Professor
Mesfin Wolde-Mariam was
arrested on November 1,
2005 in Addis Ababa during a brutal massive and
systematic crackdown on political dissent.
He is currently
held at the Kaliti Central Prison by the ruling regime of
Ethiopia,
The criminalization of politics
, the silencing of
the media, and the severe limitation of civic organizations
in Ethiopia, combined with continued unrest in the schools,
the rural and urban areas have made for an extremely tense
situation in the entire country. Professor Mesfin, along
with his compatriots make up the group of about 130 political, and civic society leaders along with
members of the media, who are facing the grave charges of "treason"
and "genocide" among others.
Many months have passed since Mesfin
Wolde Mariam, the father of all three of us, and grandfather
of Semra Kristos, Kokeb, Tinsaè and Oscar has been
incarcerated. We miss him terribly and would love to see him
home.
No less important is our utmost
respect, concern and commitment for the principles he has so
staunchly promoted for longer than any one of us has been
around. We cannot say enough how exhilarating it has been to
know that our work has been really easy. We have never felt
that we needed to stand up for him, or come to his rescue in
any manner. His record does that impeccably. If anything, we
feel that the kindness and generosity that we have received
from not just our friends but from complete strangers, and
not just during encounters, but from them having sought us
out, reached out to us, and extended of themselves, is by
itself a testament to the respect that he has earned for his
effective promotion of human rights, the democratic process,
and the rule of law in Ethiopia.
While it is not our purpose to go
through his accomplishments, (and there are many), we are at
the present moment concerned for several reasons and felt
that we needed our own information outlet for setting the
record straight on several issues. This had never been
important to us in the past since, as stated above, the
record has always been clear. Currently however, we realize
that the political stalemate that exists in Ethiopia creates
an extremely tense situation where no major player is safe.
Specifically, the prisoners of conscience including Mesfin
Wolde Mariam are leaders who believed in and promoted the
concept of the non-violent popular social movement that
swept up the nation so successfully. Following their arrest
and detention facing the charges of “treason”, “genocide”
and others, these leaders of the opposition, the media and
civic organizations find themselves living in abhorrent
conditions.
With this backdrop, we find to our
dismay that even some of the most learned among us have missed the whole point of why Mesfin, along with some of
the best of Ethiopia’s sons and daughters, have gone this
far to press for the people’s freedom, the respect for human
rights and the democratic process through peaceful means. We
are extremely concerned about some who advocate for armed
struggle and sectarian politics, all in the name of what
Mesfin and his colleagues stand for. This is a tragedy, and
a misrepresentation.
It matters not whether this is
inadvertent or with malicious intent. However, this is
extremely disturbing for the following reasons. First and
foremost, we take serious exception to such
misrepresentation when Mesfin Wolde Mariam and his
colleagues who have risked it all, and gave so much to this
movement are indisposed, and others have free reign in the
name of the same movement. We find this atrocious. In
addition, for anyone who has any concern about the safety of
any of these prisoners, or for that matter for the safety of
anyone living in Ethiopia and promoting democracy in such an
environment, it would have been unimaginable to even think
of promoting the cause of democracy, human rights and the
rule of law, while simultaneously advancing a sectarian
agenda, or questioning the appropriateness of the
non-violent movement.
In short, to have seized the
opportunity and the audience from those who happen to be
silenced temporarily by detention in the prisons of
Ethiopia, and then to promote sectarian politics and armed
struggle (to replace the non-violent, non sectarian movement
for democracy and respect for human rights) is in effect
colluding with the ethnic based politics that Mesfin and his
colleagues are standing up against.
So Abbabba, we love you and care so
much not just about your welfare (as important as that is to
us), but also about everything that you stand for. We miss
you every day and wish that we could have heard your voice,
or been with you as you turn 76 years old this month.
As we mentioned above, our job is very
easy. We are using your own words and your own deeds in
these pages to let it be known, once and for all, what
Mesfin does and does not advocate for…
With love, and
in awe,
Meqdes, Zesemayat and Teghegne Mesfin
April 2006
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