Ethiopia:
Minority Regime's Fiefdom Syndrome
Sophia
Tesfamariam
In the past, I have written about the regime in Ethiopia,
its incurable inferiority complex and crab mentality, its refusal to abide by
international and bilateral Agreements it has signed, and from respecting
international law, UN Security Council resolutions and most of all, from
respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. Successive
Ethiopian regimes have presented themselves as being more "diplomatic", "more
sophisticated, "peace loving" etc. etc. than others in the region and beyond.
This delusional self assessment has prevented them from seeing themselves as
they really are- weak, frightened and myopic.
The minority regime attempts to present itself as a law
abiding member of the international community, and it abuses and undermines the
very institutions that it hails in public. It does that, not because it has the
diplomatic, economic or political prowess to do so, but because it relies on
its handlers to cover up its crimes, and has employed and perfected certain
ploys that it believes have served it well in the last 21 years. For brevity's
sake, I will list the regime's favorite gimmicks used in both its international
and domestic affairs. It will help readers understand its mental schema. In
business, the term "Fiefdom Syndrome"[1] explains how certain toxic
cliques have detrimental effects on a company's health. Let us see the toxic TPLF
cliques "Fiefdom Syndrome" and how it affects its handling of domestic and
international issues.
1.
Seeks Powerful Alliances
Ethiopia
is a poor country that relies on donors for 60% of its national budget.
Ethiopias handlers have been touting "11% economic growth" in Ethiopia, but
sadly, despite the billions funneled into the country from various donors, Ethiopia
remains one of the countries that will not be meeting the Millennium
Development Goals in 2015, will not achieve food security or make any progress
in the standard of living of its people. The recent World Bank Report found
corruption ripe in Ethiopia's economic, health, education, telecommunication,
land and other sectors. 17 billion dollars have disappeared from the countries coffers.
Gold reserves have mysteriously vanished from its bank vaults etc. etc.
Lacking
economic and political power, the regime's cadres are seen wheedling "their way
into powerful circles", ingratiating themselves to western powers and using it
as a "weapon of choice". The minority regime
in Ethiopia, lacking confidence in its own abilities, lacking legitimacy in its
own country, chooses to advance its domestic and international agendas by
latching onto powerful nations such as France, the United States and the United
Kingdom. From feeding its people, to managing its political affairs, to
managing its economy, these nations and their tentacled subsidiaries, "advisors",
"consultants", run the country and its government. For a nation that prides
itself as being the only one not colonized in the past, it is today,
practically the most colonized state in Africa.
There are many examples of how Ethiopia reaches out to its
handlers in order to effectuate its political agendas. For example, when Ethiopia wanted
to break the close and neighborly relations between Djibouti and Eritrea, it
relied on the United States to use its leverage in Djibouti. Let us take a look
at a US Embassy cable that best illustrates this. September 2006 cable "ETHIOPIA:
DEPUTY MINISTER TEKEDA TALKS SOMALIA, REGIONAL ISSUES WITH DAS YAMAMOTO",
details the conversation between the then Deputy Minister Tekeda Alemu and US
Ambassador Donald Yamamoto. The cable says:
The Government of Djibouti's
opposition to IGAD actions in Somalia are the result of its fear of Eritrean
President Isaias, Tekeda said, as well as President Guelleh's personal business
interests with Eritrea. The Deputy Foreign Minister speculated that the
Djiboutian leadership was worried that Eritrea would support Afari separatist
movements, as Isaias had done successfully in Sudan, if Djibouti did not follow
Eritrea's lead in Somalia. Tekeda also told Yamamoto that Aweys and other CIC
leaders had stopped in Djibouti to meet with President Guelleh on their way
back from Libya the week before. Tekeda maintained that the GOD was "on the
wrong path," and added that Djibouti was not strong enough to take Ethiopia's
continued friendship and forbearance for granted
But
that was not all. Here is the rest of it:
"Tekeda urged that the USG speak
frankly with Djibouti about its role in the region. He said that President
Guelleh would pay attention to U.S. concerns given the importance to him of the
U.S. military base in Djibouti. 'He must be told to choose' whose side he
wanted to take"
I don't
know what Donald Yamamoto's response was to Tekeda Alemu's request to break up Djibouti-Eritrea
relations, or what the US did, but in less than a year, Djibouti-Eritrea
relations had soured and the two countries were on the brink of war. US Ambassadors in the Horn and the US
Ambassador at the United Nations were instrumental in getting sanctions regime
against the State of Eritrea and the Djibouti-Eritrea issue was orchestrated in
order to get "stand alone sanctions" against Eritrea.
2.
