Research Paper:
The Ethiopian Saga: Particulars and Incidents of Human Rights
Tecola Hagos;

The paper was presented to the Tigregn International Solidarity for Justice and Democracy (TISJD) Conference held on August 25, 2001 in Washington DC

I. INTRODUCTION

My fellow Ethiopians, with your permission, may I thank the committee members of the Tigrean International Solidarity for Justice and Democracy (TISJD) for inviting me to share my views with you all at this forum. I am extremely proud to witness this monumental effort by you once again rising to the occasion, taking up this awesome responsibility to save Ethiopia from the gargantuan political beast unleashed by Meles Zenawi and his associates. The last ten years has been a period of failed promises, brutal oppression, and vicious infighting between anti-democratic leaders of the TPLF/EPRDF in toto who had committed some terrible crimes against the people of Ethiopia.

The recent split within the leadership of the TPLF did not surprise me at all. I predicted the problem repeatedly in books and articles since 1994. Some of you thought I was crazy, or worse a turncoat for bringing up and pointing out serious structural and policy defects of the TPLF and the government of Meles Zenawi. All along I tried to point out that Tigreans in particular were betrayed twice over by Meles and his supporters: first, Tigreans were betrayed when the great legacy of their heroes of the struggle for freedom and justice was used to promote the personal interest of the dictatorial ambition of Meles Zenawi; and second, since 1991 the TPLF was., systematically dismantled and deformed to serve the regressive interest of the sons and daughters of our historic nemesis the mehale sefaries and the feudal overlords of old Ethiopia.

As a matter of principle, every member of the TPLF/EPRDF is responsible, to a varying degree, for all the harm done to Ethiopia and Ethiopians in the last ten years. However, having said that, I believe that we must at all times distinguish within the TPLF/EPRDF individuals who served their beloved nation, Ethiopia, and Ethiopians in good faith from those opportunists who took advantage of the patriotic zeal of countless Tygrean fighters and other Ethiopians. They too are victims of the brutal structure set up by Meles and associates. I sympathize, to a limited extent, with the twelve members of the Central Cominittee of the TPLF who were illegally thrown out of their elected offices where they served with unwavering loyalty. They are recent victims of the conspiracy carried out by Meles and his mehale sefarie supporters. They are also victims of their own failure, for not establishing a responsive civil governmental structure when they had a chance, the trust of people, and the power to do so. Unlike some of you, I am very skeptical that they could now effect any political change within the TPLF or Ethiopia. If they failed to control a rabid leader at a time when they had all the political power and leverage they needed, how are they going to bring about change when they are stripped of their political power and removed from their offices?

At any rate, even if what you have decided to do should have been done like yesterday, I applaud you for calling this conference-a clear manifestation of your renewed courage, your clarity of vision, and your steadfastness in the face of great obstacles. With your participation, I can see now some hope for a national meaningful political change and the empowerment of the people of Ethiopia. I will not flatter you by telling you that you are made from some glittering metal (gold) of use to only a select few, but I can tell you, along with your non-Tygrean brothers and sisters from all over Ethiopia, that you are the "salt of the earth" useful to all.

II. Human Rights in History

The only possible empirical examination of the past is done by examining the present. The past is forbidden to us, mere mortals, on a temporal plan; however, the past is accessible on a spatial plan through fragments of its legacy (history). Thus, the role of history is very important in our understanding of both the epistemological/ontological, and the existential fact of human rights in society.

Even though the setting of rights in hierarchical order has been rightfully criticized, I have found it exceedingly useful to consider separately different kinds of rights in order to bring forth contending interests for a clear contemplation of these rights even when considering the rights of a single individual. All rights are intimately interconnected because of the fact that they are part of a matrix whether definable as such or not. Thus, any form of setup of hierarchy of human rights must be understood as a metaphysical scheme for a limited purpose of illumination and understanding of rights in their aggregate as well as in their individual forms.

