Abate Kassa of Ethiomedia writes open letter to Barack Obama on Ethiopia

Appeal
Open letter to Senator Barack Obama
Abate Kassa | August 7, 2008

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Honorable Senator Barack Obama
United States Senate
713 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Tel 202-224-2854 Fax 202-228-4260, 312-886-3514
Re: H.R. 2003 (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007)

Dear Honorable Senator:

I am a U.S. citizen of Ethiopian heritage, a social activist, and a resident of New York City since January 29, 1965. As my most preferred candidate to be the next President of the United States, I am appealing to you to champion the just cause of 1.2 million Ethiopian Diaspora in the United States and to come to the rescue of 80 million Ethiopians whose human rights are being violated by the ruling party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Stunned by losses at the May 15, 2005 elections and determined to destroy the opposition and stay in power at any cost, emboldened by the blind eyes of UK and US to his transgressions, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has thwarted the democratic process in Ethiopia and is leading the country on a disastrous path, with the victorious opposition parties still remaining out of government with their democratic and legal rights denied outright.

I am most grateful to Congressional leaders Donald Payne, Christopher Smith, Mike Honda, the late Tom Lantos and the 85 co-sponsors of H.R. 2003 for championing our just cause and for their success in securing the passage of H.R.2003 in the House. As a staunch advocate of democracy yourself, I call upon you Honorable Senator to influence your colleagues especially in the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to support democracy and the rule of law in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian people have for a long time been struggling to bring about democratic governance to their country, but the struggle has been frustrated by two successive brutal and oppressive regimes. This is why I would like you and the US Senate to give the people of Ethiopia the moral support they deserve by endorsing H.R.2003.

The true and lasting allies of the US are the people of Ethiopia who are striving to establish a genuine democracy, and not Meles Zenawi, the former follower of the Albanian communist model of Enver Hoxa, who continues to divide and conquer his political opposition.

I am concerned that an impoverished Ethiopia under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s tyrannical rule and his Ethnic Apartheid policy could become a breeding ground for terrorism. I believe a truly democratic Ethiopia will be the key to the stability in the Horn of Africa.

The main cause of Ethiopia’s poverty is the absence of the enabling environment of democracy that could have made development possible. With a population of 80 million people, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa.

A founding member of the United Nations, Ethiopia is the seat of the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

Recognized as the cradle of humanity, Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world with a recorded history of over three thousand years, and the originator of the African Alphabet, Ge’ez. Ethiopia is a source of the Blue Nile and is endowed with many rivers and extensive fertile land.

Renown for being the world’s greatest marathoners, Ethiopians also take great pride in the fact that their country has never been colonized. How come then a country with such positive attributes and a great potential for being a success story in Africa, is yet one of the poorest countries in the world? The answer is obvious--tyranny, not democracy, is on the march in Ethiopia. Today, there is no rule of law in Ethiopia, but the rule of Zenawi.

Ethiopia entered a new era when the United States facilitated the TPLF/EPRDF guerilla group to takeover Mengistu Hailemariam’s government at a London Peace Conference in May 1991.

Mr. Herman Cohen, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs at the time, after stating democracy as a US foreign policy objective, warned the new rulers with his famous words, “No Democracy, No Aid,” and encouraged them to establish a broad-based transitional government and to hold free and fair elections. Mr. Cohen has expressed his disappointment with Meles Zenawi on a recent VOA interview whom he now finds to be “quite totalitarian.”

Regrettably, some in the international community not only seem to ignore the intimidations, mass arrests, beatings, and extra judicial killings of the past 17 years but also unwittingly condone the country's race to the bottom by suggesting that Zenawi is an improvement over his predecessor by portraying him as one of the “new breeds” of African democratic leaders.

Others have also stated that the opposition should be happy that their representation grew from 12 to 174 and they have even tried to put pressure on the opposition to join Parliament and to work within the “legal” framework. Yet, the Ethiopian people are currently waging a life-and-death struggle to extricate themselves from Meles Zenawi’s tyrannical rule and economic mismanagement.

The victory of the opposition of the May 15, 2005 elections was a resounding repudiation of Meles Zenawi’s ethnic politics that has sliced and diced Ethiopia into Bantustans.

