Frantic move by TPLF to split Christians and Muslims

by Robele Ababya  

Dec 15, 2012

Ethiopia is one of the first countries in the world to accept Christianity in 330 AD welcoming the advent of preaching the

Source: Photo taken from www.dejeselam.org

New Testament to enrich the Old Testament that was in place. She was also the first country in the world where a Christian Emperor gave refuge to Muslims in 615 AD escaping persecution in Mecca. Harar has been the main center of Islamic culture, learning, and propagation.

The Christian Monarch stood for freedom of conscience! Suffice it to say that Ethiopia is a sacred land of God that had tolerated the Judaism, Christianity and Islamic faiths to live side by side in relative peace and harmony.

Flicker of hope for unity of the split Synods of EOTC

The Ethiopia Orthodox Tewahedo Christian Church (EOTC) Synod was seriously split due to violation of its cannon law. The split culminated in an illegitimate election of the late Aba Paulos as the 5^th Patriarch of the Church.  This ushered in a deep division threatening the  centuries old Unity of the Church against the will of tens of millions followers of the Orthodox Tewahedo Christians at home and the Diaspora – all because of the deliberate divide-and-rule intrigues of the parochial minority group at the helm of power in the repressive government for the last 20 years.

Due to considerable pressure exerted by the faithful and initiative of prominent Ethiopians forming as facilitators for reconciling the leaders of the split Synod, one in Ethiopia and the other in the USA in Exile, three meetings between high level delegations from both sides were held – with increasingly productive outcomes , the third one by far yielding  a flicker of hope.

The war on religion unleashed by the repressive regime for the last 21 years has been dealt a heavy blow by the Communique issued by the two sides at the end of their Peace and Reconciliation Assembly held in Dallas Texas from 26 November 2012 to 30 November 2012. The picture below shows members of the delegation of both sides. The Synod in Addis Ababa should summon courage to listen to the overwhelming demand of the people to restore the exiled 4^th Patriarch Abune Merkorios to his sit and ensure the Unity of the Holy Synod of the EOTC. Written documents confirm that the Patriarch was sent into a forced exile by the ruling government of the late Zenawi.

The EOTC was a victim of the Fascist Italian invaders from 1936 to 1941 inflicting a heavy damage on Church facilities and massacring monks everywhere including in the venerated Debre Libanos Monastery where hundreds of believers lost their lives.  These heinous crimes of genocide were inflicted on the members of EOTC due to the staunch support of the Church for freedom and independence from the Fascists. The incomparable martyr Abuna Petros whose statute is slated for removal by the ruling repressive government stands as an epic example of ultimate sacrifice.

Crying about Terrible Symptoms of Ethiopian Political Illness

Not Attacking the Cause?
 Commentary

T.Goshu

As part of human life and behavior, this tendency is not of course uncommon in the process of dealing with most of our problems, and there is nothing wrong with it as such. It becomes very serious and worrisome when it comes to the question of figuring out the root cause of the symptoms we suffer from, and the need to apply the right treatment.

The analogy between symptoms, diagnosis   and attacking the very cause of a disease with the right medication or treatment in the world of medicine and serious illnesses in the arena of politics is not only logical but also powerfully convincing. It is true that the intensity and seriousness of all symptoms of illnesses are not the same. They significantly vary from disease to disease, from subject to subject and from circumstances to circumstances. Some are mild, less complicated, not complicated and/or short-lived in terms of duration. The mild and less complicated ones may go away with simple self-treatment or with the help of others. Some may be so swift and acute requiring urgent and highly coordinated responses. And so many other symptoms may develop through time and become chronic, huge price incurring, and enormously painful. Those symptoms which cost high prices and are horribly painful are caused by diseases which can turn deadly if they are not diagnosed before it is too late and treated accordingly.

