Ethiopia: Government Tortured Arrested Zone9 Bloggers

Addis Ababa (AFP) – Three Ethiopian bloggers appeared in court Thursday with two alleging they had been beaten while in detention, a case that has been condemned internationally as an assault on press freedom.

The three are part of a group of nine bloggers and journalists accused by police of “serious crimes”, with the other six having appeared in court a day earlier. Thursday’s hearing was held in closed session.

None have yet been charged, with police requesting more time to investigate their case.

“The detainees told the presiding judge that they were beaten by the police investigators under their feet and slapped and punched on their faces,” defence lawyer Amha Mekonen told AFP.

But she said the police had denied the claim, saying “no one had touched” the detainees.

On April 25 and 26, six members of the blogging collective Zone Nine and three journalists were arrested by police, with the government saying they were being investigated for “serious crimes”, without elaborating.

The arrests prompted an outcry from rights groups, with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calling them “one of the worst crackdowns against free expression” in the country, while Amnesty International said it was part of a “long trend of arrests and harassment of human rights defenders.”

Ethiopia has one of the most closed press environments in the world, the CPJ says, with at least 49 journalists forced into exile — a figure only beaten by Iran and Somalia.

Ethiopia has also been accused of cracking down on independent media and doling out heavy sentences for journalists under controversial anti-terror legislation.

The six who appeared in court Wednesday will next appear on May 17. The three in court Thursday will next appear on May 18.

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Ethiopia to allow greater freedoms for civil society and journalists, during a visit last week, expressing concern for the group.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has condemned the arrests, warning the country is increasingly muzzling freedom of expression under the guise of fighting terrorism.

Bilingual Children’s Story Time at Silver Spring Library

Ethiopian Literary and Cultural Awareness Association (ELCAA) to Host Second Bilingual Children’s Story Time at Silver Spring Library on May 10, 2014.

Silver Spring, MD—The Ethiopian Literary and Cultural Awareness Association (ELCAA) will host a bilingual story time on Saturday May 10th, 2014 at Silver Spring Library. The event, held in collaboration with Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL), will be the second in a series running through August of this year. ELCAA invites the community to bring their children and enjoy stories, songs and games in Amharic and English. The program will feature stories for children between the ages of 3 and 13 years.

The story time will be divided into two sessions: for children between the ages of 3 and 7 years old, the story time will begin at 1 pm and for children between the ages of 8 and 13 years old, the story time will begin at 2 pm. Silver Spring Library is located at 8901 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910. ELCAA held its first bilingual story time for children on April 5th, 2014 and was elated at the response from the community. Almost 50 children and their parents participated in the inaugural event which featured stories and games in Amharic and English. Encouraged by the enthusiasm of the community members, ELCAA and MCPL are excited to offer monthly bilingual story time through August of 2014 at Silver Spring Library.

ELCAA thanks the community, MCPL and the staff at Silver Spring Library for their outstanding work in bringing an Amharic and English story time to Montgomery County public libraries, “Where the County Reads, Where the County Meets, Where the County Learns.”

Founded in 2011, the Ethiopian Literary and Cultural Awareness Association (ELCAA) is an organization committed to the strengthening, promotion and preservation of Ethiopia’s cultural and literary life in the United States. ELCAA was instrumental in the establishment of an Amharic Language Collection at Silver Spring Library in 2013.

More information about ELCAA is available at www.elcaa.org.
Contact Person: Addis Feyissa

P.O. Box 7496, Silver Spring, MD 20907 | E-mail: elcaa.org@gmail.com | WWW.ELCAA.ORG

Ethiopian Kangaroo court granted police 10 more days for bloggers terror plot

by William Davison
Bloomberg

An Ethiopian court granted police 10 more days to investigate six bloggers and journalists suspected of conspiring with “terrorist” organizations in a case that’s raised concern from the U.S. and European Union.

The suspects will next appear in court in the Arada district of the capital, Addis Ababa, on May 17 when authorities may press charges or ask to extend their detention, defense lawyer Ameha Mekonnen said by phone. Three other bloggers will appear in court today.

“The police alleged that these people received money from terrorist organizations and that they’ve taken training, traveling to Kenya, and one European country,” Ameha said. “Police are saying they organized themselves underground and using social media they planned to instigate a revolution.”

The capital’s police on April 25-26 arrested three freelance journalists and six bloggers with Zone 9, a group writing on Ethiopian politics. The U.S. State Department has urged the authorities to release those detained, while the EU called for the defendants to receive full legal rights.

