Imposing Group Dictatorship in Harar

November 16, 2019 Professor Abdi Khalil English 0

IHMS COMMENTARY

Imposing Group Dictatorship in Harar

Written by Professor Abdi Khalil

I happened to so often fly across Africa on duty, and about two weeks ago I had conversation with Ethiopian fellows, who happened to be at the airport in the course of our travels. As usual, as Ethiopians, we had conversations on the current political issues in Ethiopia.  After a bit of emotional social groups politicking, all us came back to some consensus, and started talking about Ethiopia considering humanity, rights, responsibilities and obligations we have to one another. One of the hot issues raised was the issue of Harar related to its legality as a regional state. This issue has touched me immensely as the discussants had very little knowledge on how the Harari Regional State was established and its contributions to Ethiopia. They were full of the usual propaganda. If these highly educated individuals from ethnics X, Y and Z have shallow awareness about the establishment of the Harari Regional State, how about the majority with little access to historical materials and facts would think of Harar? This is what triggered me to write this article and I hope that it will be an eye opener to both Hararis and non-Hararis alike.

It is undeniable fact that the four enumerated large ethnic groups in Ethiopia are Oromos, Amhara, Somali and Tigray. Similarly, in the Harari Regional State, the majorities are Oromo followed by Amharas and Hararis. The establishment of Harari Regional State was not solely based on numbers only as numbers are not the only determining factor in establishing a state, a regional admiration or any administrative entity be it in Ethiopia or elsewhere in the world.  Historical facts, indigenous people, socio-economic contributions and affirmative, as well as, reviving dwindling social groups due to systematic ethnic cleansing and centuries repression were the prominent factors in establishing the Harari Regional State. Some details and concrete facts are present next to retain and protect Harar as autonomous part and parcel within Ethiopia.

  1. Historical Facts

Referring to many national and international historians and documented facts, Harar is an ancient metropolis of once mighty race, the only permanent settlement in Eastern Africa, the reported seat of Muslim learning, a walled city of religious sites, millennia old houses, possessing its independent chief, its peculiar population, its known language and its own coinage; the emporium of the coffee trade and the great manufacture of cotton cloths. The list is endless. Before the rise of Addis Ababa and Nairobi, Harar was the only city worth of the title in East Africa between the City of Axum, and the Arab city of Zanzibar, on the east Africa coast island.

It is impossible to write the history of Harar and Harari people in few paragraphs. Its people exhibit distinct cultural and traditional values. The city itself composes many world heritages and protected sites; some even call Harar a living museum. It was a hub for education, agriculture and trade with its own currency. Its dynasty enumerated seventy-six known Amirs (Kings), from Amir Habuba (969-1000) ending with Amir Abdullahi (1885 – 1887). Sadly, because of geo-political pressures and invading forces, it is reduced from a country used to stretch to Zelia (east coast of Somalia) and north to Eretria to its current tiny physical surface area of 356 square kilometers. Would these facts suffice to protect and preserve Harar from unjustified and illegal attacks?

Harari have never given up and will never give up on their natural right to govern themselves. They have withstood the brutal and dictatorship rules of Menelik, Hailesilase and Mangistu regimes. In 1948 the Harari people organized peaceful movement (Khulub) for self-determination. Unfortunately, this movement was crushed by the tyrant regime. The leaders of this movement were exiled, and many were sent to Debra Markos, Jemma and Gore notorious prisons. Generally, Hararis were displaced within Ethiopia and most immigrated to foreign lands since then. However, as most Ethiopian ethnic groups or nations and nationalities were liberated in the 1990s, the Harari Regional State came to light within the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, as well.

  • Indigenous people

According to UN sources, the covenant of the League of Nations, indigenous peoples are referred to non-self-governing or colonized peoples as “indigenous” peoples; in the 1950s, ILO began referring to the problems of “indigenous populations in independent countries,” which is to say culturally and geographically distinct communities that were non self-governing, marginalized and colonized inside the borders of independent states.

The terms “indigenous people,” “indigenous ethnic minorities,” and ”tribal groups” are used to describe social groups that share similar characteristics, namely a social and cultural identity that is distinct from dominant groups in society. United Nations human rights bodies, ILO, the World Bank and international law apply four criteria to distinguish indigenous peoples:

  1. Indigenous peoples usually live within (or maintain attachments to) geographically distinct ancestral territories.
  2. They tend to maintain distinct social, economic, and political institutions within their territories.
  3. They typically aspire to remain distinct culturally, geographically and institutionally rather than assimilate fully into national society.
  4. They self-identify as indigenous or tribal. Self-identification as indigenous or tribal is usually regarded as a fundamental criterion for determining whether groups are indigenous or tribal, sometimes in combination with other variables such as “language spoken,” and “geographic location or concentration.”

By any definition and convention, the Hararis are indigenous people! The indigenous people criterion alone is more than enough to protect, uphold and retain the Harari Regional State. The majority’s code of conduct towards indigenous people is a litmus test whether they are in control of their power, democratic principles or upholding the rules of law, as well as, how different they are from dictatorship and genocide monsters.

3.    Minority rights and Self-determination

Various human and minority rights studies point out that national and international concern for the protection of minorities predates the modern state system. It can be traced as far back as to the ‘Constitution of Medina’ drafted by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the spirit of the Quranic laws of tolerance towards the people of other faiths, especially those of the Bible. As a result, the protected minorities, especially Jews and Christians, were granted religious and cultural rights and were governed by their personal codes. Non-Muslims living under Muslim rule were treated with tolerance and many of them rose to the highest positions in the state and made notable contributions to the growth of Islamic civilization.