Needless to say, the political illnesses we experienced for the last four decades and continue suffering from are getting incredibly severe and deadly. Sadly enough, we are not still seriously willing and meaningfully able to focus on the issue of attacking the root cause of those very terrible symptoms by pulling our time, energy and resources together. In other words, we are still victims of simply crying about the worst political pains we are suffering from instead of going deep into the right diagnosis and coming up with the right treatment. And this kind of undesirable if not harmful tendency have made us vulnerable to the very deceptive and dirty propaganda of the tyrannical ruling circle and its parasitic media including the Reporter of Amare Aregawi which continues carrying out the dirty job in the name of independent media/press . It is not uncommon to hear the higher officials of the TPLF/EPRDF government saying that if there are problems at all, it is merely because of the problem of implementation, not the policy and wrong doings at the top the powerhouse of the system which is of course the inner circle of TPLF/EPRDF itself.   These kinds of very hypocritical/cynical excuses had been repeatedly used by the late   MP.Meles Zenawi whenever he was asked and challenged by certain international critics and even by the diplomatic community of the donor countries in Addis. Unfortunately enough, the legacy of these kinds of very dirty and wicked behaviors and practices are being carried out by a puppet prime minister and two powerless surrogate deputies, and the third one (from TPLF) who is a real mastermind of premiership.  And those media out lets such as the Reporter has continued to fool the people to believe that all kinds of systemic and institutional crises have nothing to with a despotic, corrupt, tyrannical/dictatorial if not deadly inner circle of the ruling circle. They try hard to keep the untold sufferings (symptoms) in our country away from the root cause which is of course the top (head) of the chronically ill system, the very inner circle of EPRDF which is being manipulated and controlled by the inner circle of TPLF.

Let me make myself clear why I am mentioning the pro-TPLF/EPRDF newspaper –The Reporter. As usual, when I went 

through this newspaper’s issue of 12/09/12, its editorial caught my attention. It says, “Let there be a Priority, Focus and a Concerted Effort for a Systemic and Institutional Building!” (“Lesereat ena Letequamat Genbata Qidemia Tekuret ena Rebreb Yedereg!”) This is a very fantastic topic sentence if we take it at its face value. In substantiating this seemingly strong premise, the writer singled out some very big and critical entities as clear indicators of the seriousness of the problem. To my understanding, the ongoing reality with regard to the mentioned entities in our country is a crisis, not a problem as we know. Although the crafter of the editorial is not genuine and courageous enough to touch up the very root  cause of the systemic and institutional illnesses which is of course the inner circle of the ruling party for obvious reason( for being pro-ruling elites), raising the chronic symptoms is not a bad thing as such.

በማረሚያቤቶች የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰት መኖሩን መንግስታዊው የሰብዓዊ መብት ኮሚሽን አመነ

መንግስታዊው የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ኮሚሽን ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ በኢትዮጵያ በሚገኙ ማረሚያ ቤቶች የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰቶች

መኖራቸውን በይፋ አመነ፡፡

ኮሚሽኑ በባህርዳር ከተማ የተከበረውን የብሔር ብሔረሰቦች በዓል ተከትሎ ሰሞኑን ባካሄደው ስብሰባ ላይ የቀረበ

አንድ ጥናት እንዳመለከተው በሕገመንግስቱ የተደነገጉና አገሪቱ ተቀብላ ያጸደቀቻቸውን ዓለምአቀፍ የሰብዓዊ መብቶች

በሚቃረን መልኩ በአንዳንድ ማረሚያ ቤቶች የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰቶች በታራሚዎች ላይ እየተፈጸሙ መሆኑን ይፋ

