�First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I
was not a communist; Then
they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I
was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I
did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist; Then they
came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a
Jew; Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out
for me.� Martin
Niemoller, 1946
I. INTRODUCTION
A
few days back, a response letter by Paulos Fasil to my Editorial
�The Massacre of Ethiopians by Meles Zenawi� was posted. Prior
to that, another response by Getachew Reda to another article I
wrote �Politicus Ethiopicus: Reassessing Our Recent Political
Situation� was posted in another Website. Both articles are
critical of my assessment of the current Ethiopian situation while
the authors were clearly supporting opposing camps�namely the
Government of Meles Zenawi in case of Paulos Fasil, and the
Opposition [CUD] in case of Getachew Reda. If opposing parties are
critical of my writings, I must be doing something right. Moreover,
it is not that difficult or remote to identify the reasons why I
believe I am on the right track in my evaluation of the situation in
Ethiopia. [We posted articles critical of me and with diverse points
for the benefit of all of us.]
In
summary, what the two authors were representing was typical of
positions held by several Ethiopians thorn between two visions of an
�Ethiopia� and the many types of solutions to numerous political
and economic problems faced by Ethiopians. What Getachew Reda was
essentially complaining about was that I had lumped up all
Opposition leaders and supporters into a general category of
divisiveness and narrow ethnicism that does not reflect the reality
of the nature of the opposition.
What Paulos Fassil has stated in his response is that the
Ethiopian Government/Meles Zenawi is not responsible for the
massacre and violent abuse of Ethiopians that occurred since
November 1, 2005. In addition, he further asserted that the
Opposition is propagating hate against Tygreans and thus is
�fully� responsible for the death and violence-taking place
since November 1, 2005.
There
are very serious fallacies involved in both types of criticisms. In
case of Getachew Reda�s concern, it is a failure of not reading
the article contextually, which problem is easily curable by going
back and reading what I wrote carefully. On the other hand, Paulos
Fasil�s assertions have fundamental flaws that need far more
serious consideration. We need to see the current situation as part
of a runaway political process since the time of Gragn�s
destructive war through the period of �Zemene Mesafint� down to
our own time, a period of almost five hundred years. Most of our
current problems have their root causes sprouting some where in
those turbulent Centuries, and have evolved with the political
environment of the region and the world to date.
We
need to have a clear idea what is involved in any interaction
between an individual and a state and its mechanism. There is an
acute misunderstanding of what is meant by fundamental human rights,
concepts of liberty and freedom, and political and economic rights.
It is absolutely important for people to know that fundamental human
rights are the most basic of all rights, and not at all dependent on
ethnicity, national origin, citizenship et cetera of the individual.
An individual has such fundamental human rights not violable by
anybody or any government. Political rights on the other hand are an
outgrowth of the fundamental individual rights that often come into
play in the interaction between the state and the individual and
maybe restricted in very limited instances where the welfare of the
community or another individual is at stake. People who attacked my
stand on the issue of my defending the Opposition leaders and their
supporters are confusing the two sets of rights. I defend the rights
of the detained opposition leaders and their supporters, because the
Government of Meles Zenawi has violated both their fundamental human
rights as well as their political rights.
It is not necessary that I agree with their views or in
anyway endorses their politics in order for me to defend their
rights. Their rights as human beings and their political rights as
members of a particular society are equally fundamental in this
peaceful protest and boycott called by them.
It
is a duty that every Ethiopian should be bound by to protect the
rights of those with whom we may disagree. If I do not speak out
against all forms of dictatorships and allow the murder, detention,
and torture of my brothers and sisters, then who would speak out on
my behalf when I fell prey to a dictator? May I remind my esteem
critiques in the words of a man who survived Nazi prison camps and
atrocities as follows?
