Ethiopians in London continue to protest against injustice

Kinijit Support Group report

January 9, 2006

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London-based Ethiopian activists (seen in photo taking a break) travelled to Gleneagles, Scotland, to protest the presence of Ethiopia’s ruthless tyrant Meles Zenawi at the G8 Summit held on 6-8 July 2005. London is home to thousands of political activists who have frequently held demonstrations that remind Tony Blair to take a firm measure against Zenawi’s post-election terror spree. (Photo: Wondimu Mekonnen)

The demonstration organized by the Kinijit Support Organization in the United Kingdom (KSOUK) took place on Friday afternoon from 2.00 pm and ended in a rally in front of the official residence of Prime Minister Tony Blair that ended at 7.00pm.

The demonstration took off from the Centre of London, Marble Arch, and meandered through the main avenues of Park Lane, Green Park, Piccadilly, Trafalgar, ending in Whitehall. Despite wintry conditions, demonstrators’ spirits were high. Pictures of the imprisoned Kinijit leaders and protest slogans were exhibited in abundance.

This demonstration was a special initiative dedicated to the leaders of Kinijit and other opposition parties, journalists of the private press, the workers of human rights organizations, the party activists, and citizens, imprisoned by the Woyane/EPRDF regime of Melese Zenawi. Even more important, it is a dedication to the school children of 10 and 11 years old that are taken way from their parents during this Christmas season and kept in far away, isolated, malaria infested camps that are the horror houses of the Woyane/EPRDF regime, where tens of thousands have been detained in the last 6 months. The demonstration and rally is to reaffirm to all those suppressed, oppressed and vandalized by the Woyane/EPRDF killing machine that THEY ARE NOT ALONE in the fight for human rights and democracy.

In the random discussion that this writer had with quite a few demonstrators, most expressed their elation in hearing the damning decision of elected councilors of the capital, Addis Ababa, not to take over the administration while their leaders are in prison.

On the other hand, most had expected the release of all in custody on fabricated charges of genocide and treason. The judge circumvented all legal procedures and repeated a pre-prepared statement. His pronouncement, “The prisoners are not to be released because of the seriousness of the charge”. He was not prepared to listen to the statement of the defendants. The prisoners had to shout out their position as the judge vanished in to the auxiliary rooms at the rear. The prisoners and the court attendants cheered while the plane clothed security occupying most of the seats in the court room looked on.

As the court attendants shuffled their way out of the court, the plan clothed men pounced on quite a few of them, mostly women. They were all taken to police stations and charged with “contempt of court”. Most were released by depositing bail amounting Eth. $ 2,000.00. The history of Woyane justice has proved time and again that such bail money is never returned. Woyane/EPRDF has cashed-in a substantial sum by the end of the hearing day, Wednesday, January 4, 2006.

While this may indicate the vicious manner in which the Woyene/EPRDF system is pillaging the society and other examples can be rendered, the purpose of the demonstration was not against minor corrupt practices of the system. It is against more fundamental transgressions that make small transfers of money predicated as bail money like child’s play.

Most of the accused are kept in prison on the pretext of fabricated crimes, under laws that are operated to maintain party interests and hearings conducted by judges with party affiliations. Public protests against such transgressions by the regime are over powered by heavily armed fed police and special units from the defense forces. Young people, students, school children are rounded up in their thousands and locked in high security prisons called Senkele, Denkoro Chaka, Dedesa, Zewai and others. It is against such excesses and violations that London has been marching and rallying in the last 6 months.

So far, Woyene/EPRDF has not blinked. Despite the horror of state violence, opposition to the regime has been unrelenting. The international community has failed to broker a comprehensive agreement between the government and an opposition claiming the last election. If anything, initiatives of the diplomatic community have rescued the regime when it was threatened with a national stay-at-home strike.

The nation is on the verge of becoming ungovernable and Diaspora Ethiopians have to realign ourselves with the quest for human rights and democracy. What Ethiopians and British nationals with Ethiopian descent are doing in London is a small manifestation of Diaspora realignment around the world with the struggle for democracy by the Ethiopian people.

The struggle for freedom, democracy and unity continues.
Kinijit Support Organization in the United Kingdom (KSOUK)