Monday, May 26, 2014

የአሜሪካ የሸፍጥ ዲፕሎማሲ “አስቂኝ የመድረክ ትወና”


May 22, 2014
ከፕሮፌሰር አለማየሁ ገብረማርያም
ትርጉም በነጻነት ለሀገሬ

የኦባማ አስተዳደር የሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝ ፖሊሲ “አስቂኝ የመድረክ ትወና ነውን”?

የዩናይትድ ስቴትስ የመንግስት መምሪያ ጸሐፊ የሆኑት ጆን ኬሪ ባለፈው ሳምንት የሶሪያን ፕሬዚዳንት ባሽር አላሳድን “አሸባሪ” ወንጀለኛ ናቸው ብለው ከፈረጁ በኋላ የአላሳድ የቀጣዩ ዓመት የምርጫ ዕቅድም “አስቂኝ የመድረክ ትወና” ነው ብለው ተችተው ነበር፡፡ ኬሪ በመቀጠልም እንዲህ በማለት ሀሳባቸውን አጠናክረው ነበር፣ “አሳድ ከአሸባሪ ኃይሎች ጋር ህብረትን ፈጥረዋል፣ አሸባሪዎችንም እያቀረቡ እና እየረዱ ነው፣ እናም በእራሳቸው ህዝብ ላይ አሸባሪነትን በመፈጸም ዕኩይ ተግባራት ላይ ተዘፍቀው ይገኛሉ፡፡“ እንዲሁም ኬሪ የሚከተለውን ነገር አጽንኦ በመስጠት ተናግረዋል፣ “የአሳድ ፕሬዚዳንታዊ የምርጫ ዕቅዶች ለታዕይታ የተዘጋጁ አስቂኝ የመድረክ ትወናዎች ናቸው፡፡ በዚህ መልኩ ለመተግበር የሚደረጉ ምርጫዎችም በህዝብ ላይ የሚካሄዱ ዘለፋዎች ናቸው፣ እንደዚህ ዓይነቶቹ ዕኩይ የምርጫ ዕቅዶች በሶሪያ እና በዓለም ህዝቦች ዴሞክራሲ ላይ የሚቃጡ ሸፍጦች ናቸው፣“ ብለው ነበር፡፡President Barack Obama's Africa policy
አሳድ በ21ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን የሶሪያን ህዝብ አሳር ፍዳውን በማሳየት ላይ የሚገኙ እና በዘመኑ የሰውን ልጅ ከሚያሰቃዩ አምስት የመጀመሪያዎቹ ወሮበላ ወንጀለኞች ምድብ ውስጥ እንደሚካተቱ ምንም ዓይነት ጥርጣሬ የለኝም፡፡ እ.ኤ.አ ሜይ 2007 በተደረገው ምርጫ ባሽር 97.6 በመቶ ድምጽ በማግኘት ለሰባት ዓመታት ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ የአገሪቱ ፕሬዚዳንት ሆነው ተመረጡ፡፡ በዚያን ጊዜ የአሜሪካን የዉጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር ቃል አቀባይ የነበሩት ማኮርማክ እንዲህ የሚል መልዕክት አስተላልፈው ነበር፣ “በሶሪያ ያለው ገዥ አካል ዕጩ ተወዳዳሪዎች እንደልብ በህዝቡ ውስጥ ተንቀሳቅሰው ሀሳባቸውን በመግለጽ መመረጥ እንዳይችሉ ለማድረግ በህዝቡ ላይ እየፈጸመ ባለው ማስፈራራት እና በሰላማዊ የፖለቲካ ተቀናቃኞቻቸው ላይ የሚያራምዱት ግፍ የተሞላበት ጭቆና ላይ የቀረበው ዘገባ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስን ያሳስባታል፡፡ የሶሪያ ህዝብ ተማዕኒነት ያለው ግልጽ እና በህዝቡ ሙሉ ተሳትፎ ላይ የተመሰረተ ፖለቲካዊ ድባብን በመፍጠር ፍትሀዊ ምርጫ የማድረግ እና የሚወክሉትን ዕጩዎች መምረጥ እንዳይችል ባሽር አላሳድ መብቱን ቀምተውታል“ በማለት ሀሳባቸውን አጠቃለዋል፡፡ ስለአሳድ “አስቂኝ የምርጫዎች ትወና መድረክ” ማውሳት አዲስ ነገር አይደለም፡፡
እ.ኤ.አ ማርች 2011 የቀድሞ የየአሜሪካን የዉጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር የነበሩት ሂላሪ ክሊንተን ደም ለተጠሙት ባሽር አላሳድ (በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ የሶሪያ ሰላማዊ ህዝቦችን ካለፈው ኦክቶበር ጀምሮ ቢያንስ 14 ጊዜ በኬሚካላዊ መሳሪያ ለጨፈጨፉት) መልካም ስብዕና ጥብቅና ቆመው ተስተውለዋል፡፡ እንዲህ በማለትም ሀሳባቸውን አጠናክረው ነበር፣ “በአሁኑ ጊዜ በሶሪያ ለየት ያለ መሪ አለ፡፡ ባለፉት ጥቂት ወራት ወደ ሶሪያ በመሄድ ጉብኝት አድርገው የተመለሱት በርካታ የሁለቱም ፓርቲዎች (ዴሞክራቶች እና ሬፐብሊካኖች) የኮንግረስ አባላት አላሳድ የለውጥ አራማጅ ሀዋርያ በመሆናቸው ላይ እምነት እንዳላቸው ገልጸው ነበር “ ብለዋል፡፡ ይህ ሁኔታ በአንድ ጊዜ ተቀይሮ ከሶስት ዓመታት ባነሰ ጊዜ ውስጥ አሳድ “የለውጥ አራማጅ ሀዋርያ” መሆናቸው ቀርቶ ወደለየለት “አሸባሪነት” እና የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል ተዋናይነት ተቀይረው ተገኙ፡፡ እንደ ሂላሪ አባባል የት ይደርስ የተባለ ወይፈን አጎንብሶ ሲጠባ ተገኘ መሆኑ ነውን?
በእኔ የአዕምሮ ዕይታ ኬሪ በአላሳድ ላይ እያሰሟቸው ያሏቸው የውግዘት ቃላት ተመሳሳይ ጥያቄዎችን እንዳነሳ ያስገድዱኛል፡፡ የኦባማ አስተዳደር የሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝ ፖሊሲ “ለአስቂኝ የመድረክ ትወና” የዲፕሎማሲ አካሄድ ነው ብሎ በእርግጠኝነት መናገር ይቻላልን? በዓለም ላይ “ሸፍጥ” ለመስራት የተቀነባበረ ተንኮል ነውን? ይህ ሁኔታ ሆን ተብሎ ህዝብን እና የሰብአዊ መብት ጥበቃን ለመዘለፍ እና ለማዋረድ የሚደረግ ደባ ነውን? የኦባማ አስተዳደር የሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝ ዲፕሎማሲን በአስመሳይነት ወይም ደግሞ “በዲፕሎክራሲ” (የዓለም አቀፍ የሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝ ፖሊሲውን አስመሳይነት ለመግለጽ የተጠቀምኩበት ትርጉም ነው) ሰበብ ተጨባጭነት በሌለው መልኩ ለይስሙላ እየተጠቀመበት ነውን? ማንም ቢሆን አመልካች ጣቱን በሌሎች ሰዎች ላይ ሲቀስር ሶስቱ ጣቶቹ ተቀስረው ወደ እራሱ እንደሚያመለክቱ በጥንቃቄ መገንዘብ ይኖርበታል፡፡
እ.ኤ.አ ኤፕሪል 2013 የመንግስት መምሪያ ቃል አቀባይ የነበሩት ኬሪ ኒኮላስ ማዱሮ በቤንዙዌላ በምርጫ አሸንፈው የአገሪቱ ፕሬዚዳንት መሆናቸውን እውቅና እንደማይሰጡ እና እንደማይቀበሉ አሳወቁ፡፡ ማዱሮ ያንን ምርጫ በጣም በጠበበ ሁኔታ 50.66 በመቶ ድምጽ በማግኘት አሸንፈው ነበር፡፡ የተቃዋሚው ፓርቲ መሪ የነበሩት ሄንሪክ ካፕሪልስ ስለምርጫው ነጻ እና ፍትሀዊ አለመሆን ጉዳይ አስመልክቶ ዝርዝር ታሪኩን ከተናገሩ በኋላ ኬሪም የእርሳቸውን ሀሳብ በመቀበል የሀሳባቸው ተጋሪ በመሆን እንዲህ ብለው ነበር፣ “ስለምርጫው ዝርዝር ማብራሪያ መሰጠት የነበረበት መሆኑን እናምናለን…በግልጽ ለመናገር ከፍተኛ የሆኑ የምርጫ ግድፈቶች ተከስተው ከሆነ ስለሚመሰረተው የማዱሮ መንግስት ቅቡልነት በርካታ ጠንካራ ጥያቄዎችን የምናነሳ ይሆናል“ ብለው ነበር፡፡ በተጨማሪም የኋይት ሀውስ ቤተ መንግስት ቃል አቀባይ የሆኑት ጃይ ካርኔይ በተመሳሳይ መልኩ ስለምርጫው አፈጻጸም ዝርዝር ማብራሪያ መቅረብ እንዳለበት በመግለጽ መግለጫ አወጡ፡፡
ዚምባብዌ እ.ኤ.አ ኦገስት 2013 ፕሬዚዳንታዊ ምርጫ ባካሄደችበት ወቅት ኬሪ እንዲህ ብለው ነበር፣ “በግልጥ በማያሳስት መልክ እንየው፣ በአገር ውስጥ እና በአህጉራዊ የምርጫ ታዛቢዎች በቀረበው ዘገባ መሰረት በርካታ ግድፈቶች የተንጸባረቁበት ምርጫ መሆኑን የገለጹ ቢሆንም ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ በዛሬው ዕለት ይፋ የሆነው የምርጫ ውጤት የዚምባብዌን ህዝብ ፍላጎት የሚያሟላ ነው የሚል እምነት የላትም…የቀረበው ማስረጃ እንደሚያረጋግጠው የዛሬው የምርጫ ውጤት የረቀቀ እና ጥልቅ የሆነ የምርጫ ማጭበርበር ሂደት ማክተሙን ያረጋገጠ ነው “ ብለው ነበር፡፡ ያም ሆነ ይህ ሙጋቤ በዚያን ጊዜ በተካሄደው ምርጫ 61 በመቶ ድምጽ በማግኘት ነገር ያሸነፉት፡፡
እ.ኤ.አ ሜይ 2010 በኢትዮጵያ በተካሄደው ፓርላሜንታዊ ምርጫ በቅርቡ ያረፉት አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ 99.6 በመቶ ድምጽ በማግኘት አሸንፊያለሁ ብለው ሲያውጁ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ሁኔታው “የሚያሳስበን እና በጉዳዩም ላይ ያለንን ጥልቅ ስጋት እንገልጻለን” በማለት የተለመዱ እና አሰልች የግዴታ አይነት የቃላት መግለጫዎችን ከመስጠት በዘለለ ስለምርጫ ዘረፋው ህገወጥነት በተጨባጭ በመሬት ላይ የሚታይ ያደረጉት አንድም ድርጊት አልነበረም፡፡ የኋይት ሀውስ ብሄራዊ ደህንነት ቃል አቀባይ የሆኑት ሚክ ሀመር እንዲህ ብለው ነበር፣ “ዓለም አቀፍ የምርጫ ታዛቢዎች ቡድን የምርጫ ሂደቱን ከታዘበ በኋላ ባወጣው መግለጫ መሰረት ምርጫው ዓለም አቀፍ የምርጫ መስፈርትን አያሟላም፣ ስለሆነም በዚህ ጉዳይ ላይ ያለንን ስጋት እንገልጻለን፡፡ የዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ኤምባሲ ባለስልጣኖች በምርጫው ዕለት ከአገሪቱ ርዕሰ መዲና ወጣ በማለት በየአቅጣጫው ተዘዋውረው የምርጫውን ሂደት ለመታዘብ ያቀረቡት ጥያቄ ተቀባይነት ያልተሰጠው በመሆኑ የተሰማንን ቅሬታ እንገልጻለን፡፡ ነጻ የሆነ የምርጫ ታዛቢ ያለማግኘት እና ባሉት የነጻ ሜዲያ ተወካይ ታዛቢዎች ላይ የሚደረገው የማሸማቀቅ ስራ ለችግሩ መፍትሄ ከመስጠት ይልቅ በጣም የተወሳሰበ እንዲሆን አድርጎታል፡፡ ከምርጫው ዕለት በፊት እንኳ ነጻ እና ፍትሀዊ የምርጫ ከባቢ አልነበረም… ለነገሩ እ.ኤ.አ በ2010 በኢትዮጵያ የተካሄደው “ፓርላሜንታዊ ምርጫ” አስቂኝ የምርጫ ትወና መድረክ ነበርን? የዚህ ዓይነት መሰሪ እና ዕኩይ ተግባራት በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ እና በዓለም ላይ የሚካሄድ ዘለፋ እና በዴሞክራሲ ላይ የሚደረግ ሸፍጥ ነውን?“
በዝንጀሮ ቆንጆዎች መካከል የቀንጅና ውድድር አይካሄድም ሆኖም ግን ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ባሽር አላሳድ 97.6 በመቶ ድምጽ በማምጣት ፕሬዚዳንታዊ ምርጫውን አሸንፈዋል በማለት ስታወግዝ በኢትዮጵያ በተደረገው ፓርላሜንታዊ “የብዙሀን ፓርቲ” ተብዬ ምርጫ አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ 99.6 በመቶ ድምጽ በማግኘት አሸነፍኩ ብለው ድንፋታ ሲያሰሙ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ አልሰማሁም፣ አላየሁም በማለት ጆሮ ዳባ ልበስ ብላለች፡፡

