The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Every one has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representation; everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country; the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government.” In another section, the same Declaration proclaims “…everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food….” Further, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights emphasizes on “… the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger.” These universally accepted basic human rights have been deliberately made impossible to be exercised by the majority of the Ethiopian people as a result of the actions of the present regime.

The aftermath of Ethiopia’s landmark May 2005 parliamentary elections has laid bare the deeply entrenched patterns of political repression, human rights abuses and impunity that characterize the day-to-day reality of governance in much of the country. This dispiriting reality has come as a shock to many international observers who had viewed the electoral process with a great deal of optimism. The run-up to the May elections witnessed displays of openness and genuine political competition unprecedented in Ethiopia’s long history. But many Ethiopians experienced these limited opportunities in a context still dominated by heavy-handed government efforts to suppress and punish any form of political dissent. Worse, the aftermath of the May elections has been marred by seemingly intractable controversy and displays of government brutality that threaten to reverse the gains yielded by the electoral process. Human Rights Watch also expressed its concern about ongoing serious human rights abuses in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government didn’t allow the Ethiopian people to express their fundamental rights and allow them to continue to speak their minds about the election and the government. The past year has also been one of the sharp declines in living standards for the vast majority of Ethiopians. The ruling regime in Ethiopia has been documented to be responsible for ethnic conflicts that claimed many lives, brutal suppression of peaceful protests on numerous occasions, disappearances, detentions, political persecutions, and extra judicial killings. The victims included the democratically elected entire leadership of the opposition party, free press journalists, civic leaders, civic right lawyers, civic activists and countless innocent citizens including women and small children.

Is the World Bank going to continue rewarding a human rights abuser and perpetrator of poverty in Ethiopia? Its continued support of the Ethiopian government is a tacit of human rights abuses and rampant corruption. The World Bank should not provide financial support to an authoritarian and corrupt government, which is likely to further strengthening of the repressive apparatus of the regime. Prime Minster Meles Zenawi’s one-party-controlled regime has not stopped its human rights abuses and political repression all over Ethiopia, including the rural areas. Through its regional authorities and security forces, the regime is actively engaged in various forms of abuses, as explained above.

As part of its repressive mechanism, the regime is systematically driving the people to further poverty, hunger, sicknesses etcetera, through the deprivation of farm lands, fertilizers, health care and by creating unstable environment, among others. Indications are that these acts of brutality of the Ethiopian government will continue unless appropriate intervention measures are taken.

The World Bank claims that its mission is to improve people’s lives. Yet, in Ethiopia, it is rewarding one of the world’s top dictators by channeling money to the dictator through regional governments. This has encouraged the regime to continue its human rights violation with all its undesirable consequences, and to go on with its erroneous and dangerous effort of hijacking the struggle of the Ethiopian people for democracy and freedom.

Since gripping power in 1991, the TPLF/EPRDF has been engaged in a major reform process of administrative reorganization to maintain a centralized political control in Ethiopia. Accordingly, nine regions were created, to a large extent following ethnic lines and within each region power is nominally vested in Wereda (district councils) and Kebele (local councils). These entities, however, are governed by political parties either directly affiliated or allied, to the TPLF/EPRDF. In other words, the local people are not entitled to be their own rulers in Ethiopia. Thus, in practice democratization and decentralization remain superficial, despite official declarations to the contrary. Consequently, the central government, dominated by the TPLF, holds a firm grip on regional, district, and local entities, without shying away from using force against any political opponents and suspects. Local or regional governments are involved in the abuse, torture, harassment, murder etcetera of government critics and innocent citizens as part of their obligations to fulfill the destructive policies and instructions of the central government represented by TPLF/EPDRF. Referring to this problem in Ethiopia, Takirambudde, Director of Human Rights Watch for Africa Division, once said, “The government of Ethiopia is deepening its crackdown in Ethiopia’s rural areas, far from the eyes and ears of international observers in Addis Ababa. People are being terrorized by federal police working hand-and-glove with local officials and militias.” Expanding on this observation, on March 28, 2006 Lynn Fredriksson, Advocacy Director for Africa, Amnesty International, also testified before the US House Subcommittee on Africa (Global Human Rights and International Operations) by stating: “The EPRDF also took steps to extend political control through increased surveillance and intimidation tactics. Beginning in 2004, the EPRDF developed two sub-levels of political organization below the Kebele, the Gott and the Garee. Essentially every rural Kebele is divided into groups of 60-90 households called Gotts, and these are further divided into groups of 10-20 households called Garees. Each administrative office is then staffed by EPRDF supporters tasked with reporting all household activities. The political implications of this are ominous.”

