መረጃ ቁልፍ ነው። ቁልፉ ደግሞ የኢትዮጵያ ሳተላይት ቴሌቪዥን( ኢሳት) ነው።

መረጃ ቁልፍ ነው። ቁልፉ ደግሞ የኢትዮጵያ ሳተላይት ቴሌቪዥን( ኢሳት) ነው።

                               NORWAY OSLO ESAT FUNDRAISING FEB.10 2013

የመልካም አስተዳደር እጦት፣ነፃነትና የፍትህ እጦት፣የነፃ ፕሬስ እትመት መታፈን ፣የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች አባልና ደጋፊ በማሰር ፣ጋዜጠኞችን ማሰርና ከአገር እንዲሰደዱ ማድረግ፣የውሸት ምርጫዎች መብዛት፣ የሰብዓዊመብቶች ረገጣ፣ የሥራ አጥነት መበራከት፣ የአግአዚ ጦር ሠራዊት እና “የጆሮጠቢዎች” በወገናችን የሚያደርሱት እልቂትና ስቃይ ሰለባ የሆናችሁና ነጻነትና ፍትህን ናፋቂ የሆንን ፣የአገራችሁ አንድነት የሚያንገበግባችሁ ዜጎች ሁሉአሁን ወቅቱ የሚሻው የትግል ጊዜ ላይ በመሆናችን ለዚህ ሁሉ ደግሞ መረጃ ያስፈልጋል።

ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ከሰሜን እስከ ደቡብ፣ከምስራቅ እስከ ምዕራብ ያለውን የሕዝብ ብሶት የሚያሰማው የሕዝብ ሀብት የሆነውን ኢሳትን መርዳት ከዘመናዊ ባርነት፣ከውሸት ፕሮባጋንዳ ለመዳን፣የሕዝብ ብሶትንና በደልን ለማሳወቅ ትልቁ የመገናኛ መሣሪያ መሆኑን አያጠራጥርም! ኢሳት የማያጠያይቅ ቁልፍ መረጃ ነው።ለዚህ ደግሞ ኢሳትን መርዳትና መደገፍ የዜግነት ግዴታ ውዴታም ነው።የሕዝብን የስቃይ ግዜ ለማሳጠር ባገኘነው አጋጣሚ ሁሉ ተደራጅተን መረጃዎችን ለኢሳት በመስጠት ሕዝባችን መታደግ አለብን።

በኖርዌ አገር በተካሄደው የገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ፕሮግራም ላይ በጣም የሚያዛዝን ድራማ ተዘጋጅቶም ነበር ። ያም ድራማ የሚያሳየው የውያኔ ሰራዊትና ፌደራል ፖሊስ ኢትዮጵያን ከተቆጣጠረበት ጊዜ አንስቶ እስካሁን ድረስ በህዝቡ ላይ የሚያደርሱትን ስቃይና እንግልት የሚያሳይ  ተመልካችን በእንባ ያራጨና ወደ ኋላ በትዝታ ወስዶ ለካ እንደዚህም ተደርጓል ብሎ ሕዝቡ ከልብ ያለቀሰበት,፣ ያሳዘበት ግዜም ነበር ! ድራማው ሲተውኑ የነበሩትም ሰዎች በጥሩ ሁናቴ ተጫውተውትም ነበር በተለይ በፌደራል ልብስ ለብሶ ሲተውን የነበረው ዳንኤል በቀለ የተመልካቹን ድባብ በፌደራል ፖሊስ ንግግር ፈገግ አድርጎት አምሽቷል።

 ሀገሩንና ሕዝቡን የሚወድ ደግሞ ኢሳትን ይታደግ!

እውነት እንዲ ነው!! ”…እኔ አርቲስት ነኝ በአርቲስትነት መኖር እችልነበር። መፅሐፉ የሚለው ከፊትህ  እሳት ቀርቦልሃል እጅህንወደወደድከው ጨምር ነው። እኔ እጄን ወደ ውሃ ከትቼ በአርቲስትነቴእየደነስኩ መኖር አያቅተኝም ነበር። ነገር ግን የእውነት ጉዳይስ?የኢትዮጵያ ጉዳይስ? ዝም ብሎ የሚኖር ህሊና አለን?… እድሜዬእንደምታዩኝ ላይሆን ይችላል። ፖለቲካ ያቃጥላል፣ ያናድዳል። ሆኖምግን እስከመጨረሻ ለመፅናት ነው ቃል የገባሁት።”አርቲስትናአክትቪስት ታማኝ በየነ

                        ኢሳት የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ አይንና ጆሮ ነው !
    ኢትዮጵያ በክብር ለዘላለም ትኑር!!!
               ከዘካሪያስ አሳዬ

ዓቃቢ ህግ ዕዳ አለበት! አዎ ዕዳ አለበት!

ከተመስገን ደሳለኝ

እንደ ጉርሻ
በሽብርተኝነት ተከሰው በወህኒ ቤት የሚገኙ በጣም በርካታ እስረኞች የይቅርታ ፎርም እንዲሞሉ እየተደረገ ነው (ምንአልባት የሀይለማርያም መንግስት ሪፎርም /ማሻሻያ/ የማድርግ ዕቅድ ካለው በዚሁ ሊጀምር አስቦ ሊሆን ይችላል፤ አሊያም እንደተለመደው እስረኛ በመልቀቅ የፖለቲካ ማሻሻያ እንደተደረገ ለማስመሰል ይሆናል)፡፡ ጋዜጠኛ ውብሸት ታዬ እና ዘሪሁን ገ/እግዚአብሄርም በብዛት ከሚለቀቁት እስረኞች ጋር አብረው እንደሚፈቱ ምንጮቼ አረጋግጠውልኛል፡፡

አጀንዳችን…
ዛሬ በከፍተኛው ፍርድ ቤት የእነእስክንድር ነጋን ንብረት ለመውረስ ፍትህ ሚንስቴር የመሰረተው ክስ ሲታይ ውሎአል፡፡

እስክንድር ከዚህ ቀደም ‹‹የታሰርኩት በግፍ ስለሆነ ንብረቴን አትውረሱ ብዬ አልከራከርም፤ ዛሬውኑ ልትወስዱት ትችላላችሁ›› በማለት ያልተከራከረ ሲሆን፣ የአበበ በለውን ንብረት በሚመለከት በሌለበት ታይቷል፡፡ የአንዱአለም አራጌ ባለቤት ደግሞ በስሟ የተመዘገበው መኪና መወረሱ አግባብ እንዳልሆነ በጠበቃዋ አቶ ደርበው ተመስገን አማካኝነት ተከራክራለች፡፡ ፍርድ ቤቱም ለውሳኔ የፊታችን ሚያዚያ አስር ቀን ቀጠሮ ሰጥቷል (በእኔ ግምት ቀጠሮው እንዲህ የራቀው መጋቢት አስራ ስምንት ቀን እነእስክንድር የጠየቁት ይግባኝ የመጨረሻ ውሳኔ ስለሚሰጥበት ከዛ በኋላ የንብረቱን ጉዳይ ለመጨረስ ይመስለኛል)

የሆነ ሆኖ ዓቃቢ ህግ የእስክንድር ንብረት ተብለው ከቀረቡት ባለሁለት ፎቅ ዘመናዊ መኖሪያ ቤት፣ በባለቤቱ ጋዜጠኛ ሰርካለም ፋሲል ስም የተመዘገበ የቤት መኪና፣ እንዲሁም የእስክንድር እናት ንብረት የሆነ በአንድ ሺህ ካሬ ሜትር ላይ ያረፈ መኖሪያ ቤትን ለመውረስ ጥያቄ ያቀረበ ቢሆንም፣ በዛሬው ዕለት በእናቱ ስም የተመዘገበውን ቤት እንደተወው ገልጿል (አዲስ ታይምስ መፅሄት የእናቱ ቤት ዝርዝር ውስጥ መግባቱ ተገቢ አለመሆኑን ደጋግማ መግለጿ የሚታወስ ነው)፡፡

ይህንና ዓቃቢ ህግ በእስክንድር እናት ስም የተመዘገበውን መኖሪያ ቤት ከሚወርሳቸው ዝርዝር ውስጥ በማውጣቱ ምንም አይነት ምስጋና የለኝም፡፡ ምክንያቱም እንኳን ንብረታቸው ተከሳሾቹም ምንም ጥፋት ያላጠፉ ንፁሀን ናቸው ብዬ ስለማምን፡፡ ስለዚህም አሁንም እንዲህ እላለሁ፡- ዓቃቢ ህግ ዕዳ አለብህ! አዎ እዳ አለብህ!! ንፁሀን ወንድሞቻችንን ይቅርታ ጠይቀህ እስክትለቅልን ድረስ!!!

ወያኔ ቅዠት እንጂ ራዕይ የለውም!