Some ancient practices, which have been carried into the present era, such as slavery and torture (cruelty), are clearly contrary to the sensibilities of all human beings that the struggle to abolish slavery and torture (cruelty) was the first universal effort in almost all human societies. Some of the most offending authorities for such deplorable treatment of fellow human beings, which are still revered by Christians, Moslems, Jews, Hindus et cetera, are the Bible (Leviticus, Exodus), the Qur'an, the Vedas (the Laws of Manu) et cetera where the ownership of slaves is mandated and almost gleefully encouraged. "And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have - from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves." (Leviticus XXIV: 44) This is one of the many reasons why we should look critically at any scripture or religious writing.

If I were you, I will not listen to officials or elites of some Western governments, with a history of barely two hundred years, who pontificate without any degree of sham or restraint that human rights and descent treatment of human beings is exclusively Western. It is absolutely wrong to think of such Western governments, with the worst history of violence, brutality, and barbarism, as champions of human rights principles. Their blood soaked history of murder and destruction of hundreds of millions of innocent people around the world will take far longer time to be washed clean. Just to illustrate the fallacy of Western self-aggrandizement, consider Ethiopian rulers who were one of the few leaders of earlier times who tried to contain or totally eradicate slavery in Ethiopia. For example, it is recorded by the Jesuit Azevedo that Emperor Susneyos (1607-1632) had commanded that his subjects should not deal with slaves.' Emperor Tewodros (1855-1868) had promulgated the strongest and universally applicable decree banning slavery in Ethiopia. Menilik II and later Haile Selassie I had issued decrees against slavery.

One cannot speak with a clear conscience about a benign form of slavery under any condition; however, Ethiopian slave owners were under obligation, according to the Fetha Nagast, to observe many safeguards against the abuse of slaves. Most importantly, unlike the West, in Ethiopia, slaves were acknowledged as human beings with a soul, and the condition of slavery was seen as a temporary misfortune of war. 2 The West had no such concerted effort comparable to the humane concerns as evidenced in decrees of old in Ethiopia. At any rate, we Ethiopians gave the world its humanity, its sense of justice and freedom, and not the other way around. Our problem is not our lack of knowledge of human rights, but getting the right leadership.

III. Hierarchy of Rights and "Small Mercies"

In rough order of importance, the following may be considered as the core concepts of human and political rights: the right to life i.e., the right of the integrity of the person of the individual, 3 the right to due process and equal protection of law (the right to justice), 4 the right to freely express ones thoughts and the freedom to associate and assemble, 5 the right to choose or elect ones own 6 government. These rights are identified by the structuralists as "first generation" rights as distinguished from social (cultural) rights that are identified as "second generation" rights. Economic rights and the right to development are designated as "third generation" rights. 7 At any rate, the hierarchy of rights should be considered as some form of suggestion of relative importance and not as exclusive and rigid demarcations. The fact of the matter is that rights are very much interdependent on each other and should be appreciated in an inclusive manner in order to be enjoyed or be effective. The tendency of political leaders to simplify their responsibilities may have been also another reason for the type of hierarchical ordering of rights witnessed in African governments in addition to the tyrannical stances.

A fair reading of the literature and relevant international instruments indicate that there are no "human rights" that are based purely on the fact of ones nationality, or ethnicity. There are no special rights for being a member of a minority group either. True, there are several United Nations resolutions 8 that protect such groups from being overwhelmed by a dominant group, culture, or political belief, and to ensure that such groups are not discriminated against. These resolutions deal with safeguards, and are not meant to be sources of either personal (individual) or political rights. The source of all the rights, as I have pointed out above, is the human rights concept based on the fact of ones humanity and not because of ones identity as a minority, cultural or political affiliation.

One can find in the literature dealing with issues on development of democracy in developing countries honest disagreements between scholars on the hierarchy that is asserted to exist between human rights and economic development. 9 But one can also find opportunistic and chauvinistic writings by academics and professional career bureaucrats. 10 However, one should circumvent ones criticism of foreigners least one is perceived of being afraid of confronting ones own demons. The primary responsibility of leadership is with Ethiopians and not with advisors who may be foreigners or otherwise.

