From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue Aug 04 2009 - 19:03:49 EDT
Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
How to Break the Silence on Genocide, Tyranny and Dictatorship in
Ethiopia: Summary of SMNE Forum
August 1, 2009
On July 26, 2009 the SMNE held a forum in Washington D.C. on the topic:
Breaking the Silence on Genocide, Tyranny and Dictatorship in Ethiopia.
In Ethiopia today, the people have been silenced by the government, but
the atrocities, the repression and the harsh authoritarian rule continue
despite the many efforts of Ethiopians in the Diaspora.
Admittedly, we Ethiopians in the Diaspora have not been as effective as
we could be in collaborating with each other, but the problem is
worsened due to the foreign policies of some western countries who have
aligned themselves with "our" dictator rather than with "our" people.
Additionally, the media has not covered this story as closely as similar
cases in other countries who are "out of favor" like Zimbabwe, Iran and
Venezuela.
The question that was at the heart of the presentation by each speaker
was:
"How can we expose the true nature of the Meles regime to such
excruciating public scrutiny that the public and our government becomes
outraged enough to demand that any previous support for this regime
transfers to the people?"
Ethiopia can be compared to a patient from the past who is going through
surgery with just enough anesthetic to make them unable to communicate,
but not enough to stop the pain. Those who are in a position to help, do
not, because they are unaware of the acute pain of the patient.
Just like the patient, the people in Ethiopia have no voice; yet, they
are in acute distress and no one seems to recognize the severity of
their pain. If they speak up, they end up in jail, so many will not take
the risk. The purpose of this forum was to bring some experts together
to guide us in finding more effective ways to "break the silence!"
On the other hand, the Meles regime understands the power of information
and is doing all they can think of to suppress information. A video was
shown regarding such efforts by the current government. We know that
they bribe, threaten and intimidate people to remain silent. They
underhandedly attempt to divide groups; infiltrating organizations,
ethnic communities, political parties and religious groups in order to
stir up inner conflicts resulting in limiting the effectiveness of
these groups.
Unfortunately this tactic has found far too fertile ground in which to
plant the seeds of destruction-a serious problem of ours. They have also
blocked the media and communication system; even cell phone usage and
the Internet. They repeatedly produce propaganda; lying, deceiving and
purposefully misleading the people and outsiders as well. They have
denied committing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, but
at the forum, a video clip of the Anuak genocide gave visual evidence.
Dr. Stanton: Perpetrators of Genocide are Serial Killers Who Will Kill
More if Not Stopped
Dr. Greg Stanton spoke on why the massacre of the Anuak met the
definition of genocide. Along with a number of other reasons, he
explained that in the case of the Anuak genocide, only one ethnic group,
the Anuak, were targeted. He elaborated by saying that there are those
who commit genocide and also incite others to do so; leading these
others to believe they can get away with it. These instigators are
serial killers who will go on to kill again because they basically have
no remorse or respect for human life. He explained that the
characteristics of these genocidal perpetrators are the same whether you
look at those implicated in the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, in
Yugoslavia, Cambodia or in Rwanda.
In the case of the Anuak, they were killed by the same Ethiopian
government that had repeatedly been killing since 1991. If you look at
the list of incidents, it shows a pattern of serial killing, not only in
Gambella, which may be one of the best documented cases, but also in the
Ogaden, in Awassa, Oromia, Tepi, Addis Ababa and a series of other
locales and people. When looked at as a whole, it is easy to see the
pattern emerge of incidents that fit the definition of genocide and
crimes against humanity.
What needs to be done now is to expose them and to continue to gather
the evidence of what was done. Once documented, we should expose the
evidence; identifying who was involved, who gave the orders, who was
behind it and who committed the crimes because once you have the
information, it is only a matter of time before the perpetrator will be
brought to justice. They might be brought to the International Criminal
Court (ICC) or if the government changes, to an Ethiopian tribunal, but
Stanton said, these people will someday stand before a court of law and
find themselves accountable for these people they killed, as long as
others document it and know who the perpetrators are that were involved.
For example, if Meles is proven to be one of them who ordered these
killings, he will be prosecuted along with the rest of them within his
regime.
