Report
Despots in civilization’s cradle
No, this doesn’t describe one of the “rogue states” or an “axis of evil” nation that has been invaded by, or is in the crosshairs of, the mighty Coalition of the Willing. This is Ethiopia. Following peaceful protests during the first week of November against alleged election fraud, some 100 people have been killed by Ethiopian government forces. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has laid out an aggressive domestic agenda of suppression, beginning with threatening to prosecute of journalists, teachers, lawyers and local representatives of an international Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) with trying to violently undermine the constitutional order in the country. Among those charged, this week, with instigating violence is Daniel Bekele, a human rights attorney, a PhD candidate of Law at Oxford University and policy manager of an international NGO working to eradicate poverty. For the majority of his career, Bekele has worked to improve the lives of poor, mostly rural-dwelling, Ethiopian women. Two weeks prior to his arrest, Bekele was brutally pistol whipped by Ethiopian government forces after being interrogated for alleged public criticism of the Zenawi regime. Bekele was charged with two counts of treason—a crime punishable by death. It might seem easy to continue to dismiss these images—and Bekele’s story. It is after all yet another African country with yet another quintessentially African problem: murder without accountability and the silent complicity of the West. There was Rwanda, and there is Darfur and Niger. And there is always Ethiopia. While all human rights abuses should concern the American public, it is of special note that the Ethiopian government is one of the largest recipients of financial assistance from the United States. The average American would likely be stunned to know that an annual aid package in excess of $1 billion funds Zenawi’s brand of democracy—one that uses terror to quell public dissent among a population that continues to struggle to gain access to basic amenities such as clean water, firewood and, most fundamentally, food. Now, on top of a daily fight for the basic elements to sustain life—and for a modicum of integrity and dignity—the Ethiopian people are faced with the harrowing task of trying to locate their disappeared relatives, identify bodies of loved ones and tune the world into a very real terror crisis—one that is sanctioned by their government, and the leader of the mighty Coalition of the Willing. The impetus for this tactical crackdown and grand prosecution plan: In May 2005 Zenawi’s government held national elections. International groups such as the European Union election observers have questioned the integrity of the elections. Claiming fraud and irregularities in the results, opposition leaders called for protests. It is in response to constitutionally protected and internationally recognized human rights such as freedom of _expression, speech and assembly that Meles Zenawi ordered the shooting of protestors, the detention of thousands and the silencing of private press in Ethiopia. He has summarily dismissed most of the protestors as “unemployed youth,” in reverse roman-a-clef-like speeches that wink at crippling economic policies that have led to a stunning unemployment rate. To the outside observer, these events might seem a necessary evil to help a young democracy stay the course. In fact, despite his presentation to the world as a “new kind of leader,” Meles Zenawi’s military junta has continuously violated the human rights of the Ethiopian people since shortly after he assumed power in 1991. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other international human rights groups around the world have reported, with alarming detail, on the abuses of Zenawi’s government. This is a far cry from 14 years ago, when Zenawi and his rebel compatriots marched on the Ethiopian capital on the heels of the flight of the despotic ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam. Some have commended Zenawi for some strides in addressing basic deficiencies, most often highlighting the establishment of new universities—beacons of academic freedom elsewhere in the world —without a hint of irony or concern. Ethiopia’s political marionettes call this progress, and convince the world’s powers that their trajectory is in line with Western values. They cast a haze over a recent history well-known to the Ethiopian people: since the early days of his government, Zenawi has suppressed dissent, tortured prisoners, harassed anyone critical of his policies, arrested human rights advocates and forcibly recruited and used child soldiers. The world’s powers will likely continue to turn a blind eye to the jailing of journalists and “treasonous intelligentsia,” torture, abuse and other hallmarks of despotism—after all, they have come to expect it from Africa. Maybe it’s time to jolt American political leaders and others with a motivation they can understand: money. The US government is a billion dollar-a-year trust fund to Zenawi’s regime. Maybe Americans should start asking why their tax dollars are funding murder.
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