Reuters photo
By
Addisalem Mulat
Over the past twenty seven years, Ethiopians had been under the yoke of oppression and on the horns of a dilemma aside from suffering atavism at the command of brutal dictators. Even worse, tyrants were not in the position to lend ears to the general public except designing a range of strategies which helped them stay in power for quite a number of years. Thus, people were constantly cursing their rotten luck time and again.
Last week, Ethiopian Television aired a tear-jerking documentary entitled “Horrors that attended lack of justice!” The full program revolved around human rights violations, which took place at a national scale over the past two decades, before the reform. As the barbaric deeds were beyond the expectation of real human beings, the program grew to be the talk of all Ethiopians in a fraction of a second. Most people burst into tears in the blink of an eye.
Pertaining to human rights violations which took place in the left, right and center of the country, the Ethiopian premier Dr. Abiy Ahmed said, “Ethiopia is in the avenue of change. This means there are changes the country needs to make predominately on human rights violations. Ethiopians had fought to ensure good governance and democracy nationwide. They had been struggling hard with a view to getting rid of the dictatorial regime once and for all and ensuring justice.”
He added: “Though, the people of Ethiopia had waited patiently until the regime came up with good governance, the situation constantly kept on falling from the frying pan into the fire as the regime kept on adding insult to injury. The political landscape as well went on growing narrower and narrower. Above and beyond, human rights violation and corruption kept on missing the desired goal. These realities on the ground made Ethiopians staunchly stand up for their rights.”
He continued, saying, “We do not have to think about vindictiveness. Our focus should be on justice and judgment. We do not take this action out of hatred but for the love of promoting the rule of law across the country. We do need offenders to learn from their mistakes and throw the history of dictatorship to the dustbin. As a matter of fact, throwing criminals into prison is inevitable whoever they are, which ethnic groups they may hail from, and wherever they hide themselves. We will hunt them to get them behind bars.”
Yonas Gashaw is one of the victims who had suffered several agonies due to the cruelty of the dictatorial regime. He said, “I was dreaming of helping my fellow citizens. Though officials threw my dreams into shambles, I was fighting for the right of the people time and again. Tyrants were treating me harshly and giving me a hard time by cooked-up stories. In due course, I was thrown into prison on the claim of fuelling anti-government protests and belonging to Patriotic Ginbot 7 Front.”
“Before detention, I was feeling on top of the world. While I was in prison, the brutal security people were pinching my testicles with pliers and beating me nonstop. As a result, now, I am forced to go on all fours. I cannot go anywhere without the support of anyone. Whenever the whole thing went wrong nobody was there for me. I had made an effort to committee suicide three times. I had lost my mother and father and my older brother.”
The other victim named Abebe Kasse said, “I was living in North Gondar. I had been in prison for five solid years. I was thrown there for opposing what was going on in Amhara state, where mostly the land grabbing drama took place. I had passed though grueling times. While I was in prison, I had lost all my nails. All of them were pinched off by pliers by the inhuman security people. All my belongings had been burnt out.”
Martha Tibebe is a lawyer by profession. She said, “The unreformed government was as cruel as death. I would say, the minds of some officials were the devil’s workshop. They should undergo blood tests so that we could figure out whether they belong to the human race or not. When I watched the documentary, I could not control my feelings. Shaking all over with rage, I was nearly fainting. God, the great judge, is almost seeing to the vengeance. Anyways, let bygones be bygones. We have to distance ourselves from hatred and revenge and get ourselves busy in building the new Ethiopia.”
Dr. Yonas Lakew is a Psychiatrist by profession. He said, “Victims should be able to get the necessary treatment as soon as possible. If not, their conditions could deteriorate aside from suffering from psychological and other related problems. Therefore, taking counsel with a psychiatrist is a must. More often than not, thinking about the problem they encountered in the past, the victims may go far deep in thought and suffer from fear. Therefore, they should get treatment almost immediately. Mostly, they end up becoming hot-tempered, getting easily disturbed, among others.”
Yonas Niguse is a resident of Addis. He said, “When I watched the documentary, I could not believe my eyes. Pity and rage galloped down my spine turn by turn. To the best of my knowledge, I have the courage to say, human beings do not partake in inhuman acts except taking care of their compatriots. We should unanimously condemn immoral acts. As there was no good governance across the country, human rights had been subject to violations. Individuals were taking measures as they wish.”
He continued: “The government should work hand-in-glove in establishing democratic institutions all over the country which preempt these kinds of things. Everybody should be governed by the rule of law. More to the point, democratic institutions should be free from the influence of others and stand on their feet.”
Addisalem Mulat
A published author, journalist, translator, host of a newspaper interview, contributor to magazines and teacher from Ethiopia. M.A holder in English from Addis Ababa University.
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