Letter to US State Department Ethiopia Desk-Foreign Policy: Death of Engineer Tesfahun Chemeda
August 30, 2013
Dear US State Department
Ethiopia Desk
During a 2009 speech given by President Obama, preservation of human
dignity was stated as core US policy objective. A portion of the speech
was documented by the Congressional Research Service in a July 22nd,
2011 article titled Africa Command: U.S. Strategic Interests and the
Role of the U.S. Military in Africa.
“When there is genocide in Darfur or terrorists in
Somalia, these are not simply African problems, they are global security
challenges, and they demand a global response…. And let me be clear:
our Africa Command is focused not on establishing a foothold on the
continent, but on confronting these common challenges to advance the
security of America, Africa, and the world.”
Although the African Command goals include “confronting common
challenges” of Genocide and terrorism, the question remains why US
Government provides military aide to States (including African) that
practice “State Terror.” Support of “State Terror” often results in
oppression, human rights violation and Genocide, as history has proven
repeatedly. Such was the case in Iraq where US Foreign policy, initially
supported Saddam Hussein’s regime during the Iran-Iraq war of the
1980s. The Foreign policy was instituted despite the fact that the
Saddam Hussein persecuted occupied people such as Kurds and other
segments of the Iraqi population. Support of Saddam Hussein at that time
emboldened the regime to use brutality to suppress Kurds and Iraqi
people in general, as well as neighboring Kuwait. Operating with
impunity caused the death of untold numbers of Iraqi civilians.
Similarly, support of the Ethiopian Government has resulted in
extrajudicial imprisonment and deaths of many civilians, including
Oromo, Ogaden, Anuak, Sidama and Southern Nations.
Further analysis of Ethiopia reveals the African colonial nature and
desire for perpetrators (Abyssinian elites) to retain the colonial
empire as the root of conflict in the Horn of Africa. The Northern
ethnic groups (Amhara and Tigray) have occupied Oromo, Ogaden and
Southern Nations for over 120 years. Throughout the occupation,
brutality, Ethnocide and Genocide have been part of the Abyssinian
policy for controlling the occupied territory through leveraging
International conflicts and ideologies. The policy of ethnocide extended
to cultural and linguistic domination by a population (Amhara), who
constitute less than twenty percent of Ethiopia.
- While Amhara ruled Ethiopia, the Oromo language was banned in public
places. The founders of Macha Tulama Self Help Association in Ethiopia,
a civic organization made of Oromo professionals and leaders1,
attempted to counter the repressive regime, resulting in many of the
leaders imprisoned and or killed. Attached is a 1977 Amnesty
International Press Release that reported on the execution of Mecha
Tulama leaders, General Tadessa Birru and Colonel Haile Regassa. Colonel
Alemu Qixxessa was arrested and served 10 years in prison for being one
of the founding members of Mecha
Tulama. http://www.amnesty.org/es/library/asset/AFR25/007/1977/en/60527fe6-4fba-45eb-a44a-922648490a70/afr250071977en.pdf
“In some such trials in early 1976 defendants were
allowed their own lawyers or state legal aid, and relatives could attend
the trial. however, in general, trials were in camera, defendants were
denied legal representation, and judgements and sentences appeared to be
arbitrary. In one well-known case in 1975,two Oromo officers, General
Tadesse Birhu (whose case had been taken up by AI in the 1967′Calla
2rial’) and Colonel Haile Hagassa were sentenced to prison terms by a
military tribunal, on charges of joining a counter-revolutionary
organization but the terms were changed to death penalties by the
chairman of the Derg, and both were executed. ” – Amnesty International
1977
- Under the current Tigrayan regime, Oromo was included as a state,
but our language and culture was suppressed including Waaqeffannaa, an
indigenous Oromo religions. As was the case during Amhara regime, our
founding organization in Ethiopia offices were looted and closed by
Government of Ethiopia. http://www.amnesty.org/fr/library/asset/AFR25/008/2004/fr/91c51157-d5ae-11dd-bb24-1fb85fe8fa05/afr250082004en.html
- Arbitrary arrests of Oromo were documented in 2007 by Amnesty
International
http://www.amnestyinternational.be/doc/spip.php?page=imprimir_articulo&id_article=11649
- Oromo Support Group Australia letter on Oromo Prisoners of Conscience including Mecha Tulama members and leaders http://www.gadaa.com/OSGAStatementSept2011.pdf
Although the War on Terror is critical, sacrificing of occupied
people such as Oromo in Ethiopia sends mixed messages to the World. An
underlying message is that our Government allows aligned states to
commit human rights violations and Genocide, under the guise of State
security. The inference is that our Government stays “neutral” as long
as the aligned nation supports the current Global initiatives such as
the War on Drugs and War on Terror. It sets a standard for other Nations
that the World accepts policies that vilify civilian populations in
order to carry out a mission to suppress dissent, occupy neighbor
states, Genocide and or Ethnocide, further weakening the core objectives
of the United Nations.