Donors and rights groups have repeatedly criticized Ethiopia’s government for criminalizing dissent, while officials say politicians and journalists are only jailed if they break the law.

Communications Minister Redwan Hussein didn’t answer his mobile phone when Bloomberg News called today seeking comment. The mobile phone of State Minister of Communications Shimeles Kemal was switched off.

Ethnic Politics is No Other Than Institutionalizing Racism

by Dubale Tariku

This article is intended to reach out to innocent citizens who might have been confused with political propaganda and underestimate the negative consequences of ethnic politics. It is to remind fellow citizens, as a concerned and responsible citizen that we need to take measured steps in our effort to support political parties. Simply stated people’s major interest is to have peace and equal opportunities in their own country. The interest of political elites is different, more than anything; it is to be on the helm of power. No amount of sugar coated words from political elites should dissuade us, citizens. With a salt of grain, this saying clearly illustrates the feelings “Politicians are mostly people who had too little morals and ethics to stay as innocent citizens.” The only reason why political elites reach out to innocent citizens is because they cannot come to power without the help of the people which the elites claim that they have a vested interest.

In most of well developed countries where Ethiopians in diaspora lives there are two things that shall never mix with State governments. These are religion and ethnicity, although ethnicity is not much of a problem in these countries. Like in any other advanced countries, most people in under developed countries such as Ethiopia also agree that religion should be separated from State government. Even we hear the current government in Ethiopia consistently declaring that religion and state should remain separated. Whether the Ethiopian government practiced what it declares or not is a different story. Why separate government and religion? The governments of advanced countries unmistakably understood and predicted the unique danger of religion for democracy. Religious disagreements have potential to escalate avoidable differences to serious strife that might lead the way to untold destructions and killings of innocent citizens. Many people are prone to violence and almost impossible to make peace so long as people oppose one another under the banner of their clashing religious doctrines.

In political recourse ethnicity is not different than religion. It should be treated like religion is treated in civilized politics. Experiences elsewhere tell that anything that keeps ethnicity away from politics is good. In Africa, as compared to religion, ethnic politics has proven to be even the worst killer. No matter how ethnic political elites sugar coated it, the undeniable fact is ethnic politics institutionalize racism. Citizens should not be gullible to think that ethnic ideology institutionalizes democracy. In multi ethnic society like Ethiopia, it is only democracy not racism that will bring peace and order. Only democratic political relations offers ethnic relationships in a manner that is characteristic of the civilized societies of the world. Let the truth be told. The whole governance practice under ethnic political system is promoting inequality among ethnic groups as opposed to promoting equality. The inequality perpetrates in institutions such as public government bodies, private business, media outlets, and universities (public and private). These government institutions do not provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their ethnic origin, just like what racism did in the western countries. No good governance could come out from ethnic political system which the philosophy of the relationship among people is based on nepotism.

What Ethiopians noticed in the recent uprising is that ethnic loyalty has affected our nation’s dream for democracy. Over the past 20-years ethnic based governance, the EPRDF has increased gaps in social relations among ethnic nationalities and developed structural suspicions and hate for one another. The Oromo university student who has been phone-interviewed by VOA from a hiding place in Adama is an example. It doesn’t worth to die for or kill for ethnic political system that is corrupt and structurally incapable to institute democracy for its own ethnic group.

Political elites do and say anything to manipulate the people to achieve their ambition. They violate principles of democracy, override laws, re-write history and even care less for committing genocide in cold blood. That is what the world has observed primarily in Africa, like in Ruanda, Somalia, Congo, Central Africa, the former Sudan, South Sudan, etc… The gruesome incidences that happened in the countries mentioned above did not come from mysterious unknowable forces. It came from political elites who manipulate citizens’ emotions to provoke intense ethnic conflicts and cause unimaginable damage. It is neither to advance economic interest nor institute democracy, which they claim bring to its own citizens.

Just like any other countries, for peace to prevail in Ethiopia citizens’ political discourse should be constructive. The vision should be to have an Ethiopia that respects the right of all citizens without discrimination by ethnicity origin or religion beliefs. At this trying moments, Ethiopia needs a purposeful leadership that has a vision of how to place its citizens. A leadership that recognizes and respects the many ethnic groups that make up Ethiopia, and treats all ethnic groups as its constituency and thereby alleviating the fear of ethnic domination. A leadership without recourse to ethnic chauvinism and which sees political power as not an end in itself but a means for serving the collective welfare of its people regardless of their ethnic origin. However, it takes skilful, committed and principled leaders to achieve just solutions that are supported by their followers.

