Ethiopians united can never be defeated!

By Alemayehu G. Mariam 9 February 2009

What Is Ethiopian Unity?

There are some who are working double overtime to make sure Ethiopia is strewn across the African continent like shards of broken ethnic glass. They have spent the last 18 years sleepless devising ways of defeating the people by separating them along ethnic, religious, cultural, regional and class lines. Now, we say emphatically: “Enough! Not This Time!” This is our time to come together and unite against a divisive, dastardly and devilish dictatorship. This is the time to stand up and declare: “Ethiopians united can never be defeated!” But what exactly is the “unity” which makes Ethiopians invincible? In its purest form, Ethiopian unity is a “soul-force” or “truth force” that dwells within the heart and mind of each patriotic Ethiopian and impels him or her to take a personal and public stand for the indivisibility of the Ethiopian nation under God and the one-ness of the Ethiopian people.
This “truth-force” has many manifestations. As a state of mind, it signifies the indisputable principle that every Ethiopian has the right to vote for the government of his/her choice and to live in a country where human rights are fully respected and the rule of law reigns supreme.
As a form of political advocacy and action, Ethiopian unity means working together on a common set of goals while respecting our differences; uniting around a common vision, agenda and dream and making a personal commitment to work with others on the basis of trust, honor and love of country.
As a spiritual experience, Ethiopian unity is about praying together — regardless of our faith — for the end of tyranny and dictatorship, and the blossoming of true brotherhood and sisterhood in equality, liberty and the rule of law. Ethiopian unity is quintessentially about working together to build a future based on the firm belief that the next generation of Ethiopians will not be victimized by a succession of dictators who cling to power by means of arbitrary arrests and detentions, extrajudicial killings, political persecution and stolen elections. It is ultimately about living free in a land where justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream!
Unity Does Not Mean There Are No differences
Ethnic division is an ugly fact of Ethiopian history nurtured and refined to its highest political form by the current dictators. One can not run away from it. But Ethiopian unity does not mean the complete absence of differences. The United States of America is “united” not on the basis of uniformity of culture, religion, race, class or ethnicity. Rather, diversity is the glue that holds Americans together. Americans from all walks of life live harmoniously under the rule of law which guarantees their individual rights to personal autonomy, ethnic and cultural identity and independent political activity. It is in the American melting pot that Americans of all backgrounds join hands to “form a more perfect union.” A unity where there are no differences is unnatural and unhealthy. Differences are to unity what alloys are to steel. Likewise Ethiopian unity must be forged in the hearts and minds of free men and women of all ethnic, cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds.
The Power of ONE: Each One of Us is a Unifying Force
Gandhi taught, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” If we want to see a more just and equitable society in Ethiopia, a country where the rule of law is supreme and where government fears its people, each one of us must act. Every Ethiopian is power for good or evil. We have to make the choice to be a force for good. By every thought we contemplate and act we perform, we can bring about greater unity and harmony among the people. This is a burden of responsibility we carry for ourselves now, and for the next generation. The power of one for good or evil can not be underestimated. We have seen for nearly two decades how one man with a small group of henchmen has been able to destroy an entire nation. What we must also see is that many individuals working together can heal the wounds inflicted upon our country and set it on course to its glorious destiny. Everything begins with the one: One step begins a thousand mile journey. One tree starts a forest. One bird heralds the arrival spring. One candle illuminates the enveloping darkness. One voice can speak for thousands. One hope, one dream can raise the spirit of millions. Each one of us has the Power of One. Let’s use it for the good of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people.
Understanding the Adversary and Extending an Olive Branch
What have we learned from the last 18 years of dictatorial rule in Ethiopia? What can we learn from the 2005 elections? How can we build coalitions to help advance democracy, freedom and human rights in Ethiopia? The last 18 years have taught us many lessons. We know that the current dictators of Ethiopia are politically and morally bankrupt, and have no legitimacy in the eyes of the people. We know their raison d’etre (reason for existence) is to cling to power by any and all means necessary. They have proven that they will lie, cheat, rob, steal, kill and do whatever it takes to keep themselves in power. We also know they thrive in a culture of corruption. Politics to them is the business of corruption. The dictators also know basic truths about themselves: They are despised by the vast majority of the people. They know after 18 years of misrule, squandering the country’s scarce resources on wars, useless projects and mindless adventures and social experiments they have little to show for it. (Recently, the World Bank reported that Ethiopia has been lagging in its infrastructure development [that is facilities, services and installations needed for the functioning of a society], as compared to other African countries.) They know they have committed so many unspeakable crimes that they dread the advent of that inevitable day when they will be held to account. They know they will never be able to win in the field of free political competition. The international community knows who they are too: war criminals, human rights violators and international outlaws. The ultimate truth about our adversaries is that they will employ a scorched earth policy if they believe they are at risk of losing power. For them it will be the old après moi le deluge (after me, the flood; or the Amharic equivalent of the donkey’s byword that she does not care if tall grasses never grow after she is gone.) For nearly two decades, they have used ethnic division to consolidate their power, and they will not hesitate to use the same strategy to dismember Ethiopia on their way out.
