The Crown Council of Ethiopia

A Message to All Ethiopians and Supporters of Ethiopia During This Holy Season

The Crown Council of Ethiopia wishes all Ethiopians, and all supporters of Ethiopia, peace, health and the blessings of unity during this Holy Season of Christmas and Timkat and the Feast of Eid el-Fitr. The closeness of these blessed events of both Ethiopia's main religions this year should be seen as yet another sign urging Ethiopians to work with renewed vigor for the unity of our beloved country, for tolerance between our various communities, and for a revival of the prosperity and peace of Ethiopia and Ethiopians.

We pray for an end to the differences which have beset the various Ethiopian communities since 1974, and particularly we look forward to an end to hostilities between Ethiopia and its brothers in Eritrea. But at all costs, we pray for, and fight for, the unbreakable unity of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian People.

Christmas, Timkat and Eid el-Fitr are times of optimism, and there is real cause for hope that, in the coming months and year, the great strands of Ethiopian historical culture and society will once again come together in ways which are both totally new and productive. For this to happen, all elements of Ethiopian society must come together in a spirit of reconciliation, of respect for tradition as well as respect for new thoughts.

The Ethiopian Crown Council, as one of the traditional elements of Ethiopian culture and the representative of the Solomonic dynastic line which is the world's oldest institution, has been reinvigorated during the past year by a constant process of dialogue with many elements in our society. It has benefited also from support from the world community, particularly through increasingly vigorous support from charitable organizations, many of which have seen many non-Ethiopians unite with Ethiopians to help preserve Ethiopia's culture and to recognize its importance to African, Western and Middle Eastern civilizations. The international community is becoming more familiar with the richness and unique importance of Ethiopia's culture, history and geopolitical importance to the entire world.

For perhaps the first time in the 26 years since the bloodshed and regicide of the Dergue, we can look toward a future in Ethiopia which shows signs of a great national reconciliation. The Crown Council is, as always, ready to play its role in this process, and calls God's Blessings and Mercy upon all Ethiopians, all who love Ethiopia, and even upon those who have in the past sought to harm us. Ethiopia will prevail. The Solomonic Crown, which has come to us through an unbroken line from King David, King Solomon and Queen Makeda of Sabae, will also prevail. And the People's of Ethiopia will once again live in peace and prosperity.

In the meantime, we cannot relax our efforts to build a better, safer and happier society. We must be extremely conscious to avoid the marginalization of some elements of our society: we must work to become an inclusive society in which Ethiopianness is the umbrella which brings us all together. This will in turn help to ensure that Ethiopia as a whole is not marginalized in the international political and economic community; we must not allow regional pressures to obscure the fact that Ethiopia is the key to the stability of the Horn of Africa and the Nile Nations, as well as to the security and stability of the Red Sea shipping lanes. To be able to undertake our historic role, we must therefore ensure that we develop our Armed Forces to the point where they can not only defend Ethiopia's integrity, but help to ensure the stability of the region. We are only at the beginning of this process. But this important effort will go hand-in-hand with the evolution of our political prestige, through a commitment to free and fair elections, in turn leading to a greater voice for Ethiopia in African, Middle Eastern and world affairs.

We also must commit ourselves to a renewed war against the HIV and AIDS viruses, which are already causing havoc in our society. Ethiopia, for the sake of national stability and the preservation of our way of life, must unite to fight the HIV/AIDS menace. This means a widespread commitment to public education, something which is not only the responsibility of government but also of the Church, the Mosques and all civic organizations.

We know what we must do to make Ethiopia a better, safer haven for us all. And we see signs of optimism. At this conjunction of Holy Days, we can see that God is again ready to smile upon Ethiopia. God Bless our Beloved Country and its People.