One recent consequence of “Neutral policy” towards human rights
violations and genocide by the Ethiopian empire is the death of Mr
Tesfahun Chemada; an Oromo professional who was killed in Ethiopian
Kaliti prison this past week.
Mr Tesfahun Chemeda fled Ethiopia to Kenya because of persecution of
Oromo professionals. In Kenya, Mr Tesfahun approached UNHCR and filed
for protection. UNHCR gave him a mandate based on confirmation that Mr
Tesfahun was persecuted in Ethiopia. Tragically, the Kenyan Government
arrested Mr Tesfahun along with another Oromo, Mr Mesfin Abeba, for
interrogation before refoulment to Ethiopia. According to sources:
“The two innocent victims Tesfahun and Mesfin were handed over to the
Ethiopian authorities who took them hand cuffed and blind folded at
2:00 AM local time on May 12, 2007, purportedly to have them
investigated for terrorism at the JATT Main Investigation Branch in
Finfinne (Addis Abeba)…… From Apr. 27 to May 12, 2007, before handing
them over, they [Tesfahun Chemeda Gurmessa and Mesfin Abeba] were
interrogated at the Kenyan National Bureau of Investigation near Tirm
Valley by American Agents and Kenyan Anti Terror Police Unit. The Kenyan
officer Mr Francis, who led the investigation, concluded the innocence
of these two victims and requested the Kenyan authority to immediately
let them free. However, another Kenyan CID agent Ms Lelian, who is
suspected of having close connection with the Ethiopian agents, opposed
the decision and facilitated the handing over of these two innocent
victims. “
Kenyan Government actions were in violation of international
obligations and norms. The standards that Kenyan blatantly violated
include:
- 1465 U.N.T.S 185, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment2
- and Article 3 of the Convention against Torture. 3
As a result of these violations, Mr Tesfahun Chemeda was martyred as
an Oromo; having been tortured and killed in Kaliti prison in Ethiopia.
The tragedy is that the case of Mr Tesfahun Chemeda is much too common
for Oromo.
Attached are letters by Oromo Support Group to Minister in the UK and
Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa, which provide a great deal
of detail on Mr Tesfahun Chemeda.
http://gadaa.com/oduu/21413/2013/08/27/open-letter-of-osga-to-hon-kevin-rudd-australian-pm-on-the-death-in-ethiopian-custody-of-engineer-tesfahun-chemeda-after-refoulement-from-kenya/
http://humanrightsleague.com/2013/08/ethiopia-the-government-is-accountable-for-the-death-of-a-political-prisoner-at-an-ethiopian-jail/
We urge the US Government to reform US Foreign policies to protect
all human rights. The consequences of “neutral policies” have created
vast suffering of civilian populations around the World, including
Oromo.
Sincerely,
Mardaasa Addisu
Secretary of Macha Tulama Cooperative and Development Association
http://www.machatulama-usa.org/
1. Journal of Oromo Studies Association on Mecha Tulama Self Help
Association
http://www.oromostudies.org/josfiles/JOS%20Volume%204%20Numbers%201&2%20%281997%29.pdf
2. Under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1465 U.N.T.S. 185), the obligation
not to return a person to a place where they will face torture or
ill-treatment.
3. Article 3 of the Convention against Torture provides: No state
party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another
state where there are substantial grounds to believe that they would be
in danger of being subjected to torture.
Analysts question morality of double edged partnerships with Ethiopia
http://www.cfr.org/ethiopia/us-ethiopia-double-edged-partnership/p13922