በመቅደስ አበራ (ከጀርመን)

ትላንት የተናገሩትን ዛሬ፤ ዛሬ የተናገሩትን ነገ የማይደግሙ ከሀዲ አንባገነን እና ዘረኛ ቡድኖች የስልጣን ኮረቻ በሀይል ከተፈናጠቱበት እለት ጀምሮ የተለያዩ የማወናበጃ ዘዴዎችን እየተጠቀሙ የበርካታ ንጹሀን ዜጎችን ህይወት ቀጥፈዋል አስቀጥፈዋል፡፡እንኳን እንደጠላት የሚቆጥሩትንና በመርሃ ግብራቸው ነድፈው መጥፋት አለበት ብለው የፈረጁትን ህዝብ ቀርቶ አርነት እናወጣሀለን እያሉ ክእናንተ በመፈጠራችን ኮራንባችሁ የሚሏቸውን የትግራይን ንጹሀን ዜጎች ሳይቀር  የራሳቸውን የስልጣን ዕድሜ ለማራዘም ውድ ህይወታቸውን እንዲገብሩ አድርገዋል፡፡ የሀውዚንን ጭፍጨፋ አቀናብረዋል፣በ1991ዓ.ም በኢትዮጵያና በኤርትራ መካከል በተደረገው  ጦርነት ከ70000 በላይ የጠርነቱ ሰለባ ሁነዋል፡፡አልሻባብን ለመደምስስ በሚል በሶማሊያ በረሃ የረገፉትን ወታደሮች ቤት ይቁጠራቸው፡፡ስልጣን ለወያኔ ከምንም ነገር በላይ ነው፡፡ ስልጣን ከሉአላዊነት፣ከባህር በር ፣ከሀገርና ከህዝብ እንደሚበልጥባቸው ከመጀመሪያው ጀምሮ የወሰዷቸው እርምጃዎች ማሳያ ናቸው፡፡የገንዛ ሀገሩን ቆርሶ ለሱዳን የሚሰጥ፣የባህርበር አያስፈልገኝም የአሰብን ወደብ ውሰዱት፣ኤርትራ እንድትገነጠል ፈቅጃለሁና እውቅና ስጡልኝ እባካችሁ እያለ የአለም መንግትታትን  የተማጸነ፣የገንዛ ዞጎቹን አፈናቅሎ ለውጭ ባለ ሀብቶች መሬታቸውን የሚሰጥ፤የሀገሪቱን ሀብት ለተደራጁ ወንበዴወች የሚያስዘርፍና የሚዘርፍ፤ሌሎች የኢትዮጵያ ህዝቦችን አጥፍቼ  ታላቋን ትግራይን እመሰርታለሁ ብሎ የሚንቀሳቀስ አንባገነን እንዴት ያለ ሀገራዊ ራዕይ ነው የሚኖረው፡፡

ዘረኛው መንግስት በተለያዩ ጊዜያት እንዱን ብሄር በሌላው ብሄር ላይ በማነሳሳት በመቶ ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩት ከመኖሪያቸው ተፈናቅለው ሀብትና ንብረታቸውን ተዘርፈው ለከፍተኛ ችግር ሲዳረጉ በብዙ ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩት ደግሞ ለእልፈት ተዳርገዋል፡፡የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎችና ጋዜጠኞችን  በሽብር ስም እያሰረ ንጹሀንን ሲያሸብር ቆይቷል፡፡በርካታ ፓርቲዎች በሰርጎ ገብ ሰላዮች የተነሳ ይዘውት የተነሱትን አላማ እና  የህዝብ አደራ እዳር ሳያደርሱ በጅምር ቀርተዋል፡፡በወያኔ መሰሪ ተንኮል በተቀነባበረ ሴራ ጦርነት ውስጥ ያልገባ ክልልና ብሄር ባይገኝም ውጤቱ እንደሚፈልጉት ስላልሆነላቸው እና የኢትዮጵያ ህዝቦችም ባላቸው አርቆ አስተዋይነትና ረጅም ጊዜ በሰላም አብሮ የመኖር ባህሉ በመታገዝ  የፕሮፖጋንዳቸው ሰለባ ባለመሆናቸው ለወያኔዎች ትልቅ ራስ ምታት ጥሮባቸዋል፡፡እስካሁን ሲጫወትበት የነበረውን ካርድም እንዲቀይርም ተገዷል፡፡ አዲሱ የመጫወቻ ካርድም ከብሄር ግጭት ወደ ሐይማኖታዊ ግጭት ለማሸጋገርም የሚያስችለውን “ጀሀዳዊ ሀረካት”የተሰኘ ዘጋቢ ፊልም በመስራት ከ1500 አመት በላይ አብረው የኖሩትን ሁለቱን ታላላቅ እምነቶች ማለቂያ ወደሌለው ጦረነት በመማገድ የስልጣን ጊዜውን ለማራዘም ቢምክርም እናንተ ከመጣችሁት ገና 21 ዓመታችሁ ነው እኛ ደግም ለረጅም ጊዜ  በፍቅር አብረን ኑረናል፤  የጋራ ጠላታችን ዘረኛው ወያኔ ነው፡፡እኛ ከእነሱ እንሻላለን አንለያይም እያሉ በየአደባባዮ አንገት ላንገት ተቃቅፈው እየተላቀሱ ቁጭታቸውን ሲገልጹ መመልከት የተለመደ ተግባር ነው፡፡ሰሞኑን ለኢሳት የገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ፕርግራም ሙኒክ ላይ የታየውም ህብረት የዚሁ አካል ነው፡፡

እንዴት እንደ  ኢትዮጵያ ያለች ታላቅ ሀገር እና እንደ ኢትዮጵያውያን ያሉ ቀደምት ህዝቦች እንደ ወያኔ ባሉ ትንሽ ሰዎች ይገዛሉ?እንዴት የአለም ማህበረሰብ በሀሰት የወያኔ ፕሮፖጋንዳ ሲታለል ይኖራል?እስከመቼ ብቻቸውን በምርጫ ተወዳድረው አሸነፍን እያሉ ሲያላግጡ ይኖራሉ? ወያኔዎችስ በቀጣይ ምን የማደናገሪያ ስልት ያመጡ ይሆን? እኔ በበኩሌ በቃ ብያለሁ፡፡ ወያኔ ራዕይ የለውም ኑሮትም አያውቅም፤ ወደፊትም አይኖረውም፡፡የወያኔ  ሀገር እና ህዝብ የማውደም ቅዠት እንጂ ሀገራዊ ራዕይ ብሎ ነገር አያውቅም፡፡በጋራ ጠላታችን ላይ በጋራ እንነሳ!!!

ኢትዮጵያ ለዘላለም ትኑር!

Ethiopia: MENELIK THE GREAT OF ADWA

by Msmaku Asrat

March 1st 1896 is the 117^th anniversary of the Battle of Adwa. The decisive victory at Adwa is a tale to be told every year on this day of its commemoration because it worms the heart and lifts the spirit of every black person in the world. Few places evoke stronger memories than places of triumphant victory or places of devastating defeat. Napoleon Bonaparte achieved his greatest fame at the battle of Austerlitz (now in Czech Republic) in 1805 where he decisively defeated the combined armies of the kings of Europe.  Few defeats are as well registered as the defeat (by then Emperor) Napoleon, at the battle of Waterloo (now in Belgium, near Brussels) ten years later in 1815, where the Emperor after his army was defeated declared “flee those who can” and fled from the battlefield on horseback. Adwa, a dusty little village in Tigre, was put on the map of the world by the mighty and valiant Emperor Menelik who decidedly defeated the Italian army there by a brilliant strategy not unlike that of Napoleon at the battle of Austerlitz. So by that singular victory at ADWA , a place, a history, a legend and a myth of invincibility was born which throughout succeeding generations of black people everywhere, and Ethiopian people in particular, evoked a memory and a  pride of staggering proportions. The new generation of black people now say “those were the days” We need not bother the chattering of the magpies who try to erase this memory emanating from a burning envy and a searing white hatred – an outcome of a monumental inferiority complex. People also shun and condemn defeat as could be discerned by the following couplet after the battle of Maichew and when Emperor Haile Selassie went into exile to Britain.   ያልተገራ ፈረስ ጠቅል ብላችሁ    ሄደ ገሠገሠ ባህር ገባላችሁ     (an unbroken horse you named Tekil; but it galloped into the sea) This was an unkind comment because the battle of the Maichew front was fought continually for six months and it was led by the Emperor all the way. Moreover, Italy had far superior arms this time while Ethiopian armament was still primitive. We should rather recall the valiant stand the Emperor took  at the League of Nations in Geneva and his prophetic predictions “today it is us tomorrow it could be you” And that was exactly what happened.

Menelik was born in 1844 and was Emperor from 1889-1913. He was the greatest military general to emerge from Africa since Hannibal (247-183 B.C.) of Carthege (a place now in modern Tunisia)  The Carthegian military commander moved over the Alps with elephants, conquered Rome and occupied it for 15 years until he was recalled back to Africa.  Menelik at 52 was a decade older than Hannibal when he marched to Adwa.  Not only Ethiopians but the whole world associates Adwa with Menelik and not with the inhabitants who lived there at the time (much less with those who are living there now.) This is how history is born and no amount of back peddling or attempt at rewriting of history could ever change that! What makes Menelik great, besides his other considerable accomplishments, is his towering achievement at the victory of Adwa, which place name will forever be associated with him. He was a soldier’s soldier, instinctively brave, fearless and lion-heated. He was also a brilliant field commander and a military tactician. As an outstanding general he was able to evoke the absolute devotion and loyalty of his army.  He did this by example.  His move from Addis Ababa to Adwa hundreds of kilometers away is a journey of epic proportions. His army travelled by foot and the provisions of the army were carried by thousands of pack animals – mules horses and donkeys. Animal fodder has to be provisioned and secured, watering holes have to be identified beforehand, and food for the army has to be supplied endlessly.