Video Clip: The Unchanging Harvest of Dictatorship
A video clip of starving Ethiopians, including children, was shown. The
children in the short film could hardly move due to being so weak and
emaciated from obvious starvation. It was heart-breaking to watch. When
the video ended, I asked the audience about these suffering children
before revealing to them that this was a clip from 1985 of starving
Tigrayan children. At the time, Meles had accused Mengistu of starving
his Tigrayan ethnic group; but now, Meles is accused of intentionally
starving the Ogadenis and other Ethiopians! Who will be next? How can
this cycle be broken? Yesterday it was the Tigrayans; but today, the
Meles loyalists from the TPLF are in power and doing the same to others.
This clip came from Bob Geldorf's website and can be viewed there.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhmcv_live8-bob-geldof-speech_life See
what you think!
Ahmed Hussein: The SMNE was Formed to Stop This Cycle!
Ato Hussein, a member of the SMNE, explained what the SMNE was and why
it was formed; elaborating that if we are to break this cycle of abuse
and killing of each other, we have to start by changing ourselves.
He talked about the importance of living by the principles of putting
humanity before ethnicity or any other difference and of realizing that
no one will be free until all are free. He said that if there was an
institution or government that put humanity first in 1985, the Tigrayans
would never have starved like they did, preparing them to do the same
today to Ethiopians within other ethnic groups. If these principles
would have been carried out over the years of the last regimes, there
would never have been a TPLF, an EPLF, an OLF, an ONLF, a GPLF, an
BPLF, ALF or any other liberation front that emerged out of the
injustices perpetrated against them. They were all created as a result
of a broken, feudal-based system that devalued and abused others.
In other words, we have been living under a belief that leads to our own
mutual destruction and it is this belief that is threatening our
survival. When we say that only "I" and my ethnic group or region can be
free, we are in trouble. Liberation fronts were formed because no one
else cared about "others," but can only an Oromo free another Oromo? Can
only an Amhara free other Amhara or an Anuak free an Anuak? Can't a
Tigrayan help free an Afar and the people of Benishangul-Gumuz free a
Southerner?
This broken system is why the SMNE was created to say: "Until all of us
are free, none of us are free!" This is why Ato Hussein said he joined
the SMNE-because he believed if these principles were lived out in the
lives of our leaders and citizenry, Ethiopia could become a healthy
society and find a lasting solution to breaking this cycle. To him, as
an Oromo, he said he felt that until all Ethiopians are free, none will
be free; until justice come to all Ethiopian, justice will never come to
the Oromo or anyone else. The survival of everybody depends on all of
us, like the way it is basically done in America. He explained that this
was why he believes in this movement and felt it was his duty to share
these principles with others.
Lemlem Tsegaw: Corruption is just as bad as human rights abuses!
Ms Lemlem Tsegaw stimulated much thought when she said, "Corruption is
just as bad as human rights abuse. It is killing the country." She went
on to explain that when a few dominate over everyone else through
corruption, it is about survival! She analyzed this statement based on
the MO Ibrahim Index.
She said, "If you don't have food to eat, you won't have energy to fight
for your rights-good governance does not even come into your mind.
Corruption leads the people to struggle for food, clean water, shelter
and basic ways to live. Corruption shows a lack of sympathy for other
people and a lack of morality. It allows a few to take all they want,
robbing the country of its resources; thriving and living high, while
the rest of the people are dying at the bottom. In order to save
peoples' lives, it is 'a must' to fight this battle against corruption.
A few take everything and most get nothing. Without having any resources
and struggling for daily survival, there is no way to fight back.
"Corruption in Ethiopia is a microcosm of what it is going on all over
Africa. If there were good governance, the rule of law, safety and
security, sustainable development, transparency and accountability in
Ethiopia instead of pervasive corruption, the Ethiopian people would be
able to feed themselves. The reason why Africa is not moving forward is
corruption!
Following her talk, a PowerPoint presentation with four different
pictures was shown. The first picture was of a young woman, Neda
Soltani, killed in Iran during the election protests.
She was born in 1982 and died in 2009. The story was all over the media,
who were all outraged over the incident. Even the president talked about
her death and coverage continued for the next 24 hours. Almost all in
the audience had seen her picture.