Even Amartya Sen, a Nobel Laureate, one of the most sensitive and serious scholars on poverty, has shown some ambivalence about the preeminence of fundamental civil and human

rights over relational social arrangements and economic development. 11 However, Sen, may have unwittingly, also articulated for us the reasons why we should be concerned to give precedence to the implementation and safeguarding of human and political rights over and above our interest in economic development. He wrote:

"The problem is particularly acute in the context of entrenched inequalities and deprivations. A thoroughly deprived person, leading a very reduced life, might not appear to be badly off in terms of the mental metric of desire and its fulfillment, if the hardship is accepted with non-grumbling resignation. In situations of long standing deprivation, the victims do not go on grieving and lamenting all the time, and very often make great efforts to take pleasures in small mercies and to cut down personal desires to modest -'realistic'- proportions." 12 This is precisely the most important reason why economic growth has eluded Ethiopians for so long because of "long standing deprivations," which has emasculated and marginalized individuals from standing up to fight for their rights. Ethiopia is such a country whose citizens have endured "long standing deprivation," and because of that a culture of poverty has evolved with all its gruesome features and unfathomable intricacies. Most Ethiopians lead a life of an involuntary ascetic - a humorless life. A life lived at the gate of Hell. This does not mean that there were no rebellion leaders and revolutionary Ethiopians in the past. In fact, the history of Ethiopian leaders is the history of never ending military campaign to put down a very contentious people. The "long standing deprivations" we are discussing here is part of the fabric of Ethiopian culture, which also shows up within all rebellious groups. Thus, the fact of rebelliousness or the change of leadership does not necessarily result in changes of political and cultural enlightenment.

I am tempted to say in order for democratic change to be effective in Ethiopia, it has to be massive, more or less revolutionary. It will not be effective if we adopt the idea of incremental change or in small steps, or as Sen 13 would have it, through individual achievements, which is dependent, in the first place, on acquiring "freedom to achieve" - a circular proposition, indeed. The problems of underdevelopment is due to both structural and substantive defects in the relationship of a citizen/individual to a government body and to other individual members of society i.e., both vertical and horizontal relationships. Thus, those who promote social change must accept the fact that piecemeal solutions to community wide problems will not result in the type of economic growth and democratic political development that would alleviate the burden of millions of poor rural people and those of the disfranchised shanty and ghetto urbanites of Ethiopia or those of other "Third World" countries. There is a need for a new leadership that can lead not only through laws, regulations, and policy pronouncements but also by setting existential examples of civility, humility, and democratic behavior. The current Meles led Ethiopian government has become a dictatorship no better or different from the brutal military government of Mengistu (1977-1991). The only difference between the two governments is in the depth and form of commitment to the interest of Ethiopia. However, this does not in any form justify any Ethiopian government, in its effort to bring about economic development, to oppress Ethiopian citizens to the extent of denying basic foundational rights. "The hopeless beggar, the precarious landless labourer, the dominated housewife, the hardened unemployed or the over-exhausted coolie may all take pleasures in small mercies, and manage to suppress intense suffering for the necessity of continuing survival, but it would be, ethically deeply mistaken to attach a correspondingly small value to the loss of their well-being because of this-survival strategy." 14

As some indication of callousness on the part of those who are in leadership position, the political and economic problems facing Ethiopia have multiplied and grown worse in complexity and magnitude since May of 199 1. For example, the daily calorie consumption of Ethiopians is one of the lowest in the World. 1 5 Low calorie consumption did have far reaching consequences in a nation's life; it is an index on the availability of food and a nation's economic health, and its political development. One of the most obvious and alarming outcomes of such low consumption is the stunting of the development of the physical and cognitive capacity of Ethiopian children.' 6 The other equally devastating and long lasting consequence of "long standing deprivation" is the acute underdevelopment of the judicial system and democratic political institutions.

On the other hand, the enthusiastic promotion and defense of economic development of a couple of decades ago has almost nothing to show as a tangible result of development economics in Africa or elsewhere in the world. Even those who had written extensively expounding the virtue of development planning seem to have backed down from their initial positions of enthusiasm and anticipation of progress. For example, there is a degree of regret in the following words of Albert 0. Hirschman, the person who is thought of as the formulator of the idea of economic development. "Older folks tend to repeat themselves, but for the aging 'academic scribbler' this bent is artificially and powerfully reinforced nowadays by instant demands that he embalm his past thoughts in definitive restatements, that he conveniently sum up, before disappearing, whatever contributions to knowledge he is supposed to have made."'