Menelik was leading a multiethnic army  which in most cases do not speak the same language but were tied together by their fervent belief in their overarching Ethiopian identity and above all, in their absolute confidence  that Menelik was their God appointed leader to whom they bestowed their total love and devotion. Watching the vast army of Menelik on the move is like witnessing the whole movement of a town being created and dismantled overnight, a feat which is impossible to imagine even now. It is also like the movement of a huge meandering river from a distance. There were thousands of pack animals like donkeys and sturdy mules that carry food and drink, tents and firewood. Then there were the horses and mules for the leaders and commanders of the army. Menelik had thirty well bred horses and mules at the ready for his personal use and he transferred himself from one tired horse or mule to a fresh one without breaking a stride.  Another army was led by his wife itege Taitu and a smaller army led by his young and enthusiastic daughter Zewditu, the future Empress, a heroine of the war in her own right. Much has been told about Itege Taitu but almost nothing about Weizero Zewditu who was beside her step mother every step of the way during the heat of battle. It is sad that in order to glorify Emperor Haile Selassie her contributions even during her reign was totally eclipsed, the same way as that of Lij Eyasu where even his resting place is still unknown.   During Eyasu’s reign it was said

በኢያሱ ዳቦ ነው ትራሱ… በዘውዲቱ ተደፋ ሌማቱ… በተፈሪ ጠፋ ፍርፋሪ  (during Eyasu’s time bread became  a pillow; during Zewditu’ time  the charger was overturned; during Teferi’s  time not even crumps of bread were left)

Even recent writers continue to belittle the reign of Empress Zewditu. Suffice it to say that Ethiopia joined the League of Nations during her reign and she was an active partner of Ras Tafari in the modernization of Ethiopia. After all she was the daughter of Menelik the greatest modernizer of them all, who has inspired all his followers. The wisdom of Menelik is his ability to revive the ancient polity of multi-ethnic Ethiopia which was lost during the dark days of Zemene Mesafint. Atse Tewodros, his mentor and imprisoner, has tried but failed and Atse Yohannes has partly abandoned the quest. Menelik chose leaders by their ability and quality of character and NOT by their pedigree OR tribal origin. Menelik was a Shewan Amara and an Orthodox Christian. His trusted generals were also Muslims and non Amaras. Menelik was born in the beautiful village of Angolela and his most illustrious Oromo general, Ras Gobena was born in Mendida a few miles away at the edge of the escarpment.  He used to be a loyal follower of King Haile Melekot, the father of Menelik. Menelik has the uncanny ability to identify talent early and nurture it. Among the army commanders who went to Adwa there was a small army commanded by the young Ato Habtegiorgis, who many years later became a Fitawrari and War Minister and close confident of Menelik. So also was Dejach Balcha who grew up in Menilik’s court who later became an illustrious warrior and there were many, many more from all parts of Ethiopia.  Berkley in his excellent book The Campaign of Adowa and the Rise of Menelik (1902)written shortly after battle of Adwa, has a map of battle zones where he puts  Ato Habtegiorgis and his troops to left of the Emperor’s army. The Emperor had a secret informant or a spy in the name of the enterprising Awalom who had penetrated the command post of General Baratrieri, the Italian commander and brought valuable information to Menelik.  The families Awalom fled from their village when the Italian army retuned to Ethiopia following the same route 40 years later. The Fascists had avowed to exact a revenge on the remnants of the family. During this war, to crown their achievements, the Fascist built a gigantic bust of Mussolini at Adwa at the very spot where they were defeated – a bust which was said could be seen from miles away. This bust has been reproduced in some books written at the time (I have seen the pictures even though I could not remember which book) Five years later it was said that the British artillery unit blew it to pieces. This is how history marches through time.

The battle of Adwa ended with a decisive victory for Ethiopia, and due to the exhaustion of the army and dwindling of provisions Menelik did not push the Italians across the seas. Hundreds of Italian war prisoners were dispatched post haste to Addis Ababa before him. In a celebration of the victory of Adwa at Jan Meda, the prisoners were paraded before him and the conquering army. They were, however, humanely treated, and returned to Italy after an impassioned appeal by the Vatican. Menelik was humane, magnanimous and generous to a fault.  We may recall that JAN MEA (or Janhoy Meda meaning “the Emperors field”) was the first open space which Menelik designated for the new Addis Ababa. Sadly more than a century later it remains as the ONLY public space in Addis Ababa. The city singularly lacks competent city planners and engineers.  A succession of so called “engineers” had completely cut down the gigantic trees of the city (shoals, zigbas, girars shrubs etc) which had given it an endearing beauty and which even we knew at a young age) and left it completely bare even affecting the famous mild climate. They have also built roads with absolutely no sidewalks to speak of, and this in a city where 90% of the inhabitants have no car!  A case of supreme ignorance which is even manifested to this day. The Addis-Djibouti railway was also was the ONLY one in the country for a hundred years until it was permanently derailed and abandoned during the time of the Derg In 1986 an estimated one thousand Ethiopians perished when the trained went into a ravine at Awash .This the greatest train disaster in Africa until this day. The insanely criminal and illiterate Derg forbade any news of the accident to leak out or any relatives to travel to the accident place.  The brutal Derg controlled the news and only tidbits of it travelled by word of mouth. The incident came close to me when my neighbor’s son who was in the train during the accident was lucky to survive but lost part of his left leg.

The victory of Adwa had immediate repercussions around the World, beginning at the citadel of the Italian Army, Rome. There were spontaneous demonstration carrying placards which red VIVA MENELIK   and DOWN WITH CRISPI (the Prime Minister of Italy at the time.) The most spectacular was what happened in far away Brazil which has the largest Black population outside Africa.  The only black newspaper immediately changed its name to MENELIK.  In distant South Africa the new Ethiopiawinnet movement was born.   Later spin offs were the Abyssinian church in Harlem, US and the Ras Tafarian movement in Jamaica. Menelik went into battle with a) the Ethiopian tri colored flag b) a quote from the Bible written on an emblem of the monarch which portrayed a crowned lion carrying the Ethiopian flag and read : THE LION OF JUDAH HAS PREVALED (which in the Bible is a reference to Christ)  It is not  the later adulteration of this phrase which became :“Conquering Lion of the Tribe  of Judah.”  And c) Menelik had also another emblem with the famous quotation from the Bible, a phrase which has given comfort to Christian Ethiopians throughout the ages and it read:  “ETHIOPIA STRETCHES HER HANDS UNTO GOD”   With these three standards he marched onward to victory.  The only monument erected for Menelik by his grateful daughter was the equestrian statue at Arada in Addis Ababa It is the FIRST equestrian statue of its kind. The legs of the horse had a connection with the pedestal. (the second statue of its type is that of Simon Bolivar)  It was dismantled and buried by Italian Fascists in the dead of night. They were afraid about the reaction of the Ethiopian people. The place of burial was later identified  dug out and put in its original  By contrast  the current Fascists, the t TPLF leaders who have a visceral hatred of Menelik and what he represents want to destroy it forever.  Memories live forever, statues can be rebuilt. They may melt this statue and make it into ornaments for themselves and their family thinking that they have got rid of Menelik forever. However, history never dies.  No other monument exists for the heroes of Adwa. The only structure, an internationally famous hotel in Arada  named after Itegue Taitu, called ITEGUE HOTEL was given another name by the ignorant Derg but when they realized that it was named after Itegue Taitu and NOT itegue Menen, the renamed it the mundane  name “Taitu Hotel”.  The original name has to be restored to its glorious past as ITEGUE HOTEL and not Taitu which can mean anything without the title. But this hotel as well as Menilik’s palace are in state of ruin. The palace has leaking ceilings and creaking stairs and floors and may collapse any day. Neither its former tenant Mengistu who desecrated the place repeatedly or the late Meles ever cared about Menelik’s palace except for its symbolism.  Mengistu in particular has a strange affinity to Menelik. Strange because no two people could be so further apart.  He also used the palace as a prison (I was imprisoned there.)

Menelik’s mausoleum is in the Church of Be”ata. There, within the church compound,  Mengistu and his partner in crime in the Derg, the notorious henchman Captain Mengistu Gemechu, had two adjacent villas built for them. – another sacrileges desecration of our church by the godless criminals. Why they did so is only known to them and their close associates. To say the least it was bizarre. The victory of the battle of Adwa had prompted one anonymous person to write a prophetic couplet which captures what would have happened had Ethiopia lost the war, and here it is:

ምኒልክ ተወልዶ ባያነሳ ጋሻ   ግብሩ እንቁላል ነበር ይህን ጊዜ አበሻ

[If Menelik has not been born to raise his shield (in defense of his country); the taxation of the Habesha (Ethiopians) would have been to supply eggs]

Forty years later, when Fascist Italy came to Ethiopia   that was exactly what they demanded from the occupied people. Deliver eggs and lots of them!  I may digress here to say that almost all of our post -Liberation, early entrepreneurs stared their carriers as supplies of eggs and chicken during the Fascist era. After the victory of Adwa the British, as was their practice, immediately named Menelik as THE GREAT.  They have also done so to Shaka Zulu the great warrior of South Africa. But in Menelik’s case the affix was withdrawn a few years later with the intense lobbying of Italy which argued convincingly that calling Menelik “the great” will forever humiliate not only Italy but the entire White Race.  European Powers of the time also know the decisive and still secret role played by Menelik earlier during the debacle at Fashoda in 1987 when British and French force confronted each other.  The fascinating story is recounted in a book The Race to Fashoda: European Colonialism and African Resistance in the Scramble for Africa by David Levering Lewis, (Weidenfeld&Nicolson, 1987).  When I was in College there were two professors who had an intensive interest in Ethiopian history. One was Rubenson, a Swede, who was an admirer of Tewedros and the other was Marcus, an American, whose obsession was Menelik. Both had subsequently written seminal studies about their heroes.  Of course for our young minds Tewedros was the more romantic.  “I have intended to conquer the world if God has so decreed, and it is my intention to die if my wishes could not be fulfilled” so declared Tewedros. He forced the few foreigners to build a foundry from scratch to cast cannon in Gafat which he called “Sevastopol’ The cannon was dragged to this mountain fortress in Mekdela on the eve of battle. Unfortunately it exploded at its first try when enthusiastic soldiers fed it two cannon balls instead of one. The cannon is still there. Pankhurst called Tewedros’s attempt with tongue in cheek as “the abortive industrial revolution of Ethiopia” Tewedros also resolved to free Jerusalem from the infidels on any given Friday:  … አርብ  አርብ  ይሸበራል  ኢየሩሳሌም (every Friday Jerusalem is in a state of agitation)  The anecdotes of Marcus about Menelik were a wealth of information which delighted us with their inexhaustible wisdom. Menelik’s sturdy voice is preserved for posterity in the British Museum. It is a message he sent to Queen Victoria. During my elementary school at TMS our Canadian Jesuit teachers were admiring Abraham Lincoln and I remember that in my fourth or fifth grade, myself as well as my classmates,  committed Lincoln’s  “Gettysburg  Address” to memory and were able recite it by rote . I still remember part of it so many years later.