Consistent with the fact that democracy is a US foreign policy objective, President Bush declared at his second inaugural address on January 20, 2005, "All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty we will stand with you."

Dear Honorable Senator, I hereby appeal to you to urge the US Senate to pass H.R.2003 and to advise President Bush to deliver on his promise by using his good offices to pressure Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to do the right thing. If President Bush considers democracy is good for Iraq, Afghanistan, Georgia, and Ukraine it ought to be good for Ethiopia as well.

I therefore kindly request for your help to advise the Bush Administration to engage the Ethiopian regime and get Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to respect the people's votes; to guarantee the safety and security of elected opposition leaders; to release all political prisoners and to respect the democratic opposition’s right to public assembly and access to state-owned media. Most of all, I would like the Bush Administration to break the current impasse between the regime and the opposition parties by providing a roadmap for a peaceful transitional arrangement in the form of a Government of National Unity (as advocated in Kenya and Zimbabwe).

The best international aid the United States can give to the people of Ethiopia is to champion their just cause for genuine democracy, justice, and the rule of law.

Respectfully yours,

Abate Kassa,
Jamaica Hills, NY



Mr. Abate O. Kassa This is Me
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AOK Consulting & Education
Jamaica Hills, NY


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This profile was automatically generated using 6 references found on the Internet. This information has not been verified. Learn more...
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1. AOK Consulting & Education
www.aokconsulting.com/pages/34 - [Cached]
Published on: 3/3/2008 Last Visited: 3/3/2008

ABATE O. KASSA is President of AOK Consulting & Education, established in 1973 and headquartered in New York. Mr. Kassa specializes in Purchasing & Supply Management, Value Management, Change Management, and Association Management. He is a former Purchasing Manager of Ethiopian Airlines where he served for 19 years during which time, inter alia, he introduced a corporate-wide value improvement process.

As an international management consultant and educator in procurement and supply management, he assists his clients to optimize the value of their procurement function and also provides a comprehensive professional development program in procurement and supply management.

In the summers of 1994-96, he advised the International Trade
Centre/UNCTAD/WTO/United Naions on a $1 billion import procurement project in Africa. In 1999, he served as ITC consultant in the Pacific Forum Island Countries of Samoa, Kiribati, Tonga, Niue, Tuvalu, and Fiji. In October 2000, he conducted seminars on New Trends in Purchasing and Joint Purchasing at Nadi, Fiji Islands. He is a regular speaker at the affiliates of the Institute for Supply Management and the American Management Association seminars in the United States.

He was retained as Executive Director of the National Association of Purchasing Management-New York for 19 years. Mr. Kassa is a recipient of NAPM-New York's 1992 J. H. Leonard Award for his contributions in institutional capacity building of NAPM-New York as a center of excellence in purchasing and supply management.

Mr. Kassa is a Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) by the Institute for Supply Management. He holds a bachelor's degree (with distinction) in economics from Addis Abeba University and a master's degree in government and politics from St. Johns University, New York.

Here are some typical testimonials from participating organizations at Mr. Kassa's seminars:

"343 of our people have attended Mr. Abate Kassa's Value Analysis seminars. One of the airline's departments alone reported first year savings of $339,346.00 in VA projects." Ethiopian Airlines

"Abate Kassa has been added to AMA's list of outstanding course leaders on the subject of Purchasing & Supply Management. His enthusiasm for the subject shows in the classroom, and he makes the subject come alive for both Purchasing newcomers as well as the seasoned Purchasing Manager."American Management Association

"As ITC consultant on procurement and logistics management, Mr. Abate Kassa of AOK Consulting has completed successful assignments in Africa and the South Pacific. We wish to express our deep appreciation for Mr. Kassa's excellent quality of consulting work and highly effective Value-Minded Management and Procurement Management seminars." International Trade Centre/UNCTAD/WTO/United Nations

"Mr. Abate Kassa of AOK Consulting has been a regular instructor of the Value Analysis and Fundamentals of Purchasing Management seminars for the National Association of Purchasing Management-New York for more than ten years.