A Call for the Funeral of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I to be the Beginning of a New Unity for Ethiopia

The Crown Council of Ethiopia, the Constitutional body and traditional Ethiopian institution which represents the Crown of Ethiopia during an interregnum and which advises ruling Ethiopian Monarchs, calls upon all Ethiopians to support the proposed final interment of His Late Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I in such a way that the event will not only reflect the glory and dignity of Ethiopia’s traditions but will also create a new climate of national pride and unity to begin the nation’s re-birth.

The solemn occasion of His Majesty’s interment beside his Beloved Empress, and in his chosen resting place at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, should serve notice that the Ethiopian People, conscious and rejoicing of their rights to political and communal differences, reaffirm the unique strength and value of their unified society under God.

The Crown Council further calls upon all World Leaders to take the opportunity of the proposed interment to recall the commitment to the collective security of the world made by Ethiopia under Emperor Haile Selassie. His Imperial Majesty and the Ethiopian People dedicated themselves to regional and international stability, for decades fighting fascism and international aggression alongside the leaders of the United Nations, and striving to ensure the stability and freedom of the vital trade routes of the Red Sea.

Africa and the free world had no greater friend in history, nor more loyal symbol of inspiration, than Emperor Haile Selassie, and the time has now come for the world community to pay tribute to him and his People.

However, it is fitting that the Funeral of His Majesty should also be the re-birth of the social, strategic and economic momentum which Emperor Haile Selassie began for Ethiopia, for the region and for Africa. The Funeral marks not the end of the era of Emperor Haile Selassie, but the start of a new age, building upon the positive legacy which he began.

Ethiopia today faces threats to its unity of a type which even the Italian invasions of 1896 and 1935 did not bring forth. Ethiopia today needs the unity which was rejuvenated by Emperor Tewodros following the mayhem of the Age of Princes — the Zemene Mesafint — and which was maintained by Emperor Yohannes who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country’s integrity. It was under Emperor Menelik II that Ethiopia was introduced to modern education, a policy which Emperor Haile Selassie pursued as one of the prime objectives of his reign. Thanks to this remarkable journey of enlightenment, our diverse society is now be able to entertain a broad spectrum of debate which in turn makes feasible a vibrant democracy and a potentially thriving economy. All which we now require is the faith in each other and the overall unity of purpose — to which ends the Emperor dedicated his entire life — which will demonstrate our resolve to maintain Ethiopia’s sovereign integrity and thereby provide the stability and durability to encourage the restoration of international faith and investment in our uniquely valuable country.

By restructuring the Ethiopian State along modern lines, His Majesty ensured the survival of the world’s oldest living institution, the Solomonic Crown. By ensuring Ethiopia’s integrity and pride, His Majesty also ensured that Africa would have a beacon of African culture shining against foreign colonialism.

It is for these reasons and many others that the Crown Council urges the Ethiopian and World communities to think deeply upon the impending Funeral of His Imperial Majesty; to prepare for it as an opportunity to pay tribute to his towering rôle as a leader; and to begin, 26 years after his death, to re-commence the march of Ethiopia toward its rightful place as a prosperous, united community, bringing peace to the region.

Ethiopia's Haile Selassie Students on the Pacem In Terris Scholarship Arrive in the United States

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Brothers Ermis and Endrias Hailu, both of whom arrived in Washington in Ethiopian national dress, present Prince Ermias with two paintings — one by each student — of St. George's Chapel in Lalibela, and St. Mary Zion Church in Axum.

Gathering at Washington's Dulles International Airport on September 23, 1999, were eight of the Haile Selassie students who were brought to the United States on the Pacem In Terris scholarships at La Roche College. They were all nominated and sponsored by the Haile Selassie Fund for Ethiopia's Children, of which HIH Prince Ermias (in tie, center) is co-patron with his wife, HIH Princess Gelila Fesseha. Crown Council supporter Seyoum Aberra was on hand (left) to help greet the students, as was Ato Kifle Melaku (second from right), who was there to greet one of his sons, Abraham Kifle Melaku (extreme right), one of the scholarship winners. Other supporters of the Crown were also at the airport for what was an extremely happy occasion. Woyzerit Mestewwat Matewos Sugebo, one of two female scholarship winners, is shown second from left holding up the welcome sign which greeted the students as they arrived. The other students shown here are: Brothers Ermias Hailu and Endrias Hailu (wearing the Ethiopian tricolors), Amin Mohammed Yassin, Ana Fuad Ousie, Henok Mulualem Gebrehiwot, and Shakir Fuad Mohammed.

