Mentally disabled Ethiopian housemaid faces beheading in Saudi Arabia

December 26, 2013

The Horn Times Newsletter December 26, 2013
by Getahune Bekele-South Africa

In the first place, the charge was motivated by conjugation of hate and barbarity common in Saudi Arabia. Unable to disavow the accusation labeled against her without a lawyer or even an interpreter, with her hair disheveled and her face hoary with terror, eyes darting from one corner to the other, the Ethiopian woman stood before three heavily bearded Islamic judges silent and motion less.

She does not remember her own name and no one knows for how long she has been subjected to severe abuse by her Saudi employers. No passport or travel document was found in her possessions. The Horn Times is still trying to establish her real name and family address back home in Ethiopia.

Despite the great discrepancy between the police and her employer’s version of the incident, the 26-year-old mentally disabled woman was sentenced to death on Tuesday 24 December 2013, in the capital Riyadh for allegedly killing her abusive employer’s six-year-old girl, Lamis, by slitting her throat.

The court’s bizarre verdict based on conjecture and confession obtained under coercion by the notorious Saudi police, once again exposed the stone-age nature of the country’s legal system, which remains at odds with the international norm or practice.

According to the charge sheet, the battered Ethiopian housemaid slit the throat of Lamis, 6, with a kitchen knife   in July 2013 at Hota Bani Tamim, just South of Riyadh. An hour later, police found her trying to hide in the back yard of her employer’s house. Police alleged that the woman resisted arrest and put up a fight but was overpowered and taken into custody.

Delivering the verdict, the presiding judge told the mentally unwell Ethiopian woman who were muttering cryptic words to appeal against the death sentence within 30 days if she wishes to. Under such mental state, it was not clear if the condemned woman was cognizant of her rights.

From sleep and food deprivation, wealthy Saudis are known for dehumanizing foreign domestic workers by isolating them from friends and family, making them to work extra hours, and viewing them as cheap labor or mere commodities. Rape and forced confinement for weeks or months with no payment are still common.

To millions of housemaids from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia; the name Saudi Arabia is a connotation of demonic cruelty and 7^th century Arabian barbarism.

According to records, Saudi Arabia has a yearly average of 100 executions and publicly beheaded 27 housemaids in 2010 alone and most of those put to death were vehemently denying any wrongdoing till to the last minute.

Amnesty international says some of those who committed crimes such as murder either were defending themselves or mentally challenged because of prolonged abuse and unspeakable suffering at the hands of their employers.

International law prohibits the application of the death penalty against children under the age of eighteen at the time of the crime being committed, and the implementation of the death penalty on persons suffering from mental retardation or extremely limited mental competence.­

However, in January 2013, the Saudi Arabian regime executed an eighteen year-old Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek arrogantly brushing off international condemnation. Several mentally retarded maids were also mercilessly beheaded as the international community continues to tolerate the barbaric oil sheikdom’s nefarious stubbornness.

Teachable Moments for the Ethiopian Diaspora?

December 1, 2013

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Stop the violence against Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia now!

The ongoing human rights abuses of Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia have triggered massive expressions of outrage against the regimes in Riyadh and Addis Ababa and unprecedented outpouring of concern and support in Diaspora Ethiopian communities. Over the past several weeks, enraged and brokenhearted by the shocking video clips of dehumanization of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia, tens of thousands of Diaspora Ethiopians from Australia to the United States faced off cowering Saudi embassy and consular officials.  An estimated 6-7 thousand Ethiopians peacefully marched on the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. to demand an immediate stop to the violence and abuse and to show their support and solidarity with their compatriots in Saudi Arabia. Tens of thousands rallied from Atlanta to Seattle. Thousands more marched throughout Europe.  Everywhere they carried banners and shouted, “Shame, shame, shame on you, Saudi Arabia!”

The evidence of abuse and mistreatment of Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia is incontrovertible. In its December 1, 2013 report, Human Rights Watch stated, “Ethiopian migrant workers have been the victims of physical assaults, some of them fatal, in Saudi Arabia following a government crackdown on foreign workers. Many workers seeking to return home are being held in makeshift detention centers without adequate food or shelter.”

Three factors explain the worldwide explosion of anger and outrage by Diaspora Ethiopians: 1) the unspeakable barbarity and ruthlessness of Saudi street and police thugs and vigilantes who literally yanked out  Ethiopian migrant workers from their homes to beat, rob and jail them; 2) the depraved indifference and silent complicity of the Saudi regime in the face of the unmitigated police and mob violence and 3) the bottomless incompetence and  obsequiousness of the regime in Ethiopia to their  Saudi benefactors.

The reactions of Diaspora Ethiopians and the regime in Ethiopia over the abuse and mistreatment of the migrant workers were in sharp contrast. As Diaspora Ethiopians stood up for their compatriots in Saudi Arabia, the regime in Addis Ababa was backpedalling, bending over backwards and falling head over heels to bootlick and apologize to the Saudis. It was nauseating!

Tedros Adhanom, the malaria researcher-turned-instant-foreign-minster and the man being groomed to become prime minister after the 2015  “election” had the nerve to state in public, “Ethiopia would like to express its respect for the decision of the Saudi Authorities and the policy of deporting illegal migrants.” He confessed he was “really depressed” by the mistreatment of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia and told off the Saudi ambassador have it. “It is unacceptable”, declared Adhanom with diplomatic panache. In an attempt to show how he and his regime have things under control, Adhanom bellowed, “I would like to assure you that we are ready to receive our fellow citizens home.”

It was a pathetic display of indifference, incompetence and inanity. How could one “respect” the policy of another country that condones the dehumanization of its citizens? How could any person in his right mind choose the meaningless diplomatic word “unacceptable” to describe the rape, murder, mutilation, torture and lynching of one’s brothers and sisters in a foreign land? How does one retreat into personal “depression” and “sadness” without lashing out with righteous indignation and outright diplomatic outrage and fury?

It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. The Saudi abuse video clips were decisive in triggering the Diaspora outrage. What must not be overlooked is the fact that the same degradation, humiliation, torture and abuse inflicted on Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia has been inflicted on ordinary Ethiopians for the past two decades.

By crushing the independent media, Adhanom’s regime has been largely successful in concealing and covering up its massive crimes against humanity from public view; but not all is hidden.There is plenty of shocking photographic evidence  — just as shocking, if not more shocking than the video clips of the Saudi atrocities — of crimes committed against ordinary Ethiopians by the regime in Ethiopia. What happened to Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia in November 2013 has been happening to ordinary Ethiopian in Ethiopia in October 2013, November 2012, and December  2011 and so on.

  A couple of weeks ago, Human Rights Watch issued a report on forced confessions  which stated, “Detainees [at Maekelawi prison in Addis Ababa] are repeatedly slapped, kicked, punched, and beaten with sticks and gun butts. Some reported being forced into painful stress positions, such as being hung by their wrists from the ceiling or being made to stand with their hands tied above their heads for several hours at a time, often while being beaten.”

My most teachable moment: Watching an awakening and angry giant

Truth be told, the most “teachable moment” for me in the current Saudi situation was the massive worldwide mobilization Diaspora Ethiopians were able to achieve in such a short time. I must confess that I did not believe Ethiopians in the Diaspora could strategically coordinate furious global protest action with such efficiency, energy and enthusiasm. It was truly an “Aha!” moment for me. I have been watching Diaspora Ethiopians for a few years, and but for the usual activists, the majority seemed to me not only silent but also sleeping. But in November 2013, I watched an awakening Ethiopian Diaspora Giant in sheer amazement. Men and women, young and old came out by the hundreds and thousands to stand up for their brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia. What suddenly caused the Giant to awaken? I am not quite sure. My deepest fear now is whether the Awakened Giant will fall back to sleep after the Saudi crises is over.

Teachable moments for all of us

I believe the Saudi abuse and persecution of Ethiopian migrant workers and the callous indifference of the regime in Ethiopia present exceptional teachable moments for all Ethiopians, particularly those in the Diaspora. I define a “teachable moment” as a unique occurrence in history that has extraordinary instructive value for mass education, mobilization and individual engagement. In identifying the following few teachable and learnable lessons in allegorical form, my basic message is that crisis reaction is not a winning formula for the attainment of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. We should reflect calmly on the things we did right to achieve such extraordinary global unity, solidarity and mobilization in responding to the Saudi crisis. We should use the mobilization “magic” in the Saudi crisis over and over again. We should be in a permanent state of human rights advocacy and mobilization in the Ethiopian Diaspora!

