I have the audacity to write this letter on this
day when Mr. Christopher P. Flaherty is on hunger strike in front of the White
House, which is a symbol of the rule of law and universal human rights
recognized as such by the global community upholding the fundamental values of
Liberty Freedom and pursuit of Happiness.
Mr. Flaherty is on hunger strike because he is
fully convinced that Birtukan Mideksa is illegally in jail for the sole reason
that she is posing a threat to the ruling regime of Ethiopia. The regime is
widely believed to have rigged the election set for 23 May 2010 – a sign
of even worse civil strife to come than the one seen in the aftermath of
election 2005.
There is no
doubt that You Honorable Ladies are part of a team in the Cabinet of the
President of the United States committed to provide exemplary moral leadership
by enforcing the virtues of liberty, freedom and prosperity envisioned by the
Founding Fathers of your Great Country. I take it that it is to protect these
fundamental values that your country is engaged in bitter struggle against extremist
forces hell-bent on destroying the edifice of democracy built by the consent
and effort of good men and women guided by the vision and conviction that the
pillars of that edifice are common to all human beings. The struggle against
extremism and terrorism is morally justified for the world would be a better
place without terrorists, extremists and dictators like Meles in Ethiopia
today.
We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed.”
Birtukan Mideksa
is a shining example for upholding those unalienable Rights of which Mr. Jefferson
wrote and therefore a beacon of hope to the present and future generations of
Ethiopia.
It is a
remarkable tribute to the vision and sense of justice of your Founding Fathers
that more than at any time in the history of the USA so many ladies are holding
powerful positions in the Obama Administration considering that it was only in
1920 that the right for women to vote was guaranteed by law. And with that
right, the meaning of “just powers deriving from the consent of the
governed” took hold holistically involving men and women.
Notwithstanding
progress made, there is still a very long way to go in the entire world
including the United States for women to hold the balance of power in politics so
far dominated by their male counterparts. In Africa, even the overwhelming
majority of men are victims of dictators of their own gender.
You are in
powerful positions in which you are today because there were good people of
both genders with vision that discrimination on the basis of sex, creed, color
or ethnic origin is unjust and unacceptable. I wish to add that in this age of
information in the 21st century the change must occur at a much more
accelerated rate by giving precedence to moral values than to political
expedience. And Your active and catalyst role is instrumental in this regard.
You Ladies
exercising power in the freest world have a duty to help increase the numbers
and ratios of able and deserving women in high positions not only in the USA
but also throughout the world such as in Ethiopia.
A unique case in
point is Ethiopia where a charismatic, intelligent and principled lady at the
helm of the Unity, Democracy and Justice Party (UDJP) – the most popular
political Party in Ethiopia and Africa – was thrown into jail by a chauvinist
despot who holds tight grip on power by applying Stalinist methods of control
over pillars of democracy while at the same paying leap service to democratic
values to appease Western donors that are giving direct financial support to his
government. With all due respect these donors include the USA which is hard to
believe that a government in the forefront of the free world would spend its
taxpayers’ money to prop up a dictator whose heinous crimes are
well-documented by its own Department of State. Meles recently said: “We
have been convinced for many years that in many respects, the VOA Amharic
Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille
Collines of Rwanda in its wanton disregard of minimum ethics of journalism and
engaging in destabilizing propaganda” – thus biting the hands that has
been feeding his regime generously.
The audacity of
tyrant Meles in drawing parallel between VOA and the infamous Radio Mille
Collines at this time when it is supported by taxpayers of the people of the
United States of America is like biting the hands that feed his army. If he is so thankless now, imagine what he will
do as soon as his ties grow stronger with despotic foreign powers with
insatiable appetite for the natural resources of the African continent. So it
would be best to nip this trend in the bud.
