Alemayehu G. Mariam “Bondage” is the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control. When people are bound by debt, they are in “debt bondage”. When they are held in involuntary servitude, they are in “bondage slavery”. Before much of Africa became “independent” in the 1960s, Africans were held under…
Alemayehu G Mariam The Triumph of Lies Over the past six years, I have written numerous columns defending press freedom in Ethiopia. In a 2009 commentary entitled, “The Art of War on Ethiopia’s Independent Press”, I expressed astonishment over the heavy handed treatment of the free press: “Use a sledgehammer to smash a butterfly! That…
Alemayehu G. Mariam The Sky is Falling! Most of my readers know how much I enjoy “bedtime stories”. Recently, I wrote about my favortie bedtime story of Pinocchio in Africa. Ever heard of the story of Chicken Little? One day Chicken Little was scratching around the yard when something fell on her head. “Oh,” screeched Chicken Little,…
By Alemayehu G. Mariam The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition At the recent 2012 G8 Food Security Summit in Washington, D.C., Abebe Gellaw, a young Washington-based Ethiopian journalist, stood up in the gallery and thunderously proclaimed to dictator Meles Zenawi, “… Food is nothing without freedom…” Is he right? When President Obama invited…
Alemayehu G Mariam The Man Who Cried “Freedom!” On May 18, 2012, dictator Meles Zenawi learned a lesson he will not easily forget. In the land of free speech, he was rendered speechless. Abebe Gellaw, a young Washington-based Ethiopian journalist, stood up in the gallery at the Food Security 2012 G8 Summit in Washington, D.C. and…
Alemayehu G Mariam At the “World Economic Forum Meeting” in Ethiopia last week, dictator Meles Zenawi lectured: …. My view is that there is no direct relationship between economic growth and democracy historically or theoretically. But my view is that democracy is a good thing in and of itself…
Alemayehu G Mariam White House spokesman Jay Carney announced last week that President Obama has invited the presidents of Ghana, Tanzania, Benin and Meles Zenawi to attend the G8 Summit (the forum for the governments of eight of the world’s largest economies) for a discussion of food security on May 19 at Camp David (Presidential…
በአራት ዓመታት ውስጥ በ420 የፍርድ ሂደት፤ ቀናት: 115 ምስከሮች ተሰምተው፤ 50,000 ገጾች ያሉት ማስረጃ ተገናዝቦ፤ 1,520 መረጃ ኤግዚህቢቶች ከተመሳከሩ፤ በህውላ ለሴራ ሊዮን በተባበሩት መንግስታት በተቋቋመው ልዩ ችሎት በቀረበበት 11 ዝርዝር ክስ ቻርልስ ቴይለር: የግፍ ጦረኛውና የቀድሞው የላይቤርያ ፕሬዝደንት: ጥፋተኛ ተብሎ ተፈርዶበታል፡፡ በሰብዊ መብት ላይ ባደረሰው ወንጀል፤ ግድያ፤ አስገድዶ መድፈር፤ ሲቪል ማህበረሰቡን አካሉን በማጉደል፤እጅ በመቁረጥ፤ ሕጻናትን በጦር ሜዳ በማሰማራት፤ የፍትወት ባርነት በማካሄድ፤ ከኖቬምበር 30, 1966 እስከ ጃንዋሪ 18, 2002 በሴራ ሊዮን ሽብር በመንዛትና በማስፋፋት ወንጀል ቻርልስ ቴይለር ተበይኖበታል፡፡ በሴራ ሊዮኑ ግጭት 50,000 ዜጎች ለሞት ተዳርገዋል ሲል የተባበሩት መንግስታት ተናግሮል፡፡ ቴይለር በጭካኔ የተሞሉትን አረመኔዎች እነ ፎዲ ሳንኮህ: ሳም ‹‹ቢንቢው›› ቦካሪን: እና ኢሳ ሴሳይን በመርዳቱና በመደገፉ፤ እንደባርያ በቁፋሮው ላይ ተሰማርተው በሚያወጡት የአልማዝ ማዕድን ሽያጭ በሚከፈለው የደም አልማዝ ገንዘብ እቅድ በማውጣት፤ የጦር ስልት በመንደፍ፤ መሣርያ በመስጠት ላደረገው የግፍና የጥፋት ትብብር ነበር የስወነጀለው፡፡ ቴይለር በሚቀጥለው ወር ላይ የፍርድ የስራት ቅጣት ውሳኔው ይሰጠዋል፡፡
Alemayehu G Mariam Warlord Charles Taylor Caged! After 420 days of trial (over nearly four years), 115 witness, over 50,000 pages of testimony, and 1,520 exhibits, Charles Taylor, warlord-turned-president of Liberia, was found guilty on 11 counts by the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone. Taylor was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against…
Alemayehu G Mariam Reeyot Alemu The past two weeks have been glorious days for Africans. Eskinder Nega, the heroic Ethiopian journalist was honored with Pen America’s Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. The award honors writers throughout the world who have fought courageously in the face of adversity for the right to freedom of expression….
