From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:04:52 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Ethiopian Democratic Action League is launching weekly demonstrations and rallies every Monday in front of the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC starting April 2 until May 21, 2001. The purpose of the demonstration is to demand the immediate resignation of Meles Zenawi and the setup of an all-inclusive transitional government composed of all political parties and civic associations, as well as elder statesmen until fair and free elections are conducted within a reasonably short time. After ten years of disastrous rule causing unspeakable suffering upon the people of Ethiopia and selling out Ethiopia's national interest, and in light of the current crisis in the ruling TPLF regime, it's time for Ethiopians around the world to mobilize to end the Meles era. THE SUFFERING OF OUR PEOPLE MUST END! THE BETRAYAL OF OUR COUNTRY MUST STOP! IT'S TIME FOR MELES TO GO! We call on all Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia to join us at the weekly demonstrations and help us make a strong demand for the resignation of the anti-Ethiopia, anti-democratic dictator Meles Zenawi. We also call on Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia around the world to mobilize to bring about the end of Meles Zenawi's brutal dictatorship. The next scheduled demonstration: Date: Monday, April 2, 2001 Time: From 12 noon - 1 PM Place: Ethiopian Embassy (3506 International Drive, NW Washington DC - Next to the University of the District of Columbia) ETHIOPIAN DEMOCRATIC ACTION LEAGUE Spokesperson: Gashu Habte, Ph.D. mailto:ec@tegbar.org * http://www.tegbar.org From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:04:53 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: assassination has been launched in a futile bid to win more support to one= =E2=80=99s=20 own side while disfiguring the other. This move is not only immoral but also= =20 contemptuous of the expectations of our people who had placed their trust in= =20 the leadership. We believe we are part of the domestic constituency in our=20 country, and have every right to demand the leadership to heed our plea for=20 peace and reconsider its decisions before the turn of events further compoun= d=20 an already explosive situation. As a result, we are of the conviction that w= e=20 can be part of the solution to the looming crisis by presenting the followin= g=20 demands to the pertinent body in power:=20 We demand the unconditional reinstatement of those TPLF officials who have=20 been illegally sacked and purged from their government and party positions.=20 We demand that the government respect the constitutional rights of the=20 officials to exercise their freedom of expression; call on the government to= =20 bear the responsibility of safeguarding the safety of the officials and thei= r=20 families.=20 We demand that the government send us one representative from each side so=20 that we would have fair, accurate and objective views over what is emerging=20 as a distorted picture of the rumor mill.=20 We call for the convening of a general congress to be presided over by a=20 group drawn from both sides.=20 We demand that the entire conduct of the general congress be transmitted liv= e=20 on TV and radio for the Ethiopian public.=20 We call for an immediate end to the hostile media propaganda.=20 We demand the postponement of any meeting between the governments of Ethiopi= a=20 and Eritrea until the suspended officials resume their public=20 responsibilities.=20 We believe the TPLF Audit Commission=E2=80=99s decisions are fair and legiti= mate.=20 We call for an immediate end to the propaganda barrage and threats political= =20 cadres hotly pursue to force our people approve of decisions made without=20 their free and democratic participation.=20 Peace and Justice to Our People=20 Ethiopian Tigrians in Seattle, Washington=20 USA=20 --part1_6f.13bbc932.28022176_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en Source: Ben's News Page
Protest message continues


Ethiopians in Seattle Call For:=20
<= SMALL>=C2=B7 Unconditional Return of TPLF officials to their posts=20
=C2=B7 Postponement of any meeting between Ethiopia and Eritrea

- Statement by Ethiopian Tigrians in Seattle, Washington State, USA=20

Whethe= r in time of peace or war, it has been a public secret that we=20
Ethiopians living in the city of Seattle have been contributing our mode= st=20
share for the well-being and development of our people and country. Once= the=20
dust of war began to settle down, we held our hopes high because we beli= eved=20
our suffering people would start to heave a sigh of relief, and start to= =20
re-build their shattered lives.=20
Unfortunately, a chilly wind has once again blown our own way -- leaving= us=20
bewildered and truly dismayed. We heard, from bits and bytes of news, th= at=20
the Woyane organization, a tenacious organization that over the years ha= d=20
triumphed over challenges that were insurmountable for many others, has=20= spilt=20
into two for failing to resolve differences within itself.=20
From bad to worse, a shameful campaign of blackmail and character=20
assassination has been launched in a futile bid to win more support to o= ne=E2=80=99s=20
own side while disfiguring the other. This move is not only immoral but=20= also=20
contemptuous of the expectations of our people who had placed their trus= t in=20
the leadership. We believe we are part of the domestic constituency in o= ur=20
country, and have every right to demand the leadership to heed our plea=20= for=20
peace and reconsider its decisions before the turn of events further com= pound=20
an already explosive situation. As a result, we are of the conviction th= at we=20
can be part of the solution to the looming crisis by presenting the foll= owing=20
demands to the pertinent body in power:=20

We demand the unconditional reinstatement of those TPLF officials who ha= ve=20
been illegally sacked and purged from their government and party positio= ns.=20


We demand that the government respect the constitutional rights of the=20
officials to exercise their freedom of expression; call on the governmen= t to=20
bear the responsibility of safeguarding the safety of the officials and=20= their=20
families.=20


We demand that the government send us one representative from each side=20= so=20
that we would have fair, accurate and objective views over what is emerg= ing=20
as a distorted picture of the rumor mill.=20


We call for the convening of a general congress to be presided over by a= =20
group drawn from both sides.=20


We demand that the entire conduct of the general congress be transmitted= live=20
on TV and radio for the Ethiopian public.=20


We call for an immediate end to the hostile media propaganda.=20


We demand the postponement of any meeting between the governments of Eth= iopia=20
and Eritrea until the suspended officials resume their public=20
responsibilities.=20


We believe the TPLF Audit Commission=E2=80=99s decisions are fair and le= gitimate.=20


We call for an immediate end to the propaganda barrage and threats polit= ical=20
cadres hotly pursue to force our people approve of decisions made withou= t=20
their free and democratic participation.=20

Peace and Justice to Our People=20
Ethiopian Tigrians in Seattle, Washington=20
USA --part1_6f.13bbc932.28022176_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:04:53 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Ethiopian Democratic Action League (TEGBAR) is organizing demonstrations every Monday until May 21 in front of the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC from 12 Noon - 1 PM. The next demonstration will be held this coming Monday, April 16. Purpose of the demonstration: 1) Condemn the vicious attacks on Addis Abeba University students by Meles Zenawi's armed thugs. 2) Express solidarity with the brave students at Addis Abeba University who have refused to surrender their rights to the brutal dictatorship. 2) Demand the immediate resignation of dictator Meles Zenawi and his murderous regime. Join us. Say NO MORE! THE SUFFERING OF OUR PEOPLE MUST END! THE BETRAYAL OF OUR COUNTRY MUST STOP! IT'S TIME FOR MELES TO GO! . From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:04:53 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: trying to softly, softly breaking the news to us Ethiopians what they=20 intend they will do in the next --part1_91.95baec1.280c1454_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Writing on the wall, who i= s the most gullible of them all?

by Haileselassie Girmay   April 14, 2001=
=20

Yes, it is now almost three years gone, since the incident took place.
Remember it was May 1998 when Ethiopia was dishabille and mortally=20
flogged. It was not small an incident to be blocked out of anyone's memo= ry.=20
It=20
was a brutal attack, no less than all the other attempts done in the pas= t. It=20
was well worked out a plot to see Ethiopia fractured and humiliated=20
forever, if only the dreamers' plan had materialised.

And materialised it almost did. For over two years the Eritreans=20
managed to hold sovereign Ethiopian territories and began vaunting to th= e=20
world at
large that they were here to stay for good. No force, certainly any
Ethiopian force in any form and shape, would dislodge them from the=20
Coveted lands they so dear cherish as war booties.

It took long and hard struggles to put ours acts & pull our resource= s
together and redirected our actions to the war front. Then, once the=20
war, began in earnest, we taught the Eritrea and their foreign masters a= =20
lesson not only they would wish not to forget but what Ethiopians are ma= de up=20
of now, as they were in the past - the unwavering iron will not only to=20
win but also to die rather than live like dogs licking colonial masters'= =20
boots.

Like the in the past, this time round, in May 1998, Ethiopia was also=20
caught ill prepared for the task by surprise. Ethiopia is by nature less
suspecting; it harbours little or no negative psychology about others.=20
Sad to say, Ethiopia takes on board things as they unfold on ground to h= er=20
cost for her seraphic innocence. Ethiopia is and has also been a peace-l= oving
country. It has never gone to war against anyone unless provoked and in
self-defence. These two factors appear to be the Achilles heels of the=20
country.

Following the debacle of the Eritrean forces in Badema, the Eritreasns
should have heeded to our pleas and retreated with their dromedaries=20
from Ethiopian territories. But they did not; they remained obdurate as=20= the=20
rocks behind which they dug in for their trenches. It remained for the=20
Ethiopians to follow hot on the retreating heels of the disgraced Eritre= an=20
army to
drive a long forgotten lesson home. Subject taught, chapter closed you w= ould
have thought it was the end of the matter - but hold on, there is more=20
to come.

It appears Eritrea and our classical enemies have prepared a trident att= ack
on Ethiopia. If one fails, and it had, they have the other two to try=20
out their lucks and bring the country to its knees.

Like the May 1998, these internal mayhems of April 2001 seem to have=20
been designed, by divine will or human, to take Ethiopia by surprise. Th= e
internal conflict among the EPRDF/TPLF members is, without going in to
details, a case in point how our enemies work to see our demise from=20
within and without.

One feels that Ethiopia has been, despite its backwardness, able to=20
ward off external aggressions and invasions and recovered from its ordea= ls.=20
However, many people, including our leaders, feel this is an internal pr= oblem=20
they can cope with - how wrong they can be? It is the internal conflict=20
that Ethiopia has been and will be unable to shrug off and still stand t= all=20
on its feet. This one is an ankylosis that lies in wait to attack as an
opportunist, on top of the Achilles heels Ethiopia gravely suffers from.

It is too early to pass judgement; there is still room to work out and=20
bring this internal conflict to a peaceful solution where no one should=20= feel=20
that one is hard done by. This approach of mending fence should be done=20= on=20
an organisational level and the sooner the better. In the end, however,
ultimate decision should be left to the people to find out as to who=20
was
right and who was at fault during the terms these group, now estranged,=20
as a whole collectively administrated the country.

Talk of corruption at the higher level is one-thing rich people complain= of
being robbed or embezzled of their resources. At lower level, the=20
political cadres of the day, who are now being, it seems, pampered to wi= n=20
over=20
their much soughed after votes in favour of one as opposed to the other
conflicting ruling groups within the TPLF, are as bad corrupted and doin= g
the damage to the economy and morale of the ordinary people. This=20
conflict and their role to decide who is to stay and who is to exit will= give=20
them a much wider opportunity to continue their bad practices.

The conflict among the groups of the ruling party surfaced shortly=20
after Eritrea was comprehensively defeated. Such a resounding victory of= the
country against unprovoked enemy, ought to have given the members of=20
the ruling group the courage to recognise failures of each individual=20
leading and up to the Eritrean invasion and mend their differences, at l= east=20
in
recognition of the efforts put and the resolute determination manifested= by
the Ethiopians people at large who are not politically affiliated to=20
this group but gave their lives to reverse the aggression.

Instead of accommodating their differences and strove for a workable
relations in the interest of the country and the people who shed their=20
blood to see a better system in operation, they blew their differences o= ut of
proportion on procedural matters and with it brought the country close t= o a
danger. And still we have not heard the real essences of their differenc= e.

We have seen in the past some of the veering and careening of the
TPLF/EPRDF, but now they say there is more to come. Recently, the EPRDF/= TPLF
appears to have or is about to abandon all its ideological=20
manifestations it vowed it would put in to practice once it came to powe= r.

