Although we are physically faced
with so many challenges, our spirits are always high. I do not deny
my disappointment in not having heard from you for a long time. I
know you would conscientiously and regularly write to me if you only
knew how encouraging and spiritually uplifting it is to hear from you,
particularly through those letters that are informational. In any case, I
do hope to hear from you regularly in the future. I am heartened to
hear about your efforts on our behalf, and can’t wait to hear about
them in greater detail. I am grateful for what you do.
I have a delightful relationship with CUD leaders – some you know,
and some you don’t. I cherish in particular, my relationship with
Dr. Berhanu Nega. However, people like Dr. Befekadu Degefe, Dr.
Yaekob Haile Mariam, Engineer Hailu Shawl and many others hold
me in high regard and have great hopes for me, boosting my self
esteem and hope. You have to realize that the sense of hope that is
felt in Europe does not quite exist here.
The reality is very different. It
seems that the road to the removal of the Woyane from power and
the institutionalization of democratic rule in this country is going to be
a long one. As per your request, I can explain to you the vision that
the CUD has. However, do not anticipate that we will be released in
a matter of weeks or even months. The hearts of the Woyanne have
not submitted yet. They have not yet felt the pressure, although the
problems have been piling up— particularly in the economic situation
and the Somalia affair. Yet, they seem to think that they still have
some room to play.
Some people have been coming here to mediate recently. The lead
person is Professor Ephraim Yishak. Though he seems to be
genuine, he lacks clarity on the issues. On the part of the EPRDF, the
effort seems to be not quite to negotiate, but rather to gauge the
temperature. They send ideas and messages that [I think] are
amusing. Though indirectly worded, the messages sent to us
demand that we support this government, in everything it does, to
stand by it, particularly against the so called war on terror against
Somalia, to withdraw support to those entities who they describe as
“anti-constitutional”, to condemn the Alliance… and such demands,
as it attempts to extend the duration of its rule. In return, it is
attempting to offer our release as if it were a gift. We have a good
position on this. In the first place, there is no one that is not eager to
be released. However, if in the first place, the government wants to
negotiate with us, we are prisoners of conscience, and should
therefore be released. There can be no negotiation in the absence of
freedom. Secondly, all political prisoners need to be released.
Journalists, and civil society leaders have to be released. All political
parties’ offices should reopen and resume business. The free press
should be back in operation. To bring about enduring peace in the
country, all elements who feel that they have a stake should be
convened in the shortest amount of time possible. There should be a
totally independent body set up to see to it that all of these things are
in place.
Of course we have been given the date of February 19, for a ruling.
There is a rumor that those of us who have had no evidence
presented, and no witness testify against them, will be released. Of
the 365 witnesses that the prosecution had, it had dismissed 289
before it rested its case. I tend to think that even if the court rules that
the case is dismissed and I am ordered released, they will just wait
for me at the gate, arrest me again, and accuse me of new charges.
They have done such things against political prisoners for a long
time. In any case, I do not fret over it, as only God holds the future.
The only thing I can tell you is my life is going on just the way I have
chosen. So, I don’t worry. I am not too anxious about being released.
I would not even regret my possible passing for the liberty of millions,
for justice and prosperity (in all, democracy). I feel that that is why I
am on this earth. Just like any other citizen, I could have chosen to
work, get educated, tend to my family, raise children, etc. That is the
life that anyone can easily embrace. However, I am consciously and
purposely choosing a path where at the end of my life I would like to
reflect on my deeds and accomplishments as having passed not
through that routine life, but rather the one that I am enduring now.
Truth be told, the fact that I come from a family with very modest
means, may not have allowed all these opportunities to be open and
afforded some of the resources required. I always worry about my
family. I have hopes for them. With God’s help, I know that you all are
giving them as much support as you can, and I am really grateful for
that. I hope that I will be one day able to reciprocate.
After we were arrested, in October and November we were
“interrogated” at various police stations, Qebele offices and
warehouses where they conducted nasty “investigation” procedures
against us, before they took us to Ma’ekelawi, the Criminal
Investigation Office, into the dark rooms. There, the “investigation”
continued, where we had no contact with each other for 20-30 days
before they grouped us into cells. Each one of us, has had to endure
extremely difficult conditions. However, what Engineer Hailu has had
to go through is by far the most egregious, and he still suffers from
the complications. He was in an extremely cold and damp room for
over 20 days after which he still has difficulty in moving his legs. In
fact, the room goes by the name, “The Fridge Room”.
After we were moved to Qaliti, the conditions can briefly be described
as follows. There are a variety of prisoners—political prisoners, those
charged with murder, burglary, “hooliganism”, corruption and so on.
The ages of the prisoners range from 16 into the 70s. There are
some who have received the death sentence, life in prison, and those
with a sentence of confinement for over 10 years as well as those
with pending cases. The majority of political prisoners outside of our
group are alleged Oromo Liberation Front members and are either
detained after the May 2005 elections or for over six years with
indefinitely pending cases.
One of the areas has what are called “dangerous thieves”. Some of
them are in handcuffs, and manacles, some even on both their ankles
and wrists, having been labeled “extremely dangerous”. All in all, this
place is what you would call hell.
Even worse is the zone that houses people like Muluneh Eyoel, and
Andualem Agena from CUD, and Eskender Nega from among the
journalists where over 3200 people, and the zone housing Mr. Kifle
Tigineh and 125 other CUD prisoners, where there are about 1600
people.