But there is also another truth we must know: Not all of those on the side of our adversaries are truly our adversaries. Our adversaries are not necessarily a monolith, a single block of rock. It is true that the ruthless crooks at the top are carved out of the same granite of corruption, cruelty and criminality. But there are many who just live under the dark shadow of this rock out of simple survival. They pretend to support the dictators, but in reality, they are sick and tired of living under the long dark shadow of the hard rock of dictatorship. They do not want to be the object of irrational hate, contempt and ridicule by their countrymen and women. They too want to live in peace and harmony with their brothers and sisters. We need to extend olive branches to each one of them so that they do not feel trapped in circumstances over which they have little control, and make it possible to join the true cause of democracy, freedom and human rights. It is not necessary to scare or humiliate them and push them deeper into desperation where they see only one option: go down with the dictators. We need to reassure them always that we bear no malice towards them, but we condemn unreservedly any intentional illegal and immoral acts they may have perpetrated against their countrymen and women.
How Do We Practice Diaspora Unity?
Unity is a combination of dialogue and action. It is fundamentally an affirmation of our humanity before ethnicity, nationality, political party, Africanity or Ethiopianity. The strongest form of human unity is based on unity of thought around principles of truth and justice. We demonstrate unity in the actions we take in our personal lives and how we treat and relate to each other; that is, in our ability to build relationships based on authenticity (the degree to which one is true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character) and not ethnicity (looking at the world through tribal and cultural lenses). Practicing unity means focusing on issues and ideas and not personalities; not dwelling too much on the wrongs that have been done to us in the past but how we can heal each other in the future; adopting evidence-based thinking instead of reacting emotionally; thinking before acting and always maintaining a personal policy of openness, honesty, fairness and respect for each other. Practicing unity is also about not acting in certain ways: refraining from soiling the names and reputations of those who struggle with us in the cause but may not agree with us on everything; avoiding rumor-mongering; not insisting that we have a monopoly ownership of the whole truth; and refusing to walk a mile in the shoes of those with whom we disagree. None of us is naïve enough to believe that we can get beyond our differences, whatever they may be, in a single political event; nor do we believe that the removal of dictatorship will be a cure-all to all of our problems. But it is necessary now to begin working together for a better future without embracing the weighty burdens of our past, or becoming its helpless victims. That is why we must embrace the audacity of hope and act selflessly to help the Motherland.
The Power of Dialogue: Out of Many Voices, ONE
The national motto of the United States declares, “E pluribus Unum” (One Out of Many). Our motto for Ethiopian Diaspora dialogue ought to be, “Out of Many Voices, One.” Coming to one voice will not be easy because there are too many echoes reverberating across the canyons that divide Ethiopians and keep us needlessly apart. We must bridge through genuine dialogue the ethnic canyons, the generational canyons, the culture canyons, the gender canyons, the language canyons, the religious canyons, the class canyons and the urban-rural canyons. We need many bridge-builders to sign up and begin working on laying the foundation for a robust Ethiopian democracy based on truly free elections, respect for the rule of law and human rights, the establishment of an independent judiciary, the free functioning of an independent press and civic society institutions.
The power of Ethiopian Diaspora Dialogue should not be undervalued. Unity of thought in dialogue must precede unity of collective action; and the power of dialogue is the power of reason and the power of honest and authentic communication. The Ethiopian Diaspora Dialogue, we believe, has started everywhere. Many are in the beginning stages. We honor all who have taken the initiative to dialogue and encourage them to continue and intensify their efforts. We are humbly proud to be part of the emerging teams of dialogue facilitators in the Diaspora. We believe “truth-powder” is far superior to our adversaries’ gunpowder. Guns and tanks do not stand behind us. Strong beliefs and ideas about the power of a united Ethiopian people do. And there is no gun or tank that can defeat an idea whose time has come. And the time has come for all of us to work single-mindedly for the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. Ancient wisdom says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with other.” We want to go far with our compatriots on the long journey to freedom from dictatorship. As we do so, we are inspired by Barack’s message to the American people: “For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism…. Or we can come together and say, “Not this time.” It is high time that all freedom-loving patriotic Ethiopians the world over make a choice, stand up and shout: “NOT THIS TIME!” Let’s come together and make 2009 the beginning of a New Era of Unity in the Ethiopian Diaspora. YASTESERYAL!
Ethiopians United Can Never Be Defeated!
The writer, Alemayehu G. Mariam, is a professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, and an attorney based in Los Angeles. He can be reached at almariam@gmail.com By Alemayehu G. Mariam 9 February 2009