አድርጓል፡፡በማረሚያ ቤቶች በተለይ ልዩ ድጋፍ በሚሹ ሴቶች፣ህጻናት፣አረጋዊያንና የአካል ጉዳተኞች ላይ የሚፈጸሙ የሰብዓዊ

መብት ጥሰቶች ይበልጥ አሳሳቢ ናቸው ብሏል፡፡እንዲሁም በሁሉም ማረሚያ ቤቶች የምግብ ፣የመኝታ ችግሮች መኖራቸውን

በመጥቀስ ሁኔታው መሻሻል እንደሚገባው ኮሚሽኑ ምክር ሰጥቷል፡፡

በአምባሳደር ጥሩነህ ዜና የሚመራው ይህው ተቋም ከዚህ ቀደም በዓለም አቀፍ ተቋማት ጭምር የሚቀርቡ ሪፖርቶችን

ውሸት ናቸው በሚል እየተከላከለ የቆየ ሲሆን በአሁኑ ወቅት ግን ችግሩን በተለሳለሰ አቋምም ቢሆን ለመቀበል

ተገዷል፡፡በአዲስአበባ ማረሚያ ቤቶች ከሚገኙ ታራሚዎች መካከል 62 በመቶ ያህሉ በአእምሮ ሕመም እየተሰቃዩ መሆኑን

በጥቅምት ወር 2005 ዓ.ም ይፋ በሆነው የጤና ጥበቃ ስትራቴጂ ዕቅድ ላይ መገለጹ የሚታወስ ነው፡፡

ለኢሳት የደረሱ መረጃዎች እንደሚያመለክቱት ከግንቦት 7 እና ከኦነግ ጋር ግንኙነት አላችሁ በመባል ከታሰሩት በተጨማሪ፣ በአንዳንድ የሙስሊም መሪዎች ላይ አሰቃቂ ድብደባ እንደተፈጸመ ለማወቅ ተችሎአል።

ፌዴራል ፖሊስ አገሪቱን በስለላ ካሜራዎች ለማጥለቅለቅ አቅዷል

 የፌዴራል ፖሊስ ከሁለት ዓመት በፊት በአዲስአበባ ተክሎ ሥራ ላይ ያዋላቸው የስለላ ካሜራዎች (cctv ካሜራዎች)

ውጤታማ በመሆናቸው ወደክልሎች ለማስፋፋት ማቀዱን አስታወቀ፡፡

ከፌዴራል ፖሊስ የተገኘው መረጃ እንዳመለከተው በኢትዮጵያ የፖሊስ ታሪክ ውስጥ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ በአዲስአበባ

ዋናዋና መንገዶች ላይ ካሜራዎችን በመግጠም የመቆጣጠሪያ ክፍል በማቋቋም በመንገዶቹ ላይ የሚሰሩ ሕገወጥ

ድርጊቶችንና የትራፊክ አደጋዎችን በአነስተኛ የፖሊስ ኃይል ያለብዙ ወጪና ድካም ለመቆጣጠርና ጸጥታ ለማስከበር

መቻሉን ይጠቅሳል፡፡

ይህንኑ ቴክኖሎጂ በከተማውና በክልሎች ለማስፋፋትና ተጨማሪ ሥራ እንዲያከናውን ለማድረግ ተከታታይ ሥራዎች

እየተሰሩ መሆኑን መረጃው ጠቅሶ ፣ “ተጨማሪ ሥራዎች” ያላቸውን ስራዎች ግን ከመግለጽ ተቆጥቧል፡፡

በሚሊየን ዶላር ወጪ በአዲስአበባ ከተማ የተተከሉት እነዚሁ ዘመናዊ ካሜራዎች ዋንኛ ጥቅማቸው ኢህአዴግ መራሹ

መንግስት ዜጎችን ለመሰለል ካለው ጥልቅ ፍላጎት ጋር የተያያዘ መሆኑን በመግለጽ መንግስት ለሕዝብ የሚያስብ ቢሆን

ኖሮ ገንዘቡን ድህነትንና የኑሮ ውድነትን ለመቅረፍ ባዋለው ነበር ሲሉ አንዳንድ ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች ተቃውሞ