The seminar attendees representing various U.S. firms from different industries consistently rated Mr. Kassa's presentations as Excellent." 2. ISM Affiliate Officers Directory
www.napm.org/AboutISM/Affiliat - [Cached]
Published on: 7/1/2005 Last Visited: 7/1/2005

Abate Kassa, C.P.M. AFFILIATE 2nd VICE PRESIDENT kassaa@aol.com 3. AOK Consulting & Education
www.aokconsulting.com/pages/34 - [Cached]
Published on: 5/24/2006 Last Visited: 3/3/2008

Abate O. Kassa President


Abate Kassa, Donald Levine and teh CUD/Kinijit Connection


Donald Levine:CUD admit your "mistakes" for "


As everyone else agrees, EINEPS board member and Professor Donald.N.Levine again suggests that Kinijit/CUD admits its mistakes for not stepping up and for provoking the protests that led to the riots and violence.


Getz # 10 – And In Conclusion... Donald N. Levine Nov 19, 2006 November 2006. One year later. One year since the breakdown of summit talks between GOE and CUD leaders. One year since the call for another round of nonviolent protests, which triggered rounds of indiscriminate killings.

One year since the Government arrested more than a hundred Ethiopian critics and charged them with crimes punishable by death in a trial marred by unfair procedures and inexcusable delays.

One year since the Government called for an investigation into the killings that has resulted in defections of two high-ranking judges and a report that identifies no particular wrongdoers.

One year, in which 50% of Ethiopia's children continue to live in diagnostic levels of serious malnutrition; tens of thousands died of AIDS; more than one thousand Ethiopians perished from floods due in part to environmental degradation, floods which left another 280,000 homeless.

And the misery grinds on.

It was a year in which Ethiopian Americans organized effectively to launch a controversial bill designed to promote democratization efforts, thereby provoking the Government of Ethiopia to fight back by spending a huge amount on lobbyists.

What all those resources diverted to American legislative processes might have done for Ethiopian relief and, yes, Ethiopia's own democratic processes! (Indeed, what good might have been done if all Diaspora Ethiopians had also made a serious contribution to improve life at home in an area like medicine, engineering, education, IT, or water resources?)

The public processes needed for Ethiopia's democratization are what I sought to advance during the past year when I attempted, through a series of short statements posted at www.eineps.org/forum and elsewhere, to enhance communication among Ethiopians.

To be sure, at times this meant I became no more than a ferinji target for both sides to vent against.

Each time I credited the Government with something, certain opposition elements accused me of having been bought out by an unscrupulous regime; each time I credited the opposition with something, some Government apologists accused me of having been brainwashed by revanchist Diaspora extremists. One critical reader in Sweden, after following my suggestion to re-read what I had written, changed his mind: Selam lérsiwo Yihon, Professor!

I have read the material you sent to me and I understand more what this is about. Your view is very balanced and may not be accepted by those who own the only "truth".

Some respondents who were disappointed with certain of my points encouraged this effort nonetheless, as did Marta Tesfaye:

I beg you to forgive those who have not given you the benefit of the doubt and continue to stand up for Ethiopia/ As you yourself said we have a long way to go before we start learning how to treat each other with respect even when we disagree.

But try to do your best and I know I am asking for a lot, their discouragement and the misunderstanding get in the way.

As you know the situation is getting worse and even more polarized and we need your help. And once in a while, my efforts elicited comments such as this from Yohannes Abebe:

Thank you for your courageous efforts to start an honest intellectual debate about the current Ethiopian political crisis.

You have no idea the level of impact you are having with my generation. Whether or not that is so–of course I hope it is–I attempted in each Getz to present "both sides" (as though there are only two; sadly, that's how the game is being played as of now).

It was an effort to let each side see that its position could be understood while at the same time inviting it to consider the perspective of the other.

Getz #1 encouraged the Government to become less repressive toward the media and encouraged journalists to develop more professionalism and integrity in their reporting.

A visit to Kaliti Prison occasioned a portrayal of contrasting viewpoints in Getz #2, with a call for "room for dissent, protected by just laws and civil institutions, as well as a willingness to fight nonviolently for divergent views even when in a disadvantaged minority." "Two Tales of One City,"

Getz #3, sketched seemingly incompatible narratives about Ethiopia's history that underlie surface resentments in the present.

