Focus on one of the triplets of evil in Africa at G-20 Summit

By Robele Ababya
April 9, 2009
Despotic rulers scared of their shadows
Al Bashir of Sudan received instant support from his fuming buddies-in-crime in neighbouring Eritrea and Ethiopia as soon as the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant to Al Bashir of the Sudan. As the old adage goes, “Birds of the same feather flock together”. Meles ranks among top dictators of the stature of Al Bashir in committing genocide, crimes against humanity and gross violation of basic human rights. This time guilt has made the despotic leaders in the Horn of Africa to flock together like birds of the same feather.

The triplets in evil deeds no doubt have a common purpose of mutilating Ethiopia until she is diminished to the level of insignificance and even vanish from the map altogether. The ruler of the largest country in Africa is getting more land from Ethiopia; he has a willing partner in Meles to that end.

Judging from the exodus of especially young Eritreans fleeing from injustice and poverty, Isaias is depopulating the country. His one time hope of keeping Eritrea exclusively to himself and rule Ethiopia by proxy is shattered along with his desire of becoming uncontested regional power. The peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea will reconsider their common culture deeply rooted in their history in order to reconcile and bring sanity to regional politics.

Darfur is a living hell for black Africans. The draconian misery of black people meant nothing to the trio. For the trio, saving their necks was the number one priority in the face of the fast approaching day to account for their crimes and the havoc that they have unleashed in the Horn of Africa.
God will never forsake Ethiopia. Vengeance belongs to God and the stinging brinkmanship of the trio has caught up with them; there is no way they can escape. The evidence of their gross violation of fundamental human rights is well documented and justice will soon be done to assuage the anguish of those who lost their loved ones and the misery of those who were forcibly displaced.

Plain truth bites the inner core of TPLF
It is natural that one complains incessantly about a persistently excruciating pain, even if that persistence might be an irritant, moronic or monotonous to those opportunistic and greedy elites subservient to the genocide-in-chief, Meles Zenawi. The thugs in the inner circle of the tyrant are adept at finishing in troubled waters and feeding on the misery of others to get fat. So the repugnant crimes of the blood-thirsty dictator shall be told as long as the acute pains on his victims continue. Future generations will read the atrocities in history books.

The elites of Aigaland are quick to embark on character assassination of those who tell the truth about the atrocities of the ruling regime. They call it moronic when acts of genocide committed against the Anuaks, Somalis, and Amharas are repeatedly told. They would have preferred to pull the trigger which they are good at if they only could.   But it is in the nature of truth that it is repeatedly told until those denying it confess.

The President of Genocide Watch, Dr Gregory Stanton, is quoted as saying that “there was substantial evidence against the regime that proves that it committed genocide and atrocities against the Anuaks, Somalis and Amharas” and that in his open letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that  “one of the first leaders to defend Omar Al Bashir and condemn the warrant was Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, whose government has also been implicated in a pattern of widespread perpetration of serious human rights atrocities in Ethiopia and in Somalia.”

This plain truth is no doubt biting the inner core of the TPLF regime and it should be repeatedly brought to the attention of the international community, more so that the regime has conveniently violated its own constitution and failed to show magnanimity and compassion throughout its oppressive rule.

Perpetrator of genocide at the G-20 Summit
The butcher of Addis Ababa made it to the G-20 Summit in London and sat at the dinner table vividly looking lonesome, isolated and indisputably neglected by those sitting beside and in front of him.

Those dignitaries were perhaps wondering why a leader who terrorizes his own people was given the honour. Tyrant Meles seems lost in deep thoughts amid plenty with his index fingers on his nose and thumbs under his chin. He looks so sad and silent while other dignitaries around him seem relaxed and conversing. Is it because his heinous crimes were haunting him? May be he was contemplating his disgraceful fall from his position as master of peasant tenants in his serfdom.

Disclosure of accounts in Swiss banks advocated by Chancellor Angela Merkel may have frightened him.  Surely he must have been terrified more by the thunderous call of those brave and resolute Ethiopians at the mammoth demonstration outside calling on the international community to bring him to justice, a call which leaders at the Summit must have heard. It is fair to stress that the ‘roaring lion’ of Aigaland was mute and appeared demoralized.

God bless those Ethiopians who took part in the mammoth demonstration some waving and others clad in our beautiful tri-colour flag as we know it – without the eyesore emblem printed by TPLF on the yellow band. The triumphant demonstration marked a historic day that has uplifted the morale of true Ethiopians around the world. It was a memorable day for the families, relatives and indeed for all of us that the martyrs under the brutal rule of Meles are not forgotten and never will be.

The tyrant so far ruled by the strategy of hatching deep hatred for the Amhara ethnic group leaving no stone unturned to falsely blame it for anything that went wrong in the past; showing contempt for the Oromos and oppressing them; suppressing the entrepreneurial prowess of the Gurages. He did so by exploiting his purported Tigrean root to use the valiant people of Tigrai as a tool for his evil scheme of betrayals.