Looking in the Ethiopian Diaspora Mirror: A conversation

I am introducing an allegorical (imaginary) “Ethiopian Diaspora Mirror” to talk about some things we need to do and not do to transform ourselves from reactors to crisis to shapers of destiny. We need to devise strategies to keep the Awakened Giant permanently awake and eternally vigilant.

We all know what the problems and issues are in the Ethiopian Diaspora; some are minor and others more difficult to resolve. Unless we openly and honestly talk about and resolve them, we run the risk of putting the Awakened Giant back to sleep. I am also sick and tired of muddling from one crisis to another. We must humanize, organize, revitalize and mobilize Diaspora Ethiopian communities.  We must have conversations with ourselves and each other.

I look into the “Ethiopian Diaspora Mirror” I hang on the wall to have a conversation. It looks back at me and says:

Y’all can start stuff, but you never finish it. The Mirror reminds, “‘The late leader of the regime in Ethiopia used to say, ‘Diaspora Ethiopians can start a lot of things, but they never finish what they start.’ Was he wrong?’”

I grope for words trying not to answer the question. “Truth be told, we have started many, many things, but very few have we brought to a successful conclusion. I can testify from my limited personal experience. Since 2005, when I actively joined the Ethiopian human rights struggle, I have seen, heard of and personally participated in one capacity or another in hundreds of political or advocacy groups, task forces, conferences, forums, consultation and discussion groups, teleconferences and in person meetings, workshops, conventions, colloquiums, symposia and conventions. 

I regret to say, I have yet to see one brought to complete fruition.” Then I quickly corrected myself. “We brought one thing to partial success. Who’d forget HR 2003 (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Aah! That was a teachable moment. That bill gave the late regime leader a headache, heartache, stomachache, backache, toothache and earache! HR 2003 also kept divergent Diaspora groups glued together committed to a common purpose.”

The Mirror interrupted, “Bingo! Y’all can build an all-inclusive Diaspora organization on a solid foundation of Ethiopian human rights advocacy. After all, who would be in favor of torture, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, beatings, torture and stolen elections?” I decided not to give the obvious answer. If we start something, we much bring it to a successful resolution or keep on trying regardless of how long it takes.

Y’all (almost) always tend to react emotionally often punctuated by anger. The Mirror asks, “Why do y’all almost always tend to react emotionally and often angrily when the ignoble regime in Ethiopia does or does not do something?”  I quickly think of the Saudi situation. “There is nothing wrong in being emotional. To be human and not be emotional is to become a robot. How could we not be angry and outraged when we see and hear our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia being subjected to subhuman treatment.” The Mirror continues to patiently question. 

 “After you’ve let off steam and the anger subsides, what is left over? Despair, anguish, sorrow?  Do you fall into the iron grips of powerlessness, hopelessness and helplessness and apathy? Or do you tap into your creative energies to re-group and take decisive action?” I nod reflectively. “Indeed, anger often ends in paralysis and inaction. The energy we waste in venting our anger must be transmuted into constructive long-term and sustained advocacy and action.”  Our anger must give way to rational, calculated and deliberative collective action.

Y’all (almost) always tend to react to high profile crises situations, but completely ignore the equally important low profile ones.  The Mirror says, “Just over the past year, y’all have witnessed a number of tragic crises unfold. There was the systematic persecution and violent suppression of Ethiopian Muslims by the regime. There was the brazen takeover of Waldba monastery lands, the ancient and venerated religious site in Ethiopia, for a handover to foreign commercial sugarcane plantation developers.

 There was the forced deportation–  ethnic cleansing — of Ethiopian citizens from the Benishangul-Gumuz region, among others.” The Mirror continued. “There are many low profile but devastating ongoing crises situations y’all have ignored.  Despite the regime’s propaganda about “double digit growth”, some 10 million Ethiopians today face life-threatening hunger and starvation. It is only because of international handouts that Ethiopia today has not faced the Biblical famines of the 1970s and early 1980s. The number of Ethiopian refugees in neighboring countries and throughout the world continues to grow by the hundreds of thousands every year. 

 There are crises in the education and health care sectors. There is a crisis of corruption and so on.  The quality of elementary and secondary educations is so poor and lacking, it should be classified as a crime against youth and humanity. The universities are mismanaged, politicized and have been converted into nepotistic training grounds for the party faithful.” We must react massively not only to high profile crises but also the low profile ones.

Y’all in the Ethiopian Diaspora (almost) always play weak defensive games. The Mirror points out, “Y’all in the Diaspora are always reacting to what the regime in Ethiopia does, and less often to what it does not do. The late leader of the regime was so clever he exploited this weakness to the hilt and played y’all like a cheap country fiddle. He would say or do something outrageous just to create distraction and y’all would be bent out of shape reacting to him. He’d watch with that evil grin of his.”

I try to explain to the Mirror. “That man was clever as he was cruel. He was a master manipulator, schemer, scammer and wily provocateur. We didn’t have a choice.” The Mirror is not convinced.  “Are you going to let his henchmen continue to play you like a cheap country fiddle?” I have no answer. I pretend not to have heard the question. I muttered to myself, “No team can win without a strong offensive line.” We need to build strong Diaspora teams and play strong offensive games.

Y’all lack focus. The Mirror says, “Y’all lack focus and hop from one issue to another. You react explosively to a crisis event followed by a long stretches of inaction bordering on apathy.” I ask myself, “Why is that so? Could it be that it is difficult to be focused without organization and leadership? Why is it that we don’t have a clear and intelligible advocacy and action agenda?” I tell the Mirror, “We lack focus because we lack a clear vision; we lack vision because we lack the will; we lack the will because we lack faith in ourselves and confidence in our beliefs and convictions.” We should heed the old African saying, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.”

Most of y’all are onlookers. The Mirror says, “Most of y’all would rather look from the sidelines; others would prefer to criticize from the sidelines.” I interrupt. “The trick is to fire up the imagination of the spectators, to empower and give them hope, knowledge and the confidence to use both in the cause of human rights. Then they will be  transformed from onlookers to activists.” The Mirror teases, “Human rights is not a spectator sport. Human rights is a team sport. Everyone is needed on the field. Everyone has a position to play and score big.” We must inspire and mobilize from the bottom up.

Y’all must launch an Ethiopian Diaspora civic engagement campaign. The Mirror warns sternly. “Y’all can’t ad hoc, ad lib and ad hominem your way to victory. Y’all must educate, mobilize, organize and empower the Diaspora community for collective action.  Y’all need to get in gear and get civic engagement campaigns going.  Set up community committees for civic engagement, recruit volunteers, run leadership workshops, broadcast radio and television programs to empower and engage everyone from the bottom up. Civic engagement from the bottom up!

Y’all waste too much time flinging insults at the other side. The Mirror says, “Y’all waste too much time flinging insults and denouncing the regime. Y’all just don’t get it. It’s like the old saying, ‘Never wrestle with a pig (or a thug) in the mud. You get dirty and the pig (thug) enjoys it.’ There is no way y’all can out-insult, out-taunt, out-hustle or out-slander a thug.” I am quick to respond. “One must call a spade a spade!” The Mirror advises, “So call it and move on. Just remember, you can’t insult your way to democracy or freedom.”

I nod in agreement. “We must attack with the slings and arrows of truth; we must defend with shields of facts. We must march the long march to freedom speaking, singing and shouting truth to the abusers of  power.” Speak truth (not insults) to abusers of power.

Y’all need to pay attention to the 800-pound tiger in the room. The Mirror says, “Try to walk in the other guys’ shoes, not to understand them (because you never will) but to understand their fears and veiled tears. Your adversaries are conscienceless and ruthless, but they are not fearless. They live in fear; but they are not paranoid (irrational fear).  Their fear is as real as the ‘tiger burning bright, deep in the forest of the night” to paraphrase William Blake. They are trapped in what could be called a ‘Churchill-Kennedy fear paradox’: ‘Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. 