Getz #5 essayed an overview of political developments in Ethiopia since the May 2005 election, listing both achievements and mistakes made by the EPRDF regime, the opposition parties, and the EU observers.

The other Getzotch moved beyond this monopolization of public discourse by the non-stop antagonism between EPRDF and CUD advocates. "What Happened in the Past 12 Months?" simply drew attention to a number of other, neglected happenings.

Getz #6, "More People More Hunger" focused on the looming catastrophe posed by Ethiopia's unchecked demographic explosion. Drawing on the pioneering work of Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam, Daniel Assefa, and Sahlu Haile, I showed that spiraling population growth figures in a vicious cycle including smaller farming plots, deforestation, soil despoliation, chronic hunger, and widespread malnutrition.

In Getzotch 7, 8, and 9, which concerned Tigrayawinet, Oromo options, and Beta Israelis, respectively, I dealt with issues of ethnic separatism, arguing that although different groups may have distinct interests and agendas,

In the wake of all these purportedly even-handed interpretations, one of my readers wrote: You have done an excellent job representing the different sides empathetically. But you have not told us what can be done to move beyond the current impasse.

Perhaps not explicitly enough. But a number of Ethiopians have done so, eloquently. Consider Professor Alemayehu Mariam's astute analysis of the principles and dynamics of nonviolent political action.

Consider Ambassador Samuel Assefa, who urges Ethiopians of all persuasions to meet together in small groups to begin to talk to one another openly, honestly, and respectfully.

Consider Ato Michael Aman Andom's remark regarding my efforts to bring such groups of Ethiopians of diverse perspectives together: "It's good to hear anytime fellow Ethiopians can gather and communicate effectively. . . .

It's positive whenever we can make such progress because it's a precedent nonetheless"–and his conviction, despite all, that "there are open-minded folks who are tempered with pragmatism, understand the modern economic world and how it functions, have respect for the opinions of others, are not quick to judgment, not hot-tempered, know how to lose battles and win wars, respect rule of law, and have a fundamental and profound respect for human life and empathy and desire to cure the Ethiopian people's plight."

Or listen to Dr. BT Costantinos, longtime advocate of Ethiopian Think Tanks to provide nonpartisan, professional investigations into the problems of Ethiopia's development, who commends "innovative political partnerships . . . to marshal our knowledge to play a constructive role in the renaissance of our politico-cultural make-up, values and institutions."

Listen to the appeals of Ato Abate Kassa, Dr. Berhanu Abegaz, and other signatories of the Citizens' Charter for a Democratic Ethiopia, who "call on political parties (including the TPLF/EPRDF) and civic organizations to hold back on their sectarian concerns and instead focus on a common agenda"–one that "embraces the diverse Ethiopian family and aims at expanding the political space for exercising those human, civic, and political freedoms that are enshrined in international conventions.

" Consider the spirit behind the proposal of Ambassador Imru Zeleke to convene an all-inclusive Conference to which all civic organization and political parties will be invited to discuss all issues regarding Ethiopia: "our diversity is our heritage and our wealth, and the emblem of our civilization, of which we are all proud."

What impedes adherence to such evidently constructive visions? Forty years ago, in Wax and Gold and related statements, when I hoped for a concerted effort by modernizers to form groups devoted to professional development, political democracy, and cultural inclusiveness, I identified a few factors from the traditional culture that impeded such an advance: narrow individualism, verbal sadism, chronic suspiciousness, and circumlocuitous communication (wax and gold).

Many Ethiopians agreed with this diagnosis, most recently Dessalegn Shiferaw who, in a round-up of a dozen related traits such as sem matfat (character assassination), teretaray (chronic mistrust), getterenet (stubbornness and lack of compromise), meqeyem (holding grudges) and the like declared it "time to declare war on dysfunctional behaviors"

.

At the same time I encouraged Ethiopians to respect and draw on factors from traditional culture that could energize the quest for democracy and national development.