So whenever March 1st comes let us celebrate the glory that is Adwa and the great leader Menelik. Let it be told over and over again to our children and succeeding generation. He is the pride of the black race.  A gem of a human being who had the ability to bring all the ancient people of Ethiopia together and to reaffirm the Glory that was Ethiopia revered both in the Bible and the Koran and all the ancient manuscripts and artifacts. Menelik grew up in Ankober and became a king there before became Emperor of Ethiopia. He was an Orthodox Christian and a Shewan Amara which the TpLF and its Woyane adherents have an undying hatred.  As the famous Iranian poet Omar Khayyam (b.1048) said ”The moving finger writes and having Writ moves on; Nor all thy piety nor Wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line”

Ethiopia stretches her hands to God

Main Play List on Home Page (playlist)

Ethiopia: TPLF agent who made terrorist threats exposed

ESAT TV (playlist)

Main Play List on Home Page (playlist)

ESAT Spacial DC Muslim protest 23 February 2013 Ethiopia

የመናገር ነጻነት ዘመቻው ለህወሃት መራሹ መንግስት ምኑ ነው?

From Borkena blog/ ቦርከና

ሰሞኑን የዞን 9 አባላት የብሎጋቸውን በኢትዮጵያ መከልከል ተከትሎ ከክፈቱልን ያለፈ ፤ መሰረታዊ ሊባል የሚችል ዘመቻ በማህበራዊ ድህረ ገጾች ጀምረዋል፡፡ በዚህ ደረጃ ምላሽ መስጠቱ እና መጠቀም የሚቻለውን መድረክ ተጠቅሞ የችግሩን ጥልቀት ለማመላከት መሞከር ጥሩ ነው። ነገር ግን የመጻፍ እና ሃሳብን በነጻነት የመግለጽ መብት እየተጠየቁ ያሉትን ቡድኖች(‘ፎርማሊ’ ካወራን መንግስት ናቸው -ያውም ፈላጭ ቆራጪ) ባህሪ  ግምት ውስጥ በማስገባት፤ ዘመቻው እነዚሁ ቡድኖች አምነትውበት በማናለብኝነት የወሰዱትን ርምጃ ከማስቀየር ይልቅ በስነ ልቦናቸው ለተቀረጸው የትምክህት እና የበላይነት አስተሳሰብ ሃሴት የሚሰጥ ሆኖ ስለተሰማኝ ለነሱ ትምክህት ሃሴት ላለማዋጣት ስል በዚህ በዘመቻ አልተሳተፉኩም።

እንኳንስ የመናገር ነጻነት አይደለም ለእምነት ነጻነት ጀርባቸውን ሰጥተው የክስርቲያኑን የእምነት ተቋማት በቁጥጥር ስር አድርገው ሙስሊሙንም እንዲሁ እምነቱን ለመንጠቅ ቤት ለቤት ጭምር አሰሳ የገቡ ሰዎች ናቸው፡፡ የመናገር እና ሃሳብን የመግለጽ ነጻነት ጋር በእጂጉ የተቆራኘ  የጋዜጣ ህትመት ማስቆም ሳያንሳቸው ዜጎችን –ያውም ኩሩ ሀገር ወዳድ ዜጎችን በሽብረተኛነት በመክሰስ ፣ብዙ እንግልት በማድረስ እና ክብራቸውን ጭምር ለማዋረድ በመሞከር ሌሌች ዜጎች የዜግነት ክብር እና ነጻነት  ጥያቄ ቅብጠት እና በህይወት መቀለድ እንዲመስላቸው በማድረግ የባርነትን እስተሳሰብ በደህንነት ተቋማት ፣በህግ ተቋማት እንዲሁም የማህበራዊ ድንዝዝነት በሚያስፋፉ ሌሎች ልማዶች የሚስፋፉበትን መንገድ በስውርም በግልጽም በማበረታታት  የባርነትን መስረት ለማጽናት ሌት ከቀን የሚሰሩ ለመሆናቸው ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ያለው ሁኔታ ያለ ብዙ ምርምር ቁልጭ አድርጎ ያሳያል።

የህገ-መንግስት ጉዳይ እና የዜጎች መብት ፋይዳ ሳይገባቸው ቀርቶ ነው እንዳይባል፤ ትግል ጀመርንም ጨረስንም የሚሉባቸውን ቀናቶች በብሔራዊ ደረጃ ጭምር እንዲከበርላቸው የሚፈልጉ ናቸው። እንዲያውም ያለባቸውን የስነ-ልቦና ችግር ከሚያመላክቱ ነገሮች  እንደኛው ይሄው ነው። ህወሃት ስልሳ ሺህ  ሰው ሰዋበት የሚሉትን በዓላቸውን የሚያዳንቁትን እና ሰው እንዲያዳንቅላቸው የሚፈልጉትን ያህል ለኢትዮጵያ ነጻነት ከጎጠኝነት በጸዳ በንጹህ የሃገር ፍቅር ስሜት የወደቁ በሚሊየን የሚቆጠሩ ኢትዮጵያውያኖች ጉዳይ እንዲነሳም እንዲታወስም እይፈልጉም። ታሪኩ ሲነገር ያሳንሳቸዋላ!የሃሳብ ነጻነት ወደሚያፈኑበት ጉዳይ ስመለስ -የሚያፍኑበት እና ሃሳብ እንደጦር የሚፈሩበት ጉዳይ ምንድን ነው የተባለ እንደሆነ መሳሪያ እንቆ የተኮፈሰ የፓለቲካ ስብዕናቸውን የሚያኮስስ ስለሚመስላቸው። እደፊኛ የሚነፉትን ፕሮፓጋንዳ የሚያስተነፍስ ስለሚመስላቸው። የሃሳብ ልውውጥ ላይ ያለ ስለት ስለሚያስፈራቸው። አንግበው ለተነሱት የትምክህት እና የበላይነት ግንባታ ዓላማ እንቅፋት እንደሆነ ጠንቅቀው ስለሚያውቁ ይመስለኛል። የእምነት ነጻነትም እስከመንጠቅ የሄዱበት ምክንያት ከፍራቻ ውጭ ሌላ ሊሆን አይችልም። የፍርሃት ገጹ ይለያያል።  የህወሃት መራሹ መንግስት ፍርሃት በአንድ በኩል በጥጋብ እና በማናለብኝነት የተከናነበ ይመስላል በሌላ በኩል ደሞ በልማት ዲስኩር ተከልሎ ከዲስኩሩ በስከጀርባ በምናቡ የሚስላቸውን “ጸረ-ልማት ሃይሎች” (ኢትዮጵያውያኖች እኮ ናቸው የኢትዮጵያ ልማት ጠላቶች?) እንደምክንያት እየተጠቀመ የአፈና የሚጧጡፍበት የሞራል ፈቃድ አብረውት ክሚሰሩት “እህት ድርጂቶች”  ይወስዳል፡፡ በህወሃት “የማይበገር ጀግንነት” ውስጥ ያለው እውነታ (‘ሪያሊቲ’) ሃሳብን በነጻነት የመግልጽ መብትን እስከመፍራት የሚያደርስ ፍርሃት ነው። የደህንነት ተቋማቱም እወቃቀር የሚሰማቸውን የፍርሃት ደረጃ ግምት ውስጥ ያስገባ ይመስላል።ስለ ህወሃቶች እና ስለገነቡት የማፈኛ ተቋም የራሴም የሰዎችም ተሞክሮ አለኝ። ገና በልጂነት ባደኩባት የደሴ  ከተማ ፓሊስ(ህወሃት ለአፈና ተግባር ካሰለጠናቸው ውስጥ ነበር)   አንዱን ያለ እግባብ እያንገላታ ለማሰር ዱብ እንቅ ሲል (እንደዛ ይደረግ የነበረው ደሞ ለሃገሩ በብሄራዊ ውትድርና ዘምቶ የመጣ ዜጋ ነው-የገባው የሚመስለው የፖለቲካ ሁኔታ እንገቱን ባያስደፋው ኖሮ የዛን ለፍዳዳ ፖሊስ ጥርሱን የሚያራግፍ ጎበዝ ነበር። አውቀዋለሁ ) ነገሩ ከንክኖኝ ከፖሊሱ ጋር “የምን እደረገህ” ያደረገውም ነገር ካለ በስነ-ስርዐት ውሰደው የሚል ሙግት ውስጥ ገባሁ። ከዚያ በኋላ ፖሊሱ ልጁን ትቶ ወደኔ ዞረ። ዱላም ጀመረ። ታሳሪው እኔ ሆንኩ፡፡ እና ሂድ እልሄድም ውዝግብ ተጀመረ።  ጓደኛየ ታደሰ ባየ( ፌስ ቡክ ላይ አለ) በዛ በዝናብ ተንበርክኮ ሁሉ ለመነው ፓሊሱን፡፡ እኔ ደሞ እንኳን ልለምነው እንዴት ድንጋይ እንደሆነ በተጋጋሚ እነግረዋለሁ። የመምታት አቅሙን ተጠቅሞ ያ ሁሉ የፖሊስ ዱላ ወረደብኝ። በመጨረሻ ላለመታሰር ጨለማውን ምክንያት እድርገን ሁለታችንም አመለጥነው። የተመታሁት ብዙ እንደነበረ የገባኝ ግን በነገታው  መሄድ እቅቶኝ ቀኑን አልጋ ላይ ሳሳልፍ ነው።  ያኔ ተናድጄ ስለነበር ምንም አልተሰማኝም።   ሶስት ቀን ያህል ሳያስነክሰኝ አልቀረም።