And the tigers are getting hungry’, warned Churchill. President John Kennedy cautioned dictators to ‘remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.’ In other words, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” The Mirror continued. “They appear cocksure and arrogant, but that’s only to cover up their all-consuming fear that one day, any day, they could lose their grip on power and spiral down to the bottom of the very hell they created for others.”

I ask the Mirror, “Are you saying dictators live day to day? They will do anything today just to go on living until tomorrow and the day after and the day after that?” The Mirror corrects. “No. They live in fear hour by hour; minute by minute; second by second.” Hungry tigers? Awakening giant tigers!

Y’all can’t do it alone. A final word before you go says the Mirror. “Y’all can’t do it alone. Y’all have to reach out make friends and coordinate action with them.”

I started to think. “How many of us are friends to our best friends? How many of us are members of Human Rights Watch, that organization keeping eternal vigil on human rights violation in Ethiopia?  How many of us support the Committee to Protect Journalists which keeps the searchlight trained on Kality Prison and Eskinder Nega, Woubshet Taye and the other journalists illegally held there. How many of us appreciate the extraordinary work of International Rivers which has been defending the rights of indigenous groups and exposing environmental devastation in Ethiopia? How many friends do we have in the international and local media? It suddenly dawned on me. “Why didn’t CNN, BBC, ABC, CBS, Al Jazeera, the Washington Post, the LA Times… show up to cover our protest demonstrations? Could it be because we have not made friends with them?” We just can’t do it alone. The sky is not the limit to what we can do together!

Mirror, mirror on the…

The “Diaspora Ethiopian Mirror” could be telling the truth or lies. Maybe I see what we I want to see in the Mirror. Maybe the Mirror shows me what it wants me to see.  Maybe the mirror reflects what I project on it. Maybe the mirror has all the answers or none at all. Maybe the mirror is my conscience. Of course, none of that stops me from looking into the mirror at the beginning and end of the day and asking: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, what should the Awakened Ethiopian Diaspora Giant do after all?

To be continued…

Note to the Reader: “Conversations with the Ethiopian Diaspora Mirror” is a special series of commentaries I expect to write periodically to focus on particularly instructive events and occurrences. It should not be all that surprising for a teacher to seek out teachable and learnable moments!

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የወያኔ አገዛዝ በመልዕክተኞቹ በኩል ላቀረበው የ“እንደራደር” ጥያቄ ከግንቦት 7 የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ የተሰጠ ምላሽ

December 2, 2013

ወያኔ ኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ የገነባዉ ሥርዓት በከፍተኛ ችግሮች የተወጠረ ነው። ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ደግሞ የመሪው ሞት በወያኔ መሀል ያስከተለው ቀውስ፤ የሕዝብ ሁለገብ ትግል ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ እየጎለበት መሄድ የፈጠረበት ስጋት እና ምርጫ በደረሰ ቁጥር የሚደርስበት ጭንቀት መጨመር ተደማምረው ውጥረቱን ወደ ከፍተኛ ደረጃ እያደረሱት መሆኑን የሚያሳዩ በቂ ምልክቶች አሉ። የእስካሁኑ ተሞክሮዓችን እንደሚያሳየው ወያኔ ውጥረት ሲበዛበትና መዉጪያና መግቢያዉ ሲጠፋዉ ፣ ተቃዋሚ ድርጅቶችን “እንወያይ፣ እንደራደር” በማለት ለውጥረት ማስተንፈሻ ጊዜ የሚገዛ መሆኑን ነው። ሰሞኑን በወያኔ አገዛዝ መልዕክተኞች በኩል የደረሰንን “የእንደራደር” ጥያቄ ንቅናቄያችን በዋናነት ያየው ወያኔ እንደለመደው ድርድርን ለውጥረት ማስተንፈሻነት ለመጠቀም እየሞከረ መሆኑን ነው።

የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ የሚመኘው ዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጥ በሰላማዊ መንገድ በሚደረግ ትግልና በጠረጴዛ ዙሪያ በሚደረጉ ዉይይቶች ቢመጣ የግንቦት 7 ምርጫ መሆኑን ንቅናቄያችን በተደጋጋሚ ግልጽ አድርጓል። ግንቦት 7ን ሁለገብ ትግል ውስጥ እንዲገባ ያስገደደው የወያኔ እምቢተኝነትና እብሪት ብቻ ነው።

የግንቦት 7 ሥራ አስፈጻሚ ኮሚቴ የሰሞኑ የወያኔ የእንደራደር መልዕክት እንደደረሰው በጉዳዩ ዙሪያ በሰፊው ከተወያየ በኋላ ይህ ጉዳይ የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ ባጠቃላይ እንጂ ግንቦት 7ን ብቻ የሚመለከት ጉዳይ እንዳልሆነ ከድምዳሜ ላይ ደርሷል። ይህ ጉዳይ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ለዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት ግንባታ ከሚያደርገው ትግልና እየከፈለ ካለው መስዕዋትነት ጋር በቀጥታ ግንኙነት አለው። በመሆኑም፤ ለቀረበልን ጥያቄ ግልጽ መልስና፤ ድርድር ስለሚባለው ጉዳይም ያለንን አቋም ጉዳዩ በቀጥታ ለሚመለከተው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብና የተለያዩ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች ሁሉ ለማቅረብ የሚያስችል ተጨማሪ አጋጣሚ አድርገን ወስደነዋል። በዚህም መሠረት ለቀረበልን ጥያቄ የሰጠነዉን መልስና አቋማችንን በድርጅታችን ድረ ገጽ ላይና በሌሎች መገናኛ ብዙሀን በኩል በይፋ ለመግለጽ ወስነናል።

በድርድር ስለሚመጣ ለውጥ ያለን የመርህ አመለካከት:

ከዚህ በፊት በተደጋጋሚ ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ግልጽ እንዳደረግነው ድርጅታችን ከምሥረታው ጀምሮ የትግል ስልቱን ሲወስን እምነቱ አድርጎ የተነሳው ዴሞክራሲያዊ ለውጥ በሀገራችን በሰላማዊ መንገድና በድርድር ቢመጣ በእጅጉ የሚፈልገውና የሚመኘው መሆኑን ነው:: ድርጅታችንን ወደ ሁለንተናዊ ትግል የገፋው በመግቢያው ላይ እንደገለጽነው የወያኔ እብሪት ብቻ ነው:: የቀረበልን ምርጫ በባርነትና በውርደት መኖር ወይም ለነፃነት እየታገልን መሞት ቢሆን ኖሮ ንቅናቄያችን የሚመረጠው ምን ግዜም ለነፃነትና ለአገር አንድነት ታግሎ በክብር መሞት መሆኑን በተደጋጋሚ ለሕዝብ ግልጽ አድርገናል። ይህ የማይናወጥ አቋማችን ደግሞ ለይምሰል የተቀመጠ አቋም ሳይሆን ከልባችን የምናምንበትና ኢትዮጵያን ጨምሮ በዓለም ዙሪያ የሚገኙ አባላቶቻችንን ያሰባሰብንበት አቋም ነው። ዛሬ በትግሉ ግንባር የምንንቀሳቀሰውና ወደ ግባችን የሚወስደንን ተጨባጭ እርምጃዎች እየወሰድን ያለነውም በዚሁ አቋማችን ዙሪያ ነዉ።

ይህ አቋማችንና እምነታችን በአንድ ላይ ጎን ለጎን የሚሄዱ ሁለት መርሆችን አጣምሮ የያዘ ነዉ። አንደኛው፣ ሂደትን በሚመለከት ሁሌም ለድርድር ክፍት መሆኑን የሚያመለክት ሲሆን፣ ሁለተኛው ደግሞ፣ ይህ የድርድር ሂደት እንዲያው ለለበጣ የሚደረግ ሳይሆን ወደሚፈለገው ነጻነት በአነስተኛ መስዕዋትነት ሊያደርስ ይችል ከሆነ በሩን ላለመዝጋት እንጂ፣ በምንም አይነት ዋና ውጤቱን፤ ማለትም ኢትዮጵያን እውነተኛ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሀገር ማድረግን፤ የሚቀይር ወይንም ከዚያ ያነሰ ውጤትን ለመቀበል መፍቀድን ፈጽሞ የማያመለክት መሆኑን ነው::

