The case for thoughtful approach to building the Nile dam – By Getachew Begashaw, Ph.D.[*]

Part I:  Economic and Political Backdrop 

Most Ethiopians agree that appropriately planned, designed, constructed, and operated dams on Abay (the Blue Nile) are economic necessities that should be supported to ensure the long-term economic development of the country and the well-being of its people.

It is an incontrovertible fact that Abay is Ethiopia’s natural resource. It originates from Ethiopia and runs 800 kilometers inside Ethiopia out of its total length of 1,450 kilometers when it joins with White Nile in Omdurman, adjacent to Khartoum. Further, there is no evidence to suggest that a legitimate government in Ethiopia has ever entered into any kind of bi-lateral or multi-lateral agreements with any foreign government concerning Abay.

More than its economic and geo-political significance, Abay also has a special place in the Ethiopian consciousness. To most Ethiopians, it is a source of pride, nationalism, patriotism and cultural inspiration. So close to the hearts and souls of generations of Ethiopians, it has been celebrated in songs, literature, folklore, painting and other artistic endeavors.

For a number of reasons, building a dam is not a casual decision one will undertake for short-term political or economic expediency.  Nor should it be a project one embarks on to show the world that it is one’s sovereign right to do so. When conceived by a representative government that works for the long-term interest and sovereignty of the country, building a dam is primarily an economic decision, which ascertains that the total benefit obtained from the dam operation exceeds the total cost incurred by building and maintaining the dam. That, in a nutshell, is the simple truth of the matter that Ethiopians should concern themselves with. Paradoxically, some articles have recently been published,  both in Amharic and English,  that generously, and uncritically to a large extent, support the current dam construction on Abay, despite our collective lack of understanding about whether this project will be an economic boondoggle or a strong performer.

The TPLF rulers and supporters try to give the impression that there are external legal constraints, unfairly imposed on Ethiopia, by the international community. However, there is no publicly available evidence suggesting such legal constraints ever existed. Even the browbeating and intransigency of Egypt have no international backing or legal legitimacy whatsoever.

The ethnic-based TPLF rulers are also busy spreading their spiteful propaganda that those who question their ill-advised policies are unpatriotic opponents of dam building. The truth is there can be no genuine Ethiopian who holds the view that we should not build any dam on Abay; who questions Ethiopia’s sovereign rights to build dams on Abay; or who argues that Ethiopia must sacrifice its national interest in favor of the downstream riparian states, Sudan and Egypt.  On the contrary, the prevailing argument among genuine Ethiopians has been the need for manageable, sustainable, environmentally friendly and multi-purpose dams that are in tune with Ethiopia’s economic needs and capacity, rather than a hastily hatched single-purpose mega dam borne out of political urgency and expediency by an ethnic-based dictatorial regime that has repeatedly demonstrated its indisposition to Ethiopia’s territorial integrity, long-term security, and unity of its people.

Under no circumstance should it be construed as unpatriotic to   ask questions about the biggest dam ever built in Ethiopia. With a project of this scale and cost,   we need much greater transparency and openness of dialogue than the dictatorial regime has been willing to demonstrate.    Without transparency and the ability to review the project’s ultimate costs and benefits, there is no way for anyone to say if this project is justified or not. On a megaproject of this scale, and especially in a country like Ethiopia where the development needs are great and available funds for addressing our needs limited, it is imperative to end the secrecy and allow an open look at the project from every angle.

As history has testified, time and again, Ethiopians will pay   the ultimate price to protect their independence and defend their national sovereignty. Therefore, the issue at hand (amongst Ethiopians) is not whether Ethiopia has the historical and/or legal rights to conduct any project that will advance its national interest on Abay or Ethiopia will have to consult and secure permission from anybody to do what it desires on Abay within the bounds of international rules of trans-boundary waters. It is rather about what kind of feasible, sustainable, and manageable projects (a mega-dam in this case) Ethiopia should undertake on Abay. Of course, because Abay is an international water, it is prudent, and even wise, to have some sort of international understanding by way of clarification where an injured party, for real or perceived reasons, lodges concerns and complaints.

In a debate  I had with Egyptian scholars at a forum convened by the Women’s National Democratic Club, April 1, 2014, in Washington, DC, I made it clear that there is a national consensus among Ethiopians that Ethiopia has the sovereign rights to use Abay fairly and equitably for its own economic development in accordance to international rules of trans-boundary waters, and that Egypt must not misunderstand the internal engagement Ethiopians are having on how best to use Abay as a disagreement on using Abay. And this is exactly how I want my Ethiopian colleagues also to frame the issue when they are contributing to the ongoing dialogues and exchanges.

That is to say, we must not confound and obfuscate the discussion on two separate issues: defending Ethiopia’s sovereign rights over Abay on the one hand, and how best Ethiopia can use Abay (including support for the GERD) on the other. It is my sincere hope that we all understand the fact that opposing the construction of the GERD as planned, designed, and executed does not mean opposing Ethiopia’s sovereign rights to make use of the river or build dams on Abay. Conversely, defending Ethiopia’s sovereign rights over Abay doesn’t mean blanket support for the GERD. They are two distinct issues where the first is a given fact of Ethiopia’s inalienable and unassailable rights on Abay, and the latter is an issue needing a thorough and rigorous scientific inquiry and respectable benefit/cost analysis and debates.

Putting all understandable patriotic fervors aside, it is quite appropriate to ask whether the GERD is good for Ethiopia. As will be explained in Part II of this piece, there is considerable evidence to suggest that many of the big dams, especially those in the developing world, are fraught with pernicious economic, social, political, and environmental problems. Therefore, it is abundantly evident that the GERD is not beneficial for Ethiopia, and it could even be argued that it is a debacle waiting to happen.