የኦባማን የሰብአዊ መብት መርህ መገንዘብ፣

የኦባማ የሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝ መርህ ግልጽ እና ቀጥተኛ ይመስላል፡፡ የሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝ ፖሊሲ የማውጣት ስራ በዋናነት ከሁለት ሰይጣኖች መካከል የትኛው የተሻለ ምርጫ ሊሆን ይችላል እንደማለት ነው፡፡ ዓለም እንደ እነ አሳድ፣ ሙጋቤ እና ማዱሮ ባሉ በሰው ልጆች ላይ ወንጀልን የሚፈጽሙ የተጠሉ “ሰው በላ ጭራቆች” የተሞላች ናት፡፡ እንዲሁም እንደ የግብጹ ኢል ሲሲ ፣ የኡጋንዳው ሙሴቤኒ፣ የሩዋንዳው ካጋሜ እና በቅርቡ በህይወት የተለዩት የኢትዮጵያው አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ በሰው ልጆች ላይ ተመሳሳይ የወንጀል ድርጊቶችን የፈጸሙ እና አሁንም በመፈጸም ላይ ያሉ የተሻሉ ““ሰው በላ ጭራቆች” ናቸው፡፡ በሁለቱ ጭራቆች መካከል ያለው ልዩነት የኋለኞቹ የእኛው “ሰው በላ ጭራቆች” መሆናቸው ነው፡፡ የእራሳችንን ስራ ይሰሩልናል፡፡ ትዛዛችን ይቀበላሉ:: ለዚህ ውለታቸው ደግሞ ነጻ እንቅስቃሴ እንዲያደርጉ ይፈቀድላቸዋል፡፡ በየዓመቱ በምጽዋት ስም በቢሊዮኖች የሚቆጠሩ የአሜሪካ ዶላሮች እንሰጣቸዋለን፡፡” በማለት ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ሀሳቧን አጠቃላለች፡፡
እ.ኤ.አ በ2008 ዕጩ ተመራጭ ኦባማ በማያቋርጥ ሁኔታ በየጊዜው በዋሽንግተን በሚወጡት “እምነት የማይጣልባቸው” “የውጭ ፖሊሲ መርሆዎች” ላይ የተሰማቸውን ቅሬታ ገልጸው ነበር፡፡ ይህንን ጉዳይ በማስመልከት እንዲህ ብለው ነበር፣ “ልንታገላቸው ከሚገቡን ጠላቶች መካከል በእርግጠኝነት አንዱ አሸባሪነት ብቻ አይደለም… ይልቁንም እምነት የለሽ መሆንም አንዱ እና ዋናው ነው፡፡ “በስድስት ዓመታት የፕሬዚዳንትነት ዘመናቸው የኦባማ የሰብአዊ መብት ጥበቃ አያያዝ ፖሊሲ ደጋፊዎቻቸው ኦባማን ወደ ታማኝ የለሽነት አውቶብስ ጎማ ስር ውስጥ ወርዉረዋቸዋል፡፡ የሂዩማን ራይትስ ዎች ዋና ዳይሬክተር የሆኑት ኬን ሮዝ በቅርቡ የሚከተለውን ምልከታ አድርገው ነበር፣ “ፕሬዚዳንት ኦባማ የሰብአዊ መብት ጉዳዮችን ቀዳሚ የትኩረት አጀንዳ አድርገው ባለመያዛቸው ምክንያት በርካቶችን አሳዝነዋል፡፡“ ወሳኝ በሆኑ የሰብአዊ መብት ጉዳዮች ላይ ለመደራደር የሚያሳዩት ዝግጁነት ለሰብአዊ መብት ጥበቃ መርሆዎች ያላቸውን ቁርጠኝነት አናሳ መሆን የሚያመላክት አስተሳሰብን ይፈጥራል፡፡ “በዓለም ላይ ያሉ ህዝቦች ሁሉ ለነጻነታቸው እና ለመብቶቻቸው መጠበቅ የጋራ የሆነ ፍላጎት ያላቸው መሆናቸውን“ ኦባማ የረሱት ይመስላል፡፡
እ.ኤ.አ በ2008 ፕሬዚዳንት ኦባማ በጋና አክራን ሲጎበኙ ለአፍሪካ ወጣቶች ባደረጉት ንግግር ላይ የሚከተለውን መልዕክት አስተላልፈው ነበር፣ “ታሪክ ከጀግኖቹ አፍሪካውያን/ት ጎን ነው“ በማለት ማረጋገጫ ከሰጡ በኋላ እንዲህ ብለው ነበር፣ “መሪዎቻችሁ ለሚሰሯቸው ማናቸውም ስራዎች ሁሉ በህዝቡ ዘንድ ተጠያቂዎች እንዲሆኑ የማድረግ ስልጣኑ አላችሁ፣ እናም ህዝቡን ሊያገለግሉ የሚችሉ ተቋማትን መገንባት እና ማጠናከር አለባችሁ፡፡“ በቅርቡ ኦባማ ከእነዚያ ወጣት እና ጀግና ኢትዮጵያዊውያን/ት አፍሪካውያን/ት ወጣቶች እርሳቸው “እምነት ማጣት” እያሉ በሚጠሩት ከፍተኛ ዋጋ ሰጥተውት በነበረው ጉዳይ ላይ በድንገት ትልቅ ፈተና ገጥሟቸው ተስተውለዋል፡፡ በካሊፎርኒያ ግዛት በሳን ጆሴ የገንዘብ ማሰባሰቢያ መድረክ ላይ በትውልድ ኢትዮጵያዊ የሆነው ጋዜጠኛ እና የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋቹ አበበ ገላው በኋይት ሀውስ ድረገጽ ላይ እንደተለቀቀው ከፕሬዚዳንት ኦባማ ጋር የሚከተሉትን የሃሳብ ልውውጦች አድርጓል፣
አበበ ገላው (የስብሰባው ታዳሚ አባል)፡ ፕሬዚዳንት ኦባማ! ለኢትዮጵያ ነጻነት! ነጻነት! ነጻነት ለኢትዮጵያ ጌታዬ!
ፕሬዚዳንት፡ ለትንሽ ጊዜ ቆይ፡፡ በምትለው ጉዳይ ላይ እስማማለሁ ሆኖም ግን ስጨርስ ኋላ ለምን አላነጋግርህም፣ ምክንያቱም ለመጨረስ እየተቃረብኩ ነው (የመሳቅ ዓይነት አዝማሚያ እያሳዩ)፡፡ እኔ እና አንተ ስለጉዳዩ እንነጋገራለን፡፡ ወደዚያው አካባቢ እየመጣሁ ነው፡፡
አበበ ገላው (የስብሰባው ታዳሚ አባል)፡ (አይሰማም)–
ፕሬዚዳንት፡ እዚያ ሂድ
አበበ ገላው (የስብሰባው ታዳሚ አባል)፡ (አይሰማም)–
ፕሬዚዳንት፡ በምትለው ጉዳይ ላይ አስማማለሁ፡፡
አበበ ገላው (የስብሰባው ታዳሚ አባል)፡ (አይሰማም፡፡)
ፕሬዚዳንት፡ ከአንተ ለመስማት እፈልጋለሁ፡፡
አበበ ገላው (የስብሰባው ታዳሚ አባል)፡ እንወድዎታለን!
ፕሬዚዳንት፡ እኔም እወዳችኋለሁ፡፡ ብቻ የንግግሬን መጨረሻ አበላሸህብኝ፡፡ ቢሆንም ምንም አይደለም፡፡ (ሳቅ እና የድጋፍ ጭብጨባ ከታዳሚው አስተጋባ፡፡) እሺ፡፡ ይህች አገር የመናገር ነጻነት የተከበረባት ናት– (የድጋፍ ጭብጨባ እንደገና አስተጋባ)– ይህም ታላቅ ነገር ነው፡፡
ለአምላክ/አላህ ምስጋና ይግባውና በአሜሪካ የመናገር ነጻነት አለን፡፡ አንድ ተራ ጋዜጠኛ እና የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋች ግለሰብ በቁጥጥር ስር እውላለሁ ብሎ ሳይፈራ፣ እታሰራለሁ ብሎ ሳይሰጋ፣ ድብደባ ወይም ደግሞ ስቃይ ይደርስብኛል ብሎ ሳያስብ ለዩናይትድ ስቴትስ አሜሪካ ፕሬዚዳንት ቀጥ ብሎ ቆሞ በነጻነት መናገር ይችላል፡፡ ፕሬዚዳንት ኦባማ እና አበበ በአንድ ዓይነት ስሜት ሆነው ነው የተነጋገሩት፡፡ ፕሬዚዳንት ኦባማ ጋዜጠኛ አበበ የንግግራቸውን መጨረሻ እንዳበላሸባቸው በቀልድ መልክ ተናግረዋል፡፡ አበበ ግን የኦባማ የሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝ ፖሊሲ የትውልድ ሀገሩን እያበላሻት እንደሆነ በቁም ነገር ተናግሯል፡፡
