation at home and abroad. I am interested in parsing out what fate has presented us- a way to watch ourselves from afar. It is priceless.


As I said before the setting is Debretsion Church in London, England and all those present are immigrant Ethiopians. All come to Debretsion by their own free will. We assume they are followers of Christ AKA Christians. For Christians a church is a most hallowed place. It is God’s home. Christians go to church to pray, praise the lord and cleanse their soul of evil thought and bad feelings. We expect love, understanding, forgiveness and chartable acts to flourish in such a location. Is that too much to ask?


It looks like Debretsion is not such place. The fathers and mothers the sons and daughters of Debretsion are not one happy family. Obviously they got a problem. The twenty one minute video is a general example of how the unhappy group went about cooling tempers and looking for solution. It speaks plenty on how we go about resolving differences in a civilized manner. I think it is safe to conclude this gathering to be a microcosm of the bigger Ethiopian society both at home and in the Diaspora. We take pride in our dysfunctional behavior. Look at the combatants of Debretsion. They make us all proud.


After watching twenty one minutes of the meeting do you think there is a lesson to be learnt? I know it looks totally hopeless doesn’t it? How could all those adults act in such a lawless manner? How do they justify such shameless behavior in front of the young people? How do you think their kids are going to act in a social gathering when they have seen their parents foaming at the mouth inside a holy church? What kind of anger forces a sane human being to be so hating and threating with all sorts of nasty acts?


The last forty years have been a time of upheaval in our country. It has affected our culture in a profound manner. The last two dictators although lacking in the art of leadership were richly endowed with mental deficiency, mental illness and were given to delusion of grandeur. Our old culture has experienced disruption in a major way. We are the result of an aborted development.
The biography for Debretsion London church give nineteen seventy six as day one making it about thirty seven years in the making. It also says it is paid for.


 My first reaction is how fortunate they have such a united and generous community and are able to worship in such a beautiful church. I am sure some people worked hard thru the years to make it happen. Not all of us can put time, effort and money to achieve such goal. Because of the hard work of the few now they have a place of their own to enjoy and grow. They make their congregation and all of us in the Diaspora proud.


You would think the Board of governors and the clergy deserve a heartfelt thank you. You would think the members will strive to build on that success and plan bigger and better things to come. You would think even if there is a problem it will be dealt with in a careful manner so as not to destroy what has already been achieved.

That scenario works among civilized people. By civilized I don’t mean high rise buildings, airplanes, factories, highways and stuff. I mean people with culture and pride. People that don’t have to shout to be heard. People that know their place in history. People that have already lost so much by being displaced from their homeland that a little compassion and caring for each other in a strange land will be the norm.

We are unable to do that. Debretsion is just one example of the disfunctionality that has taken over our social interaction. Debretsion has been repeated in every Diaspora assembly no matter the cause we are trying to create a common ground. This sickness of demeaning each other, belittling our efforts, slandering those who work on our behalf and routinely dismissing any and all ideas has become something to be proud of.

Debretsion Church is an example of a confused and rudderless crowed easily whipped into frenzy by a few anti-social elements. Why do you think that is so? Yes I am asking you the reader why do you think a few can disturb the peace of the many? My simple answer is because we let them! We know something has gone wrong, we know things are not right but our first response is to sit quiet and watch. We seethe inside, our stomach turns, we are very much disgusted but we keep quiet. We don’t dare tell the rowdy ones they have gone too far, we are not familiar with the word NO!
I am also sure after the assembly and meeting we will find plenty that will show disgust and alarm with the noise makers. They will even become animated explaining how offended they felt. There is a saying in our country ‘jib kehede wusha chohe.’ That is the story of our existence.

I can see all this because our Church was a victim of the same ruffian type behavior. Those who felt change is necessary were too lazy to work within the system. They felt a short cut was acceptable since their position was such that ‘by any means necessary’ was an acceptable method. They packed the assembly, they registered new members and they brought their loud mouth to silence anybody that stood on their way. Winning was the only outcome acceptable to them and the price did not matter. Destroying the church to save the church seemed to be a good idea.

Out of the millions of options in front of us we seem to choose the one that hurt ourselves and those around us. We can leave an association if we don’t agree with the direction it is heading. We can relocate to a new neighborhood if we don’t like the location we are in. We can quit a job if it does not meet our monetary and social needs. One is free to change a church if the current one does not satisfy one’s spiritual need.