It’s unclear exactly how irreversible the project is at this point. As part of the construction plan, the course of the flow of Abay has already been altered. The secretive and corrupt government in power has not come forward publicly with its plan, if any, how to mitigate the adverse impacts of the dam. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all genuine Ethiopians to press the dictatorial regime in power to uncover all known and perceived dangers associated with the construction of the dam and let the people of Ethiopia take an active role in finding safeguard mechanisms that should be in place.

This view is further strengthened by two new developments. First, regarding the changing position of Cairo, the Egyptian reporter, Ayah Aman of Al-Monitor, wrote:

“…the Egyptian government is leaning toward adopting new policies aimed at resolving its dispute with Ethiopia concerning its Renaissance Dam project…In statements made to the press on May 11, 2014, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said that Ethiopia’s construction of the Renaissance Dam had become a fait accompli and must be dealt with in the context of safeguarding mutual interests, thus guaranteeing that Egypt receives its water and Ethiopia generates its energy… Egypt’s conciliatory tone is Cairo’s attempt to extract whatever benefits it can from a dam that it seemingly cannot prevent from being built” ^[†]

Second, there is greater US-EU involvement in resolving the dispute. It is reported in the World Bulletin News Desk of 21 May 2014 that diplomats from the U.S. and E.U. are shuttling between Ethiopia and Egypt in hopes of persuading the two countries to restart tripartite talks to assess the dam’s possible environmental, economic and social effects on downstream countries Egypt and Sudan. According to the Ethiopian Boundary and Trans-boundary Rivers Director at the Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Energy and Irrigation EU-US effort is to help peace in the region;… to facilitate  discussion on topics including ways of restarting tripartite consultations among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan… and implementation of the Nile Basin Initiative, particularly that of the Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP). ^[‡] May be the scheduled visit of the newly elected Egyptian President, former army generalAbdel Fattah el-Sissi, to Addis Ababa could be an outcome of this effort.

While it is unclear what the EU-US positions or proposals are, it is unmistakable that Egypt will do everything in its power to promote its own interest. Regrettably, Ethiopians are now faced with two unfavorable challenges.  On the one side, they have to contend with an illegitimate government at home that cannot be trusted to resist outside pressure that would permanently compromise the country’s future interests. On the other hand, they are faced with dubious international players, who have a notoriously painful track record of betraying Ethiopia. All genuine Ethiopians at home and in the Diaspora are called upon to demand the ethnic-based government to be transparent, accountable, and accommodating to divergent views relating to the dam, and not to compromise Ethiopia’s long-term interest for short –term economic and political gain.

We call upon Ethiopian scholars to contribute to the real issues at hand, rather than echoing the newly manufactured TPLF’s propaganda about Ethiopia’s sovereign rights on Abay. Any discussion on whether a dam should be constructed is superfluous, in the face of the progress made on the ground. What is of essence now is the need to reveal the secrecy under which the project was planned, designed, and constructed; and the level and seriousness of the government’s corruption and its effect on the construction and operation of the dam. Genuine scholars should address the economic hardship the dam has inflicted on the vast majority of Ethiopians and the nation; as well as the environmental/echo system disruption it will inevitably cause. Above all, no scholarly work on the issue would be complete without addressing the kind of political climate that would be necessary to undertake such a massive national project with far-reaching and long-lasting consequences. Any Ethiopian scholar who is serious about Ethiopia’s sovereign rights on Abay would consider the state of the political stability in the country and the protection of the rights of its citizens. In this respect, recent publications that devoted considerable energy on whether a dam should be built, after the fact, in my view, have missed the target  and are not of much value to advance the dialogue on this national question of supremely critical nature.

(Part II will follow soon)

[*]The author can be reached at getachew.begashaw@yahoo.com

[†]http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/05/egypt-soften-stance-ethiopia-renaissance-dam.html

[‡]http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/136869/us-eu-want-egypt-ethiopia-to-restart-dam-talk

Honorees of the Fourth Ethiopian Heritage Festival

Honorees of the Fourth Ethiopian Heritage Festival

Poet Laureate, Young Scholar and Journalists to be honored:

•  An Ethiopian Poet Tsegaye Gebremedhin will be honored for his Contribution to the Advancement of Humanity
• The Zone Nine bloggers: Free press Journalist for reporting the truth, corruption, and the human rights condition in Ethiopia at great personal sacrifice and risk.
• Nahom Marie, a 17 Years old, software and iOS app developer who will be attending MIT.

These are among those who will be primarily honored, celebrated, and remembered at the upcoming Ethiopian Heritage Fourth annual Festival to be held from Friday, July 25 to 27th 2014.

Laureate Tsegaye “Giant” and “Icon”

Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebremedhin was a renaissance man. He was poet, playwright, essayist, historiographer, philologist, art director, humanist, and peace activist. Born in 1936 Ambo, Ethiopia, Tsegaye Gebremedhin’s artistic talent was noticed early on by his grade school teacher. Into adulthood, he advanced to become a prolific playwright and poet. Throughout his life time, he has published over 11 research papers, over 40 plays and poetry in Amharic, and translated more than 16 plays in Amharic and English, some being his work.

Moreover, he has also held several positions such as was General Manager of the Ethiopian National Theatre, Vice-Minister of Culture and Sports, editor at the office of Oxford University Press, assistant professor at department of Education at Addis Ababa university from (1977-1978) and much more. His awards include the following: Emperor Haile-Selassie I International Prize for Amharic Literature in 1966, The Gold Mercury Ad Persona Award in 1982, 4 Fulbright Senior Scholar Resident Fellowship Award; Human Rights Watch Free Expression Award in New York in 1994, and Honorable Poets Laureate Golden Laurel Award. In addition, his literary contribution particularly to Ethiopia is immense and remains as an icon etched not only in Ethiopian history and identity, but to Africans as well.