ከዚህ ክስተት ልንማረው የምንችለው ታላቅ ቁም ነገር በዓለም ላይ ታላቅ ስልጣን እና ኃይል ያለው ሰው እና አንድ ተራ ዜጋ በዓለም መድረክ በአንድ ላይ መቆማቸው ነው፡፡ ምክንያቱም ሁለቱም በነጻነት ላይ በተለይም በመናገር ነጻነት ላይ እምነት አላቸው፡፡ በተቃራኒው ደግሞ አበበ ገላው በሳን ጆሴ ከተማ በመገኘት ድምጻቸውን ያሰማላቸው በብዙ ሚሊዮን የሚቆጠሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን/ት የመናገር ነጻነት ወይም እምነትን በነጻ የማራመድ ነጻነት ወይም ደግሞ የመሰብሰብ ወይም ለሚፈጸሙባቸው በደሎች ቅሬታ የማቅረብ ነጻነት የላቸውም፡፡ ለዚህም ነው አበበ ገላው ድምጹን ከፍ አድርጎ ለኢትዮጵያውያን/ት ወገኖቹ ነጻነት ሲል “ፕሬዚዳነት ኦባማ! ነጻነት ለኢትዮጵያ!“ እያለ የጮኸው፡፡
ፕሬዚዳንት ኦባማ በኢትዮጵያ እና በሌሎች የአፍሪካ አገሮች የመናገር ነጻነት እና ሌሎች ነጻነቶች እንዲኖሩ እምነት ያላቸው በመሆኑ ጉዳይ ላይ ጥርጣሬ የለኝም፡፡ ጥያቄው ተያያዥነት በሌላቸው ባዶ የተስፋ ቃላትን በማነብነብ የተግባር ኮስማና እና ድሁር የመሆናቸው እና የአፍሪካን ወሮበላ አምባገነኖች በጽናት የመደገፋቸው ጉዳይ ነው፡፡ ኦባማ በኢትዮጵያ ሀሳብን በነጻነት የመግለጽ መብት ላይ በእርግጠኝነት እምነት ያላቸው ከሆነ ለምንድን ነው እርሳቸው ወይም (የእርሳቸው የመንግስት መምሪያ ጸሐፊ፣ አምባሳደሮች እና ተወካዮቻቸው) የእርሳቸውን የመናገር ነጻነት እና በኢትዮጵያ በእስር ቤት የሚማቅቁትን ጋዜጠኞች እና ጦማሪስቶች እንደ እስክንድር ነጋ፣ ርዕዮት ዓለሙ፣ ውብሸት ታዬ፣ አስማማው ኃ/ጊዮርጊስ፣ ተስፋለም ወልደየስ፣ ኤዶም ካሳዬ፣ አቤል ዋቤላ፣ አጥናፍ ብርሀኔ፣ ማህሌት ፋንታሁን፣ ናትናኤል ፈለቀ፣ ዘላለም ክብረት እና በፈቃዱ ኃይሉ ከብዙዎቹ ጥቂቶቹን ለመጥቀስ ያህል እንዲፈቱ ጥረት ሲያደርጉ የማይታዩት፡፡
ነጻነት በነጻ የማይገኝ መሆኑን ፕሬዚዳንት ኦባማ በእርግጠኝነት ማወቅ አለባቸው፡፡ ተግባርን አግልሎ በረዥሙ ምላሳቸው ስለይስሙላ ነጻነት ብቻ ማውራት ርካሽ ንግግር ነው፡፡ በተደጋጋሚ እየተደረጉ ያሉት በጣም በርካታ ሆኖም ግን እርባናየለሽ ንግግሮች ናቸው፡፡ እናም በኢትዮጵያ ነጻነት እጅግ ውድ የሆነ ዋጋ ተከፍሎበት የሚመጣ ጉዳይ ነው፡፡ እስክንድር ነጋ፣ ርዕዮት ዓለሙ፣ ውብሸት ታዬ እና ሌሎቸም የእራሳቸውን ድሎት ሰውተው ለነጻነት የሚከፈለውን ክቡር ዋጋ በመክፈል ላያ ናቸው፡፡ ለሰው ልጆች የነጻነት ክብር ሲሉ በእስር ቤት ውስጥ በመማቀቅ ላይ ይገኛሉ፡፡ የእነዚህ ትንታንግ የነጻነት ታጋዮች የመኖር ሚስጥሩ በሰው ልጆች ላይ የሚፈጸሙትን ወንጀሎች ለመታገል ነው፡፡
እ.ኤ.አ በ2005 ወደ 200 አካባቢ የሚጠጉ ምንም ዓይነት የጦር መሳሪያ ያልታጠቁ ሰላማዊ የነጻነት ታጋዮች ለነጻነት ሲሉ ክቡር ህይወታቸውን መስዋዕት አድርገዋል፡፡ በአስር ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ንጹሀን ዜጎች ሩብ ምዕተ ዓመታትን ባስቆጠረው የአምባገነኖች የአገዛዝ ስርዓት ለነጻነት ሲሉ ውድ ህይወታቸውን ገብረዋል፡፡ የእነዚህ ንጹሀን ዜጎች ገዳዮች በአሁኑ ጊዜ በአገሪቱ በከፍተኛው የስልጣን ወንበር ላይ እንደ መዥገር ተጣብቀው እና ያለምንም ተጠያቂነት ደረታቸውን ነፍተው በአውራ መንገዶች እንደ ነጻ ሰው ሁሉ ሰው መስለው በወንጀል ባህር ውስጥ ሲዋኙ እንዳልቆዩ እና አሁንም እየዋኙ እያሉ መሆናቸው እየታወቀ ነጻ እና ከወንጀል የጸዱ በመምሰል ደረታቸውን ገልብጠው ሲንገዋለሉ እና ሲኮፈሱ ይታያሉ፣ የቁርጥ ቀን የማይመጣ መስሏቸው፡፡ ኦባማ አነዚህን ወሮበላ አምባገነኖች በየዓመቱ በቢሊዮኖች የሚቆጠሩ የአሜሪካ ዶላሮች በመለገስ በስልጣኖቻቸው ላይ ተጣብቀው ህዝብን ሲያሰቃዩ እንዲኖሩ ያደርጓቸዋል ብሎ መናገር ማጋነን አይሆንም፡፡ ተዋቂዋ የአፍሪካ የኢኮኖሚክስ ምሁር የሆኑት እና “የበከተ እርዳታ/Dead Aid” የሚለው መጽሐፍ ደራሲ የሆኑት ዳምቢሳ ሞዮ እንደዘገቡት “በኢትዮጵያ በጣም ግዙፍ የሆነው በጀት 97 በመቶ የሚሆነው የመንግስት በጀት የሚመጣው ከውጭ እርዳታ ነው፡፡“ ብለዋል፡፡ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ አሜሪካ በኢትዮጵያ ያለዜጎች ይሁንታ በጉልበት በስልጣን ላይ ተፈናጥጦ ለሚገኘው ወሮበላ ገዥ አካል ሽማግሌ አናትም አባትም ናት! በአሁኑ ጊዜ 90 ሚሊዮን የሚሆነው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ክብሩን እያጣ እየተሰቃየ፣ ኢፍትሀዊነት ድርጊት እየተፈጸመበት እና መብቱ በወሮበላዎች እና በሙስና በበከቱ ደንቆሮ መሪዎች ነን ባዮች መዳፍ ስር ወድቆ አሳር ፍዳውን በመቀበል ላይ ይገኛል፡፡
የኦባማን የሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝ ፖሊሲዎች እና መርሆዎች ከሚናገሯቸው ባዶ የሰብአዊ መብት ንግግሮች ለመለየት አይቻልም፡፡ ለአሳድ በምናባቸው “ቀይ መስመር” በማስመር የሶሪያን ህዝብ ሊጭርስ የሚችል ኬሚካላዊ መሳሪያ መጠቀም እንዳይችሉ የተሰመረውን ቀዩን መስመር እንዳያልፉ ያስጠነቅቋቸዋል፡፡ ባለፉት በርካታ ወራት አሳድ ይህንን ኬሚካላዊ መሳሪያ በመጠቀም ቢያንስ 14 ጊዜ ተግብረውታል፡፡ ለአፍሪካ ወሮበላ አምባገነኖች ኦባማ ቀጥሉ የሚል አረንጓዴ መብራት በማሳየት በቀዩ መብራት የሰብአዊ መብት ወንጀሎች እንዲፈጸሙ ትዕዛዝ ሰጥተዋል፡፡
የአቦማ አስተዳደር የሰብአዊ መብት መርሆዎች እንዲከበሩ ከልብ ተነሳሽነቱን የማያሳይ ከሆነ በተስፋ የሚያስሞሉ እና የዜጎችን ቀልቦች የሚገዙ ታላላቅ መግለጫዎችን እና ንግግሮችን በሚሊዮኞች ለሚቆጠሩ ለዓለም ዓቀፉ የማህበረሰብ አባላት በተደጋጋሚ ማሰማቱ ፋይዳው ምንድን ነው? የኦባማ አስተዳደር ይህን አሰልች እና አደንቋሪ የውሸት የሰብአዊ መብት አጠባበቅ መዝሙር ሲያሰማ ህዝቡ በሚደሰኮረው ዲስኩር እና በተጨባጭ ምንም የተደረገ ነገር ያለመኖሩን ሊያገናዝብ የሚችል አዕምሮ የሌለው ደደብ እና ደንቆሮ አድርገው ሊቆጥሩት ይሞክራሉን? ለምንድን ነው አቦማ በተደጋጋሚ በተግባር ሲያውሏቸው የማይታዩ የአስመሳይነት እና እምነተቢስነት ንግግሮችን እንደበቀቀን እየደጋገሙ ሲናገሩ የሚደመጡት? ፕሬዚዳንት ኦባማ! እስቲ ቆም ብለው ያስተውሉ፣ የአፍሪካ ወሮበላ አምባገነኖች በጊዜ ሂደት የሰብአዊ መብት ጥበቃን የሚያራምዱ እና መርሆዎቻቸው አድርገው ለመተግበር እንደገና ሊበራል ዴሞክራቶች ሆነው ይወለዳሉ ብለው ያስባሉን? የአረም አበባዎች አድገው ጽጌረዳ ይሆናሉን?