Camouflage
If there is one gimmick that the regime in Ethiopia has
perfected to date is the one of creating distractions, to divert attention away
from itself, its domestic crimes against humanity, and its lawlessness. These tactics involve, "emphasizing
the inconsequential", "sending someone off on a wild goose chase" or "deliberately
triggering someone's anxiety buttons". The Djibouti-Eritrea is a perfect
example. While the regime's forces have violated international law, the Algiers
Agreements, over two dozen Security Council resolutions on the Eritrea-Ethiopia
border and have been occupying sovereign Eritrean territories for the last 12
years, with the help of their handlers, they exaggerated and escalated the
non-existent Djibouti Eritrea border issue.
Instead of taking responsibility for the security of its
citizens and others in its territories, the minority regime blames Eritrea for
everything that happens in Ethiopia and beyond. Presenting itself as a peace
loving regime, its cadres have scoped the globe tarnishing Eritrea's image and
that of its leadership, whilst committing untold crimes against its own people,
committing genocides in the Gambela, Ogaden and Oromia regions of Ethiopia,
advancing it ethnic cleansing policies against the Amhara under the cover of
the "villagization" program etc. Its crimes and human rights violations are
hidden from the world because it has "friends" in high places.
3.
Invisible Walls
Actively instigating actions or creating counterproductive
perceptions so that an argued directive will be, if not impossible, extremely
difficult to implement. The minority regime in Ethiopia has come up with
several gimmicks to advance its anti-Eritrea agendas and has no problem
creating new ones when others fail. The call for dialogue with Eritrea while
refusing to vacate from sovereign Eritrean territories, the acceptance "in principle"
the final and binding decisions of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission,
the off again, on again 5 Point Peace Plan etc. are just a few examples of the "mazes
and false pathways" that it has established in order to frustrate the peace
process.
4.
Strategic Noncompliance:
This tactic is the minority regime's favorite. It agrees
upfront to take action while having no intention of taking that action, or
cooperating in order to buy time to find a way of avoiding taking action. For example, Seyoum Mesfin, the most
frightened member of the Tigrayan clique ruling Ethiopia today came out
swinging in the wee hours of 13 April 2002. He called a Press Conference and
announced to the world that the decision of the Boundary Commission was fair
and that it was final and binding. He also said that " Badme and its environs"
had been awarded to Ethiopia and that the international community should urge
Eritrea to accept the ruling and allow for the speedy demarcation of the
Eritrea Ethiopia border.
A few days later, when the ignominious cadre and his team
read the documents and found out that Badme, the casus bellie for the Eritrea-
Ethiopia border conflict had been awarded to Eritrea. In this case, since it cannot easily refuse to
accept the decision, in order to have the moral high ground, it ran to accept
the decision before Eritrea, only to turn around and delay compliance. The
regime has done everything to get out of its treaty obligations and has
collaborated with internal and external forces to undermine the EEBC decision. That
began the 11 year long attempts to amend, revisit and even reverse the EEBC's
final and binding delimitation decision began.
It employed the support of Eritrean mercenaries to undermine
the EEBC's decisions, and to confuse the matter. These self serving emasculated
individuals came up with stuff like "Transitional
Justice", "making Badme a no-man's zone", "making Badme a park to be enjoyed by
both sides" etc. etc. Instead of standing up for the people of Eritrea and the
sovereignty of Eritrea, these quislings worked with Meles Zenawi to weaken
Eritrea's legal position for a few stipends-they failed miserably.
The regime "sought powerful alliances" in its ongoing
pressure on Eritrea. In order to force Eritrean into relinquishing rights to
Badme, the minority also turned to its friends at the UN and at the US State Department.
Meles Zenawi sought the help of Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary General, to
create an "alternative mechanism", because he wanted to get rid of the EEBC.
Kofi Annan obliged by creating all types of obstacles and preventing the EEBC
from carrying out its sole mandate of demarcating the Eritrea Ethiopia border.
John Bolton, the then US Ambassador to the United Nations said that Jendayi
Frazer, the incompetent former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs,
told him that she wanted to "reopen the 2002 decision" which "she had
concluded was wrong" and wanted it to "award a major piece of disputed
territory to Ethiopia". Bolton said that he "was at a loss how to explain that
to the Security Council", so he didn't.
Frazer wanted to adjust the line and she brought General
George Fulford, who she figured could serve as a "technical facilitator" to the
EEBC. He was one of the people who had accompanied her on her ill-advised and
illegal trip to Badme, an occupied sovereign Eritrean territory. Frazer and
Fulford introduced the "satellite technology" map at an EEBC meeting in the
spring of 2006. General Fulford also "rather unwisely, wrote to Eritrea's Legal
Counsel that he was seeking operational latitude to shift the boundary by about
1Km".
