In a series of articles1,2 published in the New York Times, Jeffrey Gettleman shocked the world
with a glimpse of the atrocities committed by Zenawi’s regime against the people of Ethiopia.
In so doing, Gettleman not only demonstrated journalistic professionalism of the highest order,
but also provided uncommon comfort to the 70 million Ethiopians suffering under Zenawi’s iron
rule.
Through a powerful exposition of the brutality of Zenawi and his deceits of the donor community,
Gettleman declared: “The Ethiopian military and its proxy militias have … been siphoning off
millions of dollars in food aid and using a U.N. polio eradication program to funnel money to
their fighters…”2.
What support can one give to such an admirable journalist, who is owed so much by the
people of Ethiopia, so that his efforts will not be in vain?
The answer may not be difficult. All genuine Ethiopians should express their gratitude for his
Herculean efforts, and provide him with much needed information that exposes the brutality of
Zenawi’s regime not just in the Ogaden region, but throughout the country.
Gettleman’s efforts would bear fruit, and the struggle to free the oppressed people of Ethiopia
would be successful, only if the true picture of Zenawi’s regime is presented in the proper
perspective, without falling in the dangerous ethnic traps that the dictator has wickedly installed
for us.
When Zenawi directed one of his attack dogs, Seyoum Mesfin, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to
respond to the first of Gettleman’s reports3, the motive was to divert the focus of the
discussion from the absence of human rights and democracy to one concerning the rise of one
ethnic group against the rest of “Ethiopia”.
While fully sharing the pains of our Ogaden compatriots, as we do collectively share the pains
suffered by all other ethnic groups across the land, we should guard against the tendency to fall
victims to Zenawi’s ethnic politics by treating the movements to overthrow Zenawi’s dictatorship
as isolated movements of disparate ethnic groups against the motherland.
A movement against Zenawi’s oppression cannot have a lasting democratic outcome, if it is
anchored in an ethnic agenda. The memory is still fresh that less than two decades ago the ethnicbased
movements that overthrew the dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam only brought us
equally vicious dictators in the likes of Zenawi and Afewerki.
So, as we applaud Gettleman for his courage, integrity and objectivity in exposing the brutal
nature of Zenawi’s dictatorship, let’s provide our support to him so that he will be better equipped
with comprehensive knowledge to more effectively use the power of the New York Times toward
the search for a more permanent and lasting solution to the suffering of all Ethiopians: from the
Somalis and Afars in the lowlands to the Oromos, Amharas, Gurages and Tigreans of the
highlands; and from the Anuaks of the West to the numerous oppressed people of the South.
Interestingly, Gettleman’s reports could not have come at a worse time for the brutal dictator, who
is cornered like a wounded and dangerous beast with no place to escape:
At home, he is vilified and humiliated, having been rejected on May 15, 2005 by the people
of Ethiopia in a vote of no confidence against his dictatorial and ethnic-based minority
regime.
Abroad, he is considered persona non grata, even by his once-ardent supporters, having been
found responsible, by a commission set up by his own government, for the massacre of over
193 peaceful demonstrators and the arrests and torture of thousands of opposition party
members4.
As recently as July 19, 2007, a U.S. congressional panel approved legislation aimed at
supporting democracy and human rights in Ethiopia, and sent the bill to the House Foreign
Affairs Committee5
His army is bogged down in a protracted war in Somalia ? a country he attacked although it
had posed no tangible danger to the security of Ethiopia.
Despite the billions of dollars poured into his coffers by donor nations, the economy is in
shambles, thanks to blatant nepotism, corruption and mismanagement. According to a recent
report6, the number of Ethiopians living on less than a dollar a day, has nearly tripled since
Zenawi took power in 1991 ? a shameful record, especially given the baseline is the
discredited regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Across the land, the flames of inter-ethnic discord he once fanned for the purpose of
weakening the Ethiopian nationhood have gone out of his control and are spreading like a
wildfire, rapidly engulfing him.
What is the response of the desperate dictator, as the noose is tightening around him from
all directions?
True to his roots, Zenawi copied Stalin’s formula for the Great Purge, coerced the political
prisoners, and forced them to accept accountability for the crimes he committed against
humanity.
In his petty mind, the move was intended to serve several purposes:
The document bearing the signatures of the political prisoners would serve as a defense
against the inevitable charge for crimes against humanity.
The release of the opposition leaders, whose only crime is to have been elected by the people
of Ethiopia, would serve to placate donor countries, who have withheld much needed money
to finance Zenawi’s repressive machinery and to fatten his overseas bank accounts7.
The move is also intended to thwart the ongoing congressional activities in the US to hold the
regime accountable for human rights violations.
Most importantly, the alleged confessions and subsequent release of the political prisoners
would help to divert attention from the dreaded issue of the illegitimacy of Zenawi’s
government.
However, a careful evaluation of the recent unfolding events suggests that Zenawi’s wishful
thinking has no traction. No credible legal expert would believe that the documents signed under
duress by the political prisoners would hold water in a court of law. Despite expensive
lobbying8, the plan to thwart the ongoing congressional activities has also backfired, and
Congressman Payne has already declared that he’d still demand that “the killers of the 193
innocent civilians” be held accountable9.
Thus, given Zenawi’s desperate situation, and the abundance of support for the democratic
movement, what is the optimal course of action for the opposition?
All genuine Ethiopians in the Diaspora and back home should now seize the moment and keep
the pressure on Zenawi. They should set aside their personal, ethnic and political differences, and
pool their resources to address the critical questions of the day:
the return of political power to the legitimate leaders chosen by the people on May 15,
2005, and
the prosecution of the criminals responsible for the post-election massacre of peaceful
demonstrators, for the unjust imprisonment and torture of opposition members, and for
the genocide of Anuaks and other ethnic groups.