Unsung Heroes- Zone9 bloggers
Zone9bloggers are a group of bloggers dedicated to presenting the various pertinent social issues such as political repression and human rights activism. The six bloggers are Atnaf Berahane, Mahlet Fantahun, Natnael Feleke, Befeqadu Hailu, Zelalem Kiberet, Abel Wabela, and 3 journalists; Edom Kassaye, Tesfalem Weldeyes and Asmamaw Hailegorgis of Addis Guday magazine. After much surveillance and harassment, as of April 26th they have been charged with terrorism and imprisoned at Maeklawi prison which is notorious for torture. The ESHNA acknowledges the diligent work zone9bloggers have contributed to human rights and the idea of free expression.

Young scholar- Nahom Marie

Nahom Marie is a bright 17 years old high school student whose academic achievement is exemplary. Nahom’s exceptional academic began whilst in Kindergarten where he exhibited a higher understand that advanced him to several classes beyond his age.

Nahom Marie is an aspiring software and iOS app developer from San Jose, California. He has worked on different types of apps from BOOM, a music recognition app that utilizes the capabilities of the Pebble smart watch, to an in-progress tutoring app that looks to make the process of tutoring and/or finding a tutor tailored to compatibility and several preferences.

Graduating this summer, Nahom has received several awards and scholarships to various universities such as Princeton, Sanford, Harvard, MIT and many more. Besides his academic achievement, he has engaged himself in working within the Ethiopian community. He often volunteered after school to help students with their homework’s, and acting not only as their tutor but as mentor as well.

Ethiopian Heritage Festival to be an Interesting Event

Along with the ceremonial honorees, the Ethiopian Heritage Festival will offer venues for members of the Ethiopian Diaspora Community and their American neighbors to learn about and celebrate the Ethiopian experience. These include art, crafts, and jewelry exhibitions. Plenty of delicious Ethiopian cuisine, traditional music and dancing, soccer and running sports, and plenty of activities for the youngsters will keep everybody interested.

Main days of the Ethiopian Heritage Festival: Opening Friday, July 25 at Silver Spring Civic building 1 Veterans Pl, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and Saturday July 26 through Sunday, July 27, 2014, on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C

For more info please visit our website www.ehsna.org
Or email us @-pr@ehsna.org

Eritrea: Top Ten Source Countries for Refugees

Khartoum (HAN) June 21, 2014 – Eritrea is in 10th place of the Source Countries for Refugees, accounting for 308,000 refugees. According to VOA, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says Somalia was among the world’s top three source countries for refugees last year. Photo: Eritrean refugees protest in front of the USA embassy, Tel Aviv .

In a Friday report marking World Refugee Day, the agency said Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia together accounted for more than half of the world’s 16.7 million refugees in 2013.

It said many of the 1.1 million Somalis who left the country sought refuge from conflict, drought and famine in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia.

Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo also have relatively high rankings on the agency’s top 10 list of source countries, together accounting for more than a million refugees. People from both countries have been dealing with the impact of conflict.

Eritrea is in 10th place, accounting for 308,000 refugees. Isaias Afewerki says Eritrea exodus helps per capita income grow.

International media has reported over 4,000 Eritreans leaving the red sea nation every month as an “exodus” that could nearly wipeout most people out the country. However President Isaias told Eritrean tv that such reports are exaggerated. He mockingly suggested that even if such report is true, they are “not that bad” report since the exodus could “help raise our per capita income.”

President Isaias claimed that some “selfish” Eritreans are being attracted and lured by a better life in Europe and America, but they are not leaving because of oppression in his country. “If their excuse is really oppression in Eritrea, why don’t they stop and live in Sudan, Ethiopia or Kenya? But they continue their journey to Israel or Europe and America.” He said most Eritrean refugees are economic migrants, not victims of oppression or human rights abuse.

In a statement, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said that“peace is today dangerously in deficit.”

He also said the international community needs to overcome its differences and find solutions to the conflicts in “South Sudan, Syria, Central African Republic and elsewhere.”

The refugee agency says overall, more than 50 million people were forcibly displaced last year, an increase of about six million from the previous year.

Pakistan hosts the world’s largest number of refugees, more than 1.6. million. Kenya hosts the world’s largest number of Somali refugees and Ethiopia host the largest numbers of Eritrea, Somali and South Sudan in Africa.

- See more at: http://www.geeskaafrika.com/eritrea-is-one-of-the-top-ten-source-countries-for-refugees/4080/#sthash.BzM1sIc3.dpuf

No Country for Ethiopian Human Rights Abusers By Prof. Al Mariam

The U.S. Justice Department encourages Ethiopians to report human-rights abusers hiding in plain view in America

They are hidden in plain view. They have been hiding in plain view in the U.S. for over 30 years. They have been hiding in plain view in the U.S. for just three years.

They skulk around most of the major urban centers from New York City to Los Angeles. They swagger about in public places and places of worship in designer suits with an air of untouchability. They slither in and out of popular coffee shops. They creep in the shadows and alleys. They are highly educated. They are barely literate.  They are loaded with cash they stole when they held power. They own property and operate businesses  in the U.S. They are service workers eking out a living and struggling to make ends meet.   They  signed death warrants against innocent victims. They executed innocent victims.

They conceal their true identities by taking aliases to avoid detection. They are known by the victims they tortured and abused, but their victims do not know what they can do to bring their victimizers to justice in American courts. They live in peace and security certain in their knowledge that they have gotten away with murder, torture and various other crimes against humanity while their victims live each day the nightmare of the abuses they have suffered.