After waiting for over five years to demarcate the Eritrea-Ethiopia
border in accordance with the EEBC's final and binding decisions, the Boundary
Commission decided to demarcate the border using coordinates on maps, "virtual
demarcation", closed its offices and left the area. Ethiopia continues to flout
international law, the UN and African Union Charters and the EEBC's
delimitation and demarcation decisions. It has refused to accept the
demarcation and continues to occupy sovereign Eritrean territories, including
Badme.
5.
Information Manipulation.
This is another favorite ploy used by the regime in its
domestic and foreign policies. It has perfected the art of withholding, putting
a spin on information, and covering up or giving false information. When the Eritrea
Ethiopia Boundary Commission delivered its final and binding delimitation decision
on 13 April 2002, the ignominies Seyoum Mesfin, then Foreign Minister of
Ethiopia told Ethiopians that Badme and its environs had been awarded to
Ethiopia. It was bold lie.
When the regime could not get the EEBC to change the decision,
it sought to undermine the Commission and Meles Zenawi claimed, through a
letter to Kofi Annan that the Commission's work was in "terminal crisis". The EEBC responded to that the letter was "misconceived
and misleading". In its 7 October 2003 letter to Kofi Annan, the Commission
wrote the following:
here
is no "crisis", terminal or otherwise, which cannot be cured by Ethiopia's
compliance with its obligations under the Algiers Agreement, in particular its
obligations to treat the Commission's delimitation determination as "final and
binding" (article 4.15) and "to cooperate with the Commission, its experts and
other staff in all respects during the process of ... demarcation" (article
4.14)
Needless to say, Ethiopia continued with its belligerence
and the US led international community looked the other way.
Having the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, the
Ethiopian capital as well as the UN's many tentacle organizations at its
disposal, successive Ethiopian regimes, and most especially the current minority
regime, have emasculated these organizations and prevented them from calling a
spade a spade. The wiki leak cables are
replete with the lies and deceptions of the regime and its cadres, too many to
mention in one sitting. For example, the regime keeps telling the world that
the "root causes" for the Eritrea Ethiopia border conflict must be addressed in
order for Ethiopia to comply with its treaty obligations and the Algiers
Agreements. Yet, it has prevented the African Union and the United Nations from
establishing the Commission in accordance with the Algiers Agreements. Article 3
of the Algiers Agreements says:
In
order to determine the origins of the conflict, an investigation will be
carried out on the incidents of 6 May 1998 and on any other incident prior to
that date which could have contributed to a misunderstanding between the
parties regarding their common border, including the incidents of July and
August 1997 ... The investigation will be carried out by an independent, impartial
body appointed by the Secretary General of the OAU, in consultation with the
Secretary General of the United Nations and the two parties - The independent
body will endeavor to submit its report to the Secretary General of the OAU in
a timely fashion ... The parties shall cooperate fully with the independent body...The
Secretary General of the OAU will communicate a copy of the report to each of
the two parties, which shall consider it in accordance with the letter and
spirit of the Framework Agreement and the Modalities..."
The Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary
Commission delivered its final and binding delimitation and demarcation
decisions on 13 April 2002 and 30 November 2007 respectively. 13 years since
the signing of the Algiers Agreements and the Commission that is supposed to
determine the origins of the conflict has yet to be established. Why?
According to a 1
December 2005 Wikileak cable from Ethiopia which details a 25 November 2005
meeting between US" Donald Yamamoto and African Union officials. The African
Union seems to have made a unilateral decision to delay the formation of the
Commission. The cable said:
"...Peace and Security Commissioner Djinnit said that the
AU favors prioritization of Algiers Accord requirements and indicated that the
AU does not believe the time is right for a study on the causes of war between
the two countries, as provided for under Article 3..."
Judging from
Ethiopia's interference with the work of the Intergovernmental Authority on
Development and the African Union to get the latest US-Ethiopia engineered
sanctions resolutions against the State of Eritrea and its people, there is no
doubt that the AU was acting at the behest of the US and Ethiopia. Furthermore,
there is nothing in the Algiers Agreement that allows the AU or the two parties
to cherry pick parts to implement or delay. In addition, as one of the
witnesses and guarantors of the Algiers Agreements, the African Union is
morally and legally required to fulfill its obligations under the Agreements.
6.
Discrediting opponents.
>From its domestic opponents to all others, the regime in
Ethiopia has used "personal attacks or irrelevant criticisms to create doubt
about another person's competence or credibility". The frightened regime
believes it can drain away the power of others by discrediting them. It seeks
to find "dark secrets" and even create them with seductive traps, then expose
them - it's called 'entrapment'. The regime has labeled opposition members,
journalists and Ethiopian activists as being "terrorists" and has accused
Eritrea of committing "terrorist acts".