አሰምተው እንደነበር አይዘነጋም፡፡

በተያያዘ ዜና ፌዴራል ፖሊስ በኢንፎርሜሽን ቴክኖሎጂ በመታገዝ የሚፈጸሙ የሳይበር ወንጀሎችን ለመከታተልና

አጥፊዎችን ለመያዝ ቢሮ ከፍቶ እየሰራ መሆኑን አስታውቋል፡፡

በኢንፎርሜሽን ቴክኖሎጂ(ICT) በመደገፍ የሚሰሩ ወንጀሎች(ሳይበር ክራይም) አሳሳቢ እየሆኑ በመምጣታቸው

ወንጀሎችን ለመከታተል፣ለመመርመርና ለማጣራት፣አጥፊዎችንም ለፍርድ ለማቅረብ በፌዴራል ፖሊስ የወንጀል ምርመራ

ዘርፍ በፎረንሲክ ዳይሬክቶሬት ስር የሳይበር ላብራቶሪ ተቋቁሟል፡፡ላብራቶሪውም በሰለጠኑ ባለሙያዎች መደራጀቱን

የፖሊስ መረጃ ጠቁሟል፡፡

አስተያየታቸውን የሰጡን አንድ የፖሊስ መኮንን መንግስት በኢንተርኔት በሚደረጉት ትግሎች ተደናግጧል፣ በአገሪቱ  የለውጥ ፍላጎት እያየለ መምጣቱ አስደንግጦታል። በዚህም የተነሳ ሁሉንም ነገር ለመቆጣጠር ይፈልጋል ብለዋል።

ሙስሊም ኢትዮጵያውያን ተቃውሞ ማሰማታቸውን ቀጥለዋል

ኢሳት ዜና:- ላለፈው አንድ አመት የጁመዓን ጸሎት ተከትሎ  ሙስሊም ኢትዮጵያውያን የሚያደርጉት ተቃውሞ  ዛሬም ቀጥሎ ውሎአል።ታህሳስ ፭(አምስት) ቀን ፳፻፭ ዓ/ም

ኢትዮጵያውያኑ መንግስት ድምጻችን ይስማን፣ የታሰሩ መሪዎች ይለቀቁ፣ መንግስት የለም ወይ በማለት ድምጻቸውን አስምተዋል።

ከፍተኛ የጸጥታ ጥበቃ በተካሄደበት በዚህ ተቃውሞ በመቶ ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ሙስሊም ኢትዮጵያውያን በአንዋር መስጊድና በውጭ በመሆን ድምጻቸውን አሰምተዋል።

በሴቶች መስገጂያ በኩል የጸጥታ ሀይሎች 11 የሚሆኑ ሴቶችን ይዘው ማሰራቸው ታውቋል።  ታስረዋል ስለተባሉት ሴቶች በመንግስት በኩል ለማረጋገጥ ብንሞክርም አልተሳካልንም። የመንግስት የጸጥታ ሀይሎች በእስር ላይ የሚገኙትን የድምጻችን ይሰማ መሪዎችን የፍርድ ቤት ጉዳይ ለመከታተል በልደታ ፍርድ ቤት የተገኙ ሙስሊም ሴቶች ተመርጠው መታሰራቸው ይታወሳል።

የዛሬው ተቃውሞው አቶ ሀይለማርያም ደሳለኝ በቅርቡ ለአልጀዚራ ቴሌቪዥን የሙስሊሙን ጥያቄ በተመለከተ የሰጡትን ቃለምልልስ ለመቃወም ያለመ ነው። አቶ ሐይለማርያም በሙስሊሞች ጥያቄ ዙሪያ ለቀረበላቸው ጥያቄ፣ የሙስሊሙ ጥያቄ የጥቂቶች መሆኑንና አብዛኛው ሙስሊም መብቱ ተከብሮለት እየኖረ መሆኑን ተናግረው ነበር።

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የሙስሊሙን ጥያቄ ለመመለስ ዝግጁ ሆኖ አለመገኘቱ የአሜሪካን መንግስት ሳይቀር እያሳሰበ መምጣቱ ታውቋል።

የአሜሪካ ልኡካን ቡድን በተደጋጋሚ ወደ አዲስ አበባ በመመላለስ የመንግስት ባለስልጣናት የሙስሊሙን ድምጽ እንዲሰሙ እየወተወቱ ነው።

