Negash
The King is dead long live the King
By Graham Peebles
November 14, 2012
It is a new-year in Ethiopia, (belated) happy 2005 one and all. With
it comes a new prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, deputy PM under
Meles Zenawi who died some time in August or was it July. A fog of
misinformation and uncertainty surrounds the final months of Meles life,
ingrained secrecy being both a political and national characteristic
that works against social and ethnic cohesion, strengthening mistrust
and division.
It is unclear what route the deputy PM, a Protestant from humble
beginnings in the small, desperately poor Wolayta community, took to
step into the prime ministerial shoes. Some believe the US
administration through its powerful military machine Africom, engineered
the sympathetic replacement. The US is Ethiopia’s main donor, giving
around $3 billion a year, Ethiopia for it’s part and in exchange for
such generosity perhaps, allows the US military to station and launch
drones from it’s sacred soil into Somalia, or indeed anywhere the
Pentagon hacks choose and the deadly drones can reach.
New Prime Minister same old regime story
The new Prime Minister has worryingly vowed, the BBC 21/09/12[i]
report, to continue Mr. Meles “legacy without any change,” a legacy
littered with human rights violations and injustices, which has little
to recommend it. Meles ruled over a single party State in all but name,
for, as the International Crisis Group (ICG)[ii]
make clear, “the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and his
Tigrayan inner circle, with the complicity of other ethnic elites that
were co-opted into the ruling alliance, the Ethiopian People’s
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).” A dictatorship in fact and form
and as is consistent with such regimes, brutal, controlling and
intolerant. No matter the accolades expressed on Meles death by senior
politicians and diplomats around the world, who like nothing more it
seems than a friendly tyrant.
Hailemariam was chosen, it is alleged, simply to give the appearance
of an ethnically balanced leadership, that he will have little
independence, and dutifully tow the ideologically driven line of
Revolutionary Democracy. Whatever the method and no doubt it was
constitutionally correct, Hailemariam and deputy Demeke Mekonnen, are
now enthroned, let us wish them well for there is much work to be done
within Ethiopia.
Old injustices urgent issues
Human rights issues cry out to be dealt with,
starting with the immediate unconditional release of all so called
‘political prisoners’, tried and Imprisoned under the internationally
condemned, unjust Anti Terrorist Proclamation, for the heinous crime of
publicly disagreeing with the TPLF dominated government. The Ethiopian
government should, HRW[iii]
demand, “amend the law’s most pernicious provisions, which are being
used to criminalize free expression and peaceful dissent.” Journalists,
mainly working outside of Ethiopia and supporters of opposition
political parties are the common targets, tried in absentia in Ethiopian
courts by a judiciary that functions as little more than a sentencing
body for the government and thinks nothing of handing down life
sentences to dissenting voices, based on fabricated charges. Human
Rights Watch (HRW)[iv]
make this illegal pattern clear, stating “the use of draconian laws and
trumped-up charges to crack down on free speech and peaceful dissent
makes a mockery of the rule of law,” both Federal and International.
The government, immersed in paranoia and determined to control all
forms of debate and platforms of expression, fire off accusations of
terrorist activity to anyone seen to disagree with their disagreeable
policies. The ambiguous provision of ‘conspiracy to commit terrorist
acts’ is usually cited as criminal activity, or the even more foggy
crime of offering ‘moral support’, which has little or no specific
meaning and as HRW assert, “is contrary to the principle of legality.”
Such ill-defined terms are employed to criminalize dissent and justify
the unjust.
Each urgently required reform flows into and out of the other,
connected, as they are by the fundamental need to observe basic human
rights, at the heart of which sits freedom and justice. Constitutional
law provides for the statutory observation of all freedoms of expression
that are nevertheless denied in practice or at best grossly restricted.