ኮተቤ እያለሁ ደሞ ሮብ  ሮብ መብራት ይጠፋ ነበር። በዚያ ምክንያት ረቡዕ ማታ አካባቢ ጥናት የለም ። ወክ ነው የምናደርገው። ወደ ገደራ እየሄድን ስናወራ የነበረውን ከኋላ ይሰማ የነበረ አስቁሞን መታወቂያችንን ከጠየቀ በኋላ እዚያው እካባቢ ወደ ነበረ ፓሊስ ጣቢያ ተወስደን ተመዝግበን የሚጠይቁትን ጠይቀው ተመልሰናል።  ሌላ ጊዜ እንዲሁ አራት ኪሎ ላይ የከተማ አውቶብስ ይዞ የነበረ የትግሪኛ ተናጋሪ ሾፌር  በራሱ ስህተት እና ትክምህት ምክንያት ተሳፋሪውን ከአራት ኪሎ ይዞ ሚኒሊክ እካባቢ ወደነበረው ፓሊስ ጣቢያ ወሰደን። በትግሪኛ አወራ ከሰዎቹ ጋር። እኛ “ጥፋተኞች ሆንን።” የተማሪዎች ዲን ነው ጣልቃ ገብቶ ነገሩ ያለቀው።የሌሎችን ተሞክሮ በሚመለከት እዚያው ያደኩባት ደሴ ከተማ ላይ በጠራራ ጸሃይ አፉን በደንብ ያልፈታ የህወሃት ታጣቂ እንድ ባዶ እጁን የነበረ ወጣት አሯሩጦ ከደረሰበት በኋላ ሰው እየተጯጯኽ የክላሹን አፈሙዝ ደረቱ  ላይ አድርጎ ተኩሶ ከገደለው በኋላ ክላሹን እንቆ እንደያዘ  ሲሄድ ያስቆመው ፓሊስ አልነበረም። ሌሎች ታጣቂዎችም ያሉት ነገር የለም። (በነገራችን ላይ ያኔ እስከማውቀው ድረስ የልጁ ገዳይ ለፍርድ እልቀረበም)እንደዛ እይነቱ የህወሃት ጭራቅነት በርሃ ባልነበሩት ዘመድ እዝማዶቻቸው ላይ ተጋብቶ “ምክንያታዊ” በሚመስል ሁኔታ  ስለፍትህ በሚጮሁ ኢትዮጵያውያን የሚያሳዩትን ቅጥ ያጣ ንቀት ማየት እሁን የተጀመረው እይነት ዘመቻ በበታችነት ስሜት በሚናጥ ስብናቸው እና እስተሳሰባችው ላይ የበላይነት እና የገዠነት ካባ ከሚደርብላቸው በስተቀር ትርጉም ያለው ጩኽት ይሆናል የሚል እምነት የለኝም። የማስጮህ ስሜት እንዲሰማቸው አልፈልግም። ዛሬ ፌስ ብክ ላይ እንዲህ ያለ ዘመቻ ባለበት ሰዐት እዚሁ ፌስ ቡክ ላይ እስክንድር ነጋን በሚመለክት የነዚሁ የህወሃት ወገን የሚመስሉ ሰዎች ያደረጉትን ምልልስ ለአብነት እንዲሆን ያህል ከ’ሆም ፔጂ ላይ ስክሪን ሾት’ ወስጃለሁ፡፡

ከዚያ ውጭ የህግ ስርኦት ያለበት ሃገር ቢሆን ኖሮ እንደ ዳንኤል ብርሃነ ያሉ የህወሃት ደጋፊዎች ሃገር ውስጥ ያለው የሃሳብ ሙግት በጸጥታ ሃይል እና በ”ፍትህ አካላት” እየታፈነ ባዶ ሆኖ ሙግታቸውን እና የሃሳብ ክርክራቸውን ከውጭ ሃገራት ሰዎች ጋር ሲያደርጉ ማየት የህወሃት ደጋፊዎች እና ዘመዶች ባይሆኑ ኖሮ ሊያስገርም ይችል ነበር። ከታች በሊንክ ባስቀመጥኩት የዳንኤል ጽሁፍ የሂውማን ራይቱ ቤን ራውለንስ የእንግሊዝ መንግስት የዕርዳታ እሰጣጥ የሚተች የመጽሃፍ ሪቪው  አወጣ ብሎ  የእንግሊዝ መንግስት ትችት ሳይሆን ምስጋና ነው የሚገባው የሚል ጽህፍ አውጥቶ ብሎጉም ላይ ጭምር ለጥፎታል። የጽሁፉ ዓላማ ምን ነበር የሚለው ሌላ ጥያቄ ሆኖ መነሳት ያለበት መሰረታዊ ጥያቄ እንደ ዳንኤል ያለው የህወሃት ፖለቲካ ደጋፊ ስለሆነ ብቻ ሃገር ቤት በሚታተሙም ራሱ በፈጠረውም ብሎግ ላይ የመጻፍ ነጻነት ሲሰጠው ሌሎች ዜጎች (ለምሳሌ የዞን ዘጠኝ ብሎገር አባላት) የሚታፈኑበት ምክንያት ከላይ የገለጽኩት ነው። እፈናውን ተቃውሞ የሚደረገውን ተቃውሞ ያልተቀላቀልኩበት ምክንያት የሚጨምርላቸውን -ተዋጋን እያሉ ለሚያወሩት ብቻ ሳይሆን ያኔ ልጆች ለነበሩት እና የደም ትስስር በሚመስል ምክንያት ብቻ እፈናን በምክንያታዊነት ለማስተባባል እና ተቀባይነት እንዲኖረው ለማድረግ ለሚሞክሩትም ጭምር- ለትምክህታቸው  የሚጨምረላቸውን ሃሴት ላለመስጠት ነው። የዳኤል ፓስት

ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ያለው አምባገነናዊነት ሌላ ዓለም ከሚስተዋለው በመሰረታዊነት የሚለይ እንደሆነ እምኖ ተቀብሎ የሚደረገው ተቃውሞ የህወህትን እምባገነናዊ ባህሪ ግምት ውስጥ ያስገባ እና ህወሃቶች በመንፈስም በፖለቲካም የማይጠቀሙበት እና ትምክህት የማይጨምርላቸው መሆነ አለበት ብየ ስለማምን ነው፡፡  በሌላ አንጻር ደሞ የሚደረገው ዘመቻ መሬት ላይ ያለ እና ለህዝቡ ስነ-ልቦና እና አስተሳሰብ ቅርበት ያለው ፣ በቀላሉ የሚገባ ቢሆንም ጥሩ ነው። ምን ያህል ኢትዮጵያዊ ነው በፌስ ቡክ እና ትዊተር ላይ ያለው? ፌስ ቡክ ላይ ካለውስ የህወሃት ደጋፊ ከሆነው ውጭ ስለ ህወሃት መራሹ መንግስት አፈና እና ቅጥ ያጣ እምባገነናዊነት የማያውቀም ምን ያህሉ ነው? ለ “ዓለማቀፉ” ማህበረሰብ ነው እንዳይባል ለዚሁ አፈና ለሚያደርሰው መንግስት ትብብር እና ርዳታ የሚሰጡት እነዚሁ ወገኖች ናቸው። ዳንኤል የእንግሊዝን የእርዳታ አሰጣጥ በመደገፍ የእንግሊዝን መንግስት የሚከላከል ጽሁፍ መጻፍ ደረጃ ላይ የደረሰበት ”የዲፕሎማሲ” ልምምድ ሳይሆን የፖለቲካ ትስስርንም ጭምር የሚያመላክት ይመስለኛል። ለሃወሃት የጥጸጥታ ሃይሎች ስልጠና እና ሎጂስቲክ የሚያቀርበው ማን ነው? ብዙዎቹ የህወሃት ፖሊሲዎች በርግጥ ከህወህት ብቻ የመነጩ ናቸው? “የመለስ” ራዕይን ጨምሮ

ESAT Weekly News 24 February 2013 Ethiopia

ከዘመኑ ጋር መዘመን ያቃተው ህውሃት

ከተስፋዬ ዘነበ (ኖርዌይ በርገን)

25.02.2013

የዘረኛው የህውሃት ስርዓት በነፃ አውጪ ስም ስልጣን ከያዘበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ እንዲሁም ከዛም በፊት የሚከተለው የተሳሳተ ሃገር መገነጣጠሉንና ቤሄራዊ ጥቅምን አሳልፎ መስጠቱንመመልከት የተለመደና የቀን ከሌት ክንውናቸው መሆኑ በሃይል ስልጣን ከያዙበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ የሚታይ እውነታ ነው፡፡

ከምስረታው ጀምሮ ይዞት የተነሳው የኢትዮጲያን ሉዋላዊነት የማፍረስና የመበተን አላማውን መተግበር የጀመረው የሻቢያ አሽከር በመሆን ለሃገር አንድነትና ክብር ዘብ የቆመውን የኢትዮጲያ መከላከያ ሰራዊት በመውጋት ሃገራችን ያለ ባህር በር እንድትቀርና በኢትዮጲያዊነት የታነፀውን ዘመናዊ የወታደር ሃይል በትኖ በምትኩ የአንድ ብሄር የበላይነት የሚታይበት፣ ቤሄራዊ ስሜት የሌለው፣ በአለቆቹ ከመታዘዝ ውጪ የወታደራዊ ሳይንስ እውቀት ያልዘለቀው ጀሌዎቻቸውን በህዝብ ላይ አንግሰው ያሻቸውን ሲገሉ፣ የሻቸውን ሲያስሩ እንሆ አሁን ያለንበት ደርሰናል፡፡

በመሰረቱ ይህ እኩይ ስርዓት(ቡድን) በኢትዮጲያዊነት ላይ ካለው የመረረ ጥላቻ የተነሳ አብረው የመሰረቱትን ግን በኢትዮጲያዊነት ላይ ፅኑ አቋም የነበራቸውን ባልንጀሮቻቸውን ሳይቀር እያስወገዱና እያባረሩ በምግባር የሚመቻቸውን በተለይ በህዝብና በሃገር ላይ የጠለቀ ጥላቻ ያላቸውን አስከትለው የጥፋት ዘመናቸውን ቀጥለውበታል፡፡

በተለይ የመንግስት ስልጣን ከያዙ በሗላ ከስልጣን በተጨማሪ በገቢ እራሳቸውን ለማጠናከር ከኢትዮጲያ ህዝብ በዘረፉት ሃብትና ንብረት በትግራይ ህዝብ ስም ባቋቋሙት ኢፈርት ሃገሪቱን ጫፍ እስከ ጫፍ በመቆጣጠር የንግዱን መስክ በበላይነት በመያዝ ገቢና ወጪው የማይታወቅ ትልቅ የሃብት ምንጭ በመፍጠር የአገሪቱን የትኛውም የንግድ እንቅስቃሴ በበላይነት ይዘው ነግሰውበታል፡፡