It wants to follow free market economy. There is no problem here, so be=20= it.
Come to think, for the last ten years the Government was in fact=20
following free market economy. No one seemed to have bellowed and jumped= from=20
a
skyscraper in protest. It seems the Government will continue to
practice/implement its free market economy unabated and full blast- Amen= .
However, there will not be a new miracle that will auspiciously surface=20
as a
result of the extension of the intended declaration. The practice of fre= e
market economy outside the agrarian economy has been in Ethiopia before=20
the coming of the Derg to power. Emperor Haileselassie was a much safer=20
hand to foreign investors than the present government. But foreigners we= re not
interest in him as they did elsewhere. What new developments/substantial= ly
and miraculous discoveries of oil, gold and diamond, etc has happened fo= r
foreign investors to coming rushing in their drove to our country to our
delight to see market economy flourished? Just because our leaders are=20
now educated and speak English better?

Hitherto, the most significant production and construction developments=20
that have taken place are those carried out by the central and local=20
governments. The rest of the much-talked about investment manqu=E9 that=20= took=20
place by=20
the private sector are in the peddling of the same old commodities of th= e
production and provision of alcohol and hotel.

It is noted that the government owned and run projects may have been pro= ne
to corruption and inefficiencies. This may have triggered the central=20
and local governments to sell them off the projects, as they could not r= an=20
the mat loses, at knock prices, to private (foreign or/and local, if the= re=20
are any) investors who would ran them better for profits, and there is n= o=20
doubt they may do just that. However, if the private sectors were to be=20= asked=20
to invest and set up those projects at will in the first place, at the=20
FULLSTART UP COSTS, they would not have dreamt setting the projects at a= ll.=20
Why come to Ethiopia and set business in the most inconvenient and land=20
locked places, for humanitarian sake? So there would not have been any c= ement
factory or ring road in the country but probably more liquor houses with= beds.


Likewise going private in the agrarian area of the economy may have its=20= own
pitfalls. There may be though some problems in some places where land is
communal owned and tilled. If the land in such places were taken away fr= om
rich/medium rich peasant in the past, and given to the others because th= ey
did not have some or they had little of it, is it going to be given back= to
the former land owner on the bases of the right of property ownership
retrospectively, or is it to be kept with the new owners, and they in tu= rn
would make a meal out of it? If then what justices can there be for=20
land to be owned and sold by the current holders at the expense of the f= ormer=20
owners who are still alive and struggle to make ends meet? Is there any=20= logic=20
for making those who legitimately owned it for several generation poor a= nd=20
the new ones rich? But a peasant is peasant you can manipulate your way=20= out=20
and there may not be grave danger of losing control, unless one is not=20
troubled
by his/her conscientious.

The other issue is subscribing to free market economy does not mean=20
bending over to imperialist exploitations and subjugation. You can be a=20= free
marketer up to your neck and still object imperialistic aggression and
exploitations when and if it occurs. You can still say down with
imperialism, couldn't you? Any country in collaboration with the big
powers, like Eritrea did to undermine Ethiopia's sovereignty and=20
territorial integrity, should and indeed be vigorously opposed, even if=20= it=20
means=20
that you have to lose benefits of their inward investments and internati= onal=20
aid.

We should not be frightened to say no to imperialistic moves when it=20
comes to violation of our long-term interests and survival as a nation.=20= There=20
is no point of advocating a free market economy if you have not got a=20
sovereign country to stand on and make a deal. At this point, when this=20
happens=20
there is no any other word you can substitute in place of Imperialism, s= o you=20
say" down with imperialism!" It is not scary word you do not want be=20
heard saying it in case Big Brother is around. Like some wanted us to be= lieve=20
and run away from the person who uttered the slogan. India, Pakistan and= =20
others are free market economies and yet you hear them accusing big powe= rs
interfering in her region affairs and call them imperialists.

It is not only for lack of resources that we may not survive as a nation
that we should always seek their co-operation, but we could also perish=20
as a result of direct and indirect imperialist interventions in=20
collaboration with local enemies of our nation. The Red Sea and Nile Bas= in=20
waters are two strayed daughters of ours that still are the causes of ho= odoos=20
to the
country.

Last but not least, if the TPLF/EPRDF has abandoned almost all its
ideological believes and now stands republished with capitalistic holy=20
water, how is that the believes of self-determination, Eritrean colonial= =20
question, long held believes, remain unadulterated and intact? Shouldn't= they=20
also be abandoned as outmoded and anachronistic communist views like the= =20
rest?=20
Once this done, the TPLF/EPRDF sip from the stoup a transubstantiation t= hat=20
would help wake it up to the call and work for Ethiopia on the bases of=20= the
survival of the fittest, an ideology that congruently fits with doctrine= of
capitalism? This brings me to the main point why I wanted to write this=20
article.=20
Scott Stearns of the VOA, 14/4/2001, see Ben's New Page for detailed aud= io=20
record.
In this audio record the Eritrean Asseb port manger, Mengistab, tells=20
Scott that the existing number of port workers is more or less the same=20= as it=20
was before the port was effectively closed. That is to say when Ethiopia
abandoned the use of the services of the port. There is no work but the
Eritrean government subsidy keeps them going. The machines and cranes,=20
them too, are also continuously greased and oiled to keep them in good n= ick=20
and operational. "Because we believe," and this is reinforced by=20
Issayiase's views as expressed in the same audio interview, "the Ethiopi= ans=20
will=20
sooner than later come and ask for the use of the port's services. It is= only=20
a question of time, the Ethiopian have no choice they have to come to=20
Asseb," both Issayas Afewerki and Mengistab asserted. Alas, it is fait=20
accompli. The Eritreans know more about us than ourselves about us. But=20= if=20
this is=20
true, how could it be, long before the blood of our brothers and sisters= =20
split has dried on the grounds they lay fallen and those who are still a= live=20
their wound healed that we are rushing to make a deal? Wouldn't any earn= ing=20
made from such a deal on the graves of our dead brothers and sisters be=20= a=20
frog in a throat? A huge bony frog indeed.

Besides, the port of Asseb was abandoned long before the conflict=20
started on the bases of commercial viability. We were told that Ethiopia= can=20
shop
around for ports and use the cheapest and there was no need for=20
Ethiopia touse the services of Asseb. Why then are we coming back now an= d=20
argue a=20
causewe abandoned long before on commercial visibility bases unless we=20
wanted to help out Eritrea from its financial crisis it crassly created=20= for=20
itself? Besides Djibouti and Asseb are geographically the same distances= to=20
the=20
rest of Ethiopia. If we can use Djibouti will there be a need to look fo= r=20
Asseb,after all the bloodshed added to it? It is not only the Eritreans=20= who=20
Are arguing that we should come back to Asseb - it even sounds on the au= dio
record like the Eritreans will declare war on us if we fail to toe the l= ine
and use Asseb from the ways they talk both issyas and the port manager.=20
The UN Deputy Representative to Ethiopia and Eritrea, Ian Martin, is als= o
arguing we should forget and forgive and use the port of Asseb, a port=20
no win the hands of the Eritrean, for the benefits of all. Yes all, smal= l=20
power and big powers. We cannot tell them what we wanted, they know want= is=20
good for us all the time and they have been providing us just that - pov= erty=20
and war.

One Ethiopian writer, Alemu Taye, in his article, " Seye or Melese,"
14/4/2001, posted in Ben's New Page, appears to sit on the fence and=20
try to hitch up the rope on fellow Tigrayans. He seems to gloat over wha= t he=20
calls the downfall of rule of TPLF, and with it the Tigrayans domination= . At=20
a time when the input of everyone is required to steer the country from
danger, unless every Tigrayan, as he put it, come to Washington DC=20
where helived for the last thirty years presumably in comfort, unless th= ey=20
joinedhis party, this writer wont listen, wont have any thing do with
Ethiopians/Tigrayans whatsoever. Well Mr. Writer, I will tell you this=20
for I know for sure. Tigray gave the TPLF, EPRP; EDU and other would be
liberators, when liberation front was the right steps to walk about,=20
the same chances of material and human resources to be used against Derg= .=20
Tiraygave all the liberation fronts without any exception safe sanctuari= es=20
and shelters in its caves, mountains and human dwellings at enormous ris= k=20
to itself to operate. What more could the pe --part1_91.95baec1.280c1454_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:04:54 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Dedicated to Asrat Woldeyes, Foe of Ethnic cleansing and Homelands, Martyr of Ethiopia and other victims of Ethnic cleansing( hopefully Sileshi won't sue me for publishing part of his beautiful poem;>|) ...Keingdih amara melkeskes yikribet keingidih abeka, Asrat yemote let. Imbi kalem yihe mergem yihunibet tigdelew inatu, mistu bitisasa tigdelew set-liju, wend-liju keressa keHone hod amlik, kehone timb-Ansa Tiyit yifjew yimut,silet yiblaw yirad yiweledu leloch yemihonu kassa Beshita sitena derso Yastamemenin zer bilew siwegun derso yastalenin Guma Dem melisen, bedem kaltatebni lemitefaw tifat, bidir kalmelesni kal semay, kal lemidr biret kalchebetni inesu indenakun, igna ketenakni iwnetim, iwnetim Ahya yibeluni ..." -Sileshi Balima ___________________________________________________ GO.com Mail Get Your Free, Private E-mail at http://mail.go.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:01 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Domestic discontent threatens Ethiopia's ten-year-old government AT THE height of the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, Issaias Afwerki, Eritrea's president, predicted that the fighting would bring down his rival and former ally, Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi. He was wrong. Mr Meles won the war last year. But now, after victory, his government is in trouble. Divisions at the heart of his administration are exposing the fragility of his rule. Some say it is imploding. Mr Meles has been a reformer, bringing the market to a centralised state-run economy. The economy shows a healthy growth rate and the harvest will be good this year. But prices for coffee, Ethiopia's chief export, are low, and the government spent millions of dollars on the war and lost millions in aid from disapproving donors. Now the urban poor cannot afford basic goods, and unemployment is at an all-time high. In April thousands of university students demonstrated for academic freedom on their campuses. Unemployed youths took the protest to the streets where the demonstrations degenerated into the worst public disorder for years. The government, seeing political plots behind what appears to have been a spontaneous uprising, responded brutally. Some 130 people were killed-only 31, said the government. On May 8th Mesfin Wolde Mariam, a veteran human-rights campaigner, and Berhanu Nega, an academic, were arrested, accused of stirring up the students. The two men, and hundreds of opponents of the regime, are in prison but uncharged. On May 12th Mr Meles had more genuine grounds for fear when his head of security, Kinfe Gebre Medhin, was shot and killed at the officers' club in Addis Ababa. His death removes a close ally who kept the army subordinate to the government. This, in turn, has exposed divisions in the government. At the administration's core are Mr Meles and his friends from Tigray, who once formed the Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray. That grew into the Central Committee of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). After a long war, and in alliance with Eritrean rebels, the TPLF overthrew the Soviet-backed regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. Originally a small separatist movement, the TPLF was suddenly faced with ruling this vast, disparate country. Tigray is far from Addis Ababa, whose Amharic residents resented the invasion of northerners. But the TPLF created like-minded parties among each of Ethiopia's main ethnic groups until they had constructed what looked like a multi-layered, multi-party national political system. This coalition, known as the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has ruled ever since. But the point on which the whole rests is the secretive, all-powerful TPLF Central Committee. This committee is now looking wobbly. When a ceasefire and peace agreement were signed with Eritrea last December, the TPLF Central Committee split and 12 members were expelled because they felt Mr Meles had sold out to western capitalism and had been weak on Eritrea. Many felt that Mr Issaias should have been crushed completely. A similar division splits the army. The prime minister has tried to roll with the pressure, showing toughness by creating problems for the UN peacekeeping force, and by dragging his feet on the creation of a neutral buffer zone between the two countries. But that upsets Mr Meles's western allies and the UN. He needs good relations with them to get a deal out of the IMF. Mr Meles is caught between international pressure and the demands of some of his oldest and closest allies. He tried to win support from other parties in the EPRDF, but each wanted its pound of flesh in return. His reinvented political structures have not grown deep enough roots to give him an alternative power base. Next month the TPLF and all the other parties in the EPRDF should hold congresses to celebrate ten years in power. But the dissenters are strong in Tigray, and could give the prime minister a hard time. --part1_bb.eb9374e.2840c6f0_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ethiopia