ላሜሪካ የሰብአዊ መብትን የሚተካ የኢሰብአዊ ፖሊሲ የቀረበ ሀሳብ፣

ኦባማ በውጭ ግንኙነት ፖሊሲ የሰብአዊ መብትን በኢሰብአዊ ፖሊሲ መቀየሩ ይበጃል፡፡ የእርሳቸው ስልታዊ የሆኑ ብሄራዊ የሀገር ጥቅሞችን ብቻ በሚያስገኙ ተግባራዊ የፖለቲካ ተግባራት ላይ ብቻ ማተኮራቸው የሞራል ሰብዕናን እና ትክክል ያልሆኑ የፖለቲካ እሴቶችን እንዲያሽቆለቁሉ አድርጓቸዋል፡፡ በሌላ አባባል ስለሰብአዊ መብት ጥሩ እና ጥሩ ያልሆኑ ንግግሮችን ይናገራሉ፡፡ አምባገነናዊ ስርዓት ስለሚያከትምበት እና ዴሞክራሲ በዓለም ላይ ስለሚያብበት ሁኔታ ይናገራሉ ሆኖም ግን የአሜሪካንን የአጭር ጊዜም እንኳ ቢሆን ብሄራዊ ጥቅሟን ከሚነካ አካሄድ ጋር ለሰከንድ እንኳ በፍጹም የሚታሰብ ጉዳይ አይደለም፡፡
እንደ ትክክለኛው አካሄድ ኦባማ የዩናይትድ ስቴትስን “የተሳሳተ የኢሰብአዊ ፖሊሲ” ቢያንስ በአፍሪካ አህጉር ውስጥ በመርህ ደረጃ በመመስረት እና በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ እውቅና ያላቸው የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቶች በአፍሪካ ሲፈጸሙ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ተመልክታ ጆሮ አልባ መሆኗን ማሳወቅ አለባት፡፡ የዩናይትድ ስቴትስ የኢሰብአዊ ፖሊሲ መብት መርሆዎች በሚከተሉት ቀላል ሀሳቦች ላይ የተመሰረቱ ይሆናሉ፡
አፍሪካ በምዕራቡ ዓለም እንደሚታሰበው ወይም ደግሞ በተግባር እንደሚስተዋለው የሰብአዊ መብት ጥበቃ አስፈላጊዋ አይደለም፡፡ “ሰላም እና መረጋጋት” ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ በአፍሪካ ላይ የምታራምደው ትልቁ እና ጠቃሚዋ የፖሊሲ አካሄድ መሳሪዋ ነው፡፡ በአፍሪካ አምባገነን መሪዎች የሚፈጸሙ ሰብአዊ ወንጀሎች ሌሎች አለመረጋጋቶችን እና ግጭቶችን ይወልዳሉ ከሚል የተሳሳተ እምነት አንጻር ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ አይታ እንዳላየ፣ ሰምታ እንዳልሰማ ጆሮ ዳባ ልበስ በማለት ታልፈዋለች፡፡ (ለምሳሌ ያህል በደቡብ ሱዳን ሳልቫኪር እና ሬክ ማቻር በሚያደርጉት ሰይጣናዊ ድርጊት ሰበብ ለፈጸሙት ግድያ፣ እልቂት፣ ዘር ማጥፋት፣ ህዝብን በኃይል ከሚኖርበት ቀየ ማፈናቀል፣ እስራት፣ ስቃይ አስገድዶ መድፈር እና የጎሳ ዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀሎች ከተጣያቂነት ነጻ ነው የሚሆኑት፡፡)
የዩናይትድ ስቴትስን ዓለም አቀፋዊ እና አህጉራዊ ጥቅሞች እስካከበሩ እና ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ በአሸባሪነት ላይ የከፈተችውን ጦርነት እስካልተቃወሙ ድረስ የአፍሪካ ወሮበላ አምባገነኖች በአፍሪካ አህጉር ላይ በጠራራ ጸሐይ ኮሮጆ ገልብጠው ምርጫ ሲዘርፉ እና ስልጣናቸውን ከህግ አግባብ ውጭ እየተጠቀሙ በአፍሪካውያን/ት ዜጎች ላይ የቁማር ጨዋታ ሲጫወቱ አሜሪካ ጸጥ በማለት በትዕግስት የምትመለከተው ደንታም የማይሰጣት የዕለት ከዕለት ጉዳዩዋ ሆኗል፡፡
የፍራንክሊን ዲ.ሩዝቬልት “በየትኛውም የዓለም ክፍል” እንዲተገበሩ የሚገባቸው አራቱ አስፈላጊ የሰው ልጆች ነጻነቶች በአፍሪካ ላይ ግን ተግባራዊ አይሆኑም፡፡ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ጨለማ የተንሰራፋበትን የአምባገነኖች አገዛዝ በማንኮታኮት እራሷን ከጀግና የነጻ የዓለም ህዝቦች ጋር ለማስተሳሰር የሩዝቬልትን ራዕይ አትከተልም፡፡ “አራት አስፈላጊ የሆኑ የሰው ልጅ ነጻነቶች የሚገለጹባት ዓለምን ዕውን ሆና ማየት እንፈልጋለን፡፡” በማለት ሩዝቬልት የተናገሩትን ወደ ተግባር ለአፍሪቃ አያስፈለግም፡፡የመጀመሪያው የመናገር እና ሀሳብን በነጻ የመግለጽ መብት – (ከአፍሪካ አህጉር በስተቀር በዓለም ላይ ሁሉ)፡፡ ሁለተኛው ማንም ሰው በራሱ መንገድ አምላኩን የማምለክ እና የፈለገውን እምነት በመያዝ የእራሱን እምነት የማራመድ መብት – (ከአፍሪካ አህጉር በስተቀር)፡፡ ሶስተኛው የፍላጎት ነጻነት መብት – ከዓለም አቀፍ ሁኔታ አንጻር ሲተረጎም ይህ ማለት የእያንዳንዱን አገር ጤናማ የሰላም ጊዜ የማስፈን እና የእያንዳንዱን ዜጋ ፍላጎት – በየትኛውም የዓለም ክፍል ማሟላት (ከአፍሪካ በስተቀር)፡፡ አራተኛው ከፍርሀት ነጻ የመሆን መብት… ከዚህ አንጻር ማንም ጠብ አጫሪ አገር ተነስቶ በጎረቤቱ ላይ የኃይል እርምጃ በመውሰድ ጥቃት አይፈጽምም፡፡ እንደዚሁም በዓለም ላይ ጥቃት ለመፈጸም አይቻለውም (ከአፍሪካ በስተቀር)፡፡ የሩዝቬልት ዓለም አቀፍ የሰብአዊ ድንጋጌ እና ሌሎችም በድንጋጌው እየተፈተሉ የሚገኙት ዓለም አቀፍ የሰብአዊ መብት ስምምነቶች በየትኛውም የዓለም ክፍል ላይ ተግባራዊ ይደረጋሉ (ከአፍሪካ በስተቀር)፡፡
በዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ትክክለኛ እና “በተግባር ተኮር ፖለቲካ” ፖሊሲ ላይ እራሱን ብቁ ያደረገ በሚከተሉት የዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ፖሊሲ የሰብአዊ መብት ፖሊሲ ግድፈቶችን ግልጽ በሆነ መልኩ ያካትታል የሚል እምነት አለኝ፡፡ የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋቾች እና የሰብአዊ መብት ደፍጣጮች በአፍሪካ ላይ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ስላሏት እሴቶች፣ መርሆዎች እና ፖሊሲዎች ግልጽ የሆነ ግንዛቤ ይኖራቸዋል የሚል እምነት አለኝ፡፡ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ በአፍሪካ ላይ ስላሏት ዝንባሌዎች እና ዓላማዎች እንዲሁም አለመግባባቶች እና ግንዛቤ ያለመኖር ችግሮች አይኖሩም፡፡ የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋቾች ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ስለሚኖራት የሰብአዊ መብት ስህተቶች የሚናገሩት በጣም ጥቂት ነገር ብቻ ይሆናል፡፡ ከንፈሮቻቸውን ይነክሳሉ፡፡ አብዛኞቹ የአፍሪካ አምባገነኖች ለሰሩት ታማኘነት ላለው እና መልካም ስራ ትክክለኛ ምስጋና ያገኛሉ፡፡ ዩናይትድ ሰቴትስ ወዲያውኑ እነዚህን አምባገነኖች እንዳላየች አድርጋ የመሄድ አስመሳይነቷን ታቆማለች፡፡

ኢትዮጵያ በክብር ለዘላለም ትኑር!
ግንቦት 12 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም

A Democratic Hero who deserves our appreciation!


May 23, 2014
For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent. What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of the justice, necessity and importance of political and social rights. B. R. Ambedkar (Roughly translated in to Amharic: ወጤታማ የሆነ ፖለቲካዊ ለወጥ ‘ኣብዮት’ ለማመጣት የሚያሰፈልገዎ በሆኔታዎች መጥፎ መሆን ማላዘን አይደለም ይልቁንስ ዋናው አስፈለጊው ነገር ለፍትህ ለፖለቲካዊ እና ማህበረስባዊ መብት መከበር ኣስፈላጊነት ጠንካራ የሆነ እምነት ይዞ ማራመድ እንጂ)Abebe Gellaw Ethiopian Democratic Hero
Yes, this Quote from Ambedkar speaks a volume about the need of having a strong belief (conviction) in change i.e. for a real change to take place in a society where there is a deep rooted discontent because of injustice.
So in this respect it is fair to say that Ethiopia is blessed to have sons and daughters who struggle with conviction, commitment and dedication to bring a democratic change in Ethiopia so that each and every Ethiopians can live equally in a justice, democratic, and united Ethiopia.
One of the many remarkable Ethiopians who have strong conviction and dedication to such noble cause is Journalist & Activist Abebe Gellaw. Abebe Gellaw is a highly educated professional journalist who earned his bachelor’s degree from Addis Ababa University and a post-graduate diploma from London Metropolitan University. Abebe Gellaw’s excellence in his profession and the achievements he made in his life time is several and simply amazing.
Just to mention some of his several achievements:
He has for example received many awards and bursaries (i.e. monetary awards) such as:
1. An international journalism training bursary at the London-based Reuters Foundation in 1998.
2. He also received a Champions of Change Millennium Award in 2002
3. He was even awarded with lifetime membership of the Millennium Awards Fellowships in the UK.
4. He even received a British Telecom Community Connections Award that same year.
5. Abebe Gellaw was also one of the few professional journalists who were sponsored by the world biggest Internet Company Yahoo at Stanford University in 2008-09. https://www.flickr.com/photos/yodelanecdotal/3329635076/
As many of his achievements are unquestionably amazing, it’s even worth noticing how responsible, honest, rational, balanced and down to earth he is.
In his dedication for a democratic and noble cause, Abebe has on different occasions reaffirmed his decision to keep on his engagement as a democratic activist, case in point is the promise he made when he was selected as one of the 197 Young Global Leaders by World Economic Forum.
On this occasion Abebe said “I am not only thrilled but also humbled to be included in this year’s World Economic Forum list of honorees. I will take advantage of this global opportunity to promote the causes that are closer to the heart of Ethiopians such as the struggle for freedom, respect for human rights and dignity in Ethiopia,”
As you all know, Abebe Gellaw was one of the 197 Young Global Leaders who were selected by World Economic Forum from a pool of nearly 5000 nominees from around the world for their “professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.”
Few names who were selected with him were Evan Williams, Co-founder and CEO of Twitter, Steven Chen, Co-founder and Chief Technologist of YouTube, Jon Favorue, Obama’s chief speech writer, Nelson Mandela’s grandson and South African Member of Parliament, Mandla Mandela, Saudi Arabian Prince Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Sultan, Crown Princess Mette-Marrit of Norway, sixteen Ministers from around the world and many CEOs
Keeping his promise, Abebe has continued his struggle in his democratic activist role using his wisdom, knowledge, skill and experience.
Here are some of the many occasions that he raised the concerns of millions of Ethiopians on different forums where world decision makers are gathered.
  • In Tanzania: Abebe confronted Meles Zenawi at the World Economic Forum on Africa, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, May 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI598aBMCvI
  • In Norway: In 2012, At Oslo freedom forum, where humanitarian issues come to the top of the global agenda, Abebe gave eye-opening presentations to the gathered audience and thereby exposed the TPLF tyranny to the whole world attending through different medias. http://www.oslofreedomforum.com/speakers/abebe_gellaw.html
    • In USA Washington: The Prominent journalist Abebe Gellaw confronted the late hated dictator Meles Zenawi by interrupting his speech at the Symposium that was held at Reagan Building & International Trade Center in Washington DC where the attendants of the Symposium include, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America; Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary, United States Department of State; and 3 African leaders. http://ecadforum.com/ethiopianvideo/2012/05/18/esat-breaking-news-meles-zenawi-humiliated/
    • On May 8, 2014, Ethiopian journalist and freedom activist respectfully interrupted President Barack Obama at a Democratic National Committee Fundraiser and called on his support to stand with the oppressed people of Ethiopia. Fortunately, President Barack Obama also agreed with Abebe’s call for freedom and systematically made it clear that a foreign policy change will be needed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR0w__Zbu94/
The fact that Abebe, in addition to his appeal to Obama, even has taken the advantage of his presence on the fundraising to inform other US High officials about the ongoing repression in Ethiopia is very admirable.
Here are some of the many occasions that he raised the concerns of millions of Ethiopians on different forums where world decision makers are gathered.
Abebe Gellaw is the only Ethiopian who actually systematically succeed in taking the freedom demand of the Ethiopian people to as high level as it can go.
Abebe apart from being very active in his advocacy role on different global arena, he has obviously been one of the founders and program host on ESAT, in which he interviewed several US high officials who direct or indirectly can have an impact on Ethiopian politics.
Apart from being a program host on ESAT he himself also has been active in debating with different people on ESAT, VOA and on other different Medias as a defender of human right issues in Ethiopia.
This link here below can take you to one of the many videos posted on ESAT on which we can watch Abebe debating with one of TPLF cadres and wisely and intellectually puts his fact based argument about the repressive nature of TPLF.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR0w__Zbu94
To make the long story short, Abebe Gellaw is a great democratic Ethiopian who is a good role model for millions of Ethiopians.
We Ethiopians need to appreciate and support such precious Ethiopian like Abebe Gellaw, as we also need to encourage other democratic activist Ethiopians who are engaged in the struggle at home and in different parts of the world.
It’s only when we support and encourage those who struggle for a peaceful, united, and democratic Ethiopia, where freedom and justice can prevail in our country.by Nesanet Nerese
May GOD Bless Ethiopians and Ethiopia!

