A response to a report by Dr. Berhanu Nega, Ato
Muluneh Eyoel and Ato Anteneh Mulugetta, on the release of the Kality
prisoners.
January 24, 2009
Washera_2
I thought hard and long
what language to use to respond to a nine page report forwarded by the above
"gentlemen", explaining the circumstances of their release from
Kality prison. I felt it necessary to respond in English, to provide the reader
an opportunity to scrutinize the deceptions and fabrications that some
opposition groups in the Diaspora, like the above authors, are engaged in.
It did not take me long to
discern the real author of this report. If you have read Dr. Berhanu Nega's
recent book, then the long, disparaging, name calling and authoritative first
few sentences are a clue.
The premise of this report is that they were lied to before
they signed the request for a Presidential Pardon. The report did not include a
copy of the paper they signed, but I have taken the liberty to translate it and
include it below to better understand Dr. Berhanu's argument. This is the only
official document we have seen and none of the prisoners have denied signing
it.
Sene 15, 1999 (October 2007)
His Excellency Ato Meles Zenawi
Prime Minister
Ethiopian Federal Democratic Republic
Addis Ababa
We the
undersigned Kinijit leaders and party members, aware of the misunderstandings
created following the 2005 (1997EC) elections, take the responsibility for our
wrongful attempts to change the constitutionally created government bodies, by
illegal means. We take both individual and group responsibility for the
mistakes that resulted. We affirm that, from here to for, we shall refrain from
participating in such illegal activities and that we will, as part of our
citizenship responsibilities, abide by and uphold the constitution of the
country, and also accept and respect the role of the different branches of the
government. Recognizing our contrition and our apology to the Ethiopian
government and the Ethiopian people, we ask your Excellency to pardon us for
our transgressions.
Dr. Berhanu Nega used the entire
first page to lecture us on his psychological analysis of pathological liars,
basically a direct translation of the googled reference that he provided at the
end of the report.
As he begins his explanation of
what really happened to result in their release from Kality prison, Dr. Berhanu
gives us a birds eye view of his opinions about the elders that mediated their
release. By his own account, it took the elders (Prof. Ephrem, Pastor Daniel,
athlete Haile, Ambassador Bekele, lawyer Tamiru...among 30 or more others),
over 18 months to arrive at a resolution of this political crisis. However, far
from being gracious and thankful to their efforts, Dr. Berhanu did not spare a
dime to hurl a barrage of insults and chip shots in their direction.
Professor Ephrem Isaac, the
Chairman of the Elders, is referred to as a simple messenger from the Prime
Minister sent to beg and plead with them, sometimes falling on their feet and
crying repeatedly, to give the government a leeway ('ye wond ber') to
gracefully get out of this mess. Later, when the good professor arrives to
inform them about the news of their impending release, Dr. Berhanu confronts
him by saying, "...aren't you ashamed of yourself? You have been an
instrument for the government all these months. If you have any respect for
yourself, you will condemn these vagabond and reckless people and extricate
yourself from their kind." With that, Dr. Berhanu walks out of the meeting
within five minutes. The rest of the prisoners refuse to meet with Professor
Ephrem from that point on. I am a little ahead of myself, so bear with me.
Pastor Daniel G. Selassie, the
Assistant Chairman, is described as some one who has participated from the
beginning, prays frequently during meetings with the prisoners. In a meeting
toward the end of this ordeal, Dr. Berhanu boastfully documents how he
chastised Pastor Daniel, "...Shame on you! How dare you say you are a
religious leader and call yourself a Pastor?", and more scornful words
that can put a child to shame, let alone a religious elder. According to Dr.
Berhanu, Pastor Daniel responded sheepishly as follows: "...Dr. Berhanu, I
will not blame you no matter what you say. It is truly a shameful act. I had
refused to come, but they forced me to come, saying I am a member of the Pardon
Board. I am preparing myself to get out of the country as soon as possible.
