Ethiopians: How many Volumes of Reports on the Gross Violations…

Ethiopians: How many Volumes of Reports on the Gross Violations of Our Fundamental Rights Would be Enough to say Enough?

Crane Ross, the author of a book, Leaderless Revolution; … (2011) says the following when he argues how especial interest groups can have tremendous influence over collective interests through governments they manipulate: “One can also argue that the worst outrages in human history occurred not in the absence of authority and government, but were instead perpetrated by governments claiming to act in the common interest.” I do not think there could be any doubt that our country has been and continued to be one of the most typical examples of being victim of this not just unfortunate but potentially dangerous political reality of our time. Dangerous, because there is no any convincing reason not to believe that the consequences of such a trend of keeping not only what is already worse to the people of Ethiopia but also the behavior of “I or we do not care; what I or we do care is getting my or our especial interests satisfied and protected” is a recipe for more chaos and total crisis of which no one would be benefited at the end of the day.

Given the great history of independence and one of the sources of ancient civilization we do claim, it is deeply painful to find ourselves being primary examples of those countries of less or developing world ruled by ruling elites who are not willing and able to see things beyond making sure their voraciously wild self-interests are protected and satisfied with any means, including the killing state machinery they control.  What is happening in the Oromia region and northern part of Gondar, and now in Gambella in particular and in the country as whole at this very moment in time clearly and loudly tells us how this generation is being brutalized by the brutal state machinery for the simple reason it (this generation) refused to live in totally horrible destitution as the result of a non-stop expansion of the interests of TPLF/EPRDF and its cronies.

Here is what David C. Korten   , the author of a book, When Corporations Rule the World (1995) has to describe how the situation this generation is facing is deeply painful: “Hundreds and thousands of young children, many without families, make lives for themselves – begging, stealing, scavenging, selling sex, and doing odd jobs on the streets of great cities of Asian, African and Latin American.” Admit it or not, our country, Ethiopia is a typical example for this extremely disturbing description of realities we are facing in this 21^st century. Yes, unless we want to remain victims of self- deception, if not deadly self-denial, this is the situation in which this young generation of Ethiopia which consists of a large portion of the population finds itself. A situation of political brutality, social and moral degradation and economic devastation has reached a point that desperately begs for an outlet that should be taking us to the destination we want get with less sacrifices.

I strongly believe that the way some opposition forces such as Arbegnoch – Ginbot 7 and other credibly and practically patriotic forces are convincingly in line with this kind of political strategy, the fight for freedom with less sacrifices. There is no doubt it is this kind of clearly defined and well-determined way of doing politics that is taking the situation in our country to the attention of some foreign powers including those which have supported TPLF/EPRDF to cling to power for a quarter of a century at the very expenses of the lives of the people of Ethiopia.

Let’s Look back and try to genuinely and seriously reflect the magnitude and the extent of the dehumanization the people of Ethiopia have gone through and ask ourselves : Shouldn’t and can’t we say enough is enough (practically) to the very ugly political mentality of reading volumes and volumes of   reports and academic dissertations on our own untold sufferings? How far should we go and to what extent should we tolerate to say enough to our political culture of mere analyzing and re-analyzing (writing and talking show) of volumes and volumes of horrifying reports? Doesn’t the situation the Ethiopian people daily experience in all aspects of their lives speak much more powerful than volumes of reports? Does the political mentality of trying to give high credit to our own political circles for volumes of reports organized and released by various governmental and non-governmental entities make a genuine sense?  Ask simply: How and to what extent we act upon those incredibly disturbing reports on the total dehumanization of the people of Ethiopia that is becoming a very huge and serious challenge to the very national pride we do claim?

It is from this perspective that I want to say that this comment of mine is not to dwell on why and how the ethno-centric tyranny has pushed the people down to the road that has already reached its dead end. Needless to say, in this situation of no outlet and room for the people to escape or retreat has now left the people with no any other choice, but fight back for true independence, genuine freedom, justice and equal opportunity. I strongly believe that we are in a situation that desperately demands rational, realistic and proactive response. The politics of emotional, wishful thinking and reactive responses to reports, condemnations, and resolutions of various governmental and non-governmental actors must genuinely and seriously checked and corrected.  Yes, all what others have reported or passed  resolutions and continued to do  so about our own incredible level of dehumanization by the brutal ethno-centric ruling elites must be checked against what we have done both at individual and organizational (political or civic) level. It is only and only when we do this that what others have to say about the evil-driven political agenda and socio-economic quagmire in our country could make a real sense and a difference.

Dwelling on the politics of blame and counter-blame, complaint and counter-complaint, and most outrageously preaching the value of togetherness and cooperation and even unity where as we have terribly failed when it comes to practicality is not much different from being part of our own problem, if not misery. Put simply, the politics of confusion and mere rhetoric, not compose and act has brought us to the situation where we are now. Needless to say, the way we did politics in the past and we continued to do so has terribly consumed our energies, time, knowledge and the merger resources we had and we have .

