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BETRAYAL OF DEMOCRACY (Text of Prof. Alemayehu Gebre Mariam’s speech at the premier of
the documentary
“Betrayal of Democracy” at the University of California, Los
Angeles, Ackerman Union, September 16, 2006. “Betrayal of Democracy,”
Obang Metho, Producer, in
association with the ***
This speech followed immediately after the showing of Betrayal of
Democracy.*** Thank you Wassy [Tesfa] for your kind
introduction. I am overcome by emotion, of what I have
seen in this documentary. Such crimes committed against our own people. So as I try to collect my thoughts here,
I hope you understand that such injustice must not pass unnoticed, or
unpunished. My young friend Obang, you have done a
great service for our people. I am not sure how we can thank you, but I
suppose you did not do it for gratitude. But we thank you nonetheless. Good evening everyone, and welcome. I am honored to have the privilege of
making a few remarks on the occasion of the premier showing of Betrayal of
Democracy. One of our best and brightest young
people has exerted extraordinary energy and creativity to put together a
documentary which will serve to inform us, teach us, and educate us on the
betrayal of democracy in our homeland. This documentary is done for a worthy
cause: the cause of human rights, freedom and democracy in Before I offer my remarks on the
betrayal of democracy in The extraordinary efforts of the Task
Force in the struggle to pass H.R. 5680, the “Ethiopia Freedom,
Democracy and Human Rights Accountability Act of 2006”, is well-known
and widely appreciated. I thank the members of the Task Force
for their unwavering commitment to human rights and democracy in With your permission, I want to take a
few moments to share some personal thoughts about the young man who has
brought us here today, and thank him for his work in this documentary. This documentary has been a labor of
love for him; and for us, his fellow Ethiopians, an object of singular
pride and honor. Obang is an extraordinary young
Ethiopian. I first saw him at a hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa in Obang was one of the scheduled
witnesses. I had no idea who he was, and what he
was going to testify about. As Obang took the witness chair, I sat
nauseated in the back of the gallery in the hearing room having just
finished listening to the lies and subterfuges of the Ethiopian Charge
d’Affaires Fisseha Tessema. Mr. Tessema represented to Congress:
“There is no single person I know of in Peaceful life in Qualiti prison! Just
imagine that! That was why I was nauseated. As Obang took the witness chair to
testify, I had a vague feeling that this young man has not had a peaceful
life. Pain was evident in his face. And soon enough, I realized why this
young man seemed to be in so much pain. “I will talk
today about the Anuak,” he said, as he began his testimony. “I am an
Anuak. I grew up in Gambella. Please bear with me if I am emotional.” And he glanced towards the gallery of
the large hearing room filled with spectators, and continued: “As I am
speaking, most of you may look at my face today and most of you would say
I am not Ethiopian. To some Ethiopians, I could pass for German. I have
been excluded even today. The only person who mentioned the word Anuak was
Chariman Smith.” I had barely propped myself up in my
seat when Obang hit me with the truth. He said: “The Anuaks
belong in Then he went on to plead the cause of
the Anuak people with passion and fervor. He said: “We are a
very tiny minority. There are no more than 100,000 Anuaks. That is
including me.” He said he has appeared before Congress
to have his cry for justice for the Anuak people heard by the American
people. He said he has come to seek the help of
Congress to save his people from annihilation by the Ethiopian government.
He said 1,600 hundred of his brothers,
sisters, relatives, friends and neighbors had been murdered, massacred by
Ethiopian government troops. And countless thousands have become refugees. He sat in that hearing room as the
lonely voice of a tiny minority which now sits precariously on the
precipice of ethnic annihilation. Then he told of the despair of the Anuak
people: “Right
now,” he said “the Anuak have lost hope. And the international
community has failed them.” No one could have made a more passionate
plea for justice than Obang that day in Congress. No one could have pled with more
conviction and passion the cause of human rights for the Anuak people. And I sat in the back of the gallery, I
found myself in a state of shame. I knew nothing about the Anuak, or the
massacres that had taken place over the past few years, or the state of
terror that had existed in Gambella for years. I knew then why this young man’s face
was draped in pain. It became clear to me that 1,600 Anuak
victims were speaking in unison through his voice. Obang was just their messenger in
Congress that day. He had carried their solemn message from the grave. And I thought to myself, what a cross
for a young man to bear! As he continued his testimony about the
persecution of the Anuak, the moral force of his arguments, and my own
sense of guilt became unbearable. I wanted to stand up and tell him to
stop. I wanted to protest: “Obang, I
didn’t know. I had no idea the Anuaks were being massacred by the
government. I had no way to find out. I have no responsibility.” I wanted quick absolution. I wanted to
be forgiven. I felt if I could raise the defense of
ignorance, I may be able to avoid moral responsibility, and avoid judgment
for being willfully blind to the suffering of the Anuaks. But I knew ignorance would offer me no
defense, because in my case, it was a case of willful ignorance. The atrocities committed against the
Anuak were no secret. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the U.S.
