Alemayehu G. Mariam (In memory of those Ethiopians massacred and maimed by the dictatorship in power following the May 15, 2005 elections.) Reflections on a Democracy Unplugged “When the people fear the government, you have tyranny. When the government fears the people, you have freedom,” said Thomas Paine, one of the inspiring figures of the…
May 4, 2009 A Plot Here! A Plot There! A Plot Everywhere! April, 2009. “The ‘desperadoes’ are here! They are going to ‘assassinate high ranking government officials and destroy public facilities and utilities!’” Some forty individuals are officially said to be arrested for “terrorism” (but the real number may be at least five times as…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam Patriots and Tyrants Dr. Hailu Araya: Ethiopian patriot. Political prisoner. Educator. Poet. I am not writing to talk about Dr. Hailu, the Ethiopian patriot, the man who gave the brutal former military dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam a passionate six-minute discourse on democracy, freedom and human rights 18 years ago to the…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam “We Shall Overcome…” In 1965, in a commencement address at Oberlin College, Ohio, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King spoke about the ultimate victory of good over evil, justice over injustice, right over might, truth over lies and human rights over government wrongs. “We shall overcome,” he said “because the arc…
Alemayehu G. Mariam Pax Obama President Obama made a historic speech to Turkish lawmakers last week, but his message was global in scope and contained nuggets of his foreign policy yet to unfold. The first chords of Pax Obama (Obama’s offer of peace to the world) restore not only much needed sanity to U.S. foreign…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam The Sky is Falling! British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants the G-20 (or Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the world’s largest economies) to help cash-strapped African countries manage their balance of payments (money going from one country to all others) as their incomes from foreign investments…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam Cry Me a River, Cry Me a Lake Amina was crying her eyes out. You could see the tear tracks on her tormented face. She is a victim of unimaginable tragedy. Her entire family has nearly been wiped out. She is heartbroken. Sobbing uncontrollably, she covers her downcast eyes with her…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam From Discontent to Renewal In the Winter of our discontent, we complained about the wasted years of antagonism, discord and strife among pro-democracy elements of the Ethiopian Diaspora. We deplored the years of infighting and useless bickering which had given much delight and merriment to the ruthless dictators. We expressed collective…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam How Sweet It is! “Justice is like a train that is nearly always late”, but it did arrive just in the nick of time for Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Sudan. Al-Bashir is now a fugitive from justice, a wanted man by the International Criminal Court (ICC). In his application…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam Free Birtukan and All Political Prisoners in Ethiopia! On March 2, 2009, Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia throughout the world will be taking to the streets to protest human rights violations by the ruling regime, and to demand the release of all political prisoners. The preeminent political prisoner and the undisputed…
