|
|
|
|
|
Realities in
Ethiopia, the Effect of HR2003 and the Regime’s reaction |
*Farah Abdulsamed (Kanada)
Ot 15, 2007
On October 2, following the passage
of HR2003 in the US Congress, the Ethiopian
ambassador to US, Mr. Samuel Asseffa,
hastily scribbled down a statement
condemning the legislation. Therefore, we
critically examine the 13-pragraph letter
and the essence of its content.
In his starting statement, Mr. Assefa
decries the legislation as irresponsible
which could create fresh obstacles to
Ethiopia’s bold efforts towards
comprehensive democratic reforms. He also
argued that the legislation would undermine
the regional stability.
I’m sure that (in the pit of his stomach)
Mr. Assefa himself is happy with the
decision and regards it as a positive step
towards stable and democratic Ethiopia. He
should know much better than anyone else in
Washington about the (non-existent)
democratic situation of the country he is
representing. No one doubts that more
Ethiopians are languishing in the jails
today than anytime before; thousands have
already lost their lives in the hands of the
regime; others disappeared; and the
remaining are living in fear with no end in
sight. It is therefore, true that this
legislation may hinder the bold efforts of
this regime in which it has been massacring,
jailing, intimidating, and terrorising its
own citizens.
Certainly the current oppressive Ethiopian
government, knowing its internal weaknesses,
tries its best to benefit from the turmoil
and civil strife that have dominated the
lives of many societies in the region. It
irresponsibly manipulates the situation and
divides the people, pitting one another. The
regime has deceitfully taken advantage of
the war on terror, turning some parts of the
country completely insecure and inaccessible
just to mislead the international community
and divert attention from its domestic
misdeeds. I have no doubt that the current
government is rarely concerned about the
well-being of its people, and even less
about other communities in the wider region.
We know the depth of the conflict with
Eritrea and the Ethiopian
government-sponsored mess in Somalia. This
together with the fact that it has frosty
relationship (at best) with Kenya, Sudan and
Djibouti speaks volumes of the Ethiopian
government’s stand and role in the
prevailing regional instability. Now every
sensible person may ask themselves how
democracy and justice in Ethiopia could
undermine the stability of the Horn of
African countries. However, I would have
accepted if the ambassador argued that this
legislation would destabilise the government
and weaken its grip on power.
Today’s Ethiopia is definitely different
from the picture the ambassador is trying to
depict about the country. The fact that the
system is terribly secretive and is
dominated by Tigrians gives lies to the
assertions of Mr. Assefa. One doesn’t need
to be an expert at contemporary Ethiopia to
understand the compositions of the National
Defence Force, the security agencies,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office
of EPRDF/TPLF. These are the core decision
makers of the country. The recent promotion
of some military officers (dominated by
Tigreans) is evidence against Mr. Assefa’s
argument of equality and openness.
Furthermore, before the election of 2005
Ministry of Federal Affairs was active in
controlling the regions – Afar, Gambela,
Somali and Binshangul, Gumuz. What is its
role now? Very passive – simply because
there is neither Tigrian Minister nor a
State Minister who could be trusted with the
responsibilities.
The ambassador unashamedly tried to present
the presence of some CUD leaders in the
hearing as an evidence of the firm
commitment his government has to implement
democracy and resolve differences in
dialogue. But he seems to have forgotten
that few may disagree that these individuals
were arrested and convicted simply because
they have opposed the government and
challenged it openly. I personally do not
know the CUD leaders and I’m by no means
here to judge them positively or otherwise.
I can’t imagine what sort of government
institutions they would have established had
they got the opportunity. But I have no
qualms to say that both their arrest and
release were purely political. It is well
known that the regime has a culture of
fixing intelligence around a decision
already taken.
Indeed, contrary to the claim of the
ambassador, the measure taken by the
Congress is therefore, great help to the
people of the Horn and a constructive advice
and guidance to the regime. The measure says
do not kill your people but help them; do
not rape, but protect; do not harass, but
comfort; do not abuse the power, but govern
responsibly – so what is wrong with it. Why
the government feels under pressure? Was it
so vulnerable?
The ambassador did repeatedly, but
selectively quoted Dr. Jendayi Frazier, the
Assistant Secretary of State for African
Affairs. But on many occasions the Assistant
Secretary criticised the regime for not
keeping its words and committing grave human
right abuses. She clearly expressed her
frustration over the situation in Ogaden and
the slow progress of democratising the
country. More importantly, Dr. Frazier put
it clearly that her major task was to serve
the American interest and not that of
Ethiopia. If the ambassador and his seniors
in Addis Ababa have an ounce of brain in
their heads, this could give them an
invaluable lesson to right the wrongs they
have been committing for the last sixteen
years and take care of their citizens.
In his statement, the ambassador mentioned
the UN report which, some months ago,
criticised Eritrea for supplying weapons to
the Somalia insurgents. But unfortunately he
failed to raise (or probably even remember
the existence of) the more recent UN report
which detailed the atrocities his government
has been undertaking in Ogaden – including
starvation and food and water blockade.
Surely, the legislation has proven that the
ambitions of TPLF leadership to dominate the
Horn of Africa politically and militarily in
the foreseeable future, sits closer to
fantasy than reality. They have entangled
themselves in Somalia problems; the conflict
with Eritrea is far from resolved yet; the
living cost is an issue felt everywhere in
the country; the economy is in tatters; and
the security is deteriorating faster than
they have planned for. Domestically, the
system is becoming increasingly unpopular,
vulnerable and threatened. It depends
heavily on military power and US’s
unconditional assistance. War on terror has
worked wonders for the regime
(internationally) as a short-term political
weapon, but will definitely fail it in the
not too distant future.
While we know the situation of the country,
the government has recently pledged to send
5000 troops to Darfur as part of AU/UN peace
keepers. There are Ethiopian peace keepers
in Burundi as well. All this is showing the
bizarre priorities of the regime – oppress
the people domestically and build spurious
international image. History is telling us
however, that military victory nearly always
failed to turn into political success. How
far can it survive then? The situation in
Ogaden is getting worse, Oromo is far from
stable, Amhara region is increasingly
getting volatile, tense in Southern people’s
region is brewing fast, and Tigrai region is
no more a secure place. Violence is
everywhere and shows no sign of ending. The
regime has no strategic direction to solve
the problems or even disentangle itself from
the mess it has created. Undoubtedly, TPLF
is so incompetent and poorly prepared to
face the challenges and come up with
alternative measures that can tackle the
social and economic difficulties it has
sown. Sadly, as the regime commits costly
political and social mistakes frequently, it
seems gravely detached from the truth and
deeply misinformed, running away with
baseless and shallow impressions of success.
Therefore, I’d advise Ambassador Assefa not
to waste his time and reputation by
criticising international communities for
seeing the atrocities and degradations his
government is subjecting to its citizens.
*The Author is Director Centre for
Development research and Advocacy based in
London and has published widely on Ethiopia.
He can be reached farahafey@Gmail.com |
|
|
|
|
