Open Letter to European Envoys in Addis Ababa
12 June, 2009 | Robele Ababya
Excellencies,
Subject: Judge Birtukan, Artist Teddy & other political prisoners
illegally held in TPLF jails
The months of May and June will perpetually carry indelible exhibits of
fallen martyrs silenced forever by the guns of the infamous security
forces under the direct command of Meles Zenawi in the aftermath of
the historic election of 15 May 2005. At this election the ruling regime
was soundly defeated but held on to power by unconstitutionally
declaring a state of emergency and throwing the victors of that election
including Judge Birtukan to jail.
History will record the sacrifice of the martyrs and the next generation
will read the wailing of mothers, the deep sorrow of fathers, siblings,
friends over the loss of their loved ones; they will read about millions of
Ethiopians who had voted and won in that election and cruelly denied
victory. The European Observer Mission under the Leadership of
Honourable Anna Gomez shall be remembered for ever in the annals of
Ethiopian history for declaring the election neither free nor fair; whereas
some powerful leaders in the Western democracies will be blamed for
not taking firm action against robbery of votes and continuing to give
direct budget support to an illegitimate government which is still
suppressing freedom of expression.
Excellencies,
The charismatic leader of the UDJP, Judge Birtukan Mideksa, has been
locked up for the last 164 days, and counting, in a congested dirty prison
cell infested with rodents. She has been denied her constitutional right of
access to her lawyer or receiving visitors except her septagerian mother
and her lovely five-year old daughter, Hale, who is cruelly forced to miss
the love of her mother Birtukan for the second time, the first one being
in 2005 when Birtukan and other illustrious leaders of Coalition for Unity
and Democracy (Kinijit) Party were brutally shoved to the same prison
for no other reason than winning a spectacular victory. This second
time, Judge Birtukan was whisked without court warrant to the
infamous Kaliti prison by ten armed plain-clothed thugs of the notorious
security forces under the direct command of Meles Zenawi. That
stalwart advocate of human rights and architect of peaceful change, the
Legendary Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, was rudely struck with the
butt of the gun by one of the thugs for protesting against the inhumane
treatment of Birtukan who had not shown any form of resistance. In
fact she could have been instructed by telephone to report to prison
officials, but the objective of the political authorities was to humiliate her
in public, demoralize her and demonstrate to her that there was no one to
come to her rescue. All these unprecedented atrocities alien to the
ancient Ethiopian culture were committed in broad day light against a
lady beloved to Ethiopians; it was singularly designed and ruthlessly
carried out by the ruling regime to intimidate the public ahead of the
2010 election rigged a priori.
democracies side with the masses by giving strong support to this
popular leader.
Excellencies,
The European civilization gave birth to the International Court of Justice
and the International Criminal Court. These two institutions are powerful
weapons to deter the abuses of basic human rights perpetrated among
others by despotic rulers like Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia and Al Bashir in
the Sudan in the 21st century. Freedom of expression in the EU is
guaranteed by law and therefore no individual is kept behind bars for
exercising that right. This in my opinion is the most supreme
achievement that will surely give hope to build a better future for human
beings to live together in harmony - bound by universal values common
to every individual on our planet Earth in which we all should have a fair
share. It is only if the bulk of humanity sees social justice and respect
for the rule of law that multiple burning issues of our time like
disarmament, climate change, poverty reduction will make sense to the
masses. Good leaders need to take the masses on board to fight
extremism born out of frustration due to abject poverty; to deter
violation of the rule of law such as the one prevailing in Ethiopia where
the constitution is merely a personal note book subject to editing and
interpreting by the Prime Minister as he sees fit.