Ethiopia shall prevail!!!

Breaking News: Abebe Gellaw interrupted Obama and Obama agrees with Ethiopia’s call for freedom

San Jose, California–U.S. President Barack Obama has agreed with journalist Abebe Gellaw’s demand to support freedom in Ethiopia and help free bloggers, journalists and political prisoners jailed by the tyrannical regime.

While Obama was wrapping up his speech last night at a glitzy Democratic National Committee reception in San Jose’s Fairmont Hotel, journalist and activist Abebe Gellaw interrupted the president and called support for freedom in Ethiopia. The event jointly hosted by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and and Y Combinator CEO Sam Altman was mainly attended by Silicon Valley business and political leaders.

Abebe began his message with a positive note. “Mr. Obama, we Ethiopians love you. We demand freedom for Ethiopia,” he said.

The President, who was talking about winning both Congress and the Senate from the Republicans in the next election, replied “I agree with you although why don’t I talk about it later because I am just about to finish. You and me will talk about it. I am going to be coming around.”

But Abebe continued his message and loudly called for help to free jailed bloggers and journalists. “Stand with the people of Ethiopia, don’t support tyranny,” he said to which the president answered again, “I agree with you.”

“We have tyranny in Ethiopia,” Abebe said and added, “We love you!”

“I love you back,” the present replied and noted that his speech was kind of screwed up.

“That is okay. And we got free speech in this country,” he said before wrapping up his speech.

In a letter Abebe handed to the President at the end of the event, he noted that he wanted to take the rare opportunity to raise the voices of the oppressed people Ethiopia.

“Mr. President, as an exiled journalist and freedom activist trying to raise the voices of the oppressed people of Ethiopia, I can tell you that Ethiopians have genuine respect for this great land of freedom and your inspirational leadership,” he wrote.

“But it pains and frustrates me and millions of Ethiopians to see that for over two decades the United States has overridden its core values and forged a questionable alliance with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a terrorist group that has continued to oppress, massacre, jail, torture and displace defenseless Ethiopians.”

According to Abebe, the rare opportunity was another unmissable chance to demand our freedom and expose the tyrants at such a high profile platform of the most powerful decision makers in the world. “I am glad I took the chance though security was extremely tight. At the end of the day,we should consistently demand the U.S to the review its questionable foreign policy towards Ethiopia. That was also the heart of my demand,” he said.

——————–

Full text of letter

President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500
May 8, 2014
Dear Mr. President,

It is a great honor and privilege for me to attend this unique reception organized in your honor at the Fairmont Hotel, San Jose.

There is probably no greater place in the United States than the Silicon Valley that truly exemplifies the transformative power of freedom. Transformative Silicon Valley companies like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Oracle and HP, are more veritable expressions of America’s power and dynamism than its military might.

Mr. President, can you imagine Silicon Valley if all the visionary innovators and dreamers that have made it possible are unjustly locked up in harsh jails to break their spirit and silence them? Mr. President, the answer is simple and obvious. Fortunately, the United States is not ruled by mindless and ruthless criminals like Ethiopia.

Mr. President, as an exiled journalist and freedom activist trying to raise the voices of the oppressed people of Ethiopia, I can tell you that Ethiopians have genuine respect for this great land of freedom and your inspirational leadership. But it pains and frustrates me and millions of Ethiopians to see that for over two decades the United States has overridden its core values and forged a questionable alliance with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a terrorist group that has continued to oppress, massacre, jail, torture and displace defenseless Ethiopians.

So many Ethiopians were glad that you sent Secretary of State John Kerry to Ethiopia last week on a mission of promoting “democracy and human rights,” among other things. They were also pleased that Secretary Kerry demanded the tyrannical government to release Zone 9 bloggers including Nathnael Feleke, a young blogger he had a chance to meet and inspire last year in Addis Ababa. Nathnael, Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu and so many journalists, activists and dissidents locked up in rat infested prisons have committed no crimes except for dreaming about freedom, justice and equality for their country. Still worse, a few days after Mr. Kerry returned home, over fifty defenceless civilians have been gunned down and countless others have been detained and tortured for opposing land grab and displacement of the poor in Oromia region and Gondar.