The stunning demonstration in London clearly shows that there are encouraging signs that Ethiopians are awakening and uniting to avert further damage to their country and gruesome violation of human rights of citizens. There are positive signs now emerging in the world political arena that the divisive strategy of tyrant Meles is on the verge of being shattered. This a beacon of hope and a guiding light in the march to victory over tyranny.

Intriguing paradox
The taxpaying peasants and the poor with little incomes:

• foot the bill for unbridled spending spree of the totalitarian government.
• build prisons with their labour and money in which their children are crammed
• pay salaries to prison guards ironically coming from their ranks to torture their children.
• foot the bill for aggressive wars created by dictators in which their children die and or  incur permanent bodily injuries

The list goes on. Our man in focus enjoys it all and we stay put fighting like dogs over the ‘ethnic’ bone that Meles keeps throwing at us. We must coordinate our efforts to enlighten the peasants living in serfdom and the rest of Ethiopians earning low income to refuse paying taxes to the ruthless regime.

Greed, Corruption, and economic mismanagement
Greed is abominable morally and unacceptable socially. It is a formidable impediment to economic growth. Corruption stifles creativity and impedes economic growth. Economic mismanagement is attributable to inept leadership embroiled in greed and corruption as in the case under the Meles regime churning out dubious statistics.

Competition in a transparent and conducive environment is good for economic growth. Individuals operating in such environment are of course entitled to getting rich and enjoying the fruits of their labour; compassion to share with the needy is a bonus for it cleanses the conscience adding to ones happiness. Unfortunately, the words like compassion and transparency do not exist in the lexicon of the regime.

The world is in deep economic crisis that no one knows how to get out of it The G-20 Summit was convened to tackle the draconian crisis blamed on corruption, greed and economic mismanagement. The Wall Street took a lion’s portion of the blame for the crisis. It is hoped eliminating tax evading havens and depositing stolen money in secret accounts in Swiss banks will be a thing of the past. It is good that the law caught up with individuals like Bernard Mardoff who swindled 65 billion dollars from unsuspecting investors and charity organizations. His property and that of his family including his wife and brother are being seized everywhere by the Federal authorities. The same fate awaits Meles and his family in regard to the looting of Ethiopian property for the last 18 years. More importantly, what makes Meles different from Bernie is that he will answer for committing genocide and heinous crimes against humanity.  He was in the wrong place at the G-20 Summit!

Cessation is a detrimental option  
The struggle for national liberation including cessation is tantamount to a number of mini-states running into a trap of slavery. Some reflection on the environment in which our country finds itself would give support to this assertion. This is done in the following paragraphs:

• Ethiopia is a water tower on which neighbouring countries depend in varying degrees. Beneficiaries of our waters no doubt want to determine the already skewed quantity in their favour. It is known the Blue Nile River carries 84% of the water to the Sudan and Egypt, which makes no secret of its traditional desire to control the sources of the River in our country. Therefore retrogressive forces in Egypt will leave no stone unturned to weaken our strength, disrupt our unity, stifle our prosperity and instigate regional instability.
• The messenger-in-chief had invaded Somalia without any compelling reason. That invasion has left vestige of enmity that may persist for decades. The Wabi Shebele River which is a lifeline for Somalia will add to sour relations which may crop up from time to time in the future. Certainly, the naked invasion of Somalia by the agazi forces of the repressive regime under the direct command of Meles has made any future normal relations between Somalia and Ethiopia remote and extremely difficult.
• Sudan has been traditionally unfriendly to Ethiopia and the recent secret ceding of fertile land to it by the TPLF has made the prospect for peace in the region improbable. The land ceded to the Sudan includes portions from the Amahara and Oromia regions putting the onus primarily on these most populous ethnic groups to put aside any differences concocted and exacerbated by Meles and work in unison to subdue his excessive abuse of power. One would ardently hope that OLF listens to the sage Dr.Bultcha Demekssa who said that the majority does not cede.
• The strategic location of Ethiopia was irresistible to Italian colonial ambitions to overrun adjacent countries. It is known that the Bath political parties of Syria and Iraq (under Saddam Hussein) were ardent supporters of the Eritrean liberation movements.

The list goes on. It is obvious that Ethiopia finds herself in a hostile environment conducive to claims on her resources – water, land and strategic geographic location. One would hate to imagine a scenario of a worsening situation where some mini-states ceding from Ethiopia would fight over water flowing from sources upstream to their borders.

A strong and democratic Ethiopia united in diversity will therefore be in the best interest of all its ethnic groups as well as to neighbouring States and countries in the Middle East where the quest for democracy is gaining momentum.

Judge Birtukan Midekssa , Artist Theodros Kassahun and thousands of other political prisoners mainly of Oromo ethnic group are held in filthy jails in flagrant breach of the TPLF constitution. Any direct fund flow from the G-20 to the treasury of the ruling regime would be immoral and a sign of double standard of Western powers.

The despotic ruler in focus will enjoy his game of divide-and-rule. Let us end his game for good.
LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA!!!
Robele Ababya (robele_ababya@yahoo.com)