With all due respect, the motivation of some Western leaders to work
with the illegitimate regime is mysterious and morally unacceptable in my
view. Forgive me for my audacity in saying so overcome by sincere
belief in democratic values and freedom of expression. The lukewarm
response to the robbery of votes in the election of 2005 disappointed the
Ethiopian people; it set a bad precedence to the rest of Africa as
subsequently seen in neighbouring Kenya and Zimbabwe which in their
turn emulated the robbery of votes and caused significant deaths and
destruction in their countries. In the case of these countries, however,
the Western leaders acted swiftly probably because the Ethiopian
example served them as a lesson. But to this day excessive abuse of
power of the Meles regime continues unabated.
Birtukan no doubt enjoys massive popular support as a future and
deserves the support of the democratic world. That support will prove
good investment. For now she is every minute of her existence subjected
to psychological and physical torture on the watch of envoys of
democratic donor countries funding the illegitimate brutal regime. Her 5-
year daughter, Hale, too is being tortured by being forced to miss her
mother for the second time. The grand old lady of 75 is baring the
heaving burden of caring for her daughter and granddaughter. It is
immoral to send one to jail for telling nothing but the TRUTH! The
question is why the taxpayers of the EU countries should support a
dying despotic regime of Meles that denies freedom of expression and
terrorizes the Ethiopian people in blatant and rampant breach of its own
constitution..
Excellencies,
The entire Horn of Africa Region is in political turmoil due to
brinkmanship of Al Bashir, Meles, Isaias, and War Lords in Somalia.
Meles gave a red carpet reception with full honours and threw a lavish
State Dinner at the Palace days after Bashir was issued a warrant of
arrest from the ICC for his crimes against humanity in Darfur. All Your
Excellencies did was boycott the Dinner in the form of protest for public
consumption. For in a matter of days thereafter, a total pledge of direct
support amounting to 2.5 billion US dollars of aid to the repressive TPLF
regime was headline news in several media outlets. People find it strange
that a dictator who is so much dependent on donor support for the
survival of his regime would hold a State Dinner in honour of one
accused of genocide and would dare inviting diplomats of donor nations,
on whose support he depends heavily, and gets away with showing
innocuous displeasure expressed by boycotting.
The debate at this material time is that donor aids are arguably siphoned
to corrupt officials at the source as well as at the receiving end; it has
the harmful effect of perpetuating dependency syndrome of the past half
century; it is increasing poverty in the African continent rather than
reducing it. It is argued that donor nations should consider injecting
substantial resources - over a short period in order to break the vicious
cycle of ingrained dependency - to large development projects while at
the same time holding African dictators accountable for their misrule and
corrupt practices and failure to uphold the rule of law. These dictators
should be told bluntly to stop their spending spree on military weapons,
for it would be immoral to burden taxpayers of donor nations for
senseless wars between impoverished African countries.
Some argue that the World Bank won concession, albeit a small one,
from the illegitimate government of Meles in forcing his regime to
suspend the NGO Law. The question is why Your Excellencies did
not go as far as demanding respect for human rights and the
immediate release of Judge Birtukan, Teddy Afro and all political
prisoners languishing in filthy prisons of the repressive regime.
For, boycotting the State dinner did not mean anything to thugs who
spent 30 years in the caves of Dedebit plotting the destruction of
Ethiopia.
Excellencies,
Judge Birtukan is a living idol in the minds and hearts of the Ethiopian
people as a symbol of truth, love, charismatic, intelligent and trustworthy
young leader.. The democratic world would do better in securing the
friendship of the masses by demanding the immediate and unconditional
release of this beloved icon, Birtukan. This move would be consistent
with the basic values of Western democracies predicated on liberty,
justice and pursuit of happiness.
It pains me that Birtukan was born to an environment of political chaos
exacerbated by exotic ideologies ushered in by elites of my generation
and imposed on the Ethiopian people at the height of the defunct Cold
War. To be born to an environment of political repression is not ones
choice; to not fight the injustice in situ is dereliction of ones civic duty
and an inexcusable cowardice. Birtukan is neither a coward nor derelict
in her civic duty. She fought and is fighting the bad governance in which
she grew up. She is a true democrat cherished by millions of Ethiopians
young and old.