A number of foreign governments, advisors, and supporters of the current Ethiopian government, too often, had vehemently stated that both political and economic developments take time, and people ought to give a breathing space for the new policy of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) and later to the Government of Meles Zenawi to take up root. And others, such as Huntington have advocated a fascist model of government.' 8 These types of appeasement and concession to a brutal and destructive government must be condemned. The empirical facts of the last ten years shows that the government of Meles Zenawi was engaged in manipulation and entrenchment of the current political leadership as a dictatorship. Now, Meles Zenawi has put in place a full-fledged fascist government program euphemistically designated as "Bonapartism" or "Revolutionary Democracy."

What is also tragic in the political process of the last ten years is the fact that international interference has been more than it had ever been in Ethiopian history. Not even, Mengistu who was totally dependent on the Soviet Union abrogated the sovereign status of the nation as much as Meles has compromised the interest of the nation in favor of foreign governments and foreign states in an effort to prolong his utterly anti-democratic and anti-Ethiopia government.

Even more discouraging is the pessimistic view that holds that Ethiopia is in a political quicksand, and the more it struggles to free itself from despotism the deeper it sinks into oblivion. What is wrong with that type of deterministic view is the denial of the capacity of human beings to change their circumstances. Human life is always in the process of change and innovation. New generations replace old once, and as a result of that, there is always a chance to change destructive and abusive governments and obsolete cultural bottlenecks. This is true not only of Ethiopia but also of any society in the world. "Don't we all know, instinctively and intuitively, as well as from the writings of poets and philosophers, that disappointment and discontent are eternally the human lot, regardless of achievements, be they distinction, wealth, or power?" 19

Because of the type of enthusiasm and emotional response associated with development, we must have a clear allocation and demarcation of different governmental responsibilities to different individuals. We know already that government power shared on the basis of ethnicity simply leads into the dictatorship of one group over others. The basis of governmental structure must be individually based human and political rights. The individual acting on his own self-interest would of necessity associate with like-minded individuals in order to pursue economic goals. All other social and cultural goals are of non-political nature and should be openly discouraged from becoming rallying points for the purpose of political participation.

IV. Liberal Democracy Vs Dictatorship

The real difference between nations that are prosperous and those that are poor and disorganized is not their wealth or the richness of their culture, but their governments. All liberal democracies are "individual" centered; whereas, all despotic governments are "state" centered. This has been stated so often by political scientists and others that it has become a nauseating clich6. Nevertheless, there is much in this over-used statement. It tells us, for example, that economic development and growth is dependent on the free exercise of rights by the individual; that poverty is not an inherent state of human existence but symptom of an underlying defect in the types of safeguards a society has at its disposal in order to protect the rights of its citizens; that individuals are the agents of change and development, that dictators do cause great destruction and suffering in societies et cetera.

What is troubling, though, is the attitude of Western liberal elites. Their recent deluge of writing promoting "Western" political values seems to be an attempt to transform a political process into a form of inevitable or inherent attribute of a particular race or races. In spite of their claim of democracy, the "new liberals" such as Moravcsik 20, Huntington 21, Fukuyama 22, Slaughter 23 et cetera seem to advocate a race-based political theory-a far cry from Rawls true liberal democratic view of "distributive justice." The new liberals, on one hand point out the superiority of "individual-centered" liberal democracy, but on the other hand they seem to suggest that such system is exclusive to European and their descendants elsewhere. Specifically, the new liberals who advocate their brand of democratic liberalism under the new name of "liberal international relations theory" theorize that developed nations of the West have the capacity for democratic liberal corporate political (social) purpose only such Westerners could participate in. Looked at from such perspective, it seems, I presume, Meles's "Bonapartism" is inevitable in a society that could not know any better, a society caught up in a tragic loop of human degradation and poverty. In other words, this means that we, Ethiopians, got what we deserved in Meles. I challenge with vehemence and a high degree of contempt such assumption by anyone.

