April 14, 2017 Urgent Appeal on Recurrent State-Sponsored Atrocities in Ethiopia H.E. Mr. Donald Trump, President of the USA president@whitehouse.gov H. E. Mr. Rex Tillerson Secretary of State Secretary of State - US Department of State https://www.state.gov/secretary, Info@state.gov H. E. General James Mattis Secretary of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1000 H. E. Mr. Antonio Gutierrez, Secretary General of the UN Enquiries@un.org H. E. Mr. Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly pga65@un.org H. E. Ms. Federica Mogherini The European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the European Union External Action EEAS Building, 9A Rond Point Schuman 1046 Brussels Belgium H. E. Moussa Faki, Chairperson, the African Union Commission, Addis Ababa webmaster@africa-union.org au-washington@africa-union.org 1
Dear Excellency The undersigned Ethiopian civic, political and religious organizations in the Diaspora express deep utter disappointment and dismay that the UN, EU, AU and major bilateral donors such as the United States and the UK continue to ignore the dire and debilitating political environment in Ethiopia. Unaddressed fast, the world may soon witness another Syria and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. By pouring billions of dollars in humanitarian, security and development assistance to a small ruling clique that has become shamelessly wealthy on the back of the Ethiopian poor, Western democracies have become enablers of repression, all in the name of anti-terrorism, stability and mutual national interests. Forgotten and ignored are 94 percent of Ethiopia s 102 million citizens who continue to suffer from abject poverty and repression by their own government. It saddens us that, instead of advancing the causes of genuine peace, freedom of expression, assembly and movement, justice, equitable treatment of ordinary citizens, the rule of law, representation of and participation by the vast majority of Ethiopians in the policy, decision making and growth process; and instead of advocating a solid foundation for a pluralist democracy in the second most populous country in Africa, the UN family, the African Union and the European Commission, multilateral and bilateral donors have become enablers of one the most repressive, cruel and corrupt regimes in the world. The Tigray People s Liberation Front (TPLF) that dominates the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has been in power for more than a quarter of a century. Not only has Western aid provided the material means in strengthening this monstrous and Orwellian police state and government; it has also emboldened it not to change for the better. For too long, the donor and diplomatic community, especially the UN system, the EU, the United States and the UK have turned a blind eye to institutionalized corruption, torture, dispossession of millions of farmers and pastoralists as a consequence of land grab and the degradation of the human spirit. This is a losing proposition. Ethiopians need freedom, empowerment and the rule of law, genuine democracy and accountable and responsible government more than they need aid and perpetual dependency on handouts. The notion that an enabled and empowered terrorist and corrupt state and government can advance sustainable and equitable growth for the vast majority while deterring terrorism in the Horn is not borne by the facts on the ground. Endearing a widely hated, despised, cruel and brutal regime is no longer in the interest of the Ethiopian people or Western democracies. We are confident that, free from repression and state-sponsored oppression, Ethiopians have enormous potential to free themselves from debilitating poverty; and to guard their society from terrorism and from all forms of extremism. The facts on the ground speak for themselves; and no sugar coating can serve as a substitute to a human tragedy that Western democracies ignore. The prudent policy is to side with the Ethiopian people now rather than wait for the country to explode into a civil war. Under the TPLF/EPRDF, state-sponsored extrajudicial killings, murders, maiming, imprisonment, torture and other inhumane treatment, forcible evictions of indigenous people from their ancestral lands, forcible disappearances of thousands, drought and poor governance induced hunger, human and financial capital flight are institutionalized and have become routine. The UN, AU, EU and major bilateral donors such as the United States and the UK as well as major state investors such as China and oil rich gulf countries provide billions of dollars each year have given legitimacy to a regime that has closed all 2