Ethiopia: Crimes Against University Students and Humanity

Ethiopia: Crimes Against University Students and Humanity
May 26, 2014
by Alemayehu G. Mariam
On May 2, 2014, BBC reported that the security forces of the regime in Ethiopia had massacred at least 47 university and high school students in the town of  Ambo 80 miles west of the capital Addis Ababa. The regime dismissed the massacre and tried to sweep it under the rug claiming that a “few anti-peace forces incited and coordinated the violence”.  There has been little international coverage or outrage over the massacre.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement condemning the “shooting at and beating [of] peaceful protesters in Ambo, Nekemte, Jimma, and other towns”. According to HRW, the student “protests erupted over the release of the proposed Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan” which would “expand Addis Ababa’s municipal boundary to include more than 15 communities in Oromia” and displace Oromo farmers and residents.HRW demanded an immediate end to the excessive use of force by the regime’s security forces against peaceful student demonstrators.The massacre of Ambo University and high school students
I am outraged beyond my ability to express my outrage in words. I grieve and ache for the students cut down by hails of bullets in the prime of their lives. They had an undeniable constitutional right to peacefully petition for grievances; because they exercised that right, we must now all grieve for them. I grieve for Ethiopia for it has lost its best and brightest children. I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the massacre.
I abhor massacres. I got involved in Ethiopian and African human rights advocacy following the post-2005 election massacres of unarmed protesters in Ethiopia. Prior to that time, I had virtually no involvement in Ethiopian politics. I did not know the name Meles Zenawi “from Adam’s off ox”.
When troops under the personal control and command of the late Meles Zenawi massacred some 200 unarmed demonstrators and shot and wounded nearly 800 more (the actual figure is documented to be much more than that), I was hopping mad as hell. I just could not let Meles and his criminal gang get away with mass murder. For the past eight years, I have been advocating and promoting human rights in Ethiopia and Africa every single Monday without missing a single week.
I am hopping mad as hell today over the massacre of the dozens of unarmed university and high school students in Ambo and elsewhere as I was in 2005 when hundreds of unarmed protesters were slaughtered. I am hopping mad as hell that no one is ever held accountable for massacring innocent people in Ethiopia. There is a long and shameful culture of impunity in Ethiopia. Mengistu Hailemariam committed mass murder and has not been held accountable. That mass murderer said he “did not hurt a fly” while he was in power. He did kill tens of thousands of innocent people. He is comfortably living out his twilight years in Zimbabwe writing fiction and fables about his time in office.
Meles Zenawi received divine justice. His surviving disciples and comrades today thumb their noses at justice. The perpetrators of the massacres of 2005 today roam the streets free. Yet we know the names of each and every “federal police” thug who participated in the massacres. In a report entitled “Modernizing Internal Security in Ethiopia” counterterrorism expert Col. Michael Dewar, British Army (Rtd.) revealed that the Director General of the Ethiopian Federal Police Werkneh Gebeyehu told him that “as a direct result of the 2005 riots, he [had] sacked 237 policemen.” Not a single one of these  criminals who committed the massacres or the criminal bosses who ordered the massacres have been brought to justice.  Meles’s own Inquiry Commission in 2007 damned Meles for the use of deadly force and absolved the peaceful unarmed protesters of any criminal or civil liability.
In December 2003, Meles Zenawi’s troops in a series of attacks in Gambella killed 400 Anuaks and destroyed over 1000 homes. The Meles regime subsequently issued a statement “apologizing for not acting proactively and promised to stand on the side of the victims to see that justice is done.” At the time, the regime claimed to have identified dozens of suspects in the Anuak massacres. No soldier, police or security official has ever been prosecuted, held accountable or sanctioned for those crimes against humanity in Gambella.
Beginning in October 2007, Meles Zenawi launched a crackdown against insurgents in the Ogaden region which quickly expanded into a program of collective punishment for Ogadeni civilians. Meles’ troops destroyed  entire villages and committed rape, murder and pillage. They hanged and beheaded suspects to terrorize the population. A Human Rights Watch told the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health that “the Ogaden is not Darfur. But the situation in Ogaden follows a frighteningly familiar pattern”. Retired general and formed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell declared genocide had occurred in Darfur. By the same token, in 2007-08 a “mini-genocide” occurred in the Ogaden. No one has been brought to justice for the Ogaden massacres. The catalogue of massacres by the regime in Ethiopia is voluminous.
I have no illusions that those who committed the “Black Tuesday” massacres at Ambo University and other institutions and towns will ever be brought to justice under the current regime. Not only will there be no prosecution, there will not even be an investigation. The best that could be expected is a kangaroo police investigation if the public could bring sustained pressure on the regime. Of course, the outcome will be a surefire whitewash. The final report of that kangaroo investigation will conclude that a “few anti-peace forces incited and coordinated the violence.”
Opposition leaders inside the country and in the Ethiopian Diaspora must speak in one voice in demanding a swift and independent investigation into the massacres in Ambo and elsewhere. We have to go beyond moral condemnations and demand legal action in local kangaroo courts and international tribunals. We should put the kangaroo courts on trial in the court of international public opinion. We must take advantage of remedies available in international bodies and political institutions in donor states.
I am calling on the regime to launch an independent investigation into the massacres of Ambo University students and other peaceful protesters in Nekemte, Jimma and other locations. I am under no delusion or illusion that the regime will heed my call. I know they do not give a rat’s behind about anything I say.
I am calling for an independent investigation for a different reason. I want to name and shame the Obama Administration, the Cameron Government in the U.K., the European Union, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the rest (except China for whom a single death is a tragedy and thousands of deaths a statistic) who provide billions of dollars annually to a regime that massacres its best and brightest youth. I want to call attention to the fact that American, British and European taxpayers are bankrolling child killers in Ethiopia. I want to call attention to the fact that the silence of the West in the face of such horrific crimes against schoolchildren and university students cries out to their complicity in crimes against children, crimes against the most vulnerable members of humanity.
Only the Western donors and loaners have the financial muscle to demand and insist on an independent investigation so that the police and security officials who committed the killings of the Ambo schoolchildren and university students and those who authorized or condoned it could be brought to justice. I also know for a fact that the Western bankrollers of the regime will never call for an investigation because they don’t give a  s _ _t about Ethiopia’s children. I am calling them out though!!!
In my call for an investigation, I accuse the Obama Administration, the Cameron Government, the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as the silent aiders and abettors before and after the fact in the commission of crimes against humanity in Ethiopia. They know in their own laws that those who aid and abet directly or indirectly in the commission of a crime are just as guilty as those who actually committed the crime.  George Bush said, “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.”  Well said.
I have a personal confession to make. Perhaps it will help my reader understand why I am hopping mad about the massacre of Ambo University and high school students and others. The Ambo massacres are not mere issues of human rights advocacy. They are personal.  As I imagine things, I tell myself that in a different place and in a different time, the massacred students could have been MY students taking my courses. They could have been in my lecture classes or sitting in my advanced special topics seminars.  I would have known each one of them by name. I would have read their papers and graded their exams. I would have stopped them on campus and asked them why they missed class and enjoy watching them squirm trying to come up with excuses. I would have challenged them to achieve academic excellence. They could have been my advisees. I could have mentored them for a career in the legal profession or other areas of public policy. I could have written them recommendation letters. I may even have been able to help place the most able ones at some of the best graduate and professional schools in the world. They could have been MY students!!!
I would have been very proud to have them as MY students.  I would have challenged them to think critically. I would have challenged them not to think outside the box but to make their own thought boxes. I would have taught them to challenge the orthodoxy of ideas and always be skeptical of dogma and ideologies. I would have taught them to be open and independent-minded and act on evidence instead of hunches and emotions.  Above all, I would have taught them to stand up for their beliefs and never, never back down from speaking truth to tyranny. How I would have been proud to be their teacher and mentor!
Just as I believe Ethiopia’s youth are Ethiopia’s future, I also believe America’s youth are America’s future. American college and university students have been the tip of the spear in social and political change. So have Ethiopian university students. From the days of the Freedom Rides to the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley to the anti-war movement in the 1960s, American university students remained in the vanguard of social and political change. So were Ethiopian university students from the days of imperial rule.
Things changed on American campuses on May 4, 1970 at Kent State University in Ohio when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on unarmed college students firing 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds. Those students were protesting President Nixon’s expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. The Kent State massacres were the only time in American history that tens of millions of American university and high school students went on strike and closed down their institutions. The Kent State killings were the straw that broke the camel’s back. By 1973, the Vietnam War had effectively ended as the U.S. began withdrawing its combat units.
For the past 44 years, the U.S. government has refused to acknowledge responsibility for the Kent State killings. That has not stopped patriotic Americans from seeking accountability for the massacre, including efforts to hold the U.S. government accountable before the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The Kent State killers may never be brought to justice, but the ongoing efforts on their behalf sends a clear message to the U.S. government that it cannot use its armed forces (or its drones) to kill citizens for expressing their dissenting political beliefs.
The Ambo University and high school students and others at least deserve as much as the Kent State University students. We must never stop demanding justice for them before domestic courts or international tribunals.  I call for an investigation not only to name and shame the regime’s international supporters but also because I believe, as did James Russell Lowell, that “Truth (will not) forever (remain) on the scaffold, (nor) Wrong (remain) forever on the throne.” I believe that “behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.”
Speak up and demand justice for the massacred Ambo University and high school students and others!
When Ambo University students were massacred, not all of Addis Ababa University students came out. Many remained silent. Mekele University students did not protest. They stayed put and remained silent. Students at Bahr Dar, Gondar, Dire Dawa and other universities also remained silent.
Silence in the face of crimes against humanity – my silence, your silence, the silence of the Obama Administration, the Cameron Government, the European Union, the World Bank, the IMF and the African Union — is the real criminal as we have learned from Martin Neimoller, the German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor:
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
I feel the same way as Nimoller.
When they came for the Amharas “sefaris from North Gojam” in Bench Maji,
When they ethnically cleansed the Amharas in Benishangul,
I remained silent;
I was not an Amhara.
When they hunted down and killed the Anuaks in Gambella,
I remained silent;
I was not an Anuak.
When they strafed and bombed the Ogadenis and burned their villages,
I remained silent;
I was not an Ogadeni.
When they built dams and damned the Omotic peoples,
I remained silent;
I was not Mursi, Suri, Nyangatom, Dizi or Me’en.
When they massacred Oromo students in Ambo,
I remained silent;
I was not an Oromo student.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
For me, it does not matter if you are an Oromo, a Tigrean, an Anuak, a Gurage, an Amhara, an Ogadeni, a Mursi… For me, you are an Ethiopian. I love you just as you are! I will NEVER, NEVER remain silent when you are victimized by human wrongs and deprived of your human rights!
Lately, I have been cross with Barack Obama. In as much as I was his staunchest supporter in 2008, I am his staunchest critic in 2014 on his human rights (wrongs) policy in Africa. Regardless, I will always agree with his fundamental values about America. “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America—there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America—there’s the United States of America.”
For me there is not an Oromo, a Tigrean, an Amhara, a Gambellan, an Ogadeni, a Mursi, a Gurage… Ethiopian – there is only an Ethiopian. For me, our humanity in our Ethiopianity is infinitely more important than our identity in our ethnicity. This is my simple creed!!!
Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