Post-victory turmoil
May 24th 2001

From The Economist print edition

Domestic discontent threatens Ethiopia's ten-year-old government
AT THE height of the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, Issaias Afwerki,
Eritrea's president, predicted that the fighting would bring down his rival
and former ally, Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi. He was wrong. Mr
Meles won the war last year. But now, after victory, his government is in
trouble.
Divisions at the heart of his administration are exposing the fragility of
his rule. Some say it is imploding. Mr Meles has been a reformer, bringing
the market to a centralised state-run economy. The economy shows a healthy
growth rate and the harvest will be good this year. But prices for coffee,
Ethiopia's chief export, are low, and the government spent millions of
dollars on the war and lost millions in aid from disapproving donors. Now
the urban poor cannot afford basic goods, and unemployment is at an all-time
high.
In April thousands of university students demonstrated for academic freedom
on their campuses. Unemployed youths took the protest to the streets where
the demonstrations degenerated into the worst public disorder for years. The
government, seeing political plots behind what appears to have been a
spontaneous uprising, responded brutally. Some 130 people were killed-only
31, said the government. On May 8th Mesfin Wolde Mariam, a veteran
human-rights campaigner, and Berhanu Nega, an academic, were arrested,
accused of stirring up the students. The two men, and hundreds of opponents
of the regime, are in prison but uncharged.
On May 12th Mr Meles had more genuine grounds for fear when his head of
security, Kinfe Gebre Medhin, was shot and killed at the officers' club in
Addis Ababa. His death removes a close ally who kept the army subordinate to
the government.
This, in turn, has exposed divisions in the government. At the
administration's core are Mr Meles and his friends from Tigray, who once
formed the Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray. That grew into the Central
Committee of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). After a long
war, and in alliance with Eritrean rebels, the TPLF overthrew the
Soviet-backed regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. Originally a small
separatist movement, the TPLF was suddenly faced with ruling this vast,
disparate country.
Tigray is far from Addis Ababa, whose Amharic residents resented the
invasion of northerners. But the TPLF created like-minded parties among each
of Ethiopia's main ethnic groups until they had constructed what looked like
a multi-layered, multi-party national political system. This coalition,
known as the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has
ruled ever since. But the point on which the whole rests is the secretive,
all-powerful TPLF Central Committee.
This committee is now looking wobbly. When a ceasefire and peace agreement
were signed with Eritrea last December, the TPLF Central Committee split and
12 members were expelled because they felt Mr Meles had sold out to western
capitalism and had been weak on Eritrea. Many felt that Mr Issaias should
have been crushed completely. A similar division splits the army.
The prime minister has tried to roll with the pressure, showing toughness by
creating problems for the UN peacekeeping force, and by dragging his feet on
the creation of a neutral buffer zone between the two countries. But that
upsets Mr Meles's western allies and the UN. He needs good relations with
them to get a deal out of the IMF.
Mr Meles is caught between international pressure and the demands of some of
his oldest and closest allies. He tried to win support from other parties in
the EPRDF, but each wanted its pound of flesh in return. His reinvented
political structures have not grown deep enough roots to give him an
alternative power base. Next month the TPLF and all the other parties in the
EPRDF should hold congresses to celebrate ten years in power. But the
dissenters are strong in Tigray, and could give the prime minister a hard
time.

--part1_bb.eb9374e.2840c6f0_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:06 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: with an onslaught of outrage and condemnations. The Bostonians bitterly accused the "yes men" for being the instrument of dictatorship and for condemning our people to the jaws of totalitarianism. The Bostonians also condemned the "ration-for-petition" swap used by the "Palace Group" to expel elected parliamentarian, and for using food as a weapon to coerce people, against their will, to say what they do not believe in! On occasions, these "yes men" tried to practice bonapartistic intimidation. Ambassador Tewolde threatened to call the police unless he has it his way. Despite being reminded that he is here in a democratic country and not in Ethiopia where he could get his way with the barrel of the gun, he nonetheless called the police. But the Bostonians told the police who the "yes men" were and resumed to honor our martyrs, our people and country by standing tall against these "yes men" without souls, and by putting to shame these and those other disciples of Bonapartism and Shaibian mercenaries! Indeed Tigray has been honored. Indeed Ethiopia has been honored. And Bonapartism smashed! Back to NewsPage _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:06 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: an onslaught of outrage and condemnations. The Bostonians bitterly accused the "yes men" for being the instrument of dictatorship and for condemning our people to the jaws of totalitarianism. The Bostonians also condemned the "ration-for-petition" swap used by the "Palace Group" to expel elected parliamentarian, and for using food as a weapon to coerce people, against their will, to say what they do not believe in! On occasions, these "yes men" tried to practice bonapartistic intimidation. Ambassador Tewolde threatened to call the police unless he has it his way. Despite being reminded that he is here in a democratic country and not in Ethiopia where he could get his way with the barrel of the gun, he nonetheless called the police. But the Bostonians told the police who the "yes men" were and resumed to honor our martyrs, our people and country by standing tall against these "yes men" without souls, and by putting to shame these and those other disciples of Bonapartism and Shaibian mercenaries! Indeed Tigray has been honored. Indeed Ethiopia has been honored. And Bonapartism smashed! --part1_105.4957443.28532fce_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Deki-Alula

Boston humiliates group of Meles cadres

By members of Tigrai Community in Boston

Tigreans in Boston and vicinity have made history today. Meles Zenawi's
Bonapartistic foray into the Americas was smothered in to smithereens. In a
meeting called by Meles' "yes men" sent to the Diaspora to preach
bonapartistic lies, the Tigrean residents of Boston and vicinity resolutely
spoke on behalf of our martyrs, our people and our country, and killed
Bonapartism dead on its tracks! Meles' "yes men," who in effect are Tigreans
indirectly working for Shaibia, were confronted and overwhelmingly rejected
as traitors who betrayed the memory of our martyrs, and the cause of our
people and country.

The team of "yes men" otherwise known as cadres of Bonapartism, consisted of
Zemichael Geberemedhin (head of the economic office for the State of Tigray,
and the most notorious cadre who spoke against Chekol of the Audit Commission
on the video of the debacle in Mekele, and possibly in line to become a
Central Committee member of Meles' Derg),Tewolde Agame (Meles' Ambassador to
Sweden), Gebremeskel (manager of Mesfin Engineering), Birhane Maret (Meles'
globe trotting cadre) and Werede Gessesse (Head of Walta Information Center).
The team's host is the Boston based cadre of Meles, Hailekiros
Gebreegziabher.

These Meles "yes men" were greeted with an avalanche of rage and lambasted
for their betrayal of TPLF, the sixty thousand strong martyrs, the people of
Ethiopia and for their sell out of our national interest to Shaibia and
others bent on destroying our beloved Ethiopia! The "yes men" were also
bitterly castigated for serving Meles and his "Palace Group" currently
destroying the most revered and able leaders of our country and exposing our
country to danger of colossal proportions!

From the outset, the meeting was highly charged and the "yes men" pelted with
an onslaught of outrage and condemnations. The Bostonians bitterly accused
the "yes men" for being the instrument of dictatorship and for condemning our
people to the jaws of totalitarianism. The Bostonians also condemned the
"ration-for-petition" swap used by the "Palace Group" to expel elected
parliamentarian, and for using food as a weapon to coerce people, against
their will, to say what they do not believe in!

On occasions, these "yes men" tried to practice bonapartistic intimidation.
Ambassador Tewolde threatened to call the police unless he has it his way.
Despite being reminded that he is here in a democratic country and not in
Ethiopia where he could get his way with the barrel of the gun, he
nonetheless called the police. But the Bostonians told the police who the
"yes men" were and resumed to honor our martyrs, our people and country by
standing tall against these "yes men" without souls, and by putting to shame
these and those other disciples of Bonapartism and Shaibian mercenaries!
Indeed Tigray has been honored. Indeed Ethiopia has been honored. And
Bonapartism smashed!


--part1_105.4957443.28532fce_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:09 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: including the Ethiopian Commentator guys. >From: Hadish@aol.com >Reply-To: pol.ethiopia@lists.sn.apc.org >To: Multiple recipients of list >Subject: Re: What did we get under Mr. Zenawi? Nothing >Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 04:32:10 +0200 > > > >Selam Abdisa: >It looks like you are chewing too much Chat these days, or you just came >back from nice vacation in South America. > >Haddish >----------------- Abdissa Wrote > ><< What did we get under Melese? Nothing, we lost our access to sea, our > resource pillaged, our brother and sisters arrested and killed. Even our > right to defend our country is denaied. > > Hear and there, we read Prime Minster Melese Zenawi said this and that, > talked to this and that. I am sick and tired of him. I mean it! > > May I ask TPLF supporters, how out of 4 million Tigrawis that Melese from > dodge family background and Eritrean family has to be elected to >represent 4 > million Tigrawis? > > Is it because there is no educated, articulated or committed Tigrawi? >There > may not be as many educated Tigrawis but Melese too is a high school drop > out. Not to say, he had played active part, he didn't. He was a coward >cadre > in political indoctrination school. Not to say has charisma to represent > Tigray he ugly creature between human being and something scary. He has >no > manner. He is rude and vagabond. > > Then why he has to represent 4 million people, with his clear >pro-Eritrean > stand and contribution to the independence of Eritrea? For heaven sake, >what > is going in the mind of the so-called Tigrawi intellectuals? Why do you > allow him to destroy the bond that existed between the Ethiopia people >and > Tigrawi for centuries? Is he indispensable guy? > > By cooperating with this murder, you are narrowing your choice. There is >no > way we will be ruled by him. No way! Even it means fighting tocreat >Melese > free independent states. You are forcing us to make hard choices. I for >one > prefer to live under independent Oromia or Ogaden than united Ethiopia >under > Melese. You have to seriously think and make your choice between Ethiopia > and your Eritrean leader who is causing us great misery. If it were >possible > to open and see our heart, you would have realize how disgusted we are >about > your blind obedience to Melese. Our love and respect for you going down >as > day count under Mr.Zenawi. > > The way he handled this conflict could have been enough to remove him. Or > tell us, why do we have to suffer as a result of your bad choice? We do >not > know him, we did not elect him and even we don’t know he existed. For us >he > is nothing but Shabbia. That is our country, that is our land and this is > our right. In our country, in our village, in on our country why some > unknown alian should be imposed on us! > > AD > > > > > >> _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:10 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: before the court due to health problems. Mr. Hiraier, the Court was told by=20 his lawyer, has a serious kidney problem and was currently hospitalized. The Daily Monitor's Publisher Ato Fitsum Zeab also failed to appear before=20 the court because, the lawyer said he was sick. Ato Fitsum Zeab also has a serious case of sinusitis. Copyright =A9 2001 The Daily Monitor. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media=20 =20 --part1_e0.17b0626f.2887efdc_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Supr= eme Court Adjourns Corruption Case Hearing for Three Days

