Ethiopian Muslims Struggle for Religious Freedom is Exemplary

March 5, 2014

by Tedla Asfaw

I followed the “730 Days Ethiopian Muslims Non-Violent struggle for Religious Freedom” documentary posted on Here by Demtsachene Yesema.

The little less than one hour and thirty minutes video is an educational video for all of us. It divides the story of the struggle in different phases and educate the public on what has been accomplished for the last 730 days by Muslims in Ethiopia on their Peaceful Struggle to worship their God in their own way without interference by Home or Foreign forces.

The Muslims in Ethiopia broke ethnic division and came under one slogan “We are Ethiopian Muslims”. They got their strength through unity. Without that they would have been very weak and easy for the regime to discredit the struggle by its propaganda machine.

This peaceful struggle success also is due to the non Muslims of Ethiopia not buying the regime propaganda of ” The Muslims came to take power and rule under Sharia “. Non Muslims stood with our Muslim brothers and sisters. There was no room for Muslims Vs Christians confrontation similar to one ethnic group Vs the other one, the main driving force of politics in Ethiopia for the last 22 years.

The rally organized by Semayawi Party (Blue Party) in 2013 in solidarity with Ethiopian Muslims brought Muslims and non Muslims together in public solidarity. Ethiopians once again showed the world that Extremism be it religious or ethnic has no place in Ethiopia, the home of religious and ethnic tolerance is indeed Ethiopia !!!!

Without exaggeration it can be said that Ethiopian Muslims by Talking and Walking peaceful struggle for 730 days woke up the political organizations that were dormant from their deep sleep for the last 1460 days.

We witnessed in the last few hundreds of days political rallies in many cities in Ethiopia for freedom and justice. Most of the rallies participants are the youth. The Ethiopian women should take a page from Ethiopian women Muslims experience and come out in large numbers. Without them no peaceful struggle will succeed.

From our neighbors we have a lot to learn too. In Egypt a peaceful struggle led by Muslim Brotherhood was hijacked by army and thousands of lives lost and many jailed and exiled. The Muslim Brotherhood is now underground and more blood shed is certain. Foreign forces like Saudi Arabia succeeded in sabotaging the peaceful struggle.

Al Shabab is still terrorizing Somalia. South Sudan ethnic war has brought tens of thousands of death and many are running for their lives. In both countries the conflict is sponsored by outside forces with the help of ethnic warlords.

The success of Ethiopian Muslims struggle is mainly because it is not hijacked by foreign forces. The non Muslims Ethiopians acceptance of the struggle for freedom of religion as a just cause brought no room for religious conflict we witnessed in many parts of the world. Ethiopians closed all doors for foreign as well as home intruders.

However, we need to be vigilant against Ethnic Supremacists like that of “Oromia First” new comers based in Minnesota, USA. They tried to hijack the Ethiopian Muslims struggle and take it as their own by playing ethnic politics. The nonsense of 85 percent of Ethiopian Muslims are Oromos therefore the Ethiopian Muslims struggle is the struggle for “Oromia Independence” should be rejected. We should tell them that Ethnicity armed with “Mencha” is incompatible with the Ethiopian Muslims struggle. Stay where you are !!!! No one is going to buy your propaganda from long distance!

The co-pilot need protection

The co-pilot of an ethiopian airline flying from addisababa to rome has been arrested after hijacking the air craft and forced to land in geneva" swizerland" on monday february 2014.

Flight Et 702 was scheduled to leave the ethiopian international air port at 00:30 local time(21:30GMT) and arrive in rome at 04:40 local time but during the flight the ethiopian co-pilot hailemedehin abera tegegn locked the cock pit door when the pilot went to the toilet and hijacked the plane and took 202 passengers at geneva.

After landing the plane the co-pilot climbed down from the cockpit window on a rope and give himself up to swiss police and confirmed that he was un armed after landing at geneva airport and passengers were safe and evacauted by the police from the plane.


The officials said the co-pilot hijacked a plane because he wanted to seek asylum in swizerland but in my point of view, the co-pilot have legal visa to travel in europe and easy to ask asylum for him.

Hailemedhin hijacked the plane due to the repression of TPLF regime and racism act based on human right violation in ethiopia.
it is cearly that, most ethiopian Airlines employees are forced to be the member of Tplf and the person who refused to join the Tplf cruel regime living in a fear situation and pushed to resign from their job Finally,the employers fly in to exile to escape from the political repression in ethiopia.

currently, the Tplf government forcing the co-pilot families to give false statement that the co-pilot had mental problem and still sever for depression after Tplf took power have been caused still many refugges fly in to exile in the face of worsening political problems in the country.

we ethiopians ask the swiss government should free hailemedehin and to treat for his political asylum.


Berhanu

A legacy reborn in Adwa: Ethnic Ethiopians of Ethiopia By Teshome Borago

As we celebrate the anniversary of our proud military victory over the powerful Europeans in the 1890s, we should be reminded of the ongoing plight of mixed ethnic Ethiopians, one of the people reborn out of the womb of Adwa.When we examine the existing condition of identity politics in Ethiopia, Post-1991 politics and the governing status quo in Ethiopia continue to impact our people’s narrow interpretations of identity. “I am Gurage”, “He is Oromo”, “she is Amhara” … such are the expressions we hear everyday in the streets. Most Ethiopian citizens are still forced and urged to self identify to one ethnic group; whether or not they actually descend from one, two or more ethnolinguistic ancestry. We even see this injustice during the national census and when obtaining identification cards in Ethiopia. This marginalization of millions of mixed “Ethnic Ethiopians” or the systematic restriction on our self identification continues to benefit the TPLF ruling party and its OPDO, OLF, AAPO, OFC, ODF, TPDM, SLF, ONLF, ANDM and other ideological partners. These one-ethnic organizations are still the most active in Ethiopia today and they define our current politics based on one-ethnic ideology.

ፖለቲካዊ ቁርጠኝነት ለችግሮቻችን የመፍትሄው ቁልፍ ገለታው ዘለቀ

የሃገራቸው ነገር ሲነሳ የሚከነክናቸው ወገኖቻችን ኢትዮጵያ ላለባት ችግር መፍት ሄው ምንድነው? እያሉ ኣጥብቀው ሲጠይቁ ይደመጣል። መፍትሄውም ብቻ ሳይሆን ችግሩ ማለትም እውነተኛው ችግር የት ላይ ነው ያለው? ብለውም ኣጥብቀው ሲደመሙ ይታያል። በዛሬዋ ኣጭር ጽህፌ በነዚህ መራራ ጥያቄዎች ዙሪያ ቁንጥል ኣሳብ ለማቀበል ኣስቢያለሁ።

በርግጥም ሁላችን ኢትዮጵያዊያን የሆንን ችግሩ ምንድነው? ብለን ከጠየቅን ኣንዳንዶች ሊገረሙብን ይችላሉ። የችግሩ ተካፋይ ሆነን ሳለ፣ እየተጉላላን ያለነው እኛው ሆነን ሳለ፣ እንደገና መልሰን የሃገራችን ችግር የት ጋር ነው? ብለን ስንጠይቅ የምናወጋቸው ሰዎች ምናልባትም ግራ ሊጋቡ ቢችሉ ኣይደንቅም። ነገር ግን መጠየቃችን ትክክል ነው።

በመጽሃፍ ቅዱስ ውስጥ ትንቢተ ዳንዔል ላይ ኣንድ ናቡከደነጾር የተባለ ንጉስ ኣንድ ጊዜ ጠቢባንን ጠርቶ የህልም ፍቺ ይጠይቃል። ጥበበኞቹም ህልሙን ንገረንና ፍቺውን እንነግርሃለን ሲሉት ህልሙ ጠፍቶብኛል ስለዚህ ህልሙንም ፍቺውንም ውለዱ ብሎ ጉድ እንዳፈላ እናነባለን። እኛ ኢትዮጵያዊያን የዋናው ችግር ተጽእኖዎች የየእለት ኑሮኣችንን ሲያምሱት ብናይም ዋናውን የችግሩን ምንጭ መፈለጋችን ግን ኣሁንም ትክክል ነው።