Eleven of Haile Selassie students chosen for Pacem In Terris Scholarships have arrived in the United States to start their studies. The students, who were all selected by the Haile Selassie Foundation for Ethiopia's Children, will spend four years at La Roche College, in Pittsburgh, in the United States, graduating with Bachelor degrees. They have all committed to return to Ethiopia upon graduation to apply their learning to improving conditions in Ethiopia.

Eight of the students — shown here — arrived in Washington DC from Addis Ababa on September 23, 1999, en route to Pittsburgh, and were greeted at Washington's Dulles International Airport by the Patron of the Haile Selassie Foundation, HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia. The students were originally scheduled to go to La Roche's new sister college in Texas, but this campus was not yet completed, and so the scholarships were transferred to the main La Roche campus in Pittsburgh.

Two of the 11 students who have arrived are from the Ethiopian diaspora: one from Germany, the other from Maryland in the US. Another student had already arrived from Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian Crown Council Enderassé HH Prince Bekere Fikre-Selassie sent greetings to the students on their arrival in the US, and both he and Prince Ermias — along with other Crown Council officials — plan a special reception for the Haile Selassie student contingent when they have settled down in Pittsburgh. Prince Bekere has made education one of his key areas of focus within the Crown Council. Prince Ermias, meanwhile, has committed with Princess Gelila Fesseha, the co-patron of the Haile Selassie Fund for Ethiopia's Children, to a regular schedule of visits to Pittsburgh — where he is also a Director of La Roche College — to provide support and counselling for the students.

The Ethiopian Crown Council today sent greetings to Ethiopians on the occasion of Inqutatash — Ethiopian New Year — and called on all Ethiopians to agree on an urgent period of respite from ethnic and communal conflict in the Ethiopian community of nations so that urgent issues of poverty, health-care, education and national unity could be addressed.

"Ethiopians have now endured more than two decades of hardship since the death of His Imperial Majesty Empror Haile Selassie I. We now must all work together to overcome all of the obstacles of war, natural disaster, poverty, inadequate education, disunity, and disease to reclaim our rightful place of health and happiness in the world," the President of the Crown Council, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, said in the New Year Greeting.

"It is not only possible for us to achieve victory over these hardships, it is essential. We have suffered for too long. We all know what we must do: we must work together," Prince Ermias said. "We must have national healing within so that we can defend the threats from without."

"Ethiopia remains under threat from many man-made problems, such as the ongoing war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and fratricidal conflicts conducted by minority groups. We must not only deal with with these problems by demonstrating the mutual bonds which link all Ethiopian peoples, we must begin to address the underlying causes of the conflicts. The Administration must show faith in the Ethiopian peoples by encouraging expressions of unity and by encouraging cooperation and interaction among all the various peoples of Ethiopia, instead of by encouraging ethnic rivalry and separation. This would, more than anything else, create a sense of national purpose, and, indeed, have Ethiopians rallying around a productive and popular Government."

"We can no longer afford to live in division and mutual suspicion," the Crown Council statement said.

"It is at this time of renewal — this New Year — when Ethiopians must learn to respect and enjoy the greatness of each of the national peoples, each of the great religions of Ethiopia, and each of the great cultures and languages of our peoples," Prince Ermias said. "The Crown and Crown Council of Ethiopia are the Crown and Crown Council of all Ethiopians, and represent the important symbols of Ethiopianness: unity, prosperity, security, and strength. And the Crown Council — the only legal and Constitutional body representing the Solomonic Crown of Ethiopia during the interregnum — will continue to work for national unity, national strength, for improved education and welfare, and for the perpetuation of the great Ethiopian culture," Prince Ermias said.