Congressman Donald Paine recently said: “I
am deeply concerned and troubled about the deteriorating conditions in
Ethiopia. The EPRDF regime is becoming increasingly totalitarian.” The Virginia
Declaration on “Ethiopia and Horn of Africa Conference” held
between 9 to 11 April 2010 has in its preamble clearly stated that it is“ALARMED by the
escalation of ethnic and religious polarization, active and latent conflicts in
Ethiopia and Somalia, further endangering the livelihood of millions of people
and disturbing international peace, and the total absence of a freely elected
and accountable governance system in the region”; and“RECONGNIZING
with dismay that Ethiopia will be entering the next election without adequate
preparation, and more importantly, under a cloud of impunity, relentless human
rights violations, vigilantism, and the incarceration of political leaders like
Ms. Birtukan Mideksa and others, while at the same time the ruling party
uses federal and foreign aid funds to recruit youth supporters, all these being
done with the intent of building a single-party state.”Accordingly the Conference has resolved
to “Join human rights organizations, parliamentarians, governments and
the Ethiopian people in demanding for the immediate and unconditional release
of Ms. Birtukan Mideksa and all other political prisoners.”
The concerns of the Honorable Congressman and
those of the participants of above named Conference are certainly in tune.The increasingly totalitarian stance of
the Meles regime should be stopped with the help of Ladies in Power in the
Obama Administration
Birtukan Mideksa has done nothing wrong to be:
subjected to cruel prison conditions being locked up in solitary confinement
for the first 170 days since December 2008 in a narrow filthy dark cell
infested with rodents; stripped of her constitutional rights of visit by
relatives, friends, access to lawyers priest despite court ruling twice. The
most disturbing concern now is the deteriorating health of Birtukan and the
refusal by her jailors to let her be seen by a specialist doctor and visit by
the International Red Cross. Her septuagenarian mother and her five-year old
lovely daughter are suffering physical and mental torture for the second time
since December 2008 as if the first one of 18 months in the aftermath of
election 2005 was not enough.
Birtukan’s
imprisonment is clearly a vendetta by Meles on a lame of the lamest excuse! It
is clearly a vindication of his rampant and arbitrary breach of his own
constitution; and arrogant affront to civilized society to behave as if he is
above the law. He said recently that: “There will never be an agreement with anybody to release
Birtukan. Ever. Full stop. That’s a dead issue.” This must be an
embarrassment to all donors channeling taxpayers’ money to support his
corrupt unpopular minority regime dominated by relatives and friends nearly all
coming from a small ethnic group constituting less than 8% of the 80 million
population of Ethiopia.
In all fairness, international pressure of
democratic governments and institutions including the USA was instrumental for
the release in 2007 of the victors of the Ethiopian election 2005 stolen by the
ruling Party in broad daylight. A repeat of the same stealing is highly
suspected by the Ethiopian people and the international community. So the
situation of Birtukan Mideksa would remain dire unless similar pressure is
brought to bear on Meles who had illegally put her in prison in breach of his
own constitution.
I plead with you in earnest, Honorable
Ladies, to share the deep concern of Congressman Paine so that your government
should not waste its resources on a regime that is increasingly becoming
totalitarian. In the same vein, I further plead with you to join the clarion
call of Senator Russ Feingold made in these words:
There is no way that elections can be
fair, let alone credible, with opposition leaders in jail or unable to campaign
freely. At the bare minimum, the international community should push for the
release of these political prisoners ahead of the elections. And if nothing
changes, we should not be afraid to stand with the Ethiopian people and state
clearly that an election in name only is an affront to their country’s
democratic aspirations.”
Indeed,
Honorable Ladies, not to stand with the Ethiopian at this critical hour of
their dire need would be morally wrong and contrary to your most enviable
fundamental values.
I am an independent unflinching supporter of
UDJP/MEDREK – a coalition of eight political parties that is gaining trust
of the Ethiopian people who want peaceful change. I strongly support Birtukan
because she has set me free by her courage to speak Truth to Power. Millions
are determined to emulate her example to speak Truth to Power as in the free
world.
I am deeply gratitude to film producer Mr. Chris
Flaherty who is on hunger strike for the just cause of Birtukan Mideksa and
hope that his noble sacrifice shall bear fruit.
So, Honorable Ladies, I have the honor to stress
with due respect to your exalted office that standing on the side of the
Ethiopian people would start with demanding the immediate and unconditional
release of Judge Birtukan and all political prisoners in Ethiopia.
Meles must not be allowed to entrench a one-party
state in Ethiopia with the support he has so far garnered from the taxpayers of
Western democracies a lion’s portion of that support coming from the USA..