በተለያየ መስክ ከሚፈፀመው የሰብዓዊ መብት እረገጣ በተጨማሪ የሃገርን ቤሄራዊ ጥቅም አሳልፈው በመስጠት ወይም ገንዘብ የሚይስገኝላቸውን ሁሉ በመዝረፍና በማሸሽ፣ ምስኪኑ ህዝብ በዜግነቱ ሊያገኝ የሚገባውን ብቻ ሳይሆን በስሙ ተለምኖ የመጣውን ሁሉ በመንጠቅ ብዙሃን በርሃብ በሚሰቃይበት ሃገር ለአራት ለአምስት ትውልድ የሚበቃ ሃብት አሽሽተዋል፡፡

ከምርጫ 1997 ዓ.ም በፊት በተወሰነ መጠን እራሳቸው ላወጡት ህገ-መንግስት ተፈጥሯዊ ባህሪያቸው ቢያስቸግራቸውም ህጋዊ መስሎ ለመታየት የሚሞክሩበት ሁኔታዎች ይስተዋሉ ነበር፡፡ ምንም እንኳን ፍርድ ቤት መመላለስ የእለት ከእለት ስራቸው ቢሆንም ከአሁን በተሻለ የህትመት ውጤቶች በቁጥርም በይዘትም የተሻሉ ነበሩ፡፡ በሌላም በኩል ይህው እኩይ ስርዓት ህግን ከመሻሩ በፊት የፓርላማ ጀሌዎቹንን ሰብስቦ ሊሽር ባስበው ህግ ላይ ሌላ ህግ ሲያወጣ ታይቷል ለምሳሌ የቀድሞ የህውሃት አባል የነበሩት አቶ ስዬ አብረሃ በተከሰሱበት ወንጀል ህጉ የሚፈቅድላቸውን የዋስትና መብት ለመከልከል ከፍርድ ቤት ቀጠሮ በፊት አዲስ ዋስትና የማያሰጥ የፀረ-ሙስና ህግ ማፅደቃቸው የሚታወስ ነው፡፡ ከዚህ በፊት ህውሃት በአመለካከትም ይሁን በግል ጥላቻ የራሱን ሰወች ሲበላ ከቻለ አንዱን በአንዱ ላይ አስነስቶ በማጫረስ አልያም በአደባባይ በደላቸውን እንዲናዘዙ በማስገደድ ከተጠያቂነት እራሱን ሲከላከል መቆየቱ አንድም እራሱን ላለማጋለጥ አልያም በሃገርና በህዝብ ላይ ለሚፈፅማቸው በደሌች ሰርዞም ደልዞም ህግዊ ለመምሰል የጥር ነበር፡፡

ከምርጫ 1997ዓ.ም በሗላ ያለው በፊት ከነበረው ጋር ማነፃፀር ይከብዳል እጅግ ብዙ እርቀት ወደ ሗላ የመመለስ ያህል ነው ምክንያቱም በዛን ወቅት በተፈጠረው በጣም ጠባብ አጋጣሚ ህዝቡ ለስርዓቱ ይለውን ጥላቻና ለውጥ ፈላጊነቱን እንዲሁም እነሱ በተግባር የማያውቁትን ዴሞክራሲ ህዝቡ ሲዘምርላቸው፣ ፍፁም ሰላማዊ በሆነ መንገድ ከነሱ እንደሚሻል ሲያሳያቸው፣ ይበጁኛል የሃገሬንና የእኔን ህልውና ይጠብቁልኛል፣ ብሩህ የነፃነት ጊዜ ያመጡልኛል ይሆኑኛል ብሎ የሚላቸውን እንደራሴዎቹን ሲመርጥ ለአፍታ ይስተዋልባቸው የነበረው ሰዋዊ ባህሪየቸው ጠፍቶ ጫካ ተወልዶ ጫካ ያደገው አውሬነታቸው ሲመለስ የሚችሉትን ገለው ገሚሱን ወደ ማጎሪያቸው አግዘው ጭልጭል ትል የነበረች ተስፋችንን አደበዘዟት፡፡

ከዚህ በሗላ ያለችው ኢትዮጲያ የግል የህትመት ውጤቶች ሙሉ በሙሉ በማፈን በሃገራችው በሞያቸው ይህ ነው የሚባል ለውጥ ማምጣት የሚችሉ ጋዜጠኞችን በማሰርና በማሳደድ፣ ለሃገራችን ክብርና ለህዝቧ ነፃነት የሚሟገቱ የሚታሰሩባት፣ የሚገደሉባት ወይም በሃገራቸው በነፃነት የመኖር መብት አጥተው የሚሰደዱባት አልያም የነሱ የሆነው በሌሎች ተቀምተው የመከራ ቀንበር ከብዶ በግዞት የሚኖርባት ስትሆን ለኢምንት ባለ ጊዜዎች ግን የምድር ገነት ሆና ያሻቸውን የሚሆኑባት የግል እርስት አድርገዋታል፡፡
ይህ ከላይ ያነሳሁትና ተነግሮ የማያልቀው በህዝብ በሃገር ላይ የሚደርሰው በደልና ግፍ በወያኔ ጥንካሬ ብቻ ሳይሆን የኛም ግፍና በደልን የመሸከም አቅም ወይም እንደ ሰው መብታችንን የማስጠበቅ፣ ህልውናችንን ያለማስደፈር ወይም በውርደት መኖር በቃኝ ብለን ሃላፊነታችንን ሳንወጣ እንዲሁ ከድርጅት ድርጅት ስንላተም፣ ከፓርቲ ፓርቲ ስንከለስ በተዘዋዋሪ የወያኔ መሳሪያ ሆነን በህዝባችንና በሃገራችን ላይ የሚደርሰውን በደልና እንግልት ዘመን እናሻግራለን፡፡

ለዚህ ሁሉ በሃገርና በህዝብ ላይ ለሚደርሰው እንግልትና መዋከብ ምንም እንኳን የመንግስትን እርካብ የተቆናጠጡት ገዢዎቻችን ከተፈጥሮ ባህሪያቸው አንፃር የፈለጉትን ያሻቸውን ቢያደርጉም በየግዜው በህዝብ ላይ የሚያደረሱትን ሰቆቃ የየሰሞኑ መነጋገሪያ ከማደረግ በዘለለ ህዝብ እንደ ህዝብ በደል በቃኝ፣ ግፍ በቃኝ፣ መሰደድ በቃኝ፣ መታሰርና መገረፍ በቃኝ፣ ከሃብትና ከቀዬ መፈናቀል በቃኝ ብሎ ለለውጥ እንዲነሳ በህብረት ከመስራት ይልቅ የነሱን መበታተንና መሰነጣጠቅ አውርተን በድክመታቸው ሳንጠቀም መልሰው ተደራጅተው መብትና ክብራችንን ሲገፉንና ሲፃረሩን እናያለን፡፡ ሃገርና ህዝብን ከዚህ እኩይ ስርዓት መታደግን ለተወሰኑ የህብረተሰብ ክፍሎች ብቻ ትተን በሰሞነኛ የወያኔ የጭካኔ ገድል ላይ ቡና እየጠጣን ስናነሳና ስንጥል ከወሬ የዘለለ ተግባራዊ የትግል እንቅስቃሴ ውስጥ ሳንገባና የታደሉት ለሃገራቸውና ለህዝባቸው የሚከፍሉትን መስዋህትነት የሚሰሩትን ታላቅ ስራ ስናፈርስና ስንክብ የዜግነት ግዴታችንን በአግባቡ ሳንወጣ ለገዢዎቻችን መሳሪያ ሆነን በዛ ደሃ ህዝብና ሃገራችን ላይ ቁማር እንጫወታለን፡፡

ነፃነት በወሬና በዲስኩር አይመጣም የመስዋህቱ አይነት የለያይ እንጂ አነሰም በዛም የነፃነት ትግል ወይ ሃብትን ወይም የህይወት መስዋህትነት ይፈልጋል፡፡ ዶክተር መርቲን ሉተር ኪንግ ጁንየር እንዳለው “ለውጥ በመንኮራኩር ተጭኖ የሚቀርብ ነገር አይደለም ሊገኝ አይችልም፣ በማያቋርጥ ትግል እንጂ ወገባችንን ጠበቅ አድርገን ለነፃነታችን መጣር አለብን ወገብህ ለመጥ ካላለ ጠላትህ ሊጋልብህ አይችልም. . . . . ከልምድ እንዳየነው ጨቋኝ ገዢ ነፃነትን በፈቃደኝነት አይሰጥም በተጨቋኞች መገደድ እንጂ” ይህ ነው እውነቱ ይህንን ሁሉ በህዝብና በሃገር ላይ የሚደርሰውን ለከት ያጣ ጭቆና የምናይና የምንሰማ በተለይ በሰለጠነው አለም የምንኖር ወገኖች እኛ በሰው ሃገር የምናገኘውን ነፃነት ወገናችን በገዛ ሃገሩ ሲያጣ፣ ይህ ነው የማይባል ችግር ሲወርድበት ከወሬ ያለፈ በተግባር የተፈተን ስራ መስራት ስለምን ተሳነን፣ ስለምን የህይወት መሰዋትነት ለሚከፈልበት የነፃነት ትግል በገንዘብ ለማገዝ ሰነፍን፣ስለምን ከወያኔ ለምናገኝው ቁራሽ መሬት ብለን የወገኖቻችንን የመከራ ጊዜ እናራዝማለን፣ ቁጥር ስፍር የሌለው ህዝብ በውጪው አለም እየኖረ ስለምን የህዝባችን የመረጃ ምንጭ የሆነው ኢሳት መስራት ያለበትን ያህል እንዲሰራና ህዝባችን እየተራበ መጥገቡን፣ እየከሰረ ማትረፉን፣ እየተቸገረ መበልፀጉን ከሚነግረው የወያኔ ዲስኩር አውጥተን አማራጭና እውነተኛ መረጃ የሚያገኝበትን፣ ወያኔ የስልጣን ዘመኑን ለማራዘም በከፋፍለህ ግዛ ፖሊሲው እያደረገ ያለውን ዘርን ከዘር ሃይማኖት ከሃይማኖት የማጋጨትና የመሳሰሉትን የወያኔን ሴራ ህዝቡ እንዲያቅና በአንድነት ለመብቱና ለነፃነቱ እንዲነሳ ኢሳትን በመረዳት የዜግነት ግዴታችንን አንወጣም?