Washington DC, August 11, 1999: — The Ethiopian Crown Council today announced that 16 Ethiopian students have been chosen to receive Pacem in Terris scholarships. These full, four-year scholarships to International University of America, in Texas, in the United States, were awarded to Ethiopians in Ethiopia and the diaspora.

These scholarships, administered in the name of the charity organization, the Haile Selassie Fund for Ethiopia’s Children, cover four years of college tuition, room, and board for all 16 recipients. The recipients will spend their first six months at Pennsylvania’s La Roche College receiving intensive English language instruction, and will complete the remainder of their four-year program at International University of America (formerly Ambassador International University) in Texas.

The Haile Selassie Fund was able to award scholarships in the fields of computer science, business, engineering, communications, and water resources management. These scholarships, awarded in early July, have a collective value of some US$1.2-million. The scholarship recipients are a diverse group of Ethiopians with a wide range of personal backgrounds and interests. Among the finalists are students from Addis Ababa, Harar, Mekelle, Awasa, Dire Dawa, and even several from various Ethiopian communities in the diaspora of the United States and Europe.

The Crown Council released the following statement to the press after the announcement of the scholarship winners: “Our heartfelt congratulations go out to the recent recipients of the Pacem in Terris scholarships. We would also like to extend our deepest gratitude to Monsignor William Kerr, President of International University of America. His enthusiasm and energy in the establishment of this scholarship has provided an unprecedented opportunity for these young Ethiopians. The International University’s work to promote peace and well-being among the peoples of the earth deserves all of our appreciation and support. The young men and women who will begin their studies at the International University are the pride of Ethiopia, and we look forward to watching their careers in the years to come.”

Over the past twenty-five years, Ethiopia has struggled with one painful challenge after another. The worst kinds of government oppression worked in concert with years of devastating famine to leave lasting scars throughout our culture and our country. Now, the ravages of HIV and AIDS present us with one of the greatest threats to our people yet.

Thankfully, many AIDS patients in developed countries, such as the United States, are able to reap the benefits of powerful new drug combinations which ease their suffering and give them new hope for a longer life. Because of the blessing of these new treatments, too many men and women around the world are becoming complacent and forgetful of the horrors which HIV and AIDS can still bring to countries like Ethiopia, where the weapons necessary to win this war remain unavailable. If we do not alert our countrymen and warn the world community, the first decade of the new millenium will do unspeakable damage to our hopes for a peaceful and prosperous future.

The latest statistics detailing the HIV/AIDS situation in Ethiopia paint an ugly picture. Health officials estimate that nearly 2.5-million Ethiopians suffer from HIV infection. This is an amazing figure: it represents nearly 10 percent of the total infections throughout the world. More importantly, it means that one out of every ten adult Ethiopians carries this deadly virus and can pass it on to others.

These numbers make a grim formula for Ethiopia's future. The average life expectancy is already relatively low in Ethiopia. If HIV and AIDS continue unchecked, by the year 2010, the average Ethiopian will die fifteen years younger. It is estimated that the ravages of this disease have already left over 620,000 children orphaned throughout Ethiopia. In ten years, the total will be nearly three times that number.

HIV and AIDS are also intimately linked to two other grave threats to our future, poverty and famine. As Ethiopia continues to struggle to feed itself, AIDS patients are at a greater risk. Carriers of the disease can be too weak to resist infections. The poorest of our countrymen are the least likely to receive expensive and time-consuming treatments. Unable to break from this cycle, Ethiopians sink deeper into poverty as they lose a productive and beloved member of their family.