These include a time-honored passion for fairness and justice, and a deep pride in their nation and its independence that transcends narrow local interests. They also include an exceptional capacity for compassion and forgiveness, manifest in such customs as those concerning illness and death of close ones, stories like those of Mariam forgiving the cannibal of Khmer, and traditions of political forgiveness following the defeat of enemies.

They include the remarkable ways in which Oromo gumi gayo assemblies are organized to promote respectful deliberation and achieve their constant goal of peace, nagaa. Indeed, all of the cultures of traditional Ethiopia have admirable mechanisms of conflict resolution.

Ethiopia's positive factors include the distinctive way in which followers of different religions, despite obvious tensions, got along remarkably well together, sharing holiday celebrations, going on pilgrimages together, and intermarrying.

Ethiopians' realism about the limits of human nature can serve to curb the excessive ambitions of modernization ideologies, their ability to show humor in adversity can cushion the inevitable bumps on the roads to modernity.

ndeed, all Ethiopians deep down have more that links them together than what pushes them apart. I suggested this in Greater Ethiopia in 1974; I sense it more strongly than ever now. I wish all my readers could have shared the experience of talking to the prisoners at Kaliti in the same week that I talked to those responsible for detaining them.

I have never heard such similarly eloquent professions of faith in the destiny of Ethiopia and in the vision of a multiethnic country whose citizens were guided by the rule of a common set of laws. This deep commonality of sentiment should be sufficient to prod partisans to step back briefly from their emotionally-driven mindsets, even if the country were not facing troubles from unstable and hostile neighbors.

If there were one single commitment that could sweep the archaic dysfunctional habits away, it might be to enact an Ethiopian variant of the Japanese example depicted in Eiko Ikegami's book The Taming of the Samurai (1995): to effect a change in the warrior ethic, thereby uniting the courage, hardiness, and social commitments of the old-style gwebez warrior with the values of compassion and justice. The New Warrior employs the tools of nonviolence to destroy the enemy completely–by turning him into a friend.

All concerned must practice ways to embody constructive disagreement. Many Ethiopians have taken steps to promote civility in public discourse and nonviolence as a way of life, including the Ethiopian Institute for Nonviolent Education and Peace Studies, research on civility such as Yodit Zenebe Mekuria's study on civic education in the Somali province, Makeda Tsegaye's studies with the University for Peace Network, the nonviolence education programs of the Awassa Youth Campus, Mercy Corps's work in conflict resolution, the UN-supported Ethiopian Peace and Development Institute, and many others.

Troubles internal and external require Ethiopia to rise to new levels of societal health, yet the political crisis of the past year grows like a cancer on the Ethiopian body politic.

The crisis can be resolved even if only one of the two parties musters the courage to do the right thing. The challenge is clear. For the Government, it means to acknowledge its Election-related mistakes: to apologize and make amends for its over-reactions that resulted in excessive killings and imprisonments, for starters; to commit itself more publicly and aggressively to actions that implement reforms of the judicial system, the press legislation, and the human rights record; and to bring the trial to a prompt conclusion.

This would show the world how far they have come since harboring the hardcore revolutionary doctrines with which they took power in 1991. For the CUD leadership, it means to acknowledge the mistake they made in not taking over the task they were elected by the people to perform–to administer the capital city and to represent all their constituents in Parliament–thereby provoking protests that led to so many unnecessary deaths.

This would show a willingness to acknowledge those changes and manifest a loosening of the hardened images of the other side, which undergird their antipathy to the "system." It will probably require at least as much courage to take such stands as Ethiopian warriors showed in fighting the Italian armies at Adwa and as underground arbeññotch during the talat gize. Ferinjis have played a constructive role in Ethiopia's modernizing developments over the past century, but they have exacerbated domestic tensions as well.

In any case, the issues at hand can be resolved only by Ethiopians themselves. The inner strengths and quest for national self-determination represented by the spirit of Adwa can be recovered and fortified. My counsel to Ethiopians is not to depend on ferinji governments and institutions to save the situation.

To move toward a national effort to promote democratic institutions and economic development, the motto should be: Simuññ y'agare lijjotch Yihé neger ye-ityopiawiyan new! http://www.ethrev.com/2006/nov/11192006_donald_levine.html http://www.eineps.org/index.php?








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