የሃገራችንን ዋና ችግር የት ጋር ነው ብለን ኣጥብቀን ከጠየቅን በርግጥ የስርዓት ችግር ነው ወይ? ስርዓት በማጣታችን ነው ወይ የከፋ ችግር ላይ የወደቅነው? ብለን እንጠይቃለን። በዚህ ኣገባብ ስርዓት ስንል የኣይዲዮሎጂውን ጉዳይ ሳይሆን ፍትህና ተጠያቂነት፣ ግልጽነትና የህዝብ የበላይነት የሚንሸራሸርበት ሲስተም ተዘርግቷል ወይ ብሎ የመጠየቅ ያህል ነው። ስለ ስርዓት ስናነሳ ደግሞ በዋናነት የሚታየው ህገ- መንግስታዊ ስርዓቱ ነው። ህገ-መንግስታዊ ስርዓቱ ምን ያህል ለዜጎች ይጨነቃል፣ ምን ያህል ለፍትህና ለነጻነት ለህዝቦች ጥቅም መንሸራሸሪያ ይህናል? ብለን እንድንጠይቅ ያደርገናል። በዚህ ረገድ በርግጥ መሻሻል ያለባቸው ጉዳዮች ቢኖሩም በዋናነት ግን ችግራችን የስርዓት ችግር ሆኖ ኣናይም። ለኣብነት የ1955ቱን ህገ መንግስት ስናይ የፕሬስ ነጻነትን ይሰጣል፣ እኩል የህግ ከለላ ይሰጣል፣ የመሰብሰብ፣ ሰልፍ የማድረግ መብትን ሁሉ ይሰጣል። የደርጉም ቢሆን ለዜጎች የሚጨነቅ ኣይነት ነው። “ኢትዮጵያዊያን በህግ ፊት እኩል ናቸው” ይላል። ከሁሉ በላይ ደግሞ የ1995ቱን ስናይ “ሰብዓዊ መብቶችና ነጻነቶች ከሰው ልጅ ተፈጥሮ የሚመነጩ የማይጣሱና የማይገፈፉ ናቸው” ብሎ እጅግ ኣጠንክሮ ለዜጎች መብት መቆሙን ይደነግጋል። በውነቱ ይህ ኣንቀጽ ብቻውን ለኛ ለኢትዮጵያዊያን ዋስትና ይሆን ነበር። ይሁን እንጂ ተግባራዊው እውነት ደግሞ ለብቻው በተቃራኒው ተንሰራፍቶ ይታያል። ይህ ለምን ሆነ? እንዴት እንዲህ ሊሖን ይችላል? ብለን ነው መጠየቅ ያለብን። እንዲህ ስንጠይቅ የችግሩ ዋና ጉዳይም የስርዓት እጦት ሳይሆን ሌላ ጉዳይ መሆኑን እንረዳለን። በርግጥ ለወደፊቱዋ ኢትዮጵያ የተሻለ ስርዓት ማምጣት ያስፈልጋል። በተለይም ብዙህነቱዋን ተንከባክቦ የሚይዝ ማህበራዊ የፖለቲካ ስርዓት ያሻናል። ያ ማለት ግን ከችግራችን እንድንወጣ ብቻውን ዋስትና ነው ማለት ኣይደለም። የቱንም ያህል ጥሩ ስርዓት ዘርግተን ከችግራችን ሳንወጣ ልንቆይ እንችላለን። ርግጥ ነው የማንነት ፖለቲካ ማህበራዊ ቀውስን ያመጣ ችግሮች የበለጠ እንዲነዱ የሚያደርግ ጉዳይ በመሆኑ ከዚህ መንግስት ውድቀት በሁዋላ ከዚህ የፖለቲካ መዋቅር መውጣታችን ለመፍትሄ ትልቅ በር ኣለው። ይሁን እንጂ ኣሁንም ቢሆን የቱንም ያህል ቆንጆ ስርዓት እናምጣ ኢትዮጵያን ከመከራና ከርሃብ የሚያወጣት እሱ ብቻውን ኣይደለም። ታዲያ ምንድነው? የሚል ጥያቄ መምጣት ኣለበት። ኣዎ፣ ዋናው የሃገራችን ችግር ያለው የፖለቲከኖች ስብእና ተክለሰውነት ወይም ፐርሰናሊቲ ጋር የተገናኘ ነው።

ሃገራችን ከችግር እንድትወጣ ከተፈለገ የፖለቲካ ቁርጠኝነትን ይጠይቃል። የችግሮቻችን ቁንጮም የፖለቲካ ቁርጠኝነት እጦት ነው ብሎ መደምደም ይቻላል።የፖለቲካ ቁርጠኝነት ስንል ኣንድ ፓርቲ ስልጣን ከያዘ በሁዋላ የፍርድ ቤቱን ልጓም ለቀን መልሶ ከበላንም ይብላን፣ በራሳችን ላይ ይፍረድብን፣ ብሎ በራስ ላይ የመወሰን ኣቋም ነው። ወታደሩን ኣገርህን ጠብቅ የፓርቲ ጠባቂ ኣይደለህም ኣንተ ኣገር ጠባቂ ነህ ለማለት የፖለቲካ ሰዎችን ቁርጠኝነት ይጠይቃል። ፖሊሱን፣ ባንኩን፣ ሚዲያውን ሁሉ ልጓሙን ለቆ በሙያህ ኣገልግል ብሎ መወሰን ሲቻል ነው ከገባንበት ኣረንቋ የምንወጣው። የናፈቀንን ዴሞክራሲ በህይወት የምናየው። ጥያቄው ይህ የፖለቲካ ቁርጠኝነት እንዴት ሊመጣ ይችላል ነው። የፖለቲካ ቁርጠኝነት ከጥቂት የፖለቲካ መሪዎች ከራስ ጥቅምና ዝና በላይ የህብረተሰብን ዝናና ጥቅም በተጠሙ ሰዎች ሊነቃነቅ ይችላል። ኣንድ ቁርጠኛ መሪ ኣገር ሊለውጥ ይችላል። በታሪክ የታዩ ኣንዳንድ ቁርጠኛ መሪዎች በየሃገሩ ተነስተው ጥሩ መሰረት እየጣሉ ኣልፈዋል። በሃገራችንም የተጠማነው ይህንን ነው።

በኣሁኑ ጊዜ ተቃዋሚው ክፍል መንግስትን ኣጥብቆ ማውገዙ ትክክል ነው። የህዝቡም ልብ ነጸብራቅ ነው። ይሁን እንጂ ይህ መንግስት በማንኛውም መንገድ ሲወድቅ ስልጣን ይዞ ጥሩ ስርዓት መዘርጋቱ ብቻ ሳይሆን የፖለቲካ ቁርጠኝነት (political commitment) ያላቸውን ሰዎች ይዘዋል ወይ? ብለን እንድናስብ ያደርገናል። በዚህ ረገድ ተቃዋሚው ጥቃቅን በሆኑ ፖሊሲዎች ከመከፋፈል ይልቅ ወደ ጋራ እያመሩ ከሁሉ በላይ የፖለቲከኞችን ስብእና የመገንባቱ ላይ ማተኮር ለነገይቱ ኢትዮጵያ ዋስትና ይሆናል። ይህን ስብእና ወይም ተክለሰውነት የመገንባት ስራ ፓርቲዎችን ቢዚ የሚያደርግ ወቅታዊ ስራ መሆን ኣለበት። ኢትዮጵያ በኣሁኑ ደረጃዋ ጥቃቅን ፖሊሲዎችን በማነጻጸር የምታማርጥበት ጊዜ ላይ ኣይደለችም። መሰረታዊ የሆኑ ጉዳዮችን ያጣች በመሆኑዋ የስካንዲኒቪያው ኣይነት ዴሞክራሲ ይሻልሻል የኣሜሪካው ኣይነት? ማለቱ ያልበላትን የማከክ ያህል ነው። ሁሉቱም ሆኖላትስ ነው?
ዋናው በኣሁኑ የኢትዮጵያ ነባራዊ ሁኔታ ጉዳይ ፓርቲዎች እኔ እሻላለሁ ለማለት ዋናው መመዘኛቸው የተሰባሰቡት በተለይም ኣመራር ላይ ያሉት ግለሰቦች የፖለቲካ ቁጠኝነት ኣላቸው ወይ? ቁርጠኝነት በሞላቸው ሰዎች ቁጥር የትኛው ፓርቲ ያይላል? የሚል ልብ ያለው ድጋፍ ነው በተግባር የሚታየው ወይም መታየት ያለብት።

በቲየሪ ደረጃ በኣሁኑዋ ኢትዮጵያ በፍርድ ቤት ጉዳይ መንግስት ጣልቃ ኣይገባም። ይሁን እንጂ በተግባር ይገባል። ይገባል ብቻም ሳይሆን ፍርድ ቤት የፖለቲካ መሳሪያ ነው። ኣሁን እዚህ ጋር የጎዳን የስርዓቱ ወይም የኣሰራሩ ጉዳይ ሳይሆን መከራ ውስጥ የከተተን ጉዳይ የግለሰቦች ስብእና ጉዳይ ሆኖ ነው የምናየው። ለምን እነዚህ ግለሰቦች ስርዓቱን ይጥሳሉ፣ ህጉ ለምን ኣቅም ያጣል? ካልን የፖለቲከኞቹ ላእላይ ስብስብ በተለያየ የግል ጥቅማጥቅም የተተበተበ በመሆኑ ነው። ድህነታችንም ኣንዱ ኣስተዋጾ ያደረገ ይመስላል። የተሻለ ስራ ለማግኝነት፣ ከድህነት ለመላቀቅ፣ ፖለቲካን መሳሪያ ማድረጉ የተለመደ መሆኑና ወደዚያ ጠጋ ያሉ ሃላፊዎች በዚህ ሞቲቭ የተሞሉ ስለበዙበት ስርዓቱ በቁሙ እንዲሞት ኣድርጎታል።

ባለፈው ጊዜ ኢትዮጵያ ብሄራዊ እርቅ ኮሚሽን ማቋቋም ያስፈልጋታል የሚል ኣንድ ኣርቲክል ጽፌ ነበር። በርግጥም በኣሁኑ የነጻነት ትግል ኣሰላለፍ በኩል ጎድሎ የታየው ይሄ ነውና ይህንን ማቋቋም ተገቢ ነው። ይህ ኮሚሽን ፓርቲዎችን እያበራታታ ይህን ተፈላጊ ስብእና በመገንባቱ ረገድ ከፍተኛ ኣስተዋጾ ያደርጋል። ፓርቲዎችን በማቀራረብ ረገድ፣ የመፍትሄ ኣሳቦችን በማጠናቀር ረገድ፣ ለኣዲሲቱዋ ኢትዮጵያ የሚሆነውን ኣዲስ ሰውነት በመጠቆሙ ረገድ ከባድ ሚና ሊጫወት ይችላል። ከዚያ በተረፈ ደግሞ እኛ ተራ ዜጎች መሪዎቻችንን የማጎልበትና ወደ ህብረት የመግፋት እንዲሁም ስብእናቸውን የመገንባት ሃላፊነት ኣለብን።