በተመሳሳይ ዜና እሁድ በቃሊቲ የሚደረገውን የእስረኞች ጉብኝት የጸጥታ ሀይሎች ለማወክ ቢሞክሩ ህብረተሰቡ በትእግስት እና ሰላማዊ በሆነ መንገድ እንዲያሳልፈው አዘጋጆች ጥሪ አቅርበዋል። በስፍራው የሚገኙ የአዲስ አበባና የአካባቢው ነዋሪዎች በሚይዙዋቸው ሞባይሎች፣ ብጥብጥ ለመፍጠር የሚሞክሩ ፖሊሶችን በቪዲዮ ቀርጸው እንዲያስቀሩ ጠጥቀዋል።

Tigray Muslims pointed fingers at sheik Elias

Tigray Muslims pointed fingers at sheik Elias for the deadly raid on a Neblet mosque.

by Getahune Bekele

There is anger among Tigraye’s Muslim community because many of them believe that last Wednesday’s deadly raid on

 the Neblet mosque outside Adwa was ordered by the genocidal TPLF cadre and self appointed grand mufti of Tigraye republic, sheik Elias Redman.

It is also a well known fact that the brutal sheik works with federal police commander Workeneh Gebeyehu to crash the current Muslim uprising in Ethiopia.

The junta’s implausible excuse for the raid was that the mosque

Has been Sheltering extremists and even suicide bomb manufacturers who were planning to unleash a bloody attack on the town of Adwa in revenge for hundreds of Muslims killed by the regime since the uprising began.

A guard named Musa who refused to open the main gate was brutally murdered and 97 persons were arrested, according to eye witnesses in the town of neblet.

TPLF cadres further suspect that the bomb which destroyed a maximum security prison in Adigrat few weeks ago might have been manufactured and passed to the EUFF rebels by the so called “Neblet terrorists.”

It is not clear if the commandos found weapons or bomb making ingredients in the mosque as the reclusive province’s authorities refused to comment on the matter.

However, an elderly Muslim resident of the nearby Edga Arbi village dismissed the accusation as a terrible faux pas and lamented the appointment of well known anti Islam warlord Debretsion Gebre Mikael, as deputy PM of Ethiopia. According to the old man, the TPLF commandos looted the mosque; taking food parcels, generators and public address systems.

An angry school teacher who gave his name as Ali told the Horn Times reporter that for the past 21 years the TPLF marginalized Muslims in Tigrai and they suffered discrimination.

“We condemn the internal colonization of Ethiopia by the Tigraye-Tigreng junta, a group of Tigro-Ertrean outcasts. We are also warning the people of Tigre to look beyond TPLF. It is highly unethical for us to live in luxury, enjoying the wealth stolen from the people of Ethiopia.” The honest high school teacher concluded.

He also condemned the conduct of Aiga forum, a Tigre website which posted the picture of the raided and looted mosque without telling the story to the world, describing citizen journalists there as “Bozene cadres.”

infohorntimes@gmail.com

BREAKING NEWS: Susan Rice Dropping Out

U.N. envoy Susan Rice is dropping out of the running to be the next secretary of state. Brian Williams will have an exclusive interview with Rice on tonight’s “Rock Center With Brian Williams” at 10p/9c.

By Tracy Connor, NBC News

Embattled U.N. envoy Susan Rice is dropping out of the running to be the next secretary of state after months of

 criticism over her Benghazi comments, she told NBC News on Thursday.

“If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama, saying she’s saddened by the partisan politics surrounding her prospects.

“That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country…Therefore, I respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time,” she wrote in the letter obtained by NBC News.

Brian Williams will have an exclusive interview with Rice on tonight’s “Rock Center With Brian Williams” at 10p/9c.

In a statement, Obama said he accepted her decision to remove her name from consideration for secretary of state and he praised her as “an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant.”

The president added: “While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first. The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country. ”

Rice had been viewed as one of the front-runners to replace Hillary Clinton as the nation’s top foreign policy official.