THEY are former high-level and low-level Ethiopian junta Derg officials who have committed gross human rights violations and are now hiding out in the U.S. in plain view.

THEY are high-level officials and low-level functionaries of the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and its handmaiden the “Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front”.

THEY have gamed the liberal American asylum system and obtained residency or citizenship fraudulently.

THEY believe they have gotten away with murder and will live in the lap of luxury in the United States of America.

THEY need to be brought to justice in American courts!

Occasionally, these Ethiopian criminals against humanity hiding out in the U.S. make chance encounters with their victims.  In May 2011, Kefelgn Alemu Worku (a/k/a Habteab Berhe Temanu, “TUFA”, Kefelegn Alemu)  came face to face with one of his victims in Denver, CO. Worku came to the United States in July 2004 as a refugee using the false identity of Habteab B. Temanu. In the late 1970s, a ruthless military junta known as “Derg” launched a “Red Terror” campaign in Ethiopia resulting in the extrajudicial killings and persecution of hundreds of thousands of citizens. Worku served as a prison guard during that period. Samuel Ketema, an Ethiopian political prisoner in Ethiopia in 1978 testified that Worku tortured and executed fellow prisoners. Abebech Demissie, a 16-year-old high school student detainee in 1977,  “watched Worku shoot and kill people, including a teenage boy.” Worku ordered other prisoners to “clean the blood off the floor with anything we could find, including our tongues.” Worku “pointed an AK-47 assault rifle at Abebech’s head but for some reason spared her life.

According to court records, in October 2013 Worku was  indicted on various charges including unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization, aggravated identity theft, and fraud and misuse of Visas, Permits and Other Documents.  Following a five-day trial in U.S. District Court, Worku was convicted on all counts and given a 22-year sentence on May 23, 2014.  Generally, similar immigration violations are punished by no more than 18 months in federal prison. But the sentencing judge, U.S. District Judge John L. Kane, was so outraged by Worku’s criminality, he “maxed” him out. Judge Kane explained, “The risk that this country becomes regarded as a safe haven for violators of human rights is such that the maximum sentence is required.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Walsh who prosecuted Worku declared, “Our system of justice has successfully removed the defendant from the immigrant community he once terrorized, and in so doing vindicated not only our laws, but the rights of the defendant’s many victims now living here in our country. Today, justice was done. By sentencing defendant Worku to the maximum possible term for his crime, Judge Kane sent a stern, determined message that the United States will not allow its generous asylum laws to be manipulated to create a safe haven for murderers and torturers from abroad.”

Last week, famed exiled Ethiopian investigative journalist, Abebe Gellaw, identified one Tewodros Beharu, as “Ethiopia’s prosecutor from hell (hiding in plain view) in America.” Abebe accused Beharu, a resident of Silver Spring, MD., of being a “wilful participant in the unjust and arbitrary prosecution of dissidents, independent journalists and opposition figures using the so-called anti-terrorism proclamation.” According to Abebe, Beharu “fabricated countless treason and terrorism charges against innocent people whose only crime was exposing and challenging the corruption and tyranny of the TPLF.” (Click here to view the ENGLISH copy of the charging document; click here for the AMHARICversion.)

Abebe alleged that  “Tewodros Beharu was one of TPLF’s (ruling regime’s party in Ethiopia) prosecutors trained and employed to fabricate terrorism charges against political prisoners like Eskinder Nega, Andualem Aragie, Nathaniel Mekonnen, Reeyot Alemu, Wubishet Taye, Bekele Gerba, Olbana Lelisa, the Muslim community leaders and the two Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye.” Abebe stated that Baharu had charged him in absentia with “terrorism” as a U.S. citizen along with others including Obang Metho, Neamin Zeleke, Dr. Berhanu Nega, Ephrem Madebo, Fasil Yenealem, Mesfin Negash, Abiy Teklemariam.”

In an electronic communication,  Beharu told Abebe that he “was following orders” when he brought the trumped up charges against Eskinder Nega and the rest of the defendants mentioned above. Incredibly, Beharu invoked the “Nuremberg defense” used byNazi  perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.  Adolf Eichmann at his trial testified, “I am guilty of having been obedient, having subordinated myself to my official duties and my oath of office.  I did not persecute Jews with avidity and passion. That is what the government did.”  Likewise, Beharu was just doing his official duty. He is guilty of being obedient and doing his official duties. He did not persecute Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye or dozens of others “with avidity and passion.” That is what the government did.

Serkalem Fasil’s accusations against Tewodros Beharu

The most damning allegations against Tewodros Beharu come from Serkalem Fasil, Ethiopia’s foremost female journalist and publisher until the ruling TPLF regime in Ethiopia imprisoned her and her husband Eskider Nega. Both Serkalem and Eskinder (who is currently serving an 18 year term on trumped up terrorism charges at the infamous  Meles Zenawi Kality Prison a few kilometers outside the capital) are arguably the most persecuted and most celebrated dissident journalists in modern African history. Eskinder has been the recipient of practically every major international press award over the past three years including the  prestigious 2014 Golden Pen of Freedom which he received a couple of weeks ago.  Serkalem is also a recipient of international press awards including the prestigious “Courage in Journalism Award” given by the International Women’s Media Foundation to women journalists that have shown extraordinary bravery in the face of danger.

In a recorded audio interview, Serkalem  stated that Tewodros Beharu was not merely “following orders”.  He was the one giving the orders in and out of court.  Serkalem specifically stated that Beharu persecuted her husband and the others “with avidity and passion.” Beharu was an angry, fierce, harsh, ruthless and pitiless persecutor, according to Serkalem. He went after the defendants not like a professional prosecutor but as political persecutor. Beharu took every opportunity in court to belittle the defendants.  He made countless objections to prevent the defendants from introducing exculpatory evidence to show their innocence.  He abused procedure to prevent the defendants from receiving a fair trial and to prolong the pretrial detention of the defendants by applying for endless continuances. He fabricated and falsified evidence to obtain a wrongful conviction.