የብዙ ኣፍሪካ ሃገሮች ችግር ይሄ ይመስለኛል። ታግለን በብዙ መስዋእትነት ኣንድ ኣምባገነን ከጣልን በኋላ መልሰን በሌላ ኣምባ ገነን እንተካለን። ሌላው ኣለም እየተሻሻለ ሲሄድ ይሄኛው ክፍለ ኣለም ወደ ኋላ የቀረበት ትልቁ ምክንያት የነጻነት ታጋዮች ራሳቸው በሚገባ ለኣመራር የሚበቃ ስብእና ሳያዳብሩ ወደ ስልጣን ስለሚመጡ ነው።ደቡብ ሱዳን ለዚህ ጥሩ ምሳሌ ናት። ለብዙ ኣመታት የነጻነት ትግል ታግለው፣ ብዙ ደም በመፍሰሱ ዓለም ሁሉ እነዚህ ሰዎች ቢገነጠሉ ይሻላል ብሎ ፈርዶላቸው ተገነጠሉ። የዳርፉሩን እልቂት የማያውቅ፣ ያልሰማ ያለም ክፍል የለም። ያ ሁሉ ሆኖ ኣዲስ ኣገር ከመሰረቱ በኋላ ገና ኣንድ ጊዜ እንኳን ምርጫ ሳያካሂዱ፣ በህዝብ የተመረጠ መንግስት ሳይመሰርቱ፣ ከሁለት ዓመት ያልዘለለ እድሜ ያላትን ኣገር በጎሳ ከፋፍለው ማመስ ጀመሩ።

ያለ መታደል ሆኖብን በኣንዳንድ ኣፍሪካ ሃገራት የሚነሱ መሪዎች ስልጣን ላይ ከመጡ በሁዋላ ሁለት ነገር በጣም ይወዳሉ። ኣንደኛው ዝና ሲሆን ሁለተኛው ገንዘብ ነው። ሁለቱም እጆቻቸው ይዘዋል። ባንዱ ስልጣን በሌላው ገንዘብ። ዝናውን ወደው ገንዘቡን ችላ የሚሉ ቢሆኑ ትንሽ ይሻል ነበር። ነገር ግን ሁለቱንም በሃይል ስለሚወዱና ለዚህ የተሰጠ ስብእናቸው በውስጣቸው ስላልሞተ ክብ በሆነ ችግር ውስጥ እንድንወድቅ ኣድርጎናል።ኢትዮጵያዊያን በዚህ ላይ ልንነቃ ይገባናል። በተለይ የፖለቲካ ሰው መሆን የፈለጉ ወገኖቻችን፣ መሪ መሆን የሚሹ ወገኖቻችን በየጊዜው የባህርይ ለውጥ እያሳዩ በኣመለካከትና በሃላፊነት ስሜት እያደጉልን እንዲሄዱ እንሻለን። ከፍ ሲል እንዳልኩት እኛ ተራ ዜጎች ከውጭ ሆነን መፍረድ ብቻ ሳይሆን መሪዎቻችንን መንከባከብና ፍቅርን ክብርን ማሳየት ለፖለቲካ ቁርጠኝነታቸው ሃይል ይሰጣል።
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(ሠዓሊ አምሳሉ ገ/ኪዳን አርጋው)

March 2, 2014 08:36 pm By Editor Leave a Comment

በእርግጠኝነት ኢትዮጵያዊ ልብ ላለው ሰው ሁሉ ስለ አድዋ ድል ሲሰማና ሲያወራ ልቡ በኩራት ይሞላል መንፈሱ ይነቃቃል፡፡ ኢትዮጵያዊ ብቻም አይደለም በየትኛውም ዓለም ያለ በቅኝ ግዛት ቀንበር ፍዳ ያየ የትኛውም የሰው ዘር ጭምርም እንጅ፡፡ ይህን አንጸባራቂ ድል መላው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በአንድነት ተሰልፎ ካስመዘገበ እነሆ ነገ የካቲት 23 ቀን 2006ዓ.ም 118 ዓመቱን ይይዛል፡፡ ይህንን ድል ለመቀዳጀት ፈተና የነበሩት ነገሮች ምን ምን ናቸው? ለመሆኑ ይህ ድል እንዴት ተገኘ ?  የዚህ ታላቅ ድል ትሩፋቶችስ ምን ምን ናቸው? የዚህ ድል ጠላቶች እነማን ናቸው? ይህ ድል እንዴት ይጠበቃል? ብዙ ቢባልለት ከማይበቃው ከአድዋ ድል እነዚህን ነጥቦች ብቻ ነጥለን ለማየት እንሞክራለን፡፡

ዐፄ ምኒልክ ምታ ነጋሪት ክተት ሠራዊት ብለው ፋሽስት ጣሊያን በዘመነ ዐፄ ዮሐንስ 4ኛ ከነበረበት አልፎ የትግሬ ገዥ የነበሩትን ዐፄ ዮሐንስ 4ኛ ከእሳቸው ቀጥለው እንዲነግሡ በማሰብ ሊሞቱ በሚያቃትቱበት ወቅት ወራሸ ነው ለእኔ ያደረጋችሁትን ሁሉ ለእሱም አድርጉ በማለት ተናዘውላቸው የነበሩትን ራስ መንገሻን ድል አድርጎ ሠራዊታቸውን ከበተነ በኋላ አልፎ መላዋን ሀገራችንን ቅኝ ለመግዛት ወደ መሸገባቸው ቦታዎች ወደ አንባ አላጌ፣ መቀሌ እንዳሥላሴና አድዋ ከመዝመታቸው እነዚያን አኩሪ ድሎች ከማስመዝገባቸውና ታሪክ ከመሥራታቸው በፊት እነኝህን ድሎች እንዳንቀዳጃቸው የሚያደርጉ እጅግ ከባባድ ፈተናዎች ተጋርጠውብን ነበር፡፡ የአድዋን ድል በሌሎች ሀገራት ከተገኙት ድሎች ልዩ የሚያደርገውም ይሔው ነው፡፡ እነዚህ ፈጽሞ ሊታለፉ የማይቻሉ መሰናክሎችን ታልፎ የተገኘ ድል በመሆኑ፡፡

