BY Roble Ababa, 17 July 2012
Symbiotic collaboration to revive gravely ill democracy
Democracy
in lawless Ethiopia has been seriously ill and bed-ridden for a long
time; but now, there is a glimmer of hope to reverse course and revive
it. However, the one and only one hope of resurrecting the dying
democracy is by forging strong unity through symbiotic collaboration
among all forces that have stake in a democratic Ethiopia that would
emerge by nationwide consensus. To that end, the following three
examples in my opinion would serve as a lesson.
Snapshot of stride to lawlessness
Ethiopia
is the first country in the world to develop and implement system of
laws by which to administer the affairs of state. It is therefore
ironic, brutal and cruel that lawlessness has sunk so low in the 21st
century under the misrule of tyrant Zenawi that citizens are: denied
freedom of expression; indiscriminately killed in cold blood by special
security forces; and brutally beaten, gassed and incarcerated en masse
by the Federal Police while holding peaceful public demonstrations
exercising their constitutional civil rights to demand the repressive
ruling party not to interfere with freedom of religion stipulated in the
supreme law. It is argued that the receding regimes were not as harsh
as the TPLF regime as argued in the paragraphs below. For more details
readers are advised to refer to the book in Amharic entitled “History of
Atse Haileselassie” by Beryehun Kebede”
Emperor
Haileslassie faced several serious challenges to His authority
including political intrigues, insurrection, rebellion, treason, mutiny
and coup d’état. To His credit the Monarch skillfully applied
persuasion, mediation, the judicial system, His rich diplomatic
experience, patience and charismatic personality to overcome all the
challenges to His authority but one – His dethronement by the Derg
Military junta. For example, from His ascendancy to the throne on 31
October 1931 to His dethronement on 12 September 1974 His Majesty was
met with the following formidable challenges aimed at overthrowing Him
:-
1.The 1st Woyane
uprising was defused with the use of carrot and stick; leaders were
captured and faced the law; those convicted were either forgiven or had
their sentences reduced considerably. The death sentence of Ras Megesha
Seyoum, grandson of Emperor Yohannes IV, was forgiven because of his
young age; instead he was sent for schooling in Beirut and later married
the granddaughter of the Emperor; I knew him when he was governor of
Gibat and Metcha and Regent of Tigray with the royal title of His
Highness Ras Mengesha Seyoum. He is now reportedly a staunch supporter
of Woyane.
2.Bitweded Negash Bezabeh was sentenced to death by the high court, but the verdict was commuted to life imprisonment.
3.Waqo
Gutu reconciled with the Imperial regime through an intermediary –
General Jagama Kello; he became Christian and lived peacefully
thereafter;
4.Belay
Zeleke was sentenced to death by unanimous verdict of special court
comprising nobilities and dignitaries because of his stature as a
stalwart hero;
5.General
Mengistu Neway was fairly tried in the high court; he was given a death
sentence. The court was free, fair and independent. The accused was
represented by a lawyer from Europe; one of the three judges, a Colonel
serving in the army, opposed the verdict on one officer co-accussed
with B/General Mengistu and recorded his dissent in the file;
6.Dejazmatch
Takele Woldehawariat was a prominent patriotic hero known for
organizing guerilla warfare dubbed the first of its kind in Africa
against Fascist Italy. He made repeated attempts, including plotting to
kill the Emperor to replace the monarchy with a republican system of
government. He committed suicide at his residence in Addis Ababa
refusing to surrender to security officials. It is said that the Monarch
entrusted Takele with sensitive issues remarking that he loved his
country although despite disagreement with the Imperial regime.
7.Brigadier
General Tadesse Biru received the death sentence by the high court
which sentence was not carried out owing to forgiveness by the Emperor.
He was allowed to make a living as a free man as a farmer on his land
earlier given to him by the Monarch for his loyalty in coming to His
support in foiling the coup d’état by B/General Mengistu Neway that
resulted in the execution of 15 top key officials loyal to the Imperial
regime.
Due
processes of law was working in that offenders were receiving fair
trial; His Majesty exercised His authority of granting clemency
gracefully, save in the case of Dejatch Belay Zeleke. The demise of the
Imperial regime is however attributed to: poor response to the 1973/74
famine in the north of Ethiopia; old age of the Monarch; and failure to
implementation of private land ownership proclamation issued much
earlier by the Monarch Himself. The bureaucracy and sabotage on the part
of large chunk of feudal land owners, some in high position in
government, were also blamed for the fiasco.
In sharp contrast however:-
1.Coward
Mengistu failed to heed the resolution of one of the three arms of the
Ethiopian defense forces that the Derg should follow due process of law
in handling all political prisoners; he was wrong to execute nobilities
and dignitaries that served under the Imperial regime without trial in
the special court, which was set up.