State Department Human Rights Report have been reporting them for years. But as I thought about Obang’s
testimony in Congress, I began to think that perhaps it was not ignorance
that kept me from knowing about the suffering of the Anuak. For ignorance
can be cured with knowledge. Perhaps I did not want to admit the real
reason to myself. Perhaps it was a malignancy of the
heart. Just may be, I did not care about the
Anuaks. May be deep down, I did not think they mattered. And so that day, I left that hearing
room with a heavy heart and downcast eyes. But as downcast as my eyes were, they
were eyes wide open. I took Obang’s words at the hearing
not as a condemnation, but a challenge. A challenge to learn more about
the plight and suffering of the Anuak. And as I poured over the human rights
reports and newspaper reports and the very few books on the recent history
of the Anuak, I learned more. I learned that Obang had been very
cautious in his report of the body count of the Anuak killed by government
forces. It was not 1,600. No, No. It was much higher than that. On I learned that an investigative
delegation of Amnesty International had been turned back from Gambella and
prevented from discovering the truth. I learned that thousands of Anuak have
been arbitrarily arrested and jailed. Many tortured. Anuak women raped. It
was all there. But the numbers spoke of the extent of
the destruction of a society and a culture. Obang spoke of the suffering of the
individuals and families. But Obang need not speak alone, any
more. He need not protest alone, anymore. We are all with you, Obang. The
suffering of the Anuak people is the suffering of all Ethiopians. Their
liberation, our liberation. But I will never forget your words:
“To some Ethiopians, I could pass for a German.” My friend, you are no German!
You are a 24 carat Ethiopian!! So, my young friend, thank you for
pleading the cause of the Anuak people. Thank you for this documentary. And
thank you for all you do for And thank you all for letting me share
this personal moment with you. And now, let me say a few words about
the documentary we have just seen. Obang has chosen the theme of democracy
and betrayal in producing this documentary, and so I thought I would share
with you a few personal thoughts about democracy and betrayal, and for
good measure, I have added a few words on tyranny as well. Democracy, since its birth in Churchill once said that “Democracy is
the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been
tried from time to time.” But I would wager to say, democracy has
not had a more glorious rebirth than the one we almost witnessed in 26 million of 30,000 polling stations
were opened to receive their votes. 319 international
observers were present to serve as midwives in the rebirth of democracy in
And on 90% of the eligible voters came out to
vote. That is over 23.4 million Ethiopians who cast their votes. That day, Ethiopians made themselves the
undisputed heavyweight champions of democracy in the world. Neither But as we all know, democracy was not
born in It was aborted. It was stillborn. And as Ethiopians held a wake for a
stillborn democracy, I paused to contemplate what it was that democracy
meant to them at precisely I wondered if, on that morning, they
were thinking about the direct democracy of ancient And as I thought about this question, it
seemed to me less likely that they were concerned about the ideals or
theories of democracy. They had far more practical and mundane
concerns and problems. And as I thought back on that fateful
morning of They had a job to do! And it was a glorious Spring day. It was house cleaning time! It was time to sweep out 14 years of
mismanagement, 14 years of misrule. 14 years of misgovernment. 14 years of
malfeasance. And 14 years of corruption. It was time to sweep out the EPDRF
rascals. And sweep out, they did. Out of every
hamlet and neighborhood, town and city. They scooped up the rascals and threw
them in the dustbin of history. And when dusk had arrived and the
polling done that day, the people rested. And their house was clean.