በነፃነት በመኖር የምንቀድማቸው ሃገራት ሰልጥነው በዴሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓትና መልካም አሰተዳደር የህዝቦቻቸውን ሰብዓዊ መብት ለማስጠበቅ ደፋ ቀና በሚሉበት በዚህ ዘመን የሗሊት የሚጓዘው ከዘመኑ ጋር መዘመን ያቃተው ህውሃት ከብዙ ዘመናት በፊት በነበረው አስተሳሰብና የሃይል አገዛዝ ተሸብቦ ያልደረሰበት ጫፍ፣ ያላስነባው ህዝብ፣ ያልጣሰው ህግና ስርዓት፣ ያላፈረሰው አንድነት፣ያላዋረደው የህዝብ ስብእና፣ ያልገባበት የእምነት ተቋም፣ ያልበተነው የሞያ ማህበራት ከከተማ ነዋሪ እስከ ገበሬው አልፎም እስከ አርብቶ አደሩ ያልገደለው፣ ያላሰረውና ያላስለቀሰው የህብረተሰብ ክፍል የለም፡፡

በአሁኑ ወቅት አዛዥና ታዛዥ የሌለበት የወያኔ ስርዓት ዘመኑ እያከተመ መሆኑን ከሚሰራቸው ስራዎች መገንዘብ አይከብድም ህግ ማሰከበር ያለበት መንግስት ላወጣው ህግ መገዛት የማይችልበት ደረጃ ከደረሰ ህልውናው አደጋ ውስጥ ለመሆኑ ማሳያ ነው ለዚህም መብቱን በወያኔ የተነጠቀው ህዝብ የህገ-መንግስቱን አንቀፅ እያሳየ የህግ ያለህ ሲል መደመጡ፡ በግምት የሚመራን ስርዓት የመጨረሻው ጠርዝ ላይ መቆሙን አመላካች ነው፡፡

ስለሆነም ኢትዮጲያንና ህዝቧን ለመታደግ በየትኛውም የትግል መስክ ተሳትፎ በማረግ ለነፃነት በሚደረገው ትግል ውስጥ የየራሳችንን አሻራ ለማሳረፍ ከወሬ በዘለለ ለተግባራዊ ትግል እንትጋ፡፡

ድል ለኢትዮጲያ ሕዝብ!!!
ሞት ለወያኔ!!!
ለአስተያየቶ-ftih_lewegen@yahoo.com

Ethiopia: The Prototype African Police State

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

The sights and sounds of an African police state

When Erin Burnett of CNN visited Ethiopia in July 2012, she came face-to-face with the ugly face of an African police state:

We saw what an African police state looked like when I was in Ethiopia last month… At the airport, it took an hour to clear customs – not because of lines, but because of checks and questioning. Officials tried multiple times to take us to government cars so they’d know where we went. They only relented after forcing us to leave hundreds of thousands of dollars of TV gear in the airport…

Last week, reporter Solomon Kifle of the Voice of America (VOA-Amharic) heard the terrifying voice of an  African police state from thousands of miles away.  The veteran reporter was investigating widespread allegations of targeted night time warrantless searches of homes belonging to Ethiopian Muslims in the capital Addis Ababa. Solomon interviewed victims  who effectively alleged home invasion robberies by “federal police” who illegally searched their homes and took away cash, gold jewelry, cell phones, laptops, religious books and other items of personal property.

One of the police officials Solomon interviewed to get reaction and clarification was police chief Zemedkun of  Bole (an area close to the international airport in the capital).

VOA: Are you in the area of Bole. The reason I called…

Police Chief Zemedkun: Yes. You are correct.

VOA: There are allegation that homes belonging to Muslim Ethiopians have been targeted for illegal search and seizure. I am calling to get clarification.

Police Chief Zemedkun: Yes (continue).

VOA: Is it true that you are conducting such a search?

Police Chief Zemedkun: No, sir. I don’t know about this. Who told you that?

VOA: Individuals who say they are victims of such searches; Muslims who live in the area.

Police Chief Zemedkun: If they said that, you should ask them.

VOA: I can tell you what they said.

Police Chief Zemedkun: What did they say?

VOA: They said “the search is conducted by police officers; they [the police] threaten us without a court order; they take our property, particularly they focus on taking our Holy Qurans and mobile phones. Such are the allegations and I am calling to get clarification.

Police Chief Zemedkun: Wouldn’t it be better to talk to the people who told you that? I don’t know anything about that.

VOA: I just told you about the allegations the people are making.

Police Chief Zemedkun: Enough! There is nothing I know about       this.

VOA: I will mention (to our listeners) what you said Chief Zemedkun. Are you the police chief of the sub-district ( of Bole)?

Police Chief Zemedkun: Yes. I am something like that.

VOA: Chief Zemedkun, may I have your last name?

Police Chief Zemedkun: Excuse me!! I  don’t want to talk to anyone on this type of [issue] phone call. I am going to hang up. If you call again, I will come and get you from your address. I want you to know that!! From now on, you should not call this number again. If you do, I will come to wherever you are and arrest you. I mean right now!!

VOA: But I am in Washington (D.C)?

Police Chief Zemedkun: I don’t care if you live in Washington or in Heaven. I don’t give a damn! But I will arrest you and take you. You should know that!!

VOA: Are you going to come and arrest me?

End of  interview.

Meles’ legacy: mini Me-leses, Meles wannabes and a police state

Flying off the handle, exploding in anger and igniting into spontaneous self-combustion is the hallmark of the leaders of the dictatorial regime in Ethiopia. The late Meles Zenawi was the icon of spontaneous self- combustion. Anytime Meles was challenged on facts or policy, he would explode in anger and have a complete meltdown.

Just before Meles jailed virtually the entire opposition leadership, civil society leaders and human rights advocates following the 2005 elections for nearly two years, he did exactly what police chief Zemedkun threatened to do to VOA reporter Solomon. Congressman Christopher Smith, Chairman of the House Africa Subcommitte in 2005 could not believe his ears as Meles’ arrogantly threatened to arrest and jail opposition leaders and let them rot in jail. Smith reported:

Finally, when I asked the Prime Minister to work with the opposition and show respect and tolerance for those with differing views on the challenges facing Ethiopia he said, ‘I have a file on all of them; they are all guilty of treason.’ I was struck by his all-knowing tone. Guilty! They’re all guilty simply because Meles says so?  No trial? Not even a Kangaroo court?  I urged Prime Minister Meles not to take that route.

In 2010, Meles erupted at a press conference by comparing the Voice of America (Amharic) radio broadcasts to Ethiopia with broadcasts of Radio Mille Collines which directed some of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Pointing an accusatory finger at the VOA, Meles charged: “We have been convinced for many years that in many respects, the VOA Amharic Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda in its wanton disregard of minimum ethics of journalism and engaging in destabilizing propaganda.” (It seems one of Meles’ surviving police chiefs is ready to make good on Meles’ threat by travelling to Washington, D.C. and arresting a VOA reporter.)

Meles routinely called his opponents “dirty”, “mud dwellers”, “pompous egotists” and good-for-nothing “chaff” and “husk.” He took sadistic pleasure in humiliating and demeaning parliamentarians who challenged him with probing questions or merely disagreed with him. His put-downs were so humiliating, few parliamentarians dared to stand up to his bullying.

When the European Union Election Observer Group confronted Meles with the truth about his theft of the May 2010 election by 99.6 percent, Meles had another public meltdown. He condemned the EU Group for preparing a “trash report that deserves to be thrown in the garbage.”

When Ken Ohashi, the former country director for the World Bank debunked Meles’ voodoo economics in July 2011, Meles went ballistic: “The individual [Ohashi) is used to giving directions along his neo-liberal views. The individual was on his way to retirement. He has no accountability in distorting the institutions positions and in settling his accounts. The Ethiopian government has its own view that is different from the individual.” (Meles talking about accountability is like the devil quoting Scripture.)

In a meeting with high level U.S. officials in advance of the May 2010 election, Meles went apoplectic telling the diplomats that “If opposition groups resort to violence in an attempt to discredit the election, we will crush them with our full force; they will all vegetate like Birtukan (Midekssa) in jail forever.”

Meles’ hatred for Birtukan Midekssa (a former judge and the first woman political party leader in Ethiopian history), a woman of extraordinary intelligence and unrivalled courage, was as incomprehensible as it was bottomless. After throwing Birtukan in prison in 2008 without trial or any form of judicial proceeding, Meles added insult to injury by publicly calling her a “chicken”. When asked how Birtukan was doing in prison, Meles, with sarcastic derision replied, “Birtukan Midiksa is fine but she may have gained weight due to lack of exercise.” (When Meles made the statement, Birtukan was actually in solitary confinement in Kality prison on the ridiculous charge that she “had denied receiving a pardon” when she was released in July 2007.) When asked if he might consider releasing her, Meles said emphatically and sadistically, “there will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan. Ever. Full stop. That's a dead issue.”

Internationally acclaimed journalists Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye are all victims of arbitrary arrests and detentions. So are opposition party leaders and dissidents Andualem Arage, Nathnael Mekonnen, Mitiku Damte, Yeshiwas Yehunalem, Kinfemichael Debebe, Andualem Ayalew, Nathnael Mekonnen, Yohannes Terefe, Zerihun Gebre-Egziabher and many others.