The “Farce” of U.S. Diplocrisy

The “Farce” of U.S. Diplocrisy

by Alemayehu G. Mariam
Is the Obama Administration’s human rights policy a “farce”?
Last week U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Syrian president Bashar al-Assad a “terrorist” criminal and called Assad’s electoral plans a “farce”. “Assad’s is making partnership with terrorist elements, attracting terrorists and engaging in terrorist activities against his own people.” Assad’s planned presidential elections are “staged elections [that] are a farce. They’re an insult. They are a fraud on democracy, on the Syrian people and on the world.”President Barack Obama and his Human Rights policy
I do not doubt that Assad is a scourge on the Syrian people and one of the top five criminals against humanity in the Twenty-First Century. In May 2007, in a single-candidate referendum, Bashar was “elected” president for a second seven-year term “winning” 97.6  percent of the votes. At that time, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, “The United States is concerned by reports that the Syrian regime has used intimidation to restrict the candidate pool and threats of reprisal to discourage political dissent. President al-Assad is again denying the right of the Syrian people to an open, transparent and fully participatory political environment.” There is nothing new about Assad’s “farcical staged elections”.
In March 2011, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended the bloodthirsty Assad (who massacred thousands of Syrian civilians using chemical weapons at least 14 times since last October).  “There is a different leader in Syria now. Many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer.” In less than three years, Assad the “reformer” had morphed into Assad the “terrorist” and genocider.
Kerry’s condemnatory words against Assad raise parallel questions in my mind. Could it be reasonably said that the Obama Administration’s human rights policy is diplomatically “staged” and a “farce”? Is it a “fraud [perpetrated] on the world”? Is it “an insult to humanity” and human rights? Does the Obama Administration practice human rights diplomacy by hypocrisy or “diplocrisy”, (a neologism I coined to describe the barefaced hypocrisy of the Administration’s global human rights policy)? One should be careful pointing an accusatory index finger at others unmindful that three fingers are pointing at him.
In April 2013, Secretary Kerry dismissed the election of Nicolás Maduro as president of Venezuela. Maduro won that election by a razor thin margin of 50.66 percent of the votes. When opposition leader Henrique Capriles demanded a recount, Kerry chimed in. “We think there ought to be a recount… Obviously, if there are huge irregularities, we are going to have serious questions about the viability of that [Maduro] government.” White House spokesman Jay Carney also issued a statement calling for a recount of all the votes.
When Zimbabwe held its presidential election in August 2013, Kerry said, “Make no mistake: in light of substantial electoral irregularities reported by domestic and regional observers, the United States does not believe that the results announced today represent a credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people… The balance of evidence indicates that today’s announcement was the culmination of a deeply flawed process.” Mugabe “won” that “election” by 61 percent of the votes.
In May 2010 when the late Meles Zenawi claimed 99.6 percent victory in the parliamentary elections, the U.S. brushed it off with the obligatory expression of “concern” and “disappointment”. White House National Security Spokesman Mike Hammer said, “We are concerned that international observers found that the elections fell short of international commitments. We are disappointed that U.S. Embassy officials were denied accreditation and the opportunity to travel outside of the capital on Election Day to observe the voting.  The limitation of independent observation and the harassment of independent media representatives are deeply troubling. An environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place even before Election Day…” Was the 2010 “parliamentary election” in Ethiopia a “staged election that was a farce”? Was it “an insult and a fraud on democracy, on the Ethiopian people and on the world”?
I admit that there could be no beauty contest among warthogs but it is noteworthy that the U.S. condemned  Bashar for “winning” the presidency  by 97.6  percent of the votes in a single-candidate referendum while turning a blind eye to Meles Zenawi’s  parliamentary electoral victory  by 99.6 percent in a “multiparty election”.
Understanding the Obama human rights doctrine
The Obama doctrine on human rights seems pretty straightforward. Human rights policy making is essentially a choice between the lesser of two (d)evils. The world is full of nasty “S.O.Bs” like Assad, Mugabe and Maduro who commit crimes against humanity. Then there are nice “S.O.Bs” like Egypt’s el-Sisi, Uganda’s Museveni, Rwanda’s Kagame and the late Meles Zenawi who commit crimes against humanity as a pastime. The difference between the two sets of (d)evils is that the latter are our “S.O.B.s”. They do our bidding. IN return, they get free passes. We give them billions of dollars in handouts every year.
In 2008, candidate Obama lamented the pervasive “cynicism” in the “conventional foreign policy thinking in Washington”. He said “one of the enemies we have to fight [is] not just terrorists,…  it’s also cynicism.” Six years into his presidency, Obama’s supporters in the human rights community believe he has thrown them right under the Cynicism Bus. Ken Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, recently observed, “President Obama has disappointed many by failing to make human rights a priority.” His “readiness to compromise” on critical human rights issues “leaves the impression that he is not committed to the human rights ideal.” It seems Obama has forgotten “that people around the world share a common desire for freedom and respect for their rights.”
When President Obama visited Accra, Ghana in 2009, he told young Africans that “History is on the side of brave Africans’. He assured them, “You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people.” Recently, Obama had a chance encounter with one of those young and brave Africans from Ethiopia who reminded him of the high price exacted by the “enemy” called “cynicism”. At a San Jose, California fundraiser, Ethiopian-born journalist and activist Abebe Gellaw had the following exchange with  President Obama as posted on the official White House website:
[Abebe Gellaw] AUDIENCE MEMBER:  President Obama!  Freedom for Ethiopia!  Freedom!  Freedom for Ethiopia, sir!
THE PRESIDENT:  Hold on.  I agree with you, although why don’t I talk about it later because I’m just about to finish.  (Laughter.)  You and me, we’ll talk about it.  I’m going to be coming around.
[Abebe Gellaw]AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible)–
THE PRESIDENT:  There you go.
[Abebe Gellaw] AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible) –
THE PRESIDENT:  I agree with you.
[Abebe Gellaw] AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT:  I want to hear from you.
[Abebe Gellaw] AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back.  You kind of screwed up my ending, but that’s okay.  (Laughter and applause.)  That’s okay. And we’ve got free speech in this country — (applause) — which is great, too.
Thank God we have freedom of speech in America. An ordinary journalist and human rights activist can stand up and freely  speak up to the President of the United States without fear of arrest, detention, persecution or torture. Bothe President Obama and Abebe were speaking in the same sentiments. President Obama joked that Abebe had “screwed up the ending” of his speech. Abebe was seriously protesting that Obama’s policy had “screwed up” his country of birth.
The important fact is that the most powerful man in the world and an ordinary citizen could face off on the world stage because they both believe in freedom, particularly the freedom of speech. IN contrast, the millions of Abebe Gellaws in Ethiopia for whom  Abebe Gellaw lifted his voice in San Jose do not have freedom of speech or of religion, or the right to assemble or petition for grievances. That’s is why Abebe shouted out, “President Obama!  Freedom for Ethiopia!”
I do not doubt that President Obama agrees there should be freedom of speech and other freedoms in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa. The question is the disconnect between his lofty words of freedom and his unwavering support for African dictators. If Obama truly believes in freedom of speech in Ethiopia, why doesn’t he (or his Secretary of State, ambassadors and representatives) exercise his freedom of speech and call for the release of imprisoned Ethiopian journalists and bloggers such as  Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye, Asmamaw Hailegeorgis, eelancers Tesfalem Waldyes, Edom Kassaye, Abel Wabella, Atnaf Berhane, Mahlet Fantahun, Natnail Feleke, Zelalem Kibret, and Befekadu Hailu, to name just a few.
Obama surely must know freedom ain’t free. Talk of freedom is cheap. It is a dime a dozen. Freedom is priceless; and in Ethiopia freedom comes at an extremely high price in Ethiopia. Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye and the others are paying up for their freedom by sacrificing their liberties. They languish in jails that are an insult to humanity; their very existence is a crime against humanity. Nearly 200 unarmed protesters in 2005 paid for their freedom with their lives. Tens of thousands paid for their lived over a quarter century of tyranny. Their killers today cling to the highest offices in the land. It is no exaggeration to say Obama keeps them in office by handing them billions of dollars every year. Dambissa Moyo, the noted African economist and author of “Dead Aid” reports that, “in Ethiopia a whopping 97 percent of the government’s budget derives from foreign aid.” The U.S. is the sugar daddy of the dictatorial regime in Ethiopia! Ninety million Ethiopians today are paying for their basic humanity by suffering the indignities, injustice and abuse of a gang of vicious thugs and corrupt ignoramuses palming themselves off as leaders.
It is impossible to distinguish between Obama’s human rights policies and principles from his human rights palaver. He drew an imaginary “red line” for Assad and told him not to cross it by using chemical weapons of mass destruction against the Syrian people. Just over the past several months, Assad has used such weapons at least 14 times.  For African dictators, Obama has given them the green light to go through the red light of human rights criminality.
If the Obama Administration does not have true commitment to enforcement of human rights principles, why does it bother to make grandiose statements that create the audacity of hope in the minds and hearts of millions of oppressed peoples throughout the world? Does the Administration believe that people are stupid and dumb and are unable to see the incongruity between his words and actions? Why does Obama make statements on human rights that make him look duplicitous, hypocritical and cynical? Could it be that Obama really believes that African thugtators in time will be born again into liberal democrats with the proper amount of human rights evangelization? Do dandelions grow up to be roses?
A proposal for a U.S. human rights and human wrongs policy
Obama is said to be a “realist” in foreign policy. His “Realpolitik” subordinates moral and political values to strategic national interests and practical considerations. In other words, he will talk a good human rights and human wrongs talk, but when push comes to shove, he will sacrifice human rights at the altar of human wrongs. He will talk about  ending tyranny and establishing democracy in the world but never at the cost of short-term narrow conceptions of American national interest.
As a realist, Obama must formulate a “U.S. human wrongs policy”, at least for Africa, founded on the principle that given the massive and unending violations of internationally recognized human rights in Africa, the U.S. could not realistically formulate and implement a human rights policy.  The basic tenets of a “realist” “U.S. human wrongs policy” would be based on the following simple propositions:
Africa is simply not worthy of human rights as imagined or                        practiced in the West.
“Stability and peace” are the utmost and paramount concerns of U.S. policy in Africa. Crimes against humanity by African leaders will be ignored to the extent that such crimes could result in destabilization and conflict. (For instance, Silva Kir and Reik Machar in South Sudan will be absolved of any liability for all of the crimes they committed including murder, extermination, forcible transfer of population, imprisonment, torture, rape and ethnic genocide.)
Stealing elections, corruption and abuse of power in Africa will be tolerated so long as African regimes fully support U.S. global and regional interests including the U.S. “war on terror”.
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four essential freedoms for people “everywhere in the world” are no longer applicable to Africa. Roosevelt’s vision for the principles of U.S. engagement with a brave free world facing the darkness of tyranny shall be modified and qualified. “We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world (except in Africa). The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world (except in Africa). The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world (except in Africa). The fourth is freedom from fear… [so]  that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world (except in Africa).
Eleanor Roosevelt’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all of the other human rights conventions that have been spawned by the Declaration shall be practiced everywhere in the world, except in Africa.
I believe a real realist and practitioner of “Realpolitik” in U.S. human rights policy will openly embrace the foregoing principles of a U.S. human wrongs policy. Human rights advocates and human rights abusers will have a clear understanding of U.S. values, principles and policies in Africa. There will be no misunderstandings and miscommunications about the intentions or aims of U.S. policy in Africa. Human rights advocates will have little to say on a U.S. human wrongs policy. They will have to bite their lips. Most of all, Africa’s dictators will get the just recognition they deserve for their loyal service. The U.S. cannot pretend not to know them the morning after the sleepover.
Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

