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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Sep 21 2010 - 07:13:58 EDT
Columbia's invitation to Zenawi sparks outrage
Some students say the invitation of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is
an offense to human rights, while others say it's meant only to spark
academic discussion.
By <http://www.columbiaspectator.com/contributors/amber-tunnell> Amber
Tunnell
Published September 21, 2010
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http://www.columbiaspectator.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_prev
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Throughout the week, the World Leaders Forum will bring heads of state from
around the world to address Columbia.
But as far as controversy goes, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi tops
the list.
Zenawi-who has allegedly intimidated voters at polls, detained political
opponents, and been labeled by the New York Times as an example of
"autocratic repression"-is set to appear at Low Library on Wednesday to give
a talk on "The Current Global Environment and its Impact in Africa."
Many people, on and off campus, have spoken out against his invitation.
"He's supposed to be a spokesman on African leadership, and I think that's
absurd because he's not," said Haben Fecadu, a student in the law school and
vice-chair of the African Law Students Association.
Fecadu, who is from the neighboring country of Eritrea, said it is not
Zenawi's human rights violations that bothers her the most, but the
recognition he receives from organizations like Columbia. "It's kind of
offensive."
She added that even though Zenawi is known for rigging elections and
murdering dissidents, "it tends to get overlooked by the U.S., the U.N., by
the African Union. . All of these international organizations don't really
say anything when he violates these human rights standards."
When the prime minister appears on campus, "I would like him to address the
human rights violations and whether he thinks they were justified," Fecadu
said.
A recent graduate and past vice president of the African Students
Association, Mena Odu, CC '10, shared similar frustrations.
"I hope PrezBo [University President Lee Bollinger] gives him the kind of
welcome he did Ahmadinejad," Odu said in an email, referencing Bollinger's
harsh introduction to the Iranian president's speech in 2007. "I'm not a fan
of the president of Iran, but at least he's not pandering to Western
governments while systematically terrorizing, disenfranchising, and stunting
the development of his own citizens."
Despite the protest, Mamadou Diouf, director of the Institute for African
Studies and a professor of African studies, said he still supports the
Institute's and the Committee on Global Thought's decision to invite the
controversial leader to campus.
"We are not inviting him on the basis of his leadership in Africa," Diouf
said. "He has been playing an important role in the global scene on behalf
of Africa," particularly in regards to climate change, he said.
"I think this is also an opportunity for Meles to talk about African issues
and to showcase what he has been doing in Ethiopia," he said.
Diouf emphasized that the invitation is "not about promoting Meles, or
supporting Meles' actions. It's about opening an academic space" for
discussion.
"We welcome any reaction," he said. "People have the right to demonstrate
against him and against our decision to invite him."
Diouf continues to support the decision despite Zenawi's actions regarding
human rights.
"If you decide on the basis of inviting a head of state as having a clean
record on amnesty and human rights, you would have a problem inviting
people," Diouf said.
Zenawi was also only one among many African heads of state who were invited
to the forum, Diouf said, adding that the president of Nigeria had accepted
but had to cancel.
The University is also working with the presidents of Malawi and Liberia to
get them to come in the future, he said.
And, as if Zenawi weren't controversial enough, many believe Columbia made
the situation worse by posting a brief laudatory biography last week about
Zenawi and his "seasoned governmental leadership" on the World Leaders Forum
page.
The biography was taken down the day after it was posted, and the University
released a statement that said the "long-standing editorial policy" of WLF
is to limit the biography pages to "basic factual information" about the
speakers.
The information was put up by its staff from the Ethiopian government's
Mission and not properly cited as such, the University said.
The mistake was particularly upsetting to some students with personal ties
to Ethiopia.
Heben Nigatu, CC '13, who is Ethiopian and lived in the country until she
was 5, said she was "really, really surprised" when she saw Columbia invited
someone like him.
But when she saw the bio, she was horrified. At the time, she remembers
thinking, "I can't believe this is actually happening."
"I called my mom. She was even more furious than I was," Nigatu, who is also
the publicity chair for the Black Students Organization, said. "It was
outrageous that Columbia didn't fact-check. It was beyond insensitive."
In spite of this initial shock, Nigatu said she is still going to the event.
"I'm still interested in what he has to say," she said, adding that she
hopes he talks about his regime and the elections. "But in general I'm still
pretty outraged."
Of his oppressive regime, she said she visited Ethiopia in 2008, and at that
time, "you couldn't go into a restaurant and talk about the president
openly."
Fecuda agreed that the mistake was particularly egregious. "You need to do
your research before you put up something false like that. I'm just
disappointed with Columbia in general."
<mailto:amber.tunnell@columbiaspectator.com>
amber.tunnell@columbiaspectator.com
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