Police chief Zemedkun is a mini-Me-les, a Meles wannabe. He is a mini tin pot tyrant. Like Meles, Zemedkun not only lost his cool but also all commonsense, rationality and proportionality. Like Meles, Zemedkun is filled with hubris (extreme arrogance which causes the person to lose contact with reality and feel invincible, unaccountable and above and beyond the law). Zemedkun, like Meles, is so full of himself that no one dare ask him a question: “I am the omnipotent police chief Zemedkun, the Absolute Master of Bole; the demigod with the power of arrest and detention.  I am Police Chief Zemedkun created in the divine likeness of Meles Zenawi!”

What a crock of …!

When Meles massacred 193 unarmed protesters and wounded 763 others following the elections in 2005, he set the standard for official accountability, which happens to be lower than a snake’s knee. For over two decades, Meles created and nurtured a pervasive and ubiquitous culture of  official impunity, criminality, untouchability, unaccountablity, brutality, incivility, illegality and immorality in Ethiopia.

The frightening fact of the matter is that today there are tens of thousands of mini-Me-leses and Meles wannabes in Ethiopia. What police chief Zemedkun did during the VOA interview is a simple case of monkey see, monkey do. Zemedkun could confidently threaten VOA reporter Solomon because he has seen Meles and his disciples do the same thing for over two decades with impunity. Zemedkun is not alone in trashing the human rights of Ethiopian citizens.  He is not some rogue or witless policeman doing his thing on the fringe. Zemedkun is merely one clone of his Master. There are more wicked and depraved versions of Zemedkun masquerading as ministers of state.  There are thousands of faceless and nameless “Zemedkunesque” bureaucrats, generals, judges and prosecutors abusing their powers with impunity. There are even soulless and heartless Zemedkuns pretending to be “holy men” of faith. But they are all petty tyrants who believe that they are not only above the law, but also  that they are the personification of the law.

Article 12 and constitutional accountability

Article 12 of the Ethiopian Constitution requires accountability of all public officials: “The activities of government shall be undertaken in a manner which is open and transparent to the public… Any public official or elected representative shall be made accountable for breach of his official duties.”

Meles when he was alive, and his surviving disciples, police chiefs, generals and bureaucrats today are in a state of willful denial of the fact of constitutional accountability. (Meles believed accountability applied only to Ken Ohashi, the former World Bank country director.) The doltish police chief Zemedkun is clueless not only about constitutional standards of accountability for police search and seizure in private homes but also his affirmative constitutional obligation to perform his duties with transparency. This ignoramus-cum-police chief believes he is the Constitution, the law of the land, at least of Bole’s. He has the gall to verbally terrorize the VOA reporter, “I don’t care if you live in Washington or in Heaven. I don’t give a damn! But I will arrest you and take you. You should know that!!”

Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, unbeknown to police chief Zemedkun, is guaranteed by Article 17 (Liberty) of the Ethiopian Constitution: “No one shall be deprived of his liberty except in accordance with such procedures as are laid down by law. No one shall be arrested or detained without being charged or convicted of a crime except in accordance with such procedures as are laid down by law.” Article 19 (Rights of Persons under Arrest) provides, “Anyone arrested on criminal charges shall have the right to be informed promptly and in detail… the nature and cause of the charge against him... Everyone shall have the right to be… specifically informed that there is sufficient cause for his arrest as soon as he appears in court. Zemedkun is ready to arrest the VOA reporter simply because the reporter asked him for his last name. What arrogance! What chutzpah!

It is a mystery to police chief Zemedkun that arbitrary deprivation of liberty is also a crime against humanity. Article 9 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights decrees that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights similarly provides: “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” The deprivation of physical liberty (arbitrary arrest) constitutes a crime against humanity under Art. 7 (e) and (g) of the Rome Statute if there is evidence to show that the deprivation occurred as  a result of systematic attack on a civilian population and in violation of international fair trial guarantees. The statements of the victims interviewed by VOA reporter Solomon appear to provide prima facie evidence sufficient to trigger an Article 7 investigation since there appears to be an official policy of systematic targeting of  Muslims for arbitrary arrest and detention as part of a widespread campaign of religious persecution. The new prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Fatou B. Bensouda, should launch such an investigation in proprio motu (on her own motion).

Meles has left an Orwellian legacy in Ethiopia. Police chief Zemedkun is only one policeman in a vast police state. He reaffirms the daily fact of life for the vast majority of Ethiopians that anyone who opposes, criticizes or disagrees with members of the post-Meles officialdom, however low or petty,  will be picked up and jailed, and even tortured and killed. In “Mel-welliana” (the Orwellian police state legacy of Meles) Ethiopia, asking the name of a public official is a crime subject to immediate arrest and detention!  In “Mel-welliana”, thinking is a crime. Dissent is a crime. Speaking the truth is a crime. Having a conscience is a crime. Peaceful protest is a crime. Refusing to sell out one’s soul is a crime. Standing up for democracy and human rights is a crime. Defending the rule of law is a crime. Peaceful resistance of state terrorism is a crime.

A police chief, a police thug  and a police thug state

It seems police chief Zemedkun is more of a police thug than a police chief. But listening to Zemedkun go into full meltdown mode, one cannot help but imagine him to be a cartoonish thug. As comical as it may sound, police chief Zemedkun reminded me of Yosemite Sam, that Looney Tunes cartoon character known for his grouchiness, hair-trigger temper and readiness to “blast anyone to smithereens”. The not-so-comical part of this farce is that police chief Zemedkun manifests no professionalism, civility or ethical awareness.  He is obviously clueless about media decorum. Listening to him, it is apparent that Zemedkun has the personality of a porcupine,  the temper of a Tasmanian Devil,  the charm of an African badger, the intelligence of an Afghan Hound and the social graces of a dung beetle. But the rest of the high and mighty flouting the Constitution and abusing their powers like Zemedkun are no different.

The singular hallmark -- the trademark -- of a police thug state is the pervasiveness and ubiquity of arbitrary arrests, searches and detentions of citizens. If any person can be arrested on the whim of a state official, however high or petty, that is a police state. If the rights of citizens can be taken or disregarded without due process of law, that is a dreadful police state. Where the rule of law is substituted by the rule of a police chief, that is a police thug state.

For well over a decade, international human rights organizations and others have been reporting on large scale  arbitrary arrests and detentions in Ethiopia. The 2011 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (issued on May 24, 2012) reported:

Although the constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, the government often ignored these provisions in practice… The government rarely publicly disclosed the results of investigations into abuses by local security forces, such as arbitrary detention and beatings of civilians… Authorities regularly detained persons without warrants and denied access to counsel and in some cases to family members, particularly in outlying regions… Other human rights problems included torture, beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees by security forces; harsh and at times life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; detention without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights, including illegal searches…

In its 2013 World Report, Human Rights Watch reported: “Ethiopian authorities continued to severely restrict basic rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly in 2012… The security forces responded to protests by the Muslim community in Oromia and Addis Ababa, the capital, with arbitrary arrests, detentions, and beatings.”

Rarely does one hear human rights abusers publicly showing their true faces and confirming their victims' allegations in such breathtakingly dramatic form. Police chief Zemedkun gave all Ethiopians a glimpse of the arrogant and lawless officialdom of Post-Meles Ethiopia. It is a glimpse of a police state in which an ignorant local police chief could feel so comfortable in his abuse of power that he believes he can travel to the United States of America and arrest and detain a journalist working for an independent agency of the United States Government. If this ill-mannered, ill-bred, cantankerous and boorish policeman could speak and act with such impunity, is it that difficult to imagine how the ministers, generals, prosecutors, judges and bureaucrats higher up the food chain feel about their abuses of power?

But one has to listen to and read the words of those whose heads are being crushed by the police in a police state. When it comes to crushing heads, the modus operandi is always the same. Use “robocops”.  In 2005,  Meles brought in hundreds of police and security men from different parts of the country who have limited proficiency in the country’s official language and used them to massacre 193 unarmed protesters and wound another 763. These “robocops” are pre-programmed killing machines, arresting machines and torture machines. They do what they are told. They ask no questions. They shoot and ask questions later. Hadid Shafi Ousman, a victim of illegal search and seizure, who spoke to VOA reporter Solomon,  recounted in chilling detail what it meant to have one’s home searched by “robocop” thugs and goons who do not speak or have extremely limited understanding the official language of the country:

These are federal police. There are also civilian cadres. Sometimes they come in groups of 5-10. They are dressed in federal police uniform…. They are armed and carry clubs. They don’t have court orders. There  are instances where they jump over fences  and bust down doors… When they come, people are terrified. They come at night. You can’t say anything. They take mobile phones, laptops, the Koran and other things… They cover their faces so they can’t be identified. We try to explain to them. Isn’t this our country? If you are here to take anything, go ahead and take it…. They beat you up with clubs. If you ask questions, they beat you up and call you terrorists… First of all, these policemen do not speak Amharic well. So it is hard to understand them. When you ask them what we did wrong, they threaten to beat us. I told them I am a university student, so what is the problem? As a citizen, as a human being…Even they struggled and paid high sacrifices [fighting in the bush] to bring about good governance [to the people]. They did not do it so that some petty official could harass the people. When you say this to them, they beat you up…

Let there be no mistake. Zemedkun is not some isolated freakish rogue police chief  in the Ethiopian police state. He is the gold standard for post-Meles governance. There are thousands of Zemedkuns that have infested the state apparatus and metastasized through the body politics of that country. For these Meles wannabes, constitutional accountability means personal impunity; illegal official activity means prosecutorial immunity; moral depravity means moral probity and crimes against humanity means legal  impunity.

Cry, the beloved country

In 1948, the same year Apartheid became law in South Africa, Alan Paton wrote in “Cry, the Beloved Country”, his feeling of despair over the fate of South Africa:

Cry for the broken tribe, for the law and the custom that is gone. Aye, and cry aloud for the man who is dead, for the woman and children bereaved. Cry, the beloved country, these things are not yet at an end. The sun pours down on the earth, on the lovely land that man cannot enjoy. He knows only the fear of his heart.”

Cry for our beloved Ethiopia!!

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.