�First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I
was not a communist; Then
they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I
was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I
did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist; Then they
came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a
Jew; Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out
for me.� Martin Niemoller, 1946
II. THE BEGINNING AND THE PROCESS
In
the last five hundred years, the fractured ethos of Ethiopia has not
fully healed. Thus, Ethiopia has been living with such festering
underlying political wound that refused to heal even under the
longest running monarchical rule of Haile Selassie of over half a
century. Nor does the brutal fascistic strong hand of Mengistu
Hailemariam made any headway to solving our problem of falling apart
at the seams. Now, the
problem was compounded by the ascendance of Meles Zenawi, whose idea
of Ethiopia is the most juvenile, and who openly committed treason
by undermining and outright compromising the territorial integrity
and sovereignty of Ethiopia. Further more, the EPRDF by endorsing
half-backed ideas of pseudo-Marxism of �nations and
nationalities� further eroded the �state� structure of
Ethiopia.
Within
such historical context, it is understandable, but not supportable;
to see some Ethiopians displaying a degree of ethnicism (tribalism)
that perverts any meaningful dialogue within an Ethiopian
�nation� context. In recent development, once the Opposition has
become strong and viable, criticizing Meles Zenawi is being seen by
a number of Tygreans as an attack on Tygreans. This is not to deny
the fact that there are very many Ethiopians from different ethnic
groups who are narrow tribalists, still contained within the ethos
of past experience of Gragn�s devastating wars, who are behind
most of the hate propaganda against Tygreans and others that seems
to some as part and parcel of the Opposition�s political agenda
and to the personality of some of its founders I personal know for
over thirty years. Take for example, Yacob Hailemariam, one of the
leaders of the CUD, how could anyone think of such a courageous and
humane person as anti-Tygreans? Of course, such perception of the
Opposition�s political agenda is not reflective of the stated
goals of the Opposition. I have pointed out mistakes in organization
and some of the divisive statements of people from the opposition in
interviews, at fund raising parties, and demonstration forums. To
judge by their most recent call for peaceful struggle against the
government of Meles Zenawi, there is nothing tribalistic in the call
for boycott even though in the actual operation of their protest
Tygreans as a group may be victimized. Even then there is repeated
warning against such out of control development.
Meles
Zenawi has committed some very serious crimes since November 1, 2005
after the boycott called by the Opposition. His forces have killed,
detained, and/or violently attacked thousands of Ethiopians, a
number of whom are women and young children. Even if we assume that
the Opposition leaders and their supporters were following acts of
provocation, there is no moral or legal justification for the type
of violence and murder unleashed on a civilian population. By
contrast, consider how the French are handling far worse and far
more provocative acts of looting, burning et cetera by a part of the
immigrant population in Paris and other towns in France where
thousands of cars and places of business were torched. Not one
single death is reported in the skirmish that took place to bring
order to such vast devastation that was a hundred fold worse than
what was claimed by the government of Meles Zenawi to be the case in
Addis Ababa, the cause for the type of massacre that took place.
A
responsible government will use very many means such as strategy,
tact, and policing rather than unleashing a military force to shot
people when faced with a hostile crowed. There are allegations that
a number of armed former soldiers of Mengistu Hailemariam were
hiding behind the demonstrators who engaged the Government forces in
pitched battle. All that is a fabrication, I have not read a single
independent corroborated report of fighting, even from the
Government of Meles Zenawi. Simply put, there was no such incident
of insurgency anywhere in Addis Ababa or elsewhere in Ethiopia by
people who were demonstrating during the call for boycott. Even if
there was a fight with weapons, the Government still has the
responsibility to safeguard human lives, and cannot simply wage war
on a civilian population firing into a crowed indiscriminately. This
type of standard of behavior I am promoting and expecting by any
responsible government is not simple wishful thinking, but born by
international law and the custom and norms of all civilized nations
and governments around the world.
III. POLARIZATION OF ISSUES
It
is sad that a number of Ethiopians in Addis Ababa blame Tygreans for
the mistakes and oppression perpetuated by Meles Zenawi. Paulos is
being truthful when he wrote about the type of political atmosphere
in Addis Ababa of hate and resentment, but that perception is
misleading if offered as proof of hostility and immediate danger
against Tygreans, for Ethiopians are not in general murderers on the
basis of ethnicity. However, one must be wary of such eventuality
even in a population of Eskimos, the most peaceful people known.
Ethiopians already had a record of committing some horrible
atrocities during the Red Terror instigated by Mengistu Hailemariam.