በእኛ በኩል ድርድሩን አስፈላጊና ጠቃሚ የሚያደርጉት መነሻ የፖለቲካ እሳቤዎችም ከእነኝሁ ሁለት መንታ ገጽታዎች የሚመነጩ ናቸው:: በድርድር ለሚገኝ ፍትሀዊና እውነተኛ ውጤት ክፍት መሆናችንን ሁሌም እናሳያለን፤ ነገር ግን ይህን የምናደርገው የሕዝብ የሥልጣን ባለቤትነት የተረጋገጠባትን ኢትዮጵያን እውን ማድረግ የሚጠይቀውን ማንኛውንም መስዋዕትነት መከፈል አለበት የሚለውን መሠረታዊ የአካሄድ መርህ በመመርኮዝ እንጂ መርሀችንን ለድርድር ለማቅረብ እንዳልሆነ በግልጽ መታወቅ ይኖርበታል::

ስለዚህም:

ሀ)    የድርድሩ ውጤት የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ የሥልጣን ባለቤትነት ያረጋገጠ የዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓትን በአስቸኳይ እውን ማድረግ መሆን ይኖርበታል:: ይህ ዋናው ግብ ሆኖ ከዚህ በመለስ የሚኖሩ በሂደት የሚገኙ አነስተኛ ግቦች ሊኖሩ ይችላሉ (ለምሳሌ የፖለቲካ እስረኞች ማስፈታት…ወዘተ):: ሆኖም በምንም አይነት ለእነኝህ መለስተኛ ግቦች ተብሎ ዋናውን ግብ የሚያሳጣ ወይንም ጊዜውን ያላግባብ የሚያስረዝም ድርድር፣ ድርድር ነው ብሎ ድርጅታችን አይቀበልም። ስለዚህም ዋናው የድርጅታችን ዓላማና ግብ የሆነው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ የሥልጣን ባለቤትነት ፣ በፍጹም ለድርድር የሚቀርብ ጉዳይ አይደለም:: በሥልጣን ላይ ባለው ኃይል በኩል ወደዚህ ግብ ለመድረስ ቁርጠኝነቱ በሌለበት ሁኔታ በሚደረግ ማንኛውም አይነት ድርድር ውስጥ ግንቦት 7 አይሳተፍም::

ለ)  በግንቦት 7 እምነት ማንኛውም ድርድር ወያኔ ከግንቦት 7 ጋር በተናጠል የሚያደረገው ሳይሆን ጉዳዩ የሚመለከታቸውን ሁሉንም የፖለቲካ ኃይሎች ያካተተ መሆን ይኖርበታል:: ድርጅቶችን በተናጠል እየለያዩ “እንደራደር” ማለት በራሱ ጊዜያዊ የፖለቲካ ጥቅም ስሌትን የያዘ እሳቤ እንጂ፣ በዘላቂነት አገሪቱን እውነተኛ ዴሞክራሲያዊ አገር ለማድረግ መፈለግን አያመለክትም:: ለአንድ ድርጅት ለብቻው የሚመጣ ወይም የሚጠቅም ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት የለም:: ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት የመፍጠር ፍላጎት ያለው ድርድር በአገሪቱ ያሉትን የተለያዩ የፖለቲካም ሆነ የሲቪክ ኃይሎችን ያካተተና ያመኑበት መሆን ይኖርበታል:: የሚደረገው ድርድርም ማን በስልጣን ላይ ይውጣ ወይንም የፖለቲካ ስልጣንን ባሉት ኃይሎች መሀከል እንዴት እናከፋፍለው የሚል የስልጣን ቅርምት ድርድር ሳይሆን፤ ሕጋዊና የሕዝቡን የሥልጣን ሉዓላዊነት ባረጋገጠ ሁኔታ የፖለቲካ ስልጣን እንዴት እንደሚያዝ ፍትሀዊ የሆነ ሂደትን ለማስጀመር የሚደረግ ድርድር መሆን አለበት::

ሐ) ቀደም ብለን እንደጠቀስነው ይህ ጉዳይ የሚመለከተው አንድን ድርጅት ወይንም የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶችን ብቻ ሳይሆን መላውን የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ ነው:: ይህ እስከሆነ ድረስ እንዲህ አይነት ድርድር ከሕዝቡ በተደበቀ ሁኔታ በሚስጥር የሚካሄድበት ምንም ምክንያት የለም::

2)   ከዚህ በፊት ከወያኔ ጋር ከተደረጉ ድርድሮች ያገኘናቸው ተመክሮዎችና ከዚህ በመነሳት ወደፊት በሚደረጉ ምንም አይነት ድርድሮች እንዳይደገሙ ለመጠበቂያ የሚሆኑ ከአሁኑ መወሰድ ያለባቸው እርምጃዎች

ከማንኛውም ወገን ጋር የሚደረግ ድርድር የተደራዳሪዎቹ ምንነት፤ ውስጣዊ ባህርያቸውን፤ ከተለምዶ ተግባራቸው ያላቸውን ተአማኒነትና ወደዚህኛው ድርድር ያመጣቸውን ምክንያቶች በበቂ ከመገንዘብ ጋር ተያይዞ የሚታይ ጉዳይ ነው:: ቃሉን አክባሪና ተዓማኒ ከሆነ ሰው ጋር የሚደረግ ድርድርና ያለፈው ታሪኩ ምንም አይነት የተዓማኒነት ባህርይ ከማያሳይ ቡድን ጋር የሚደረግ ድርድርም ሆነ ለድርድሩ የሚደረግ ዝግጅት ለየቅል ናቸው:: ይህ ማለት ግን ተዓማኒነት ካለው ኃይል ጋር ብቻ ነው ድርድር የሚካሄደው ማለት አይደለም:: በፍጹም ተዓማኒ ካልሆነ ኃይል ጋር የሚደረግ ማንኛውም ድርድር ግን ድርድሩ በእርግጥም ተግባራዊ ሊሆን የሚችል መሆኑን የሚያሳዩ ጠንካራ መጠበቂያዎች (System of Verification) እንዲሁም ግልጽ የመተግበሪያ ሥርዓቶች (Implementation Mechanism) ሲደረጉለት ብቻ ነው ከምር ሊወሰድ የሚችለው:: ከዚህም ባሻገር ግን መጀመሪያውኑ ወደ ድርድር የሚመጣው ለጊዜያዊ የፖለቲካ ጥቅም ሳይሆን በእዉነተኛ መንፈስ ከድርድር የሚመጣውን ውጤት በመፈለግ መሆኑን የሚያሳዩ “የመተማመኛ” ምልክቶች ሲያሳይ ነው በእርግጥም ወደ ድርድር የመጣው ከልቡ ድርድሩንና ከድርድሩ የሚመጣዉን ዉጤት ፈልጎ መሆኑን ለማመን የሚያስችለው::

