In these days of discord, war and violence

African children between the ages of five to eight were the center of attraction at this glamorous occasion. Almost everyone except a stranger like me, held lit candles adoring the open square under the cloudless star-studded sky. The children were all black, probably orphans due to multiple reasons afflicting our potentially rich continent. The purity of their heart, their innocence and exuberant spirit were all too clear to discern. I wondered what their fate will be as they grow up in this African world fraught with multiple atrocities – chief among them tribalism, abject poverty, disease, conflict et al, exacerbated by the likes of the tyrant Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.

I took a glance to my left and saw an African mother seated on the ground holding a beautiful child close to her chest and breast-feeding it. She was tenderly kissing the closely-shaven and cleanly-kept bare head of her suckling child comfortably perched in her arms. That was love fusing mother and child; it seemed to me, in perfect harmony. The two had each other submerged in the spirit of love and did not seem to care about the peeping bystanders like myself.

The enviable relationship between mother and child drew my thoughts to Kaliti prison where the tyrant Meles has locked up that inspiring young lady, Judge Bitukan Mideksa, inhumanly separated from her child. Her child is cruelly denied the love of its truly revolutionary mother paying dearly for democratic principles she firmly believed in, and staunchly stood for, so that the voice of the Ethiopian people expressed at the historic election of 15 May 2005 shall become an eternal monument symbolizing civilized rule of law in our country. It is impossible to say what effect this cruel separation would have on the child in the future or tell what the child has missed due to limited access to his mother. The irony here is that abundant motherly love is not available to her child starving for it due to a gulf of separation created between them by a vindictive dictator. So both mother and child are enduring agonizing hardship. It is right to express eternal gratitude for the invaluable sacrifice that mother and child are paying to free Ethiopians from the yoke of oppression of the last 16 years under the dictatorial regime of Meles.

As I had to pack up my things to be ready for my departure from Africa the following day, I had to leave the marketplace while it was still full of joyous celebrants. On my way back to my hotel, I was asking where is the legacy of peace for which Christ died some two thousand years ago. Two world wars had been fought in which millions lost their lives – including those of my own country, Ethiopia, during World War II.; conflicts of smaller scales over many years have added up to claim as many lives if not more; black Africans are being massacred in Darfur at this material time under the watch of the international community; colonialism had robbed the African people of their dignity and property; the time bombs set in the days of colonialism are exploding in several regions of Africa manifesting themselves in the form of religious and tribal sectarianism used by the likes of Meles as effective weapons to divide and rule; distribution of wealth is skewed unfairly in favor of the rich and powerful; African countries are heavily dependent on the whims of their past colonial masters to get access to cramps falling off the tables of the greedy; African countries are tools of proxy wars being fought by subservient regimes like the Marxist-Leninist TPLF; ad infinitum for the list of human sufferings is long. And I ask myself whether the right to life, happiness and property so much extolled in some quarters is not an empty slogan. I would not dare though to say that Christ died in vain, for His teachings of love permeate society to keep hope alive.

This is a festive season in which people exchange greetings, good wishes and gifts; it is a season for showing charity to the needy; demanding justice for those deprived of basic human rights. Those distinguished leaders, heroes and heroines of the overwhelming voice of the Ethiopian that became the envy of the international community in May 2005, are now languishing in the infamous Kaliti dungeon under the watch of Western powers purporting to portray themselves as the custodian of democracy and human rights. It would be interesting to see whether these powers are going to join us during this festive season in our demand for the unconditional and immediate release of these icons of democracy. Ambassador Vicki Huddleston of the US Embassy in Addis Ababa should seize this second chance to make a genuine effort to get these prisoners of conscience released, thereby making up for her mistakes of the past.

True advocates of democratic principles and basic human rights like Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, renowned champion of human rights, Hailu Shawl who undertook the arduous task of organizing a potent political party committed to peaceful change, Judge Birtukan Midekasa who immortalized the spirit of Kinijit through her famous Letter from Kaliti Prison, Dr. Birhanu Nega, the author of Ye Netsanet Goh Siked (Onset of the Dawn of Liberty) from his filthy and congested cell in prison advocating the virtue of fighting for freedom and democracy, Dr. Hailu Araya who inspired us with his poem on love of Ethiopia, et al are languishing in prison while their jailers, proponents of Interhamwe, are free to wreck havoc in the Horn of Africa under the pretext of promoting ‘revolutionary democracy’. The mainstay of these pathological liars in the TPLF hierarchy is spreading fear, mistrust and chaos. These thugs have now concocted a scare of Islamic fundamentalism set to invade Ethiopia; they are desperate to rally popular support arguing that it would be in the best national interest to fight UIC. Fortunately, it is crystal clear to Ethiopians now that the traitor Meles was once in the payroll of the likes of Saddam Hussein, and working against all vital interests of Ethiopia holding a diplomatic passport of the defunct Republic of Somalia. He is a criminal to be brought to justice sooner than later.

My title to this piece suits me to repeat the misdeeds of the traitor, Meles. His heinous crimes should be recited as mantras in every household for generations to come. I shall mention some in the following paragraph.

The tyrant Meles is the sole champion of discord, violence and war in our beloved country Ethiopia. He fought for over thirty odd years to dismember Ethiopia; he fought war with Eritrea of his own creation and caused the death of over 70 thousand Ethiopians in their young age; he has now declared war on Somalia thus paving the way to feed young Ethiopians to conflagration of his creation; he has sown discord among the Ethiopian people otherwise known for their tolerance; he has instigated violence with no end in sight; he has robbed the victory won by the Ethiopian people at the historic election of 15 May 2005; he has suppressed the report of the Independent Inquiry Commission holding him directly accountable for the cold-blooded murder of peaceful demonstrators and injury to thousands; he expropriated private property of the Ethiopian people to enrich his Marxist-Leninist Party; above all he has grossly violated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the UN. Ad infinitum for the list of cruelties of Meles is unending. Meles did all these heinous crimes under the watch of his coalition partners, President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. Condoning acts of atrocities in private but issuing a semblance of criticism for public consumption has become the art of diplomacy these days. It is a most unfortunate degeneration of morality.

It is my fervent prayer and ardent hope that our leaders in Kaliti dungeon, and indeed all political prisoners there, are released unconditionally and immediately. I crave for the day these leaders, with Birtukan embracing her child, are seated under the beautiful Ethiopian blue sky, amidst multitudes of admiring and loving crowd. Let us all strive in earnest to make that happen by dedicating ourselves to the noble idea of a united, prosperous and democratic Ethiopia premised on the freedom of the individual.

Best Wishes of the Season to all people of goodwill.

LONG LIVE ETHIOPA!

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The writer, Robele Ababya, can be reached for comment at [email protected]