Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia
Re: Making Genocide Watch accountable and transparent towards managing allegation with verifiable facts
The assumption and premise of this article is questionable.
I found this posting rather interesting as it begins with the notion that any thing that private groups such as Genocide Watch and Human Rights watch say and write is the word of God. No where does it ask for evidence to the allegations.
It alleges that the response that the Ethiopian government provided more or less saying bring the facts or shut up is not acceptable.
Where is the facts for the allegations?
Imagine, a group that said nothing when the real genocide took place in Africa under White Ian Smith and Botha in Southern Africa or more recently in Congo where over 6 million people perished, feels it has a god given divine authority to allege a serious crime against the Ethiopian people and when asked to account, come up with nothing factual but another set of allegations.
Is Genocide Watch a fair institution or a propaganda tool
Have we seen Genocide watch reporting on the Shock and Awe Campaign in Irag or here in Guantano bay about the shocking revelations of Bush Administration criminal activities.
The focus on emerging nations alone is quite obvious
Why is this group so focused only on developing countries and does not report on other critical issues. Most importantly, why does it feel that it has the moral authority when it is writing a letter to an organization based of all places in Switzerland, a country that collaborated with Nazi Genocide and now the mother of all Economic Genocide Tax Shelter Government that literally writes its budget with looted money from 6 million Jews that perished in the German Genocide and 1.1 Billion African poor.
Imagine an Ethiopian Government being asked to present its leaders to International Criminal Court based in Italy, a country that has not as of yet accounted for its Genocidal activity against Ethiopians in 1896 when it was defeatedand in 1925 when it cluster bombed Ethiopians like America did to the Japanese.
Who is the cause of Genocide?
Imagine, expecting Ethiopians will ever allow that. May be to Belosconi and never to Meles Zenawi. So, comes the idiotic Genoricde Watch expecting Ethiopians to be judged by institutions run by those who ran the most henious Genocide against their fathers and grand fathers and the country that looted the Emeperos'sd savings and money put aside for times of crisis. The Swiss banks and Government that now houses this so called Human Rights Group. It is so offensive.
Imagine the Swiss Government judging on Economic Genocide and Grey List of OECD. Ask President Obama, PMs Gordon Brown and PM Meles Zenawi how they intend to get their looted money back.
The oly government in history, that has allowed governance and self determination based on language and ethnic group is now being accused as being genocidal of the very group that they have devolved power to.
I have interviewed the current Administrator of Gambella who was the security chief during the previous regime and knows first hand that the so called genocide on the Annuak was perpetuated
by the previous appointee of the Military Marxist Communist regime.
The case has been investigated by Ethiopian parliament and this group that calls itself is so incompetent it is making its allegation based by a group led by the same former Communist regime representatives here in Canada and the USA.
Can we demand transparency and accountability from Genocide Watch or their handlers?
Balance is missing grossly.
Most of the write up in this article is so one sided and unfortunately negative one cannot go and discuss every detail. It is like the Republicans who looted the US economy for 8 years with out any accountability now demonstrating on Tax Return day with Tea bags saying Taxed Enough Already and sent to Tax Shelters.. To late Barack our money is sheltered in Toxic Assets and Switzerland.
Is Genocide Watch part of the Fox Network of the Australian Group?
Ofcourse in World of Fomer Catholic Priest turned propaganda chief Hannities of this world, they have the facts and all of us are fools.
The reports from CIA and Bush Administration Economic and Military expenditures state otherwise. But Fox is busy trying to steal the sheep. Unfortunately, this writer is no better than the foolish Hanni ties of the Right Wing propaganda.
The facts are by far different that what this writer tries to paint. Ethiopia is the island of democracy and good governance in a sea of piracy, genocide in Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Kenya.
The Ethiopian government has not done half the crimes of the Bush administration who carpet bombed Iraq and continues to abuse the American Citizens with unwarranted communication interference.
So, Have you seen Genocide watch reporting on Europe, North America, Cuba and Latin America.
I believe we need to have transparency and accountability on at all levels of our lives. The Ethiopian government like the Bush and Obama Governments have to be made accountable with facts and not with fantasy.
Dr B
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April 17, 2009
Ethiopia Seals the Lid on Ethnic Rights
Recently, the Ethiopian government scoffed at Genocide Watch’s request that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees investigate human rights violations in the country. Genocide Watch primarily voiced its concern over the government’s involvement in atrocities committed against members of the Anuak ethnic group in 2005. The organization has concluded that the crimes committed against this group fit the definition of genocide. The Ethiopian government, in response, called the allegations “unfounded, fabricated lies.”
This turn of events is indicative of the increasingly adverse human rights situation in the country. The government’s general level of respect for civil liberties has been spiraling downward. More particularly, the rights of several of Ethiopia’s myriad ethnic groups have been jeopardized. The deplorable state of affairs has been brought about by both the government’s active undermining of minority protections and its failure to respond to allegations of human rights violations.