political, civic, religious and economic space. The private sector is crowded out by party and government monopolies. Ethiopians live in a state of fear from their own government more than from terrorism. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House, the Committee to Protect Journalists and others have provided documentary evidence of extrajudicial measures and other human rights abuses that are forcing innocent and peaceful Ethiopians to demand that the international community stop shoring up a regime that they consider to be illegitimate, corrupt, cruel and abusive of its citizens. It is no longer morally defensible for the European Union, the UN system, the African Union, the United States, the UK and others to lend a blind eye to well-documented atrocities and human suffering. The diplomatic nod or misleading signal that donor monies are advancing sustainable and equitable development in Ethiopia is a make-believe proposition. By all social indicators, Ethiopia is still one of the poorest and most food insecure countries in the world. Beneath the glitz shown to foreign dignitaries and supporters of the regime, millions of Ethiopians are unable to eat one meal a day; let alone three meals a day that was promised by the late Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi. The 2016 UN Human Development Index (HDI) continues to place Ethiopia in the low human development category, positioning it 174 th of 188 countries surveyed. Although life expectancy has improved, a long and healthy life is a distance dream for the vast majority of the population. In numeric terms, access to primary and secondary education shows significant improvement. However, quality has deteriorated dramatically. It is not uncommon to build schools without trained teachers or the requisite material tools such as books, sanitation facilities, libraries and laboratories. Ethiopia is unable to meet the demand for job opportunities for its youthful population. Adult literacy is among the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Education does not lead to meaningful jobs. At 1/3 rd of the Sub-Saharan African average, Ethiopia lags behind its peers in per capita income. As part of its annual assessment of human development, UNDP notes the reality on the ground. The most recent survey data that were publically available for Ethiopia s MPI estimation in 2011 shows that 88.2 percent of the population (79 million people) are multidimensionally poor. An additional 6.7 percent or more than 6 million Ethiopians live near multidimensional poverty. Ninety four percent of Ethiopians are therefore close to or totally multidimensionally poor. The depth and breadth of deprivation are legendary in a country donors label as one of the fastest growing in the world. At the same time, income inequality has worsened, with a few multi-millionaires and an unknown number of billionaires, with huge quantities of money in overseas banks; and living in luxury beyond belief. In his unprecedented commentary, Ethiopia s Cruel Con Game, Forbes, March 3, 2017, David Steinman questioned the wisdom of calling Ethiopia a pillar of stability. It will be insane for anyone in Ethiopia today to dissent against the watchful police state. It is merciless against dissenters and democrats. Despite this suffocating environment, civil conflict is rampant and underreported by the world press. Corruption and nepotism have been institutionalized. All natural resources, including land is owned by the government. Ethiopians do not own the land which they cultivate or on which their dwellings sit. It is about time that donors ask why Ethiopia is unable to feed itself. Why, despite ever-increasing amounts of foreign support, can t this nation of 100 million clever, enterprising people feed itself? Other resource poor countries facing difficult environmental challenges manage to do so. We agree with Steinman of Forbes. The reason for recurrent famine in Ethiopia has less to do with the vagaries of 3
weather and climate change. It has to do with the command political and economic system that enriches a selected few and marginalizes the majority. The system leaves no room for shared growth, transparency, accountability and transparency in the use of resources, including aid. Steinman puts Ethiopia s dilemma starkly and clearly. Two numbers tell the story in a nutshell: 1. The amount of American financial aid received by the Ethiopian government since it took power: $30 billion. 2. The amount stolen by Ethiopia s leaders since it took power: $30 billion. Ethiopia s far-left economy is centrally controlled by a small ruling clique that has grown fantastically wealthy. Only they could be responsible for this enormous crime. In other words, the same Ethiopian leadership that is begging the world for yet another billion for its hungry people is stealing several times that amount every year. Ethiopia s thieves of state and government are tolerated by Western democracies and the UN system. This of the fact that the leadership endears them by doing what they ask, for example, hosting thousands of refugees. There is a plethora of evidence that shows that Ethiopia s ruling clique is more responsive to donors than to its own people. The moral hazard this creates for Western democracies is not imaginary. It is real. By shoring up a cruel, inhumane and repressive regime for more than a quarter of a century, the message Western democracies send to the thousands of young people who were killed, maimed or tortured and the tens of thousands jailed and or in rehabilitation camps in 2016 is that their lives and sacrifices do not matter. It also sends the hypocritical signal from Western democracies that Ethiopians do not