Written evidence from the Coalition For
Unity and Democracy Party Support Organisation—UK (KSOUK)
SUPPRESSION OF
HUMAN AND
DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS
IN ETHIOPIA
HELP THE
ETHIOPIAN PEOPLE'S
STRUGGLE FOR
FREEDOM AND
DEMOCRACY
As I write this letter Ethiopians all over the
world are drawing closer to the first anniversary of the brutal
massacre of unarmed protesters and the imprisonment of the leaders
and supporters of the peaceful opposition movement in Ethiopia.
This crime against humanity and human rights was committed by
the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
As a Chairman of Support Organisation Coalition
of Unity and Democracy in UK, encouraged by your unwavering commitment
for democracy and human rights, I am writing to urge you to give
serious attention to the gross violation of human and democratic
rights, and the complete disregard to the rule of law prevailing
in Ethiopia.
Notable attempts have been made in different
parliaments, especially in the British and European parliaments
and the US Congress, to address these distressing political developments,
which followed the May 2005 election. People's representatives
have taken initiatives to publicise the scale of the human and
democratic right abuse in Ethiopia while some have gone beyond
this in demanding their respective governments and legislative
bodies to take action to stop these abuses. Prominent examples
of this effort include:
— the November 2005 Early Day Motion
959 sponsored by the honourable Louis Ellman MP for Liverpool
Riverside, (a motion signed by 92 MPs) and the amended Early Day
Motion 959A1 sponsored by Kate Hoey MP for Vauxhall (signed by
12 MPs) both in the British parliament as well as the unanimous
decision of the European parliament on 15 December 2005; and
— human rights bill HR4423 in the US
congress, initially sponsored by the Honourable Congressman Christopher
Smith and elevated to HR5680—a comprehensive bill for Freedom,
Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia, expected to go to the
floor of the House of Representatives very soon.
As a British Citizen of Ethiopian decent, I
am deeply disturbed by the overt brutality and open disdain for
basic human rights of the regime controlled by Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi, ever more so since May 2005. Furthermore, I observe
how government repression in Ethiopia starts to destabilize the
entire Horn of Africa. To divert public attention away from domestic
state terror, and to pose as an "ally on the war on terror",
the prime minister has effectively committed acts of invasion
in Somalia, sending troops there ostensibly to support the secular
transitional government there.
This has given the Islamic militants in Somalia
a cause to recruit new supporters against the real and immediate
danger of foreign intervention Moderate Somali Muslims are now
radicalized to hate Ethiopia and consider it number one enemy
in the world. Mr Zenawi's overzealous intervention in Somalia
is a self-serving ploy to garner favour with the US administration,
one intended to make up for total lack of support at home. Yet
it is a dangerous game, which may soon lead to an open war between
Somalia and Ethiopia, a conflict in which the war on terror will
increasingly assume international and religious dimensions. I
fear such eventuality may escalate the problem by helping the
Islamic militants in Somalia to rally support from fundamentalist
governments and other extremists who intend to destabilise the
region.
In my humble opinion to turn a blind eye to
the state terror unleashed by Meles Zenawi on the Ethiopian people
amounts to committing the ultimate folly in foreign policy. A
perpetrator of such terror cannot be a reliable and successful
ally in fighting terrorism in the horn of Africa. Such an oversight
is not only unethical but also self-defeating, as it will not
serve our genuine interest to see an end to the scourges of terrorism.
I believe that peace and stability in the Horn Africa is inseparably
entwined with the cause of freedom and democracy in Ethiopia.
As the Foreign Affairs Committee, I strongly
urge you to alert the UK parliament and the government about the
looming catastrophe in the Horn of Africa. Please raise your voice
against the prevailing complacency, within the executive bodies
of western governments, towards the wilful and extensive abuses
of human and democratic rights in Ethiopia. I call upon you to
champion the cause of freedom and democracy by demanding the release
of leaders of political and civic organisations, journalists and
thousands of prisoners of conscience currently languishing in
prisons and concentration camps all over Ethiopia.
Abebe Tolossa
Chairman, Kinijit Support in the UK
IMPORTANT LINKS
— US Department of state Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices—2005.
— Crime nourishment in Ethiopia.
— Ethiopia Hope Shattered (SBS TV).
— A "Deaf Bush" in Ethiopia,
Written by Glenn Brigaldino, Wednesday, 5 April 2006.
— EUROPEAN UNION ELECTION OBSERVATION
MISSION FINAL REPORT—EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.
— Blair's heroes of democracy who embraced
oppression, By Jonathan Clayton, The Times, 2 January 2006.
— Ethiopian leader targets Make Poverty
History in mass clampdown on dissent, By Meera Selva, Independent
News, 23 December 2005.
— Protesters killed and 40,000 jailed
as Blair's friend quells "insurrection", By David Blair
in Addis Ababa, Telegraph, 16 December 2005.
— Ethiopian riot police open fire on
crowds, By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi, 9 June 2005.
— Why Blair backs a brutal regime,
Michela Wrong, Monday 14 November 2005.
— Ethiopia's agony on Channel 4 News,
By Inigo Gilmore, 4 December 2005.
— A Dream Defiled The Betrayal of Ethiopia's
Democracy, By Micha Odenheimer, The Washington Post, 18
December 2005.
Good governance gone bad. The New York Times,
27 November 2005.
The June 2005 Massacre, Video.
30 October 2006
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