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ab= aba)
July 17, 2001=20
Posted to the web July 17, 2001=20
Staff Reporter
Addis Ababa=20
The Supreme Court was adjourned yesterday for three days in order to mak= e a=20
ruling regarding the application by Police for an additional 14 days in=20= which=20
it said it needed to examine the cases it was trying to make against=20
detainees including former defense minister Seye Abraha, his brothers an= d the=20
publisher of The Daily Monitor Ato Fitsum Zeab Asgedom, among others. Po= lice=20
petitioned the detainees should remian in custody until then.
Investoigator Major Ashagre Ayalew on behalf of the Central Investigatio= n=20
Department said an additional 14 days were needed in order to talk to=20
experts, witnesses as well as examine documents it has come across.
Lawyers of the accused, against whom no single or concrete charge has be= en=20
made yet, argued to the Supreme Court that "this was the sixth time the=20
police has asked for an additional 14 days and that the accused who have= the=20
Constitutional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty,have so= far=20
been in detention for 50 days."
The lawyers argued that Police should not use the 14 days as a pretext t= o=20
keep the detained under its custody but rather should utilize it effecti= vely=20
as it was "from the lives of human a beings that these days are being=20
deducted every day."
The lawyers who yet again demanded that a specific case be made against=20= each=20
specific detainee, said it was very difficult to speak in amorphous term= s,=20
and defend a broadly termed case against a group of people.
The detainees on their part argued that the additional 14 days requested= were=20
not necessary and appealed to the Supreme Court to give them justice.
Ato Seye Abraha said, "My case has nothing to do with corruption. It is=20
purely political. I am kept here because the people who put me behind ba= rs=20
are people who have power. They want me behind bars because if I am set=20= free,=20
I will use my constitutional right to speak and write freely, I will use= my=20
right to assemble, to unite. I am a politician. And if I am set free I w= ill=20
exercise this right, because this is what my country needs. My country i= s at=20
a time when it needs consultation, reconciliation and free discussion. I= f I=20
am set free I will do that. This is the right that I fought for for a qu= arter=20
of a century of my life. And it is precisely this that my captors want t= o=20
prevent. The Police are troubled because they cannot find a case of=20
corruption against me. This is my 49th day in prison and 8th appearance=20
before the court. My captors' problem should not be the problem of the c= ourt.=20
The Supreme Court should give me justice. This is a question of justice.= Will=20
my country's judges give me justice or not? That is the question. What t= he=20
court will decide and this case-being watched by many-will create a=20
precedence. The precedence is "will my country's judges serve justice=20
irrespective of politics?" More arguments were heard for the other detai= nees.
The five-judge court was full to capacity. According to a count made aro= und=20
112 people-including relatives, employees and journalists- were present.
When the detainees argued their point, most of the people following the=20
proceedings were quietly weeping.
The argument put forward by the police was the same argument that had be= en=20
brought since the detainees were brought before the court. The Supreme C= ourt=20
recessed twice in yesterday's session. After the second recess, the Cour= t=20
said it required three more days to make a ruling whether the additional= 14=20
days were warranted or not.
From the total number of accused, Mr. Hiraire Vahsnilian, could not appe= ar=20
before the court due to health problems. Mr. Hiraier, the Court was told= by=20
his lawyer, has a serious kidney problem and was currently hospitalized.
The Daily Monitor's Publisher Ato Fitsum Zeab also failed to appear befo= re=20
the court because, the lawyer said he was sick.
Ato Fitsum Zeab also has a serious case of sinusitis.

Copyright =A9 2001 The Daily Monitor. Distributed by AllAfrica Gl= obal Media=20
=20

--part1_e0.17b0626f.2887efdc_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:10 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa) OPINION July 20, 2001 Posted to the web July 20, 2001 Maimire Mennasemay The Democratization of Killils It must be noted that the issue of the de-ethnicization and democratization of Killils is qualitatively different from that of the federal level. The problem with the present Killils is not the fact that people professing the same origin, or speaking the same language, or belonging to the same culture inhabit them. Ethiopia already had some such provinces in the past. The problem is that the Killils are based on the anti-democratic principle that makes an ethnie the primary subject of self-determination and subordinates therefore the rights of the individual to those of the group. The offshoot of this subordination of the individual to the collective is the permanent violation of human rights in the name of ethnic rights, so prevalent now in Ethiopia, the politicization of ethnic identity, the polarization of ethnic and national interests, and the proliferation of ethnic conflicts. This may be an excellent recipe for ethnic divide-and-rule, but it subverts the birth and growth of democratic institutions and culture by subordinating the ideals of freedom, equality, justice, and national solidarity to the putative organic interests of the ethnie. The issue is not denying the existence of ethnies; rather, it is to point out that considering the Killil as a space of ethnic identity is incompatible with considering it as a space of citizenship. The democratization of the Killil requires that one distinguish between the Killil as a territory inhabited by citizens from the political criteria the various political parties adopt to organize the lives of the inhabitants of this territory. The Killil cannot be the embodiment of a single political ideology, as it is now under ethnic ideology. The democratization and de-ethnicization of federal political institutions and organizations will have a locomotive effect on the political systems and cultures of the Killils. Since the relations between the national and the infra-national governments take place within the de-ethnicized and democratic federal framework, they will create conditions that will lead the Killils into considering themselves as spaces of citizenship rather than as embodiments of ethnic identity. This disjunction between citizenship and ethnic identity will disengage political from ethnic identity thus opening the door to differing political options, therefore parties, claiming to represent best the interests of the inhabitants of the Killils. Such a development provides a fertile ground for a democratic competitive political system within each Killil and reduces the creation of permanent political minorities or majorities, and it will, in a ricochet effect, strengthen democracy at the federal level. Another locomotive effect of a democratic and de-ethnicized federal political system will be in the domain of the democratic equality of the Killils. A democratic federal system works equitably and produces democratically validated outcomes only if the federated Killils enjoy equal political weight in their relations to federal organs and institutions. That is, the relation between the national and the infra-national governments should be such that permanent majorities and minorities are not created either at the federal or the Killil level. From this perspective, it is undemocratic to have some federated states with 5 to 20 times the population of the other federated states. Such a lop-sided federalism can be maintained only through force and repression, as is the case now in Ethiopia. Thus the context of a democratic and non-ethnic federal government will inevitably generate a political dynamics that will put on the democratization agenda the need to create a system that ensures that all Killils will enjoy comparable political weight at the federal level. The democratic concern of comparable political weight of all Killils at the federal level can be met only if the ethnic principle of identity representation is replaced by the democratic principle of citizen representation. This means the reorganization of the present Killils into units with demographic weights that will make them equitably comparable to each other as federated states. To achieve this, the criterion for defining the political space of the Killil has to change from ethnicity to demography. A reorganization of the federated states that guarantees them comparable political weight at the federal level will in turn reinvigorate and reinforce the democratic nature of the federal state. The specificity of local politics However, one should not expect the total elimination of ethnic politics at the local level. De-ethnicization at the federal level is conceptually different from de-ethnicization at the local level. At the federal level, ethnic politics must be discredited and eliminated, for at this level, all institutions must represent the common interests of all Ethiopians and serve all Ethiopians equally, and this is possible only within a democratic framework. Local governments are accountable to and serve the interests of those who live in the Killil. At the local level, the demographic characteristics of the area - one of which could be ethnic composition - necessarily enters into political calculations. However, the existence of ethnic politics at the local level should not be a cause for dismay as long as it is conducted in accordance with the principles, procedures and values of democracy. As the example of democratic countries such as Canada and India shows, ethnic politics is an aspect of the demographic specificity at the local level. It is precisely this specificity of local politics in multi-ethnic societies which demands a full de-ethnicization and democratization at the federal level, as is the case in all democratic multi-ethnic societies. The ethnic politics that may arise at the local level will find in the de-ethnicized and democratized federal system the political and institutional limits beyond which it cannot go without violating the rights of citizenship of the inhabitants of the locality. It is this crucial difference between national and local politics that justifies the primacy and the importance given to the de-ethnicization and democratization of the federal level. An Opportunity for Change Is it realistic to think that such a peaceful democratization of Ethiopia is possible? The present crisis strongly suggests an affirmative answer to this question. As noted earlier, a crisis is a sign of danger as well as an opportunity for change. Democracy has been the dominant aspiration of Ethiopians since the 1960's. Both the ruling party and those in the opposition pay lip service to this aspiration, recognizing therefore the political force that could be mobilized by a party that sincerely commits itself to this goal. Opposition leaders and parties capable of subordinating their personal and party interests to the democratic aspirations of Ethiopians could unite and seize the present opportunity and push for a peaceful transition from ethnic to democratic federalism. Of course, one may object that those in power may not be interested in facilitating such a transition. But to them also, the crisis spells danger and opportunity. The TPLF/EPRDF leaders should know that the history of contemporary Ethiopia is the history of failures of all those who have tried to stay in power against the will of the people. Behind the new rhetoric of "renewal of democracy" that is presently bandied around by those who seem to have the upper hand in the current power struggle, one sees a desperate search for a solution. But a crisis is not overcome by verbal fiat. Political pragmatism should make it clear to the TPLF/EPRDF leaders that the present crisis offers them a golden opportunity to extricate themselves democratically from the present crisis without losing face. One does not learn from experience that one refuses to examine. The present crisis is the outcome of ten years of failure on the part of both the ruling party and the fragmented opposition to meet the democratic aspirations of Ethiopians. It is time that both sides reflect on this monumental experience of failure, learn something beneficial from it, and act accordingly to create a durable democracy. --part1_55.18a52f54.288b3cf2_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From Ethnic to Democratic Federalism


Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa)
OPINION
July 20, 2001
Posted to the web July 20, 2001
Maimire Mennasemay

The Democratization of Killils

It must be noted that the issue of the de-ethnicization and democratization
of Killils is qualitatively different from that of the federal level.
The problem with the present Killils is not the fact that people professing
the same origin, or speaking the same language, or belonging to the same
culture inhabit them. Ethiopia already had some such provinces in the past.
The problem is that the Killils are based on the anti-democratic principle
that makes an ethnie the primary subject of self-determination and
subordinates therefore the rights of the individual to those of the group.
The offshoot of this subordination of the individual to the collective is the
permanent violation of human rights in the name of ethnic rights, so
prevalent now in Ethiopia, the politicization of ethnic identity, the
polarization of ethnic and national interests, and the proliferation of
ethnic conflicts. This may be an excellent recipe for ethnic divide-and-rule,
but it subverts the birth and growth of democratic institutions and culture
by subordinating the ideals of freedom, equality, justice, and national
solidarity to the putative organic interests of the ethnie. The issue is not
denying the existence of ethnies; rather, it is to point out that considering
the Killil as a space of ethnic identity is incompatible with considering it
as a space of citizenship. The democratization of the Killil requires that
one distinguish between the Killil as a territory inhabited by citizens from
the political criteria the various political parties adopt to organize the
lives of the inhabitants of this territory. The Killil cannot be the
embodiment of a single political ideology, as it is now under ethnic ideology.
The democratization and de-ethnicization of federal political institutions
and organizations will have a locomotive effect on the political systems and
cultures of the Killils. Since the relations between the national and the
infra-national governments take place within the de-ethnicized and democratic
federal framework, they will create conditions that will lead the Killils
into considering themselves as spaces of citizenship rather than as
embodiments of ethnic identity. This disjunction between citizenship and
ethnic identity will disengage political from ethnic identity thus opening
the door to differing political options, therefore parties, claiming to
represent best the interests of the inhabitants of the Killils. Such a
development provides a fertile ground for a democratic competitive political
system within each Killil and reduces the creation of permanent political
minorities or majorities, and it will, in a ricochet effect, strengthen
democracy at the federal level.
Another locomotive effect of a democratic and de-ethnicized federal political
system will be in the domain of the democratic equality of the Killils. A
democratic federal system works equitably and produces democratically
validated outcomes only if the federated Killils enjoy equal political weight
in their relations to federal organs and institutions. That is, the relation
between the national and the infra-national governments should be such that
permanent majorities and minorities are not created either at the federal or
the Killil level. From this perspective, it is undemocratic to have some
federated states with 5 to 20 times the population of the other federated
states. Such a lop-sided federalism can be maintained only through force and
repression, as is the case now in Ethiopia. Thus the context of a democratic
and non-ethnic federal government will inevitably generate a political
dynamics that will put on the democratization agenda the need to create a
system that ensures that all Killils will enjoy comparable political weight
at the federal level.
The democratic concern of comparable political weight of all Killils at the
federal level can be met only if the ethnic principle of identity
representation is replaced by the democratic principle of citizen
representation. This means the reorganization of the present Killils into
units with demographic weights that will make them equitably comparable to
each other as federated states. To achieve this, the criterion for defining
the political space of the Killil has to change from ethnicity to demography.
A reorganization of the federated states that guarantees them comparable
political weight at the federal level will in turn reinvigorate and reinforce
the democratic nature of the federal state.
The specificity of local politics
However, one should not expect the total elimination of ethnic politics at
the local level. De-ethnicization at the federal level is conceptually
different from de-ethnicization at the local level. At the federal level,
ethnic politics must be discredited and eliminated, for at this level, all
institutions must represent the common interests of all Ethiopians and serve
all Ethiopians equally, and this is possible only within a democratic
framework.
Local governments are accountable to and serve the interests of those who
live in the Killil. At the local level, the demographic characteristics of
the area - one of which could be ethnic composition - necessarily enters into
political calculations. However, the existence of ethnic politics at the
local level should not be a cause for dismay as long as it is conducted in
accordance with the principles, procedures and values of democracy. As the
example of democratic countries such as Canada and India shows, ethnic
politics is an aspect of the demographic specificity at the local level.
It is precisely this specificity of local politics in multi-ethnic societies
which demands a full de-ethnicization and democratization at the federal
level, as is the case in all democratic multi-ethnic societies. The ethnic
politics that may arise at the local level will find in the de-ethnicized and
democratized federal system the political and institutional limits beyond
which it cannot go without violating the rights of citizenship of the
inhabitants of the locality. It is this crucial difference between national
and local politics that justifies the primacy and the importance given to the
de-ethnicization and democratization of the federal level.