This is a very humiliating situation...etc." At another instant in the
same meeting, Dr. Berhanu lambasts the government officials as thieves and
liars and asks Pastor Daniel why he was not telling the truth to the officials
about the demands of the prisoners. Pastor Daniel arcs his head down in shame
and says nothing.
Dr. Berhanu did not run out of
choice words for the rest of the Elders. So let me just delve into the body of
his thesis. Suffice it to say that there were many other private individuals
involved in talking to government officials to resolve the crisis peacefully.
The rest of the country and the Diaspora were hotly debating the merits of the
case, ad noseum, and waiting for and end to the crisis.
Dr. Berhanu asserts that this was
a negotiation taking place between the government and the prisoners, mediated
by the Elders, not just to secure their release, but to agree on a program that
would lead to a peaceful transition to a new democratic process. After weeks
and months of negotiations, he alleges that they arrived at an eight point
program. He and his co-authors of this report don't remember all eight points,
but include the following among them.
1. As soon
as the prisoners are released, an urgent conference of all concerned political
parties will be held, mediated by a third party.
2. The
government would apologize for the atrocities committed during the crisis and
compensate the families of the dead.
3. The
Kinijit leaders will pay their condolences to the bereaved and will apologize
to the Ethiopian people for not being able to stop the crisis.
4. If they
so desire, the Kinijit members can take their duly won seats in parliament and
take control of Addis Ababa, while the party conference goes on.
5. All
political prisoners shall be released all legal proceedings against them shall
be terminated.
6. All
concerned parties shall abide by the constitution and resolve their differences
through the rule of law...etc.
I would like to remind readers
that these were more or less the same preconditions the Kinijit members put
forward to enter parliament.
Dr. Berhanu elaborates further and
says that when the Prime Minister received the eight point program, not only
did he approve of it, but that he improved on it in their favor. The only
sticky point was the issue of the public apology. The government needed a
wiggle room regarding the apology. After an intense two day negotiations, they
arrived at final draft that included the eight point program, which was signed
by two of the Kinijit representatives, one of them Dr. Berhanu. Dr. Berhanu does not say what that draft
document said.
The following day, the Elders
allegedly arrive with a different document placing the blame for the crisis on
the prisoners and asking the rest of the prisoners, minus the two
representatives from the night before, to sign the document. The first group of
prisoners that arrived to sign the document was so disgusted by the lies and
cheap tricks of the high government officials involved in changing the document
that they refused to sign the paper and returned to their respective prisons.
Dr. Berhanu's report gets better. The leader of the Elders allegedly said he
did not know the content of the document they brought to be signed and he was
as surprised as the prisoners. He then run out of the meeting to inquire about
the "changed" document and never showed up for several months.
In the mean time the legal
proceedings continue and the prisoners were getting close to being sentenced.
The prisoners were asked to defend themselves and given permission to review
the 70 or so documents alleging their crimes. By some mysterious turn of
events, Dr. Berhanu alleges that the judges left for a ten minute recess and
came back after two hours, to sentence them instead. He says they must have
received directives from higher up to do so.
At about this time, the Elders
reappear again and the drama thickens! This was the time Professor Ephrem would
be falling on their feet and cry pleading and begging them to sign the
document. If they sign the document, he tells them, their sentencing would be
revoked and they would be set free. He further reassures them that the document
would be kept by the Elders and that the PM has said that he does not care to
see it as long as it is signed. Before they signed this document, they
requested a meeting of all the prisoners and arrive at a consensus after two
days of deliberations.
This is what allegedly transpired
in the final two weeks of their incarceration and what they agreed on.
1.
The final document to be signed shall be part
of the overall document that includes the eight point program mentioned
earlier. The request for the pardon shall be addressed to the Elders and not to
the Prime Minister. The Elders shall use this to write their own pardon
document to the government.
2. The prisoners shall be freed within two days of
signing the document.
3. Neither the prisoners nor the government shall
give any briefing regarding their release. The Elders shall inform the media
about the negotiated settlement of the situation and that these negotiations
shall go on to resolve the political crisis of the country.
4. Neither the government nor the prisoners shall
use this situation for propaganda purposes.
