I am an ordinary Ethiopian citizen living in Addis with no affiliation with any political party. Governments in Africa have so many similar characteristics of wrongful doings and mal practices. However, I am convinced that the one in Ethiopia is the worst of the lot and unparalleled. Accordingly, one is reminded of the popular local say here, when translated into English runs into something like:
“A child whose mother goes to fetch some water cries, just as loud as another whose mother has died.”

Hard as it sometimes may seem, readers have to bear with me to believe what I say. This is not a horror fiction but events verifiable through various independent sources within and outside of the Country.

The incumbent Government here, if I could call it as such, came to power straight from the bushes, not by ballot but bullet and has ruled for a long 14 years. It seems decisions have also been made to cling to power forever, in the face of a prearranged limitless term for office. During this period, it has exerted tireless efforts, and left no stone unturned, to ravage everything and work deliberately against the interest of the Country and its helpless people. Providing a detailed account of its “achievements” in terms of this should be reserved for historians.

On the basis of the current world order, the Government had no alternative but to legalize itself through a seemingly democratic process. As a result, matters went from bad to worse when it started to proceed under the cover of western democracy, contrary to its officially declared ideology of “Democratic Revolution” and deep-rooted admiration for Albanian Communism, coupled with its policy of promoting and disseminating ethnic and religious hatred.

Putting aside what took place in earlier years, I would confine myself to the most recent election process and its aftermath yet to be brought to its conclusion. The current problem started when the Government set up the so-called National Electoral Board. However, the Board cannot be considered independent or competent by any standards, with the blessing having been provided by the so-called House of Peoples Representatives (parliament), where the ruling party is presently controlling all 547 seats but 12.

In preparation for the last May 15 election, a massive and unprecedented public support was witnessed in Addis on May 7 in response to a call from one of the opposition parties alone. This at the time was truly described as Tsunami-like compared to the one held just the day before, which the Prime Minister proudly and interestingly called “ …a wave that would enable us to win without the need for any vote rigging…” This is probably a slip of the tongue but a clear indication that our rulers even plan for vote rigging action well ahead of time. Let’s not get it wrong here. Vote rigging is alleged elsewhere too. Unlike ours, the impact is not like the polling results between, say Bush and Kerry, or anybody for that matter, where although pursuing different policies, I don’t believe that either side would give in an inch when it comes to the sovereignty of the Country. In any case, it is worth noting that the support for the opposition was not only purely voluntary but also described by independent observers as unrivalled and having no match anywhere else. As to the one for the ruling party, some residents of Addis were forced to appear providing support through intimidation, threats on top of the unaccountable government resources availed like free transport facilities and public money generously dolled out. The remaining minority were “blind supporters” of the ruling party for various reasons, mainly being beneficiaries of the existing system. I suppose in this interesting world, even Hitler and Mussolini had and still have their own supporters! All the same, the massive and peaceful public turn out of May 7 managed to send clearly the right message to all concerned, resulting in the Government to panic, simply because of its “popularity” was being exposed to the rest of the world.

On Election Day itself, in spite of all the difficulties and hindrances encountered, the residents of Addis came out peacefully in great numbers to cast their ballots and repeat/formalize what had been demonstrated a week earlier, also witnessed by the international observers. The vote counting continued into the following day, confirming, believe it or not that one opposition party alone won all of the 138 seats but one, which was even the result of the an error on the part of the opposition. This did not surprise most of us, as we knew how rejected and notorious the ruling party is.

On that same evening, the Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, came out issuing directives, taking all military and security responsibilities into his own hands, banning all public demonstrations and meetings and threatening to “deflate”, meaning to kill whoever dares to exercise his basic rights. Incidentally, Meles Zenawi is not even fully Ethiopian, and possesses deceiving personality to outsiders, who let themselves be easily fooled, or even genuine victims of inappropriate and wrong comparisons drawn with the previous regime the “Derg”. His actions were not only a clear violation of a fundamental human rights as also enshrined in the laws of the land, but also not even accomplished through the right procedures. Not that it would make any difference, bearing in mind the composition of the Council of Ministers and the so-called parliament. When asked later on, he shamelessly gave the pretext that the state of emergency, effectively, was necessitated to control his own supporters who had told him that they were about to create conflicts, mind you not even the opposition.

The same evening, the ruling party could not deny its complete defeat in Addis, where the process was relatively transparent. Instead, it announced its overall victory in the County. I wish to inform readers that we are not here talking about vote counting in the US or Europe, but one in a relatively vast Country where the local technological infrastructure would not permit making such instant/real-time like announcements. Accordingly, the announcement was rather based on the strength of the votes rigging which the Government is counting on, and in respect of which all the necessary planning and other preparations were made in good time.

As a result, they are still working on this round the clock in a tireless manner. I have no reason to believe that the outcome in Addis would not be regarded as indicative of expected results in the rest of the Country. They know very well that they are even more unpopular in most of the rural areas. However, the fact that the election process there, not even independently observed in manners considered effective, relatively, meant ideal and good grounds for performing the preplanned votes rigging.