የአድዋን ድል ለመቀዳጀት አያስችሉ የነበሩት ፈተናዎች ምን ምን ናቸው፡- 

1. የከብት እልቂት፡- ፋሺስት ጣሊያኖች ኢትዮጵያን ቅኝ ለመያዝ ሲያስቡ ቅኝ ገዥዎች በአፍሪካና እስያ በቀላል ግጭት ቅኝ ሀገር መያዝ እንደቻሉ ሁሉ በኢትዮጵያ ይህ መልካም እድል እንደማያጋጥማቸው ጠንቅቀው ዐውቀውት ነበር፡፡ በመሆኑም ጦርነት መግጠማቸው የማይቀር ከሆነ የኢትዮጵያንና የመንግሥቷን አቅም ለማዳከም የሚያስችል ስልት ነደፈ ከስልቶቹ አንዱም የሀገሪቱ ሀብት መሠረት የሆነውን ግብርናዋን ማሽመድመድ መጉዳት ነበር፡፡ ይህንን ሲያስቡ ግብርናዋን ለመጉዳት ማድረግ የሚችሉት ነገር ሆኖ ያገኙት የከብት ሀብቷን መጨረስ ነበር፡፡ ይህንን ለመፈጸም ሲባል ከህንድ ሀገር ሶስት የታመሙ ከብቶችን በምጽዋ በኩል አስገብተው ከደማቸው እየወጉ የኞቹን ደኅናዎቹን ከብቶች በመውጋት አጋቡባቸው  በሽታውም በአጭር ጊዜ ተዛምቶ ከኢትዮጵያም አልፎ አጠቃላይ የቀጠናውን ከብት ፈጀው፡፡ ውጤቱም ፋሽስቶቹ ከጠበቁት እጅግ የበዛ ሆኖ በሀገራችን ታሪክ ታይቶ የማይታወቅ ‹‹ክፉ ቀን›› በመባል የሚታወቀውን ረሀብና ችጋር አመጣ፡፡ የሚበላ ነገር ጠፍቶ ዋልካ አፈርና ሳር ቅጠሉ ሁሉ የተበላበት ዘመን ነበር፡፡ ሕዝቡ ደቀቀ አለቀ ሀገሪቱ ተሽመደመደች፡፡
2. የስንቅና ትጥቅ (logistics) ዝግጅት እጅግ ውስንነት፡- ፋሽስት ጣሊያን በወቅቱ ኃያላን ከሚባሉ የአውሮፓ ሀገራት አንዱ ነበረ፡፡ እንደ ኃያልነቱም ከ20 ሺ በላይ ለሆነው ላሰለፈው ጦሩ ዘመናዊ መሣሪያ በነፍስ ወከፍ ከማስታጠቁም ባሻገር ሠራዊቱ በወጉ የተደራጀ ዘመናዊ የውትድርና ሥልጠና የወሰደ ባጠቃላይ ከበቂ በላይ የስንቅና ትጥቅ ዝግጅት የነበረው ነበር፡፡ በእኛ በኩል የነበረው ደግሞ ባጋጠመው የረሀብና አስከፊ ችጋር የደከመ ሠራዊት ከመሆኑም በላይ ከፍተኛ የሆነ የስንቅና ትጥቅ አቅርቦች ችግር ነበረበት፡፡ በወቅቱም ሠራዊቱ ነፍሱን ለማቆየት በቀን እጅግ መጥኖ ከሚቀምሳት በየ አገልግሉ ቋጥሮ ከያዛት ጥቂት ዳቦቆሎ፣ የደረቀና የሻገተ ቂጣ፣ ቆሎና በሶ የመድኃኒት ያህል ጥቂት ጥቂት የሚቀምስ ሠራዊት ነበረ እንጅ የስንቅ አቅርቦቱን አስቦ በየ ዕለቱ አብስሎ የሚያቀርብለት አካል አልነበረም፡፡ ሰራዊትም ሲባል ሐበሻ እንዲያው በተፈጥሮው ተዋጊ በመሆኑ እንጅ ሊገጥመው እንደተዘጋጀው ጠላቱ ሠራዊት በወጉ የወሰደው የውትድርና ትምህርት ጨርሶ አልነበረም፡፡ የታጠቀው መሣሪያም ቆመህ ጠብቀኝ በሚባል የሚታወቁ ኋላ ቀር መሣሪያ ሆኖ ይሄንንም ቢሆን የያዙት ከሠራዊቱ እጅግ ጥቂቶቹ ነበሩ የተቀረው ግን የያዘው ጦርና ጋሻ ጎራዴ ነበር፡፡ ይሔም አይጠቅምም ማለት ሳይሆን በጦር በጎራዴና በጋሻ ውጊያ የሚደረግበት ዘመን አልፎ ከሩቁ ጠላትን መልቀም ማስቀረት የሚቻልባቸው ከመድፍ እስከ መትረየስ ያሉ ዘመናዊ መሣሪያዎች የወጡበት ዘመን በመሆኑ ለሚደረገው ጦርነት የጦር የጎራዴ እና የጋሻ ጥቅምና አገልግሎት እጅግ በጣም ውስን ሆኖ ነበር፡፡ ጦርነት በጦር በጎራዴ ይደረግ የነበረበት ዘመን ለእኛ እጅግ የቀና የበጀና የሰለጠም ነበር፡፡
3. የባንዶች ሚናና የጠላት የመከፋፈል ስልት፡- ፋሽስት ጣሊያን የኢትዮጵያን ሠራዊት ለማዳከም ከተጠቀመበት ስልት ሌላኛው ባላባቶችንና መሳፍንቱን እስከ ራሶች ድረስ እንዲከዱ በማድረግ ከጎኑ ማሰለፍ ነበር፡፡ ጥቂት የማይባሉትንም ማስካድ ችሎ ነበር ነገር ግን እነዚህ የከዱና ከነሠራዊታቸው በባንድነት የተሰለፉ መኳንንት የጠበቁትንና የፈለጉትን አቀባበልና መስተንግዶ እንዳላገኙና እንደማያገኙም ሲገባቸው የዐፄ ምኒልክ ይቅር ባይነት ዋስትና ሆኗቸው ብዙዎቹ ተመልሰዋል፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ እነኝህ ከድተው የነበሩ ሹማምንት መመለሳቸው የእውነት ከልብ ነው ወይስ ለተልዕኮ? የሚለው ጉዳይ ለወገን ሠራዊት በወቅቱ እጅግ አንገብጋቢ ጥያቄና እውነቱን ለመረዳት ከመቸውም አጋጣሚ በበለጠ አምላክነትን የሚያስመኝ፤ ሥጋት ጥርጣሬውም እረፍትና እንቅልፍ የሚነሳ አምኖ ለማሰለፍም ለመተውም ያስቸገረበት ጉዳይ ሆኖ ነበር፡፡
4. የፋሽስት ጣሊያን ጦር መሽጎ ያለ መሆኑ፡- ጦርነት በሚደረግበት ወቅት ጦርነት ከሚያደርጉት ባላንጣ አካላት አንደኛው ምሽግ ይዞ የሚጠብቅ ከሆነ ጦርነቱ ለአጥቂው ወይም ምሽግ ላልያዘው ክፍል እጅግ ከባድና አስቸጋሪ የሚያስከፍለው ዋጋም ከመሽገው አካል ጋር ሲነጻጸር በጣም የሚበዛ መሆኑ የማይቀር ነው፡፡ እኛንም ያጋጠመን ይሄው ነበር በሶስቱም ቦታዎች የጠላት ጦር ምሽጉን በሚገባ ገንብቶ ከምሽግ ማዶም በባዶ እግሩ የሚጓዘውን አርበኛ ሠራዊት እንዲቆራርጥ በጠርሙስ ስብርባሪና በጦር ችካሎች ከዚያም በፈንጂ የታጠረ ምሽግ ውስጥ ሆኖ አድፍጦና መሽጎ ይጠብቅ የነበረ ጦር ከመሆኑ የተነሣ የጠላትን ጦር ከዚህ ምሽጉ ለማስወጣት ምን ያህል መሥዋዕትነት ሊጠይቅና ሊያስከፍል እንደሚችል መገመት ይቻላል፡፡ እንኳንና ተመጣጣኝ ትጥቅ ሳይያዝ ቢያዝም እንኳ ሁኔታው እጅግ ከባድ ነው በዚህ ላይ የእኛ ጦር ዘመናዊ የውጊያ ስልት ካለመማሩ ጋር ተያይዞ ተኝቶ መሬት ላይ በመሳብ መተኮስን እንደ ነውርና ፈሪነት አድርጎ የሚቆትር በመሆኑ ደረቱን ሰጥቶ በከፍተኛ ድፍረትና ወኔ ይዋጋ የነበረ ጦር ከመሆኑ ጋር ተያይዞ መሥዋዕትነቱን እጅግ የከበደ አድርጎት ነበር፡፡ የሚገርመው ነገር ግን ከነዚህ ነባራዊ ሁኔታዎች አኳያ ከጦርነቱ በኋላ የደረሰብን የሟችና ቁስለኛ መጠን በጠላት ሠራዊት ከደረሰው እምብዛም የሚበልጥ አልነበረም፡፡
5. የህክምና አገልግሎት ችግር፡- እንዲህ ዓይነት የሕዝብ እንቅስቃሴ በሚደረግበት ወቅት ወረርሽኝ ይከሰታል፡፡ ወረርሽኝ ሲከሰትም ለዚህ ጉዳይ ቀድሞ የተዘጋጀ ህክምና ከሌለ ከባድ ጥፋት አስከትሎ ያልፋል፡፡ የወገን ጦር ይሔንን አደጋ መከላከል የሚችልበት አቅምና ዝግጅት አልነበረም ሌላው ቀርቶ ቁስለኛን እንኳን ማከም የምንችልበት መድኃኒትና ባለሙያ አልነበረንም ሁሉም ለየራሱ ሐኪም ነበረ፡፡ አስተናግር ቅጠሉን ጨምቆ አዘጋጅቶ ይዞት የመጣውን ቁስሉ ላይ እያፈሰሰ እርስ በራሱ ለመተካከም ይሞክራል እንጅ ይሔንን ጉዳይ የሚከውን የህክምና ቡድን አልነበረም፡፡

እንግዲህ እነዚህና ሌሎች ሊታለፉ የማይችሉ እንደተራራ የገዛዘፉ ከባባድ ደንቀራዎችን ፈተናዎችን በእግዚአብሔር ቸርነት በሐበሻነት ጽናት እናት አባቶቻችን አልፈው ነው የአንባላጌውን፣ የመቀሌውን፣ በመጨረሻም የአድዋን ድል ለመቀዳጀት የቻሉት፡፡ የአድዋ ድል በሌሎች ዜጎች ዘንድም በከፍተኛ አድናቆት የሚደነቀው የሚከበረውም ከዚህ የተነሣ ነው፡፡

ለመሆኑ ይህ ድል እንዴት ሊገኝ ቻለ?፡- ለድሉ መገኘት ትልቁ ድርሻ የእግዚአብሔር ረድኤት ቢሆንም እግዚአብሔር ሲሠራ በምክንያት ወይም መሣሪያ የሚያደርገው ነገር መኖሩ አይቀርምና ለእናት አባቶቻችን ቁርጠኝነትን፣ ጽናትን፣ መጨከንን ሰጥቶ ከቶውንም የማይታለፉትን ፈተናና መከራን አስተናግዶም በእነሱም ደክሞ ደቆ የነበረ ሕዝብ ተሰባብሮ ተነሥቶ እንዲህ ዓይነት አስደናቂ ድል ለማስመዝገብ በቃ፡፡ እንዲህ ዓይነቱን ድል ለማስመዝገብ ሐበሻ ሆኖ መገኘትን የግድ ይጠይቅ ነበር አደረግነውም፡፡ በመሆኑም “ነፃነት ወይም ሞት” “ባሪያ ሆኖ ከመኖር ነፃ ሆኖ መሞት” የሚለው የጨከነ መርሑ ከፊቱ የተደቀኑ ግዛዙፍ ፈተናዎችን መሰናክሎችን ከነ አካቴው ከግምት ውስጥ እንዳያስገባ አድርጎት በከፍተኛ ቁርጠኝነትና ጽናት በመዋጋቱ ድሉን ሊያገኝ ቻለ፡፡

የዚህ ታላቅና አንጸባራቂ ድል ትሩፋቶች ምን ምን ናቸው? ይህ ታላቅ ድል ከእኛም አልፎ ለመላው ዓለም ጭቁኖች በርካታ ትሩፋቶችን አበርክቷል ከእነዚህ በርካታ ትሩፋቶቹ ጥቂቶቹን ለመጥቀስ ያህል፡-

1. የቀለም ልዩነትን መሠረት ያደረገው የብቃት ደረጃ ልዩነት አስተሳሰብን ፉርሽ መሆኑን ማረጋገጥ ችሏል፡፡  ከዚህ ድል አስቀድሞ ጥቁር ሲባል ሰብአዊ እሴት አልባ፣ ለባርነት የተፈጠረ፣ ሥልጣኔ የማይገባው አድርገው ያስቡት ነበር፡፡ ከዚህም አልፈው ተናጋሪ እንስሳ እያሉ ይገልጹት ነበር፡፡ ጥቁሮቹ እናት አባቶቻችን ግን ፈጽሞ ሊታለፉ የማይቻሉ ፈተናዎችን አልፈው ለክብራቸው ለነፃነታቸው፣ ለሉዓላዊነታቸው የማይችሉት ነገርም እንኳን ቢሆን አንችለውምና ምን እናድርግ ብለው ክብራቸውን፣ ነፃነታቸውን፣ ሉዓላዊነታቸውን ለድርድር ሳያቀርቡ ለሰብአዊ ክብራቸውና ለማንነታቸው ታይቶ በማይታወቅ ቀናኢነት በየትኛውም የዓለም ክፍል ያለ ማንኛውም ዓይነት የሰው ዘር አደርገዋለሁ ብሎ ሊሞክረው ቀርቶ ሊያስበው በማይችለው ሁኔታ በግሩም ችሎታና የአጨራረስ ብቃት ከውኖ በማሳየቱ ጥቁር እንዲህ እንዲህ ነው እየተባለ ዝቅ ተደርጎ ይቆጠርና ይታይ የነበረው አስተሳሰብ የተሳሳተ መሆኑን የግዳቸውን እንዲያምኑ አድርጓል፡፡

