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Stop
the terrorist acts!
Editorial
Ethiopian Observer
After the May 2005 election, Ethiopians had
great hopes of a peaceful existence and have been looking forward
to progress and development with a viable and vibrant democracy.
The state of events, however, has been derailed to the negative by
the top leadership of the CUD and the vocal Diaspora. The CUD,
which in its wildest fantasy had ever dreamt of getting as much as
20% of the votes in the national election, has since then tried to
exercise blackmail and work in direct contravention to the
interest of the Ethiopian people and state. The whole episode
leading to the aftermath and tragic events of the election could
only emanate from the megalomaniac leadership of the CUD, its
hateful and contemptuous attitude towards other contending parties
and leaders, its abhorrence for law and order, its totalitarian
nature and feudal mentality and its total dependence on hate and
violent groups of the Diaspora. The CUD is bent on to dismantle
Ethiopia and create chaos and destruction.
If we look back and consider the composition
of the leaders of the CUD, they are all from the old guard,
meaning remnants of the derg regime or disgruntled members of the
defunct EPRP and MEISON, most of whom now represent the supremacy
of one ethnic group. One thing should be known from the outset
about the background and march towards creating such an
organization not on the basis of the democratic principles of fair
play but on hierarchies of mischievous behaviors and clandestine
movement of overthrowing the government by strikes, violence on
the streets, staged “solidarity demonstrations” by their
supporters throughout cities of some western countries
(prescriptions according to Negede Gobeze), and if possible
aligning with Shaibya to occupy large chunks of Ethiopia. This
last case has been confirmed due to the shuttle traffic or
“diplomacy” of the “exile wing” of the CUD leadership to
Asmara.
Hailu Shawel with his background as ex-derg minister has obviously an axe
to grind. Mesfin Weldemariam, who was immediately appointed as
governor of Illubabor, a reward for being head commissioner for
the interrogation of the high officials of the Emperor and for his
recommendation to murder these same officials, has been widely
known for his tribal tribulations. Furthermore, he was the only
person who tried to save Mengistu and his henchmen, those accused
for crime against humanity, by suggesting wide-ranging
reconciliation among the Ethiopian rebels and the derg as well as
advocating a coalition government of both! His proposal, however,
did fail when Mengistu fled by hijacking a plane and landing in
Zimbabwe to live in a comfortable exile. The same Mesfin after
failing to accomplish his task of becoming the key player of
future Ethiopia, founded long overdue “Ethiopian Human Rights
Council”, a highly political subterfuge and an embryo used for
the formation of the “Movement
for Democracy and Social Justice (Rainbow Ethiopia), a member
party of the CUD.
This
organisation has been erratically and deplorably cited several
times in the US State Department’s human rights report. Though
there can have been some lack of coordination or unnecessary
measures taken by the police due to the riots and nature of the
criminal offences perpetuated by the persons, one-sided
information should not be used by resourceful superpower as
reliable and correct. Normally, a report to be credible should be
based neutral grounds, and not eloquently cut and copied from a
biased organisation, whose leader on human rights abuses has not
been clear and righteous. As a reminder after the election, a
simple homicide that was reported by CUD and even by the EU-EOM
observer Ana Gomez as an assassination by the security forces to
obstruct the person from testifying on poll rigging to the
Complaint’s Panel! These are the type of organizations
Ethiopians are dealing with, but foreign governments should be
warned of to verify the authenticity of such concocted news.
Therefore, the report by the State Department fails to meet
elementary qualifications as to its integrity and trustworthiness.
Ethiopia is implementing the basic human right requirements not to
please somebody but to settle these issues for its own sake. We
know even those who have reached the highest degrees in this
context are not living to its true spirit and universal
declaration.
Ethiopia,
which has lived for the last 14 years in a relative peace as
compared to the years of the fascist regime of the derg, has since
the election been caught in the violence of a terrorist group.
Though, the Ethiopian government is doing its level best to avert
any kind of atrocities and blind hate by these groups, every care
and measure has to be taken to protect and safeguard the safety of
the citizens. The arms (bombs, guns, etc) recently captured and
the culprits apprehended, prepared to unleash such terrible deeds
both against the public and prominent personalities, offices and
other infrastructures, have shown the vulnerability of our society
and the intentions of such criminals. The recent bomb blasts in
Addis Ababa maiming innocent compatriots and demolishing buildings
show how the demeanor of such sick minds and their obsession to
achieve “power by any means” would mean for our society. The
tactic of such disgraceful elements is to create a wedge between
the Ethiopian government and the people, where heavy-handedness to
curb terrorists would lead to a vicious circle of violence with
the terrible consequences of the derg “red terror”-type era.
The terrorist act has to be stopped. Ethiopians have had enough of
such horrors and we should work and give priorities to peace,
stability and development in order to catch up with the rest of
the world.
There
are, however, groups in the Diaspora who are on the fringe, some
living on handouts, some frustrated, and others dreaming of
government posts if there is regime change, who are disseminating
falsehood and tarnishing the positive image of Ethiopia. Everybody
knows that most of them one way or the other were organized with
the previous murderous regime. Their hopes were dashed to the
ground when the EPRDF won the election and they know more than any
one else that the EPRDF in the next election is coming more
prepared and consolidated to secure a landslide victory. And above
all, everybody knows what these individuals and groups go for.
They have no vision, no programme (neither economic nor
political), no coherence in policies, internal feuds, power
struggle, immaturity, lack of respect for nations and
nationalities and utter disrespect for law and order are among the
characteristics of these groups. So the frustration they have is
an expression for a post-election syndrome, exhibited in their
feudal mental malady. The vehicle for change has left them where
they still are while Ethiopia is progressing with massive
investments in education (22 universities, primary and secondary
schools), airports, hospitals and clinics, roads and feeder roads,
hydroelectric power (4-5 fold increase), telecommunication,
industries, etc. are testimonies for those who want to see the
reality on the ground. Therefore, our Ethiopia gives us hope and
inspiration to work in close collaboration wherever we are to
extricate the people from backwardness to advancement.
Furthermore,
the Ethiopian government should work hard to curtail the terrorist
propaganda and agitation coming from the Diaspora. Often, these
people are naturalized citizens of their respective countries. No
one in his right mind would accept subversive activities in the
form of unleashing terror or urging schools not to conduct the
learning/teaching activities or conducting interviews with groups
whose prime objective is to use weapon as a means to change
governments. If the US or Europe want to collaborate in fighting
terrorism somewhere in the world, then the conditions for such
cooperation should be reciprocal. You cannot clap with one hand as
the Chinese saying has it. Therefore, a concerted diplomatic
movement and work is necessary to put an end to such vociferous
and terrorist groups.
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