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The response of Zewge
Fanta, my childhood friend, is very much that of a sophisticated, subtle,
and humorous man; above all, the response is that of a man who loves truth
and is a seeker of truth. I appreciate Zewge�s candor and courage in
expressing his views as a responsible member of a community of Ethiopians.
In time, I too will address the raving and ranting of Tseggai Mebrahtu in
an essay that is full of lies and misrepresentation of my views.
Tseggai�s essay is nothing more than the tantrum of a boy trying to be a
man in a hurry. I will also address in due course the libelous remarks of
Mengistu�s Chihuahua, Girma Bekele, who is always barking at my heals
for some inexplicable personal vendetta. According to Girma Bekele, I am
supposed to be �deconstructed� by Tseggai�what a laugh! First of all
before using big and controversial philosophical terms such as
�deconstruction� people should know what it means. I am sure Girma
Bekele has no clue what he is writing about except to lament endlessly the
vaporization of his carefully constructed bureaucratic life as
representative of Mengistu Hailemariam in foreign nations. How demeaning
it is to gauge great national concerns by ones pathetic life expectancy?
Coming back to the main
point in connection with Zewge�s comment, I have to state here with
emphasis and unequivocally that I do not endorse the statements of Zewge
in regard to the brutal and cruel punishment inflicted on native
Hamassien, Serie, Akale Guzai, and people from the Bogos identified as
�Eritreans� by Zewge and others, who were prisoners of war at Adwa for
the following two very important reasons:
1. Menilik had no right to
punish the same people he betrayed and sold into colonial bondage and
worse, and whom he abandoned to the Italians. They have every right to
fight such a leader, it is not much different, except for its semantics
contrast of local despot as opposed to a foreign one, from fighting
Mengistu Hailemariam, or Meles Zenawi.
2. On humanitarian basis,
Menilik violated customary international law by mutilating prisoners who
were legitimate soldiers in uniform; already there was such customary
international practice against the mistreatment of prisoners of war
specially developed during and after the Napoleonic wars�one may review
the background that led to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 on the
treatment of prisoners of war to verify the existence of such
international practice.
Thus Menilik's action in
the treatment of �Eritrean� prisoners at Adwa is to be deplored and
criticized rather than hailed. I will defend anyone in the world including
�Eritreans� prisoners of war or just prisoners from torture, cruelty,
violence, degradation, or inhuman treatment at all times. That is a fight
for the very essence of what is meant by respect of human rights.
Tecola W. Hagos
August 2004
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