The young men and women condemned confinement in dark jails are dreamers and visionaries that want to see the transformative power of freedom, dignity and justice. Like Martin Luther King Jr., they too have a dream that one day children of oppressors and the oppressed will sit together as citizens of a nation to decide the destiny and fate of their country. They do not dream of revenge and retribution but forgiveness and peace. As Secretary Kerry correctly said during his recent trip to Ethiopia, “Africans have an opportunity to bend the arc of history towards reform, not retribution; towards peace and prosperity, not revenge and resentment.” That is exactly what we aspire to see in Ethiopia, a country wallowing in the quagmires of poverty, tyranny and backwardness.

Mr. President, it is, therefore, with utmost hope that I urge you, to do your level best not to compromise our freedom and dignity in exchange for short-term security concerns. While the security concerns of the United States in the Horn of Africa is understandable, forging alliance with a terrorist regime will have far more destabilizing impact in the long term. If this tyranny and terrorism continues unabated, Ethiopia will be another Rwanda or Somalia. We Ethiopians do not wish that to happen, a specter that is becoming more and more imminent with each passing day under the terrorist TPLF regime oppressing our people with impunity.

Mr. President, we remember your speech and promise to Africa that you made standing in Accra: “No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end.” Mr. President, we Ethiopians need to end the corrupt tyranny that has made our lives meaningless. Help us to end Apartheid and state-sponsored terrorism in Ethiopia at least by desisting from propping up those who are oppressing and tormenting our people.

Mr. President I loudly and clearly appeal to you to help Ethiopia move in the right direction. Yes, you can!

- Mr. President, Ethiopia needs freedom and justice.
- Help us free our bloggers and journalists.
- Help us free Eskinder Nega and all political prisoners.
- Help us free Zone 9 bloggers.
- We need freedom, more than food aid.
- Mr. President, help us free all political prisoners.
- Help us stop the massacres and terrorism against Ethiopians.
- Unites States, don’t support dictators in Ethiopia.
- TPLF is a terrorist group. Don’t support it.
- President Obama, please stand with the people of Ethiopia.
- President Obama help us to end Apartheid.
- Mr. President thank you for inspiring us to tell the truth.

I sincerely apologize for the interruption and inconvenience. I do hope that you understand and stand with the oppressed people of Ethiopia.

Most respectfully,

Abebe Gellaw

Ethiopia: Government Tortured Arrested Zone9 Bloggers

Addis Ababa (AFP) – Three Ethiopian bloggers appeared in court Thursday with two alleging they had been beaten while in detention, a case that has been condemned internationally as an assault on press freedom.

The three are part of a group of nine bloggers and journalists accused by police of “serious crimes”, with the other six having appeared in court a day earlier. Thursday’s hearing was held in closed session.

None have yet been charged, with police requesting more time to investigate their case.

“The detainees told the presiding judge that they were beaten by the police investigators under their feet and slapped and punched on their faces,” defence lawyer Amha Mekonen told AFP.

But she said the police had denied the claim, saying “no one had touched” the detainees.

On April 25 and 26, six members of the blogging collective Zone Nine and three journalists were arrested by police, with the government saying they were being investigated for “serious crimes”, without elaborating.

The arrests prompted an outcry from rights groups, with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calling them “one of the worst crackdowns against free expression” in the country, while Amnesty International said it was part of a “long trend of arrests and harassment of human rights defenders.”

Ethiopia has one of the most closed press environments in the world, the CPJ says, with at least 49 journalists forced into exile — a figure only beaten by Iran and Somalia.

Ethiopia has also been accused of cracking down on independent media and doling out heavy sentences for journalists under controversial anti-terror legislation.

The six who appeared in court Wednesday will next appear on May 17. The three in court Thursday will next appear on May 18.

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Ethiopia to allow greater freedoms for civil society and journalists, during a visit last week, expressing concern for the group.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has condemned the arrests, warning the country is increasingly muzzling freedom of expression under the guise of fighting terrorism.

My Takes on the Ethiopian Dam and the Addis Ababa Master Plan

by Messay Kebede

The issue of the so-called “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” has proven very tricky for all those Ethiopians who oppose the present regime. On the one hand, no Ethiopian wants to see Ethiopia’s right to use the waters of Nile for its own development contested so that any interference from external countries appears as an unacceptable assault on its sovereignty. On the other hand, many Ethiopians are understandably apprehensive of the detrimental ecological and social impacts of such a huge project and are skeptical about its economic benefits, a skepticism based on the failures of the experience of huge dams in other African and non-African countries.