An Opportunity for Change

Is it realistic to think that such a peaceful democratization of Ethiopia is
possible? The present crisis strongly suggests an affirmative answer to this
question. As noted earlier, a crisis is a sign of danger as well as an
opportunity for change. Democracy has been the dominant aspiration of
Ethiopians since the 1960's. Both the ruling party and those in the
opposition pay lip service to this aspiration, recognizing therefore the
political force that could be mobilized by a party that sincerely commits
itself to this goal. Opposition leaders and parties capable of subordinating
their personal and party interests to the democratic aspirations of
Ethiopians could unite and seize the present opportunity and push for a
peaceful transition from ethnic to democratic federalism.
Of course, one may object that those in power may not be interested in
facilitating such a transition. But to them also, the crisis spells danger
and opportunity. The TPLF/EPRDF leaders should know that the history of
contemporary Ethiopia is the history of failures of all those who have tried
to stay in power against the will of the people. Behind the new rhetoric of
"renewal of democracy" that is presently bandied around by those who seem to
have the upper hand in the current power struggle, one sees a desperate
search for a solution. But a crisis is not overcome by verbal fiat. Political
pragmatism should make it clear to the TPLF/EPRDF leaders that the present
crisis offers them a golden opportunity to extricate themselves
democratically from the present crisis without losing face.
One does not learn from experience that one refuses to examine. The present
crisis is the outcome of ten years of failure on the part of both the ruling
party and the fragmented opposition to meet the democratic aspirations of
Ethiopians. It is time that both sides reflect on this monumental experience
of failure, learn something beneficial from it, and act accordingly to create
a durable democracy.

--part1_55.18a52f54.288b3cf2_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:10 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: twisted mind; wearing different hats to satisfy his evil dreams and after al= l=20 he his the champion of playing Chameleon role. In Lusaka he did exactly the=20 same thing. He claimed to be Pan-Africanist . In a point form, he reminded=20 the African leaders the role that Ethiopia played in helping ANC during the=20 struggle for freedom. He asked the leaders =E2=80=9Dwho trained Nelson Mande= la?=E2=80=9D He=20 went further and challenged the African leaders about the contribution made=20 by Ethiopia during Zimbabwe=E2=80=99s anti colonialism struggle. He said,=20= =E2=80=9CMengistu=20 was a butcher at home but when it comes to the unity and solidarity of Afric= a=20 he played a positive role.=E2=80=9D When the founding fathers of the OAU dec= ided that=20 the headquarters of the organization should be located in Addis Ababa, it=20 wasn=E2=80=99t merely a matter of convenience or a random selection. They lo= oked at=20 different historical and political factors, which made Addis the ultimate=20 venue. Ethiopia=E2=80=99s refusal not to surrender to the European Coloniali= sm and=20 any form of foreign aggression was one of the points why the African leaders= =20 decided to choose Addis as their headquarters. Despite being one of the elde= r=20 statesmen of the continent, Emperor Haile Sellassie was widely respected=20 around the world. He demonstrated great diplomatic skills, which brought=20 Ethiopia at the forefront of the Pan =E2=80=93African movement. As a result=20= of this=20 Ethiopia stood tall and strong in at the regional and global political arena= .=20 In the early 1960s when African countries began to gain their independence=20 from colonialism they began to adopt the green, yellow red colours of the=20 Ethiopian flag. This has been documented in numerous history books. In the=20 recent edition of HarperCollins book =E2=80=9CFlags=E2=80=9D Carol P. Shaw d= escribes the=20 importance of the Ethiopian flag. =E2=80=9C As a model for the Pan-African c= olours of=20 African Unity, the Ethiopian flag is one of the most influential in the=20 world. Ethiopia was one of the first independent African states of modern=20 times and grew in stature after the election as emperor of Ras Tafari. The=20 colours were in use in the 1890s, when the country successfully resisted=20 Italian invasion=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D (Collins, Gem, Flags HarperCollins Publis= hers 1999=20 edition). It is true that over period of time we had gone through difficult=20 times. Bad governance, economic hardship, political crisis and natural=20 disasters tested our ability to survive as one people and one nation.=20 Proudly, we did survive. As a matter of fact that is the common factor of ou= r=20 leaders. In our history no leader compromised our territorial integrity and=20 national sovereignty. Except of course Meles Zenawi . Now, Meles is talking=20 unity. African Unity. Does Meles know what the word unity means? The very=20 foundation of the OAU charter was conscious of the fact that freedom,=20 equality, justice and dignity are the essential objectives for the=20 achievement of the legitimate aspirations of the African peoples. Why is it=20 that the African leaders are contemplating about moving the OAU headquarters= =20 from Addis? I don=E2=80=99t think there is a need to be a scientist to answe= r this=20 question. In my opinion the African leaders may have a legitimate reason to=20 worry about.=20 They may be asking how a government, which doesn=E2=80=99t believe in the un= ity and=20 territorial integrity of its own country, could help promote the African=20 union.=20 After all when the founding fathers chose Addis Ababa as their head quarter=20 our leaders demonstrated a great deal of diplomatic efficiency charisma and=20 pride on their Ethiopian as well as African identity.=20 Back then we were one of the first countries to participate in international= =20 peace keeping along side with other stable and strong nations. To the=20 contrary Meles brought peacekeepers to our country.=20 In the past our leaders refused to sign a peace of document, which questions= =20 our very existence on the other hand, Meles signed countless documents, whic= h=20 endangered our existence.=20 Our past leaders never hesitated to call themselves an Ethiopian Meles never= =20 uttered the word saying he is an Ethiopian because he is not.What is ironic=20 is that Mengistu used the same tactic during his last days. He wrapped=20 himself with our glorious flag and he called the names of Yohannes, Menelik=20= ,=20 Theodros and Alula. Well, the Angeles didn=E2=80=99t respond. They told him=20= =E2=80=9Cyou are=20 on your own=E2=80=9D. Meles has tarnished our glory and pride. His divisive=20= policy=20 created suspicion and fear among the people of Ethiopia. He destroyed our=20 national symbols. From day one he carefully engineered the destruction of=20 Ethiopia. To this minute he is doing it. Now regional leaders are questionin= g=20 our role in the OAU. Ethiopia=E2=80=99s role in the social and political lif= e of=20 Africa has declined in the last ten years. Now, we are in the verge of being= =20 eliminated from the role, which our fore fathers carefully and intelligently= =20 bestowed on us as. Meles has done enough damage to our country. He,=20 successfully carried his mission as an Eritrean. Economically , socially and= =20 politically he brought our country to the very bottom of the world. In his=20 usual =E2=80=9CU=E2=80=9D turn his now attempting to play a role of an Ethio= pian. This time=20 he is insulting us as a nation and as a people. Meles leave our for fathers=20 alone . Let them sleep peacefully and quietly. They have done their share an= d=20 they always made us proud. You don=E2=80=99t have the right as well as the c= ourage to=20 call their names. African leaders perfectly know the place of Ethiopia in an= y=20 social and political structure of the African continent. They know that=20 Ethiopia is the symbol of freedom .Their message is clear=E2=80=9Dwe don=E2= =80=99t like what=20 Meles is doing to Ethiopia and to the continent of Africa as well. Regardles= s=20 of the damage and shame Meles brought to our country soon we will reclaim ou= r=20 pride and dignity and we will restore our constructive role in the African=20 continent.=20 >> =20 --part1_a4.1726c0ab.288bed54_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en Ethiopi= an history-bashing Meles Zenawi digs into Ethiopia's past to credit=20
himself at African Summit

By Mikre Momo - July 21, 2001

In his speech at the 37th OAU Summit in Lusaka, Zambia Meles Zenawi cal= led=20
for help. This time from the past, not from the present or the future.=20
Addressing the issue of where the headquarters of the new African Union=20
should be, he sounded like a historian who specialized in Ethiopian hist= ory.=20
He called on Emperor Haile Sellassie and Mengistu Hailemariam to help hi= m.  

From the day one of his political career, Meles Zenawi is known for his=20
twisted mind; wearing different hats to satisfy his evil dreams and afte= r all=20
he his the champion of playing Chameleon role. In Lusaka he did exactly=20= the=20
same thing. He claimed to be Pan-Africanist . In a point form, he remind= ed=20
the African leaders the role that Ethiopia played in helping ANC during=20= the=20
struggle for freedom. He asked the leaders =E2=80=9Dwho trained Nelson M= andela?=E2=80=9D He=20
went further and challenged the African leaders about the contribution m= ade=20
by Ethiopia during Zimbabwe=E2=80=99s anti colonialism struggle. He said= , =E2=80=9CMengistu=20
was a butcher at home but when it comes to the unity and solidarity of A= frica=20
he played a positive role.=E2=80=9D When the founding fathers of the OAU= decided that=20
the headquarters of the organization should be located in Addis Ababa, i= t=20
wasn=E2=80=99t merely a matter of convenience or a random selection. The= y looked at=20
different historical and political factors, which made Addis the ultimat= e=20
venue. Ethiopia=E2=80=99s refusal not to surrender to the European Colon= ialism and=20
any form of foreign aggression was one of the points why the African lea= ders=20
decided to choose Addis as their headquarters. Despite being one of the=20= elder=20
statesmen of the continent, Emperor Haile Sellassie was widely respected= =20
around the world. He demonstrated great diplomatic skills, which brought= =20
Ethiopia at the forefront of the Pan =E2=80=93African movement. As a res= ult of this=20
Ethiopia stood tall and strong in at the regional and global political a= rena.=20
In the early 1960s when African countries began to gain their independen= ce=20
from colonialism they began to adopt the green, yellow red colours of th= e=20
Ethiopian flag. This has been documented in numerous history books. In t= he=20
recent edition of HarperCollins book =E2=80=9CFlags=E2=80=9D Carol P. Sh= aw describes the=20
importance of the Ethiopian flag. =E2=80=9C As a model for the Pan-Afric= an colours of=20
African Unity, the Ethiopian flag is one of the most influential in the=20
world. Ethiopia was one of the first independent African states of moder= n=20
times and grew in stature after the election as emperor of Ras Tafari. T= he=20
colours were in use in the 1890s, when the country successfully resisted= =20
Italian invasion=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D (Collins, Gem, Flags HarperCollins= Publishers 1999=20
edition). It is true that over period of time we had gone through di= fficult=20
times. Bad governance, economic hardship, political crisis and natural=20
disasters tested our ability to survive as one people and one nation.=20
Proudly, we did survive. As a matter of fact that is the common factor o= f our=20
leaders. In our history no leader compromised our territorial integrity=20= and=20
national sovereignty. Except of course Meles Zenawi . Now, Meles is talk= ing=20
unity. African Unity. Does Meles know what the word unity means? The ver= y=20
foundation of the OAU charter was conscious of the fact that freedom,=20
equality, justice and dignity are the essential objectives for the=20
achievement of the legitimate aspirations of the African peoples. Why is= it=20
that the African leaders are contemplating about moving the OAU headquar= ters=20
from Addis? I don=E2=80=99t think there is a need to be a scientist to a= nswer this=20
question. In my opinion the African leaders may have a legitimate reason= to=20
worry about.=20

They may be asking how a government, which doesn=E2=80=99t believe in th= e unity and=20
territorial integrity of its own country, could help promote the African= =20
union.=20
After all when the founding fathers chose Addis Ababa as their head quar= ter=20
our leaders demonstrated a great deal of diplomatic efficiency charisma=20= and=20
pride on their Ethiopian as well as African identity.=20