2. የነፃነት ትግልን አነቃቅቷል ቀስቅሷል፡- ጥቁር አፍሪካዊያን ለአምስት ምእተ ዓመታት ያህል በግፈኛ ነጮች ሲሰበክላቸው የኖረውን የጥቁርን ተገዥነት ወይም ለአገልጋይነት መፈጠር አምኖ ተቀብሎ ሰጥ ለበጥ ብሎ የመገዛትን አስተሳሰብ አዳብሮ ወደ አውሮፓና አሜሪካ እየተጋዘ እየተሸጠ እየተለወጠ ይገዛ ያገለግል ነበር፡፡ ሐበሾቹ ጥቁሮች አድዋ ላይ ያበሩላቸው ፀሐይ ግን ይሄንን የጨለመ አስተሳሰብ ጠራርጎ በማጥፋቱ የነጻነት ትግልንና የነፃነት ታጋዮችን በየስፍራው በየአቅጣጫው እንዲቀጣጠል አድርጎ እነሆ ዛሬ ላይ ያን ሁሉ ግፍ በጥቁርነቱ ብቻ ይጋት የነበረው የሰው ዘር ነጻነቱን አረጋግጦ ቢያንስ በገዛ ሀገሩ እንኳን እንደ ሰው መኖር የሚችልበትን ሁኔታ መፍጠር እንዲችል አብቅቷል፡፡

3. የተረሳውን ታሪካችንን አስታውሷል፡- ሐበሻ እንደሕዝብና እንደ ሀገር ከማንም የቀደመ የሥልጣኔና የመንግሥት ታሪክ ያለውና የነበረው ሕዝብ ነው ይህ ግን በወቅቱ በነበረው አስገዳጅ ችግር ሳቢያ ከዐፄ ፋሲል ጀምሮ ለረጅም ጊዜ ቆይቶ በነበረው ዝግ መመሪያ (closed policy) ምክንያት ዓለም እኛን እኛም ዓለምን ረስተን ተረሳስተን ስለነበረ ዓለም በየጊዜው መረጃውን እያደሰ እንዳወቀን እዲቀጥል ማድረግ ሳንችል ቀርተን ነበር፡፡ የአድዋ ድል ግን ዓለም ስለኛ ያለውን መረጃ ካጎረበት እያወጣ እንዲያወራ እንዲህ እኮናቸው እንዲህእኮ ነበሩ እያለ እንዲያወራ አድርጎታል፡፡ ያወሩልን ይፅፉልን ከነበረው ታሪኮቻችን የሚበዛው እኛም እንኳን እራሳችን የማናውቃቸው ናቸው፡፡

4. የሕዝባችንን አንድነት አጽንቷል፡- የጠላት ወረራ ለመኳንንቶቻችንና ለመሳፍንቶቻችን ትልቅ ትምህርትን ሰጥቷል፡፡ በአንድነት የመቆምን አስፈላጊነት የአንድነትን ጥቅም በሚገባ አስገንዝቧቸዋል፡፡ ከዚያ አስቀድሞ ከዘመነ መሳፍንት ጀምሮ በመሳፍንቱና በባላባቶች ዘንድ የየራሳቸውን ጎጥ እንደ ሀገር በመቁጠር የየራሳቸውን ‹‹ሀገር›› የመመሥረት የማይጠቅምና ኋላ ቀር አስተሳሰብ ያስቡ ነበር፡፡ ይህን የትም የማያደርስ አስተሳሰብ ለማጥፋት ዐፄ ቴዎድሮስን እጅግ አድክሟል፡፡ በዐፄ ቴዎድሮስ እጅ ያደጉት ዐፄ ምኒልክ 2ኛም የዐፄ ቴዎድሮስ 2ኛ ሕልም ገብቷቸው ስለነበር ጥረታቸውና ሁኔታዎች ፈቅደውላቸው የዐፄ  ቴዎድሮስን ሕልም ለማሳካት ችለዋል፡፡ የአድዋ ድልም ለመሳፍንቱ የማይረሳ ትምህርትን ስለጣለላቸው ከዚያ በኋላ አስቀድሞ የነበረው ዓይነት የመሳፍንት አስተሳሰብ እንዳይኖር አድርጓል፡፡

5. ለቀጣይ ትውልድ ታሪክ እንዴት እንደሚሠራና እንደሚጠበቅ ምሳሌነቱን ትቶ አልፏል፡- ሀገራችን ከ4500ዓመታት በላይ የመንግሥት ታሪክ አላት እንደ ሀገር ከቆመችበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ ነጻነቷን ለመንጠቅ ተደጋጋሚና አደገኛ ፈተናዎችን አሳልፋለች፡፡ እነዚሁ ጣሊያኖች በቀደመው ስማቸው ሮማዊያን ከቄሳሮች ዘመን ከሁለት ሽህ ዓመታት በፊት ጀምረው ሲፈታተኑን ኖረዋል፡፡ የአድዋ ድል እናት አባቶቻችን የዚህችን ሀገር ነጻነት እንደምን ባለ መሥዋዕትነት አስጠብቀው እንደቆዩና ይህ ረጅም ታሪኳ እንዴት እንደተሠራ የቅርብ ጊዜ ምሳሌነት የተወ ድል  ነው፡፡ በደካማ ጎን መግባት የሚችሉበት ጠላቶቻችን ግን የትግል ስልታቸውን በቀጥታ ከሚተኮሰው አፈሙዝ ወደ ተለየ ዓይነት በመለወጥና ባንዶችን በማሠማራት የአድዋ ድል ከተወልን ምሳሌነት ልንማርና እኛም የድርሻችንን ታሪክ ልንሠራ የምንችልበትን ዕድል አጥበውት ሀገርን፣ አንድነትን፣ታሪክን፣ ነጻነትን፣ ሉዓላዊነትን፣ ክብርን መሠረቱ ያላደረገ የየግል ዓላማና አስተሳሰብ አራጋቢዎች አድርገውን አንድነታችንን አደጋ ላይ ጥለውታል፡፡በዚህ ረገድ እየተሳካላቸው ይገኛል፡፡ ፈጣሪ ይቅደምልን እንጂ የዚህ ውጤት ደስ የሚያሰኝ አይሆንም፡፡

6. የታሪክ ሀብትን ትቶልናል፡- አንዲት ሀገር ዜጎቿ ጠንካሮች ከሆኑ ሁለቱም ሀብቶች ይኖሯታል ቁሳዊና መንፈሳዊ ሀብቶች ታሪክ መንፈሳዊ ሀብት ነው፡፡ ታሪክ መነቃቃትን የሚፈጥር ታላቅ ኃይል ነው፡፡ ቁሳዊ ሀብትም የመፍጠር ዐቅም አለው፡፡ ሀገራችን ኢትዮጵያ ሁለቱም ሀብቶች ነበሯት፡፡ ነበሯት ማለቱ ግድ ሆኗል አሁን ላይ ቁሳዊው እንደሌለ ግልጽ  ቢሆንም መንፈሳዊው ሀብታችንም ራሱ ድራሹ እንዲጠፋ በከፍተኛ ትጋት እየተሠራበት ነውና ነበረን ማለቱ ይቀላል፡፡ ሊገባኝ ያልቻለው ነገር ግን ከዚህ ማን ምን ዓይነት ትርፍ አንዴት ሆኖ እንደሚያገኝ፤ ጥቅሙ ምን እንደሆነ ነው፡፡ ለሕዝቡ ልጠይቅ የምሻው አንድ ጥያቄ  አለኝ  የእናት አባቶቻችን ሀገር ኢትዮጵያ በዓለም  ውስጥ ከነበሩት አራት  ኃያላን መንግሥታት አንደኛዋ  ነበረች፡፡  ይህች ሀገር ዛሬ የዓለም  ጭራ ደሀዋ ሀገር ሆናለች ለምን? ይህ እንዴት ሲሆን ቻለ? እነሱ ጋር የነበረው ጠንካራ ጎን ይህችን ደሀና ደካማዋን ኢትዮጵያ ከፈጠርነው ከእኛ ጋር ያለው ደካማ ጎን ምንድን ነው?