Serkalem specifically alleged that Tewdros Beharu in his individual capacity as a lead state prosecutor knowingly, intentionally and maliciously used his powers to deny her and her husband of due process of law. In 2011, Beharu brought false and unfounded charges against her husband, fabricated evidence, suborned perjury and made allegations and statements he knew to be factually false to secure her husband’s conviction. Serkalem alleged that Beharu falsely alleged Eskinder was a leader of the Ginbot 7 organization  and that he had mobilized and recruited youth to engage in terroristic acts. He produced no evidence whatsoever to support this allegation but connived with the judges to convict her husband. She further alleged that prosecutors Beharu and Berhanu Wondimagegn were  personally involved in depriving her family of property including homes, cars and other personal property without due process of law. Beharu grossly abused his powers by knowingly, intentionally and maliciously prosecuting other independent Ethiopian journalists and denying them a fair trial and due process including international press award winners Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye and others, according to Serkalem.

Serkalem’s allegations against Tewodros Beharu raise serious legal questions of far reaching implications particularly with respect to the maintenance of the rule of law and the central role played by government prosecutors in protecting innocent victims from human rights abuse. International human rights law requires that prosecutors be active protectors of human rights and must maintain the highest level of integrity under national and international law and ethical standards. Prosecutors are essential  to the right to a fair trial and if they abuse and misuse their prosecutorial powers for political ends, they would have committed not only a violation of the principle of the rule of law but also a gross miscarriage of justice for which they must be held accountable. 

Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (the U.S. ratified the ICCPR in 1992 ; incorporated as part of the Ethiopian Constitution under Article 13(1)) guarantee that “everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him’. (ICCPR, Article 14; African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), Arts. 6-8.) The Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court (ICC), also defines in detail principles of criminal justice (Articles 22-33) and principles of fair trial (Articles 62-67).  The Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law (Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 60/147 of 16 December 2005), prescribe that states have an obligation to prosecute individuals suspected  of gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law that constitute crimes under international law.”

A call to report Ethiopian criminals against humanity hiding in the U.S.

In January 2012,  in a commentary entitled, “African Dictators: Can’t Run, Can’t Hide!” I put out a call for Ethiopians in the United States to report Ethiopians living in the U.S. who have committed gross human rights violations to U.S. authorities. In light of the increasing numbers of investigations and prosecutions of human rights violators who have entered the U.S. fraudulently, it is important for Ethiopians in particular to report such suspects to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) which operates the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit (HRVWCU) within the National Security Investigations Division (NSID).

HRVWCU “conducts investigations focused on human rights violations in an effort to prevent the United States from becoming a safe haven to those individuals who engage in the commission of war crimes, genocide, torture and other forms of serious human rights abuses from conflicts around the globe. When foreign war crimes suspects, persecutors and human rights abusers are identified within U.S. borders, the unit utilizes its powers and authorities to the fullest extent of the law to investigate, prosecute and, whenever possible, remove any such offenders from the United States.”

Over the past decade, HRVWCU has been quite successful in investigating and arresting hundreds of  individuals for human rights-related violations under various criminal and/or immigration statutes. Its large data base contains the names of thousands of known and suspected human rights violators. The data base has been instrumental in preventing identified human-rights violators from attempting to enter the United States. Currently, ICE is pursuing thousands of leads that involve suspected human rights violators from nearly 100 different countries. Over the past 8 years, ICE has arrested hundreds of individuals for human rights-related violations under various criminal and/or immigration statutes and deported hundreds of other known or suspected human rights violators from the United States.

Ethiopian criminals against humanity living in the U.S. must be reported to ICE HRVWCU for investigation

The evidence of widespread crimes against humanity and war crimes in Ethiopia is fully documented, substantial and overwhelming. An official Inquiry Commission report of the TPLF ruling regime in Ethiopia in 2007 documented the extrajudicial killing of at least 193 persons, wounding of 763 others and arbitrary imprisonment of nearly 30,000 persons in the post-2005 election period in that country. There are at least 237 individuals identified and implicated in these crimes. In December 2003, in Gambella, Ethiopia, 424 individuals died in extrajudicial killings by security forces loyal to the TPLF.  In the Ogaden, reprisal “executions of 150 individuals” and 37 others were documented by Human Rights Watch in 2008 which charged, “Ethiopian military personnel who ordered or participated in attacks on civilians should be held responsible for war crimes. Senior military and civilian officials who knew or should have known of such crimes but took no action may be criminally liable as a matter of command responsibility. The widespread and apparently systematic nature of the attacks on villages throughout Somali Region is strong evidence that the killings, torture, rape, and forced displacement are also crimes against humanity for which the Ethiopian government bears ultimate responsibility.” These are only the tip of the iceberg.

Why we must take individual initiative to report Ethiopian criminals against humanity hiding in the U.S.

Perhaps the question I have been asked most frequently by Ethiopians over the past several years is, “What can I do as an individual to help improve human rights in Ethiopia?”

Too many Ethiopians, particularly in the Diaspora, feel frustrated by a sense of individual powerlessness. Observing the lack of cohesion among opposition groups and the endless bickering, they stand aside overwhelmed by disappointment. But there are many things Ethiopians can do as individuals to help bring about significant improvements in human rights in Ethiopia.

Last week I called for a boycott of Coca Cola and its 114 different products. When Coca Cola commissioned  32 local versions of the world soccer cup song, released 31 of them and  “dumped” the Ethiopian version, I told  Coca Cola, “GO TO HELL!!!” I will never, never buy, use or encourage others to buy or use a Coca Cola product. There is no doubt that individuals acting by themselves and collectively can make a difference. Say NO too Coke!