Back then we were one of the first countries to participate in internati= onal=20
peace keeping along side with other stable and strong nations. To the=20
contrary Meles brought peacekeepers to our country.=20

In the past our leaders refused to sign a peace of document, which quest= ions=20
our very existence on the other hand, Meles signed countless documents,=20= which=20
endangered our existence.=20

Our past leaders never hesitated to call themselves an Ethiopian Meles n= ever=20
uttered the word saying he is an Ethiopian because he is not.What is iro= nic=20
is that Mengistu used the same tactic during his last days. He wrapped=20
himself with our glorious flag and he called the names of Yohannes, Mene= lik ,=20
Theodros and Alula. Well, the Angeles didn=E2=80=99t respond. They told=20= him =E2=80=9Cyou are=20
on your own=E2=80=9D. Meles has tarnished our glory and pride. His divis= ive policy=20
created suspicion and fear among the people of Ethiopia. He destroyed ou= r=20
national symbols. From day one he carefully engineered the destruction o= f=20
Ethiopia. To this minute he is doing it. Now regional leaders are questi= oning=20
our role in the OAU. Ethiopia=E2=80=99s role in the social and political= life of=20
Africa has declined in the last ten years. Now, we are in the verge of b= eing=20
eliminated from the role, which our fore fathers carefully and intellige= ntly=20
bestowed on us as. Meles has done enough damage to our country. He,=20
successfully carried his mission as an Eritrean. Economically , socially= and=20
politically he brought our country to the very bottom of the world. In h= is=20
usual =E2=80=9CU=E2=80=9D turn his now attempting to play a role of an E= thiopian. This time=20
he is insulting us as a nation and as a people. Meles leave our for fath= ers=20
alone . Let them sleep peacefully and quietly. They have done their shar= e and=20
they always made us proud. You don=E2=80=99t have the right as well as t= he courage to=20
call their names. African leaders perfectly know the place of Ethiopia i= n any=20
social and political structure of the African continent. They know that=20
Ethiopia is the symbol of freedom .Their message is clear=E2=80=9Dwe don= =E2=80=99t like what=20
Meles is doing to Ethiopia and to the continent of Africa as well. Regar= dless=20
of the damage and shame Meles brought to our country soon we will reclai= m our=20
pride and dignity and we will restore our constructive role in the Afric= an=20
continent.=20
--part1_a4.1726c0ab.288bed54_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:15 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: difficult businesses to get into in Ethiopia. To start with one has to impor= t=20 practically everything that is required to produce exportable quality flower= =20 to the west. These include pesticide, herbicide, green house, flower seeds,=20 cooling units, packaging material and even experts. Try to get these items=20 freed from Ethiopian Customs Authority without loosing your sanity! If and=20 when all this is done and actual flower is produced one then needs special=20 types of trucks with cooling machine to bring the product to the airport.=20 Each time the driver leaves the farm with the product you drop on your knees= =20 and pray he would make it to the airport with out an incident. Because a=20 slight delay or glitch could mean missing the cargo plane or flower welting!= =20 Once at the airport you hope and pray there will be cargo space if there is=20 none =E2=80=A6 tough=E2=80=A6 your flower boxes will be left out in the sun=20= at Bole=20 International Airport. And this is an everyday affair. This business is=20 definitely not for the faint-hearted dude like me! Eskender never complained= =20 about all these; he always preferred to point to the positive aspects and=20 minimized the enormous burden he is shouldering to run such a difficult=20 business that employed over three hundred people. On his last trip to the US we met at the Starbucks caf=C3=A9 in Washington a= nd=20 talked a lot about his business .. he sounded upbeat. He told me that he has= =20 applied for a business expansion loan and when that is approved he will plan= t=20 more varieties of flower and would hopefully be financially in the black. He= =20 was more interested in talking about his new bride. He recently got married=20 to a beautiful and gregarious young lady. I was happy to hear that things=20 were going well for him and made plans to see each other on my next trip to=20 Ethiopia.=20 You can almost imagine how shocked I was to hear that Eskender was among the= =20 people that were accused of corruption and thrown to jail. My initial though= t=20 was=E2=80=A6..It must be some kind of big mistake =E2=80=A6 when they check=20= the facts they=20 will certainly realize they got the wrong person and will immediately releas= e=20 him. I waited for couple of weeks and called friends to inquire about him,=20 they told me that there was nothing new they have heard from home. I was tol= d=20 they bring them to court every two weeks to be told by the judge that the=20 police have not yet finished gathering evidence and sent back to jail. Those= =20 of you who live outside Ethiopia reading this must be saying =E2=80=A6 it= =E2=80=99s a joke!=20 How can they throw a person in jail without having sufficient evidence on=20 hand to prosecute?=20 His alleged crime, as stated in the media, is that he secured a second loan=20 from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (a government owned bank) while the=20 initial loan is still outstanding and has not been paid off. And the=20 authorities are convinced that he must have made a special deal with the ban= k=20 officials to get such treatment! I find this very disturbing. It is obvious=20 that the authorities have little or no expertise on how projects are=20 financed. I am not a businessman, but I have, not counting my credit cards=20 debts, three currently outstanding loans all from the same bank! If this wer= e=20 Ethiopia, I would have ended up in jail! And so would 90 percent of the adul= t=20 American population. I was even more disappointed to learn that he never eve= n=20 got the expansion loan - second loan. It was approved but was never=20 transferred to his company account. This was the loan that he anticipated=20 would bring his business out of the red! So where exactly is the crime? It has been over three months since our friend has been thrown in the cage o= n=20 a charge that would not see light of day in any civil court much less in a=20 criminal court. I have come to learn that the business that he had worked so= =20 hard to build is on a verge of financial ruin. His flower has lost its=20 quality because of lack of fund and expertise to control the spread of plant= =20 disease. The company has virtually stopped exporting and has lost its hardly= =20 won clients maybe forever and the saddest part of all his workers, whom he=20 treated like his family, all but few have been laid off.=20 So who benefits from all this? No one. The country loses the foreign=20 exchange, however small, the company brought to the country. Furthermore,=20 Eskender=E2=80=99s story has sent chill through the Diaspora community who h= ad plans=20 to return home and play their part in building their country by bringing muc= h=20 needed capital and skills. Eskender=E2=80=99s story has also cast a shadow o= ver the=20 much-talked about democracy and the "rule of law" that our leaders have been= =20 talking about for the last few months.=20 I hope and pray that the authorities will review his case and free him soon=20 before all his efforts are lost forever. And as for my friend, Eskinder, he=20 has every reason to keep his head high and be proud of his achievements and=20= I=20 know when this is over and done he will come out being a better man. Before=20= I=20 put down this comment, I contacted some of his friends to gather information= =20 and it was interesting to note that all of them admired his determination an= d=20 effort to help build a country that most, by their own admission, have now=20 pushed to the back of their minds.=20 I urge readers that know Eskender=E2=80=99s situation to write and let the c= ommunity=20 know what is going on. And if you have ideas and suggestions as to how we ca= n=20 help, please post it on one of the various Ethiopian web sites. --part1_d1.b4ad9ee.28b4d5e4_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en

A Br= oken Dream


By G. Mezgebu
Flushing, NY

This is a story of a young man whose dreams, aspirations and hard work h= ave=20
simply gone down the tube for reasons no one can explain! Some who know=20= him=20
from afar speculate that he may have done something wrong. But those who= know=20
him well, including the author of this article, say that his only crime=20= is=20
the unstoppable love he has for his country and his people. It is this l= ove=20
that brought him out of his comfortable life in the US and exposed him a= nd=20
his family to the harsh and unkind realties of today=E2=80=99s Ethiopia.

His name is Eskender Yoseph, a jovial and friendly kind of fellow who wo= rks=20
hard and plays hard. He is known among his friends for his honesty,=20
uprightness and for all the qualities one would expect in a man brought=20= up by=20
a devout Christian family. His passion is sports and activities that an=20
average person would not even dare try. I knew Eskender from our days at= St.=20
Joseph School but I really got to know him well after I returned back to= =20
Ethiopia in the early 90=E2=80=99s. I went back home for a brief stay af= ter the firm=20
I had worked for in the US closed down. I had no clue as to what I wante= d to=20
do so I spent some six months exploring various opportunities but could=20= not=20
find anything that caught my imagination and so I chose to return back t= o=20
good old USA. But, while I was in Addis, I spent a great deal of my free= time=20
with Eskender. He, being the adventuring kind, saw opportunities everywh= ere.=20
He tried to convince me of that. When that did not work, he would try to= =20
appeal to my human side and talk to me for hours on end on our=20
responsibilities to contribute toward building the country. I must say=20
Eskender is the most optimist person I ever met in my life. Only he coul= d see=20
a brighter future in a country where poverty, disease, corruption and al= l the=20
social ills you can think of are displayed everywhere as if they are tou= rist=20
attraction or some time honoured tradition.=20

After finishing high school in mid-seventies Eskender joined the Ethiopi= an=20
airlines as a pilot trainee. He completed his training and served the ai= rline=20
as co-pilot for few years. True to his nature, Eskender felt that being=20= a=20
pilot was not enough and that he wanted to do something different. He ca= me to=20
the US in the early 80s and after a brief stay in the East Coast he mana= ged=20
to secure admission to the prestigious Claremont College in California k= nown=20
for educating the children of America=E2=80=99s elite. He graduated from= Claremont in=20
the late 80s with a Liberal Arts degree. While at the collage Eskender=20
developed sophisticated tastes and hobbies such as playing tennis, glidi= ng,=20
playing polo, diving and other sports and activities. When he went back=20= to=20
Addis he continued playing in the various sports clubs and became a know= n=20
figure around town.

After he completed his education he spent a great deal of his time, in t= he=20
US, researching and reading on the subject of flower production and=20
marketing. He even made numerous trips to Holland and other flower produ= cing=20
and importing countries to learn about the business. When he returned to= =20
Ethiopia, Eskender committed all his time and resources to bring his dre= am of=20
building his own horticulture business come true. After a long delays an= d=20
difficult negotiations he managed to lease land from the Oromia region.=20
Having secured the land he approached the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia fo= r=20
loan to start his operations. The bank approved the loan after he put do= wn=20
his family=E2=80=99s only retirement house as collateral and started the= business=20
around 1997.=20

From what he has described to me, horticulture has to be one of the most= =20
difficult businesses to get into in Ethiopia. To start with one has to i= mport=20
practically everything that is required to produce exportable quality fl= ower=20
to the west. These include pesticide, herbicide, green house, flower see= ds,=20
cooling units, packaging material and even experts. Try to get these ite= ms=20
freed from Ethiopian Customs Authority without loosing your sanity! If a= nd=20
when all this is done and actual flower is produced one then needs speci= al=20
types of trucks with cooling machine to bring the product to the airport= .=20
Each time the driver leaves the farm with the product you drop on your k= nees=20
and pray he would make it to the airport with out an incident. Because a= =20
slight delay or glitch could mean missing the cargo plane or flower welt= ing!=20
Once at the airport you hope and pray there will be cargo space if there= is=20
none =E2=80=A6 tough=E2=80=A6 your flower boxes will be left out=20= in the sun at Bole=20
International Airport. And this is an everyday affair. This business is=20
definitely not for the faint-hearted dude like me! Eskender never compla= ined=20
about all these; he always preferred to point to the positive aspects an= d=20
minimized the enormous burden he is shouldering to run such a difficult=20
business that employed over three hundred people.

On his last trip to the US we met at the Starbucks caf=C3=A9 in Washingt= on and=20
talked a lot about his business .. he sounded upbeat. He told me that he= has=20
applied for a business expansion loan and when that is approved he will=20= plant=20
more varieties of flower and would hopefully be financially in the black= . He=20
was more interested in talking about his new bride. He recently got marr= ied=20
to a beautiful and gregarious young lady. I was happy to hear that thing= s=20
were going well for him and made plans to see each other on my next trip= to=20
Ethiopia.