We Ethiopians do not exit with grace. Most of us will wreak havoc on the association, burn our home, badmouth our employer and destroy our house of worship before we leave. We are not programed to accept a simple amicable divorce. In the end we all lose.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. How about a video in living color? This video is priceless. It says many things about us in the Diaspora. There is no reason to assume we are any different over there either. By over there I mean Áger Bet, Ethiopia. In fact we are a duplicate, warts and all.

It is definitely a surreal scene to watch some taking a video of this madness as if to preserve it for future reference while a few were sitting in silence seeming un affected by the chaos. I knew I was entering a new dimension when I saw the Metropolitan Police walking among the combatants. He was not asking for silence, not demanding attention or clearing the scene but quietly showing his presence but allowing the play to go forward.

So the question in front of us is- are we going to learn from this madness and change? Are we going to be responsible for our actions not to be led by the crazy and idiots among us? Are we going to judge matters on their merit or base our stand on ethnicity, marriage and friendship? Are we going to sit and listen to each other as adults or pace around like a wounded animal? Are we going to work thru the system we ourselves set up or improvise as needed and change the rules to suit an individual? Are we going to give respect to those that work hard to create something and give them credit or demean their efforts and slander their work?

I will give you an example you can try. The next assembly of Ethiopians you meet weather in a coffee shop, Lekso bet or Eder mention any of the organizations working on our behalf like Ginbot 7, Andenet, ESFNA and see the reaction. The first thing that comes out is a barrage of insults, demeaning language and put down. Most probably the individual has never attempted to know, read and find out the goals and plans of the organization.

 Has never contributed monetary and other help to help them achieve. It does not stop them from being rude. They are always willing to vent out insult and defamation no matter what. Our community needs help. God help Debretsion and God help our country. Now watch the video below and see Debretsion in all its splendor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gszogRH1sGU

Asylum Department, emotions, politics and rhetoric

 Published 13 hours ago - 466 Views Post

 Naturally, there are asylum seekers who are not entitled to protection. There are certainly criminals seeking asylum. The world is diverse and consists of this and that.

Naturally, there are asylum seekers who are not entitled to protection. It's probably smart individuals selling fabricated stories of people who are willing to take a chance. There are certainly criminals seeking asylum. The world is diverse and consists of this and that. There are few who criticize the current policies in the area who are not aware of this and therefore it is also to suggest that everyone should come here who would like to come. Naturally, it would be ideal. Down with borders. But in today's world it would mean chaos, unfortunately. One issue is that it is easier to move than ever, and another is that there will always be areas of conflict where millions forced to flee. In addition to these millions more who live in inhuman and impossible living conditions.
The Refugee Convention are the following definition of who can be considered a refugee. People who feel that they

 "... Have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or , owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection, or who are stateless and because of such events, is outside the country of his former habitual residence and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. "
Escape from natural disasters and famine are not covered by this definition which is clearly evident in the later analysis.

 Fear is a subjective feeling states, and are therefore must fear be "well-founded", it means that one must be able to show that it is also objective. The task of the government of the country where the refugee seeking asylum, are investigating the circumstances and background of the applicant to see if the fear is well-founded recently.

 How do we define as "persecution" of the Convention? You come to the conclusion that it can
"... Persecution if it knowingly tolerated by the authorities, or if the authorities refuse, or prove unable, to offer effective protection."
Out of it can be inferred that it does not have to mean that it is the government itself is behind the persecution, but they are either tolerated or is unable to protect the persecuted. The latter may be the case in a country that has collapsed, as was the case with Somalia.

A possible situation that can not be mentioned explicitly, where people are being persecuted by criminals or threatened by conflicts between clans and similar groups, blood revenge, honor killings and the like. This must still be included under that definition, namely that "the authorities refuse, or prove unable, to offer effective protection."

My impression after a quick review of key parts of the Convention is that the reasons themselves for far too long in a conventional sense of what governments and authorities, and do not act enough attention to those cases in which the state is almost just a front for criminal activity , which is the case with a number of former Soviet republics, not to mention Russia itself.