Democracy can not be build by voilence.. Dr Admasu Gebeyehu.

Here is my reader what Dr Admasu Gebeyehu and his wife Mulalem said on the on going political struggle in ethiopia and their cases of asyulm in Sweden for the local swedish blogg I can provid the link if need. I have just translated to English. I would like to leave the jugement for the reader.

He was party leader for the Ethiopian Democratic Party, vice-chairman of the coalition Kinijit and elected deputy mayor of Addis Ababa, she was head of a government agency and member of Parliament, but none of them could continue to work politically in Ethiopia. We have never really been afraid of something, but now it was too risky for us to return explains Admasu Gebeyehu. He and his wife, Mulualem Tarekegn, chose to seek asylum for the family in Sweden because they did not know what could happen if they returned. They had turned against the Ethiopian intervention in Somalia and was considered by the regime to be traitors to their country. We knew what happened Berhanu Nega and the other sentenced to death a few years earlier and knew that we would never be able to live freely in Ethiopia, explains Admasu.
A new opposition movement in Ethiopia, called Ginbot 7 is led by founder Kinijits, Berhanu Nega and collects the force from all opposition groups in the country (NOW 17 / 7). This means that even smaller guerrilla movements Oromo Liberation Front support Ginbot and they believe that violence is an acceptable method, something I am opposed to, say Mulualem.