Just last week, it was reported that “Coca-Cola sales nosedived in Spain after boycott call.” Sales of Coca-Cola in Spain slumped by half because the people of Spain told Coca Cola to go to hell!!! (There is substantial anecdotal evidence that a silent boycott of Coca Cola is well underway in Ethiopia.)

If the Spanish can do it to Coca Cola, why can’t Ethiopians?

There are many reasons why Ethiopians with evidence and information on Ethiopian human rights violators hiding in the U.S. should report them to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes. First, it is the inescapable moral duty of any Ethiopian who is directly victimized or has personal knowledge of others who are victimized to report human rights abusers hiding in the U.S. Such criminals against humanity must be exposed and removed from American society. Second, reporting such abusers sends a strong message to those violators in official positions in Ethiopia that America will not be a safe haven for them if they should seek asylum fraudulently by concealing their criminal past. If they enter the U.S. they should be prepared to go to jail because they will be fingered and brought to justice. Third, broad participation in such reporting will send a strong message to the regime leaders in Ethiopia who have committed atrocities that if they step inside the U.S., they risk losing not only their fat bank accounts but also their liberty. They should be prepared to spend their last days in an American federal prison. Fourth, if Ethiopian human rights abusers believe that America is not a safe haven for them, they are less likely to engage in crimes against humanity in Ethiopia. There is no question that nearly all of the regime leaders and their cronies today believe they will relocate to the U.S. if things change in Ethiopia. They had better think again!

Knowingly allowing Ethiopian criminals against humanity to live freely in the U.S.  is itself a crime against humanity. It is tantamount to being an accomplice after the fact. These human rights abusers hiding in the U.S. should know that justice is like a delayed train. Victims may have to wait a while, but in the end justice shall arrive with its full might. That is the lesson Kefelgn Alemu Worku learned on May 23, 2014. That is a lesson every Ethiopian human rights abuser hiding in plain view in the U.S. should be taught every day.  That is a lesson every human rights violator in Ethiopia who plans to relocate to America should learn today.

A lesson in justice for ALL Ethiopians

Last week, 89-year-old Johann Breyer, who lived in Philadelphia for nearly 65 years was arrested and is facing extradition for crimes he committed during WW II as a Nazi guard at the notorious Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp and at another locations.  Breyer migrated to the United States in 1952 and claimed citizenship as a displaced person. He deliberately made false statements to minimize his role in the Holocaust in which over 1.1 million men, women, and children were exterminated. German authorities have charged Breyer “with complicity in the murder of more than 216,000 European Jews.”

Kefelgn Alemu Worku is no different from Nazi prison guard Johann Breyer. Worku was a prison guard for the “Derg” junta. Like Breyer, he committed or was complicit in the commission of untold atrocities. He tortured and killed innocent victims. Like Breyer, Worku tried to conceal his identity and criminality  when he sought asylum in the U.S. and tried to minimize his role in the Red Terror massacres. Worku, like Breyer, tried to escape justice; but unlike Breyer, justice caught up with Worku in 10 years.

The fact of the matter is that the Ethiopian human rights abusers hiding out in America are not only those who did their dastardly deeds under the Derg regime. There are many who have committed similar human rights abuses as former members or functionaries of the TPLF ruling regime in Ethiopia today. They must ALL be reported.

Whether it takes 6 or 65 years, these abusers who were TPLF or Derg members must be brought to justice. They should know that there is no statute of limitations on justice! Indifference to such criminals living freely in our midst in plain view must end!

I ask ALL Ethiopians one simple question: When the U.S. Justice Department is willing to do ALL of the heavy lifting to prosecute criminals against humanity hiding in the U.S., is it too much to ask Ethiopians to finger these suspects for investigation and prosecution and cooperate with the Department?

It is easy to report human rights abusers hiding out in America- You do NOT have to give your name when you report.

If you have evidence or information about foreign nationals suspected of engaging in human rights abuses or war crimes,  call the ICE HSI tip line at1-866-347-2423 and complete its online tip form.

You do NOT have to give your name when you report.

You may also submit evidence and information to the Human Rights Violator and War Crimes Unit by emailing HRV.ICE@ice.dhs.gov.

Assistance is available to victims of human rights abuses. Call ICE’s confidential victim/witness hotline toll-free number at 1-866-872-4973.

“The United States will not allow its generous asylum laws to be manipulated to create a safe haven for murderers and torturers from abroad.” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Walsh

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Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

Previous commentaries by the author are available at:

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/

www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic

http://ethioforum.org/amharic/category/%E1%8A%A0%E1%88%8D-%E1%88%9B%E1%88%AD%E1%8B%AB%E1%88%9D/

A thoughtful approach to building Nile dam: PART III By Getachew Begashaw, PhD

In the first two parts of this series, we presented a focused analysis of the GERD, based on evidentiary information that is available in the public domain. We argued objectively and cogently that the social, economic, environmental and ecological adverse impacts of the GERD could be incalculable, and that the imminent danger that the GERD poses to the long-term interest of that poor nation could be irreparably devastating. As the construction of the dam proceeds at a dazzling speed, we called upon all genuine Ethiopians to evaluate the hard facts surrounding the project, without succumbing to the mind numbing TPLF propaganda, and to take appropriate measures before the damage is completely irremediable.

In this last section, we present a summary of the recently leaked report of the  International Panel of Experts (IPOE), by way of elucidating further the insidious reason why the TPLF desperately wants to construct the GERD, and irrevocably conclude that the GERD is but a part of one grand wicked scheme that the TPLF regime and its deceased leader have long designed to permanently destroy the notion of a united Ethiopia, drain her natural resources and to plant interminable hostilities among its inhabitants who have lived for centuries in peace and harmony.