In such societies, the boundaries between criminals and authorities liquid and mixed to an extent many in the West find it difficult to comprehend. We also states where organized crime is a state in the state and is waging war with this, which must be seen to be the case in Mexico today and some parts of Brazil. In these countries, the authorities have even a small advantage and in the case of Brazil, it seems that the government is trying to connect a more solid grip.

How judges authorities organized country people fleeing from such conditions? Is there not a risk that they do not see reality as it is, but instead considers it through lenses colored by civilization? That they regard the government as authorities and not as what they are, a front for criminal activity, a tinge of legitimacy to hide impunity, a game for the scenes?

In Norway supports itself on information from a device called Land Info. This consists of individuals who possess extensive knowledge about different parts of the world and in different fields. Anyway, the world is big and complicated and this group is relatively small compared to the enormous task they have.

It turns out, moreover, that they too often choose to ignore information from various organizations working in the field and therefore have the best and latest knowledge. Instead, it seems that they rely more on sources embassies and the like. While making their travel to different countries but such travel can hardly be said to represent field studies since they are official. One can easily imagine such a journey in the old Soviet Union and how much it would have given the objective knowledge about the conditions there.

As an example of how wrong the information is official government sits on may be, I will take an example from a completely different area; drug policy. Since I lived for many years on the edge of society, I had firsthand knowledge of what was going on underground. Something I particularly noted was that the government at that time was at least a few years after the fact. The heroin had made its appearance in Norway long before either the police or health authorities were aware of this. It was not until the first overdose deaths began to come, that they realized what was happening under their noses.

So this was an example of how government can be on the lag in judging a situation in their own countries. Imagine then how difficult it must be when it comes to countries far away! It also turns out that Landinfo updated on countries like Ethiopia and Iran, but only after having been criticized for a long time, a kritkk that the government has rejected. Meanwhile, one has treated asylum cases based on the erroneous information they had available. One does not have to know the facts and have closed the eyes and ears of certificates that have been received and called into question the official information.

Anyway, one hears the same phrase repeated, those who have been rejected, is obliged to return. When it turns out that the authorities can be serious mistakes in their judgments, it is clear that in some cases, an empty phrase. Those who have been rejected but who knows that this is not in any way change the situation they fled, is not obliged to return. On the contrary. They are obliged to do everything they can to save their lives.

More cases could be mentioned, but it would take too long.
Asylum Research must be defended against abuse. Basically thinking straight. There are people who are not covered by the Refugee Convention but who nevertheless tries. They are desperate and looking for a better life, yes, often after a life at all. Other avenues are closed to them, so they choose the opportunities that are at buds. It's understandable. Anyway you have to say no even if it's hard for the people involved and not easy for those who have to take decisions.

But reality is not so clear that governments and others will have it through their rhetorical exercises. Other things come into play. There are more than two categories here - those who claim asylum and those who have not. A third group are those who are entitled to it, but that gets off on a faulty foundation, because of errors committed during the asylum interview, due to lack of knowledge and information - but that matter can not return voluntarily when they know that no matter what the authorities here think and say, their real fear.

In addition, those who are victims of political tactics. Today authorities note an increasing immigrant hostility in the population, while populist opportunists know fishing for support in such waters. To retain power and prevent the "wrong" group acquires it, they make their strategic choices. In asylum policy they narrow. They move the fence posts as they say. Here the border shall go, they say.

What is the result? Yes, in addition to the knowledge itself may fail, the criteria are tighter hurdle narrowed. Cynically, it does not mean simply that some who would previously have been granted asylum, now falling out, not because they are not persecuted, but because they are not persecuted enough. Not because they are not tortured, but because they have not been tortured enough. Not because they have not been raped, but because rape was not brutal enough and not enough. They are asked to pray for the protection of the same authorities who persecuted, tortured and raped them.

None of this is fantasy. It is taken from actual cases.
Critics of current practice is not to open borders. It's all really about liberalization, either. Criticism has nothing to do with tåreperseri and swarm risk sentiment to do, even though more and more people become upset and cursed when they discover the reality behind the rhetoric. It's about cold, hard facts. It's about something as important as the rule of law.

It is any civilized society foundation. Closer attention to compromise the rule of law, there is cracks in the foundation, so it turns out ultimately to protect society. Legal protection can not be selective. It should include absolutely everyone and especially must include the weakest.