The “Farce” of U.S. Diplocrisy

The “Farce” of U.S. Diplocrisy

by Alemayehu G. Mariam
Is the Obama Administration’s human rights policy a “farce”?
Last week U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Syrian president Bashar al-Assad a “terrorist” criminal and called Assad’s electoral plans a “farce”. “Assad’s is making partnership with terrorist elements, attracting terrorists and engaging in terrorist activities against his own people.” Assad’s planned presidential elections are “staged elections [that] are a farce. They’re an insult. They are a fraud on democracy, on the Syrian people and on the world.”President Barack Obama and his Human Rights policy
I do not doubt that Assad is a scourge on the Syrian people and one of the top five criminals against humanity in the Twenty-First Century. In May 2007, in a single-candidate referendum, Bashar was “elected” president for a second seven-year term “winning” 97.6  percent of the votes. At that time, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, “The United States is concerned by reports that the Syrian regime has used intimidation to restrict the candidate pool and threats of reprisal to discourage political dissent. President al-Assad is again denying the right of the Syrian people to an open, transparent and fully participatory political environment.” There is nothing new about Assad’s “farcical staged elections”.
In March 2011, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended the bloodthirsty Assad (who massacred thousands of Syrian civilians using chemical weapons at least 14 times since last October).  “There is a different leader in Syria now. Many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer.” In less than three years, Assad the “reformer” had morphed into Assad the “terrorist” and genocider.
Kerry’s condemnatory words against Assad raise parallel questions in my mind. Could it be reasonably said that the Obama Administration’s human rights policy is diplomatically “staged” and a “farce”? Is it a “fraud [perpetrated] on the world”? Is it “an insult to humanity” and human rights? Does the Obama Administration practice human rights diplomacy by hypocrisy or “diplocrisy”, (a neologism I coined to describe the barefaced hypocrisy of the Administration’s global human rights policy)? One should be careful pointing an accusatory index finger at others unmindful that three fingers are pointing at him.
In April 2013, Secretary Kerry dismissed the election of Nicolás Maduro as president of Venezuela. Maduro won that election by a razor thin margin of 50.66 percent of the votes. When opposition leader Henrique Capriles demanded a recount, Kerry chimed in. “We think there ought to be a recount… Obviously, if there are huge irregularities, we are going to have serious questions about the viability of that [Maduro] government.” White House spokesman Jay Carney also issued a statement calling for a recount of all the votes.
When Zimbabwe held its presidential election in August 2013, Kerry said, “Make no mistake: in light of substantial electoral irregularities reported by domestic and regional observers, the United States does not believe that the results announced today represent a credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people… The balance of evidence indicates that today’s announcement was the culmination of a deeply flawed process.” Mugabe “won” that “election” by 61 percent of the votes.
In May 2010 when the late Meles Zenawi claimed 99.6 percent victory in the parliamentary elections, the U.S. brushed it off with the obligatory expression of “concern” and “disappointment”. White House National Security Spokesman Mike Hammer said, “We are concerned that international observers found that the elections fell short of international commitments. We are disappointed that U.S. Embassy officials were denied accreditation and the opportunity to travel outside of the capital on Election Day to observe the voting.  The limitation of independent observation and the harassment of independent media representatives are deeply troubling. An environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place even before Election Day…” Was the 2010 “parliamentary election” in Ethiopia a “staged election that was a farce”? Was it “an insult and a fraud on democracy, on the Ethiopian people and on the world”?
I admit that there could be no beauty contest among warthogs but it is noteworthy that the U.S. condemned  Bashar for “winning” the presidency  by 97.6  percent of the votes in a single-candidate referendum while turning a blind eye to Meles Zenawi’s  parliamentary electoral victory  by 99.6 percent in a “multiparty election”.
Understanding the Obama human rights doctrine
The Obama doctrine on human rights seems pretty straightforward. Human rights policy making is essentially a choice between the lesser of two (d)evils. The world is full of nasty “S.O.Bs” like Assad, Mugabe and Maduro who commit crimes against humanity. Then there are nice “S.O.Bs” like Egypt’s el-Sisi, Uganda’s Museveni, Rwanda’s Kagame and the late Meles Zenawi who commit crimes against humanity as a pastime. The difference between the two sets of (d)evils is that the latter are our “S.O.B.s”. They do our bidding. IN return, they get free passes. We give them billions of dollars in handouts every year.
In 2008, candidate Obama lamented the pervasive “cynicism” in the “conventional foreign policy thinking in Washington”. He said “one of the enemies we have to fight [is] not just terrorists,…  it’s also cynicism.” Six years into his presidency, Obama’s supporters in the human rights community believe he has thrown them right under the Cynicism Bus. Ken Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, recently observed, “President Obama has disappointed many by failing to make human rights a priority.” His “readiness to compromise” on critical human rights issues “leaves the impression that he is not committed to the human rights ideal.” It seems Obama has forgotten “that people around the world share a common desire for freedom and respect for their rights.”
When President Obama visited Accra, Ghana in 2009, he told young Africans that “History is on the side of brave Africans’. He assured them, “You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people.” Recently, Obama had a chance encounter with one of those young and brave Africans from Ethiopia who reminded him of the high price exacted by the “enemy” called “cynicism”. At a San Jose, California fundraiser, Ethiopian-born journalist and activist Abebe Gellaw had the following exchange with  President Obama as posted on the official White House website:
[Abebe Gellaw] AUDIENCE MEMBER:  President Obama!  Freedom for Ethiopia!  Freedom!  Freedom for Ethiopia, sir!
THE PRESIDENT:  Hold on.  I agree with you, although why don’t I talk about it later because I’m just about to finish.  (Laughter.)  You and me, we’ll talk about it.  I’m going to be coming around.
[Abebe Gellaw]AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible)–
THE PRESIDENT:  There you go.
[Abebe Gellaw] AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible) –
THE PRESIDENT:  I agree with you.
[Abebe Gellaw] AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT:  I want to hear from you.
[Abebe Gellaw] AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back.  You kind of screwed up my ending, but that’s okay.  (Laughter and applause.)  That’s okay. And we’ve got free speech in this country — (applause) — which is great, too.
Thank God we have freedom of speech in America. An ordinary journalist and human rights activist can stand up and freely  speak up to the President of the United States without fear of arrest, detention, persecution or torture. Bothe President Obama and Abebe were speaking in the same sentiments. President Obama joked that Abebe had “screwed up the ending” of his speech. Abebe was seriously protesting that Obama’s policy had “screwed up” his country of birth.
The important fact is that the most powerful man in the world and an ordinary citizen could face off on the world stage because they both believe in freedom, particularly the freedom of speech. IN contrast, the millions of Abebe Gellaws in Ethiopia for whom  Abebe Gellaw lifted his voice in San Jose do not have freedom of speech or of religion, or the right to assemble or petition for grievances. That’s is why Abebe shouted out, “President Obama!  Freedom for Ethiopia!”
I do not doubt that President Obama agrees there should be freedom of speech and other freedoms in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa. The question is the disconnect between his lofty words of freedom and his unwavering support for African dictators. If Obama truly believes in freedom of speech in Ethiopia, why doesn’t he (or his Secretary of State, ambassadors and representatives) exercise his freedom of speech and call for the release of imprisoned Ethiopian journalists and bloggers such as  Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye, Asmamaw Hailegeorgis, eelancers Tesfalem Waldyes, Edom Kassaye, Abel Wabella, Atnaf Berhane, Mahlet Fantahun, Natnail Feleke, Zelalem Kibret, and Befekadu Hailu, to name just a few.
Obama surely must know freedom ain’t free. Talk of freedom is cheap. It is a dime a dozen. Freedom is priceless; and in Ethiopia freedom comes at an extremely high price in Ethiopia. Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye and the others are paying up for their freedom by sacrificing their liberties. They languish in jails that are an insult to humanity; their very existence is a crime against humanity. Nearly 200 unarmed protesters in 2005 paid for their freedom with their lives. Tens of thousands paid for their lived over a quarter century of tyranny. Their killers today cling to the highest offices in the land. It is no exaggeration to say Obama keeps them in office by handing them billions of dollars every year. Dambissa Moyo, the noted African economist and author of “Dead Aid” reports that, “in Ethiopia a whopping 97 percent of the government’s budget derives from foreign aid.” The U.S. is the sugar daddy of the dictatorial regime in Ethiopia! Ninety million Ethiopians today are paying for their basic humanity by suffering the indignities, injustice and abuse of a gang of vicious thugs and corrupt ignoramuses palming themselves off as leaders.
It is impossible to distinguish between Obama’s human rights policies and principles from his human rights palaver. He drew an imaginary “red line” for Assad and told him not to cross it by using chemical weapons of mass destruction against the Syrian people. Just over the past several months, Assad has used such weapons at least 14 times.  For African dictators, Obama has given them the green light to go through the red light of human rights criminality.
If the Obama Administration does not have true commitment to enforcement of human rights principles, why does it bother to make grandiose statements that create the audacity of hope in the minds and hearts of millions of oppressed peoples throughout the world? Does the Administration believe that people are stupid and dumb and are unable to see the incongruity between his words and actions? Why does Obama make statements on human rights that make him look duplicitous, hypocritical and cynical? Could it be that Obama really believes that African thugtators in time will be born again into liberal democrats with the proper amount of human rights evangelization? Do dandelions grow up to be roses?
A proposal for a U.S. human rights and human wrongs policy
Obama is said to be a “realist” in foreign policy. His “Realpolitik” subordinates moral and political values to strategic national interests and practical considerations. In other words, he will talk a good human rights and human wrongs talk, but when push comes to shove, he will sacrifice human rights at the altar of human wrongs. He will talk about  ending tyranny and establishing democracy in the world but never at the cost of short-term narrow conceptions of American national interest.
As a realist, Obama must formulate a “U.S. human wrongs policy”, at least for Africa, founded on the principle that given the massive and unending violations of internationally recognized human rights in Africa, the U.S. could not realistically formulate and implement a human rights policy.  The basic tenets of a “realist” “U.S. human wrongs policy” would be based on the following simple propositions:
Africa is simply not worthy of human rights as imagined or                        practiced in the West.
“Stability and peace” are the utmost and paramount concerns of U.S. policy in Africa. Crimes against humanity by African leaders will be ignored to the extent that such crimes could result in destabilization and conflict. (For instance, Silva Kir and Reik Machar in South Sudan will be absolved of any liability for all of the crimes they committed including murder, extermination, forcible transfer of population, imprisonment, torture, rape and ethnic genocide.)
Stealing elections, corruption and abuse of power in Africa will be tolerated so long as African regimes fully support U.S. global and regional interests including the U.S. “war on terror”.
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four essential freedoms for people “everywhere in the world” are no longer applicable to Africa. Roosevelt’s vision for the principles of U.S. engagement with a brave free world facing the darkness of tyranny shall be modified and qualified. “We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world (except in Africa). The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world (except in Africa). The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world (except in Africa). The fourth is freedom from fear… [so]  that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world (except in Africa).
Eleanor Roosevelt’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all of the other human rights conventions that have been spawned by the Declaration shall be practiced everywhere in the world, except in Africa.
I believe a real realist and practitioner of “Realpolitik” in U.S. human rights policy will openly embrace the foregoing principles of a U.S. human wrongs policy. Human rights advocates and human rights abusers will have a clear understanding of U.S. values, principles and policies in Africa. There will be no misunderstandings and miscommunications about the intentions or aims of U.S. policy in Africa. Human rights advocates will have little to say on a U.S. human wrongs policy. They will have to bite their lips. Most of all, Africa’s dictators will get the just recognition they deserve for their loyal service. The U.S. cannot pretend not to know them the morning after the sleepover.
Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