In its quest to dismember and weaken
Somalia, the regime invaded and occupied Somalia in 2006. While it publicly accused
Eritrea of not supporting the Transitional National Government (TNG) in
Somalia, it undermined all the TNG leaders, used them in its agenda to sever Somalia
and then dumped them. Here are some examples of Ethiopian consistent
undermining of all of Somalia's leadership:
§
"...Meles
said that Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Prime Minister Gedi has
"outlived his purpose" and is not the right person for the primary
job now of ensuring an inclusive political process. The removal of Gedi would best
be an outcome of the National Reconciliation Congress. Meles, Belliard said,
agreed that there needs to be more Hawiye in the government, including in the
security services..."-(Meles Zenawi 2007)
§
"...Tekeda
said that Ethiopia's
objective for the upcoming October 27-29 IGAD Summit
in Nairobi was
"to soften Yusuf up...and put him in a cage." He said that
"either Yusuf will come out of the summit as a ceremonial president or he
will be jettisoned." Tekeda hoped that the summit would convince Yusuf
that he cannot continue conducting business as usual with Yusuf only serving
his Majerteen clan interests. Tekeda stated that there was now absolute
consensus within the Ethiopian government that President Yusuf can no longer
continue to be an obstacle to political progress in Somalia...Tekeda said that Yusuf was
"an old man with no capacity," and that he was a liability. The only
question that remains is what can be done to limit the damage he can do. Tekeda
said Yusuf could continue as President if he agreed to become a figure head,
but if Yusuf does not listen, then he must leave... Tekeda revealed that in the previous weeks he had met secretly with
ARS/Djibouti head Sheikh Sharif to discuss the integration of the ARS into the
TFG"-( Tekeda Alemu on Abdulahi Yusuf -2008)
§
"...Tekeda
suggested that the presidency was too high for ARS/Djibouti head Sheikh Sharif,
but that Sharif as prime minister was possible. He added that Sharif should
have some role in the government because he had some level of acceptance and
credibility among Somalis. Tekeda noted that he had just gotten off the phone
with Sharif, and that their discussions over the formation of a unity
government were continuing. He also said that Sharif and the opposition would
go to Nairobi
to participate in the summit. Tekeda declined to name possible replacements for
Yusuf..."- (Tekeda Alemu on Sheikh Sharif 2008)
§
"...Asked
by Special Envoy for Somalia
John Yates if Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein "Nur Adde" was
capable of governing, Meles said only "no." Deputy Prime Minister
Ahmed Abdisalan Aden had the right clan credentials (Habr Gedr/Ayer) but no
power base of his own. Meles acknowledged, however, that "you can talk to
him" and "he's very useful." Meles agreed with A/S Frazer that
ARS Chairman Sheikh Sharif might be a Trojan horse for more radical
Islamists..."- (Meles Zenawi on Sheikh Sharif 2008)
§
"...Questioned
about CIC leaders, Meles observed that with its defeat, the CIC had now lost
its "aura of continued victory." Whereas the Ayr sub-clan had been
the CIC's primary backer, CIC Executive Committee Chairman Sheikh Sharif Ahmed
was Abgaal and now wielded little influence..."- (Meles Zenawi, Prime
Minister of Ethiopia-2007)
With Ethiopian officials serving as US advisors in the
region, it is no wonder then that US policy for the Horn of Africa remains
bloody, callous and incoherent.
The minority regime and its handlers have spent millions in targeted
vilification and defamation campaigns against the State of Eritrea, its
leadership and its people-especially the tight knit Diaspora population. The
distortions and lies propagated by some Eritrean quislings in its employ have
only strengthened the unity and resolve of the people. Today, members fo the
Eritrean Quislings League and their sponsors are found resorting to criminal
activities. For example, one of the regime's mercenaries was caught vandalizing
and destroying the Eritrean Community Center in Oakland, CA. Three Eritrean
Community Centers in Stockholm, Sweden were burnt to the ground in February
2013. Its mercenaries have "occupied" and "vandalized" Eritrean Embassies and several
individuals are now facing criminal charges. These acts of desperation continue
and unless the United States and European governments conduct serious
investigations into the regime's activities, these crimes will escalate.
7.
Occupation.