The press, TV and radio is almost exclusively State owned, television
is firmly under government control and with literacy resting at around
48% of the adult population is the arm with the greatest reach and
influence. Control of the World wide-web is also in the hands of the
EPRDF, the sole telecommunications company being listed in the extensive
business portfolio of the government, who control and restrict both
Internet expansion and use. Over 80% live in rural areas and currently a
mere 0.5% (400,000) of the population have Internet access, the second
lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Unity in diversity
With between 70 and 80 tribal sets within the seven major ethnic
groups and a 45/35% Christian, Muslim split, cooperation tolerance and
unity are essential factors in the countries wellbeing and strength, as
well as its internal security. As imperial nations have long known a
united civilian population is a threat; divide the factions, separate
the ethnic groups, fragment the people make them compete, even fight
among themselves and maintain dominion. This, contrary to the EPRDF’s
policy of Ethnic Federalism devised in 1991 when they took power, has
consistently been the regimes approach. All political authority rests
firmly within the party controlled by the TPLF, as the ICG report makes
clear, “behind the façade of devolution, [the EPRDF] adopted a highly
centralized system that has exacerbated identity-based conflicts.”
Self-determination and self-rule for the major regional groups was,
on paper, a central component of Ethnic Federalism, however, as The
international human rights group Advocates for Human Rights [v](AHR)
in its report on ethnic groups in Ethiopia found, the government,
“actively impedes the rights of disadvantaged ethnic groups to self
determination.” Far from building partnerships and cultivating
cooperation and tolerance, policies flowing from the TPLF/EPRDF’s desire
to maximize control in all areas of society, including the powerful
religious groups work to encourage fragmentation, create religious
dissonance, strengthen ethnic divisions and deny much needed social
unity.
Ethiopia has the third largest population of Muslims in Africa and is
thought to be the birthplace of Islam in the continent as well as the
cradle of African Christianity. The government has for long controlled
Muslim affairs via The Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, which
is simply a mouthpiece for the ruling party. There has, as Crescent
International[vi]
reports, “been no election in the council for the last 13 years. The
council has remained against the rights of Muslims including wearing
hijab and congregational prayer in universities.” Muslims have been
calling with increasing intensity for the removal of the unelected
council and the State sponsored imposition of Al-Ahbash (The Abyssinian)
Islam, a movement that blends elements of Sunni Islam with Sufism.
Protests against government meddling are now a regular extension to
Friday prayers in Addis Ababa. The Washington Post 2nd November reports the new PM speaking to parliament on 16th
October, stating, surprisingly given the EPRDF’s involvement in all
things religious, that “the government fully respects freedom of
religion and “would not interfere in the affairs of religion just as
religion would not interfere in matters of politics.” It does indeed
seem he is determined to follow in word and deed in the dictatorial
duplicitous footsteps of his predecessor.
The Government with predictable consistency has labeled these
legitimate demands the actions of ‘religious extremists’ and In July
this year resorted to violent means in an attempt to settle the issue,
killing four Muslims at prayer and arresting scores more. HRW[vii]
reported “Ethiopian police and security services have harassed,
assaulted, and arbitrarily arrested hundreds of Muslims at Addis Ababa’s
Awalia and Anwar mosques who were protesting government interference in
religious affairs.“ Religious extremists as we all know means
terrorists, the US Army definition of terrorism is worth relating at
this point. It is, they say “the calculated use of violence or threat of
violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological
in nature…through intimidation, coercion, or instilling fear.”[viii]
Accordingly if name-calling is the name of the game, the EPRDF’s
policies qualify them unconditionally for the terrorist label, prefixed
with the title, ‘State’
It’s worth noting that Orthodox Christian leaders have spoken out in
support of their Muslim brothers and aired their own concerns at
government interference in all things religious. The head Christian is
also a regime appointee. The richness of the countries culture lies in
its ancient ethnic diversity and a deeply religious nature that infuses
all areas of cultural life, expressed by both orthodox Christians and
Muslims who, despite the governments best effort have lived peacefully
side-by-side as it were for generations.
Ethnic division centralized discriminatory rule
Regional divisions are being strengthened as ethnic groups are forced
to compete for life saving handouts administered by the EPRDF through
their network of regional councils. The Kebeles and Woreda’s reach into
every village and household, stomach and mind in the country,
distributing a range of development support from international donors,
including emergency food relief determined by allegiance to the ruling
party. Along with this illegal immoral act that needs the urgent
attention of donors, whose silence and apathy makes them complicit in
the regimes criminality, AHR found the EPRDF use discriminatory tactics
to “interfere with the rights of disadvantaged ethnic groups” in all
areas of civil society.
Employment is all too often conditional on party affiliation,
teachers thought to be supporters of opposition parties are harassed,
trade unions, supported within the liberal constitution, if not
affiliated with the regime party face dismantling, the members and
leaders intimidated and threatened. And Oromo business people, AHR
discovered, “are denied business licenses without explanation and face
police harassment targeted at customers, suppliers, and employees.”
