By Berhane Kahsay
Nov 30, 2003
Congressmen Royce( sponsor of HR2760) and Rohrbacher have joined forces to punish the Ethiopian people by sponsoring all sorts of draconian measures. The latter is well acquainted to an Eritrean by the name of Berhane whose daughter owns Bologna restaurant in Asmara and is married to Esayas’ cousin.
Berhane made his fortunes in Ethiopia and had a relatively comfortable life. According to congressman Rohrbacher, Berhane’s ‘’property’’ and ‘’ successful enterprise’’ were confiscated when the Derg came to power. At present he is living in the United States and has acquired US citizenship. Up until 1998 he was conveniently quite and never bothered to ask for compensation or the return of his’’ property and enterprise.’’ The Swiss multinational company Nestle and others, whose properties and enterprises were confiscated by the Derg, applied for compensation and were paid millions of dollars by the current government of Ethiopia.
It is obvious that Berhane’s real intention is not what we are led to believe. This man has come under Esayas’ spell, and he is simply taking his instructions. We know from experience that the despicable despot would use any opportunity to get at Ethiopia. In this instance, ‘’confiscated property’’ of a solitary individual is being used as an excuse, to call for stringent measures to be taken against Ethiopia. Congressman Rohrbacher has been trying to oblige since 1999 but to no avail. Also his attempt to enlist the support of other congressmen didn’t succeed. Of course Mr Royce, the architect of H.R. 2760, is his supporter, and congressman Rohrbacher may eventually get his way unless all Ethiopians do their bit to stop this partial and irresponsible politician. Eritreans (even Esayas’ opponents) are doing it for their country why can’t Ethiopians do it for theirs.
For the sake of a single individual, congressman Rohrbacher is calling for the imposition of harsh measures, and if he succeeds 70 million Ethiopians will be badly affected. What the congressman ought to know is that this has nothing to do with confiscation of property; Berhane is simply using it as a pretext to hoodwink the blinkered congressman. The real issue is the unresolved border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Berhane is on Esayas’ pay roll and his master’s grand design is to isolate, ostracise and make Ethiopia economically weak and vulnerable. By doing so, the dictator seriously believes that Ethiopia will buckle under pressure and accept the flawed Hague verdict. Esayas under estimated Ethiopia’s resolve, determination and tenacity before, and paid dearly. Ethiopia will once again oblige if he wants to play the same dangerous and suicidal game. He lost big time before and he will definitely lose again.
Congressmen Royce and Rohrbacher should stop supporting a dictator who is making the life of his own people a misery. Instead they ought to pull all the resources at their disposal and assist the Eritrean people in discarding Esayas. Failure to do so will be tantamount to allowing him to continue with his usual habits of abusing human rights, and sponsoring various terrorist organisations larking in neighbouring countries.
Congressman Rohrbacher talks a lot about democracy, but we are at a loss as to why he is going out of his way to help a renowned dictator who is preventing the democratisation of Eritrea. Is he not aware that political opponents are routinely arrested or hounded out of the country? Is he not aware that freedom of expression and the right to dissent are rare commodities? Is he not aware of the forcible conscription of the Eritrean youth? Is he not aware of the fact that 10% of the population is under arms? Is he not aware of the fact that monies donated for developmental purposes are being used to purchase weapons? Is he not aware of the fact that education and health are the least concerns of the man he is supporting? Is he not aware of the daily persecution of religious minorities? The list is endless, sir, need we say more?
We are also at a loss as to why the congressman chose to speak about the border dispute and accuse Ethiopia of being “’ inclined to words war’’ while the subject was property confiscation? If the intention was to simply help his constituent, then there was need for him to digress into unrelated issue. Obviously the congressman has a hidden agenda and wants to purse it on behalf of the unpleasant and unconstructable dictator. For your information, it is Eritrea who is ‘’inclined to words war’’, and this could be confirmed by Ms Susan Rice, who was the under secretary state for Africa, during the Clinton administration. The president of Rwanda could also confirm Esayas’ intransigency and gang ho attitude to words war.
Contrary to the congressman’s assertions, it is Eritrea who violated the rights of over 200,000 honest Ethiopians whose property was confiscated by the current government in Asmara. These are the bare facts. We hope congressmen Royce and Rohrbacher will recover their senses and join hands with the Eritrean people, and toss Esayas, the Saadam Hussein of East Africa, to the scrap yard.
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