Ironically, Meles's "Bonapartism" is no different than a system of government recommended by Huntington in his book The Third Wave some ten years ago to all would be "Third World" dictators, and in his advisory report to Meles in 1993. A change of name does not change the substance of a defective political and economic theory or program. A stink cabbage by any other name still remains a stinking vegetable. We Ethiopians have had a long history of encounters with despotic leaders. Certainly, as members of the human family, we have had close encounters with "Bonapartism" in the person of Mengistu, Hitler, Mussolini etcetera and now Meles Zenawi. These individuals had caused horrifying suffering on the human race. The original General/Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, after whom the system adopted by Meles is named, caused devastation in Europe unheard of even in a particularly violent Continent as was Europe. During the reign of Napoleon III, a second generation relation to Napoleon 1, the son of Louis Bonaparte, the notion of Bonapartism was revived and further articulated as a system of state-centered one-man run political and economic program aimed to undermine the restrictions imposed on then rogue nation, France, by The Congress of Vienna.

Bonapartism is an old, worn out, totally discredited, and obsolete fascistic system of government. It has extremely serious shortcoming on questions of individual human rights and democracy. Books and articles written on Bonapartism could easily fill up a small library. The revival of Bonapartism in the wake of the disintegration of the Soviet Union (late 1980s) is simply a poor substitute and continuation of such pre-existing dictatorial government structures under the old Eastern Block nations. May be for Meles and his jaded followers Bonapartism might be a new discovery. For the rest of us, it is a system of government we have struggled against all of our adult lives. A 1940 article by Leon Trotsky is one short but effective criticism of Bonapartism that we all should read and digest over and over. Those with more stamina to read further may find both Marx and Lenin quite critical of Bonapartism.

V. Conclusion

There are several steps to be taken in order to preserve the national integrity of Ethiopia, and also steps to ensure the human and democratic rights of every Ethiopian. Rather than calling endless conferences, and boasting about the achievements of past Emperors, people should come up with viable programs that will help people who are directly involved in a life-death struggle with the government of Meles Zenawi. One must accept the fact that the present government of Ethiopia has caused much destruction and is beyond reform or reorientation. Some individuals in some organizations who are working in clandestine relationship, or openly trying to become partners with the Government of Meles should abandon such foolish hope. The sooner we remove the government of Meles Zenawi from office the better for all people.

All national movements within Ethiopia or outside of Ethiopia must respect the human rights of people irrespective of the ethnic origin of such people. Specially, I appeal to the Oromo Liberation Front leaders to stop the vicious and brutal attacks by their followers or supporters on defenseless Ethiopians in Wollega regions. Violence against Ethiopian citizens or anybody else of any ethnic background violates numerous United Nations international covenants, declarations, and resolutions. Such state of affairs simply cannot just go on without some adverse consequences. No one in his right mind would deny that a number of Ethiopians (Afars, Oromos, Shankilas, Sidama, Wollaita, Wolloies et cetera) because of their language, ethnicity, or religion hzktbeen oppressed and often times violently and brutally killed, tortured, or pushed out of their homes. What I am saying is that it is impossible to remedy a wrong by committing another wrong against individuals who had nothing to do with such historical horrors. We have to start upholding individual human rights before we can dream of bringing in economic or any other development to Ethiopia.

Governments of neighboring countries must stop brutalizing Ethiopian refugees. I have no illusion that we are surrounded by brutes and barbaric governments who have been treating our brothers and sisters, who had sought refuge in those countries, with cruelty and savagery for years. Such behavior of governments and their citizens is a direct reflection of the degradation suffered by all of us in the hands of our own successive violent Ethiopian governments. "Balebet yetalewn amole bale ida ayeqebelm. " This is also a call on governments of Arab nations to stop their concerted activities against the integrity and security of Ethiopia. They must respect the admonishment of their own Prophet, for we have done them no wrong. On the other hand we have treated citizens of other nations who sought our protection or live in our community with generosity and respect. We expect no less from everyone.

In regard to western governments, especially in reference to the United States, Britain, and Germany, they must stop meddling in our destiny. I say to the governments of countries that are putting undue pressure on Ethiopian governments of whatever type, that such foreign governments ought not take liberties with us. We do not need their money or their economic and political advice at any cost. We, Ethiopians, have each other, and God is with us. Even if we are walking "in the valley of the shadow of death" we are not afraid to face our future and shape it in our own image of compassion, freedom, and justice. These so called friendly countries have done us more harm than good since the end of the Second World War than any other nation on Earth. As Ethiopians, we have endured much over several thousand years. We are not short distance sprinters, but long distance endurance runners; sooner or later, we will reach our goals. My optimism is boundless, and when one understands our history and our journey through time one cannot help being anything else but optimistic about our future. If I sound prophetic and emotional, I apologize for my lack of restraint; and I hope you will allow me to dream on about a wonderful place called Ethiopia!