The regime wrongly
believes that by marking territory and maintaining a physical presence,
it can force its opponents to "dialogue" and "negotiations". By occupying
Somalia and imposing its will on the leaders, it seeks to project its rule on
the people of Somalia. For over a decade now it has occupied sovereign Eritrean
territories and has employed various gimmicks, including the 5-Point Plan (as
advised by its friends in the UK) and "agreeing in principle" to accept the
Boundary Commission's decisions, to buy time and find ways to reverse the final
and binding decision. There can be no dialogue with a regime that has occupied
sovereign Eritrean territories, including Badme, in violation of international law,
the African Union and United Nation's Charters. Ethiopia's occupation must end.
So far the international community has not taken any
punitive actions against you and that has emboldened you to act irrationally
and erratically, making you more dangerous to peace in the region. The Security Council has an obligation to
enforce the Algiers Agreement and the EEBC's final and binding decision and so
far it has failed to do so. Under international law, the UN Security Council
does not have the option of non-action; it cannot shirk off its
responsibilities to UN member states like Eritrea forever. Sooner or later
they will have to act. I say they should act now to avert another humanitarian
disaster.
The international community in general, and the witnesses
and guarantors in particular, do not have the option to just wash their hands
off like a bunch of Pontius Pilates, they too have legal obligations to
fulfill. Moreover, their inaction will undermine the integrity and efficacy of
the UN System, not to mention the effect their inaction will have on the
confidence of member states in its ability to resolve conflicts and ensure international
peace in the future, which today is very low.
Furthermore, they cannot expect Eritreans to do nothing;
remain perpetually patient and magnanimous while Eritrea's
security is at risk and Eritrea's
sovereignty and territorial integrity is being violated by Ethiopia. Article
51 of the UN Charter recognizes Eritrea's inherent right of self-defense. Article 51 of the UN Charter clearly states
the following:
"...Nothing in the
present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective
self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations,
until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain
international peace and securit..."y
Eritrea's
inherent right to self defense is justified under international law and the UN
Charter:
There is an armed attack/occupation.
Ethiopia's army is occupying sovereign Eritrean territories, including
Badme for the last 13 years since the EEBC delivered its final and binding
delimitation decision.
There is no practicable alternative or
it is demonstrably unavailable. The authority, the UN Security
Council, which has the legal powers to stop or prevent the infringement,
has so far refused to take any deterrent actions against your regime. The UNSC has instead chosen to appease the
minority regime by allowing its open defiance of international law and
over two-dozen Security Council resolutions on the Eritrea Ethiopia
border.
There is urgent necessity. There
are Eritreans who have been forced to live outside their villages. The Eritrea
Ethiopia border has been delimited and demarcated and today, the only
issue is the Ethiopian occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories, which
cannot go on forever.
For the 3 reasons mentioned above and more, Eritrea has the
right to liberate her sovereign territories and will not seek permission or
approval from those who did not fulfill their legal obligations.
8.
Shunning.
This
is a tactic used by the regime to isolate Eritrea diplomatically and
politically. By labeling Eritrea as the "spoiler" and refusing to allow
Eritrea's participation in international forums, by throwing tantrums at the UN
and at the US State Department, the frightened regime has sought various ways
to isolate Eritrea and muffle her voice. For some reason, despite its repeated
calls for dialogue with Eritrea, the regime refuses to allow Eritrea's
participation at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)...go
figure!
There are other ugly traits of the TPLF regime in Ethiopia that
could have been mentioned, but these will suffice for today. For those who are
wondering why the regime chooses to employ gimmicks and tactics, the answer is
quite simple. The minority regime in Ethiopia is illegitimate and lacks the
support of its own people. It is "propped up" by western governments who have
decided that it fulfills their agendas in the region. The mercenary regime does
not have the financial or other resources to play the appointed Viceroy in the
region, so it relies completely on its western sponsors to maintain its brutal
grip on the Ethiopian people- and now the Somali people too. It is a regime
driven by anger, fear and frustration. Its inferiority complex adds to its inability
to achieve its domestic and international goals on its own-always at the mercy
of its handlers.
There are three tactics in dealing with those suffering from
the "Fiefdom Syndrome":
·
Refuse to
play the game: It takes two to tango, and if you
(and others) won't play they may have to give up.
·
Name the
game: Exposure, so everyone knows the game,
is a great way of neutralizing tricksters.
·
Change the
game: Taking control yourself allows
you to reframe and redirect the energy of the situation
Know thy enemy.....
Ethiopia must withdraw and the occupation of sovereign
Eritrean territories must end now!
The rule of law must reign over the law of the jungle!
[1]
Phrase coined by Robert J. Herbold, COO of Microsoft, senior executive who
has held several positions during a 26-year career at Proctor & Gamble. He
is now president of the Herbold Group LLC.
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Received on Wed Apr 10 2013 - 12:56:01 EDT