Ethiopia is populated by at least 80 different ethnic groups. The Oromo people, who make up 40-45% of the population, are the largest group, followed by the Amhara, who make up 25% of the population. The country’s political scene has traditionally been dominated by the Amhara people. More recently, however, the Tigray group has become the most powerful political entity. The Tigray, who make up less than 10% of Ethiopia’s population, exert their influence through the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a party which constitutes the nucleus of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (ERPRDF). Other important groups include the Oromo and Somali groups, who have traditionally been the targets of extensive persecution.
As the 2007 Countries at the Crossroads report notes, the EPRDF government made a concerted effort to respect ethnic rights in the country at the outset of its rule. When it came to power in 1991, the EPRDF nominally responded to the injustices suffered by the majority of the country’s ethnic communities. In the constitution drafted in 1995, the EPRDF government granted increased regional autonomy to various groups by creating a federal system based upon ethnic lines. It also incorporated these ethnic groups into the government by including their respective parties within the ruling coalition. In addition, the government made seemingly positive strides toward adopting good governance practices on such pressing issues as poverty and food insecurity.
Unfortunately, the positive trend towards respecting ethnic rights soon stalled out and then reversed itself. The government squeezed out all parties but the TPLF and its allies from the ruling coalition. In addition, violence and discrimination against ethnic groups resumed. While the human rights situation was unfortunate, the Ethiopian government seemed to remain committed to adopting reforms aimed at economic and political development well into this decade.
Nevertheless, by the 2005 elections, the hopes that technocratic governance improvements might be accompanied by further democratization had been dashed. During the run-up to the elections, the Ethiopian government became engaged in a campaign to intimidate and restrict the activities of opposition members. This political targeting was partially ethnic in nature. The All Ethiopian Unity Party, the main political party of the Amhara people, comprises an influential component of the country’s main opposition movement. The opposition, which is made up of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy and the United Ethiopian democratic Forces, campaigned for greater power and respect for the country’s different ethnic groups. Throughout this period, members of the opposition were harassed, arrested, and killed.
Persecution of this sort has continued into the present. A report released by the UN committee responsible for implementing the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination reported that government agents including military officials and police officers had committed crimes against minority groups including the Anuak and the Oromo. Human Rights Watch has made similar claims.
Most notably, it alleged that Ethiopian security forces have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against ethnic Somalis residing in the Ogaden region. According to HRW, the most intense persecution took place in 2007, when Ethiopian troops tortured and raped innocent Somali civilians. In addition, HRW has echoed Genocide Watch’s accusation that heinous crimes were committed against the Anuak communities in the Gambella region from 2003-2005. In addition to these more extreme examples, the Minority Rights Group International has reported that the level of representation of minority groups at the government level remains unsatisfactory.
Due to its ever clearer involvement in the persecution of minority groups, the government’s response to this situation has been extremely lackluster. The Ethiopian government has failed to investigate allegations of discrimination and crimes; indeed, official government policy with regards to human rights abuses consists almost exclusively of denying all charges or turning a deaf ear. The fact that the country has refused to grant the requests of several international human rights organizations to investigate the situation on the ground has only lent credence to the allegations.
In some cases, the Ethiopian government has felt compelled to counter the aforementioned NGO reports. For example, the government urged the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to publish a report on the situation in the Ogaden region.Unfortunately, however, this commission is by no means an independent entity. As the 2007 Crossroads report maintains, it is largely a government tool and is given little actual authority to respond to violations. That being the case, the report’s finding that no human rights violations were committed in the region is both unsurprising and extremely suspect. This general failure to address the human rights crisis has perpetuated a strong culture of impunity in the country.
Given this situation, the onus of responding to and raising the alarm about the steady stream of violations has largely fallen on human rights organizations operating both within and outside of Ethiopia. However, the government has recently taken steps to control the activities of NGOs. On January 6, the Ethiopian parliament passed new regulations it claims are necessary in order to provide a favorable legal framework and environment for NGOs in the country.
Nevertheless, the new law will bring decidedly negative consequences for ethnic rights, not to mention its freedom of association and assembly implications. The law labels as “foreign” any organization that receives over 10% of its funding from outside of Ethiopia. Most alarmingly, it goes on to prohibit these “foreign” NGOs from engaging in human rights and governance work. As a recent Human Rights Watch report notes, this law will be especially damaging due to the fact that there are very few organizations that engage in human rights work in Ethiopia and even fewer that will be able to qualify as “domestic” under the new law. Tragically, this law’s implementation may effectively stifle Ethiopia’s few remaining ethnic rights watchdogs.