She has been under intense fire from Republicans for initially characterizing the Sept. 11 assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, as a spur-of-the-moment response to a crude anti-Muslim film.

Reflections on Pseudo Supporters of EPRDF

By Adane Atnafu, (PhD)

In every measure, the government of Ethiopia in handling human resources has miserably failed to meet international standards. This is partly because competent and responsible individuals do not take the government positions. Rather, most positions are filled by what we call pseudo supporters. Supporters of the present political party could be classified into three; real, forced and pseudo.  Real supporters are those who support the political system from the bottom of their hearts (they are very few in numbers), forced supporters are those who do not really want the political system but they support the system because they feel that they will lose their jobs (they are few in numbers) and pseudo supporters (they are many). Thus, I would like to say a few points about the pseudo supporters based on my long years of personal observation. I closely observed them; I even brought the case to the attention of my friends, working in various governmental organizations. And they also confirmed me that these types of individuals are found in every public organization in Ethiopia like common cold. Who are actually these supporters?

Pseudo supporters are weak individuals; these people cover up their weaknesses by being a political member. They are opportunist; these supporters do not have faith in self abilities; they are academically and politically immature; they do not have recognition of spiritual maturity, proven character, and reputation; these supporters do not have confidence and zeal to work without being a political member; they are not mentally strong and firm in decisions; they could not use and trust their brain; they hide themselves in the shadow of politics. They gather every week for seemingly trivial points and they have a deep and uncompromising commitment to their political meeting rather than their institutional task. They believe in ethnic grouping like dogs. If there is a person who has the experience, skill, responsibility and intelligence, he/she might be a point of attack. I feel that employees who do not lean on the ruling political parties are do not have a place to land in the Ethiopia’s public organizations. If a new government, contrary to the present government is in place, these pseudo supporters who waver in their personality show support to the new government too. They think about themselves and their life; the life of others and the fate of the country do not matter to them. In short, these people are ruminants of history.

By supporting the ruling party and by favouring ethnic dictatorship, the pseudo supporters could yield rich dividends. They feel that they are well-protected; they feel that they cannot exist without leaning the government’s elbows. If there is a dispute among the employees, decisions would be made in the best interest of the pseudo supporters. Moreover, leftovers are thrown to them like village dogs and they also hunt it out like scavengers.

Similarly the head of the organizations who become members of the political system give an atmosphere of assurance to the pseudo supporters. This in turn provides them pride among the followers. In terms of the organizational psychology, employees could not get satisfaction if their bosses are less competent and inconsiderate. In most public organizations in Ethiopia, bosses are assigned based on their political stand, without considering their competence and capability. This mode of administration has got two embarrassing consequences. One thing, the job cannot be done properly since the subordinates are dissatisfied by the head. It is quite natural that no subordinates would like to be dominated by a leader who lacks self-confidence, courage and wisdom. On top of this, the bosses do not feel at ease; they could not impress their followers with their authorities. Some of them may feel inferiority complex since they are assigned without the consent of those being governed.

የአዲስ አበባ ወጣቶች የአንድነት የቃሊቲ ጉብኝት እንዲካሄድ ጠየቁ

ወጣቶቹ ለኢሳት በላኩት መልእክት እንደገለጡት በመጪው እሁድ ታህሳስ 7፣ 2005 ዓም አለአግባብ የታሰሩ የሙስሊም ማህበረሰብ መፍትሄ አፈላላጊ ኮሚቴ አባላትን፣ ጋዜጠኞችንና የተቃዋሚ መሪዎችን በቃሊቲ ተገኝተው ለመጠየቅና ለመዘከር አስበዋል።

ማንኛውም የህገመንግስቱን የእምነት እና ሀሳብን በነጻነት የመግለጽ መብት መከበር እንዳለበት የሚደግፍ ኢትዮጵያዊ በሙሉ ወደ ቃሊቲ በመሄድ ድጋፉን እንዲያደርግ እንጠይቃለን ያለው መግለጫ፣ እነዚህ ታሳሪዎች ህገመንግስቱ የሰጣቸውን መብት በመጠቀም መላው ህዝባቸውን ሲያገለግሉ የነበሩ የሰላም እና የነጻነት ታጋዮች እንደሆኑ እና ህዝቡም ሰለማዊ አላማቸውን እንደሚደግፍ በእለቱ ማሳየት ይጠበቅበታል ብሎአል።