Some of the weakest members are refugees. A civilized society is obliged therefore to see that the law is not their failing, not at any point. This society needs to do, not only out of concern for the weak, but not least to protect themselves, to see if their house.
Those who are willing to compromise on the rule of law, contributes to undermining the basis of society. It is not the critics who pose the greatest danger. On the contrary, it is often those who claim to defend the policy that is dangerous, because they are defending errors committed. Errors that ultimately weakens theAngre .

by Wilfred Hildonen

The 117th Anniversary of the Battle of Adwa

By Robele Ababya; February 25, 2013

　

There is no heritage more glorious, precious, and inspiring than freedom and independence won by the ill-equipped and poorly trained, if at all, Ethiopian militias over vastly superior Italian invaders at the famous Battle of Adwa in 1986 under the leadership of Emperor Menilik II and His brilliant diplomat and strategist, Empress Taitu, who in Her own right commanded 16,000 valiant militia warriors.

The Empress devised the idea of controlling the water points near the Italian garrison at Mekelle in Tigray. She sent a well-armed detachment of selected militia secretly with orders to capture those water points on which the Italians and their animals of burden depended for survival. The mission was so successful that the enemy offered to negotiate surrender. The magnanimous Emperor granted them safe passage and the garrison came under the control of His militia army. Lo and behold. The enemy that invaded Ethiopia under the pretext of civilizing barbarians found mercy in the hands of those it came to educate!

Emperor Menilik II is the victor of the famous Battle of Adwa, which became a trophy of epic pride for Ethiopians and a beacon of hope for the black people in the Diaspora; a truly beloved Great Leader of His people that dubbed Him Emmye Menilik (Mother Menilik).

The famous victory won at the Battle of Adwa at heavy price paid in lives and blood, came as a complete surprise to European colonial powers that had no choice but recognize Ethiopia as a sovereign state.

Revenge by Fascist Italians 40 years after Adwa

The victory of our ancestors under the able leadership of the Monarch, His Empress, valiant Generals, and brave militia warriors at the battlefield dealt an unforgettably humiliating defeat to the Italian aggressors.

So the Italians took forty years of extensive preparation and invaded Ethiopia in 1935 – an act of atrocious aggression in full view of the League of Nations of which both Ethiopia and Italy were members. The European powers did nothing to prevent the naked Italian aggression.

But when Mussolini and Hitler forged alliance at the start of WWII, the prophetic famous speech of Emperor Haile Selassie at the League of Nations came to pass. Great Britain this time allied with the Emperor and His guerilla fighters and the alliance played a decisive role in driving out Marshall Graziani’s occupying forces from Ethiopia. The ouster led to the disgraceful fall of Mussolini.

Incidentally, the ferociously advancing Ethiopian militia warriors were within wee minutes of claiming the second Adwa victory in this war too. But, due to the sabotage by renegade Rayas (bought and armed the Fascists) attacking the advancing force to the stronghold of the enemy from behind the war was lost. In this war the Ethiopian peasant warriors vowed in the name of Emmye Menilik and fought with extraordinary gallantry.

For example, the immortal legacy of the beloved Monarch was inherited by top patriot Abichu at his tender age of 17 years and his young compatriots under his command including the militia army of the children of Hamassein commanded by General Haptom;the militia army of the children of Tigray (Mekele) under the command of General Tesfatsion; the militia army of the children of Gojjam (Damot) commanded by General Gashu; and the main militia army of the children of Selalle under the command of General Worqu.

Source: Habešská Odyssea (YeHabesha Jebdu) የሃበሻ ጀብዱby Adolf Parlesak Translated by Techane Jobre Mekonnen – page 274.

What is most remarkable and pleasing to me is that the children of Ethiopia, unknown to each other and hailing from distant regions and all of them young, could form their own command which by his own admission became excruciating thorn in the flesh of Marshal Badoglio – supreme commander of the invading Italian Fascist Army.

Provocative monument to Graziani, the Bucher of Ethiopia

Unfortunately, the Italian authorities, have identified a square in Rome where it has erected a monument in a public park for Field Marshal Graziani despite the record of his atrocities including the murder of Abune Petros for refusing to betray the right of his people to fight for freedom and independence; atrocious carnage of Ethiopia patriots; terrorizing people into submission by dragging dead bodies of patriots on the streets of major cities; throwing patriots from airplanes; heavy attack from the air with machineguns and bombs; aerial spraying of poison gas, barred by international law, on Ethiopian militia warriors poorly equipped with swords, spears, shields, rifles, and a few machine guns.

