It was with a deep sense of betrayal and disbelief that we read a recent report[1]
suggesting that you might be involved in helping the Ethiopian dictator, Meles Zenawi, to
derail the passage of a bill in Congress intended to protect the democratic rights of the
people of Ethiopia.
If it is indeed true, your association with one of the most vicious dictators of the modern
era would be inconsistent with your image as a leader who has dedicated his professional
life to advancing the ideals of democracy and social justice.
Not too long ago, you declared to the world:
“One of the most important virtues of the American character is our ability to
approach the complexities that life presents us with common sense and decency,
… The considered judgment of the American people is not going to rise or fall on
the fine distinctions of a legal argument but on straight talk and the truth.”
The truth, in this case, is that Meles Zenawi has violated every tenet of human rights,
committed crimes against humanity, destroyed the democratic aspirations of the people of
Ethiopia, and mismanaged the scares resources of that country[2]. More specifically:
On May 15, 2005 the people of Ethiopia took to the polls in unprecedented record
numbers, and cast a vote of no confidence in Zenawi’s minority government. Instead
of accepting the people’s verdict, Zenawi proclaimed a state of emergency, and
declared himself a winner, against the testimonials of credible observers, including
one by the EU-EOM group [3].
In the aftermath of the elections that he stole, Zenawi ordered the massacre of over
193 peaceful demonstrators, and imprisoned opposition leaders and thousands of
opposition party members, as was unveiled by a commission set up by his own
government [4].
In a move reminiscent of Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge, he coerced the political
prisoners into admitting responsibility for the crimes he had committed, and
publicized to the world the confession obtained under duress[5].
He promoted ethnic discord, and engaged in ethnic cleansing and genocide against
various ethnic groups, including the Anuak in Gambela [6].
In total indifference to the suffering of the people, he squanders the meager resources
of the nation through corruption, embezzlement [7] and expensive lobbying [1].
Honorable Congressman,
In your commencement address to recent graduates of Washington University in St.
Louis, you declared:
“The long nighttime of communism and totalitarianism is not over, but we are
entering a new era where ordinary citizens everywhere are speaking out freely and
are no longer afraid of murderous dictators.”[8]
Unfortunately, if the rest of the world is marching out of the “nighttime of
totalitarianism,” it is still pitch dark for the people of Ethiopia. According to a recent
report, Ethiopia topped the list of the worst countries for press freedom, with more jailed
and exiled journalists than any other country in the world. In 2006 alone, eight
newspapers were banned, two foreign reporters were expelled and several websites were
blocked [9,10].
As the rest of the world enjoys the “peace dividend” from the end of the “Cold War,” the
people of Ethiopia are going through extremely severe economic hardships, thanks to the
rampant corruption[7] and expensive lobbying [1] that are characteristics of Zenawi’s
regime. A recent World Economic Forum report indicated that Ethiopia had slid to the
rank of 120th out of 125 countries in 2006 in the Global Competitive Index, down from
the 116th place it had occupied in 2005[11]. Economic analysts point out that the number
of Ethiopians on less than a dollar a day, has nearly tripled since Zenawi took power in
1991, i.e., relative to the record of the discredited communist regime of Mengistu Haile
Mariam[12].
You once made the observation:
“It’s amazing what happens when you ask yourself this question before you speak
or act. ‘How would I like this said or done to me?’ ”
So, before you venture to work for Zenawi, the people of Ethiopia would wish to remind
you of the above and to ask yourself: “How would I feel if I were an Ethiopian living
under a dollar a day and my leader squandered the money on expensive lobbying?”
You have also been quoted as saying: “I think the most important thing in life, …., is
credibility,…” Your demonstrated position against tyranny in Ethiopia would give more
credibility to the mission of the Gephardt Institute for Public Service that you so
generously helped to establish, and whose purpose you so eloquently described as an
institute, “… to help spread freedom, democracy, and capitalism across the globe so we
can better prevent the creation of terrorists” [8]. The stand you now take in distancing
yourself from a brutal dictator will certainly be a metric by which the image of this
promising institution will be judged for a long time to come.
Honorable Congressman,
In the days and weeks to come, Ethiopian Americans and other Ethiopians in the US,
who unlike their compatriots back home enjoy their freedom of speech, will be contacting
you in thousands to ask you to disassociate yourself from a brutal dictator, and to stand
on the side of democracy and social justice. They will be doing so, not out of
impertinence, but in the full knowledge and conviction that, as a man of integrity, you
will listen to the voices of the 70 million oppressed Ethiopians and be a part of their
struggle against tyranny and injustice.