You can almost imagine how shocked I was to hear that Eskender was among= the=20
people that were accused of corruption and thrown to jail. My initial th= ought=20
was=E2=80=A6..It must be some kind of big mistake =E2=80=A6 when they= check the facts they=20
will certainly realize they got the wrong person and will immediately re= lease=20
him. I waited for couple of weeks and called friends to inquire abou= t him,=20
they told me that there was nothing new they have heard from home. I was= told=20
they bring them to court every two weeks to be told by the judge that th= e=20
police have not yet finished gathering evidence and sent back to jail. T= hose=20
of you who live outside Ethiopia reading this must be saying =E2=80=A6 i= t=E2=80=99s a joke!=20
How can they throw a person in jail without having sufficient evidence o= n=20
hand to prosecute?=20

His alleged crime, as stated in the media, is that he secured a second <= I>loan=20
from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (a government owned bank) while the= =20
initial loan is still outstanding and has not been paid off. And the=20
authorities are convinced that he must have made a special deal with the= bank=20
officials to get such treatment! I find this very disturbing. It is obvi= ous=20
that the authorities have little or no expertise on how projects are=20
financed. I am not a businessman, but I have, not counting my credit car= ds=20
debts, three currently outstanding loans all from the same bank! If this= were=20
Ethiopia, I would have ended up in jail! And so would 90 percent of the=20= adult=20
American population. I was even more disappointed to learn that he never= even=20
got the expansion loan - second loan. It was approved but was nev= er=20
transferred to his company account. This was the loan that he anticipate= d=20
would bring his business out of the red! So where exactly is the crime?

It has been over three months since our friend has been thrown in the ca= ge on=20
a charge that would not see light of day in any civil court much less in= a=20
criminal court. I have come to learn that the business that he had worke= d so=20
hard to build is on a verge of financial ruin. His flower has lost its=20
quality because of lack of fund and expertise to control the spread of p= lant=20
disease. The company has virtually stopped exporting and has lost its ha= rdly=20
won clients maybe forever and the saddest part of all his workers, whom=20= he=20
treated like his family, all but few have been laid off.=20

So who benefits from all this? No one. The country loses the foreign=20
exchange, however small, the company brought to the country. Furthermore= ,=20
Eskender=E2=80=99s story has sent chill through the Diaspora community w= ho had plans=20
to return home and play their part in building their country by bringing= much=20
needed capital and skills. Eskender=E2=80=99s story has also cast a shad= ow over the=20
much-talked about democracy and the "rule of law" that our leaders have=20= been=20
talking about for the last few months.=20

I hope and pray that the authorities will review his case and free him s= oon=20
before all his efforts are lost forever. And as for my friend, Eskinder,= he=20
has every reason to keep his head high and be proud of his achievements=20= and I=20
know when this is over and done he will come out being a better man. Bef= ore I=20
put down this comment, I contacted some of his friends to gather informa= tion=20
and it was interesting to note that all of them admired his determinatio= n and=20
effort to help build a country that most, by their own admission, have n= ow=20
pushed to the back of their minds.=20

I urge readers that know Eskender=E2=80=99s situation to write and let t= he community=20
know what is going on. And if you have ideas and suggestions as to how w= e can=20
help, please post it on one of the various Ethiopian web sites.

--part1_d1.b4ad9ee.28b4d5e4_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:16 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: there are a number of things to do and improve. But why bother - as long as=20 there is a bumper harvest in Canada or Kansas, we can always beg! =A0 Let us look at our energy situation. We were told last year that the level o= f=20 water in our hydroelectric dams had become so low that we could not generate= =20 sufficient electric power. The reason given was the low rainfall in the=20 preceding months. And so, because of lack of rainfall, there was drought and= =20 famine; because of lack of rainfall, we could not generate enough energy and= =20 hence there were blackouts of 2-3 days per week, thereby also seriously=20 affecting industrial production. If both our agricultural and industrial=20 output is so much dependent on rainfall, what are we doing about it? Why did= =20 we face such a problem? Why were there not forecasts of our growing energy=20 needs? Why did we stop building more and more dams - even after some had=20 started construction and gone a long way before being abandoned on some=20 flimsy excuse? Why did we not do enough to harvest the abundant rainfall=20 during the rainy seasons? Yet, two big natural lakes have recently been=20 formed in the Egyptian desert as a result of the water run-off from the=20 Ethiopian highlands. We are glad for Egypt. We also mourn for our country,=20 Ethiopia. Potentially a land of plenty, but reduced to starvation and=20 extinction, while the educated elite is wallowing in a state of apathy! A=20 land where politics has taken precedence over development and a sense of=20 belonging, where working for the good of the community or the country as a=20 whole has taken a back seat to narrow-minded, clannish and individual=20 well-being. I cry for Ethiopia, a land of apathy, a land betrayed by its=20 people! =A0 --part1_28.1a0dfbc8.28c2a211_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable ADDIS TRIBUNE

http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2001/08/24-08-01/Welcome.htm


Welcome to the Land of Apathy
=A0
By Melaku Michael

=A0
I would like to suggest that we change our slogan: "Welcome to Ethiopia=20= - The=20
Land of 13 Months of Sunshine" to "Welcome to Ethiopia - The Land of Apa= thy".
=A0
The degree of indifference to the problems of the country, the lack of a= ny=20
long-term vision on any of the socio-economic sectors, the zombie-like=20
performance of our civil servants are all manifestations of a trait that= is=20
beginning to be an identifying characteristic of the people and its lead= ers.=20
If we excuse the vast majority of the people because of ignorance, the=20
remaining-especially the educated, including the merchants, industrialis= ts,=20
factory workers, teachers, civil servants, etc. are, in large part, a=20
disgrace to the nation.
=A0
We should pay tribute to single individuals such as Aberra Molla and Cha= chi=20
Tadesse who, by sheer personal conviction and stamina, are trying their=20= best=20
to alleviate some of the chronic problems of Addis Ababa. Mention should= also=20
be made of others like W/o Abebech Gobena who are doing something=20
constructive in taking care of orphans. Why don't we hear of any organiz= ed=20
attempt to tackle serious national problems?
=A0
There is presently a favorite phrase one hears in many public forums: ".= .it=20
is not possible for the government alone to solve such problems.." That=20= may=20
be so, but the government should lead. It should set an agenda or progra= m of=20
action and mobilize forces. But not enough of this is being done at pres= ent.=20
It appears as if we are waiting for somebody - as usual, foreign bodies=20= such=20
as the World Bank or the IMF - to tell us what our priorities should be.
=A0
Recently there was quite a bit of media coverage about a "Civil Service=20
Reform". I wonder whether the government is aware of what sort of reform= the=20
public expects. The ordinary person on the street regards government off= ices=20
as useless, dirty, old structures inhabited by ignorant, narrow-minded,=20
bureaucratic and corrupt individuals who occupy the buildings for only o= ne=20
purpose - to cause misery to those that foolishly go there. From the sim= ple=20
guard at the entrance, to the secretary, to the designated official, the= y all=20
act as if any person who comes to the premises should bow down to them.=20= The=20
complete disregard and disrespect accorded to one who expects some servi= ce is=20
hard to believe. Those in government offices have forgotten that they ar= e=20
there to serve, not to dictate or boss around. The Civil Service Reform=20= that=20
we hear about has to address attitudinal changes of the individuals work= ing=20
as civil servants, as well as issues related to how we do things. One of= the=20
greatest problems in may government offices - and, indeed, in many local= =20
organizations - is the lack of an efficient working system. We do not se= em to=20
know how to expedite tasks, or how to go about doing things. There are f= ar=20
too many desks that a piece of paper has to pass through, each of which=20= some=20
sort of official signs or gives a directive to the next desk. The net re= sult=20
is that the person who wants to get some service from that government of= fice=20
will end up spending hours, if not days, running around from one desk to= =20
another. But then, who cares about or for the public? The office is not=20= meant=20
to serve the public, only the office bearer! When I occasionally see the= =20
words: "The Customer is the King" in some hotels or bars, I usually wond= er=20
whether a government official sees these and relates the words to his of= fice.=20
Most definitely not!
=A0
=A0Let me give some examples of the types of disservice given to the pub= lic. I=20
was recently told that electric power used to be regularly interrupted i= n a=20
certain part of Nazareth City every Saturday, when those on holiday from= =20
Addis Ababa converge on this city. The reason was that the person respon= sible=20
for restoring power needed to be persuaded to do so - of course, through= some=20
generous financial donations. How low can we descend in public trust? An= other=20
example. Water supply is interrupted continuously for about a week or mo= re in=20
an entire district in Addis Ababa. How is this possible? Why is it allow= ed?=20
How callous and insensitive can one be?
=A0
How many times have we heard of situations where our nationals residing=20
abroad want to send aid to Ethiopia in terms of machinery, books, etc, o= r in=20
general want to invest, and who have been discouraged by the poor recept= ion=20
they receive from government offices? How many examples are there of pro= jects=20
all around the country costing millions and yet abandoned after or neari= ng=20
completion? How many times have we heard of millions of the tax-payer's=20= money=20
allocated to a region and either unused, misused or misappropriated? Why= =20
don't we see our leaders in our midst, counseling or encouraging the poo= r,=20
the homeless, the starved and the dying? Is there nobody who cares? Have= you=20
seen the state of neglect in the multi-storey buildings nationalized / o= wned=20
by the government? The lifts have stopped functioning or, even if they=20
sometimes do work, do not inspire confidence among users. The corridors=20= are=20
dirty, there are no corridor lights either there are sockets with no lam= p, or=20
the switches are missing- and the whole inner building smells offensivel= y.=20
Doesn't anybody care?
=A0
What of the city planners? They are so busy driving potential home owner= s=20
outside the peripheries of Addis Ababa that they have forgotten that the= y are=20
thereby making it increasingly difficult for their own administrators to= cope=20
with the laying down of the necessary infrastructure such as roads, powe= r,=20
water and telephone lines. Is anything being done to stem the tide of pe= ople=20
flowing into the cities? The focus on rural development proclaimed by th= e=20
government is not sufficiently backed by action. Investors shy away from= the=20
rural areas for several reasons, not least of which is the unwieldy=20
bureaucracy, coupled with errant political thoughts of government offici= als.
=A0
The developing world is fast catching up with the fact that knowledge is= the=20
key to development. And knowledge is now so easy within reach due to mod= ern=20
information technology. Are we doing enough? Again, the answer is a=20
resounding NO! The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation lags so far=20
behind the times that it is a disgrace to the nation. Normal waiting tim= es=20
for a telephone line in Addis Ababa is close to ten years - unless you h= appen=20
to own a small kiosk illegally built in a small corner, in which case a=20
telephone line appears mysteriously overnight. Many African countries ha= ve=20
gone so far ahead that we wonder whether our concerned officials are eve= n=20
aware of what and how much we are losing. At a time when the Internet is= a=20
useful instructional tool elsewhere, it is said that our older higher=20
education institution, Addis Ababa University (AAU), benefits from the=20
Internet only through thinly scattered direct telephone lines in few=20
department offices. The sense of apathy seems to have pervaded even this= =20
institution, while the recently established Civil Service College is rep= orted=20
to have a direct satellite link to the Internet. But then, AAU is not th= e=20
Civil Service College!=20
=A0
A few years ago, I wouldn't have been surprised at this glaring sense of= =20
apathy in the country. What could one have expected when human life was=20= so=20
cheap that human corpses were thrown all over the city in the government= -led=20
"red terror" campaign. But now, have we learnt anything from that horrib= le=20
experience? Are we wiser, kinder,=A0 more compassionate? Or are we perpe= tuating=20
a new evil?
=A0
Now let us look at bigger issues. We are a country known for famine. We=20= are a=20
nation unable to feed ourselves. Yet, it is in our power to alter this=20
situation dramatically. Are we doing enough to change situations? Again,= No!=20
From the land tenure system to water harvesting and farming technologies= ,=20
there are a number of things to do and improve. But why bother - as long= as=20
there is a bumper harvest in Canada or Kansas, we can always beg!
=A0
Let us look at our energy situation. We were told last year that the lev= el of=20
water in our hydroelectric dams had become so low that we could not gene= rate=20
sufficient electric power. The reason given was the low rainfall in the=20
preceding months. And so, because of lack of rainfall, there was drought= and=20
famine; because of lack of rainfall, we could not generate enough energy= and=20
hence there were blackouts of 2-3 days per week, thereby also seriously=20
affecting industrial production. If both our agricultural and industrial= =20
output is so much dependent on rainfall, what are we doing about it? Why= did=20
we face such a problem? Why were there not forecasts of our growing ener= gy=20
needs? Why did we stop building more and more dams - even after some had= =20
started construction and gone a long way before being abandoned on some=20
flimsy excuse? Why did we not do enough to harvest the abundant rainfall= =20
during the rainy seasons? Yet, two big natural lakes have recently been=20
formed in the Egyptian desert as a result of the water run-off from the=20
Ethiopian highlands. We are glad for Egypt. We also mourn for our countr= y,=20
Ethiopia. Potentially a land of plenty, but reduced to starvation and=20
extinction, while the educated elite is wallowing in a state of apathy!=20= A=20
land where politics has taken precedence over development and a sense of= =20
belonging, where working for the good of the community or the country as= a=20
whole has taken a back seat to narrow-minded, clannish and individual=20
well-being. I cry for Ethiopia, a land of apathy, a land betrayed by its= =20
people!
=A0