In August 2012, $160,000 of public money was used to finance monument in his honor with the words "Fatherland" and "Honour" engraved on the mausoleum. Itis really sad and perturbing that the Vatican blessed the occasion of the inauguration of the monument of the "Butcher of Ethiopia" monument as if its endorsement and blessing of the Fascist invasion of our motherland was not enough.

Ethiopians on 19 February 2013 commemorated the anniversary of the massive massacre on 19 February 1937 of over 30, 000 innocent Ethiopians in Addis Ababa alone by order of Graziani only because an attempt was made on his life by two heroic citizens. He was nicknamed "The Butcher of Ethiopia"worldwide including even in Italy.

That grisly massacre did not deter Ethiopians from vowing in the name of Emmye Menilik to resist the occupation of Fascist Italy. So, Graziani ordered the removal of the monument of Menilik to a secret place because its presence in full view of the public in the city gave him a nightmare as it increasingly became a rallying point for consultation, exchanging information, and plotting to oust the Fascists. The statute was recovered and put back in its original place after the triumphant return of Emperor Haile Selassie to Addis Ababa; it is a priceless symbol of grand victory of all Ethiopians over tyranny that must be jealously guarded.

The victory of Adwa is a symbol of our strength in unity in diversity; a pride of our harmony in the face of our cultural diversity; an indelible foot print like no other in our long history. It is a sacred inspiration and hallmark of our future existence in unity as a democratic, prosperous and strong nation. Adwa is our hallowed ground where our ancestors from all corners converged to defend their liberty by paying incalculable sacrifice in human lives, bloodshed, and expended material resources. Menilik died penniless leaving an immortal legacy of earnest quest for freedom and independence. The history made at Adwa must never die!

Menilik the magnanimous and fair judge died penniless

The Monarch elevated His antagonists to high key posts in His government, to wit: - Fitawrari Haptegiorgis Dinegde and Dejazmatch Balcha Safo among many others

In a civil suit the Emperor ruled in favor of the appellant on grounds that it is unfair for the Crown to own both the throne and land stressing what with the people will remain if the Monarch owned both. He died penniless leaving behind the true meaning of magnanimity and justice.

Gratitude to EHSNA

It is with utmost sincerity and great pleasure that I congratulate the Board officials of EHSNA on the glamorous occasion of the celebration of the 117<sup>th Anniversary of the Battle of Adwa.

As I have said time and again, EHSNA was conceived by farsighted visionary few inspired by genuine love of Motherland Ethiopia. They were no doubt motivated by the rich repertoire of Ethiopia’s abundant heritage garnered over thousands of years. I am sure that young celebrants in particular will proudly appreciate and vow to enrich the repertoire of their heritage.

LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA!!!


rababya@gmail.com</sup>

Abebe Belew at Ethiopian Muslim Rally in Washington, DC

ESAT Daliy News Amsterdam Feb 25 2013 Ethiopia

Barack Obama: Failing the African Spring?

 

by Helen Epstein

The New York Review of Books
February 25, 2013

America’s new drone base in the West African city of Niamey, Niger, announced by the White House on Friday, further

President Barack Obama preparing to address Ghana’s parliament, Accra, Ghana, July 11, 2009

expands our counter-terrorism activity in Africa. It’s also consistent with the militaristic emphasis of the Obama administration’s engagement with the continent. This may help contain the spread of jihadist violence in specific cases, but by failing to address persistent abuses of human rights by our African military allies, America is also undermining its own development investments that are intended to lift millions of people out of poverty and ensure the continent’s peace, stability, and economic growth.

The administration’s neglect of human rights in Africa is a great disappointment, since the president began his first term by laying out ambitious new goals for the continent. In July 2009, when his presidency was only six months old, Barack Obama delivered a powerful speech at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, the point from which millions of African slaves were shipped across the Atlantic. He called on African countries to end the tyranny of corruption that affects so many of their populations, and to build strong institutions that serve the people and hold leaders accountable. The speech seemed to extend the message of his much-discussed Cairo address a month earlier, in which he called for a new beginning for Muslim relations with the West, based on non-violence and mutual respect. Many thought that the policies of the new president, himself of Kenyan descent, would depart from those of the Bush administration, which provided a great deal of development aid to Africa, but paid scant attention to human rights.