2.In
the 2005 election TPLF suffered convincing humiliating defeat by a
landslide; Zenawi declared state of emergency breach of the constitution
in order to cover up daylight robbery of votes; victors were sent to
jail and thousands of their supporters were incarcerated; 193 innocent
civilians were killed in cold blood in the aftermath of the election;
the brutal EPRDF party usurped all pillars of democracy systematically
until election 2010 and declared victory by 99.6%. In a nutshell, Zenawi
killed democracy in Ethiopia.
3.Zenawi’s
flagrant and rampant breach of his own constitution caught up with him
at last bringing him and his brutal party to the brink of utter
confusion and inevitable vanishing; Ethiopia is a lawless country prone
to massive uprising to restore, update and uphold the rule of law that
will serve as an indispensable basis to fostering freedom, unity,
democracy, dignity, and prosperity for all in a caring society.
4.The
ongoing harassment of the Muslim community is the latest callous act
standing tall among heinous crimes that have been and continues to be
perpetrated by the Zenawi regime – the worst compared to its
predecessors in violating human rights in breach of the law.
Future
leaders in Ethiopia should always recognize that the masses are the
true source of authority and that their participation is imperative in
making the laws by which they are governed.
Conclusion
1.The
top urgent task is to demand and secure the immediate and unconditional
release of all political prisoners; demand unfettered freedom of
expression and provide free political space for debating issues in a
civilized way.
2.Zenawi
does not have to do more heinous crimes for he has already done dozens
that will take him and his cohorts to the gallows. The onus is on the
Ethiopian people to bring him and his thugs to justice at the
appropriate time.
3.The
irony of the immoral flow of funds to the TPLF repressive lawless
regime from the leading western democracies must stop. The donors should
instead encourage the spirit of national peace and reconciliation to
take prominence in the brewing popular unrest everywhere waiting to
explode in full view of the international community. In this regard and
in all fairness, the recent demand by the US Department of State for the
immediate release of political prisoners and allow freedom of
expression is most welcome.
4.A
full blown civil disobedience is inevitable given the incompetency of
the Zenawi regime to govern democratically. Ethiopian civil societies
and democratic opposition forces including the National Ethiopian Youth
Movement in particular should take cognizance of this shortcoming and
act speedily and responsibly by excluding infiltration by extremist
elements such as Al Shabab linked to Al Qaeda.
5.I
repeat my passionate call to the Armed Forces and security agencies to
dump their pro-TPLF support and align on the side of the people in order
to save Ethiopia and themselves. Let us all be counted in the annals of
history as having collaborated to do away the culture of grabbing
political power by the barrel of the gun.
6. Ethiopians
should come out in millions to embark on the noble but arduous task of
fostering an oasis of peace and tranquility in Ethiopia, the Horn of
Africa region and beyond as a strong and trustworthy partner with
countries with similar aspirations.
7.In
order to defeat all current enemies convincingly, Ethiopians have to
reinvigorate their energy to go forward in unison inspired by the
worldwide acclaimed victory over imperialism at the famous Battle of
Adwa under the brilliant leadership of Immye Menilik II.
The
advice in quotation below by Emperor Menilik II puts in a nutshell the
import of unity, without divisive jealousy culminating in internecine
carnage detrimental to the country:
“«እናንተ አንድ ልብ
ከሆናችሁ በምቀኝነት እርስ በርሳችሁ ተዋግታችሁ ካላለቃችሁ በቀር ኢትዮጵያን አገራችንን ለሌላ ለባእድ አትሰጧትም፤
ክፉም ነገር አገራችንን አያገኛትም። ነፋስ እንዳይገባባችሁ አገራችሁን በያላችሁበት በርትታችሁ ጠብቁ፤ ወንድሜ
ወንድሜ እየተባባላችሁ ተደጋገፉ፤ የኢትዮጵያን ጠላት ተጋግዛችሁ ተደንበር መልሱ። የኢትዮጵያ ጠላት ባንዱ ወገን ትቶ
ባንድ ወገን ቢሄድና ደንበር ቢገፋ፤ በኔ ወገን ታልመጣ ምን ቸገረኝ ብላችሁ ዝም አትበሉ፤ ያ ጠላት በመጣበት
በኩል ኁላችሁም ሄዳችሁ አንድነት ተጋግዛችሁ ጠላታችሁን መልሱ እስከ እየቤታችሁ እስኪመጣ ዝም ብላችሁ አትቆዩ»”
ዳግማዊ ዓፄ ምኒልክ፤ ግንቦት ፲ ቀን ፲፱፻፩ ዓ.ም. (Emperor Menilik II, 18 May 18, 1908)
This
is time to end forever the destructive divisive politics of the last 21
years of the reclusive TPLF minority racist regime characterized as
pathological liar and perpetrator of heinous crimes unprecedented in the
history of Ethiopia.
The colossal damage done to
Ethiopia requires united participation of all stakeholders. If possible,
the establishment of a Transitional arrangement should be preceded by
nationally held truth and reconciliation, which itself is going to be a
Herculean task.
LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA!!!
Release all political prisoners including Andualem Aragie, Iskinder Nega et al
rababya@gmail.com
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