7. ዕውቅናና መከበርን አትርፎልናል፡- ይህ ድል የማያውቁን አንዲያውቁንና ሀገር ለሀገር ለሚደረግ ግንኙነት ተመራጭ እንድንሆን አድርጓል፡፡ የሚያውቁንም እንዲያከብሩን አድርጓል፡፡ ባጠቃላይ ወዳጅ ብቻ ሳይሆን ጠላትም እንዲሁ በተመሳሳይ ሳይወድ በግድ ዕውቅናና ክብር እንዲሰጥ አድርጎታል፡፡ የዛሬን አያርገውና ከዚያ በኋላ ለመጣችው ኢትዮጵያም ሞገስን አጎናጽፎ በዲንሎማሲው (በአቅንዖተ ግንኙነቱ) ተደማጭ ተከባሪ እንድንሆን አድርጓል፡፡

8. ለመሪነት ሚና ተመራጭ እንድንሆን አድርጓል፡- ይህ ድል በሰጠን ዕውቅና ሳቢያ በተለያየ አቅጣጫ የፈጠራቸው በቅጭ ግዛት ይማቅቁ የነበሩ ሀገራት የፀረ ቅኝ ግዛት እንቅስቃሴ በሚያደርጉበት ወቅት ይህንን እንቅስቃሴያቸውንና ትግላቸውን እንድንደግፍ እንድናስተባብር ለመጠየቅ አስገድዷቸዋል፡፡ ሀገራችንም ይህንን ትግል የመምራቱን ታሪካዊ ኃላፊነት ሙሉ ለሙሉ በማመን ሀገራቱ ነጻ እስኪወጡ ድረስ የራሷን የጦር መሪዎችንና ተዋጊዎችን በማሰለፍ ጭምር ትግሉን ስታግዝ ስታስተባብር የተጣለባትንም አደራ በሚገባ ተወጥታለች፡፡ ለቀድሞው የአ.አ.ድ ለአሁኑ አ.ህ እና ለሌሎች አህጉራዊና ዓለም ዓቀፋዊ ድርጅቶች መቀመጫነት እንድትመረጥ ያበቃትም የዚሁ ድል ትሩፋት ነው፡፡

9. ሰንደቅ ዓላማችንን እንድንወስን አብቅቷል፡- በእርግጥ ከአድዋ ድል አስቀድሞም የሀገራችን ነገሥታት ቀይ ቢጫ አረንጓዴ ወይም አረንጓዴ ቢጫ ቀዩን ሰንደቅ ይጠቀሙ እንደነበር ይታወቃል፡፡ ነገር ግን በአዋጅና በይፍ ዕውቅና ተሰጥቶት ሀገራችንንና ሕዝባችንን እንድትወክል  የተደረገው ዐፄ ሚኒልክ አድዋ ላይ ይህንን አንጸባራቂ ድል ከገኙ በኋላ እዚያው አድዋ ላይ  አዋጅ አስነግረው ከእንግዲህ ወዲህ ይህ ቀይ ቢጫ አረንጓዴ  ሰንደቅ የኢትዮጵያ ሰንደቅ ዓላማ  ሆኗልና ከክብር በላይ ክብርን፣ ከፍቅር በላይ ፍቅርን፣ ከአለኝታነት በላይ አለኝታነትን ስጧት ብለው በማስነገራቸው ይፋዊ ሰንደቃችን ሆና ለመቀጠል ቻለች፡፡

   እንግዲህ በአጭር እንቋጨው እንጅ የአድዋን ትሩፋት እንዲህ በቀላሉ ዘርዝሮ የሚጨረስ   ጉዳይ አይደለም፡፡ በመቀጠል የአድዋ ድል ጠላቶች እነማን ናቸው? የሚለውንና ይህንን ቅርስ እንዴት ልንጠብቀው እንችላለን? የሚለውን በአጭር በአጭሩ ዐይተን እንቋጭ ፡፡

የአድዋ ድል ጠላቶች እነማን ናቸው?

 የእድለቢስነት ጉዳይ ሆኖ ሀገራችን ኢትዮጵያ ለጠላት የታደለች ሀገር ነች፡፡ በዚህች ሀገር በየትኛውም ሀገር ታይቶ በማይታወቅ መልኩ ለቁጥር የሚያታክቱ ጦርነቶች ከውጭና  ከውስጥ በሚፈጠር ቀውስ ሰበብ አስተናግዳለች፡፡ ይህች ሀገር ካስተናገደችው የጦርነቶች ብዛት አንጻር በታሪኳ በአማካኝ ከ10 ዓመታት ያለፈ የሰላምና የእፎይታ ቆይታ ዓይታ አታውቅም፡፡ ተአምር የሚሆንብኝ ነገር ቢኖር ይህንን ያህል የአውዳሚ ጦርነት ዓይነት ያስተናገደች ሀገር ደብዛዋ አለመጥፋቱ የሥልጣኔና የታሪክ አሻራዎቿም ጥቂቱንም ያህል ቢሆን መቆየት   መቻላቸው ነው፡፡ አሁን ላይ አስቀድሞ የነበሩን ጠላቶቻችንም ሆኑ ሌሎች አዳዲስ ቢኖሩ ጥቃታቸውን እየፈጸሙብን ያለው እንደቀድሞው በወረራ ሳይሆን በመሀከላችን ልዩነቶች እንዲፈጠሩ በማድረግና እርስ በእርስ በማናቆር በማፋጀት ሆኗል፡፡ ይሄም ይዞላቸዋል፡፡ አርቀውና አስፍተው ማሰብ የማይችሉ ወገኖቻችን የሀገራችን የሕዝብ  ለሕዝብ ግንኙነት  ምንም እንኳን እንከን የለሽ ነበር ማለት ባይቻልም በየትኛውም የዓለም ክፍል ከነበረው እጅግ የተሻለው እንጅ ተመሳሳይ እንኳን እነዳልነበረ፤ በበቂ ምክንያትና አማራጭም በመታጣቱ ለሀገር አንድነትና ህልውና ሲባል አንዳንድ የማያስደስቱን ነገሮች መደረጋቸውን መገንዘብ ማስተዋል የተሳናቸው ደናቁርት ለእነኝህ ጠላቶቻችን መሣሪያ በመሆን የሀገራችንንና የሕዝባችንን ህልውና ገደል አፋፍ ላይ አድርሰውታል፡፡ ዛሬ ላይ በየትኛውም የዓለም ክፍል ላይ ያሉ የባርነትና ጭቆና ቀማሽ የነጻነት ደጋፊና አቀንቃኞች የሚኮሩበትን የሚያከብሩትን የሚያደንቁትን  የአድዋን ድልና ያንን ድል ያስገኙልንን አርበኞች እዚህ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ሆነው በጥላቻ የሚመለከቱ መጥፋት መረሳቱን የሚፈልጉ ለዚህም የሚሠሩ ዜጐች ለማየትና ለመስማት ደርሰናል፡፡ መፍትሔው ምንድን ነው ትላላቹ?

 ይሄንን ቅርስ እንዴት ልንጠብቀው  እንችላለን?

 ይሄንንና  ሌሎች ቅርሶቻችንን ሀብቶቻችንን ታሪኮቻችንን ልንጠብቃቸው  የምንችለው ለነዚህ  ሀብቶቻችን አንድ ዓይነት መግባባት ሲኖረን ሀብቶቹ በሚገባ የመጠበቅ እድል ይኖራቸዋል፡፡ አእምሮ ካለን እዚህ አንድ ዓይነት መግባባት ላይ ላንደርስ የምንችልበት እንድም ምክንያት አይኖርም፡፡ ወደራሳችን ወደ ውስጣችን እንመልከት፡፡ እያደረግነው ያለውን ነገር ከመፈጸሙ በፊት የሚገኘውን ትርፍና ኪሳራ እንመዝን፡፡ እንዲህ እንድናደርግ  እንድንናቆር እንድንባላ የሚመክሩን የሚገፋፉን የሚደግፍን ሀገራት በታሪካቸው ከእኛ የከፋ  የእርስ በእርስ ሰብአዊ መብት ገፈፋ ዝጋብ (record)  ያለባቸው ሀገራት ናቸው፡፡ ነገሥታቶቻቸው ሲያርፉ ጠባቂ እያሉ ሰዎችን ከነነፍሳቸው ግራና ቀኝ ይቀብሩ የነበሩ ናቸው፡፡ የሰው ልጆችን ከአራዊት ጋራ እያታገሉና እያስበሉ ለመዝናኛነት ይጠቀሙ የነበሩ ሀገራት ናቸው፡፡ ይህ ተሞክሮ በሀራችን ፈጽሞ ኖሮ አያውቅም፡፡ ዛሬ ላይ እነሱ እንኳን አንድ ዓይነት መግባባት ደርሰው በአንድነት   ቆመው ለሀገራችው ጥቅሞች በአንድ የተሰለፉ ሆነዋል፡፡ እነሱ ለዚህ የበቁ እንደነዚህ ያሉ ዘግናኝና ኢሰብአዊ ድርጊቶችንና አስተሳሰቦችን ዓይተን የማናውቀው እኛ ኢትዮጵያዊያን እንዴት አንድ ዓይነት መግባባት ላይ ለመድረስ ያቅተናል? ለሀገርና ለሕዝብ እስካሰብን ጊዜ ድረስ ፈጽሞ አያቅተንም፡፡ ሀገርንና ሕዝብን ጠልተንና ንቀን ባንዳነትን ከመረጥን ግን መቸም ጊዜ ቢሆን ልንግባባና የሰላም አየር ልንተነፍስ አንችልም፡፡

ሠዓሊ አምሳሉ ገ/ኪዳን አርጋው

ዘለዓለማዊ ክብር ለአርበኞቻችን!!

ኢትዮጵያ ለዘለዓለም ትኑር!!

 amsalugkidan@gmail.com

Q&A: Ethiopian journalists languish in prison (Al jazeera)

02 Mar 2014 (Aljazeera)

Eskinder Nega (L) is serving an 18-year jail term under the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation [MLDI/Al Jazeera]

As Al Jazeera presses ahead with its campaign to free its journalists detained in Egypt, nine Ethiopian journalists who are receiving less attention continue to languish in prison, held on trumped-up charges of terrorism, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

To mark the 900th day of the imprisonment of award-winning journalist Eskinder Nega, who is serving an 18-year jail term, and the 36th birthday of Woubshet Taye, jailed for 14 years, Al Jazeera speaks to Nani Jansen of the Media Legal Defence Initiative, a London-based NGO that helps journalists around the world defend their rights.

Al Jazeera: What are the charges Woubshet Taye and Eskinder Nega are facing?

Nani Jansen: Eskinder Nega, Woubshet Taye and many other journalists in Ethiopia, such as Reeyot Alemu, have been charged and convicted under Ethiopia’s 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, a deeply flawed law that is being used by the Ethiopian government to systematically suppress free speech in the country.

Because of their work as a journalist, they were deemed to be “participating in a terrorist organisation”. In fact, Eskinder was explicitly said to have “used his right to free expression as a cover for terrorism” and most of the so-called evidence presented in the criminal proceedings against them consisted of their journalistic writing.

AJ: What kind of legal assistance are they receiving?

NJ: Mr Nega is currently representing himself, having decided after his initial conviction that he was better off that way. He filed for an appeal in cassation (the last possible resort in Ethiopia) in May 2013 – he is still waiting for a hearing date.