After more than four years in office, however, Obama has done little to advance the idealistic goals of his Ghana speech. The US finally suspended military aid to Rwanda last year, after it was forced to accept evidence of Rwandan support for the brutal Congolese rebel group M23, but has otherwise ignored the highly problematic human rights situation in that country. In Uganda, the US looked on for years as President Yoweri Museveni’s cabinet ministers gorged themselves on American and other foreign aid intended for impoverished farmers, war victims, roads, and health care. US diplomats have recently begun expressing support for Uganda’s many oppressed civil society groups, but one wonders what took them so long. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Uganda is a vital US military ally in Somalia, where Ugandan troops helped oust the Islamic militant group al-Shabbab from Mogadishu last year.

Meanwhile, Kenya, another important US ally in Somalia that is soon to be receiving drones from the Pentagon, is preparing for national elections on March 4. But some observers say the country is more violent now than it was in 2007, when post-election ethnic clashes left 1000 people dead and caused economic chaos across East Africa. Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto have both been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes connected with those events. It’s not clear what the US will do if Kenyatta wins, but it often seems as if Obama will work with any African leader who furthers America’s military aims, regardless of how that leader treats his own people.

Ethiopian Muslims protesting in Addis Ababa, October, 2012

And then there is Ethiopia. Today, Western nations give $3.5 billion a year in aid to Ethiopia, most of it for health care projects, food aid, and other development programs. Of this, the US alone provides roughly $700 million—an amount that has quintupled in the past decade, even as the nation’s human rights record has deteriorated to the point that Freedom House now designates it one of the least free countries in the world.

 The Ethiopian government has rigged elections, taken control of the economy, and outlawed virtually all independent media and human rights activity in the country—including work related to women and children’s rights, good governance, and conflict resolution. Thousands of political prisoners languish behind bars and dozens of editors, journalists, judges, lawyers, and academics have been forced into exile.

But when Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi died last summer, then-US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice praised him as a personal friend and a “talented and vital leader.” When she remarked that “he had little patience for fools, or ‘idiots,’ as he liked to call them,” some in the opposition believed she was referring to them—and approving Meles’s sentiments. Rice’s support for authoritarian leaders in Africa was highlighted by critics who opposed—and ultimately derailed—her nomination to be secretary of state.


Perhaps most worrying of all is the unwillingness of Obama and other Western leaders to say or do anything to support the hundreds of thousands of Muslim Ethiopians who have been demonstrating peacefully against government interference in their religious affairs for more than a year. (The Ethiopian government claims the country has a Christian majority, but Muslims may account for up to one half of the population.) You’d think a nonviolent Islamic movement would be just the kind of thing the Obama administration would want to showcase to the world. It has no hint of terrorist influence, and its leaders are calling for a secular government under the slogan “We have a cause worth dying for, but not worth killing for.”

 Indeed, the Ethiopian protesters may be leading Africa’s most promising and important nonviolent human rights campaign since the anti-apartheid struggle.
Yet the United States, along with other major donors to Ethiopia’s government, including Britain, has stood by as women and men have been hideously beaten by police, hundreds have been arrested, eight people have been killed, mosques have been raided by security forces, and twenty-nine Muslim leaders, including lawyers, professors, and businessmen, remain in jail, charged with trying to use violent means to create an Islamic state.


The demonstrations started in late 2011, after the government began forcing Imams to adopt an imported version of Islam. The Ethiopian government has a long history of trying to control civil society groups, including religious orders, by taking over their leadership. In 1992, Meles replaced the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church with a party insider. Many Christians still resent this. In 1995, he replaced the leader of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, also known as the “Majlis,” again with someone from his party. Muslims grumbled about this, but did little more.

