Open Letter to Ethiopian National Dialogue Commissioners
Voices and Contributions from minorities
IHMS COMMENTARY
To begin with, I have previously written several open letters to authorities including the Prime Minster of Ethiopia. Today, my open letter is to the National Dialogue Commissioners, and rational Ethiopians. First, Selama to all!
I am a 5th generation displaced minority of Ethiopian origin; born, living, and working in Canada. I have recently traveled to Addis, Dire Dawa, Harar, Jijiga, Hawasa, Jimma, Dessi, Semera, Bahr Dar, and small towns in between. Our charitable work took me all around. Concurrently, visiting my relatives and talking to our connections brought to light who I really am, and why I ended up in foreign land. I have learned why four generations of my relatives and ancestors were internally displaced and scattered all over Ethiopia.
This trip had given me ample opportunities to learn the repressive nature of the Imperial, feudal, military, and dictatorial regimes of Ethiopia. I wholeheartedly believe now that their displacements are the results of annexations of their home territories in the 1880s, tribal profiling, and political dominations for over a century. My experiences of visiting museums, mosques, churches, schools, and historical sites, as well as, talking to diverse communities had shown me a clear picture of the causes of dislocations and plights of minorities.
Therefore, this has prompted me to raise the concerns of the diverse people I talked to, as well as their contributions to the national dialogue. Since the probability of most of them meeting you, face-to-face is very slim; therefore my writing directly to you!
We, the minorities, feel that we have so often been omitted from Ethiopian politics! We would like each one of you as representatives of the diverse people of Ethiopia to search first your own souls for truth, justice, and humanity as you engage yourselves in this fundamental mission.
- This monumental dialogue is expected to bring out the truth, expose historical fabrications and end the plights of minorities.
- This historical dialogue is expected to uphold justice for minorities.
- This paramount dialogue is expected to stimulate mindset changes in the diversity deniers; hopefully leading them to have the highest consciousness of respect and co-existence with minorities.
- This signature dialogue is expected to be a hallmark of diversity, justice, and humanity for all.
Furthermore,
- Our understanding of the national dialogue!
The national dialogue means taking part in a conversation or discussion among a spectrum of peoples of Ethiopia to resolve amicably political misunderstandings and differences. To this end, we understand that the Ethiopian Parliament approved the appointment of eleven National Dialogue Commissioners to bring about an end to political polarization in the country on a range of issues, including the system of government, ethnic land claims, and a flag, among other issues. You have the mandate to consult, converse and discuss these outstanding issues with the diverse people of Ethiopia in seeking common and lasting solutions.
As part of this dialogue, we would like to bring to your attention our natural demands so that we are part of the conversation and solution in Ethiopia’s political impasse. In this era and age of misinformation, disinformation, and historical fabrications, Ethiopia’s political sickness boils down to numerical power politics, false singular national identity, and ownership. Thus, our concerns begin here.
2. Our concern is existential threats!
Currently, what we are witnessing in Ethiopia clearly indicates that we are at cross-road ones again, and which road we choose dictates the future of minorities. It is an undeniable fact that the three enumerated large ethnic groups in Ethiopia are Oromo, Amhara, and Tigray. They are fighting it among themselves, which is mostly wrong, devastating, and inhumane. The rest of us belong to one of the eighty minority groups. Minorities are of significant quality since they are diverse and inclusive in their characters. They are respectful and accommodating. Because of these qualities, the establishment of Federal Ethiopia has almost guaranteed their existence, pursuing their natural rights and preventing them from existential threats.
For minorities, the existential threats are expansionism, assimilation, marginalization, polarization, and inhumanity. These threats have almost obliterated their cultures, languages, and heritage. The annexations of their kingdoms and independent nations in the 1880s structurally damaged their identities.
We would like the Commission to include in their report the following facts to protect the minorities from being obliterated within Ethiopia. The restoration of minority rights and preventing these threats must be a priority for the National Dialogue Commission! The three major facts to consider in building Federal Democratic Ethiopia are – Historical facts, indigenous people’s identity, and minority rights.
- Uphold Historical Facts
Before the advent of conquests and annexations, the Abyssinian territories were: Amhara, Tigre, Gojjam, and Shoa. The geopolitics of the 1880s marked the loss of the glorious height of peace and prosperity of diverse people of the Horn, West, and Southern kingdoms. The following territories and independent nations of minorities were invaded!
MENELIK CONQUERED the following TERRITORIES:
- In 1886 – Guma, Gomma, Ghera, Limmu, and Gimma (as protectorate)
- In 1887 – Harar, Gurage, Oromo Tulama conquest begun.
- In 1889 – Cambatta was conquered.
He then deconstructed and annexed:
4. In 1890 – Leqa Oromo and Janjero
5. In 1893 – Wolamo, Sidamo, and Oromo Tulama’s conquest completed
6. In 1894 – the Ogaden conquest began .
7. In 1895 – Arsi.
8. In 1897 – Kaffa, Jambo, Gimira Conso, Burghi, and Ogaden
The Conquests were completed,
9. In 1899 – Gubba, Gunza, Beni Shangul and Boran
10. In 1900 – Nilotic Tribes.
11. In 1909 – Aussa, Beru and Teru, and
12. In 1935 – Jimma was annexed by Emperor Haile Selassie.
Such is the end of many independent nations when patching up Imperial Ethiopia. It also heralded the establishment of the ideologically positioned deep state in Ethiopia. In other words, imperial Ethiopia was forged by swallowing up the diverse ethnic people and Muslims that inhabited present-day Ethiopia for centuries. The invasive “nation-building” project tried to emulsify diversity into one religion, one flag, one language, and one culture. The flagship of the deep state! Menelik’s successor modified, expanded, and continued his totalizing policies, which led to decades of resistance and catastrophic wars. Even today, we are witnessing the deep state ideology that fuels the resumption of catastrophic wars.