The fear of Tygreans for a repeat of such atrocities is well founded
if we go by our experience of the Red Terror period. However, a
number of Ethiopian leaders from the Opposition, the religious
institutions, scholars et cetera have admonished us all against such
behavior or acts of atrocities. One such public statement is that of
Fekade Shewakena who put it correctly in his recent article that
Meles Zenawi is not working or promoting Tygreans, for he has no
loyalty to any ethnic group except his own self-interest in that
they �worship no ethnicity but their comfort and power and the
wealth that come with it. Never descend to their levels even when
you are provoked. Don�t let them get their self-fulfilling
prophesy of any Rwanda like thing. I know you will do that because
you know more.�
Yes,
fear makes people to see shadows as real monsters lurking in the
dark. For people with moral principles and real love for Ethiopia,
ethnic identity has no intrinsic value. Ethnic identity, just like
being born in a particular economic niche, may be a historical and
social fact not a moral or ethical bulwark on which all
civilizations are built upon. There is no need to see the current
Ethiopian situation as a life-death contest between two
diametrically opposed groups. There are aspects that may have been
perverted by followers and supporters by each group giving the wrong
message to ordinary citizens. It is not my flight of imagination
that I see people writing in Chat Internet and individuals
addressing fund raising crowd, in no uncertain terms, expressing
their desire to remove �Tygreans� from the rest of Ethiopia. The
type of hate and ethnic slur, whether it is against Tygreans or
Oromos, I have witnessed is such that one can cut with a blade. Fekade
may indeed be a minority in the circle of Ethiopian politicians
around here; he has consistently expressed himself with a far more
accommodating and enlightened views when it comes to the perception
of the future of Ethiopia as a multi-ethnic democratic nation
compared to many others.
The
most serious criticism I had about CUD and the Opposition in general
is that they have become cliquish and sectarian.
Rather than being inclusive, the tendency I observed in the
Opposition�s solidarity and mobilization of its supporters is a
process of the creation of interiority, and leaving very many
capable and devoted Ethiopians on the outside. A point that is obvious is the way they recruited and included
individuals at the very inception of the movement of solidification
of the different remnants of political organizations from the era of
Mengistu. For example, the Tygrean interest in the Opposition is
limited to the least popular of Tygrean groups, which process now
had created the perception of the Opposition as anti-Tygreans. Had
they been more accommodating, and recruited for inclusion very many
Tygreans who were in the Solidarity Tygrean movement, they would not
have such hard time now convincing or reassuring many Tygreans of
the legitimacy of their political struggle against Meles Zenawi. It
is this same fact that led me to the conclusion that all political
groups and their leaders are after power rather than bringing about
freedom and liberation to the people of Ethiopia as a whole. On a
second thought, maybe they were overwhelmed by the loyalists and
former cadres of Mengistu who joined them in droves on seeing such a
political opening�a chance to move their stalled resistance
movement with a political cover and respectability behind men of
notable history of struggle.
There
is a caustic disregard by many politicians of the reasons why so
many Ethiopians are going through tremendous hardship and flooding
Addis Ababa from every part of the nation.
Even after so much has been written how far Addis Ababa had
impoverished the rest of Ethiopia, how far the loop sidedness of the
economic development in Addis Ababa and vicinity has created a great
rift in between the ethnic groups of Ethiopia, and how far the rest
of Ethiopia has been in such developmental neglect that people have
rebelled and formed liberation movements, et cetera, there are still
very many opposition supporters who are still in total denial of
such glaring reality. The EPRDF does represent a large number of
Ethiopians that can be properly identified as disfranchised groups
who had no political or economic support from the central successive
governments of Ethiopia during the long reign of Haile Selassie and
during that of the government of Mengistu.
It is very unrealistic to expect support from every sector of
the population for opposing Meles Zenawi and his political
organization. To a considerable number of people, Meles Zenawi
represents, in some distorted form, the aspiration of those people
who have serious grievances against previous Ethiopian leaders who
had neglected their welfare. One must take into account such
distorted perception into account in order to build a viable
opposition.