deserve justice, fair treatment and the rule of law, accountable government and democracy. If democracy is good for Russians, why is not equally good for Ethiopians and other Africans? The people of Ethiopia have spoken. In 2016, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians in Oromia, Amhara, Konso and other localities came out of their homes in droves and demanded change in government. They protested against torture, extrajudicial killings, inhumane treatment, dispossession and marginalization, nepotism, corruption and illicit outflow of funds. Most of these protestors are under the age of 30 and constitute 65 percent of the population. In killing, maiming, torturing and imprisoning thousands, the regime sent a chilling signal to Ethiopia s youth that the prospect of living a meaningful, productive and secure life in their home country is almost nil. Ethiopian youth is pushed out of the country for two reasons: a hostile political and social environment and an economic system that denies them job opportunities. More aid is not the answer. In fact, more aid perpetuates this broken system that survives through Western aid. Such aid is therefore unjustified. By comparison, less foreign aid dependent counties such as Rwanda and Uganda show a marked improvement in lowering multidimensional poverty and in empowering women and youth. The private sector in these countries is much more dynamic than that of Ethiopia. Further, Ethiopia is food insecure and suffers from episodes of drought induced famine every few years. The rural economy is stuck in a cycle of structural poverty that is compounded by 4
smaller plots of land, land grab, dispossession of millions of indigenous people and environmental degradation. It is this degrading and dehumanizing environment that led to the popular unrest in Oromia and Amhara regions last year. Hundreds of innocent lives were lost and tens of thousands were jailed. No one really knows the number of political prisoners in Ethiopia; but it is in the tens of thousands. By the government s own reckoning, 20,000 Ethiopians are held in several so called rehabilitation camps where they are forced to covert to the dictates of the governing party. Under the State of Emergency, the regime has been relentless in assaulting innocent people in Oromia, Amhara, Gambella, the Ogaden, Konso and the Omo valley. Armed security, federal police and militia possess the license to kill, maim, jail and forcibly cause disappearances of thousands with impunity. No single official has been held accountable for crimes against humanity. Western democracies are forewarned that continued brutality undermines Ethiopia s long-term security, stability and growth. There are ominous signs of civil war and possible genocide. If an all-out civil war occurs, part of the blame will go squarely to the regime s enablers that continue to shore up the regime. We are deeply saddened by the notion that Ethiopians lives lost and rotting in jail are mere statistics. Western democracies continue to ignore the fact that Ethiopia is a source of one of the largest migrant and refugee populations in the world. Ethiopia s cunning and clever leaders camouflage this human exodus by being a sponsor of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers from neighboring nations. This generosity is intended to gain the favor of the European Union and the UN system. It is a quid pro quo that undermines the interests of Ethiopians while preserving a broken, cruel and corrupt system. While we recognize the adverse consequences of the flight of massive numbers of Africans into Europe, Ethiopia s brutal, cruel and corrupt regime should not be rewarded at the expense of the Ethiopian people. By all measurements of human development, Ethiopia is unable to meet the employment demands of 70 percent of its population, namely, its youth. Ethiopian youth suffers from harsh treatment by security and federal police. As Human Rights Watch put it in its letter to H. E. Ms. Federica Mogherini, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Harassment through criminal charges, arbitrary detention of political opposition members and supporters, restrictions on financing, and registration problems have decimated opposition parties since the 2010 election. Actual or perceived members of opposition parties have difficulty accessing the benefits of development and humanitarian assistance, including that provided by the EU and its member states. This partisan system ensures that Ethiopians in rural or drought-vulnerable areas of the country are dependent on the government, bolstered by EU support, for their livelihoods, food aid, employment, and health care. This further constricts the space for political expression, dialogue and further undermines the effectiveness of opposition parties. From the government s perspective, the strategy has been successful -- the ruling party and its affiliates won 100 percent of the seats in federal parliament in 2015 despite strong anti-government sentiments in many parts of the country as the protests would later illustrate. 5