Recently, three eminent Ethiopian scholars, namely, Minga Negash, Mammo Muchie, and my dear friend Seid Hassan wrote an article in which they argue that Ethiopians must engage in a cost-benefit analysis instead of opposing the project based solely on its alleged negative consequences. They find that the dam will provide “valuable economic benefits,” but they also admit that it will have several negative “side-effects.” This admission led them to say that “Ethiopians may legitimately ask questions and raise concerns about the manner in which the Government of Ethiopia is handling the project.” Accordingly, while concerns are legitimate, a simple one-sided opposition is not.

Since the article was obviously written to help Ethiopians resolve the dilemma in which they find themselves, I must confess that I remain as perplex as before. After reading the article, I still wonder whether the opposition to the dam project is really misplaced. Precisely, the cost-benefit analysis that they advocate seems to show an imbalance in favor of cost because even if we concede that the dam will be economically beneficial, the question remains as to who will benefit from the project and at what costs. The three scholars are right when, dismissing the validity of colonial treaties, they defend the sovereign right of Ethiopia to use the waters of the Nile. Unfortunately, the question is not only about sovereignty, it is also about the misuse of the right by a ruling clique whose records in the defense of Ethiopian interests have been so far nil.

It is fair to say that people should not expect anything good coming from a ruling elite that so wholehearted landlocked Ethiopia. Moreover, the fragmented nature of Ethiopian society thanks to the ethnic divisions implemented by the TPLF puts us in no position to antagonize further our enemies. There is no doubt that Egypt will engage in destabilizing policy, short of a military attack, to either stop the construction or makes it very costly for Ethiopia. True, as concerns ecological consequences and social adversities, such as displacements of people, palliatives can be found to mitigate the damages. Nonetheless, can one seriously expect that the ruling elite, assuming that it is capable of such concerns, will take the necessary measures to alleviate the harmful downsides of the dam?

It is also true, as noted by another dear friend, Tecola Hagos, in a recent article, that the existing government was successful in removing the traditional opposition of Sudan. The question is, at what cost? Is the seceding of Ethiopian territories, which happen to be in the Amhara region, the price for the Sudanese support? Who has any idea of the secret deals between the Sudanese and the Ethiopian governments? Clearly, to change the dam into a project in which benefits would outweigh costs, the condition is to have in place a nationalist and democratic, that is, accountable, government.

Last but not least, is the project really economically viable? I am no expert in this matter, but plenty documented studies on the real benefits of grand dams exist that invite caution, if not outright skepticism. Caution is all the more advised since the project originated from the former prime minister whose dictatorial ethos and aspiration to personal grandeur have left Ethiopia in a state of shamble. As pointed out by Alemayehu G. Mariam’s article, dictators are consumed by vanity and the need to justify their rule. As a result, they launch grandiose projects whose purpose is both to flatter their aspiration to grandeur and hide the misery and pettiness of their rule. It is important that we resist the temptation of separating the dam from Meles’s megalomania if only because it gives the reason why alternative proposals that would be less costly and more in tune with the environment and the interests of surrounding people were discarded in favor of the Grand Renaissance Dam. I am not convinced by the argument that economic benefits are dependent on the size of the dam, and not on a smart, efficient, more manageable use of the water.

To the argument of economic benefits, Tecola adds that projects like the grand dam can work as antidotes to the ethnic division of Ethiopia. Projects with a national dimension counter the fragmentation of the country and serve as achievements around which people can rally and repair their torn unity and national identity. As a harsh critic of Meles and his regime, Tecola knows that national projects are not enough to patch up Ethiopian unity. Centuries of common existence did not deter the Tigrean TPLF from advocating and implementing an ethnonationalist agenda. To counter the trend, we need a government that expressly dismantles the institutions created to divide Ethiopia and promotes a national culture that permeates ethnic identities.

That is why Tecola supplements his support to the dam with the argument that “the current Government of Hailemariam Desalegn seems to be engaged in a subtle fight to reverse such disastrous course of national disintegration.” In thus making his support conditional, Tecola joins all those Ethiopians who have serious concerns about the good use of the dam, the only but important difference being that concerned Ethiopians, in which I include myself, are not as optimistic as Tecola in the belief that the actual prime minster has the necessary power to reform the regime. In light of this uncertainty about the reformist agenda of the prime minister, I maintain that it is still reasonable to oppose the construction of the dam.