As the domestic environment becomes more repressive, the role of international actors will become critical. While they may be unable to investigate violations on the ground, it will remain the responsibility of international human rights organizations to raise awareness about the crisis in Ethiopia and to continue petitioning international organizations such as the UN to respond to the issue. NGOs must continue to lobby world powers including the United States and the EU to speak out against Ethiopia’s abuses and provide support to human rights defenders within the country. Due to the fact that Ethiopia is highly dependent on foreign assistance to combat such daunting challenges as rampant poverty, food shortages, and a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, international pressure of this sort could bear more fruit than pressure on regimes that are already more internationally isolated.
Photo Credit: Flickr user aheavens
Posted at 02:04 PM in Africa, Human Rights, Minority Rights | Permalink
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Comments
Re: Making Genocide Watch accountable and transparent towards managing allegation with verifiable facts
The assumption and premise of this article is questionable.
I found this posting rather interesting as it begins with the notion that any thing that private groups such as Genocide Watch and Human Rights watch say and write is the word of God. No where does it ask for evidence to the allegations.
It alleges that the response that the Ethiopian government provided more or less saying bring the facts or shut up is not acceptable.
Where is tha fcts for the allegations?
Imagine, a group that said nothing when the real genocide took place in Africa under White Ian Smith and Botha in Southern Africa or more recently in Congo where over 6 million people perished, feels it has a god given divine authority to allege a serious crime against the Ethiopian people and when asked to account, come up with nothing factual but another set of allegations.
Is Genocide Watch a fair institution or a propaganda tool
Have we seen Genocide watch reporting on the Shock and Awe Campain in Irag or here in Guantano bay about the shocking revelations of Bush Administration criminal activities.
The focus on emerging nations alone is quite obvious
Why is this group so focussed only on developing countries and does not report on other critical issues. Most importantly, why does it feel that it has the moral authority when it is writing a letter to an organization based of all places in Switzerland, a country that collaborated with Nazi Genocide and now the mother of all Economic Genocide Tax Shelter Government that literally writes its budget with looted money from 6 million Jews that perished in the German Genocide and 1.1 Billion African poor.
Imagine an Ethiopian Government being asked to present its leaders to Internatonl Criminal Court based in Italy, a country that has not as of yet accounted for its Genocidal activity against Ethiopians in 1896 when it was defeatedand in 1925 when it cluster bombed Ethiopians like America did to the Japanese.
Who is the cuase of Genocide?
Imagine, expecting Ethiopians will ever allow that. May be to Belosconi and never to Meles Zenawi. So, comes the idiotic Genoricde Watch expecting EThiopians to be judged by institutions run by those who ran the most henious Genocide against their fathers and grand fathers and the country that loooted the Emeperos'sd savings and money put aside for times of crisis. The Swiss banks and Government that now houses this so called Human Rights Group. It is so offensive.
Imagine the Swiss Government judging on Economic Genocide and Grey List of OECD. Ask President Obama, PMs Gordon Brown and PM Meles Zenawi how they intend to get their looted money back.
The oly government in history, that has allowed governance and self determination based on language and ethnic group is now being accused as being genocidal of the very group that they have devolved power to.
I have interviwed the current Administrator of Gambella who was the security chief during the previous regime and knows first hand that the so called genocide on the Annuak was perpetuated
by the previous appointee of the Military Marxist Communist regime.
The case has been investigated by Ethiopian parliament and this group that calls itself is so incompetent it is making its allegation based by a group led by the same former Communist regime representatives here in Canada and the USA.
Can we demand transparency and accountability from Genocide Watch or their handlers?
Ballance is missing grossly.
Most of the write up in this article is so one sided and unfortunately negative one cannot go and discuss every detail. It is like the Republicans who looted the US economy for 8 years with out any accountability now demonstrating on Tax Return day with Tea bags saying Taxed Enough Already and sent to Tax Shelters.. To late Barack our money is sheltered in Toxic Assets and Switzerland.
Is Genocide Watch part of the Fox Network of the Australian Group?
Ofcourse in World of Fomer Catholic Priest turned propaganda chief Hannities of this world, they have the facts and all of us are fools.
The reports from CIA and Bush Administration Economic and Military expenditures state otherwise. But Fox is busy trying to steal the sheep. Unfortunately, this writer is no better than the foolish Hannities of the Right Wing propaganda.
The facts are by far different that what this writer tries to paint. Ethiopia is the island of democracy and good governance in a sea of piracy, genocide in Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Kenya.
The Ethiopian government has not done half the crimes of the Bush administration who carpet bombed Iraq and continues to abuse the American Citizens with unwaranted communication interference.
So, Have you seen Genocide watch reporting on Europe, North America, Cuba and Lantin America.
I believe we need to have transparency and accountability on at all levels of our lives. The Ethiopian government like the Bush and Obama Governments have to be made accountable with facts and not with fantasy.
Dr B
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