Then in 2011, on the pretext that the Islamic community was being radicalized by fundamentalist groups, Meles invited a Lebanese Islamic sect known as “Ahbash” to Ethiopia. The group, which was founded in Beirut by an Ethiopian exile in 1983, preaches obedience to government and opposes politicization of religion. All of Ethiopia’s Imams were required to go to meetings to listen to these newcomers, and were threatened with imprisonment if they refused. In the meetings, government officials were invariably present, and would lecture the imams about “Revolutionary Democracy,” the ruling party’s particularly rigid political doctrine. Most Ethiopian imams are volunteers, who work mainly as farmers, teachers, or in other trades to support themselves. But those who resisted taking part in the meetings and refused to preach the “Ahbash” version of Islam soon found themselves replaced by government-appointed, salaried adherents of the new official religion. The imams and their defenders began organizing nonviolent demonstrations that have since spread across the country.

In response, the Ethiopian government has attempted to portray the protesters as jihadists, most recently claiming in a government TV documentary that they are under the influence of Salafist extremists from Saudi Arabia. When a lawyer for the jailed movement leaders told a Voice of America journalist that the documentary undermined the presumption of innocence of his clients, he too was threatened with arrest. If this fear-mongering has been intended to send a message to the US, which supports Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism activities along the border with Somalia, it seems to have worked. Last year, former US Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn praised the Ethiopian reaction to the demonstrations, telling Reuters, “The government has done a pretty good job over the years in ameliorating religious differences where there are potentially serious conflicts.”


Ethiopian Muslims and Christians have long coexisted more or less in peace, as they do in Tanzania, Uganda, and other countries in the region. But since the demonstrations started, government officials have tried to infiltrate them and provoke violence among Muslim groups and between Muslims and Christians. It hasn’t worked. In recent months, Christians and secular human rights defenders have even joined in support of the Muslims, and the demonstrations have grown. The demonstrators use Facebook and secure Internet sites to outsmart government censors, and warn people to stay home when they learn that the government intends to plant violent hecklers among them to discredit the movement. When the movement’s leader, Abubakar Ahmed, who had been detained with other protesters (he is one of the twenty-nine awaiting trial), was paraded in chains before TV cameras, protesters showed up at the next demonstration with his picture on their T-shirts, and stood in a phalanx before the police with their wrists crossed, as if they too were in chains.


The Ethiopian protests began around the time of the Arab Spring, when it seemed the Obama administration might finally begin taking human rights in Africa seriously. In late 2011, for example, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined British Prime Minister David Cameron in declaring that their governments would consider penalizing foreign aid recipients, including several African countries, that cracked down on the rights of homosexuals. This rallying to the cause of gay rights would be heartening, if it weren’t for the fact that Cameron and Clinton have done so little to protect everyone else’s rights. Such official statements could even undermine sympathy for the gay rights cause in Africa.


For years, observers have wondered what the US administration’s policy toward Africa really is. Then, three years into Obama’s first term, the White House finally released its first Africa strategy document. It states that the US will “promote strong democratic norms” and “support civil society actors who are creating vibrant democratic models….” But as the situations in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda make clear, little has been done to further these aims. While continuing most of the development and public health initiatives of the Bush Administration, the Obama administration has given priority to US military aims.


Failing to challenge government corruption and repression undermines economic growth and social development throughout East Africa and beyond, as well the prospects for long term peace and stability. Even our direct military interventions have had dubious results. Experts continue to debate the wisdom of intervening in Libya, but there is no arguing with the fact that it helped rally—and arm—al-Qaeda supporters, who have spread terror to Mali and Algeria and perhaps other West African countries; impoverished Niger agreed to host the new US drone base in part out of growing fear of the jihadism that has spread from Libya.


More than half a century of post-independence African history has shown that focusing on stability, security and development while ignoring democracy and human rights is self-defeating, because it undermines those very goals. The US and other Western donors to Africa must do more to use the many instruments at their disposal to promote the reforms necessary to protect basic freedoms and uphold the rule of law. This will pose diplomatic challenges, but they could start by not turning their backs on peaceful protesters, just when our moral support—at the very least—is most urgently needed. As Czech playwright, dissident, and former president Vaclav Havel put it during the depths of Cold War, “The ‘dissident’ movements do not shy away from the idea of violent political overthrow because the idea seems too radical, but on the contrary, because it does not seem radical enough.” At the time, Western leaders rushed to support Havel and other non-violent activists throughout Europe. Now that Africans are calling for the same thing, why don’t today’s leaders do the same for them?