The upshot of all this is that the mentioned articles, despite their good intention and estimable arguments, do not do the job of appeasing my original concerns. To support the construction of the dam, I require an open debate about the pros and cons and the release of all relevant official and secret documents. By debate I do not mean the defense of the project by the officials of the government, but the presentation of alternative projects. The goal must not be to obtain endorsement, but to allow people to exercise their free and enlightened judgments with no attachment of political significance that would be construed as supporting or opposing the regime. Of course, some such condition amounts to nothing else but a change of government, given that the present regime will never subscribe to an open debate. Anyway, the construction of the dam is on its way so that the time for open debate has already passed. Even so, I reserve the right to oppose a fait accompli if only to show that the dictatorial regime did not fool me a bit.

The second issue I want to deal with is the riots caused by the expansion plan of Addis Ababa into Oromo territory. University students from various towns located in Oromia have expressed their opposition to the expansion plan by engaging in peaceful demonstrations. Undoubtedly, a number of legitimate questions can be raised against the plan, the most important being the utility of such an expansion. Why expand Addis Abba further when already its disparity with other towns is only too wide? Why not use the available resources to expand other towns that badly need to grow? This focus on Addis Ababa seems to be a continuation of the policy of make-believe, so dear to dictatorial regimes. It is more about impressing tourists, foreign visitors, and supporters than implementing a policy of development that really benefits the country as a whole. More importantly, the plan does no more than expand what Addis Ababa has effectively become, namely, the secluded island of exclusive enrichment for the cronies of the regime.

Another legitimate concern has to do with the fate of the Oromo peasants who surround the town. Unsurprisingly, the government insists that the plan promotes the integrated development of Addis Ababa and its surroundings. But seeing the government’s previous records of forced displacement of peasants with no or inadequate compensation in other regions of Ethiopia, there is no reason to suppose that a different fate awaits Oromo peasants. One more time, what matters is not the declared good intention, but the reality of an implementation devoid of established process of accountability. Any more than in the case of the dam, Oromo students have little reason to take at face value what the government is saying or promising.

The irony of the whole case is that the regime is reaping what it has sown. The creation of ethnic regions and their definition as sovereign nations could only backfire at the plan to expand Addis Ababa into a territory considered as the exclusive property of the Oromo. In principle, the invention of nations within the Ethiopian state considerably limits the authority of the central government so that Oromo students are within their rights accorded by the ethnonationalist constitution of the TPLF. The crackdown on the students is just another proof that the TPLF has done nothing but trample its own constitution since it came to power. Accordingly, what is absolutely unacceptable is the violent repression of the students who did nothing but use their recognized right to express their demands in a peaceful way. This savage repression, which caused many deaths, should be emphatically denounced by all Ethiopians.

That said, it must be at the same time clear that the condemnation of repression does not mean the endorsement of ethnic politics and borders. Indeed, from what I have read so far, Oromo students oppose the expansion because it violates the sovereignty of Oromia. For unionists, this is not the right reason and they should say so openly. They must condemn the violation of Oromo students’ right to protest peacefully, but they also must make quite clear that the condemnation is not an approval of killil politics.

I take this opportunity to ask unionists to become more aggressively engaged in favor of Ethiopian unity. It is high time that unionists drop their timid approach to unity in the hope that their timidity will decrease the secessionist tendency of Oromo nationalists. Especially, the Amhara elite must shake off their sense of guilt over the marginalization and mistreatment of Oromo under the previous Amhara dominated regimes. The fall of these regimes, which would not have been possible without the active and multifarious participation of Amhara elites and people, exonerates, so to speak, the Amhara and celebrates their decisive input in the rise of a new Ethiopia in which ethnic groups with their language and characteristics will flourish in conjunction with their Ethiopianness. EPRDF and other ethnonationalist groups present the new Ethiopia as a political reality born against the will of the Amhara when we all know that nothing would have been possible without the primary rise of Amhara students and elites against the imperial regime. Indeed, the time has come to raise the mere defense of Ethiopian unity to the offensive level and this change begins with the work of unifying the unionist base and laying out a clear vision of what the new Ethiopia will be. Our rallying motto should be: unity in diversity versus diversity in disintegration!

Wake Up Unionists!