Although the dictator Meles Zenawi and his EPRDF party actively work against the opposition, arbitrary detention politicians with differing opinions and using violence against demonstrators turn Mulualem and Admasu strongly against using the same methods. Kinijit working only with non-violent and it is a very important ideological basis for us to assume that awalys.. Violence is destructive and armed groups can not build a democracy. We can not require someone else to sacrifice their lives for us. For Mulualem it is also important to be principled and consistent as a liberal politician. All have the same right to participate in political life and the same right to express their views and it also applies to those who support the current dictatorial regime.
The same rights apply to everyone, but if a person, however, committed a criminal act and violated another rights, we are talking about something completely different and the person conduct to be tested in an independent court, says Mulualem.
According Admasu and Mulualem there are not many who support the regime in Ethiopia, particularly in Addis Ababa. On the contrary, there is regime supporters who voted for Kinijit in the last parliamentary elections in 2005 when the party took over 137 of the 138 seats in the City Council in the capital, and also won the valdistriktets all 26 seats in Parliament.
We won in other cities in the country, but only where there were election observers, says Admasu. In the places where observers lacking won Meles Zenawi party EPRDF, which Kinijit think international organizations should take as an important signal for future elections.They simply do not go into the countryside and control the elections without sticking to cities with airports and good communications.
He argues that observers leave the field completely open for Meles Zenawi to cheat up a majority in Parliament. We need more involvement from international organizations and more observers. We hope that the Swedish organizations Swedish International Liberal Center can help with such issues, says Mulualem.
The election in 2005 shows that we can create a democratic Ethiopia, but more aid needed, says Admasu. Even if they left Ethiopia to continue the work of the opposition movement from Sweden. Mulualem has testified before the European Parliament and Admasu write now on a book about their experiences, the whole family is actually involved. Our six year old is already talking about human rights and understand the difference between Sweden and Ethiopia, says Mulualem Self learn swedish in advanced level and want as soon as possible to get a Swedish veterinary ID so she can begin to practice their profession even in Sweden. Right now we live here on Lidingö, but my dream is to one day return to Ethiopia and to contribute something good to my country, as soon as the Meles Zenawi regime has taken power.

Heluf Girmay ( Former TPLF Morderer say something about Meles Zenawi and His total hate for the Amhara peolpe. I wonder what did Amhara did to him..

I have been an active and well placed member of the TPLF before I decided to leave it and go into exile.Thus, I would like to shed some light on Meles Zenawi`s motives for massacring the Amharas. I had taken part in amny of the meetings and seminars where Meles Zenawi and other senior TPLF officials were telling us about the necessity of killing and weakening the Amharas. The expressed policy of Meles Zenawi and the TPLF was to kill or eliminate the Neftegna and Shoan Amharas whom he has singled out as the most dangerous enemies of the people of Tigray.
Meles Zenawi also thought of winning the hearts and minds of the local populations in other regions, especially in the south and east by eliminating or mass killing the neftegna Amharas (Amharas living outside the desginated Amhara Kilil). I have wondering why Meles Zenawi has developed such a deep rooted hatred towards the Amharas since I have left the TPLF and could not find any satisfactory answer to this question.
I guess that his close association with and loyalty to the EPLF have played signifiacnt roles in creating and fostering this hatred against the Amharas. He is also convinced that his anti-Amhara policy will win him the friendship and support of the western powers who wrongly associate the anti-colonial struggle with the Amharas. The massacres of the Amharas and the other Orthodox Christians were the watersheds in the history of the TPLF and many of us began to open our eyes and realize the fascistic nature of the front. What is frightening and saddening is that many Ethiopians are blaming all these massacres on the people of Tigray in whose name the atrocities were committed. We need to understand that all Tigres are not Weyannes,but all weyannes are Tigres.
The people of Tigray are expected to distance themselves from the fascist leaders of weyanne like Meles Zenawi who are abusing their names and committing atrocities in Ethiopia. The Tigray elites and others must be able to see the possiblity of genocide if Meles continues to hold absolute power in Ethiopia.