--part1_28.1a0dfbc8.28c2a211_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:17 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: careful and remain vigilant as Aite Meles may hate the colour of the eyes of the Oromos to the extent that he starts deporting them. I know that he does not like the Oromos but am telling you that there may be the limit when he will start deporting the Oromos also. Thanks, GH __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.yahoo.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Wed May 23 11:04:48 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Wed May 23 11:05:17 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: September 13, 2001 September 13, 2001. The third day of the inhuman and horrifying carnage in=20 the United Sates of America committed by terrorists that do not have any=20 respect for humanity. The whole world is angered by the cowardly act of the=20 terrorists and extending its support and condolence to the American people.=20 It is extremely saddening to hear that on this third day of the terrorist=20 attack on Americans the Ethiopian government has sent one American of=20 Ethiopian origin to its dungeon. His name is Solomon Mezgebu. Solomon is an American development professional= =20 of Ethiopian origin who left for Ethiopia from Boston-- a historically famou= s=20 place for freethinking and good schools, like Tufts his alma mater-- and who= =20 was denied to exit Ethiopia in August 26 and detained in September 13, 2001.= =20 He earned his Masters from the School of Nutrition Science and Policy of=20 Tufts University (Boston) in 1997, and he is still a PHD student at the same= =20 university and went to contribute his expertise and give something back to=20 the people of Ethiopia. His safety is now threatened by the repressive regim= e=20 in Ethiopia=E2=80=94one of the worst governments in the world for an atmosph= ere of=20 social and political intolerance. In November 1999, he volunteered to work as CEO and Chairman of Tigray=20 Development Association (TDA), an indigenous Non Governmental Organization=20 (NGO), in Ethiopia that operates in the northern part of the country called=20 Tigray. Solomon was elected by the General Assembly of TDA to serve as the=20 chairman of the organization for monthly pay of about 300 Dollars! Against=20 the will of his close relatives and friends he accepted the challenge and=20 started working full time for TDA in the town of Mekelle starting March 2000= .=20 He left the USA with strong enthusiasm that he will contribute, even if it=20 meant delaying his research for his PHD, for improving the living condition=20 of the people in Tigray where poverty is the norm for millions of families.=20 He was even using his meager savings earned in the USA to cover his costs of= =20 living in Ethiopia. His own willingness to sacrifice material benefit and to= =20 go beyond the call of duty was a continual example to people who knew him=20 closely.=20 Solomon is a development worker both by training and occupation and not a=20 politician. However, over the last five months he found the overall milieu=20 extremely hostile for anyone who wants to have an independent working=20 atmosphere. Government officials became a stumbling block to discharge his=20 duties. Despite his determination to work for the three years term, the=20 stifling condition forced him to resign from the institution he worked hard=20 to ensure its independence and focus only on development challenges such as=20 HIV-AIDS which he champions. He informed the Board members his intended=20 resignation effective October 2001 and agreed that they will be calling for=20= a=20 General Assembly (GA) meeting.=20 =20 Meanwhile he wanted to come back to the US and pursue his studies till the G= A=20 meeting. On Sunday August 26, 2001, the day he was suppose to catch the=20 Ethiopian Airline plane heading for USA, he contacted the Ethiopian Airlines= =20 to reconfirm his flight which he booked weeks earlier, only to find out that= =20 his booking was canceled-presumably by the security forces of the government= .=20 He then bought another ticket when the airline officer told him that they=20 still have a seat in a Business class. On Sunday August 26, 2001, he went to= =20 Bole airport in Addis Ababa. Three cars and a sport utility, all with privat= e=20 plates and with security forces inside them were following the car he was in= .=20 After arrival at the airport and got a boarding pass he headed for the=20 passport control where the immigration officers were waiting for him, took=20 his passport without any court order and told him he can not board the plane= .=20 He recollected his luggage and went back home-still being followed by the=20 same security forces.=20 After denying him his right to exit the country, government officials starte= d=20 pounding their propaganda to confuse the public that he is leaving before=20 being audited and handing over property. The only property of TDA he had in=20 his custody were a cell-phone, a car and a laptop, which he has already=20 handed-over before his intended departure. This is an excuse and a design fo= r=20 public consumption and would not stand a simple scrutiny. In addition,=20 government agents and their operatives within TDA intimidated TDA employees=20 not to give him receipts for the properties he has handed over.=20 In the afternoon of September 13, 2001, security agents of the rogue=20 government in Addis Ababa detained him and took him to the infamous=20 "Maekellawi" (meaning Central) prison where they keep prisoners of=20 conscience. For his family and friends in the United States to hear this new= s=20 on the third day of the terrorist attack is extremely saddening; and we neve= r=20 thought the Ethiopian government will do such unlawful act on a difficult=20 time to all Americans.=20 No one can be certain regarding the next move of the government. It is not=20 the first time for the Ethiopian government to jail intellectuals who went=20 from the US to the country to contribute their expertise and give back to th= e=20 community they grew-up. Dr. Berhanu Nega, an economist who was trained in th= e=20 United States and went to Ethiopia in 1994 was jailed in May 2001 "for=20 inciting a riot". It took several weeks of international pressure for the=20 Ethiopian government to release him on bail. Another young man, Eskinder=20 Joseph, a florist and who went to Ethiopia in 1991 with the ambition of=20 helping his country through his expertise acquired in the USA for ten years=20 was arrested on unsubstantiated charges of corruption about fourteen weeks=20 back and has been denied bail. Eskinder was earning millions of dollars in=20 export money for his hard-press and debt burden country. We call upon the State Department and the US Embassy in Addis Ababa to use=20 every means possible to persuade the Ethiopian government to release Solomon= =20 Mezgebu, and guarantee his travel rights to the USA. We also call upon the=20 Ethiopian government to stop its wanton assault on freedom of humankind and=20 join the civilized world! =20 Concerned Americans of Ethiopian Origin =20 =20 --part1_25.1b38bf82.28d453df_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en A Ca= ll for the Release of TDA Chairman Solomon Mezgebu!

From Concerned Americans and Ethiopians Living in USA
September 13, 2001

September 13, 2001. The third day of the inhuman and horrifying carn= age in the United Sates of America committed by terrorists that do not have=20= any respect for humanity. The whole world is angered by the cowardly act of=20= the terrorists and extending its support and condolence to the American peop= le. It is extremely saddening to hear that on this third day of the terroris= t attack on Americans the Ethiopian government has sent one American of Ethi= opian origin to its dungeon.
His name is Solomon Mezgebu. Solomon is an American development professi= onal of Ethiopian origin who left for Ethiopia from Boston-- a historically=20= famous place for freethinking and good schools, like Tufts his alma mater--=20= and who was denied to exit Ethiopia in August 26 and detained in September 1= 3, 2001. He earned his Masters from the School of Nutrition Science and Poli= cy of Tufts University (Boston) in 1997, and he is still a PHD student at th= e same university and went to contribute his expertise and give something ba= ck to the people of Ethiopia. His safety is now threatened by the repressive= regime in Ethiopia=E2=80=94one of the worst governments in the world for an= atmosphere of social and political intolerance.

In November 1999, he volunteered to work as CEO and Chairman of Tigray D= evelopment Association (TDA), an indigenous Non Governmental Organization (N= GO), in Ethiopia that operates in the northern part of the country called Ti= gray. Solomon was elected by the General Assembly of TDA to serve as the cha= irman of the organization for monthly pay of about 300 Dollars! Against the=20= will of his close relatives and friends he accepted the challenge and starte= d working full time for TDA in the town of Mekelle starting March 2000. He l= eft the USA with strong enthusiasm that he will contribute, even if it meant= delaying his research for his PHD, for improving the living condition of th= e people in Tigray where poverty is the norm for millions of families. He wa= s even using his meager savings earned in the USA to cover his costs of livi= ng in Ethiopia. His own willingness to sacrifice material benefit and to go=20= beyond the call of duty was a continual example to people who knew him close= ly.=20

Solomon is a development worker both by training and occupation and not=20= a politician. However, over the last five months he found the overall milieu= extremely hostile for anyone who wants to have an independent working atmos= phere. Government officials became a stumbling block to discharge his duties= . Despite his determination to work for the three years term, the stifling c= ondition forced him to resign from the institution he worked hard to ensure=20= its independence and focus only on development challenges such as HIV-AIDS w= hich he champions. He informed the Board members his intended resignation ef= fective October 2001 and agreed that they will be calling for a General Asse= mbly (GA) meeting.=20
=20
Meanwhile he wanted to come back to the US and pursue his studies till t= he GA meeting. On Sunday August 26, 2001, the day he was suppose to catch th= e Ethiopian Airline plane heading for USA, he contacted the Ethiopian Airlin= es to reconfirm his flight which he booked weeks earlier, only to find out t= hat his booking was canceled-presumably by the security forces of the govern= ment. He then bought another ticket when the airline officer told him that t= hey still have a seat in a Business class. On Sunday August 26, 2001, he wen= t to Bole airport in Addis Ababa. Three cars and a sport utility, all with p= rivate plates and with security forces inside them were following the car he= was in. After arrival at the airport and got a boarding pass he headed for=20= the passport control where the immigration officers were waiting for him, to= ok his passport without any court order and told him he can not board the pl= ane. He recollected his luggage and went back home-still being followed by t= he same security forces.=20

After denying him his right to exit the country, government officials st= arted pounding their propaganda to confuse the public that he is leaving bef= ore being audited and handing over property. The only property of TDA he had= in his custody were a cell-phone, a car and a laptop, which he has already=20= handed-over before his intended departure. This is an excuse and a design fo= r public consumption and would not stand a simple scrutiny. In addition, gov= ernment agents and their operatives within TDA intimidated TDA employees not= to give him receipts for the properties he has handed over.=20
In the afternoon of September 13, 2001, security agents of the rogue gov= ernment in Addis Ababa detained him and took him to the infamous "Maekellawi= " (meaning Central) prison where they keep prisoners of conscience. For his=20= family and friends in the United States to hear this news on the third day o= f the terrorist attack is extremely saddening; and we never thought the Ethi= opian government will do such unlawful act on a difficult time to all Americ= ans.=20

No one can be certain regarding the next move of the government. It is n= ot the first time for the Ethiopian government to jail intellectuals who wen= t from the US to the country to contribute their expertise and give back to=20= the community they grew-up. Dr. Berhanu Nega, an economist who was trained i= n the United States and went to Ethiopia in 1994 was jailed in May 2001 "for= inciting a riot". It took several weeks of international pressure for the E= thiopian government to release him on bail. Another young man, Eskinder Jose= ph, a florist and who went to Ethiopia in 1991 with the ambition of helping=20= his country through his expertise acquired in the USA for ten years was arre= sted on unsubstantiated charges of corruption about fourteen weeks back and=20= has been denied bail. Eskinder was earning millions of dollars in export mon= ey for his hard-press and debt burden country.

We call upon the State Department and the US Embassy in Addis Ababa to u= se every means possible to persuade the Ethiopian government to release Solo= mon Mezgebu, and guarantee his travel rights to the USA. We also call upon t= he Ethiopian government to stop its wanton assault on freedom of humankind a= nd join the civilized world!
=20
Concerned Americans of Ethiopian Origin