ወያኔ ከተቀናቃኝ ወገኖች ጋር “ድርድር” ሲያደርግ የመጀመሪያ ጊዜዉ አይደለም:: እኛ እስከምናውቀው ድረስ ምናልባት በኃይል ይበልጡኛል ብሎ ከሚያምናቸው ወገኖች ጋር ካልሆነ በስተቀር፣ በረሃ ከነበረበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ በማንኛውም ጊዜ ለቃሉ ታማኝ፤ ለመርሁ እውነተኛ፤ ለደረሰበት ስምምነት ተገዢ ሆኖ አያውቅም:: ይልቁንም ሶስተኛ አደራዳሪ ወገኖችን በሚያሸማቅቅና በሚያሳፍር መልኩ ውሸትን እንደ አዋቂነት፤ ማጭበርበርን እንደ ብልጠት፤ የተስማማበትን በገሀድ ማፍረስን እንደ የአመራር ብልሀት አድርጎ የሚያይ፤ ምንም እፍረትና ጨዋነት የሚባል ነገር ያልፈጠረበት እኩይ ኃይል ነው:: ከራሱ የድርጅት ጥቅምና በስልጣን ከሚገኝ የዝርፊያ ሀብት ማካበት ባሻገር፤ ለአገር ዘላቂ ጥቅም ብሎ የራሱን ጥቅም አሳልፎ የሚወስደው ምንም እርምጃ እንደሌለ በተግባር በተደጋጋሚ ያረጋገጠልን ኃይል ነው:: በግንቦት 7 ውስጥ ያለን ወገኖች ይህንን የወያኔ ባህርይ በንድፈ ሀሳብ ደረጃ ሌሎች ጽፈውት ያነበብነው ሳይሆን፣ እራሳችን በተግባር በተሳትፈንበት ሂደት ያገኘነው ጥልቅ ግንዛቤ ነው:: ይህንን ደግሞ በአንድ አጋጣሚ ብቻ ሳይሆን ከድርጅቱ ታሪክ ጋር የተጣበቀ፤ በአመራር አባላቱ ላይ እንደ ግል ባህርይ የሰረጸ መሆኑን እስክንገነዘብ ድረስ በተደጋጋሚ የተመለከትነው ነው:: ስለዚህም ከዚህ ኃይል በኩል የሚመጣን የ “እንደራደር” ጥያቄ ከዚህ በፊት እንዳደረገው ለገባበት የፖለቲካ ውጥረት ማስተንፈሻ፣ ለውሸት ፕሮፓጋንዳው መጠቀሚያ፤ ለጊዜያዊ የፖለቲካ ትርፍ መሰብሰቢያ፤ የዴሞክራሲ ታጋዮችን ትጥቅ ማስፈቺያና ወኔ መስለቢያ አድርጎ እንዲጠቀምበት በፍጹም አንፈቅድለትም:: ስለዚህም ከላይ በመርህ ደረጃ ከጠቀስናቸው ሶስት ጉዳዮች በተጨማሪ ምንም ዓይነት ድርድር ከመደረጉ በፊት ወያኔ ጉዳዩን ከምር የወሰደው መሆኑን የሚያሳዩ “የመተማመኛ” እርምጃዎች መውሰድ አለበት ብለን እናምናለን::

እነኝህም፣

ሀ)  ሁሉንም የፖለቲካ እስረኞች፤ ጋዜጠኞች፤ የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋቾች ያለምንም ቅድመ ሁኔታ መፍታት:: ይህ ደግሞ በግልጽ     የሚታወቁ እስረኞችን ብቻ ሳይሆን በድብቅ የተቋቋሙ ማጎሪያና ማሰቃያ ቤቶች ያሉትን ሁሉ ማጠቃለል አለበት።

ለ)  በሕዝብ በተለይ በተቃዎሚ ኃይሎች ላይ ወያኔ በየቀኑ እያካሄደ ያለውን ወከባና እንግልት ባስቸኳይ ማቆም፣ ሰብዓዊና የዜግነት መብታቸውን ማክበር አለበት።

ሐ)   በፖለቲካ ምክንያት ከዚህ በፊት የተወሰዱ ሁሉም ዓይነት ፍርድ ተብዮ ውሳኔዎች እንዲሻሩ ማድረግ፤ በሂደት ላይ ያሉ ከፖለቲካ ጋር የተያያዙ ምንም አይነት ክሶችን ማቋረጥ አለበት።

መ)   ሕዝብን በፍርሃትና በስጋት ለማቆየት ሆነ ተብለው የወጡ አፋኝ ህጎችን በአስቸኳይ ማንሳት አለበት።

ሠ)   ማንኛውም ድርድር ገለልተኛ የሆኑ ሶስተኛ ወገኖች ባሉበት፤ የድርድሩ ሂደት በምስልና በድምጽ ተቀርጾ በገለልተኛ ወገኖች እጅ ብቻ የሚቀመጥ፣ የድርድሩ ቦታም የተደራዳሪ ወገኖች በጋራ በሚስማሙበት ቦታ መሆኑን መቀበልና ይህንንም በግልጽ ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ማሳወቅ አለበት።

እነኝህ ከላይ ያስቀመጥናቸው በወያኔ በኩል የሚወሰዱ “የመተማመኛ” እርምጃዎች ለተቃዋሚዎች ተብሎ የሚወሰዱ እርምጃዎች አይደሉም:: ወያኔ እነዚህን እርምጃዎች ለመውሰድ ቁርጠኝነት ሳይኖረው ለእውነተኛ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት መመስረት የሚደረግ ድርድር ላይ ከምር ይሳተፋል ብለን ማመን በፍጹም ስለማንችል ነው ::

እስከዚያው ድረስ ግን ግንቦት 7ም ሆነ ሌሎች ለዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት መመስረት በቁርጠኝነት የምንታገል ኃይሎች፣ ወያኔ እነኝህን የመተማመኛ እርምጃዎች እስኪወስድና ቀደም ብለው በተቀመጡት መርሆች መሠረት በሚደረግ ድርድር በተግባር ሊመነዘር የሚችል ስምምነት፣ አልፎም ለምንም አይነት ማጭበርበርና መንሸራተት እድል የማይሰጥ ጠንካራ መጠበቂያዎች መኖራቸው እስኪረጋገጥ ድረስ፣ የጀመርነውን ትግል ይበልጥ አጠናክረን የምንገፋበት እንጂ በምንም አይነት ለአንድ አፍታም ቢሆን በድርድር ስም የማንዘናጋ መሆኑን አበክረን እናስታውቃለን::

የግንቦት 7: የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ ሥራ አስፈጻሚ ኮሚቴ፣

ኅዳር 23፣ 2006 ዓ:ም

From the Ethiopian Fire Into the Saudi Arabian Frying Pan

By Alemayehu G Mariam

November 25, 2013

 Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians have voted with their feet to escape one of the most ruthless and brutal dictatorships in Africa. According to Ethiopia's “Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs”, approximately  200,000 women sought employment abroad in 2012, the vast majority of them in the Middle East.  Many of these workers believed they were jumping out of the fire of dictatorship in Ethiopia, but found  themselves smack in the  middle of the Saudi Arabian frying pan.
It is no exaggeration to say it is open season on Ethiopian migrant workers and others seeking refuge in Saudi Arabia. Every day this month, Saudi police, security officials, mobs and vigilantes have been hunting Ethiopians in the streets, beating, torturing and in some cases killing them. The Youtube video clips of Saudi police torturing Ethiopians are shocking to the conscience. The video clips of Saudi mobs and vigilantes chasing, attacking and lynching Ethiopians in the streets requires no explanation. The photographic evidence of crimes against humanity committed against Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia today are surreal and beyond civilized comprehension.


Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia: Two sides of the same coin


Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia are two sides of the same coin. The Saudi and Ethiopian regimes are soul mates. The Saudi regime is infamous for its human rights record; the regime in Ethiopia has an equally atrocious record. The Saudi regime follows a policy of forcible deportation of Ethiopians from its territory using the most inhuman methods. The regime in Ethiopia follows a ghastly policy of forcible internal deportation (“resettlement”) of  Ethiopians from one part of their  country to  another. The Saudi regime persecutes religious minorities; so does the regime in Ethiopia. The Saudi regime widely practices arbitrary arrests, detentions,  torture and ill-treatment in their prisons; the regime in Ethiopia has perfected such practices in its prisons. The Saudi regime ended slavery in 1962 and continued to perpetuate it by calling it kafala (sponsored migrant workers who work in slave like conditions). In 2009, Bahrain's Labour Minister Majeed al-Alawi likened kefala to slavery. The 2013 Global Slavery Index reports that Ethiopia  is among the top ten countries that account for three quarters of the world’s slaves with 651,000 people held in bondage. Human Rights Watch in its 2013 World Report described the human rights records of Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia in nearly identical terms:

Ethiopian authorities continued to severely restrict basic rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly in 2012… Human Rights Watch continues to document torture at the federal police investigation center known as Maekelawi in Addis Ababa, as well as at regional detention centers and military barracks in Somali Region, Oromia, and Gambella.