Seiko Toure reacts to Tesfaye Gebreab’s book

“You betrayed all,” reads a letter from Bereket Simo’s office to the author of the new book, “journalist’s memoire”. The letter was sent by the name of Seiko Toure addressed to Tesfaye Gebreab.
“I tell you, for the rest of your life, you will fight to abandon the pursuit of your guilt,” said Seiko Toure, EPRDF’s public relations chief, referring to the TPLF’s secrets the book exposed. “But you will not be able to escape.”
Tesfaye Gebreab’s book, released last month is said to be an explosive to the Meles Zenawi regime by providing exclusive secrets which were only known to small circle of the ruling TPLF. EPRDF’s Seiko Ture has as such no say with in the party, his post is symbolic and he is always driven by Bereket Simon.
Read the email below:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Seiko Toure <>
Date: 2009/2/2
Subject: testimony of betrayal
To: ttgebreab@gmail.com
Hi!I have read your recent book. I don’t want to comment on what you have written about me. What I want to tell you is that I was consistent on my belief regarding you. Finally you have admitted that you were not in our domain, starting the first day!
This country had given you more than you have contributed. The EPRDF was so generous to accommodate you and give you the authority and wealth you abused it. Hiwot, Tsigereda, Zufan… loved you, though you were pretending that you loved them. Finally you lost everyone! You betrayed all!
Now you are coming back with a story to resurrect desperately your fatally damaged identity. You are opting for a struggle for which you are not created. I tell you, for the rest of your life, you will fight to abandon the pursuit of your guilt. But you will not be able to escape. You will remain unsatisfied and in a continuous and desperate act of insulting those who are making history, at least to satisfy your ill fated mind.
For us, regardless our weaknesses, we have got an objective which is changing the whole of Ethiopia, including the Yerer and Kereyu Oromo peasants you pretend loving them. We are writing history which can’t be destroyed by any kind of force; forget your testimony of betrayal. Though we don’t have the right to be remembered positively in history, I think, we may have a dignified share of appreciation for our heroic struggle for the betterment of this great nation.
Seiko

Jailed - the judge who refused to say sorry

"Described as an 'Ethiopian Obama' and a brilliant speaker and organiser, she [Birtukan] has become a symbol of democracy in her own country, compared with figures like Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi." - The Independent