In the 20th century civilization, the UN Declaration on Minorities in its first article affirms that governments shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity. Along with minority rights, the doctrine of affirmative action attempts to redress the harmful or inhuman practices of past racial or social discrimination and to correct current socioeconomic inequalities. The aim of affirmative action is always equity and equality. Affirmative action always maintains that it is intended to remedy years of discrimination and it is compensatory. Positive measures by governments may also be necessary to protect the identity of a minority and the rights of its members to enjoy and develop their culture and language and to practise their religion, in community with the other members of the group. Thus, Harar and Hararis did qualify under Ethiopia constitution in establishing the Harari Regional State in the 1990s. According to UN conventions, self-government rights devolve powers to smaller political units, so that a national minority cannot be outvoted or outbid by the majority on decisions that are of importance to their culture, such as issues of education, immigration, resource development, language, and family law.

Underlining these evidences, the historical facts, affirmative action, indigenous rights, minority rights and human rights, all significantly prove that the establishment of the Harari Regional State is not anomalous as some intend to claim and attempt to distort the facts about Harar. Its restoration is legal and abides all national and international laws. Based on the Ethiopia’s Constitution, the establishment of a separate regional state for the Hararis also emanates from the covenant of the League of Nations referred to Indigenous Peoples and Diversity. All the facts presented here show that Harar and the Harari people perfectly fitted all the political categories, criteria, principles and the UN conventions, and thus, unequivocally the restoration of Harar and the Harari people as a State in the 1990s is justified. Harari Regional State within Ethiopian galaxy is not only minority rights but also human rights, as well as, upholding multiculturalism and diversity within Ethiopia. For fair minded individuals and groups, the Harari Regional State case is closed here!

4.    Way backward or forward?

What on earth is happening in Ethiopia today? Specifically, the ill political signposts in the Harari Regional State? It appears that instead of way forward, going backward with repression, abuses, harassments, and inhumanity using different political forms and formats are perceived and practiced by some ODP officials in Harar today.

Ethiopian Confederation Parliamentary Law is built upon the principle that rights must be respected: the rights of diversity, of the minority, of individuals, of absentees and the rights of all these together. Taking into consideration the many common factors between Harari and Oromo peoples, as well as the inalienable Hararis’ minority and indigenous rights, the Harari National League (HNL) and Oromo Democratic Party (ODP) have jointly taken responsibilities and run the Harari Regional State since 1992; of course, HNL is fairly given more authority in running most regional government affairs and entities. It meant a continuation of relationship among residents of Harar. They have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose; keeping both Hararis and Oromos alike from being repressed or assimilated again. The alliance was working as fair political power distributions until the recent political transformation or turbulence in Ethiopia.  

What is happening in Harar to Hararis now? A broken Alliance or promise has manifested itself in the name of enumerated majority denying Hararis their constitutional and inalienable minority rights! Some ODP officials tyrannizing the Harari minority just as a single ruler is inclined to do in a dictatorial regime. Some odd ODP leadership is misguided with enumerated power in violating the basic and inalienable rights of the indigenous minority, the Harari People. Equally, Ethiopia’s Federal Democratic Government has chosen to ignore in protecting and guarantee the minority rights in Harar today. Rather, it is directly or indirectly encouraging the few misguided ODP officials in Harar to use illegal and unconstitutional political means and tactics, creating constant threat among Harari leadership aiming at gradually dismantling Harar’s constitutional structures.

In fact, with striking opposing resemblance to what Thomas Jefferson stated, “It is of great importance in a republic, not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part.” Some ODP leadership in Harar, rather than co-governing, sharing responsibilities and upholding minority rights, as well as the rules of law and order, they have opted to threaten, repress and oppress the Harari minorities day-in day-out. Sadly, they are twisting and wrangling the Harari leadership and its people to diminish and dismantle Harari institutions. What a betrayal!

Some alien ODP officials in Harar has created cracks and confusion between Harari and Oromo people, who lived as brothers and sisters, as Ummah in the City of Saints, Unity and Peace for centuries. It is historically and divinely shameful moment in Harar, where Muslim brothers and sisters has turned on each other; rather than upholding Islamic principles of co-existence, diversity and unity in action. The insensitive ODP officials must come to their senses and stop repressing Hararis, as the Harari and the Oromo peoples are intermarried, co-existed and fought repressing and oppressing regimes for centuries altogether. These officials must uphold the integrity, rights, freedom and historical facts of Harar and its surrounding peoples. Some of these administrators must be utterly ashamed to become the 21st century aggressors and oppressors in creating another dark history for Harar and Hararis at large. At the end of our conversations and discussions with my fellow Ethiopians, I had managed to rescue them from the deep ignorance about Harar. They had partially freed from misinformation and non-information traps and appreciated the enlightenment in support of Hararis and Harar.

Let me wind up my messages for all Ethiopians to stop internal bleeding by quoting Dr. Martin Luther King “We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools.”

Peace from UNESCO’s Laurate City of Peace and we deeply congratulate the Prime Minister of Ethiopia for his outstanding worldly achievement, the Noble Peace Prize 2019!

Aselam Aleykum