Silencing the Zone9 by hook or crook

by Hindessa Abdul
 
It has been over three weeks since close to a dozen journalists and bloggers were arrested, most of whom members of the blogging collective known as Zone 9. Their site, hosted in Google’s Blogger platform, was launched two years ago with a catching motto “We blog because we care.” They coined the name after a visit to the Zone 8 of the Kaliti prison, where a fellow journalist, Reeyot Alemu, is serving a five year sentence. Zone 9 is a metaphor to say the rest of the populace is also in jail but in a different cell block. No surprises, their page was blocked within weeks of its launch.An Ethiopian court granted police 10 more days to investigate six bloggers and journalists
Abel Wabela, Asmamaw W/Giorigis, Atnaf Berhane, Befekadu Hailu, Edom Kassaye, Mahlet Fantahun, Natnael Feleke, Tesfalem Weldyes, Zelalem Kebret have been locked up in the notorious Maekelawi in the north of Addis, where the tradition of torture is well alive and kicking.The bloggers were public servants,university professors,information technology professionals, full time journalists so on and so forth.
As it has become absurdly the norm, police had detained then started to investigate the alleged crimes, dashing the hopes of a speedy trial. So far the broad allegations are: working with a foreign organization that claim to be human rights group; conspiring to incite violence via the social media. An advisor to the Prime Minister put it as “criminal activities” without delving into specifics. Police have requested more time to investigate. The courts have no problem granting the wishes of the police at the expense of the detainees.
Some papers that came out in the last couple of days said, weeks after the arrest nobody knows the reason for their detention. However piecing together the words of police and close associates of the ruling party , there are clues to indicate where this thing is going to end up.
The dots
At the beginning of April, security officials detained Patrick Mutahi, a Kenyan national and a staff of Article 19 – a London based rights group working for the defense of freedom of expression — at the Bole International Airport. His earlier visits to the country (said to be five times) have been closely monitored.
Ironically Patrick’s travel to Ethiopia was related to a training on security and safety. Talking of safety, media watchdog groups train journalists in various skills. In recent years, with governments filtering the web, the subject of circumnavigating censorship; concealing the location from where blogs are posted have gained traction. Back in the early days of Internet filtering, the Paris based Reporters without Borders produced a famous manual called Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents to help protect journalists in otherwise unfriendly political systems.
While Patrick was deported back to his country after a day in custody, his cell phone was confiscated, leaving behind a trove of information.
Enter HRW
In March of this year Human Rights Watch published a report on the state of surveillance in Ethiopia. The 100 page report entitled: ‘They Know Everything We Do: Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia’ explains how security officials willy-nilly eavesdrop on the phone conversation of citizens. Here is a witness telling his encounter in the report:
“After some time I got arrested and detained. They had a list of people I had spoken with. They said to me, “You called person x and you spoke about y.” They showed me the list—there were three pages of contacts—it had the time and date, phone number, my name, and the name of the person I was talking with. “All your activities are monitored with government. We even record your voice so you cannot deny. We even know you sent an email to an OLF [Oromo Liberation Front] member.” I said nothing.”
Hence, the call log in Patrick’s phone will reveal all the individuals he had contacted. No matter what the conversations, it would be construed in a way that justifies the government’s paranoia.
TPLF insiders
A day after the detention of most of the suspects, Mimi Sebhatu, a close confidant of the Meles-Azeb family went on to her radio station and said the suspects had contact with Article 19. Mimi may have an inside knowledge not least because of her association with the inner circle as to her family’s history in the lucrative security business in the country.
In the closed court appearance police told the judges that some of the suspects travelled to Kenya and have received money and training from a human rights group. Police stopped short of mentioning who the rights group was.
TPLF run online media in North America are having a field day attacking Article 19 and the bloggers. They call the group “a neo-liberal extremist organization for hire, created for the sole reason of overthrowing democratically elected governments.” And the bloggers are guilty even before they are formally charged. “It’s a criminal act to make Addis Ababa turn into Ukraine’s Kiev for the sake of money, by working with the likes of ‘Article 19’ Eritrea and Egypt,” opined one.
So there should be no doubt as to what the charges will be associated with. The insiders have told us in no uncertain terms that it is all about Article 19. We, surly, will stay tuned.

Many Saudi-deported Ethiopians ‘caught trying to return’


May 20,2014

 

76943In December of last year, Saudi deported more than 160,000 Ethiopians working in the kingdom on grounds that they lacked the necessary documentation.
World Bulletin / News Desk
Ethiopian authorities have been alarmed by a surge in the number of people previously deported by Saudi Arabia who are trying to return to the oil-rich kingdom despite a government ban on traveling there for work.
Over 1200 would-be migrants were arrested recently as they tried to cross the border into Somaliland, from which traffickers had promised to take them to Yemen by boat and from there to Saudi Arabia, Tassew Chalew, Harari regional state police commander, told Anadolu Agency.
“They were caught in the 30 days since a day before,” Chalew said. “Just three days ago, their number stood at 700.”
According to Chalew, many of those arrested were previously deported by Saudi Arabia for illegal residence.
“Most of them are the same ones who were deported recently from Saudi Arabia,” Chalew, who is also responsible for external relations, told AA.
Saudi Arabia has deported hundreds of thousands of foreign workers since the government introduced new regulations on undocumented workers in March 2013.
In December of last year, Saudi deported more than 160,000 Ethiopians working in the kingdom on grounds that they lacked the necessary documentation.
And although the Ethiopian government claims to have created more than four million new jobs over the last three years, many Ethiopians still appear willing to make the perilous journey through Somalia and Yemen in hopes of finding employment in Saudi Arabia.
Chalew said the arrested immigrants had been returned to their respective families.
“The Ethiopians [who were] prevented from crossing to Somaliland underwent a rehabilitation process offered by the government in collaboration with the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM),” Chalew said.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Ethiopian Bloggers, journos court case adjourned; two more detained at the scene

Ethiopian Bloggers, journos court case adjourned; two more detained at the scene

Ethiopian Bloggers, journos court case adjourned; two more detained at the scene

Tesfalem and Zelalem being escorted to the Court today.
Journalist Tesfalem Waldeyes and Blogger Zelalem Kibret escored by armed police in Court today (picture Courtesy of Twitter updates)
May 07, 2014
The closed trail of three of the six detained members of the bloggers’ collective, Zone 9 and three other journalists that was held today  in the Arada First Instance Court First Bench , Addis Abeba, has been adjourned to May 17, 2014 according to sources who were in the court premises. The three bloggers that appeared before the court today were Atnaf Berahane, Natnael Feleke, Zelalem Kiberet, and 3 journalists; Edom Kassaye, Tesfalem Weldeyes and Asmamaw Hailegorgis. The remaining bloggers; Befekadu Hailu, Mahlet Fantahun and Abel Wabella are expected to appear before the court tomorrow.
Although none of the detainees have officially been charged yet, sources indicated that according to the defendants’ lawyer police is accusing the detainees of “receiving finance & materials from foreign sources, links with terrorism designated Diaspora based groups” and thus asked for more time to conduct investigation as there are “still few others yet at large and are suspected of having links with the detainees”.
According to online updates and witness statements, the detainees looked “frail and tortured” while others felt they looked “strong and full of hope”. Some had waved and smiled to families and friends.
Meanwhile, twitter updates by those that attended the court proceedings show that two more people have been detained outside the Court premises today. Kiya Tsegaye, a lawyer by profession and contributor to print outlets in Addis Abeba was detained at the scene for what witnesses believed  ”taking the photographs of the detainees”. Similarly,  Solomon Seyoum, an editor at Finote Netsanet, the voice of the opposition Party Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), was also arrested by the police.
The male prisoners were handcuffed and were escorted in and out of the court by a number of armed federal police officers.
Follow the #Freezone9bloggers hashtag on Twitter for more updates and reports on the issue.

Ethiopians should stand together to replace TPLF (video)

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May 8, 2014
To the Ethiopian people, this is now a call to all of us, to not lose our focus. That means we must refuse to feed on these ethnic or religious problems or we will helped them achieve their goal. Do not be tricked into hating your neighbors–whom we are to love– in order to keep the ethnic apartheid regime of the TPLF in perpetual power. Instead, the rights we all have wanted for the last 23 years are truth, freedom, justice, equality, accountability and prosperity. This is not the right of one ethnic group, but the right of everyone in the country, including those who are not part of the TPLF/EPRDF.
Obang Metho’s message
All of us Ethiopians should try to stand together to replace this ethnic hatred regime with a better system where neither the Oromo or the Afar or anyone else is excluded from the benefits of citizenship. Now is not the time to lose sight of the bigger goals, which is a free Ethiopia for all. Because of this, other groups cannot stay on the sidelines. We should have learned how to defeat their favorite manipulative tactics by now, since they use them repeatedly.
We know our beautiful country of Ethiopia is not perfect and we know many of our problems are not only recent, but go back much further than the last 23 years of TPLF/EPRDF rule. To resolve these problems, we must do it as a family. In any family with a conflict, they must come together and talk about the pain, reconcile and make meaningful changes so they can forgive each other and move their family on to a better future. These issues should not be passed on, but resolved by the present, not next, generation.
Whether we Ethiopians agree or not with many issues, our ancestors have given us much in common. They lived together, intermarried and passed on their blood to those now living. This mixture of blood, which runs through the veins of each one of our ethnic groups, gives us life and nourishment to carry on as a one people. Even more importantly, we Ethiopians do not only share the land, language, and customs, but what we really share is the same Maker of our lives, a Holy God who views his children equally, regardless of ethnicity. With God there is no favoritism.
Dear fellow Ethiopians, we cannot give in to ethnic hatred, bitterness, and revenge, which is like giving our lives up for destruction and passing on the curse to our descendants. Worse yet, it is totally misusing the gifts God gave to us; gifts meant to become a blessing to others.
Let the death of these Oromo students and Afar civilians, the pain of those wounded, the grief of family members facing the loss of family, the suffering of those locked up in jail, the hardship of all Ethiopians who are not seeing any future in this country, the mothers who cannot feed their children, the orphans who have no family to care for them, and those Ethiopians living in poverty and misery, bring us to humbly love God and neighbor in ways that will change our land. Let us start seeing others as ourselves. In the eyes of God, there is no us and them for we are all created in the image of God.
As we mourn for these people, let us start talking to each other rather than talking about other. May God heal the hard spots in our hearts where we have been carrying hatred and bitterness instead of loving one another for our humanity has no boundaries. With changed hearts and forgiveness of self and others, a new, more unified and more prosperous Ethiopia for all is possible. Let us stand together for what is right and good, starting today.
May the rivers of love, forgiveness, kindness, acceptance, and justice overflow from our people, bringing life and blessings not only to Ethiopia but to Africa and the world.

Ethiopian bloggers allege being beaten in detention

May9/2014
Ethiopian bloggers allege being beaten in detention
Addis Ababa (AFP) – Three Ethiopian bloggers appeared in court Thursday with two alleging they had been beaten while in detention, a case that has been condemned internationally as an assault on press freedom.
The three are part of a group of nine bloggers and journalists accused by police of “serious crimes”, with the other six having appeared in court a day earlier. Thursday’s hearing was held in closed session.
None have yet been charged, with police requesting more time to investigate their case.
“The detainees told the presiding judge that they were beaten by the police investigators under their feet and slapped and punched on their faces,” defence lawyer Amha Mekonen told AFP.
But she said the police had denied the claim, saying “no one had touched” the detainees.
On April 25 and 26, six members of the blogging collective Zone Nine and three journalists were arrested by police, with the government saying they were being investigated for “serious crimes”, without elaborating.
The arrests prompted an outcry from rights groups, with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calling them “one of the worst crackdowns against free expression” in the country, while Amnesty International said it was part of a “long trend of arrests and harassment of human rights defenders.”
Ethiopia has one of the most closed press environments in the world, the CPJ says, with at least 49 journalists forced into exile — a figure only beaten by Iran and Somalia.
Ethiopia has also been accused of cracking down on independent media and doling out heavy sentences for journalists under controversial anti-terror legislation.
The six who appeared in court Wednesday will next appear on May 17. The three in court Thursday will next appear on May 18.
US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Ethiopia to allow greater freedoms for civil society and journalists, during a visit last week, expressing concern for the group.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has condemned the arrests, warning the country is increasingly muzzling freedom of expression under the guise of fighting terrorism.