Having
said that, the bottom line is that the destructive militaristic step
taken by Meles Zenawi is not going to win anything. In fact, it is
starting to have the opposite effect. For Ethiopians from all over
Ethiopia are reacting by standing bravely against the forces of
Meles Zenawi. There is an on going effort to polarize the issue by
casting the confrontation as if it is aimed at Tygreans. The fact is
the struggle is against the EPRDF and Meles Zenawi. It is a mistake
to identify this struggle as a CUD chauvinist group movement against
Tygreans. It is a problem of perception and not of substance easily
remedied by the concerted effort of CUD in making the necessary
connection to all disfranchised groups including Tygreans. My brief
discussion above of the past history of Ethiopia and recent
political development is meant to add depth to our understanding of
our current situation. This fact has tempted me to visualize and
consider the creation of a third group, an alternative political
organization to both EPRDF and CUD (Opposition), free of people with
political baggage and personal or tribalistic agenda.
CONCLUSION
Paulos
Fasil in his letter identified the political problem facing us in
terms of self-determination, autonomy, or federalism. The essence of
his concern is the underlying discrepancy in the treatment of all
Ethiopians from different ethnic groups justly and fairly. He is
looking at the �unitary� rhetoric offered by the �Amaras� as
an ideology of oppression taking us backward in our political
development. It is an understandable reaction or an attempt by an
individual, who is recently exercising some political rights due to
the current Ethiopian Government structure, to safeguard that newly
acquired right from perceived enemies [CUD], which he thought would
take away from him his precious rights. By the way, the
�unitary� state organization happens to be also my political
view too, for under existing conditions, I believe a federal
government structure is not conducive to the future of Ethiopia. I
would be considered a threat too by Paulos.
Politics
is a process of deflecting what maybe immediately hurtful without
totally discarding it because it is possible that there could be
aspects that may be salvageable in the future for good use. Ethiopia
is going through tremendous change, thus, we need to be careful what
we discard and what we save. It is very clear there is nothing that
could be salvaged from Meles Zenawi and his tiny group of
supporters, on the other hand there are plenty of items and people
within the EPRDF that the Opposition is best advised to make great
effort to bring to its side, for the sake of saving Ethiopia from
fracturing. The Opposition has to do also some shading of few
individuals with a past from its supporters, and add others with a
long history of struggle and dedication to the cause of Ethiopia.
The leadership of the new CUD seems to be quite clean from
any such defects.
I
maintain that the call for boycott and peaceful struggle against an
oppressive government is a legitimate right, even though I am
hesitant about instigating economic sanctions in general in poor
nations because it is the poor who will suffer the most�the very
people whom we want to help the most. On this issue of boycott and
the violent solution underway in regard to the reaction of foreign
governments, I condemn the irresponsible press releases of the
United States Department of State, and that of the Ambassadorial
Gang stationed in Addis Ababa, which Gang has for all practical
purposes usurped the sovereign power of the Ethiopian State,
endorsing the violence of the Government of Meles Zenawi against a
civilian population peaceful demonstration. I do not expect much
from the governments of Western nations whose history is drenched
with the blood of hundreds of millions of people. Their tradition of
mass murder is as alien to our character as it is to our culture.
My
demand for the release of all political detainees is a question of
human rights. I need not agree with any of the political ideas of
the Opposition in order for me to defend their human and political
rights. I have read some E-mail of people accusing me of selling
out. Let me state clearly that I would have defended a rotten
criminal for human dignity and rights, let alone such courageous men
and women of the Opposition who dare stand against the full forces
of a tyrant. My last word on the detention of Opposition Leaders is
to demand an immediate and unconditional release of every single one
of them and all other detained Ethiopians.
I
am told by people that the number of detained by Meles Zenawi�s
government exceeds tens of thousands. This form of political
oppression does not benefit EPRDF and its members. Meles Zenawi is a
lost cause; he ought to leave his political leadership post without
causing further pain and suffering to millions of Ethiopians. And
with his departure, peace will descend on Ethiopia at no time.
Members of the EPRDF must be aware of the fact that the next logical
step for Ethiopians is to start a popular armed struggle, which I do
not favor. This must sober everyone in the EPRDF, and should be a
last warning of a catastrophic political development in the making
for Ethiopia�a descent to Hell! Berle
keneqa aihonim eqa. END
Tecola
W. Hagos
November
6, 2005
Washington,
DC
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