The security forces responded to protests by the Muslim community in Oromia and Addis Ababa, the capital, with arbitrary arrests, detentions, and beatings…  Federal police used excessive force, including beatings, to disperse largely Muslim protesters opposing the government’s interference with the country’s Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs… The Ethiopian government continues to implement its “villagization” program: the resettlement of 1.5 million rural villagers in five regions of Ethiopia ostensibly to increase their access to basic services. Many villagers in Gambella region have been forcibly displaced, causing considerable hardship… The government is also forcibly displacing indigenous pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley to make way for state-run sugar plantations… In South Omo, around 200,000 indigenous peoples are being relocated and their land expropriated to make way for state-run sugar plantations.


With respect to Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch reports that


in 2012 stepped up arrests and trials of peaceful dissidents, and responded with force to demonstrations by citizens… As in past years, thousands of people have received unfair trials or been subject to arbitrary detention… Detainees, including children, commonly face systematic violations of due process and fair trial rights, including arbitrary arrest and torture and ill-treatment in detention… Authorities continue to suppress or fail to protect the rights of 9 million Saudi women and girls and 9 million foreign workers…

Some 1.5 million migrant domestic workers remain excluded from the 2005 Labor Law. In years past, Asian embassies reported thousands of complaints from domestic workers forced to work 15 to 20 hours a day, seven days a week, and denied their salaries. Domestic workers, most of them women, frequently endure forced confinement, food deprivation, and severe psychological, physical, and sexual abuse.

Saudi Arabia does not tolerate public worship by adherents of religions other than Islam…  The chief mufti in March called for the destruction of all churches in the Arabian Peninsula…

What “foreign minister” Adhanom said and did not even know he said it

The response of the regime in Ethiopia to the horrendous situation of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia simply boggles the mind.  Tedros Adhanom, the malaria researcher-turned-instant-foreign-minster and the man being  groomed to become prime minister after the 2015 “election”, was befuddled, rambling, incoherent and virtually unintelligible when he spoke before the 3rd International Conference on Family Planning Conference held in Addis Ababa in mid-November.  He brimmed with empty promises and hollow reassurances. He was grandiloquent about his readiness to “receive our fellow citizens home” and  “global solidarity” :

 As you know, from Saudi Arabia, you know, although it is just deporting  Ethiopians only, we know, it is deporting other citizens…

I had the last 10 days, because in family planning, as we have been saying, we care for girls and women. I had calls straight from the camps, from women who are crying for help… We have already received hundreds. We are expecting tens of thousands and I would like to assure you that we are ready to receive our fellow citizens home.

I am so saddened and really depressed. That’s why I was not going to actually come here asking  Dr. Kesete if he could excuse me because it is almost around the clock crisis management since this issue started. But in the name of global solidarity, even if we are going to deport illegals, we can do it smoothly because this is not  war situation. It is maybe accepted when nations are at war to deport like this, in a very rapid fashion, people may understand, but not in peaceful situation.

…  So I am sorry to start with this, it is something that has been bugging me for some time now.

Of course we have been working a lot on long term and short term solutions for long time in Ethiopia now because there are structural problems that we need to address  to solve the problem once and for all. And you know Ethiopia is making progress and growing in double digits, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we know we can make it, and we know we can eliminate poverty. We are in the right direction but still we believe in global solidarity. But we never expected that this would happen.

For those who don’t know, I will share you one thing. When Prophet Mohammed was being chased immediately after he started Islam, the great religion, he sent his followers to Ethiopia…

… So, sorry I will stop here, but I am glad to share what I feel, to share with you my disappointment, to share with you how the last 10 days have been the most tragic in my life, which we never expected, a complete surprise…

It was truly sad to see Ethiopia’s “top diplomat” delivering  such an incoherent, disjointed and muddled analysis and explanation about the monstrous crimes being committed against Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia. Foreign policy becomes a cruel joke in the hands (mouth) of a malaria researcher-turned-instant- foreign minister. To the extent anyone can reasonably make out Adhanom’s gobbledygook, the following strands can be discerned:

I.  Adhanom said the indescribable tragedy of Ethiopians  in Saudi  Arabia has been “bugging him for some time now”; and he is currently “saddened” and “depressed” by the circumstances of the Ethiopian “ women in the (Saudi Arabian) camps crying for help.” That must be the understatement of the century!

Perhaps Adhanom does not appreciate nuances in the use of English words, particularly colloquialisms. But as a top diplomat, he cannot be excused for his ignorant misuse of words (unless of course his choice of words and phrasing   accurately express his views and feelings). To say what’s happening to the Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia has been “bugging me for some time now” is to say that their situation has been a source of annoyance and minor irritation. It is not a big deal. No top diplomat of any  country on earth would react to the absolutely inhuman and barbaric treatment of  its citizens in another country by saying  the issue has been “bugging him for some time now.”

Adhanom may not understand but words mean everything in the diplomatic world. Words are the stock-in-trade of diplomats. Diplomats make the world stop and go by the choice of their words and their use and sometimes intentional misuse of language. For diplomats, words have artful connotation and denotation. The diplomat’s words are laden with open and hidden messages and encrusted with meaning signaling manifest and latent intentions.  Wars have been fought and peace secured over semantics and the grammatical arrangement of words in diplomatic language. Above all, the words of a diplomat carry not only his personal feelings of “sadness” and “depression” but also the ethos (moral disposition), pathos (the depth of suffering) and even the bathos (sentimentality) of their nation.

When Adhanom says the situation of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia “has been bugging him for a long time”, he is conveying the most damaging message to the Saudis. He is telling them that the “race hunting” (to borrow a phrase from Ethiopia’s ceremonial prime minster) of Ethiopian migrant workers by Saudi police and vigilantes in the streets of Saudi Arabia is just a tempest in a tea pot. It will blow over.

The dehumanization and abuse of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia is a big, very big deal. Rush hour traffic “bugs” the hell out of me. Students who come to class without completing the assigned readings  “bug” me to no end.  What the Saudis are doing to Ethiopians does not “bug” me. It makes my blood boil. I am inflamed at the sight of the inhumanity and barbarity of the Saudi Police. I am outraged by the cruelty and brutality of Saudi mobs and vigilantes. I am shocked and appalled by the depraved indifference of the Saudi regime to the many acts of crimes against humanity committed against Ethiopian migrant workers. I am bitter and enraged about what the Saudi regime is not doing  to ensure humane treatment of Ethiopian migrant workers as required by international law. I am outraged that the suffering of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia merely “bugs” Adhanom.

In the world of diplomacy, there is time to use soft and conciliatory diplomatic language and  time to use strong and confrontational language. It is a great national tragedy that Adhanom does not seem to know the difference!

II.  Adhanom said what is happening to Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia “may be accepted when nations are at war to deport like this in a very rapid fashion people may understand, but not in peaceful situation.” Adhanom is ignorant of the most elementary principles, rules and conventions of international law.  He is clueless that the laws and customs of war prohibit deportation during war time, which are almost always undertaken for purposes of ethnic cleansing. During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 1990s, large numbers of Bosnian Muslims, Croats, Serbs and Bosnians were removed from their traditional homes in a systematic campaign of deportation. That was a war crime. It is not something “people may understand”.  The only exception to the prohibition on deportation and forcible transfers during war time is the evacuation of protected persons on grounds of security of the population or military imperative as defined and circumscribed under Article 49 of the Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949). It is also noteworthy that those Ethiopians in the “migrant  population” who may seek asylum in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere are protected from deportation (“refoulement”) under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and Article  3 of the 1984 Torture Convention. It is a great national tragedy that Adhanom is untutored on the most elementary rules and principles of international law.

III. Adhanom believes the most urgent problem today in the Ethiopian tragedy in Saudi Arabia is facilitation of their exit out of that country. Stopping the violence, the rape, the murder and torture of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia today is the most urgent, critical, pressing, vital and weighty problem. Adhanom tried to be reassuring by declaring, “Of course we have been working on long-term and short-term solutions for a long time in Ethiopia now because there are structural problems  we need to address for once and all.”  The long and short-term solutions can wait. The daily abuse, mistreatment, injustice and crimes inflicted by the Saudi police, mobs and vigilantes cannot. What is happening to Ethiopians today in Saudi Arabia is a crises of epic proportions. It is a great national tragedy that Adhanom has no ideas, proposals or solutions to stop the violence immediately.