A glimpse of hope came about four decades ago, when, a coalition of ethnonational groups set up for the first time, a multinational federal arrangement. Restoration of at least autonomy of regional states. However, this too has partially failed because the new rulers left the structures of the deep state intact and tried to hold onto power through repressive and undemocratic practices. The crisis that followed underscored how, in the words of James Baldwin, “Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy, justice can have.” Arrogance, ignorance, and corruption continue to haunt Ethiopia’s political landscape today!
Fighting social injustices and restoring historical identity is task number one for the National Dialogue Commission!
2. Do not deny Indigenous peoples’ identity
Extensive research and literature are available. According to UN sources, the covenant of the League of Nations, indigenous peoples are referred to as 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:
- Indigenous peoples usually live within (or maintain attachments to) geographically distinct ancestral territories.
- They tend to maintain distinct social, economic, and political institutions within their territories.
- They typically aspire to remain distinct culturally, geographically, and institutionally rather than assimilate fully into the national society.
- 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 is spoken,” and “geographic location or concentration.”
By all accounts of any UN definitions and conventions, the 80+ minorities are indigenous people! The indigenous people criterion alone is more than enough to protect, uphold and retain the rights of minorities, and create more regional states in Ethiopia.
3. Uphold Minority Rights and Self-determination
Various human and minority rights studies point out that national and international concerns for the protection of minorities predate the modern state system. It can be traced as far back as 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. This compensatory protection of minorities is illegally attacked nowadays in Ethiopia. Positive measures by national and regional 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, as well as, practise their religion.
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. Emphasizing the importance of veto power for a minority group within the federal constitution!
Having presented the three most important facts in the prevention of existential threats for minorities, we hereby also list examples and recommendations to sustain federal democratic principles and practices.
a) Improve the Federal system
With a few of its pitfalls and mismanagement of its implementation in the last 3 decades, the federal system still remains to be the preferred and the right governance structure for the diverse people of Ethiopia. It is unique and it fits Ethiopia’s ethnic landscape considering their historical facts! Of all the Ethiopian regimes since the 1880s, the current federal system proves to be by far the safest and the most development-oriented political system for all nations and nationalities, and ethnic groups in Ethiopia.
Also, here are some lessons Ethiopians can learn from around the world. The establishment of a minority regional state was not solely based on numbers only as numbers are not the only determining factor in establishing a regional state, city-state and self-governing territory be it in Ethiopia or elsewhere in the world. For example, beyond Ethiopia, there are many countries around the globe that supported and established minority self-governing territories or parliamentary seats, or administrative entities within their borders.
To name a few, Norway for Sami social groups (population 80,000), Sweden for Sami social groups (population 20,000), Italy for Vatican State (population 2500), Slovenia for minority Italian origin (population 4000), Poland for German minority (population 4300) and New Zealand for Maori (population 600,000) and Pakistan for non-Muslim social groups.
Looking at these global examples, why are they working and peaceful? Because their establishments are in many ways considered prominent factors such as historical facts, indigenous people’s identity, socioeconomic contributions, and affirmative actions to stop systematic ethnic cleansing and centuries of repression within their contexts.
Making the current Ethiopian federal constitution more democratic, tuning it to equity, equality, and justice, and giving a minority veto power to control numerical power politics will determine their destiny. And, it is the right thing to do!
b) Stop Ethiopia from going backward
What on earth is happening in Ethiopia today? Specifically, there are ill political signposts in all regions of Ethiopia. The deep state is digging and swallowing diversity! More than ever, it appears that Ethiopia has become directionless and destructive. Instead of going forward, it is going backward with repression, abuses, harassment, and inhumanity using different political forms and formats as perceived and practiced by some extreme forces and political parties.
Historical deniers and numerically arrogant political mindsets have to come to terms to end their political domination and disrespecting minorities.
c) Build Ethiopia – moving forward
Abound evidence and voices condemn the supremacy of one ethnic group or any political extremism in current Ethiopia. Any extreme group has to come to terms to embrace diversity, equality, and inclusiveness.
As Trevor Cole puts it eloquently, “Every ethnicity is the treasure of humanity. Diversity is natural and real, but debasing it is undemocratic and inhuman.” True Ethiopians feel and understand the agony of 80+ ethnics and the silent genocide committed in Imperial Ethiopia, and thereafter in authoritarian regimes. We need to humanely support each ethnicity to be free, respected, and united in a diverse nation called Federal Democratic Ethiopia.
In line with UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, of course, consolidating and establishing a democratic multinational Ethiopia is the only way out to have equity and equality without repeating some of the political pitfalls in the last centuries. Upholding the essence of democratic federalism or multinationalism in a true sense is the way forward. Not mono-cultural identity, but multinational federalism which is collective national identity and ownership. Not only multinational federalism is the recognition of ethnic languages and cultures, but also the recognition of indigenous rights to land and natural resources, as well as, running their own affairs in freedom.
Let me wind up my messages by calling all Ethiopians to stop unnecessary internal bleeding. Dr. Martin Luther King beautifully said, “We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools.”
Multiculturalism is natural. It is a reality in current Ethiopia. Dignify it to build a peaceful Ethiopia. We all expect the National Dialogue Commission to report the truth and make bold recommendations without favor and fear!
By Amana Ahmed Al-Abadir
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Thank you again for listening and watching IHMS programs. Aselam Aleykum