አልጀዚራ ባለፈው ሳምንት ለጠ/ሚ ሀይለማርያም ደሳለኝ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ  ስለታሰሩት የህሊና  እስረኞች  ጥያቄ ያቀረበ ሲሆን፣ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩም በእስር ላይ የሚገኙት አሸባሪዎችና ከአሸባሪዎች ጋር ግንኙነት ያላቸው እንጅ የህሊና እስረኞች አይደሉም በማለት መልሰዋል።

Matriarch of the Unholy Trinity

Susan Rice, the current U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., has been waltzing (or should I say do-se-do-ing) with Africa’s slyest, slickest and meanest dictators for nearly two decades. More cynical commentators have said she has been in bed with them, as it were. No doubt, international politics does make for strange bedfellows.

Rice’s favorite dictators in Africa are the “Unholy Trinity” — Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and the late Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia — all former rebel leaders who seized power through the barrel of the gun and were later baptized to become the “new breed of  African leaders” (a phrase of endearment coined by Bill Clinton to celebrate the “Three African Amigos” and memorialize their professed commitment to democracy and  economic development). She has been best friend for life and the acknowledged Guardian Angel, champion, apologist, promoter, advocate, grand dame and matriarch of the trio. She has shielded the “Fearsome, Threesome” from legal and political accountability, deflected from them much deserved criticism and thwarted national and international scrutiny and sanctions against them.

Rice, Rwanda and the Genocide That Was Not

In April 1994, when the Clinton Administration pretended to be ignorant of the unspeakable terror and massacres in Rwanda, Susan Rice — who by her own description “was a young Director on the National Security Council staff at the White House, accompanying the then-National Security Advisor, Anthony Lake” — and currently the putative heir apparent to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, was unconcerned about taking immediate action to stop the killings. Rather, she was fretting about the political consequences of calling the Rwandan tragedy a “genocide”. In a monument to utter moral depravity and conscience-bending callous indifference, Rice casually inquired of her colleagues, “If we use the word ‘genocide’ and are seen as doing nothing, what will be the effect on the November [congressional] election?” Rice later shed crocodile tears for having made her senseless statement while simultaneously claiming she does not quite remember making it,  but regretted “if I said it.” Lt. Colonel Tony Marley, the U.S. military liaison to the Arusha peace process (the Arusha Peace Accords which resulted in the 1993 agreement for power sharing between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda) was so baffled by Rice’s statement, he observed, “We could believe that people would wonder that, but not that they would actually voice it.”

In less than 100 days, 800 thousand Rwandans by U.N. estimate had been killed in the genocidal madness. For weeks, Rice, her boss Lake and other top U.S. officials labored and agonized not to call the monstrous Rwandan genocide, a genocide. They continued to play their sinister semantic bureaucratic games to make sure there were no official references to “genocide”, “ethnic cleansing”, “extermination” and the like in connection with the Rwandan tragedy. But far from regretting her role in underrating the Rwandan genocide and the massive and gross violations of human rights, over the past decade and half Rice has turned a blind eye, deaf ears and muted lips to extrajudicial killings, suppression of the press, decimation of opposition parties and imprisonment of large numbers of dissidents in Africa and aided and abetted Africa’s dictatorial trio. She has coddled, pampered, nurtured, protected and sang praises for these ruthless dictators.

U.S. policy in the 1994 Rwandan genocide will remain a testament to shame, diplomatic duplicity, bureaucratic sophistry and plain old fashioned callous deceitfulness. On April 6, 1994, the plane transporting Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, Burindian President Cyprien Ntaryamira and other officials was shot down as it returned from Tanzania. The prime suspects in the assassination are believed to be elements of the Rwandan Armed Forces (RAF) who had rejected a power sharing agreement Habyarimana had reached with the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) a year earlier. Immediately following Habyarimana’s assassination, RAF members aided by extremist militia elements known as the Interahamwe (which in Kinyarwanda means “those who stand/work/fight/attack together”) went on a rampage indiscriminately killing government officials, ordinary Tutsis and other moderate Hutus.

