Open Letter to Kofi Annan
Ethiopian Americans for Peace and Democracy
| September 21, 2006
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (center) speaks during the U.N. Security Council meeting in New York September 20, 2006. REUTERS/Mark Garten/UN Photo/Handout (UNITED STATES)
His Excellency Kofi Annan, Secretary-General
United Nations Organization
1st Avenue at 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
The European Union and the Carter Center that observed the elections have testified that the elections were flawed and rigged by Mr. Zenawi’s party. The Ethiopian people who went in unprecedented 90% turn out to vote their future have not only been robbed of their votes, but were also massacred on June 8 and November 1, 2005 in Addis Ababa, when over 86 peaceful protesters were murdered, hundreds wounded and tens of thousands were rounded up and jailed. The regime had also massacred 424 Anuaks in Gambela in December 2003. Despite uproar by human rights groups throughout the world and demand by the donor countries for a quick and independent investigation of these crimes, the killings still remain uninvestigated.
Donor governments who have expressed disgust at Zenawi’s actions and who the Ethiopian people counted on immensely to help them save their democracy have now forgotten their outrage and demand, and in unimaginable hypocrisy, have chosen to appease it instead. Emboldened by this deafening silence and inaction by the international community, particularly its Western donors, Zenawi’s autocratic regime has only intensified its repression and its age-old tactic of instigation of ethnic conflicts within the country. Ethiopians are, as a result, suffering internal displacement and all problems associated with it. Those who have lost hope in the peaceful and democratic change are now forced to armed rebellion. Generals, high-ranking military officers, and many in the rank and file of the army are defecting to neighboring countries sometimes in mass and joining rebel movements than continue with the repression of their fellow citizens.
We fear that a serious instability is bound to engulf Ethiopia and Eastern Africa soon unless the democratic option of solving the problems through dialogue is encouraged and the legitimate leaders of the opposition are made a part to the resolution of the crisis. To think that the current crisis in Ethiopia would be contained within Ethiopia alone is a dangerous gamble. The dangerous game Zenawi’s government is allowed to play now is bound to destabilize the entire region of the Horn of Africa and beyond with serious implications for global peace and security. Slowly but surely Ethiopia is heading into a crisis that the international community will be regretting soon. Zenawi’s donors should understand that they would soon get neither stability nor democracy under the circumstances that Zenawi’s regime is trying to solve its political problems.
Appeasement and looking the other way have never solved problems that are created by authoritarian regimes. Mr. Zenawi is emboldened by the inaction of the international community and this must stop.
We respectfully want to make it clear to you, and all who believe in the civilized discourse of solving problems through dialogue, that the time to act is now. Moreover, Mr. Zenawi should be asked to account for his crimes and pressured to release the prisoners that Amnesty International declared as prisoners of conscience.
Tomorrow will be too late. Please act now and save Ethiopia from an impending danger and its people from suffering in the hands of one of the most brutal dictatorships Africa has ever seen.
Respectfully yours,
Ethiopian-Americans for Peace and Democracy
161-01 84th Road, Jamaica Hills, NY 11432
hagerwedad@yahoo.com
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2006ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
| September 21, 2006
|
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| U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (center) speaks during the U.N. Security Council meeting in New York September 20, 2006. REUTERS/Mark Garten/UN Photo/Handout (UNITED STATES) |
United Nations Organization
1st Avenue at 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
Donor governments who have expressed disgust at Zenawi’s actions and who the Ethiopian people counted on immensely to help them save their democracy have now forgotten their outrage and demand, and in unimaginable hypocrisy, have chosen to appease it instead. Emboldened by this deafening silence and inaction by the international community, particularly its Western donors, Zenawi’s autocratic regime has only intensified its repression and its age-old tactic of instigation of ethnic conflicts within the country. Ethiopians are, as a result, suffering internal displacement and all problems associated with it. Those who have lost hope in the peaceful and democratic change are now forced to armed rebellion. Generals, high-ranking military officers, and many in the rank and file of the army are defecting to neighboring countries sometimes in mass and joining rebel movements than continue with the repression of their fellow citizens.
We fear that a serious instability is bound to engulf Ethiopia and Eastern Africa soon unless the democratic option of solving the problems through dialogue is encouraged and the legitimate leaders of the opposition are made a part to the resolution of the crisis. To think that the current crisis in Ethiopia would be contained within Ethiopia alone is a dangerous gamble. The dangerous game Zenawi’s government is allowed to play now is bound to destabilize the entire region of the Horn of Africa and beyond with serious implications for global peace and security. Slowly but surely Ethiopia is heading into a crisis that the international community will be regretting soon. Zenawi’s donors should understand that they would soon get neither stability nor democracy under the circumstances that Zenawi’s regime is trying to solve its political problems.
Appeasement and looking the other way have never solved problems that are created by authoritarian regimes. Mr. Zenawi is emboldened by the inaction of the international community and this must stop.
We respectfully want to make it clear to you, and all who believe in the civilized discourse of solving problems through dialogue, that the time to act is now. Moreover, Mr. Zenawi should be asked to account for his crimes and pressured to release the prisoners that Amnesty International declared as prisoners of conscience.
Tomorrow will be too late. Please act now and save Ethiopia from an impending danger and its people from suffering in the hands of one of the most brutal dictatorships Africa has ever seen.
Respectfully yours,
Ethiopian-Americans for Peace and Democracy
161-01 84th Road, Jamaica Hills, NY 11432
hagerwedad@yahoo.com
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2006ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