The subject of Ethiopia's coastal territories and sea ports, such as Assab will be discussed by a very knowledgeable and patriotic Ethiopian; nevertheless, allow me to bring up just a couple of important jurisprudential and international law norms and principles that are relevant to the issue. The first is the principle of pacta sunt servanda that tells us about the sanctity of treaties, agreements, or contracts. The second is the concept of inadimplenti non est adimplendum that tells us about the limitation imposed on someone that has breached or abrogated an agreement or a. treaty.

Italy by attacking and occupying Ethiopia (1935-41) had committed an international wrong thereby breaching every treaty it had signed with Ethiopian leaders up to that time. Thus, Ethiopia under international law may not honor any of the treaty obligations that were entered by Ethiopia's Emperor Menilik, and by the Sultan of Awssa. As a consequence of Italy's breach of its treaty obligations, there are no valid "colonial" boundary demarcations between "Italy/Eritrea" and Ethiopia. Ethiopia's historic rights to the whole of "Eritrea" in general and the Afar region and coastal territories in particular are a valid claim supported by customary international law. We ought to solve our differences through peaceful means. Our brothers and sisters from all over the region will soon realize that our effort to solidify our rank against real impending catastrophe is beneficial to all. In the face of real danger coming from Arab nations who want to transform a tolerant and peaceful people into religious fanatics, who will be at each other's throats, it is our duty to stretch our hands in friendship to our brothers and sisters from Afar, Akale Guzi, Barka, Hamassen, Kunama, Serie et cetera. We have a great history, and a land that can be turned overnight into Paradise on Earth.

Thank you all.
Tecola W. Hagos
Washington, DC August 25, 2001

Foot Notes:

1. ln Bahra Hassab, 2000, there are valuable historical notes, chronology, and a painstakingly compiled sophisticated method of computation of dates, written by Getatchew Haile, a great living scholar, which book helped me see the enormity of the achievements of Ethiopians and the degree of their sacrifices to maintain their dignity and freedom as human beings. See also Richard Pankhurst, (1990) A Social History of Ethiopia: The Northern and Central Highlands From Early Medieval Times to the Rise of Emperor Tewodros II, Trenton NJ: The Red Sea Press, 1992, 66.

2. Margery Perham, The Government of Ethiopia, London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1948, 224. Richard Pankhurst, (1990) A Social Histoty of Ethiopia: The Northern and Central Highlands From Early Medieval Times to the Rise of Emperor Tewodros 11, 64-66.

3.The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights , G.A. Res. 217A(III), U.N. Doc. A/I 8, (1948) [hereafter UDHR]: "Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person." - The 1995 Ethiopian Constitution: "Article 14. Everyone has the inviolable and inalienable right to life, liberty and the security of the person"; "Article 15. No person shall be deprived of his or her life except for grave crime defined by law."

4. UDHR: "Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection under the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrinunation in violation of the Declaration and against any incitement to such discrirr~ nation." - The Constitution of Ethiopia: "Articlee 25. Right to Equality of Citizens. All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. The law shall guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection without discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, wealth, birth or other status."

5. UDHR: "Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart inforination and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers"; - "Article 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association." - The Ethiopian Constitution: Article 299. Right of Thought, Opinion and Expression; Article 30. The Right of Assembly, Demonstration and Petition; Article 3 1. Freedom of Association.

6. UDHR: "Article 21 (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country., directly or through freely chosen representatives. (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government, this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."

7. UDHR: "Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality." -"Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized." - Costa Ricky Mahalu, "Africa and Human Rights," Regional Protection of Human rights by International Law: The Emerging African System, eds. Philip Kuning, Wolfgang Benedek, Costa R. Mahalu, Baden-Baden: Nomos Veriagsgeselischaft, 1985, 6-13. - Wolfgang Benedek, "Peoples' Rights andd Individuals' Duties as Special Features of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights," Regional Protection of Human rights by International Law: The Emerging African System, eds. Philip Kuning, Wolfgang Benedek, Costa R. Mahalu, Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgeselischaft, 1985, 68.