Here is a very critical question we need to face genuinely and courageously: What have we practically and meaningfully done as far as forcing the brutal regime of ethno-centrism to relinquish its power (peacefully or otherwise) and let the people freely decide on issues that matter most for their lives   is concerned?   Sadly enough, unless we deceive ourselves, the answer is still deeply disappointing. Do not get me wrong that what I am saying is there is nothing to acknowledge. What I am saying is that given the serious political suppression and socio-economic destitution for a quarter of a century, the more we remained disorganized, the more we failed to transform our struggle from a reactive to a proactive battle field. In other words, our political temperatures have been characterized by certain horrible political circumstances and events, not by well- founded principles, well-organized and long-term strategies and objectives.  And that is why we seem vulnerable to the very political attitude of considering those volumes of reports on our own sufferings as significant success stories of our diplomatic and lobbying efforts. I am not saying that the reports and statements do not play their own role. No, that will be terribly naïve.  What I am trying to say is that those horrible reports and statements of “we are concerned or seriously concerned” should be the functions of the determinant factor; and that determinant factor is our own struggle for our won freedom and dignity.

As matter of fact, because of our terrible failure to learn a lesson from what happened for the last half a century (1970s till now) and to interpret our wonderful words into deeds, we have continued reading and hearing volumes of endless reports and statements on our own total enslavement by an ethno-centric ruling circle.

The recently released reports on severe political suppressions and gross violation of human rights in our country in general and in the Oromia region, the northern part of Gondar and now in Gambella in particular sound neither new nor something that could make a desired difference as such. Put simply,   all the horrible reports and statements of political correctness (“we are seriously concerned”) and even resolutions on the current situation in our country like the one we read and heard from the European Parliament will remain political business as usual until we move proactively and in unison and demonstrate that we cannot afford to continue reading and hearing piles of reports, statements and resolutions on our untold sufferings.

We either have read or heard about the annual reports of the US State Department for the last many years, more particularly since the 2005 election that had been ruthlessly slaughtered because the late evil-minded boss of TPLF/EPRDF, Ato Meles Zenawi was well aware that his “throne of a historic leader” was at risk. The State Department continued the compilation and release of its repots which could not go beyond volumes of lip service or the document of highly abused expression of “we are seriously concerned.” Sadly enough, we have been told by some White House officials including the President that the election of May 2015 of which TPLF/EPRDF “won” hundred percent by using the “legacy of the great leader” in a much more devastating manner was democratic. Imagine how those volumes, and volumes, and volumes of reports of the State Department were and are just piles of references on shelves or file cabinets about huge and severe human rights violations for the last many years. Why? Because we as concerned citizens, civic groupings, or political opposition actors have terribly failed to seriously demonstrate that we have the willingness and the capacity to determine our own destiny, democratic and well respected Ethiopia.

We have either read or heard about the recently released  reports of Amnesty international, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, UN Human Rights Commission Experts, Transparency International (mainly on corruption), and Afrobarometer (not completed because the Ethiopia  people are not free to give their independent opinion) . Despite the fact that those reports have their own limitations to fully cover all horrifying experiences in every part and village of the country, there is no doubt that the very dire situations they keep raising and calling for doing something before it is too late clearly and loudly reflects not only the dirty politics of TPLF/EPRDF but also the extent of our (as concerned Ethiopians) failure, the political culture of “satisfying” our voracious individual or group egos at the expense of democratic values and principles we articulately talk or write about.

We have read the resolution by the European Parliament which actually sounds strong and serious. Does it matter to what is going on in our country? I do not think the question of why it matters is questionable as things are getting worse in such a manner that the ruling elites of TPLF/EPRDF are becoming dangerously destabilizing factors not only internally but also in that very volatile sub-region of Africa. The very challenging question we have to face is HOW the resolution matters. Is it because we naively believe that European governments will take the resolution a step forward and put meaningful pressure on TPLF/EPRDF regardless of  the existence of strong and credible opposition force that should shake the balance of power? Absolutely not! It does matter when only and only when we play our determinant role to bring about a system in which the people of Ethiopia should live with real sense of freedom, justice, equal opportunities for all.