The place of this is precious lady is in Menilik’s Palace - not in filthy
prisons!
The democratic Western world should set aside double standards and
usher in a new era of relationship with the Ethiopian people underpinned
by genuine respect for universal human values. This is the right thing to
do in order to obviate the looming prospect for intensified all-embracing
struggle including the use of arms. The Ethiopian people can no longer
tolerate the hell created in their homeland by the TPLF regime trading in
the name of the brave and pious people of Tigrai.
Excellencies,
A fierce storm of public protest is gathering holding the prospect of
explosion. The Ethiopian people are saying: ENOUGH of brinkmanship
of Meles leading their country into the abyss; ENOUGH of his grotesque
contempt for their flag, diverse culture and betrayal of national interests;
ENOUGH of his gross violation of basic human rights; ENOUGH of his
monopoly over all pillars of democracy and habitual lies; ENOUGH of his
selling of Ethiopian land to unscrupulous foreign investors; ENOUGH of
his regime trading in the name of the brave and pious people of Tigrai;
ENOUGH of his monopoly of the security forces and army where 98%
of top positions are held by high ranking officers hailing from his tribe.
Surly, Excellencies, it is not a good investment for the taxpayers of EU
nations in a country where only 2% of top positions in the army are
given to the rest of 94% of the other Ethiopians. This insidious scheme
of the ruling regime will fall apart with dire consequences.
The rising public impatience and anger can be reversed if the powers in
the Western democracies exert pressure on Meles. That done, all of the
following are achievable:
Robele Ababya
RAbabya@gmail.com
12 June, 2009 | Robele Ababya
Excellencies,
Subject: Judge Birtukan, Artist Teddy & other political prisoners
illegally held in TPLF jails
The months of May and June will perpetually carry indelible exhibits of
fallen martyrs silenced forever by the guns of the infamous security
forces under the direct command of Meles Zenawi in the aftermath of
the historic election of 15 May 2005. At this election the ruling regime
was soundly defeated but held on to power by unconstitutionally
declaring a state of emergency and throwing the victors of that election
including Judge Birtukan to jail.
- The regime in power
unleashed acts of terror
causing the death of hundreds
in cold blood and incarcerating
thousands of especially young
Ethiopian peaceful protesters
shaving their heads with
unsterilized blades
disregarding the spread of aids
scourge of the time.
History will record the sacrifice of the martyrs and the next generation
will read the wailing of mothers, the deep sorrow of fathers, siblings,
friends over the loss of their loved ones; they will read about millions of
Ethiopians who had voted and won in that election and cruelly denied
victory. The European Observer Mission under the Leadership of
Honourable Anna Gomez shall be remembered for ever in the annals of
Ethiopian history for declaring the election neither free nor fair; whereas
some powerful leaders in the Western democracies will be blamed for
not taking firm action against robbery of votes and continuing to give
direct budget support to an illegitimate government which is still
suppressing freedom of expression.
Excellencies,
The charismatic leader of the UDJP, Judge Birtukan Mideksa, has been
locked up for the last 164 days, and counting, in a congested dirty prison
cell infested with rodents. She has been denied her constitutional right of
access to her lawyer or receiving visitors except her septagerian mother
and her lovely five-year old daughter, Hale, who is cruelly forced to miss
the love of her mother Birtukan for the second time, the first one being
in 2005 when Birtukan and other illustrious leaders of Coalition for Unity
and Democracy (Kinijit) Party were brutally shoved to the same prison
for no other reason than winning a spectacular victory. This second
time, Judge Birtukan was whisked without court warrant to the
infamous Kaliti prison by ten armed plain-clothed thugs of the notorious
security forces under the direct command of Meles Zenawi. That
stalwart advocate of human rights and architect of peaceful change, the
Legendary Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, was rudely struck with the
butt of the gun by one of the thugs for protesting against the inhumane
treatment of Birtukan who had not shown any form of resistance. In
fact she could have been instructed by telephone to report to prison
officials, but the objective of the political authorities was to humiliate her
in public, demoralize her and demonstrate to her that there was no one to
come to her rescue. All these unprecedented atrocities alien to the
ancient Ethiopian culture were committed in broad day light against a
lady beloved to Ethiopians; it was singularly designed and ruthlessly
carried out by the ruling regime to intimidate the public ahead of the
2010 election rigged a priori.