5. All those in prison on charges related to the
2005 elections shall be freed.
The Kinijit leadership signs the
above documents which were allegedly addressed to the Elders. The other
prisoners were to sign the document the following day. At this point, we see
Dr. Berhanu digressing to throw one insult after another at the government
leadership, about some cheap propaganda campaign being broadcast on Ethiopian
television that night.
When the other prisoners show up
the following day, they found out that the document was addressed to the prime
Minister and they sign it.
After two days, the Prime Minister
appears in parliament and mockingly comments about a rumor circulating around
town about the release of the prisoners. He assures that august body that such
a pardon can only be considered only after the legal proceedings have been
concluded.
The barrage of condemnations and
insults would be thrown to the elders when they came to inform them about their
impending release. Both the good Professor and Pastor Daniel were the
recipients of ridicule mentioned in the introduction of this response. All the
prisoners would walk out in disgust and go to their cells after this last
encounter with the Elders. They would see them one last time on the night of
their release.
The legal proceedings come to an
end with terms ranging from years to life time. The government media go on full
blast propaganda campaign about the signed document.
After a few days, Ato Assefa
Kasito, the Justice Minister, a Professor Mesfin and Pastor Daniel, who were
supposedly the Pardon Board members, show up in prison and talk to each
prisoner in turn, to validate the legitimacy of their signature. When Dr.
Berhanu was asked such a question, he insisted that what he had signed was
addressed to the elders and walked out in disgust.
The last two pages of the report
by Dr. Berhanu are not worth the paper they are written on. The first page is
his own translation of the second page, which was printed from an internet site
entitled "Identifying a Pathological Liar."
I will leave the psychological
analysis and the aspersions and defamations of the Elders aside and instead
conclude by posing several questions which will implicate major inconsistencies
in Dr. Berhanu's report. I hope he will take the time to read it and respond to
it in a timely fashion.
1. It did
not take you long to write a 600 page book for sale, why did it take you two
years to produce a nine page report?
2. Why
didn't you refuse to talk to the Elders before you signed the pardon document?
After all, you have repeatedly shown your disgust for their job.
3. You claim
you only signed a document addressed to the Elders. Are we to understand that
your signature that appears on the Pardon Document addressed to the Prime
Minister was forged?
4. How dare
you sign such a condemning document in the first place, no matter who it is
addressed to, if you kept your innocence to the end?
5. How could both you and your collaborators of this report fail to remember all eight negotiating points or are you confusing it with the eight preconditions you put forward to enter parliament?
6. What is
wrong in taking responsibilities for the causalities of the crisis, for the
loss of leadership by your supporters when you went to prison, for giving the
government enough reason to announce a state of emergency, and genuinely
apologize to all parties concerned and go back to parliament to serve those
that elected you?
Or did you have a different
agenda? To get out of prison by all means possible and land in your
Neighborhood University, where you have long been preparing to take advantage
of the good gestures of people in that university. While you plan to renew your
contract through lectures and writings lambasting the Ethiopian government,
your family is running a successful business in Ethiopia. Talk about
double-dipping!
If you are such a great politician
willing to lead the Ethiopian people, how come you failed to convince Ato
Lidetu to be on your side when you conspired with Professor Mesfin to deprive
Ato Lidetu many of the seats that his party successfully won? How come this
same Professor opined about your book, "the Berhanu book about
Berhanu", and never saw eye to eye with you? How about the big break with
Ato Hailu? Were you promised Ato Hailu's position after your service as Mayor
of Addis? You could not even make friends with Wt. Bertukan, because she
refused to go along with your motto of "overthrow EPRDF by all means
possible".
What is wrong with you Dr.
Berhanu? Why are you not able to love and care for all Ethiopians? Why are you
filled with hate for everyone from the Elders, to high government officials to
members of your own party?
Please re-read your own googled
reference "Identifying a Pathological Liar" and see how much of that
applies to you. There is still time to repent and do the right thing, instead
of touring the world at the expense of innocent Diaspora supporters to spread
your hate politics.