Ethiopia’s Zenawi on whom no bounty has been put
By Aklilu Demissie
May 9, 2007 — The atrocities that are being committed by the brutal, voted out, undemocratic government is something it is trying to hide in plain view under the popping out eyes of the State Department officials. Lives lost in gruesome manners and whole sale detentions, intimidations, and silencing of the media and violations of individual rights have become the order of the day than the exception for freedom lovers in Ethiopia who failed to move the heart of Western political analysts and office advisor think tanks. Rhetoric of the state department designed to appear to have got their attention is non other than a political gimmick not to push issues beyond headlines which in some way has the similarity to a movie in which Eddie Murphy acted in “The Distinguished Gentle Man.”
The perceived stability of the Horn is alluring to Western diplomats while in fact it is rotting from inside out simply because of the major destabilizing factor of the region unquestionably being Meles Zenawi. It is naïve for the State Department officials to adhere to their misguided belief that it is only with Meles that they can do business with no matter unelected, blood thirsty he is. This assumption of doing business with the unelected regime would endanger over the long term America’s influence as to lose its revered champion of freedom status from the hearts and minds of Ethiopians. It would lead to disillusionment and bias with democratic values.
The instability in the horn emanates from the lunacy of Meles Zenawi who further complicated and entangled the situation of the factionalized and fractured Somalia by his invasion and war crimes; the spiraling fiasco with Eritrea which he jabbed in between the people of Ethiopia and Eritrea; the volatile and precarious disputes between communities along the borders of Kenya and Sudan; and the explosive situation in Ogaden. All the fingers point to Meles Zenawi.
It would be unwise to think the magnitude of atrocities to have not come to the proportion of the West African crisis which Charles Taylor unleashed during his reign of terror.
The brazen, shrewd subterfuges practiced to cling to power with their subtle strings are far deeper and exceed what Charles Taylor has done in Liberia and to West Africa. The Horn is in a cataclysmic eruption that is throwing ashes of mayhem and social disruption unseen since the Rwandan crisis and now the Darfur crisis.
It defies reasons and would be uncharacteristic of State Department officials to think a stabilizing and buffer power boy in the Horn to be Meles Zenawi in view of stark naked serious breaches of known integral human rights in Ethiopia and now war crimes committed in Somalia.
The State Department should be mindful with its deserved anti terror policy from falling victim to wanton dictators and torturers. The department’s leverage should not be compromised from grossly imbibing the poisonous concoctions Meles Zenawi trumps up for their consumption of terrorist threats which can not be thwarted if he were to be removed from the picture.
It has and would ever be the people of Ethiopia who have stood and would stand against any form of terror along side their brothers and sisters in America.
These heinous, poignant crimes committed by Meles Zenawi with their patent similarities unleashed by Charles Taylor of Liberia are being implemented in their full facets and forms with pervasiveness. What might have remained to edge media wise to Charles Taylor’s style supported former rebels of Sierra Leone, as the next step, for the besieged and beleaguered Ethiopians is to choose either the “Short Sleeve” or “Long Sleeve” amputation options of the arms to really capture the attention of the Western media. Recently, Meles Zenawi has publicly announced that he is prepared and is in his earnest to cut off fingers and hands of any one opposing his brutal regime. His rant will not appease the thousands he has killed, jailed and tortured all the way to power and in power. One can imagine what Somalis are going through at the hand of this merciless killing machine.
When Charles Taylor’s viciousness became beyond the scoop of human imagination the United States Government put a bounty on his head. This came after all preventable human miseries and sufferings had transpired. His sanctuary in another dubious, most corrupt Nigeria seemed to have stalled the pursuit for his apprehension by the International Tribunal for Sierra Leone. With all the pressure from US and Britain he was captured and found himself where he belonged- in a prison cell where notorious rights violators end up- in the Haig. For those who had a chance for a glimpse of the damning report of Human Rights abuses of 2006 State Department Ethiopia report would ask how despot Meles Zenawi is still in power. His concurrent war crimes in Somalia are not helping him at all.
The despot ridiculed the report as not being the last word in the bible. It was even audacious for a spiritually amputated despot to mention the name of the Holy Bible. He can be rest assured when the time comes, be it the bible or the Koran won’t save him from standing trial in international tribunals for crimes against humanity in Ethiopia and war crimes in Somalia. Obviously he was telling American policy makers that the ‘Chinese Bible’ would save him, until at least America decides to come at him.
Dictator Augsto Pinochet was not saved by America when his time came to face trial nor did Saddam Hussein an ally to America at one time escape the noose. Did the Shah of Iran get sanctuary after decimating the population when he begged for asylum in the USA after finishing the assignment given to him?It is then that ‘American Bible’ of justice would matter and take its own course. It would definitely become a defining first and last word.
The rotting despot might have thought clinging to the shoulders of visiting American Senators and Congressmen on official visits could save or endorse his crimes.
The thoroughly crafted hollow economic development has shown the world where the people of Ethiopia stand. The population has been transformed in to a recipient of meager wheat ration in a Meles’ world of media frenzy of bogus economic development.
It is unfortunate a power crazed despot at his criminal zenith continues unleashing destruction and mayhem to the very fabric of the nation and East Africa.
Finger pointing, accusations, crocodile tears, and parading of human rights violators in tribunal proceedings have not helped the fallen innocent heroes of Rwanda. Immediate practical action not rhetoric is needed before a bounty circular is sent to hunt a head.
* The author is an Ethiopian based in the USA. He can be reached at [email protected]