Adhanom said  “we never expected that this would happen”  to Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia  He said the whole thing was “a complete surprise” to him. He also said, “we have been working on long-term and short-term solutions for a long time”. This is not only self-contradictory but also an incredibly deceptive statement, and at best a manifestation of Adhanom’s  naivite or ignorance.

It is impossible that the situation of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia could be a “complete surprise” to him because by April of 2013 Adhanom and his regime knew of the Saudi regime’s order notifying undocumented foreign workers to legalize their status or return to countries of origin and avoid deportation, imprisonment and prosecution. Adhanom’s regime, by its own admission, knew that there were large numbers of “illegal migrants” in Saudi Arabia. Adhanom was also aware that in July 2013 the Saudi regime had granted a grace period to undocumented workers and extended the effective date of its initial order to November 2013. Yet Adhanom’s regime did nothing to anticipate and plan for reasonably foreseeable events, including the need for potential mass evacuation of its citizens and confrontational actions by the Saudi police and mobs. How is it possible that Adhanom could not reasonable foresee the humanitarian disaster that befell Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia in November 2013?

It is obvious that Adhanom is clueless about proactive policy making.  He has yet to learn that as the “top diplomat” he has to anticipate and act in advance to prevent and deal with reasonably foreseeable problems and issues.  Goethe is right: “There is nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action.


What Adhanom did not say or do


Adhanom did not say what his regime is doing to stop the violence that is inflicted on Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia even though his regime has “been working on long-term and short-term solutions for a long time”. What is manifest is that Adhanom and his regime are standing by the sidelines twiddling their fingers and scratching their heads as their citizens are hunted down in Saudi streets like wild animals. Not only has Adhanom done nothing to stop the violence, he has not even taken the simplest (symbolic)  actions to bring external pressure on the Saudi regime.  Here are a few of the things Adhanom did not say or do:

Issue a strongly worded statement of condemnation.  Adhanom said his regime has “has condemned Saudi Arabia for its brutal crackdown on migrant workers in the kingdom. This is unacceptable. We call on the Saudi government to investigate this issue seriously. We are also happy to take our citizens, who should be treated with dignity while they are there.” “Unacceptable” is the most condemnatory language Adhanom could muster in the face of the monstrous cruelty, unspeakable barbarism and horrendous brutality and criminality of the Saudi regime, its police force and mobs.  “Investigation” is the most robust action Adhanom would like to see the Saudi regime take in the face of such horrifying crimes.

Adhanom is clueless that “unacceptable” in diplomatic language is a hollow and pointless word used by diplomats to suggest they are saying something when they are saying nothing at all.  It is also a word that means everything: “There will be no consequences”. Such is the nature of diplomatic language. A single sentence can convey two mutually exclusive intentions.  By telling the Saudi ambassador that what is happening to Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia is “unacceptable”,  Adhanom is basically telling him that he is just window dressing the issue until it blows over and they will be able to continue with business as usual.  Suffice it to say that “unacceptable” is  “a word used by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” and everything!

Summon the ambassador of the host country and read him the riot act and demand an immediate stop to the police and vigilante violence.  Adhanom summoned the Saudi Arabian ambassador and told him, “Ethiopia would like to express its respect for the decision of the Saudi Authorities and the policy of deporting illegal migrants. At the same time, it condemns the killing of an Ethiopian and mistreatment of its citizens residing in Saudi Arabia.” How servile and bootlicking can one become?! No country on earth that cares for its citizens would say it “respects” the policy of another state that victimizes its citizens.  Adhanom is clueless that the issue is not about Saudi sovereignty over its territory or implementation of its immigration policy; it is about the Saudi regime’s actions and lack of actions that have made possible commission of crimes against humanity against large numbers of Ethiopian migrant workers.

Moreover, neither Adhanom nor his foreign ministry have publicly indicated that a diplomatic protest has been lodged with the Saudi foreign ministry.  A “letter of protest” or “diplomatic note” is often presented  by one state's foreign ministry to another unapologetically taking a stand against the foreign government's policy deemed offensive.  A letter of protest would never use the word “unacceptable”.  It would minimally mention something about “serious consequences” and “damaging relations” if things are not improved. Adhanom should make public the letter of protest he lodged with the Saudis, assuming he has done so.

Seek a resolution from the African Union condemning the human rights abuses of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia. Hailemariam Desalegn, the ceremonial prime minster of Ethiopia and the man keeping the seat warm for Adhanom until the 2015 “election”, is the current rotational chairman of the African Union. Hailemariam  went through hell and high water trying to mobilize the African Union to stop the “race hunting” of  African leaders by the International Criminal Court and engineer the withdrawal of African countries from the Rome Statute. When hundreds of thousands of his citizens are being “race hunted” in the streets of Saudi Arabia by police, mobs and vigilantes, he says nothing, does nothing. (By the way, where the hell is “prime minister” Hailemariam? Has anyone heard him talk about the "race hunting" of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia?)

Notify the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to immediately begin an investigation. The UNHCR is mandated by the United Nations to “lead and coordinate international action for the worldwide protection of refugees and the resolution of refugee problems.”  It has investigative powers to look into the abuse and mistreatment of refugees. Adhanom did not say he has requested a UNHCR investigation, and there is no evidence he has made such a request. Moreover, the UNHCR has the logistical capability to help move migrant workers from conflict zones. For instance, in 2011 when violent anti-government protests erupted in Libya, the UNHCR facilitated the exit of tens of thousands of migrant workers into neighboring countries.

Lodge a complaint and request an investigation by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Among the core purposes of the OHCHR is to “respond to serious violations of human rights” and “undertaking of preventive human rights actions”.  Instead of asking the Saudi regime to initiate an investigation, Adhanom should have requested an investigation and intervention by the OHCHR and UNHRC.

Allow Ethiopians citizens to peacefully protest in front of the Saudi Embassy. The people of Ethiopia are humiliated and shamed by the crimes committed and continue to be committed against their brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia. Adhanom spoke of the Prophet Mohamed sending his followers to Ethiopia to seek refuge. It is true Ethiopia was once hallowed ground where people sought refuge, comfort and assistance. Nelson Mandela and other African National Congress leaders came to Ethiopia in 1962 to receive training. Mandela was given an Ethiopian passport by order of H.I.M. Haile Selassie so he could travel throughout the world freely. Ethiopians were once respected and honored the world over. Today, they are victimized and enslaved. They are beaten and jailed when they speak their minds. When they went to protest in front of the Saudi Embassy in Addis Ababa, they were treated in the same way as the Saudi police treated the Ethiopians in that country. They were humiliated, beaten mercilessly and arrested. The spokesman for the regime,  Shimelis Kemal, said the regime had to take action against the peaceful demonstrators because “many of the demonstrators carried anti-Arab messages that sought to distort strong relations between Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia.”

I guess no one can get in the middle of a tiff between soul mates. Let Adhanom and his regime take note:  “Beware of him that is slow to anger; for when it is long coming, it is the stronger when it comes, and the longer kept. Abused patience turns to fury.”

No special task force assembled to deal with the emergency. When a crisis of the type facing Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia occurs, any regime that cares for its citizens will institute an emergency task force to coordinate the response.  Civil society groups would be mobilized to help in the re-absorption of the returning migrant workers.  International humanitarian organizations would be contacted to lend assistance.  Adhanom and his regime are calculating that the situation of the Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia shall soon pass and they will continue business as usual handing over many more millions of hectares of land to Saudi investors.


What Adhanom will say


Adhanom and his regime have issued public assurances that they have set aside 50 million birr to repatriate and rehabilitate the returnees from Saudi Arabia. That is a drop in the bucket. That’s barely USD$2 million. There is no way they can transport, transition and relocate 200 thousand or so returnees on a measly $USD2 million. There is also no evidence that the regime has that kind of money to spare for the particular task.  According to the July 2013 International Monetary Fund Staff Mission Statement, Ethiopia has foreign exchange reserves to barely cover 3 months of imports.