Birtukan Mideksa has been sentenced to life in prison. She spends her days and nights in solitary confinement in a two-metre by two-metre cell. She cannot leave it to see daylight or even to receive visitors. Previous inmates say the prison is often unbearably hot.
Her crime: refusing to say sorry. The judge, aged 34, is the head of Ethiopia's most popular political party, the only female leader of a main opposition party in Africa.
The government in Addis Ababa had her arrested on 28 December, claiming she had violated the terms of an earlier pardon.
Her previous release in 2007, which came after serving two years in prison, was conditional on her signing an apology for taking part in protests against fixed elections.
In November, the woman who is becoming a democratic icon in Ethiopia told an audience in Sweden that she had not asked for a pardon. On returning to Ethiopia it was demanded that she sign further apologies and, when she refused, she was re-arrested. The Ministry of Justice then issued a statement reimposing her life sentence.
Mesfin Woldemariam, an award-winning Ethiopian human rights campaigner, is clear about what she says is going on: "She refuses to bow to them. They want her to submit, but she didn't submit when she was a judge. That's why she left the bar. And she won't now. She's a tough cookie." She won national acclaim by defying government control of the courts and resigning the bar to practice law after high-profile decisions were overturned.
The charges against her go to the heart of Ethiopia's experiment with democracy in 2005 and the violent backlash that followed the country's flawed first attempt at a multi-party election.
When demonstrators, including Ms Mideksa, took to the streets to protest at the skewed results which returned the ruling party, the police opened fire, killing at least 187 people. The opposition leadership, along with thousands of others, were rounded up and jailed.
"In 2005, we expected the results of the national parliamentary elections as a strong foundation for building a temple of democracy in Ethiopia," she told a US Senate hearing in 2007. "Our hopes were dashed, and we found ourselves trapped in a burning house of tyranny."
Her response since being released has been to unite the fragments of opposition into a single party committed to non-violence, democratic reform and an independent judiciary.
A mother who has missed much of her five-year-old daughter's life so far, she has shown remarkable courage. "I'm not afraid of going to jail," she said last year after founding the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party. "Not because that is not a possibility. I know that could happen."
Professor Woldemariam was with her when it did happen. Five cars pulled up and the pair were confronted violently by police while on a street in the capital city. "They behaved as if there was a prize for the first person who got her," the former Fulbright scholar and now professor of geography recalls.
When he asked why they had not issued a warrant and asked her to give herself into custody, one of the men turned on him. "He hit me with the butt of his gun and they pushed her into a car and took her."
Her destination was a cell in the notorious Kaliti prison outside the capital Addis Ababa. It's a place with which she is already intimately acquainted, where prisoners are kept in conditions she once described as "dehumanising", "atrocious" and "barbarous".
The UK director of Amnesty International, Kate Allen, said: "There appears to be no lawful reason why Birtukan Mideksa was arrested or remains in detention. She has now been held for a month in solitary confinement and still has not been charged. This is unacceptable."
Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, has been in power since 1995. He was formerly feted as a progressive voice by Tony Blair but he has become markedly dictatorial during his years in power. One regional analyst said the government was becoming increasingly paranoid.
"This came in the context of an election that the government lost control of in 2005, and ahead of 2010 elections that it fully intends to keep from going the same way."
Recently, laws have been passed to heavily restrict the work of international non-government organisations, despite an ongoing famine in areas of the country. "Much of the government's behaviour stems from security concerns, and a lack of understanding that improving human rights will actually help to mitigate many of their concerns," said the analyst.
Professor Woldemariam, one of a few people still prepared to speak out in a country he describes as a "police state", says the regime had become frightened of Ms Mideksa. "They are looking for any excuse to get her because she's a dynamic girl who is getting increasingly popular. They want to cut her short."
But it will not be easy to intimidate her, he believes. "She has such faith in the law. She says to me, 'the law says this, the law says that ...'. I said to her: 'What law are you talking about? You were locked up for two years with no due process.'"
Described as an "Ethiopian Obama" and a brilliant speaker and organiser, she has become a symbol of democracy in her own country, compared with figures like Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi.
There is reported to be deep disquiet among the general population at her arrest and conditions of detention, even though their dissent is not tolerated. Ethiopia, largely Orthodox Christian, has been a staunch ally of the American-led war on terror and a partner in its disastrous policy on Somalia.
The arrest of Ms Mideksa has sparked criticism from some American senators and the hope that the Obama administration might change Washington's relationship with the Zenawi government.
"There is no democracy in Ethiopia today, despite empty claims of 'recent bold democratic initiatives' taken by our government," Ms Mideksa told US senators.
Many in Ethiopia and its large diaspora are hoping that Mr Obama's offer to "extend a hand" to dictatorships who would unclench their fists included a message to Addis Ababa.
Ms Mideksa has already given Washington her advice: "Ethiopia has many problems, including a legacy of repression, corruption and mismanagement. The US can help by using its considerable influence to encourage the government to negotiate with the opposition. It will not be easy to confront the past.
"We must start at the right point by embracing the rule of law, human rights and democracy."
Views from cyberspace: What the blogs say
*There is an old Ethiopian proverb which in translation says, "Oh, Mr Hyena, don't give me excuse to eat me". (Aya jibo sata mehagne blagne). Why is Zenawi resorting to such thuggish tactics against Birtukan? And Professor Mesfin? And the [Unity for Democracy and Justice Party]? Is he trying to create a convenient distraction from his devastating defeat in Somalia? - Quatero News and Views
*Birtukan has modelled courage and conviction. I do not think she is asking the Ethiopian people to personally rescue her; but instead, on behalf of others. - Anyuak Media
* Birtukan Mideksa continues to impress millions of her fellow compatriots to promote the struggle for the triumph of democracy over tyranny. - Ethiomedia
*In fact, the Ethiopian tyrant has killed far more innocent people than the Zimbabwean tyrant. The Ethiopian tyrant also has rigged national elections for three times like the Zimbabwean tyrant. I hope and I believe democrats as well as President Obama will restore respect for the US by supporting people who aspire for their democratic rights. - Shemolo
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