We have read reports that the UN top boss, Ban Ki-Moon strongly but without mentioning who are those dictators of Africa who change the constitutions of their countries just as simple as any document in order to cling to their despotic and horribly abusive power. Imagine fellow Ethiopians, when Mr. Ban Ki-Moon raised his “serious concern” about changing or amending constitutions for the sake of clinging to life time  political power without being specific ( very ugly type of political correctness) , he did not dare to mention how innocent people of Ethiopian in particular are  typical examples of being silenced and robbed their votes for the last many years and particularly since the 2005 election, and last year’s election which gave TPLF/EPRDF hundred percent by destroying all credible opposition forces and deploying its  killing state machinery . Do I expect the UN boss and his colleagues to be worried about the sufferings of the people of Ethiopia as it is stipulated in the documents of the UN Homan Right Commission? Given the very unfortunate reality of the UN, not free from the dirty politics of double standard, it would be naive to expect its boss being free from the same dirty political game. I wish it could be otherwise.  Unfortunately enough, history and the very hard reality we are witnessing does not tell or show us otherwise.

They only way all the reports, condemnations and resolutions could become valuable inputs in the course of the struggle to get rid of the tyranny is if and only if we as individual citizens, as political or civic organizations, and as a people in general are decisively ready to say we cannot not afford to keep hearing and reading volumes and volumes of reports about our own incredible level of sufferings any more.   In other words, the mere political and diplomatic correctness of “we have serious concerns” by those foreign governments and regional or international governmental bodies must critically be challenged. Yes, those foreign powers that gave TPLF/EPRDF not only green lights but  also all the necessary support to take the throne at Arat Kilo and rule with state-terror machinery for the last quarter of a century should be  challenged in practical terms. Put simply, those foreign powers should not only be told but also practically challenged that the very ugly game of political and diplomatic double standard is not tolerable to the people of Ethiopia any more. The good for nothing, if not highly mischvious political game of publishing piles of reports on “lack of good governance and expressing serious concerns” has reached a point where  a genuine, serious and time sensitive political action is indispensable. Yes, it is now high time for us (Ethiopians) to say enough is enough to reports, statements, and resolutions of political correctness that could not go beyond lip-service or kind of shedding crocodile tears. How we do that? By coming and acting together and shaking the political balance in such a way that it should send a very credible and powerful message to those foreign governments that “their bad guys –TPLF/EPRDF elites” have reached a point where they cannot rule whatever the brutal machine they may deploy.

Believe or not, until we critically and inexcusably admit that our own stupidly ridiculous political culture of tug of war between and among our smaller circles because we want to be “philosopher kings or queens” of these circles is something that should be dealt with accordingly, there is no any sound reason not to keep reading endless volumes and piles of reports not only about what we currently are experiencing but also about the magnitude of our devastating sorrow of mutual destruction. There may be many fellow Ethiopians who may argue that this argument of mine looks pessimist. What I would say is that as long as we continue politics as usual, playing mere identity politics as a winning card, there is no any firm foundation to be optimistic.

Let me mention one very typical example. We strongly decry the political crime being committed in the country and particularly in the Oromia region, northern part of Gondar and now Gambella. Some “politicians and activists” such as Jawar Mohamed have gone to the extent of claiming that the recent resolution by the European Parliament is about Oromia only. He further tried to invite the rest of the Ethiopian people that if they want to join the movement in Oromia, that is fine as if the struggle for freedom for all Ethiopians should be by mere invitation, not by working hard to bring all Ethiopians together and help them to fight for their collective interests . Stupidly enough, he concluded that whether the rest of the Ethiopian people do their own parts or not, the Oromos will defeat TPLF/EPRDF and achieve their own freedom. I hate to say but I have to say that this kind of political mentality of making great Oromo Ethiopians “free people” and I do not care about the rest is stupidly irresponsible.

I listened to the summary report by Argaw Ashine for Awaze Radio about the recent speech by Professor Berhanu Nega which I attended. In the report of Ashine, it was reported that Jawar has dismissed what professor Berhanu had to say about the legitimate protest by Oromo Ethiopians. According to the report Jawar said that Arbegnoch Ginbot 7 has nothing to with the movement. He was reported saying that it (the speech) was kind of “political jacking”.  I sincerely want to say that it is wrong for me to either attack Jawar personally or to question both his ethnic and Ethiopian identity. What I strongly believe and argue is that the way some fellow Ethiopians such as Jawar are intentionally or otherwise playing politics is very undesirable if not seriously damaging to the ongoing political struggle which desperately requires standing together regardless of our ethnic background. And strongly believe that those fellow Ethiopians should be engaged appropriately and constructively.

Let me conclude by saying that although serious concerns and some sort of practical steps by external actors (state or non-state) have their own pressure and influence, what determines our course of struggle and the destiny we deserve is our collective will and action. Believe or not, if we do not aspire and act in line with this self-assertive way of doing politics , all the reports, statements , and even resolutions we currently hear and read will die down and those foreign governments will continue their partnership with “their bad guys”.  I hope we will be willing and able to take things in the direction and at the pace we should, and show the world that whatever it takes, we definitely prevail.

T.Goshu