Mr Taye decided not to appeal his conviction and has been hoping for a pardon. So far, the government has refused to grant him one.

AJ: What has MLDI done or is doing to have these journalists freed?

The Media Legal Defence Initiative has started several international legal proceedings to get Eskinder, Woubshet, and a number of their colleagues released from prison. A series of complaints has been filed with a UN body that has competence to address violations of the right to free speech. The procedure is confidential, I’m sorry; I cannot say which UN body.

More importantly, a complaint has been filed at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on behalf of Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu, challenging the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation as such. In their complaint, Mr Nega and Ms Alemu not only present their own case, but demonstrate that there is a pattern of prosecution of journalists under the law.

They have asked the Commission to refer the case to the African Court, which can issue a binding decision saying that Ethiopia’s laws violate international law. This would be an important step for all journalists in Ethiopia. MLDI is representing Mr Nega and Ms Alemu in these proceedings, together with the US-based NGO Freedom Now.

AJ: Ethiopia is notorious for persecuting and jailing critical journalists. Tell us about the working environment for journalists in Ethiopia.

NJ: Based on the number of cases we have been supporting in the country and the overview of prosecutions we documented for our complaint at the African Commission, I would say that there is virtually no free space left for independent journalism in the country.

Over the past few years we’ve slowly seen the last independent publications get shut down, their editors jailed and dissenting voices silenced. Consequently, self-censorship is all-pervasive amongst the remaining press. The situation is really very bad.

AJ: In an article published by Ethio-Mihidar newspaper, Woubshet Taye said some inmates have died in jail because they have been denied medical treatment. Does the MLDI have information on the circumstances of their detainment?

NJ: I can say that our female client in the African Commission case, Reeyot Alemu, has received severely inadequate treatment for the fibroadenoma she was diagnosed with. She has had surgery without anaesthesia, has been left with surgical stitches in her breast for over a year and never received proper aftercare. One of the requests we submitted to the African Commission is that she receive proper medical care as soon as possible.

AJ: What kind of pressure can be brought to bear on the Ethiopian government to get the journalists freed given the fact that the government appears to have ignored appeals and condemnation from the international community?

NJ: Looking at it from the legal perspective, it would be important for the African Court to get the opportunity to speak out on Ethiopia’s abuse of its anti-terror laws. The Commission has to refer the case to the Court, so we hope that they will do so soon so there is chance of a binding decision that would force Ethiopia to amend its legislation as well as the way it is using it to stifle dissent.

Generally speaking, it is important that the wider public becomes aware of the fact that these prosecutions under anti-terrorism laws to punish free speech are not isolated incidents in one or two countries, but part of a wider pattern taking place in many countries worldwide. It is important that each and every country employing these tactics, including Ethiopia, be held to account for this.

The Race to Save Ethiopians Damned by the Dam

March 3, 2014

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

People of Omo River Basin sold down the river

Exactly two years ago to the month, I wrote a commentary entitled, “The Dam and the Damned: Gilgel Gibe III Ethiopia” focusing on the impact of   “development” in the Omo River Basin (ORB) in southern Ethiopia. In that commentary, I echoed the deep concerns voiced by various international human rights and environmental organizations over the ecological impact and cost of that dam on the lives of indigenous populations.

I also made it a special point to express gratitude and appreciation to “the great international human rights organization that have created so much international awareness on the precarious environmental situation in the Omo River Basin.” I am even more profoundly grateful to International Rivers, Human Rights Watch, the Oakland Institute, Survival International and the Africa Resources Working Group two years later for the extraordinary work they continue to do to save the environment and the indigenous people in the ORB. For years, these organizations have been in the forefront of the race to save Ethiopians damned by the Gilgel Gibe III hydroelectric dam.

The various international organizations have done invaluable work by raising public awareness and undertaking advocacy campaigns to bring international attention to the ecological disaster taking place in the ORB. Over the years, they have all issued meticulously prepared field reports, research and policy analyses and other scientific and statistical reports documenting the effect of the “development programs” of the regime in power in Ethiopia on the lives and livelihoods of the people of the ORB. They have all sought to advocate and mobilize international public opinion to bring sanity to the madness of Gibe III dam, the flagitious leasing of tribal lands in the Basin for sugar and rice plantations for the export sector and to stop the forced resettlement (“villagization”) of indigenous communities.

In my 2012 commentary, I also publicly lamented the fact that Ethiopians, particularly those of us in the Diaspora, have been standing on the sidelines with arms folded as the various international human rights and environmental organizations groups were running a steep uphill race to save Ethiopians in the ORB. We have been silently watching them doing all of the heavy lifting for us.  At the time, I pleaded with all Ethiopians to “join and help international human and environmental rights organizations help us, and engage in vigorous environmental activism of our own.” I appealed for the “creation of our own environmental civil society organizations, particularly in the Diaspora, to ensure that Ethiopia’s rich and diverse ecosystem is preserved and protected today and for future generations.” I also warned, “If we fail to do that, we will all find ourselves in the same position as the people of the Omo River Basin who are damned by the dam.”

It is painful for me (frankly, I am ashamed) to admit that two years after I wrote that commentary, we are still on the sidelines watching while the international human rights and environmental organizations are still doing all of the heavy lifting for us and keeping up the race to save our people. I find myself asking the same questions over and over, without answers: Is it fair to have the international human rights and environmental organizations do all of the heavy lifting for us in the ORB? When these organizations show so much care and concern for our people and our country, why are we so manifestly unconcerned? Why is that we do not join and support the organizations speaking up for our people? Why is it that we do not come to the aid of these organizations and defend them against the slings and arrows of a vicious regime which slanders them and scandalizes their good works?  Would we be as passive and silent if the same environmental crimes and crimes against humanity were being committed in the name of “development” in other parts of Ethiopia? Are we manifestly unconcerned about the people of the ORB because they are marginalized ethnic minorities? Could it be that we are ashamed of the people of the ORB because they do not look “modern” like the rest of us, or are a “backward civilization” as the late Meles Zenawi once called them? How can we justify to future generations that they owe their legacy of environmental conservation and protection of the indigenous peoples of the ORB to the tireless efforts of international organizations? I ask my readers to think about these questions.

I think it is only fair that we should at least financially help those organizations who are helping us. There is no reason why we cannot demonstrate our support to them as they fight for the rights of our people in the ORB. We should be standing with them and not standing on the sidelines watching them.

The clear and present danger posed by the Gilgel Gibe III dam to the people of the ORB

The Gibe III dam poses a clear and present danger to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians in the ORB including the Bodi, Karo, Muguji, Mursi, Nyangatom and Dasanech , among others, who have survived for millennia practicing what is called “flood retreat agriculture”. At the end of the rainy season, the flooded land near the river banks provides rich silt for raising a variety of crops including sorghum, maize and beans. The very existence of these Ethiopians depends on the cyclical flooding season. The Gibe III dam will fundamentally disrupt the natural downstream flow by damming the river upstream for electricity production for export. Experts have convincingly argued that the water volume on the Omo River will be permanently reduced as a result of diversion of water for the dam reservoir and irrigation of sugar plantations. This will make flood retreat agriculture virtually impossible for the people living in the Basin. In August 2012, the world renowned conservationist and paleoanthropologist Dr. Richard Leakey challenged the self-serving Gibe III “scientific” studies minimizing the ecological effects of the dam and predicted, “the dam will produce a broad range of negative effects, some of which would be catastrophic to both the environment and the indigenous communities living downstream.”

“Developing” the Omo River Basin

In late January 2011, Meles Zenawi gave a speech in Jinka, South Omo. It was vintage Meles– bombastic, bitter and full of bluster. He promised the sun and moon to the people trapped in the “backward civilization” of the ORB. He pledged to take them out of the stone age and into the modern age by making the region “an example of rapid development.” He assured them that the “dam on the Omo River [will] eliminate flood, create a huge irrigation system and give pastoralists a sustainable income and a modern life.”

With a vengeance, Meles demonized and lashed out at the environmental and human rights organizations urging care and caution in the construction of the Gibe III dam and protection of the way of life of the indigenous people. He characterized them as naysayers and doomsayers “who want to block our freedom to use our rivers, and to save our people from poverty.” He called them malicious obstructionists. “They are creating huge propaganda… They are blocking us from getting financial loans from abroad to finish the project.” He ridiculed them as “best friends of backwardness and poverty… who don’t actually do anything tangible.” He virtually called them self-absorbed racists because “all they want is keep the pastoralists as a tourist attraction” and keep the people of the ORB “a case study of ancient living for scientists and researchers.”

Meles and his henchmen have gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal the environmental devastation that has occurred and continues to occur in the construction of the Gibe III dam and the “development” of the Basin. In July 2008, two years after construction began on the dam and international human rights and environmental organizations began sounding the alarm, Meles directed his “Environmental Protection Authority” to issue theGibe III Environmental Social Impact Assessment. That report was a shameless whitewash which rubber-stamped Meles’ pigheaded decision to forge ahead with the project. It was full of boldfaced lies. It unabashedly concluded that the reservoir area for Gibe III is unfit for human habitation because it is infested by deadly mosquitoes and tsetse flies (which cause “sleeping sickness”). It claimed, “There is no settlement in the future reservoir area and settlements are concentrated on the highland in areas outside the valley…  There is very little farming activity around the Omo valley bottom lands. … The population living within the proposed dam and the reservoir areas are not in close proximity to the UNESCO designated heritage site. No visible archaeological remains, which have scientific, cultural, public, economic, ethnic and historic significances, have been observed in the area and dam sites.”