In schools and colleges both teachers and students are exposed to
political indoctrination and ‘encouraged’ to join the ruling party;
continued employment and studies being a carrot, unemployment and
expulsion the regime stick, membership of the Oromo Liberation Front a
guarantee of both. In areas relating to culture, AHR found ”Oromo’s e.g.
do not feel free to speak Oromiffa in public or to use distinctively
Oromo names,” leading Oromo cultural figures have been persecuted and
the Charities and Societies Proclamation – another poisonous piece of
legislation that needs revising or scrapping, restricts the development
of cultural relationships with members of the diaspora.
Forced from village to Villagization
Ethnic groups forced into villagization programs by the government as
they sell off large tracts of land to foreign corporations, make easy
targets for a regime pursuing the fragmentation of society and the
exploitation of the people. Large numbers have been forcibly re-located,
in Gambella alone HRW report,[ix]
“approximately 70,000 people were slated to be moved by the end of
2011,” into settlements that provide no health services or clean water
and often lack schools. Quick to capitalize on the child’s plight
Government officials, AHR report “force schoolchildren in these villages
to abandon their studies to provide labor for constructing shelters.”
An illegal action adding further, to the catalogue of State criminality
or to give it its US army title, State terrorism.
It is projected that if the herding of indigenous people continues at
the present rate, all rural dwellers, that’s 80% of the population,
will be living in one or other of these government created villagization
centers by the next decade, without any consultation with those
affected, no matter the party line on participation and voluntary
movement. It’s hard to discuss social engineering and ancestral land
rights with armed solders whilst your home is demolished. Violent
coercion is widespread, HRW again ‘security forces enforcing the
population transfers have been implicated in at least 20 rapes in the
past year. Fear and intimidation are widespread among affected
populations.”
Divide and rule extends into the very heart of ethnic communities,
families are routinely broken up when driven into the villagization
settlements, making women and children particularly vulnerable, as AHR
found “in rural areas typically populated by disadvantaged ethnic groups
are often victims of human trafficking. The Government has taken no
meaningful measures to prevent such trafficking or to provide assistance
or support to victims.” Trafficking of women within Ethiopia and
overseas, often to the Gulf States almost always equates to prostitution
or forced domestic labor, where sexual abuse, violence and degrading
treatment is the common experience.
United in purpose
The EPRDF has divided, inhibited and controlled the
people of Ethiopia. Fear and intimidation their weapons of choice,
wielded without recrimination, compassion or regret, the ‘international
community’, who supply a third of the national budget uninterested in
their brutality act not in support of the people. The opportunity
presented to and by the change of Prime Minister has (to date) proven to
be nothing more than a hollow hope. The cry of the people ignored once
more, their voices cast into the darkness and dismissed.
The political opposition, fragmented and dysfunctional, offers no
vision of change, however there is a powerful alternative responsible
group; It is the worlds ‘second superpower’, it is the rich diversity of
the people and the strength inherent in their potential unity, standing
together in peaceful defense of social justice, freedom and human
dignity. The people of Oromo and Amahra, Tigray and Somali, Sidama,
Gurage, Wolaita and Afar, look to each other and fear not, look to your
neighbors and friends, share your concerns, your hopes, and fear not;
for fear is the weapon of the bully the enemy of the good. Look to the
next village, communicate and organize, fear not, for fear inhibits and
controls. Look to the adjoining street and neighborhood where live
others, who too shiver in fear of the police and armed forces, the
Kebeles and Woredas who in the full of light of day distribute food,
jobs, education opportunities and health care based on illegal partisan
discrimination.
Unity of the people, rich in diversity united in purpose, is the need
and song of the time, for Ethiopia and indeed for the world. Together
there is safety and strength beyond measure, “when there is no enemy
within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you,” proclaims an African
proverb. This truth applies to the individual, the family the people of a
nation. Brothers and sisters of one humanity we are, our pains are
shared, so too our joys and hopes. No government can withstand the
unified strength of a people held together by a common and just cause,
acting peacefully in honor of freedom and justice. Such is the need
within the wonderful land of Ethiopia, the people of which have suffered
much and for far, far too long.
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