The IPOE Document

It is recognized that in the absence of reliable data on important aspects of the design, construction and maintenance of the dam, it is futile to attempt to have a meaningful discussion on the topic. Unsurprisingly, the secretive government in power did not involve or inform the public in the planning and designing of the dam, or has been not willing to share any relevant information to this day about the decision-making process that led to the construction of the dam. In this regard, it was fortuitous that we now have access to an important document, which was prepared by the IPOE and recently leaked to the public. The document is impartially compiled by an independent party, and gives a wealth of information about the project that has previously been inaccessible.

Below, we highlight a few essential elements of the document, as summarized by the International Rivers, a non-governmental civic group with an impeccable record of standing with the Ethiopian people in their fight against the continued abuse and brutalization by the TPLF regime.[1] More specifically, the document indicates:

1. The present design criteria are “quite general, and do not include project- and site-specific conditions. The project’s main design report is outdated and does not reflect numerous and significant design changes to the project”.
2. The stability of the main dam and other main structures should be verified under consideration of additional geological and geotechnical findings. Structural measures might be needed to stabilize the foundation to achieve the required safety against sliding.
3. The project did not assess its sensitivity to climate change. A project of this scale and with such heavy reliance on rainfall patterns requires a better understanding of future hydrologic conditions to ensure the highest degree of flexibility and resiliency in its design and operation. The panel recommends a study that looks at the potential influence of climate change on the flow regime at GERD and further downstream.
4. The project did not include an analysis of sediment deposition in the reservoir (a troublesome issue for dams on the muddy Nile). The panel notes that sediment flows downstream of the dam will be substantially reduced, with implications for floodplain farming productivity, navigation, riverbank erosion, and biodiversity. The panel also recommends additional studies on water quality changes from the project, particularly on methane gas production and the depletion of dissolved oxygen levels in water releases that could harm fisheries and biodiversity downstream.
5. Very little information on how the dam will be operated was given. At a basic level, both present and future needs for “peaking power versus base power needs to be assessed in more detail,” and “needs to be taken into account in (project) planning and sizing.” The report requests verification of the 6,000MW installed capacity.  The panel writes that “it is not clear whether the present design considers (capacity, functionality) the minimum mean flows of the dry months release to the downstream countries” without use of power generation facilities or the spillway.

Despite the above shortcomings and other technical, environmental, social and ecological problems, construction on the project is proceeding on “an aggressively accelerated schedule” with little room for adjusting key elements of dam design to reduce harm or prevent problems.

The TPLF dictators consider treasonous any attempt to question the integrity or viability of the project, thereby effectively discouraging credible intellectual discourse to better understand the issues surrounding the dam and to seek mitigating measures.

TPLF’s Real Motive to Construct the GERD

To understand the wicked motive why the TPLF regime has embarked on the construction of a mega dam, it is important to put in perspective the issue relative to the horrendous track record of the ethnic-based group since its inception as a terrorist organization with a deviant ideology of hate, anti-Ethiopianism and inter-ethnic animosity. As outlined below, the damage it has caused against Ethiopia is so abominable it has no parallel in the annals of Ethiopian history.

a)      In an uncanny departure from the time-honored duties of all known governments in human history who pledge to defend the sovereignty of the lands they rule, the TPLF regime, under the leadership of the late Meles Zenawi, made a purposeful and conscious decision to dismember Ethiopia and make it the only landlocked country in the world with a large population that has no access to the sea.  As reported elsewhere, the loss in revenue as a consequence of land-lockedness far outweighs any benefit even from the most profitable dam imaginable.

b)     In a contemptible pursuit of a policy of divide-and-rule, the TPLF leaders wickedly divided Ethiopians along ethnic lines and have sown the seed of extremism that is now manifesting itself in genocidal episodes among people that have lived for centuries in relative harmony.  As gruesomely depicted in a recent documentary (see, e.g.,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjkSzZZh93U) the poisonous ethnic agenda of Meles Zenawi and his TPLF party is already leading the country to a path of unimaginable destruction and complete disintegration. No government with a genuine intention of building a dam to benefit its people will at the same time promote a policy of genocide and extremism as a means of consolidating power.

c)      In a brazen defiance of Ethiopian patriotism, the TPLF government and its former leader desecrated the flag of the nation, and have selfishly and callously parceled out fertile agricultural lands to foreigners, in the process forcefully dislocating the poor and defenseless people from their ancestral homes without any compensation.  To the chagrin of the millions of Ethiopians who are helplessly watching as their country is being auctioned, these ruthless dictators have shamelessly ceded to Sudan, as down payment for support against any future threat by oppressed people, the country’s cherished territory that our forefathers had protected for centuries with blood and sweat. No government that builds a dam with a true intention of promoting the long-term interest of the country it rules would sell to foreigners ancestral lands at dirt cheap prices or give away territory to neighboring countries to protect it against its own people.

d)     Following the May 2005 elections, in which the people overwhelmingly rejected the TPLF and its vile policies, the regime unabashedly transformed itself into a police state, unseen since the fall of the Iron Curtain, and viciously denied Ethiopians their basic human rights. It controls every aspect of life in the nation through an iron fist and enormously expensive security apparatus, and has clamped down on any credible opposition to its domination. It keeps behind bars journalists in the likes Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu; incarcerates and harasses peaceful human rights activists and political leaders, including Andualem Andargie and Bekele Garba; and ruthlessly massacres innocent civilians in every part of the country.