While hundreds of people are kept to a room, there are over fifty bunk
beds around the periphery of the room. In the middle, hundreds of
people sleep in the room sleep in crowded conditions. The number
does fluctuate. Of those who sleep on the floor some are forced to
share mattresses when it’s overcrowded. The dimensions are no
more than a few hundred square metres and therefore the space per
person is roughly a little over half a square foot. It is in this space that
a person sleeps, eats, and spends the day. In particular since
dinnertime is after the doors are closed, the conditions are horrible.
The prison does not even provide plates, so, some of the prisoners
have to eat on plastic sheets spread out on the floor. We have our
families rotate and take turns to bring us supplies and food. So, we
have not needed to use the food supplied by the prison. It provides
very dark injera baked with soil-contaminated flour, and shiro. Since
the taste is not at all appealing it does not have much demand. So, if
anyone is interested in second helpings it is always available. The
bread we receive in the morning is very good, and is quite edible. The
tea is neither good nor bad and there is plenty of it, for anyone to
drink as much as they would like.
It is most difficult to describe conditions pertaining to health in this
prison. If we described everything just the way it is, you all might think
that it is simply an exaggeration, and might even dismiss it. So, I will
just describe a few things. There are mentally ill people in the prison
and we try to take care of them as best we can and give them good
food. There are a few blind people, and several elderly people and
people who have lung disease and cough away all night. Skin
diseases and the common cold are so common we don’t even
consider them an illness. The quota for the number of prisoners who
can go to the clinic on one day has been five for a long time and with
persistent complaint, has now been increased to seven. This
opportunity of course goes to those who are extremely sick. The
doors to the rooms are open from 6 AM to 5 PM so that we are able
to go outside.
All in all, you can say that Qaliti is the path to hell.
I used to have a much simpler view of life. That has completely
changed now. Since life in prison is so unpredictable and I cannot
imagine any situation that is more fluid, I find it difficult to reflect on
and think through my future while I am still incarcerated. In order to
protect myself from the stress of the unpredictability and the
uncertainty of life here, I am willing and ready to face whatever I may
be confronted with. Considering the threats, abuse and intimidation
that prisoners are faced with, [particularly the younger political
prisoners] the amount of provocation we all go through is amazing. It
is assumed that they do these things just to find excuse to drag us
out and shoot us.
Although I have no clear vision of what my future will be, I am sure
that it may vary from time to time, depending on the reality on the
ground. However, I am determined to be a man of love till the end.
One thing I am sure of is that no one was created evil; those that
have done so much evil against me have only committed it based on
their knowledge and information. There is no evil person or tribe. Our
responsibility is to begin to show them the benefits and absolute
necessity of liberty and democracy for themselves and their children.
This can be accomplished with love and only with love. While I am
committed to tirelessly struggling in a peaceful manner until they are
willing to establish a system of governance based on the rule of law
and equality, my party was built with the commitment and support of
many many people who have sacrificed so much, bled and even died
for it. Thousands still languish in many warehouses throughout the
country. All of this is closely tied to the process of establishment of a
democratic system in this country. For this, I would like to remain
alive and acquire more knowledge. In this prison, I have had the
opportunity to read a lot and benefit from the accumulated knowledge
and experience of others. In the future, I would like to acquire formal
education to complement this. But the education has to be one that
would not demand my abandoning political life. I would like to acquire
good education of a type that would allow me to continue to work for
this party. I will continue to struggle for the establishment of a system
where all are equal before the law and the rule of law reigns
supreme.
What I am most worried about is not the fall of the Woyanne, but
rather about its replacement by another system that would embroil
the public in yet another cycle of extreme hardship and desperation
when it does . I will not hesitate to work hard against this.
I do not have the mandate to formally present the party’s vision in
detail. So, I want to make sure that what I present here is not taken
as the final party statement. With that understood, to give you a
general idea of the party’s vision, it should be known first and
foremost, that the party is so democratic that the vision, foresight and
expectation that each individual in the leadership has is amazing.
Therefore neither those in leadership or the others see their release
from prison as their primary goal, although it is almost impossible to
imagine yet another day in this prison The party’s primary purpose is
to build democratic institutions in Ethiopia, and right now, we all worry
that we may get to a point where none of us may be able to save this
country. So, the one thing that this party demands as a matter of
principle is the establishment of the rule of law and the democratic
process. For this to happen all of those who feel they have a stake –
and this includes those engaged in combat- to come to the table and
engage in a process of national reconciliation. We can then build the
new Ethiopia based on equality for all under the law and based on
respect for individual liberty. This new system will establish once and
for all a mechanism where power will be handed in an accountable,
limited and controlled manner and by the ballot only.
The other important thing to know is that our purpose is not to destroy
the EPRDF. In fact, we know that the EPRDF can and should be part
of the solution to our country’s problems.
That there is someone like Dr. Berhanu Nega in this party is amazing.
The value that he places in the establishment of the democratic
process during his life, the desire that he has for liberty, the love that
he has for those who consider him an enemy, is incredible. He has, in
spite of all of this misery helped me to find the love within me and for
that, I consider him my role model and admire him greatly. None of us
doubts for a second that he is the future hope for this country. Let
alone the prisoners, even our jailers understand that. For my part,
although I admire and respect all of those who kept their commitment
and went to prison for their beliefs, Dr. Berhanu Nega’s yearning for
and determination to bring about liberty and democracy and the
ensuing economic development and guarantee of peace for all
citizens in particular forces me to think that let alone my life and
incarceration, I wouldn’t mind my death being tied to him and the
cause. This country has to be able to use this man. She can’t afford
to lose him. He is a true social democrat. I am not just his admirer,
but his true follower till the end.
All right, I have written you all of the above. Though I do not know
how much you want it, I have given you as much as I can for now.
Please write to me too. I will be writing to you.