- The indomitable spirit of Birtukan is
getting stronger; she knows that she
has captured the hearts, soul and
minds of millions of Ethiopians and
friends of Ethiopia. Come what
may, the iron lady will never
surrender the precious treasure
she has captured – the trust and
love of her fellow citizens.
democracies side with the masses by giving strong support to this
popular leader.
Excellencies,
The European civilization gave birth to the International Court of Justice
and the International Criminal Court. These two institutions are powerful
weapons to deter the abuses of basic human rights perpetrated among
others by despotic rulers like Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia and Al Bashir in
the Sudan in the 21st century. Freedom of expression in the EU is
guaranteed by law and therefore no individual is kept behind bars for
exercising that right. This in my opinion is the most supreme
achievement that will surely give hope to build a better future for human
beings to live together in harmony - bound by universal values common
to every individual on our planet Earth in which we all should have a fair
share. It is only if the bulk of humanity sees social justice and respect
for the rule of law that multiple burning issues of our time like
disarmament, climate change, poverty reduction will make sense to the
masses. Good leaders need to take the masses on board to fight
extremism born out of frustration due to abject poverty; to deter
violation of the rule of law such as the one prevailing in Ethiopia where
the constitution is merely a personal note book subject to editing and
interpreting by the Prime Minister as he sees fit.
With all due respect, the motivation of some Western leaders to work
with the illegitimate regime is mysterious and morally unacceptable in my
view. Forgive me for my audacity in saying so overcome by sincere
belief in democratic values and freedom of expression. The lukewarm
response to the robbery of votes in the election of 2005 disappointed the
Ethiopian people; it set a bad precedence to the rest of Africa as
subsequently seen in neighbouring Kenya and Zimbabwe which in their
turn emulated the robbery of votes and caused significant deaths and
destruction in their countries. In the case of these countries, however,
the Western leaders acted swiftly probably because the Ethiopian
example served them as a lesson. But to this day excessive abuse of
power of the Meles regime continues unabated.
Birtukan no doubt enjoys massive popular support as a future and
deserves the support of the democratic world. That support will prove
good investment. For now she is every minute of her existence subjected
to psychological and physical torture on the watch of envoys of
democratic donor countries funding the illegitimate brutal regime. Her 5-
year daughter, Hale, too is being tortured by being forced to miss her
mother for the second time. The grand old lady of 75 is baring the
heaving burden of caring for her daughter and granddaughter. It is
immoral to send one to jail for telling nothing but the TRUTH! The
question is why the taxpayers of the EU countries should support a
dying despotic regime of Meles that denies freedom of expression and
terrorizes the Ethiopian people in blatant and rampant breach of its own
constitution..
Excellencies,
The entire Horn of Africa Region is in political turmoil due to
brinkmanship of Al Bashir, Meles, Isaias, and War Lords in Somalia.
Meles gave a red carpet reception with full honours and threw a lavish
State Dinner at the Palace days after Bashir was issued a warrant of
arrest from the ICC for his crimes against humanity in Darfur. All Your
Excellencies did was boycott the Dinner in the form of protest for public
consumption. For in a matter of days thereafter, a total pledge of direct
support amounting to 2.5 billion US dollars of aid to the repressive TPLF
regime was headline news in several media outlets. People find it strange
that a dictator who is so much dependent on donor support for the
survival of his regime would hold a State Dinner in honour of one
accused of genocide and would dare inviting diplomats of donor nations,
on whose support he depends heavily, and gets away with showing
innocuous displeasure expressed by boycotting.