It is beyond rational limits of tolerance and naiveté to deny the veracity of the above and attempt to give these deceitful dictators the benefit of the doubt about their hidden agenda surrounding the dam. The TPLF, besides the political gains it is drawing from this project, is purely interested in the GERD for a starkly clear economic boon it will be enjoying from the dam during and after its shoddy completion.

As is widely reported, all the major sub-contractors of the GERD are TPLF owned or business enterprises affiliated with the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT), including Mesfin Industrial Engineering (MIE), SUR Construction PLC, and Messebo Building Materials Production PLC — the three largest domestic companies that are supplying most of the construction materials including metal, cement and labor.

SUR Construction PLC is established by EFFORT in 1992 with an initial capital of Birr 108 million as a General Contractor. Since its establishment, the company has been awarded more than 31 road projects, over 44 various building contracts, as well as 2 airfield and 2 hydropower projects. The total worth of those projects to date is more than Birr 8 billion, and the company reportedly owns about 1,100 heavy and light duty pieces of construction machinery and plants with over 2,200 permanent and contract employees and about 6,000 daily laborers. SUR has its own six storey head office building in Addis Ababa and a modern workshop and training center at the branch office in Mekelle. Currently, SUR is executing 7 projects all over the country worth in excess of Birr 7 billion and has achieved an annual turnover of more than Birr 1 Billion.[2]  Messebo Building Material Production PLC (MBMP PLC) is one of the EFFORT group companies, located in Mekelle, and has an  investment capital of about Birr 2 billion.[3]  The third company, Mesfin Industrial Engineering PLC (MIE), also affiliated with the TPLF, is the leading equipment manufacturing company in East Africa. A wide range of products is manufactured at its industrial complex, which is fully equipped with the state-of-the art machinery. It designs, manufactures and installs equipment and components for the energy, mining, manufacturing, construction, mining and agricultural sectors.[4]

These are but three of the TPLF companies, established by the money stolen from the coffers of Ethiopia, that are the ultimate beneficiaries  of the GERD and that will continue to pilfer the hard earned money of the people.

Even in the unlikely scenario that the economic, social, environmental, ecological and technical shortcomings of the GERD are mitigated, and the dam turns out to be profitable, there is no uncertainty that it is the same corrupt group that will collect, control and disburse the money, and use it either to deposit in foreign bank accounts or to strengthen its grip on power. The people of Ethiopia have never had any means of controlling the activities of this illegitimate regime ever since it came to power in 1991, or to hold it transparent and accountable in its handling of the money and resources of the nation. To this day, the government has not even responded to a report of the Global Financial Integrity which uncovered that the leaders have illicitly taken over US $12 billion out of the country! 

Concluding Remarks

As elucidated in this piece, the TPLF regime does not have the track record or the moral eminence to be trusted with a project of the magnitude, national symbolism and economic significance of the GERD. A regime that is guided by a philosophy of anti-Ethiopian unity, inter-ethnic animosity, corruption and repression, cannot embark on a project with the long-term interest of the nation at heart. This is a group that has much blood of innocent people on its hands; dehumanized Ethiopians and dishonored their pride in their heritage; and pauperized the people and subjected them to untold misery, poverty and hopelessness. It is an aberrant variety of despotism that has poisoned the political climate, and created a future very much imbued with uncertainty and tribulation.

Ironically, a country that has been defended heroically by its valiant sons and daughters against waves of external aggressors over the centuries, has now, for the first time in its illustrious history, found itself vulnerable and unable to repel the insidious assault on its survival by internal enemies.  As the government in power promotes genocidal policies, tearing apart the national fabric, the seeds of extremism and ethnic clashes are chillingly sprouting across the land.

Sadly, intellectuals and professionals who have the sacred duty of standing on the side of justice for the oppressed and challenging the disastrous schemes of the illegitimate regime, instead appear to be succumbing to the allure of the TPLF propaganda machinery and becoming instruments of repression. Health professionals in the Diaspora, who were educated at the expense of the lowly poor back home, are seen as they nauseatingly compete amongst each other, notwithstanding the hippocratic oath of do-no-harm they solemnly vowed, to curry favor with the regime. Professors of all disciplines from major learning institutions are observed as they insolently flock to Mekele and other visible places to get the attentions of the repressive rulers. Avaricious businessmen and entrepreneurs too eager to have a share in a proportion of the loot that trickles down to lackeys, flagrantly kowtow to the will of conniving TPLF cadres, contributing to the repressive machinery with kickbacks and bribes.

Indubitably, the GERD is but a smokescreen for the continuation of the discredited agenda of the TPLF and Meles Zenawi to destroy Ethiopia as a nation, and, hence, should be relentlessly and vehemently scrutinized, and its oversight and operation immediately handed to independent Ethiopian experts in the profession. This is a generation that has the most sacrosanct responsibility to stand up to TPLF’s aggression against Ethiopia’s survival, and ensure passing to posterity the glorious heritage handed to it by our forefathers. Therefore, as I conclude my piece on the GERD, I leave my fellow countrymen and erudite citizens back home and in the Diaspora, who refuse to see the crimes being committed by the TPLF regime in power, with the following immortal words of Mahatma Gandhi:

“There are Seven Deadly Social Sins:
Politics without principle.
Wealth without work.
Commerce without morality.
Pleasure without conscience.
Education without character.
Science without humility.
Worship without sacrifice.”

And, to the TPLF leaders who are blinded with a false sense of invincibility, may the foreboding words of Frederick Douglass serve as a wake-up call:

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”

Ethiopia shall prevail!

[1] http://www.internationalrivers.org/gerd-panel-of-experts-report-big-questions-remain

[2] http://www.sur.com.et/CompanyProfile01.html

[3] http://www.messebocement.com/backgroundinfo.aspx

[4] http://www.mie.com.et/index2.html