It is inevitable that Adhanom and his regime will soon be out in the international diplomatic streets with their begging bowls asking for aid to bring back the returnees and relocate them. Of course, they will have established  their own non-profit organizations in advance to suck up any aid money that will be provided.  Adhanom will be panhandling, “We need  money, more money, mo’ money for our migrant workers coming from Saudi Arabia.” His flunkies will be all over the Diaspora panhandling for nickels and dimes just as they have done to “build” the Great Nile Dam or whether it is they call it. It will be a windfall for the regime’s NGOs. They are rubbing their palms and drooling at the prospects of millions of dollars in handout. Not so fast; they will probably not get much in handouts. That’s why I would not be surprised to see them standing in the streets of Saudi Arabia stretching out their hands and soliciting alms, “baksheesh, baba! baksheesh!"

I cry for our Ethiopia, the beloved country, but “there is a light at the end of the tunnel”

Adhanom said “there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we know we can make it, and we know we can eliminate poverty.” I say there is a light at the end of the tunnel of tyranny and dictatorship in Ethiopia. There is a new day on the horizon. We must hold on, hold hands together and march straight out of the tunnel of two decades plus of oppression and denial of basic human rights.

Those who have read my analysis of the dire situation of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia might say I am too legalistic and overly analytical.  They may even accuse me of “over-intellectualizing ” a great human tragedy.  They may say that because they don’t know how much I despair and cry for our beloved Ethiopia. In 1948, the same year Apartheid became law in South Africa, Alan Paton wrote in “Cry, the Beloved Country”, and expressed the deep despair he felt over the fate of South Africa. My own deep despair over the fate of Ethiopia parallels Paton’s.

Cry for the broken tribe, for the law and the custom that is gone. Aye, and cry aloud for the man who is dead, for the woman and children bereaved. Cry, the beloved country, these things are not yet at an end. The sun pours down on the earth, on the lovely land that man cannot enjoy. He knows only the fear of his heart.”

I cry for the “broken tribe” of Ethiopia. I cry in silence for our brothers and sisters who are held in subhuman bondage in Saudi Arabia. I cry for our sisters who are raped, beaten and thrown out of windows to their deaths and hanged from ceiling and tree tops and scalded with hot water all over the Middle East. I cry for the young man whose head was sliced open by a Saudi thug.  I cry for those young men and women who feel compelled to leave their country because they do not feel free; they do not feel they have rights. I cry for those Ethiopians who died crossing the deserts of Yemen and Saudi Arabia seeking to improve their lives. I cry for those precious young ladies who take daily flights on Ethiopian Airlines into the Saudi Arabian Hell.

I cry for those young men and women, father and mothers who were murdered in cold blood in the streets in Ethiopia after the 2005 election. I cry for my sister Reeyot Alemu and for my brothers Eskinder Nega, Andualem Aragie, Woubshet Taye, Bekele Gerba, Abubekar Ahmed and the many thousands of Ethiopian political prisoners. I cry for Ethiopians who suffer under the heavy boots of corrupt thugs and empty suits who pretend to be leaders.

Yes, I cry and cry and “trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries.” I cry for our beloved Ethiopia. But our cries shall not go unheard. South Africa emerged from the tunnel of apartheid tyranny; and Mandela promised, “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.”  Ethiopians shall soon regain their dignity and honor at home and abroad. They shall no longer be the “skunks of the world”; and deep in my heart I do believe Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God and we shall rejoice and cry no more!

Saudi Arabia Doubles Down on Abuse (Dawit Giorgis)

November 22, 2013

Dawit Giorgis, David Andrew Weinberg
The National Interest

This past week,three Ethiopians were killed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, as well asone foreign worker from Sudan. They died amidvigilanteviolence and reports ofpolice brutalityafter illegal immigrants in the slum of Manfouha protested against a massive campaign of deportations that the government launched this month. Asimilar demonstration was broken up in the city of Jeddah, and its organizers arrested.

Meanwhile, large groups of Ethiopians have been gathering for protests this week at Saudi diplomatic institutions across the United States, including in front of the Saudi Embassy inWashington, as well as the Kingdom’s consulates inAtlanta andLos Angeles.

What is this big controversy about?

Saudi officials claim that the Ethiopians instigated this episode by throwing stones at cars without any provocation, but a reporter for the Wall Street Journaltalked to locals who had a different view. They said “Saudi security forces had come to the neighborhood the night before to declare that all illegal African migrants had to leave… immediately. Pakistani laborers began trying to help police by catching African workers, and clashes began”.

This harsh crackdown comes as part of a longstanding Saudi effort aimed at increasing the proportion of citizens employed in productive sectors of the economy. However, it is also the result of a pervasive legacy of racism and religious discrimination experienced by African Christians in the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia only abolished slavery in 1962, under heavy pressure by Washington and the UN. The best estimates suggest that the Kingdom held approximately thirty thousand slaves at the time.

But the Wahhabi religious establishment was reluctant to see the institution go. Just a decade ago, a member of Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body wascaught on tape preachingthat “slavery is a part of Islam”. He elaborated that “slavery is a part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long as there is Islam”.

In this insidious mindset—which, of course, is rejected by many Muslims—a hierarchy of races could be seen as a religious obligation. Due to what Saudi dissident Ali al-Ahmed calls a “culture of slavery” that “pervades the country,” even dark-skinned men and women who are Saudi citizens have beenblocked from positions in a range of prestigious professions.

There are an estimated nine million foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, mostly doing jobs that Saudis themselves do not want to take. And so far, the sudden crackdown is mainly just causing disruptions to Saudi Arabia’s national economy. According to a story in theSaudi Gazette, twenty thousand schools in the country are now short of janitors, and 40 percent of small construction firms have stopped operations. One observer even counted thirteen facilities for the religious ritual of washing dead bodies that had been shuttered in Jeddah because the workers responsible for this thankless task had been forced to flee.

Many illegal immigrants have wanted to go home but were unable to do so. Hundreds of Filipinos have been camping out in front of their country’s consulate in Jeddah because they needed official support to get exit visas and purchase expensive airplane tickets home.

Saudi Arabia’s kefala labor systemfacilitates human rights abuses, “sometimes amounting to slavery-like conditions.” The system gives companies enormous power over their foreign employees, including the ability to block employees from flying home if they are unhappy with their work conditions. That is why such rights groups and theEconomisthave called on Riyadh to abolish the kefala system.

Overlaid with this system of discrimination and exploitation is Saudi Arabia’s chauvinistic repression of Christian residents. Many African workers in the country are Christians, but absolutely no churches are officially allowed. As recently as this April, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Muftideclared that all churches in the Arabian Peninsula must be destroyed.

In February, Saudi Arabia’s religious policeraided a private religious gathering of fifty-three Ethiopian Christians, shutting down their prayer group and making mass arrests. Just half a year earlier, authorities deported thirty-five others for participating in a similar Ethiopian prayer group. And in 1997 two foreign workers werebeheaded for conducting Bible study meetings and prayer groups in prison.

But no aspect of these abuses is more chilling than the examples of bodily harm experienced by some foreign workers in the Kingdom. Many of the individuals returning to Ethiopia have scars or fresh woundsfrom beatings by employers or police, and one man claims the officer who beat himeven stole the shoes from off of his feet. According to theUAE paperEmirates 24/7, “scores of Asian and African domestic workers have been reported to have committed a suicide in Saudi Arabia over the past years because of mistreatment and other factors”. Chillingimages keep surfacing on the web of Ethiopian maids who were so desperate with their circumstances in Saudi Arabia that they hanged themselves.

Over the years,numerousvideoshavesurfacedshowing angry, entitled Saudis beating and verbally abusing foreign workers—although to their credit,many Saudi citizens called out for a criminal investigation in one recent case. Astudy by the Committee on Filipinos Overseas found that 70 percent of Filipino domestic workers in Saudi Arabia reported instances of physical or psychological abuse.

Ethiopia’s ambassador to Riyadh, who obviously wishes to maintain good relations with his Saudi hosts, actuallyclaimed that twenty-three thousand of his countrymen “handed themselves in” after Manfouha. They are beingdeported in large numbers at this very moment.

How bad must it become for economic migrants when suddenly tens of thousands of them are allegedly begging for a way out? And at what point does the international community have a responsibility to say loudly and emphatically enough is enough?

Dawit Giorgis is a Visiting Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former senior official in the Government of Ethiopia. David Andrew Weinberg is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation.