Time to take donkeys to parliament!

By Abebe Gelaw

February 6, 2006

Ethiopian Protest in Washington DC (Feb 1, 2006)

A few months ago the leader of the National Peasants’ Party in democratic Serbia, Marijan Risticevic, took a donkey dressed in robe, with “expert” written on it, to parliament in protest against lack of proper debate on agriculture policies. “My donkey would be the smartest one in there,” Risticevic told reporters. Though Mr Risticevic was not allowed to enter government buildings with his donkey, his message was relayed across the world via the global media.

There is no shortage of donkeys in Ethiopia. With over 5.5 millions of donkeys, Ethiopia has the second largest donkey population after China which has about 12 million. That means the per capita of donkeys is far higher than cars in Ethiopia. There is almost no place in the country where donkeys are not given the most burdensome tasks. The contribution of donkeys to Ethiopian political and economic development is immeasurable. In times of peace or war, Ethiopians have heavily relied on the back of donkeys.

In an article entitled “Donkeys and their importance to people”, Dr Keith Powel, who worked as a donkey vet in Ethiopia, wrote: “Veterans often tell a story of a bank robbery to raise funds for the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front. The two fighters put the money on a donkey to make their escape. However, whilst returning to base they were, unfortunately, swept to their deaths by a swollen river. The donkey managed to cross, then made its own way for 50 km back to base, delivering the money, and passing into folklore.”

During TPLF’s struggle against the Derg, thousands of donkeys were sacrificed along with countless guerrilla fighters. Even during the height of the bloody conflict with Eritrea, many more thousands of donkeys were sent to the warfront and were reportedly used not only as a means of transporting weapons, food and wounded soldiers but also as mine detonators.

TPLF has indeed honoured the sacrifice of the poor animal as it been has prominently featured on the multimillion birr victory statue erected at the heart of Mekele. However donkeys have been abused and suffered a great deal at the hands of the very people whom they carried to power. Forget animal rights, human rights are being grossly violated in Ethiopia.

Opposition MPs have been making every effort to be taken seriously by a regime, which is more interested in their numbers than their physical presence. A few weeks ago, it was reported that some opposition MPs tied their mouths with rugs to protest against the lack of freedom of speech and the right to debate critical issues in parliament. The frustration of the honourables is understandable. As a result of the May election, which has shaken the firmaments of dictatorship, expressing opinions or staging peaceful protests has been labelled as an act of insurrection.

Even donkeys may know that a diabolical tyrant is out to suppress political dissent. He is keen to depoliticize an enlightened nation determined to throw away the yokes of oppression. He appears on TV and threatens that protesting against his unacceptable misrule is a mortal sin punishable by death. He gives the poor people endlessly boring lectures on the rule of law and how it is the basis of democracy, which, according to him, is to abide by his unconstitutional edicts. Extrajudicial killings, mass detentions, tortures, intimidations, arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances… are the pillars of his misrule of law which is totally contrary to the basic tenets of the constitution and international conventions that have now been rendered useless. He ungraciously accuses everyone, even his once ardent foreign supporters, of being conspiratorial and untrustworthy. According to his analysis, there is even a “strategic alliance” among the CUD, the OLF and Shabia to destroy his government.

Opposition MPs, many of whom have been forced to join the parliament, are told that they cannot debate or discuss the gross human rights or fragrant violations of the constitution. A few days ago the tyrant went to parliament to present a contentious mid-term report. He claimed that the economy was doing fantastic despite the ongoing political instability. ” A series of attempts to create havoc has been carried out in the country but the acts of the violent CUD leadership were foiled,” he said.

The tyrant shamelessly declared that he would continue to unjustly persecute the opposition and its supporters regardless of popular and international pressures. ” The government reiterated that it is unthinkable to interfere in court cases and release the violent leaders…We believe, therefore, that making the violent CUD leaders answerable to law and resisting all forms of influence in their favour is the government’s stand, which is irreversible, appropriate and correct,” said a tyrant whose CV is dominated by violence unlike the clean and glittering resumes of the jailed professors, engineers, lawyers, journalists, economists and pro-poor campaigners. Contrary to his claims, they have rather proved to be advocates of non-violence and icons of freedom in his empire of darkness for they have sacrificed their liberties for the sake of their fellow countrymen.

A TPLF victroy statue in Mekelle, northern Ethiopia

Opposition MPs, who opted to join parliament, had argued that they would vocally oppose the tyrannical system from within. That was not a bad move given the level of intimidation, harassment and persecution waged by the ruling elite against anyone who opted not to join the parliamentary chorus while the election dispute is still unresolved. Ethiopian MPs, who are not even allowed to table a motion, must share the disappointment of the Serbian MP even if he lives in a democratic country. MPs who tied their mouths in the parliament a few weeks ago did a very good job as their protest carried a much weightier message than their spoken words. However, they did not get as much publicity as they deserved.

It is high time that all opposition MPs forged a common front against tyranny to restore the basic rights of the people. People must be able to fully exercise their rights and liberties. They should freely express their views, stage demonstrations, go on strike, …to demand the full respect of their God given rights. They have every right to be guaranteed full protection from crimes against humanity including torture, summery executions, mass detentions and forcible disappearances. They have a right to demand for the release of their leaders. Despite the intimidation and harassment, MPs should find the biblical talking donkey that said to Balaam while he was beating it in the presence of the Lord’s angel, ” Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden ever since I was yours, to this day?” [Num 22:30]

If MPs are not allowed to do the most fundamental things expected of them and resonate the grievances of the wider electorate, they should take donkeys to parliament. The beasts of burden have a lot of grievances of their own. They can at least bray and kick back at atrocious tormentors and help the world know. Mr Risticevic could not have attracted the attention of the global media had he not taken his donkey to parliament. Those who do not listen MPs may listen to the “donkey message.”

Professor Fisseha Gebreab, Ethiopia’s leading veterinarian and animal welfare campaigner, who was on the news last August for helping the setting up of a high-tech donkey clinic in Debre Zeit, has long been preaching that even donkeys deserve fair treatment. “The donkey is mentioned 80 times in the Bible,” he told the BBC. “No other animal is mentioned in the Bible so much. Even Jesus rode a donkey.”

With their holy connection, who knows, the new oligarchy that came to power at the expense of donkeys and children of peasants may listen to the poor animals that took the brunt in the bloody conflicts waged in the name of liberation but has brought oppression. Here is the UK, let alone human rights; even animal rights are fully respected. Across the Atlantic, in the States, the donkey is even the symbol of the Democratic Party. It is high time to let donkeys march and bray at Arat Kilo. Let them have a taste of “democracy” that they greatly helped to bring!