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The Ethiopian Diaspora and Barack Obama

By Prof. Donald Levine | March 10, 2008

Whatever else Barack Obama's presidential campaign signifies, it represents a concerted effort to transcend partisan animosities for the sake of solving problems–both domestic problems like unemployment, housing, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and environment, and a foreign policy that made the nation less secure against terrorism. In addressing such issues, Senator Obama builds on a record of achieving consensus among normally divergent parties.

In the primary contests, Ethiopian-, Eritrean-, and Somali-American citizens rallied in large numbers behind Obama's candidacy. They find him a leader ready to address the nation’s pressing concerns and to restore a positive American presence in the global community. Without muting that enthusiasm, I want to suggest that something else which the senator represents can yield an even greater benefit for Ethiopia and the Horn. This point was broached by Teddy Fikre, in a piece on Obama in the most recent issue of The Ethiopian American: "The possibility of overcoming racial, ethnic, religious, and regional differences has implications in countries throughout the world." His piece goes on to note that Obama’s approach encourages countries long stymied by historical grievances and unending conflicts to set aside their divisions and unite for the common good.

For the past half century, conflicts commonly associated with political modernization have taken an especially brutal form in Ethiopia. These continue now, within Ethiopia and among its neighbors on all four sides. Despite continuing violence, however, the millennial season appears to be bringing some hope. Fresh hope for democratization was kindled by the release of most political prisoners and all of the journalists, by reforms of the Press Law, and by ongoing dialogue regarding the Election Board and rules of Parliamentary procedure. Years of focused improvements by the EPRDF regime are showing palpable results in four areas: roads, schools, health facilities, and energy. The spirit of the people wherever I went in the countryside during a recent visit was buoyant. People were energized, smiling, and friendly to one another as only Ethiopians can be.

Many in the opposition find it hard to acknowledge these improvements, so mindful they are of the regime's shortcomings. To be sure, they appreciate the great opening of public space in the year prior to the May 2005 elections; but the government's enormous backsliding in the months thereafter has recharged their suspicions and ill will. Much of the good will generated by the pardon of Kaliti prisoners has been dissipated by the failure to release civil society activists Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie on parole. The judicial dissolution of the Ethiopian Teachers Association evokes memories of EPRDF repression at its worst. A recent report by the UEDF Party confirms that people who responded to its calls to participate in the elections are being attacked mercilessly, and no security forces have been alerted to protect them. The Charities and Societies Draft Proclamation No. 00/2007 currently before Parliament has been described as an effort to establish an agency headed by a director with unchecked authority, over which the relevant Minister stands as the sole arbiter of appeals in most cases. The draft law promises to be intrusive, chilling, punitive, and mean-spirited, such as to
discourage the badly-needed growth of civil society in Ethiopia.

Claiming that the current regime could not survive without American support, some elements of the opposition find hope mainly through promoting punitive legislation in the United States Congress. Their mobilization on behalf of the bill now before Congress -- as now their spirited mobilization in the Obama campaign -- bespeaks an unprecedented level of political consciousness and organization within the American diaspora.

At the same time, contentions regarding the bill have aroused new divisive passions within the Ethiopian nation and beyond. Internal oppositions have become proxy wars between different branches of the US Government. Critics of the bill note that it ignores positive steps towards democratization that Ethiopia took in the past two years. They claim that the bill interferes with provisions of Ethiopia's own constitution; mistreats an allied government; and compares poorly with other American efforts to impose democratization, most notably the outrageous war in Iraq and related threats to American democracy at home. In addition, even if the current bill before Congress were to become law, it would have virtually zero ground impact. The US Government is already doing the things that HR2003 requires in terms of assistance; the only military aid the US gives is for counterterrorism or peacekeeping; and the visa law already requires that the US not give visas to persons guilty of gross human rights abuses. So the law would have no ground impact, and might alienate a strong partner and
undermine the assistance being given to democratization and good governance initiatives.

Supporters of the bill argue that these criticisms miss the point, which is to confront the EPRDF regime with a strong symbolic gesture that prompts it to take more aggressive action in curbing human rights abuses and advancing democratization. Although Ethiopian officials may deny knowledge of such occurrences, their existence is so well documented that they demand the energetic attention of government bodies.

Support for the House Bill is gathering momentum in light of new waves of rights abuse in the Ogaden and Oromia. Although terrorist attacks by ONLF forces were outrageous, the scorched-earth policy toward Somalis in the Ogaden may be without precedent in Ethiopian history -- exactly the opposite way of attracting the loyalty of people there than Girmame Neway pursued when he was governor in Jigjiga. What is more, Oromo citizens in many places feel threatened due to continued arbitrary arrests and worse. A string of cases examined bears witness to the fact that even ordinary Oromo who lack any connection with OLF militants continue to be picked up and submitted to horrific treatment -- including burns with live flames, beatings with leather whips and heavy boots, and immersion for hours in cold water, as attested by forensic physicians at centers for the treatment of
survivors of torture; and reports of random shootings of apparent Oromo activists in the Moyale area continue to be circulated. All such abuses will be investigated further in the Senate Hearing on the Horn of Africa scheduled to begin on March 11, 2008.

Whatever the merits and outcome of debates on the bill, they have deflected attention from the pressing need to find common grounds for working toward a more positive Ethiopian future. Conflict over the bill has been costly, diverting scarce resources that could have saved thousands of human lives in Ethiopia and mobilized diasporans to engage the democratization process at home. The bottom-line solution of these issues must be addressed by Ethiopians themselves; ultimately the changes will have to be made by courageous nonviolent political action within and under the laws of the Constitution, just as the civil rights movement in the United States ended centuries of state-authorized oppression of African Americans.

Even so, there is good reason to turn to the US government for continued support in improving the human rights situation in Ethiopia in various ways other than a punitive bill. Consider the words of former Ambassador David Shinn: "US policy in the region is so focused on countering terrorism over the short term that it may be failing to deal appropriately with the root causes and long-term threat." To many Ethiopians at home and abroad, this appears to represent the sum and substance of America’s interest in Ethiopia. They rarely realize the extent of support for democratization efforts both by official US Government bodies -- not least, the USAID program in governance and democratization -- and NGOs that derive support from the US as well as other donor governments, such as Justice for All, PACT: Building Capacity Worldwide, and the Council of Elders, which played a key role in negotiations leading to the pardon of the Kaliti and other political prisoners. I find it disheartening that so many Ethiopians remain unaware of those crucial efforts.

Beyond such interventions, there is a crying need for a transformation of attitudes which will help Ethiopians see what they have in common more than what divides them. What about the proud history of independence manifested at Adwa? What about the unique history of Christian-Muslim tolerance and such pan-religious festivals as Kulubi Gabrael? What about the appreciation of Ethiopia's rich tapestry of indigenous dance, music, and literature? What about the Olympic champions and the world-renowned monuments? And what about nationwide dilemmas regarding food insecurity, malnutrition, AIDS and other epidemics, mistreatment of women, deforestation, and alarming population pressures?

Such concerns were central to the recent mission of Siye Abraha to Ethiopian communities in the United States. The message of candidate Obama is in this vein: do not fear to talk to one another, and see what can be done if you work together. As he expressed the point in a talk given at Martin Luther King's old church in Atlanta, "We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down." If the US presidential campaign can produce an inspiring figure like Barack Obama, who projects that transformative vision for Ethiopians, I cannot imagine anything more salubrious.