Following this, university students later on joined by high school students, held here again, peaceful demonstration within their own campuses. This did not even contravene Meles Zenawi’s recent illegal directives. However, it was a sufficient ground for him to give orders to his Special Forces for the brutal and inhuman beatings, harassing and mass imprisonment of the students in various labor camps.

The Government’s own actions against the students resulted in various kinds of public uproars like silent strikes and peaceful demonstrations in the streets of Addis and elsewhere. Armed with the orders to “shoot to kill”, the Government forces came out in armored vehicles to carry out merciless and barbaric murders, beatings and mass detentions…etc. once again to implement the plans to “deflate” unarmed and defenseless people from all walks of life. So far in Addis alone, it resulted in “…only over 30 killed, hundreds wounded…” going by the Government’s own statistics and thousands imprisoned or unaccounted for. Of course, these figures do not include those victimized since, in Addis and also in other parts of the Country from the beginning. Families sometimes finding it difficult to freely bury bodies of the loved ones caused by the cruel Government own killings. Indiscriminate beatings sometimes resulting in disabilities, harassment and detention of students and citizens suspected to support the opposition has continued to date, with most people finding even their own homes unsafe.

Prior to the election, opponents within the ruling own party were purged and imprisoned. Leaders of the opposition parties now are tailed, beaten and kept under house arrest, sometimes in their offices, denying them access to food and water for up to 40 hours. This included rejecting the request to bring some food by some of the international election observers, like the head of the EU observers and from the Carter Center. Worse of all, some of those winning the elections in their respective constituencies, in particular outside of Addis, have also subsequently been murdered.

Setting up independent electronic media is prohibited in Ethiopia. Access to the Government owned ones by the opposition is now totally denied. I would not take the readers time by going into the details connected with the mishandling of local independent media personnel. The Government has withdrawn previously granted permits to international resident correspondents, like that of VOA and Deutsche Welle. A lady correspondent of the BBC had her microphone smashed to the ground. Let alone pertinent local election observers, even certain reputable international observers from the US and Europe was requested to leave the Country well before election date.

Diplomats in Addis, who have preferred to call the Government’s actions as “excessive use of power”, are no exception to the ill treatment. To us Ethiopians, the massacre was clearly by design rather than by accident. The Prime Minister himself not only planned it ahead of time but also his forces entered university campuses to instigate and ultimately put to test their own plans, with the Prime Minister publicly declaring the actions as “correct” in the end. The Government has, and more so now, acted like a wild beast, doing everything possible in an irresponsible manner to instigate violence, religious and ethnic conflicts. Surely but the world is not prepared to witness another Rwandan-like genocide?

I have run out of words to fully express the feelings of citizens kept under gun point, in this ghost town of Addis, and the distress and traumatic conditions most Ethiopians have been subjected to by its own so-called Government. Ethiopians residing here have been terrified of the monster, exercising the laws of the jungle. Some of us wonder as to whether what we have at hand is a Government of our own or else uncivilized and a brutal occupying force?

This is what Tony Blair’s, African Commissioner and “… democrat, young, progressive and intelligent leader…” is capable of accomplishing. This is without the need to mention the high level rampant corruption and nepotism against the background of favorable development support received compared to the time of the previous regimes. I know everybody concerned is just beginning to understand the sufferings of 14 years by the Ethiopian people and have a clear picture of the identity of what came in the “Trojan Horse”. The Government is deliberately misinterpreting the plea from the international community to accept whatever the results of the election to mean undermining the need to investigate reported votes rigging as put forward by the opposition.

My comments are intended to give the opportunity to the concerned misinformed international Donors and Governments of other countries, to reconsider their positions and to work towards pressurizing this so-called Government to lift the embargo to demonstrate, and for the general international public to pressurize their own Governments to discontinue the support provided, and as a result minimize abuse of their own taxpayers’ money. This should be upheld until such time that the so-called Government is ousted and a realistic democratic process is in place. I also call upon all concerned to lend their ears to the Ethiopians in Diaspora and their supporters holding peaceful demonstrations around the globe. As for the Ethiopian public residing here, in the face of the systematic actions to silence the public, we are currently ghastly under gunpoint, patiently waiting for the ultimate expected so-called election results while continuing terrified by the bloodthirsty monsters. Unlike the so-called Government, the opposition is doing everything within their limited power, to provide peaceful and responsible leadership for the exercise of restraints by citizens.

We Ethiopians deserve a free and fair election process, not only a peaceful voting alone, for which the voters should be applauded, contrary to the claims by the Government for credit. Whatever the results, this so-called Government simply has no moral ground to stay in power. Ethiopians in general, in particular the residents of Addis, are looked at with vengeance for casting their votes to the opposition. Apart from this, if you believe what the so-called Government says, then you would believe anything!

Ewnetu Ashenafi
Addis Ababa.