The next slide was of a young Ethiopian woman, Shibire Desalegne, born
in 1984 and was killed in 2005 in Addis Ababa during the election
protests.
I asked how many present had seen her picture in the western media. No
one in the room raised their hand even though the cause of her death was
the same-a repressive government who killed someone for peacefully
protesting.
The next person shown was imprisoned BurmesedemocracyleaderAung San Suu
Kyi, the opposition leader who has been imprisoned for years. Many in
the audience had seen her picture in the media a number of times. Then a
picture of Birtukan Mideksa was shown and I asked the same question as
to how many had seen her picture in the western media, but none in the
audience had.
These women all had something in common, but the way they have been
covered in the world is totally different. We Ethiopians have to take
some responsibility for this because in order to free us and our people,
we have to break silence. Africa must want to break the silence and take
action for we have had enough of genocide, tyranny and dictatorship!
Dr. George Ayittey: Freeing Ethiopia and Africa!
Dr. Ayittey gave a stimulating and inspiring talk on how Africa can be
freed, emphasizing that Ethiopians must free Ethiopia and Africans must
free Africa! Ayittey gave reasons for our "chains." He said the reason
was "failed leadership." He explained that it was the leaders of Africa
who were killing the continent. He spoke of the corruption and the way
that western governments have sided with the dictators instead of with
the people.
He stated that Ethiopians can learn from what worked in Ghana. He
emphasized that the problem of Ethiopia cannot be solved by the
political parties or the political leaders. Instead, he said, Ethiopians
have to create a non-political alliance; explaining that it had to be
non-political because when organizations were political in their intent,
they would start to fight over becoming popular and being the next to
lead the country. This infighting falls right in the open hands of a
dictator who only stands to benefit from it.
Ayittey then advised that in the case of Ethiopia, the tribal issues
must be dealt with as a priority, saying, "It's not about one group, but
it must be about all of the people standing together for the joint
survival of their country. This is the supreme task." He went on to say
that right now, what is happening in Ethiopia is a tribal apartheid
system. He warned, "If thee tribal problems are not dealt with
effectively and some seek revenge for the past 18 years, the outcome
could be terrible."
He gave a famous and sobering quote regarding the Holocaust referring to
a similar time when many did not stand up for their fellow humans. He
adapted it to Ethiopia saying, "When 'they' came for the Anuak, I did
not do anything because they were Anuak. When they came for the Oromo, I
did nothing because I was not Oromo. When they came for the Ogadeni, I
did nothing because I was not an Ogadeni. When they came for me, there
was no one left."
He concluded by saying, "Right now, Ethiopians have to work in
solidarity, not for a political party, but instead should create an
alliance, in the Diaspora as well as within Ethiopia. This is how the
Ghanaians did it and Ethiopians can learn from this model." He then said
he would help in any way he could and re-emphasized that there must be
unity for the sake of the country and to find a lasting peace. People
have to put their nation above their ethnic group or political party. It
must be something like this that can break the silence, expose the truth
and revive the country through a peaceful transition to a new and
healthier system for everybody.
Next Steps:
In conclusion, from what we learned from this meeting, there is more
work to be done and this is the beginning. Some of those steps include:
Finding experts who will work in five different areas:
1.Safety and security
2.Transparency and accountability
3.Reconciliation
4.Human Rights
5.Economy
6.Human Development
The SMNE is urging Ethiopians to send us a proposal or your CV (resume')
indicating in which areas you would like to get involved.
September 13th March to Stop Genocide and Dictatorship in
Ethiopia/Africa in Washington DC:
Also, we urge every Ethiopian to join and contribute to this September
13th March so it is more than successful.
Overall Lesson to Learn:
If we want real change in Ethiopia, every Ethiopian must not look for
others to do it for them, but instead, it comes to the need for every
person to commit and sacrifice. You do not need an invitation, you have
to step up and do your share. Can we count on you?
Please do not hesitate to email Mr. Obang Metho,
Executive Director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
If you have comments email it to: Obang@solidaritymovement.org
http://www.solidaritymovement.org/090801SummaryOfSMNE.php
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