By Kadiro A. Elemo*

It is not exaggeration if I make a bold statement that Ethiopia is among those countries where the dignity of a human being is absolutely disregarded. This goes from the fact that human rights violations and naked tyranny are commonplace experiences under the regime of Meles Zenawi. There is no trend of improvement in human rights protection in the country and a general culture of impunity for violating human rights is rampant. Lack of respect for the fundamental human rights, arbitrary and illegal detentions, tortures, killings of members of the political opposition and demonstrators, summary executions of suspected insurgents, lengthy pretrial detentions, poor prison conditions, violations of individual privacy rights and laws regarding search warrants, and lack of freedom of the press are among a few characterizing features of the police state of Ethiopia.

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By Kadiro A. Elemo*

The issuance of an arrest warrant for the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes committed in the conflict-trodden Darfur is the political fever of this week. Right after the declaration of Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the most senior ICC prosecutor, the intention of the ICC to indict the Sudanese President on the war crimes committed in Darfur, a lot has been undergoing behind the curtain to avert the issuance of the arrest warrant primarily because there was a trepidation that this will further deteriorate the fragile peace process in the Sudan and looms a humanitarian crisis or even ignite a new conflict in the war torn nation. Secondly, it is feared that Sudan might not cooperate on the adjudication or extradition of those individuals involved in the commissions of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Thirdly, some dictators, who realized their grips on power by perpetration and perpetuation of similar crimes on their people, fear that indicting an incumbent head of the state will set a bad precedent in the international law. Fourthly, some also doubt that it might be used by colonialists and neo-colonialists to execute their hidden agenda.

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By Kadiro A. Elemo*

In my previous article entitled, “Democracy is Different from Melocrisis”, I questioned the credibility of Prime Ministers Meles Zenawi’s intention to relinquish power after this term and the veracity of what he called his “major achievements”, i.e., transition process from military rule to “a democratic system that employs a parliamentary system of leadership” and moving Ethiopia from “economic stagnation to rapid growth”. The reality in Ethiopia is at sharp contrast with what Meles claimed as his major achievements. In my last article, we asked what he meant by democracy.

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By Kadiro A. Elemo

A conspicuous phenomenon of cultural genocide and ethnocide was the tabula rasa repeal provision enshrined in the Civil Code of the Empire of the Ethiopia (1960), which under the pretext of modernization, industrialization, urbanization, and rapid development, banned the use of all customs. In a nutshell, no words can better describe the situation than eloquent expression of Ernest Gellner, “Ethiopia: a prison-house of nations if ever there was one”. The majority of Ethiopia peoples are not only, at best, neglected, marginalized, disadvantaged; at worst, robbed of their culture, debarred from the political decision making, brutally dehumanized but also exploited economically, virtually dispossessed of their land and became tenants on their very land. “[T]he northern rules divided the southern lands into three, theoretically equal parts according to a traditional principle known as sisso, meaning one third. They confiscated two-thirds outright, leaving the last third to the indigenous population.” On top of this, they have to pay harsh taxation as high as 25% and a tithe (10%) to the church.

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By Kadiro A. Elemo*

Recently, I came across news, “Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi … in consultations with his ruling party about the possibility of quitting as Prime Minister and retaining his role as the party leader after next year’s elections.” The sort of declaratory statement about his intention to relinquish the post of Prime Minister is not an amazing news for me as I had the opportunity to hear him saying the same thing more than a couple of times. But, I have some observation on the sting attached to this declaration. This time, he is not conclusive about his intention to relinquish power since he will do so if and only if his party agrees.

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By Kadiro A. Elemo*

Election should be at the heart of viable democracy. By election, we are talking about fair and free election whereby the culture of open political debate prevails as opposed to pretentious election meant for donor consumptions. This means there should be freedom of press and freedom of speech. Mass Media should be free from sole manipulation of the government. It is also important to do away with unfair election rules that otherwise hamper the achievement of oppositions or at least pose procedural formidability.

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