The opposition had swept across the
Ethiopian political landscape like an F-5 tornado. Addis was ready for the new occupants. And so the following day, the people put
down their brooms and picked up their hammers. They had a job to do! It was time to build a free society, a
new future based on the rule of law, respect for civil liberties and human
rights. It was time to pick up the wreckage of
the last 14 years and rebuild society, and heal the wounds of ethnic
hatred and division. There was a lot to build. But when the people showed up on the job
site to begin construction the following day, they were told the whole
thing was make believe. The elections did not happen. Nothing
has changed. The rascals are still in charge. And so overnight, the people’s victory
had changed to defeat, their hopes dissolved into despair, their
aspirations transformed into a nightmare. But the people refused to believe the
elections were make believe. The newly elected leaders refused to
accept the elections were a game or a joke. The people demanded that their judgment
be respected. But the rascals would have none of it. The demand of people was answered with
bullets. Their new leaders were sent to the
jailhouse, while the rascals sat comfortably in parliament house. And so the people’s hopes, desires and
aspirations for democracy were betrayed.
When Judas Iscariot took 30 pieces of
silver from the Romans to turn in Jesus that was the betrayal. When unarmed young men and women who
were protesting peacefully were shot by government soldiers, that was the
betrayal of democracy. When Meles Zenawi jailed the winners of
the 2005 elections, the people’s choice, that was the ultimate of
democracy. When Meles Zenawi paid his But history shows democracy is always
betrayed by tyrants. From the first tyrants of ancient They all believe they can rule by force.
They do not believe it is necessary to
have the consent of the people to govern. They believe they can solve the problems
of their society by jailing, killing and persecuting those who disagree
with them. And the rogue’s gallery of tyrants in In May 2005, Mr. Zenawi had a serious
collision with democracy. He was injured badly, and he will never
be the same again. Yes, he will limp along, and use his
soldiers as a crutch to stay in power, but not for long. For once you have been disowned by the
people, there is no redemption. Meles is now riding the caged tiger of
democracy, and he will stay in power as long as he stays on the back of
the tiger, and the tiger remains caged. And neither he nor his party will ever
gain the faith and trust of the people he betrayed. But democracy will not remain betrayed.
And all is not lost. There is a glimmer of hope and
resurrection. Democracy can yet arise from its grave in The Ethiopian people look to us in And so we face the question, how do we
“unbetray” democracy? How do we restore faith in our people?
How do we reassure them deliverance is near? Our people did their jobs on And our job is to get H.R. 5680 (the
Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights Accountability Act of 2006)
passed. But H.R. 5680 is in trouble in Congress.
Deep trouble. We are in trouble. Democracy is about to be betrayed yet
again. This time the cost of betrayal is not 30 pieces of silver. It’s
gone up. It is $600,000 paid to the lobby firm of DLA Piper. The mighty warrior of the DLA Piper
lobbying firm has met us on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Congress. Richard Armey, the former Majority
Leader of the House of Representatives and lobbyist for the Ethiopian
government, has arrayed his mighty DLA army against us and H.R. 5680. Dick Armey, the trusted right hand man
of Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Yes, Armey is a powerful man, and very
well connected man in And he has whispered in the Speaker’s
ears. And so H.R. 5680 is stuck in the
International Relations Committee. Speaker
Hastert will not let it get to the floor for a vote. When Joshua fought the Battle of Jehrico,
he did not rely on bows and arrows, or swords and axes. He had his army shout a great shout, and
the walls of Jehrico came tumbling down. My friends, we have only three weeks to
save H.R. 5680. Like Josua’s army, we must shout a great shout now. We
must get our voices heard. We have to call Speaker Hastert’s
office. Not just once, but as many times as necessary.
We have to write the Speaker. Email him,
Fax him, Meet with him and his staff. Not just once, but as many times as
necessary. We need to make our case to him. We need
to plead our people’s cause before him. We must tell him that our people hunger
for democracy. H.R. 5680 will nourish them by helping them have honest
elections. We must tell him our people thirst for
liberty. H.R. 5680 will quench their thirst by helping secure their human
rights. We must tell him our people demand
justice. H.R. 5680 will help them get judges and prosecutors who serve in
the interest of justice, and not just serve their own interests. We must tell him our people demand the
release of our leaders who are languishing in prison. H.R. 5680 will help
free them and let them join their families. And we must tell him our people thank
the American people for their generosity, for their gift of $20 million to
make it all of that possible. And so, in the end I say, let us shout a
mighty shout, and bring down the walls of DLA Piper lobbyists. Let us shout a might shout and pass H.R.
5680. Thank you. God bless
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