Last, Ethiopian government claim that land is being leased to supporters of the governing party and to foreign investors in order to secure food self-sufficiency is false. A newly released evidence-based documentary on land grab entitled Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas illustrates the devastating social, political, economic and environmental impacts of Ethiopian government leases of millions of hectares of land to foreign and a limited number of well-screened domestic investors. These leases have resulted in the eviction and dispossession of millions of Ethiopians. Western governments, the development crowd and the rest of the global community must recognize that land leases won t solve Ethiopia s food insecurity high level unemployment and underemployment among Ethiopia s youth. Land leases deprive smallholder farmers and pastoralists the lands they need in order to produce and feed the country s growing population. Further, disenfranchisement, dispossession and displacement millions of Ethiopians has triggered inter-ethnic conflicts that will ultimately lead to Ethiopia s Balkanization. We therefore urge Western democracies, the UN System and the AU leadership to cease supporting one of the most brutal, cruel, corrupt and oppressive regimes in the world. In light of the human suffering explained above, it is in explicable to us that Western democracies, especially the EU, the United States and the UK continue to provide aid to a regime that kills, maims, tortures and imprisons its citizens with impunity. Accordingly, signatories of this formal letter request the following: Western democracies, especially the United States and the EU must recognize and appreciate the notion that Ethiopians have an established tradition of preserving, safeguarding and defending their country s independence, national interests and sovereignty; while maintaining their friendship and ties with their foreign friends, among which America is at the top. Advancing democracy will strengthen these ties; and will contribute substantially to war against terrorism and all forms of extremism. The fight against terrorism will be much more effective if, at the same time, merit-based government leadership instead of cronyism and nepotism, anticorruption and fraud measures are institutionalized in Ethiopia. We believe that Western democracies, especially the EU, the UN system, the governments of the United States and the UK are undermining their own long term interests by not advancing their own professed values of human rights and human dignity, the rule of law, democracy and accountable government in Ethiopia. We believe that it is time for Western democracies to demand that the government of Ethiopia lifts the state of emergency; releases all political prisoners without preconditions, open up political and civic space and allow free and independent media and civil society to blossom soonest. We believe that Western democracies should have the courage to urge the government of Ethiopia to allow UN rapporteurs to conduct an independent investigation into the massacres that took place last year. 6
We urge Western democracies to stop military and security assistance to the government of Ethiopia; and request that Western democracies link all future aid to respect of human rights and the rule of law as well as the unfettered advancement of democracy. We strongly urge Western democracies, especially the Government of the United States, the Congress of the United States and the European Parliament to promote the notion of an All- Inclusive Party Conference involving civil society, prominent individuals and spiritual leaders as well as opposition political parties within and outside the country at the earliest opportunity. Lastly, we believe that Western democracies must recognize the fundamental principle that only a free, independent, democratic and prosperous Ethiopia; and not the shoring up of one of the most corrupt, cruel and repressive ruling cliques in the world in power for more than a quarter of a century that will provide a firm and unshakeable foundation and societal capacity to contain terrorism and all forms of extremism while advancing sustainable and equitable development in Ethiopia. We thank you in advance for your consideration and cooperation on this urgent matter that affects 102 million Ethiopians. With our highest regards, List of signatories 1. Dagmawi Arbegnoch Movement 2. Ethiopiachin ("አንድ ሀገር! አንድ ሕዝብ ኢትዮጵያችን ሕዝባዊ ንቃናቄ") 3. Ethiopian Border Affairs Committee (EBAC) 4. Ethiopian Democratic Hibre-hizb Unity Movement 5. Ethiopian Dialogue Forum (EDF) 6. Ethiopian National Transitional Council (ENTC) 7. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Legitimate Holy Synod (EOTC) 8. Ethiopian People s Congress for United Struggle (Shengo) 9. Ethiopian-Swedish Social Democrats Association 10. Ethiopian Youth National Movement (EYNM) 11. Ethiopiawinnet: Council for the Defense of Citizen Rights 12. Global Alliance for the Rights of Ethiopians (GARE) 13. Gondar Hibret for Ethiopian Unity (GOH) 14. Moresh Wegene Amhara Organization 15. Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia (Solidarity) 7
16. Tussa Ethiopian Salvation Democratic Organization Cc: Amnesty International contactus@amnesty.org Human Rights Watch hrwpress@hrw.org 8