Rice and other top U.S. officials knew or should have known a genocide was underway or in the making once RAF and interahamwe militia began killing people in the streets and neighborhoods on April 6. They were receiving reports from the U.N. mission in Rwanda; and their own intelligence pointed to unspeakable massacres taking place in Kigali and elsewhere in the country. In a Memorandum dated April 6, 1994, the day of the Habyiarimana assassination, Deputy Assistant Secretary Prudence Bushnell, the State Department’s number two official for Africa matters, predicted:

If, as it appears, both Presidents have been killed, there is a strong likelihood that widespread violence could breakout in either or both countries, particularly if it is confirmed that the plane was shot down. Our strategy is to appeal for calm in both countries, both through public statements and in other ways…

President Girma’s Letter

Slip of the Mind or the Tongue?

by Teklu Abate

Since his coronation in October 2001, the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Girma

 WoldeGiorgis, has been ‘playing’ at the background of the political scene. He is occasionally seen on ETV, receiving ambassadors and inaugurating the start and finish of projects. Luck has him that he was given a second term in office in October 2007. His term will technically end in October 2013.

Having this as a background, I want to focus on the president’s take of the reconciliation efforts underway between the two EOTC synods. In his letter addressed to the patriarch abroad, he clearly highlighted the need to merge the two synods through reinstating Abune Merkorios to his position in Addis. In a separate letter addressed to the acting Patriarch in Ethiopia, Abune Natanael, the president requested the synod there to make a decision to reinstate Abune Merkorios as patriarch.

But then came a big surprise; that the president forsook his letters and made it clear via VOA that he wrote the letters out of sheer pressure, emotion, and hastiness. Dubbing the letters unconstitutional, the president’s office indicated the need to write another letter. Accordingly, the letter will clarify important points, among which one that Abune Merkorios would be allowed to compete for the position.

For sure, these developments have great national ramifications which warrant further reflection. I believe the issues are too big to be forgotten easily. First, I briefly discuss how the president’s letters are unconstitutional. Second, I try to identify the motives behind writing the letters. Third, attempt is made to explain potential rationales behind renouncing the letters. Finally, I explain how the letter yet to come from the president’s office is again plainly unconstitutional.

Legal Stance

The Ethiopian constitution clearly maintains that religion and government are entirely different entities and hence one should not intervene in another’s affairs. Although he is not technically affiliated to EPRDF, the president holds the government’s highest position. His office should and could not interfere with EOTC’s internal affairs, such as the choice of patriarch. His letters addressed to the leaders of the two synods brutally breached the constitution. Although not a direct order, the letters powerfully requested the two leaders to create unity via making Abune Merkorios the next EOTC patriarch.

In fact, there will not come any stronger letter from a government official than these ones. Several EOTC believers and some media however appeared to cheer the president for his courage and positive thinking. They argued that his letters were nothing less and more than reflecting the holy wishes and beliefs of a believer to see a united synod. I also believe that the church does not need and cannot afford two synods. There was no problem if an ordinary person or a minor government official publicly expressed this sort of personal wish. Politically catastrophic was when the same wish came from the highest government office. So the president’s letters, no matter how well intentioned they were, were precisely speaking unconstitutional. If so, why the president dared to write the letters in the first place?

The Motives

According to the president’s VOA interviews, he believed that Abune Merkorios was forced to leave his office by the former PM Tamirat Layne. And he thought that bringing Abune Merkorios back to the now open position was the surest way to unite the church. This cause seems plausible and noble though purely unconstitutional. This sort of behavior of politicians must be condemned by the strongest possible terms as it invites nepotism, corruption, and inequality, and compromises national interest and well-being.