Meles’ way of “modernizing” the “backward” people of the ORB was to turn over the Basin to Saudi Arabian and other foreign investors and his buddies.  Meles announced in his speech that his “government is planning, and working hard to establish, a 150,000 hectare sugarcane development in this area starting this year.” Sure enough, according to IC Magazine, “A Saudi Arabian tycoon Al-Moudi, with close links to the top-level Ethiopian leadership [was] allotted 10,000 hectares for a rice plantation. His massive project has done considerable damage to the local environment, which includes a national park and wildlife habitat, and local communities that have lived in their homelands for many generations.”

Meles announced that five sugar factories will be built in the ORB by the Omo Kuraz Sugar Development project. According to “Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency”, “Mesfin Industrial Engineering (MIE) signed ETB 3 billion ($162.2 million) worth contracts with state-owned enterprises to deliver machineries for the Tana Beles Integrated Sugar Development Project and the Kuraz Sugar development projects in the Amhara region and the Omo Valley…” MIE is “also producing railroad tracks for the Dire Dawa-Addis Ababa railway project and finalizing preparations to deliver the same for the Djibouti through Afar to Northern Ethiopia railway line.”

In June 2011, UNESCO concluded that “GIBE III dam is likely to significantly alter Lake Turkana’s fragile hydrological regime, and threaten its aquatic species and associated biological systems” and “urged the State Party of Ethiopia to immediately halt all construction on the GIBE III dam [and not] damage directly or indirectly the cultural and natural heritage located on the territory of another State Party.”

In Meles “development” plans, the impoverished and defenseless people of the ORB get the shaft while his filthy rich friends became super-filthy rich. According to one environmental study published in January 2014, “Construction of the Kuraz Sugar plantations (projected to cover 161,285 hectares) and accompanying infrastructure, including sugar processing factories and resettlement villages, has started in advance of completion of the Gibe III. The Kuraz Sugar plantations, plus additional area identified as suitable for cultivation (47,370 hectares), could eventually require over 50% of the Omo River inflow, depending on irrigation efficiency.”

Meles Zenawi’s “modernization” of the ORB was a windfall for his buddies, but it literally left the people of the Omo River Basin high and dry. Meles’ vision for the ORB and its people was, “what’s good for the ‘Saudi Arabian tycoon Al-Moudi’ and ‘Mesfin Industrial Engineering’ is good enough for the people of the Omo River Basin.” That is how Ethiopians in the Omo River Basin got sold down the river!

The continuing race to save the Omo River and indigenous people

Last week, International Rivers released a video on the environmental risks to the Omo River valley and severe and irreversible damage that could result to the people and ecosystem of the valley if the dam and thoughtless “development” projects concocted by the regime in power in Ethiopia continue unrestrained. It is a video worth watching as it clearly explains the clear and present danger facing the ORB.

There is little scientific doubt that Gibe III dam and the irrigation diverting water on the Omo River poses a clear and present danger to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people in Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya. Studies have shown that by ending the river’s natural flood cycle, harvests, grazing lands, river banks and fisheries extending to Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake, would be destroyed. The dam will devastate the unique culture and ecosystems of the Lower Omo Valley and Lake Turkana, both recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Experts fear that “Gibe III could destroy the fragile ecosystem for an additional 300,000 people downstream in Lake Turkana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site  which gets up to 90% of its water from the Omo River.”

It is particularly important for Ethiopians to understand the scope of the environmental damage and the human cost of the dam in the ORB. I specially urge my Ethiopian readers to view the Amharic version of the International Rivers video by clicking  HERE or on the picture below.

USAID and Donors Assistance Group in Ethiopia (a/k/a those who “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil” in the race to save the people of the Omo River Basin)

The official position of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Development Assistance Group’s (DAG) (a consortium of 26 donors) in Ethiopia has been to stonewall any questions of human rights abuses in the ORB. Stated bluntly, their official response could best be characterized as: “We see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil about human rights violations in the Omo River Basin.”

In October 2010, a few days after Human Right Watch released its report on the abuses of aid in Ethiopia, USAID and DAG issued a statement denying the “widespread, systematic abuse of development aid in Ethiopia. Our study did not generate any evidence of systematic or widespread distortion.” In 2012, USAID reported that it “did not find evidence to support claims [of human right violations] during its visit to South Omo.” In a letter dated January 17, 2014, Dennis Weller USAID, current Mission Director in Ethiopia stated that his agency and “other donors have been monitoring the situation in South Omo” and that “the main finding from these trips is that there are no reports of widespread or systematic human rights abuses. Our observations do not support assertions… that the resettlement processes are accompanied by systematic and widespread human rights abuses.”

Interestingly, Weller’s comments brushing off human rights abuses in the ORB are in stark contrast to his predecessor Thomas Staal’s. In an interview Stall gave before his reassignment to Bagdad in October 2010, he made the stunning admission that “with respect to political participation, we have not done a good job. Specifically, with respect to the election that took place two years ago, we have not done much to promote democracy… This is a hard situation that causes us to despair.” No reason for Weller to “despair” over human rights abuses in the ORB!

The official position of  USAID and DAG with respect to human rights abuses in the ORB could be reduced to two basic propositions: 1) The reports by international human rights and environmental organizations concerning forced evictions, villagization, resettlement, denial of access to subsistence land, beatings, killings, rapes, imprisonment, intimidation, political coercion, and the denial of government assistance are all fabrications and lies. 2) Even if the reports are accurate, they document anecdotal and isolated incidents which do amount to “systematic and widespread human rights abuses”.

USAID’s denial of “systematic and widespread human rights abuses” in Ethiopia should not surprise anyone. For years, USAID has taken shelter behind the empty phrase “systematic and widespread human rights abuses”. When Meles Zenawi declared in 2010 that his party had won the parliamentary elections by 99.6 percent, USAID found no “systematic and widespread human rights abuses”. When the Meles regime was committing crimes against humanity in Gambella and Ogaden regions, USAID transformed itself into USA In Denial. When hundreds of top opposition political figures, activists, civil society leaders, journalists, dissidents, bloggers, human rights advocates were jailed, USAID’s response was, “No systematic and widespread human rights abuses”. Nope! Nyet! Nien!  Pray tell, what exactly is “massive and systematic human rights violations”? Does USAID mean, “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic”? Perhaps for USAID a single human rights violation in the ORB is a tragedy but the wholesale violation of the human rights of the people in the Omo River Basin is a statistic?!

The fact of the matter is that USAID and others who visited the Omo region in January 2012 were provided compelling “audio recordings of the interviews conducted in several Lower Omo communities.” These recording “leave no room for doubt that the donor agencies were given highly credible first-hand accounts of serious human rights violations during the field investigation [undertaken by USAID and the Development Assessment Group] and that they have chosen to steadfastly ignore these accounts.”

U.S. Congress joins the race to save the people of the Omo River Basin

In July 2013, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) included language in Senate Bill 1372 imposing certain certification requirements in the administration of U.S. aid in Ethiopia. The Leahy language was adopted in the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014” which passed both houses on January 3, 2014. Section 7042(d) of the Act requires the U.S. Secretary of State to “certify to the Committees on Appropriations that the Government of Ethiopia is implementing policies to — (i) protect judicial independence; freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion; the right of political opposition parties, civil society organizations, and journalists to operate without harassment or interference; and due process of law; and (ii) permit access to human rights and humanitarian organizations to the Somali region of Ethiopia.” It further requires that U.S. ‘‘Development Assistance’ and ‘Economic Support Fund’ that are available for assistance in the lower Omo and Gambella regions of Ethiopia shall— (A) not be used to support activities that directly or indirectly involve forced evictions; (B) support initiatives of local communities to improve their livelihoods; and (C) be subject to prior consultation with affected populations.” The law requires the “Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the United States executive director of each international financial institution to oppose financing for any activities that directly or indirectly involve forced evictions in Ethiopia.” It seems the international human rights and environmental organizations that have been campaigning to protect the ORB and Gambella ecosystems and indigenous peoples have been right all along!!

Where are Ethiopians in the race to save the ORB and the indigenous people?

The titular prime minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, is said to be knowledgeable about water development and sanitation. He reportedly held a “graduate assistantship” at Arba Minch Water Technology Institute. He is also said to come from “an Omotic community which forms the principal population group in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region.” It is reasonable to suppose that Hailemariam would take both personal and professional interest in the environmental destruction and human cost of “development” in the ORB. Unfortunately, Hailemariam has repeatedly declared the he “will strive to carry on Meles’ vision to transform the country”, and by the same token oversee the destruction of the ORB ecosystem and the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in the Basin.

I admit it is a complete exercise in futility, but I urge Hailemariam and his regime to learn from the tragedy of Lake Oroumieh in Iran. That lake has shrunk by 80 percent in 10 years as a result of damning rivers and irrigation projects. The response of the Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, to the environmental disaster was “to form a team and to invite scholars to help find solutions.”

I have no reason to believe that Hailemariam and his crew care much about Lake Turkana in which the Omo River empties or the environmental damage in the ORB. I know that a regime afflicted by the arrogance of ignorance will not invite scholars and experts in the field to seek long-term solutions. I expect the regime leaders will repeat like a broken record their Pollyannish rhetoric about the ORB and demonizing condemnation of all who urge caution and care. Regardless, I find it a historical imperative to register the fact that Hailemariam and Co., have a legal duty to mitigate the environmental disaster and human catastrophe in the ORB. After all, they must understand that “Truth will not remain forever on the scaffold, nor wrong forever remain on the throne.”

What about Diaspora Ethiopians? Will they join the race to save their fellow Ethiopians damned by the Gibe III dam? Will they stand up and speak up for the voiceless, defenseless, powerless and helpless people of the ORB? Will they stand up and be counted with the people of the ORB or abandon them because they are a “backward civilization” as Meles Zenawi called them? Will they join International River, Human Rights Watch, Survival International and the Africa Resources Working Group in the heavy lifting and uphill fighting to save the Omo River Basin and its indigenous people? I do not know the answer to these questions, but I will be doing what I always do: Carry water (though not from the Omo River) for those doing the heavy lifting and uphill fighting! 

“Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights/3 and international human rights law.” United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 61/295.

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