The debate at this material time is that donor aids are arguably siphoned
to corrupt officials at the source as well as at the receiving end; it has
the harmful effect of perpetuating dependency syndrome of the past half
century; it is increasing poverty in the African continent rather than
reducing it. It is argued that donor nations should consider injecting
substantial resources - over a short period in order to break the vicious
cycle of ingrained dependency - to large development projects while at
the same time holding African dictators accountable for their misrule and
corrupt practices and failure to uphold the rule of law. These dictators
should be told bluntly to stop their spending spree on military weapons,
for it would be immoral to burden taxpayers of donor nations for
senseless wars between impoverished African countries.
Some argue that the World Bank won concession, albeit a small one,
from the illegitimate government of Meles in forcing his regime to
suspend the NGO Law. The question is why Your Excellencies did
not go as far as demanding respect for human rights and the
immediate release of Judge Birtukan, Teddy Afro and all political
prisoners languishing in filthy prisons of the repressive regime.
For, boycotting the State dinner did not mean anything to thugs who
spent 30 years in the caves of Dedebit plotting the destruction of
Ethiopia.
Excellencies,
Judge Birtukan is a living idol in the minds and hearts of the Ethiopian
people as a symbol of truth, love, charismatic, intelligent and trustworthy
young leader.. The democratic world would do better in securing the
friendship of the masses by demanding the immediate and unconditional
release of this beloved icon, Birtukan. This move would be consistent
with the basic values of Western democracies predicated on liberty,
justice and pursuit of happiness.
It pains me that Birtukan was born to an environment of political chaos
exacerbated by exotic ideologies ushered in by elites of my generation
and imposed on the Ethiopian people at the height of the defunct Cold
War. To be born to an environment of political repression is not ones
choice; to not fight the injustice in situ is dereliction of ones civic duty
and an inexcusable cowardice. Birtukan is neither a coward nor derelict
in her civic duty. She fought and is fighting the bad governance in which
she grew up. She is a true democrat cherished by millions of Ethiopians
young and old.
The place of this is precious lady is in Menilik’s Palace - not in filthy
prisons!
The democratic Western world should set aside double standards and
usher in a new era of relationship with the Ethiopian people underpinned
by genuine respect for universal human values. This is the right thing to
do in order to obviate the looming prospect for intensified all-embracing
struggle including the use of arms. The Ethiopian people can no longer
tolerate the hell created in their homeland by the TPLF regime trading in
the name of the brave and pious people of Tigrai.
Excellencies,
A fierce storm of public protest is gathering holding the prospect of
explosion. The Ethiopian people are saying: ENOUGH of brinkmanship
of Meles leading their country into the abyss; ENOUGH of his grotesque
contempt for their flag, diverse culture and betrayal of national interests;
ENOUGH of his gross violation of basic human rights; ENOUGH of his
monopoly over all pillars of democracy and habitual lies; ENOUGH of his
selling of Ethiopian land to unscrupulous foreign investors; ENOUGH of
his regime trading in the name of the brave and pious people of Tigrai;
ENOUGH of his monopoly of the security forces and army where 98%
of top positions are held by high ranking officers hailing from his tribe.
Surly, Excellencies, it is not a good investment for the taxpayers of EU
nations in a country where only 2% of top positions in the army are
given to the rest of 94% of the other Ethiopians. This insidious scheme
of the ruling regime will fall apart with dire consequences.
The rising public impatience and anger can be reversed if the powers in
the Western democracies exert pressure on Meles. That done, all of the
following are achievable:
- • YES the immediate release of Birtukan Mideksa, Teddy Afro and
all political prisoners CAN occur
• YES the gathering storm of public protest CAN change to calls
for peace and reconciliation with justice done for fallen martyrs
• YES the 2010 election CAN be peaceful, free and fair
• YES donor aid CAN be used with transparency and gratitude
• YES lasting friendship based on shared values CAN be assured
Robele Ababya
RAbabya@gmail.com
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