In view of these obvious facts, there is no acceptable justification for the World Bank to channel money to the Meles Zenawi administration through regional/local governments unless it wants to reward the tyrannical regime for its human rights abuses and further encourage it to continue on what it is doing now, thereby prolonging the misery of the Ethiopian people. By way of emphasis, here, it may be appropriate to quote Thomas Sowell from his article in Capitol Magazine of July 13, 2005: “Whatever damage European colonialism did to Africa during its relatively brief reign that was probably less than the damage done later by well-meaning Western would-be saviors of Africa. Africans do not need to be treated as mascots but as people whose own efforts, skills, and initiatives need to be free from the tyranny of their leaders and the paternalism of Western busy bodies.” Giving a greater values to democratic principles and human rights, the former World Bank President, Jim Wolfensohn, when asked by the New York times (June 16, 2004) about the Bank’s practice of lending money to dictators also replied “The easiest thing for me, for the Bank, would be to stay just wait until these countries are democratic before lending them.”

Then, what is the basis for the World Bank now channeling money to the Ethiopian government through the back door in the face of the acts of genocide, massacre, torture, poverty, hunger, sickness etcetera of thousands of innocent citizens, including children and women, being deliberately committed by the government? Does this mean the polices of the Bank under your leadership are different from the policies followed previously? Or, is it the work of Ishac Diwan which plays a decisive role in the Bank’s decision? It is clear that what the Bank is presently doing is not only wrong and unacceptable but it is also immoral. It has to find another way of helping the Ethiopian people without the direct involvement of the brutal regime of Meles Zenawi. On VOA radio program recently, former US Ambassador Herman Cohen said “The international community should understand that economic development in Ethiopia will be impossible as long as you have this political stalemate and repressive form of governance. There is no reason to continue economic development assistance until this is corrected”

The crimes committed by the Ruling Regime in Ethiopia are vast and difficult to list in a few page letter. Therefore, we will hand deliver during our demonstration on Thursday May 25, 2006, documentation from internationally respected media, independent observers, State Department and Human rights watchdogs compiling the atrocities and grave human rights violations committed by the Ethiopian Government just during the last few years.

Daniel Kaufman, the Director of Global Program at the World Bank, on International Press Freedom day said, “The effect of poor governance and corruption go far beyond just being a severe impediment to the effective use of aid.“ This is exactly what is happening in Ethiopia today, Mr. President. Ethiopians are dying in one way or another because of this.

During the recent meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, you spoke on “Good Governance and Development: A Time For Action” (April 11, 2006), and stated “In the last half-century we have developed a better understanding of what helps governments function effectively and achieve economic progress. In the development community, we have a phrase for it. We call it good governance. It is essentially the combination of transparent and accountable institutions, strong skills and competence, and a fundamental willingness to do the right thing. Those are the things that engage a government to deliver services to its people efficiently. An independent judiciary, a free press, and a vibrant civil society are important components of good governance. They balance the power of governments, and they hold them accountable for delivering better services, creating jobs, and improving living standards.“ Nothing is far from the truth in what you stated.

Before you close your speech you also added: “This morning I visited the grave of my friend Nurcholis Majid, or Cak Nur as you all know him. His life, which ended prematurely just a few month a go, helps explain why love this country so much, and why I am so hopeful about its future. He was a man of exceptional talent and profound humanity, grounded in a deep faith. When he briefly considered running for President 2 years ago, he laid out 10 principles for guiding government. The first two were promoting good governance, and upholding the supremacy of the law. I believe in these priorities not just for Indonesia, but as key principles for the World Bank Group’s relations with all partners. These are principles we share with your current leadership and with your people, and we have every reason to be hopeful for the future.”

Mr. President, if you are sharing with the Indonesia government leadership the noble ideas of good governance and the upholding the supremacy of the law, why do you have a different standard when it comes to Ethiopia? According to aggregate governance research indicators, the Ethiopian government has been rated poor in the six dimensions of World Bank governance indicators for 1996 to 2004: invoice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and controlling corruption. When the government is in the position of acting against its own people, how do you expect the aid to be delivered effectively to the people who need it the most? When the government is above the law of the land and all the media are controlled by the government for his own propaganda and as a weapon, how do you measure accountability and transparency and prove the aid is delivered to the poor? If World Bank holds the same principle with all partners, why is it providing support to a repressive and unstable government in Ethiopia?

We call upon your Presidency and the World Bank to use your power to establish lasting peace, security, human rights, accountability, people-empowering government, and the rule of law in Ethiopia. We believe that the first business should be restoring the people’s confidence toward the government.
In the meantime, Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia are urged to act in objection to what your Institution is doing presently in Ethiopia and let every one knows about it. We believe that the practice of the World Bank is an act against humanity by supporting the killers in Ethiopia. As silence only helps the killers, we will act and act together to defend the rights of the Ethiopian people who have suffered so much under several consecutive regimes.