By Dawit W Giorgis
To The White House
Washington DC
The US Africa Leaders Summit
The US Africa Leaders Summit being held next week is a follow up of the last one done in August 2014. The Biden administration aims to revive this spirit with a list of “ shared values” including peace human rights and governance. This summit coincides with the atrocities being committed in Ethiopia causing the greatest challenge both to the country and the region.
We understand that leaders accused of atrocities and have violated the cardinal principles of the AU and the UN charter and the Universal Deckaration of human rights , have been invited to this forum. One such leader is PM Abiy of Ethiopia. If the summit is expected to discuss “shared values “ peaceful coexistence and good governance the Ethiopian regime stands out not as a partner but a government that has challenged the very sacred norms of human rights and good governance. The idea of sharing values and establishing partnership depends on whether the summit puts the aspiration, the rights, liberty and freedom of the people of Ethiopia at the center of the deliberations. We Ethiopians, in and outside Ethiopia, believe with ample evidence that this government of Ethiopia headed by PM Abiy is committing crimes against humanity including genocide and cannot and should not be considered as a partner but as an enemy of the principles and values that the US and many African countries cherish.
As the leading human rights voice the US should not be seen partnering with despots and criminals who use violence and atrocities as a means of control. The Ethiopian people have endured these sufferings with the hope that with all the evidence that has become public, the US will take determined steps to prevent these atrocities from happening.
The invitation of such an autocrat to such an august assembly, sends the wrong message. The regime in Ethiopia should be at the ICC not at the White House. His presence in this assembly tarnishes the image of the US government and frustrates the hopes and aspirations of the Ethiopian people who looked upon the USA as an honest broker of peace and human rights.
The US must not be seen partnering with a regime accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. The Ethiopian people together with international criminal lawyers have built a solid case against PM Abiy and his regime. While we expect the US government to support the Ethiopian people in bringing our case to the desk of the ICC it is enigmatic to see the regime in the hall of the White House where the history of the struggle for freedom and justice shines in every corner.
By rescinding the invitation, the US will be sending the right message worthy of its history and the lead role it has played in the fight against dictatorship and violations of human rights.
Cc: State Department
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Shaleka Dawit, “ጅብ – የማያውቁት ሐገር ኼዶ – ቁርበት አንጥፉልኝ – ይላል!” – አሉ!
Q: Since when does the White Supremacist West care about blacks/Africans?
What moral authority does a former Derg member like you have to even talk about Human Rights let alone accuse others of human rights violations?
I was a child prisoner during the Derg. I used to be taken to the Menelik Palace [ደርግ ጽሕፈት ቤት] for days – for ‘interrogation’ – starving/thirsty/cold.
You may remember your buddies Shambel Takelle, Shaleka Sisay, Meto Aleka X of Tigray origin and Hiywot of the EPRP. They were my ‘interrogators.’
Abiy’s regime is feeding over 9 million school children. He is not lining up children and using them for target practice in Menelik Palace as your Derg regime did! Leave this generation alone! Go get a real job – no blood money!
I would share this view if you were talking about OFC, OLA, jewar, bekele gerba and the like. Maybe it is a little bit too harsh on the “gardner Abiy”. Maybe he may still prevent the major massacre that his oromo qerro and misguided shane idiots are plotting on Amhara people all around, including Addis. Perhaps he is the only savior left, so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Despite what ODP-PP is doing on corruption, ethnic cleansing, distorting history and facts, gerrymandering, ….
Derg cc member Dawit Wolde Giorgis never misses an opportunity to make a fool of himself. Once again, he participates in throwing the baby out with the bath water. Disagreeing with Abiy should not result in stabbing our country in the back!
“ Dawit was the real hero of the humanitarian operation. If it had not been for him millions would have perished “ One UN published report written by the assistant Secretary general. . There are many more like this on the 1984 85 famine.
Talk to Eritreans civilians of the times. You will also hear heaps of praises. Read books of the times of the dergue you find more praise.p You probably have not contributed a tiny fraction of what I have as a soldier diplomat and humanitarian . You probably are a hired cadre or a person who needs people like me to escape from your responsibility of saving this nation. Ignorance is bliss or is it your greed and opportunism that blinds you to the death of over a million on both sides of the war in Tigray? for no national cause. You have blinded yourself to the genocide and crimes against humanity perpetrated on the Amharas in a manner that the world has never seen. It is your kind of people that should stand on trial for your indirect association with such crimes. Who knows? You might be a killer yourself. My life is public. Yours is not. You are faceless nameless. Expose yourself and let us debate publicly if you have the guts.
There are many like you who will either face the wrath of the people or burn with your own conscience until death claims you. You live and die with the ever lasting guilt for siding with autocrats and their criminal acts. The truth is brazenly facing you You refuse to look at it and accept it. It is the most clear option any sensible person will take. Live it. I am one of the proudest Ethiopian for doing the best I can under the most difficult circumstances together with my colleagues. You do service to yourself by keeping quiet. Don’t spit venom and propaganda at the cost of millions of lives perishing and a country disintegrating.
I have been in the frontline wounded in action for the integrity of this nation. I deeply care for my country and even at this age I try to do my best to save it from your kind of people
I rarely respond to such dirty comments. You are soulless unpatriotic creature.
ሻለቃ ዳዊት,
Thanks for any contribution you might have made. Else, the White Supremacist West [WSW] loves people like you. Who wouldn’t praise his loyal servants? You dare use ‘conscience’, ‘responsibility of saving Ethiopia’, ‘hired cadre’, ad nauseam? Wow!
Your Derg robbed me of my childhood! I was just walking past your Ministry of Defense when I was grabbed, thrown in to a room, and transferred to your ደርግ ጽሕፈት ቤት! My family never heard of me for 6 years! Even Meison/EPRP/etc. got 5-year sentences max!
I am only alive and telling your Derg Regime’s Fascism because of the school ID and the tiny pocket-size Ethiopian flag they found in my pocket. I was an underage high school student – at one of the most prestigious high schools – your Derg confiscated at the time!
Look, I lived in Ethiopia without your ‘Mandatory Kebelle ID’ thing. I never bothered to apply for higher education because “የቀበሌ ድጋፍ ወረቀት” was required. So, I finally left Ethiopia for the lesser evil WSW. If that makes me anybody’s Cadre, go flatter yourself!
ሻለቃ ዳዊት,
Addendum: Here is one stark difference between your Derg’s Regime & Abiy’s Regime
Derg’s Regime: Made me starve and left me thirsty and cold – right in the Menelik Palace Prisoner Holding Cells – for days – on numerous occasions. I was skin & bones!
Abiy’s Regime: They picked up homeless children – took them to the Menelik Banquet Hall – and gave them meals. Later, Abiy showed up to surprise them! They were ecstatic!