8. See for example, United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, General Assembly Resolution 1904 (IVIII)of 20 December 1963; - United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; - The Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, General Assembly Resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992.

9. When Albert 0. Hirschman started a sub-culture of economic development theories in the 1950s, no one can doubt his sincerity or his enthusiasm or his effort and dedication to find solutions to the problems of "underdevelopment" in non-Western nations. However, as time would show, economic development theories did not produce the desired change of growth in developing countries. Even the best of intentions does not produce positive results unless coupled with honest regard (respect) to those who are supposed to benefit from such dedication. At any rate, Hirschman might have been used unwittingly by the World Bank people, with their less than honest concern about the 'development' of non-Western societies, for their own selfish end. see Albert O. Hirschman, (1986) Rival Views of Market Society and Other Recent Essays, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1992; - Shifting Involvements: Private Interest and Public Action, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982.

10. A clear example of foreigners who have championed the priority of economic development and powerful one party structure as a stable state machinery in the Ethiopian context includes individuals such as Samuel P. Huntington, Paul B. Henez et cetera. Especially Huntington's advice had resulted in the incorporation of a fascistic government structure in the new Constitution of Ethiopia. See Samuel P. Huntington, "Political Development in Ethiopia: A Peasant-Based Dominant-Party Democracy?" Report to USAID/Ethiopia on consultations with the Constitutional Commission, 17 May 1993; Paul B. Henze, "Post-Communist Transition in Ethiopia," Ethiopian Review, October 1995.

11. See Amartya Sen, (1992) Inequality Reexamined, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. There is an assumption that individual circumstance and/or genetic makeup determine the type of freedom or treatment one gets in society. Recognizing the existential situation of individual differences is one thing, but to base an entire philosophy on such differences is completely regressive and smacks of racism. Like inherited wealth also inherited individual genes are not work-products of the individual in question. Why should society give them preferential treatment? One individual life is as important and as precious as the next one irrespective of inherited wealth or inherited genes.

12. Amartya Sen, Inequality Reexamined, 55. (Emphasis added) Prof Sen's statement is made in connection with the evaluation of 'the well-being of a person exclusively in the metric of happiness or desire-fulfillment' which fact is made more obvious in other writings of the Professor: For example, in (1987) On Ethics & Economics, Oxford, UK; Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1994, 45-47. However, it clearly points out how individuals who are crushed by 'deprivation' also lose the desire to fight and change their circumstance.

13. Amartya Sen, Inequality Reexamined, 4-5, 31-38.

14. Amartya Sen, On Ethics, 45-46. (Emphasis added) "A person who has had a life of misfortune, with very little opportunities, and rather little hope, may be more easily reconciled to deprivations than others reared in more fortunate and affluent circumstances. The metric of happiness may, therefore, distort the extent of deprivation, in a specific and biased way.-The same problem arises with the other interpretation of utility, namely, desire fulfillment, since the hopelessly deprived lack the courage to desire much, and their deprivations are muted and deadened in the scale of desire-fulfillment." Amartya Sen, On Ethics, 45-46.

15. See United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report(s), 1990-2000.

16. The Report of the World Bank, Ethiopia: Public Expenditure Policy for Transition, of October 21, 1994.

17. Albert 0. Hirschman, (1986) Rival Views of Market Society and Other Recent Essays, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1992, ix. Hirschman outlined his argument for development economics in his first book, The strategy of Economic Development, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1958.

18. See Tecola W. Hagos, Democratization? Ethiopia 1991-1994, Cambridge MA: Khepera Publishers, 1995, 71-95. The full report of Huntington on which the current Ethiopian government structure was based is reproduced as appendix III on pages 264-277.

19 Albert 0. Hirschman, Shifting Involvements: Private Interest and Public Action, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982, 11.

20. See Andrew Moravcsik, "Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics," 51 International Organization (1997) 513. 21 See Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the remaking of World Order, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. - The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.

22. See Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man, New York: Avon Books, 1992.

23. See Anne Marie Slaughter, "International Law in a World of Liberal States," 6 EJIL (1995) 503.