Crown Supports Human Rights Demonstrations
The Ethiopian Crown Council, the body which represents the Ethiopian Crown, strongly supported the May 8 worldwide demonstrations by Ethiopian communities protesting the lack of human rights in Ethiopia.
Ethiopians around the world demonstrated for the release of Ethiopian political prisoners, and demanded that fundamental human rights be respected by the administration now in power in Addis Ababa. They also called for a process of national reconciliation and dialog in a free society.
Crown Council President Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, who was returning from a diplomatic trip to three Caribbean nations on May 8, said that the momentum toward national unity and progress on human rights issues in Ethiopia was being halted by the policies of the Addis Ababa administration.
“This has jeopardized our national ability to unite and respond to threats to our security and sovereignty,” he said. “Unless we develop a society which is built on tolerance and which respects alternative views, we are doomed to further weakening of our country, and ultimately we jeopardize our existence as a multi-communal, multi-religious state.”
“War is the ultimate denial of fundamental human rights. To progress on a path of building civil society, it is incumbent on the administration in Addis Ababa to win the people’s goodwill with tangible changes in its policies,” Prince Ermias said. “We can no longer be content to merely accept the rhetoric which has so far not been matched by deeds.”
“As thousands of Ethiopians around the world commemorate their fellow-countrymen who fought and died for national sovereignty, dignity and freedom, we now must pray and fight for those who remain illegally imprisoned or oppressed. The failure of the administration to change, and its insistence on using the system of justice in Ethiopia as a tool of its political survival, means that all Ethiopians are in chains.”
Prince Ermias continued: “Justice has eluded the Ethiopian people. We have been betrayed and disappointed by the lack of action of the international community. There are 13,000 political prisoners in Ethiopian prisons, according to Amnesty International. We have moved from the age of one genocidal leader — Mengistu Haile Mariam — who remains free, unpunished and in comfort while his victims, dead and alive, go unavenged, to another leader, who, although not of the same caste as Mengistu, has plunged our country deeply into disunity and war.”
“Today, a new generation of Ethiopians is decrying the loss of our once-proud culture and civilization. We will recover it. We will not stand by any longer and watch our own destruction. Never again!”
“We challenge the Addis administration to begin a meaningful dialog with all elements of the Ethiopian society with a view to restoring the nation’s human rights, its dignity and its symbols. And we challenge the international community to stand by the Ethiopian people, and not to pay only lip-service to the fundamental concept of human rights. The international community must be willing and able to pressure the Addis Ababa administration to stand by the international norms of decent behavior to which Ethiopia is a signatory within the framework of the United Nations, of which Emperor Haile Selassie I was one of the founding fathers.”
“The Ethiopian Crown, which championed human rights and dignity — and Ethiopian freedom — in the League of Nations in 1935, remains ready to debate the issue today, and with urgency.”
The demonstrations, which drew significant crowds in many capital cities around the world, brought attention to the Ethiopian cause from numerous governments. The UK Government, which had said that the Meles administration’s record on human rights was improving because of the release in December of Dr Asrat Woldeyes, noted that conditions had not, in fact, improved.
Obituary
Crown Records Passing of Crown Council Member Dejazmatch Belai Bezuneh
Washington dc, April 23, 1999: — In a Court Statement issued today, His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Ethiopian Crown Council, announced the sad passing on April 22 of His Excellency Dejazmatch Belai Bezuneh, 77, a member of the Crown Council.
Dejazmatch Belai, who died in Alexandria, Virginia, in the US, had been one of the heroes of the war against the Italian invasion of 1935-1941. He was one of the group known as “the five-year patriots” indicating that he had resisted the Italian fascist forces throughout their attempted conquest of Ethiopia.
After the war, Dejazmatch Belai served in various administrative capacities during the reign of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I. After the coup in 1974, he joined the Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU) forces, based then out of the Sudan, in their fight against the Dergue dictatorship which had seized power and which had killed the Emperor.
Prince Ermias said: “Dejazmatch Belai joined the Crown Council of His Late Majesty Emperor Amha Selassie I and continued the fight for Ethiopia’s freedom. He was later named by Emperor Amha Selassie to the current Crown Council, continuing until his death as a patriot fighting for Ethiopia’s freedom. His wise counsel and determined spirit for Ethiopia’s unity will forever remain part of his legacy.”
Prince Ermias said that no decision had yet been made as to who would fill the vacancy in the Crown Council ranks left by the sad death of Dejazmatch Belai.
Council Website Now Operational
Ethiopians in April began taking advantage of a new website dedicated to their country’s unique history: the official website of the Ethiopian Crown Council. During its first weeks in operation, even before it had been fully registered with internet search engines, many thousands of Ethiopians from around the world visited the site for the latest news.
The new website address is www.EthiopianCrown.org, and the site contains more than 200 pages of data. It is updated every few days with current Council statements and news, and also has extensive sections on Ethiopian history, culture, charities, educational scholarships and much more.
The well-illustrated site also contains background and legal documents on the Crown Council itself. It will soon add regular audio broadcasts in Amharic to the website.
Negarit’s First Edition Reaches Global Audience
The first edition of the new series of Negarit, the Official Record of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, was a major success, with copies reaching Ethiopians and researchers interested in Ethiopia in more than 20 countries. Regular newsstand sales exceeded expectations and subscriptions have been coming in daily to the Negarit offices in the Washington DC area.
“What we have achieved with the first edition of Negarit is only the beginning,” a spokesman for the newspaper said. “We have plans to expand the coverage of the newspaper, so that it is truly a voice of hope and a source of news and inspiration to Ethiopians around the world. We will be expanding the Amharic-language content as we progress, and we have already invested in a number of Amharic computer programs. We have also begun adding correspondents around the world.”
The newspaper is still looking for editorial contributors and volunteers, as well as distribution agents. Anyone interested in participating in the development of the newspaper should fax its US offices on +1 (703) 684-7476, email it at Negarit@EthiopianCrown.org, or write to PO Box 20863, Alexandria, Virginia 22320, USA.
“Ethiopians are now finding their voice to speak out for the unity of the nation. Negarit and the Crown website are vital elements of this,” the newspaper spokesman said.