To truly understand the scope of the potential social and economic devastation, we must do more than discuss the statistics. We must remember the human face of this horrible disease, the face of Ethiopians of all ages, from every socio-economic background. We must remember that this disease does not discriminate, that it kills Tigrean, Amhara, and Oromo alike.

Thankfully, some Ethiopians at home and abroad have already taken the first steps towards turning the tide in this crucial battle. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has worked in collaboration with UNICEF, encouraging young Ethiopians to change their daily behavior and lifestyle to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The science faculty at Addis Ababa University is working with health institutions around the world in preparation for an international conference on HIV/AIDS, currently scheduled for November. Finally, the sick themselves have started to come together. Over one hundred Ethiopians living with HIV/AIDS have formed a support organization called "Dawn of Hope", whose members are actively working for an end to this terrible disease.

For the Ethiopian nation to live to see the full promise of this dawn of hope, the Ethiopian Crown Council and Ethiopians everywhere must work together to summon our full potential as a people. What can those of us in the diaspora do to ease the situation back home? All of our voices in unison can raise awareness throughout the world that for countries such as Ethiopia, the AIDS crisis has only just begun. Together, we can work for the medical and financial assistance that will ease Ethiopia's plight.

But most importantly, we must spread the news throughout all Ethiopia that the answers to our problems are within our own reach. We must support Ethiopian organizations at home and abroad that continue to educate our people about the causes of this health crisis, and that continue to provide health care and training to those in need. Where those organizations fall short or do not exist at all, we must begin to build them ourselves, with our own hands, and with our own hearts.

A Statement on the 107th anniversary of the birth of His Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie the Great,
from Enderasse Prince Bekere Fikre-Selassie
and President of the Ethiopian Crown Council Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie

Ethiopians everywhere must always be mindful of the past, of the rich history and tradition that shapes our identity as a people. Our strengths and weaknesses as a nation, our successes and failures, provide a vision and a challenge for the future, a roadmap to understand how far we have come, and how far we still have yet to go. On the anniversary of the birth of His Majesty Haile Selassie I, July 23^rd, it is fitting that we look to his life, to the accomplishments of His Majesty, to gauge our own progress, and to map our course for the years to come.

Few men in history have left such a mark on the lives of their people and the admiring eyes of the world. His memory is cherished by Ethiopians of all ages. His struggles on behalf of African freedom and unity have made him loved by Africans around the world. He stood before us as a direct descendant of King Solomon, a living symbol of continuity between an ancient civilization and a modern world, a living symbol that made Ethiopia the pride and property of all mankind.

What was His Majesty’s legacy? What are we to remember, to summon as a challenge to ourselves, on his 107^th anniversary?

He was an active reformer, a strong believer in the possibilities of modernization. As regent, he worked vigorously to bring an end to slavery throughout Ethiopia. As emperor, he twice gave Ethiopia constitutions designed to pave the way for a more democratic and participatory national government. He presided over the modernization of the country’s penal code, and the opening of its first parliament. During his reign, the first beginnings of a free press took hold in our homeland.

He spared no expense in the construction and renovation of hospitals, churches, and mosques. He oversaw the creation of modern industry in Ethiopia: the first hydro-electric power plan, the first water works, the first oil refinery. He established agricultural schools and experimental farms to encourage the full utilization of Ethiopia’s natural resources.

His Majesty knew full well the precious value of a strong education, and provided a solid foundation for modern learning throughout Ethiopia. He established the first universities. He founded the first public schools. He did these things often at his own expense, from his own land, his own property.

But His Majesty did not take these steps as mere tokens, as empty gestures towards international notions of what progress required. Rather, he took these steps with the knowledge that a practical education for some Ethiopians produces practical results for all of Ethiopia. Speaking at the Haile Selassie I University graduation in 1967, he said the following: "fully aware that the vast majority of your fellow-countrymen have not had the privilege of higher education that you have had, you must accept the responsibility for identifying the fundamental problems of your country and directing the skills you have acquired towards their solution."

In the context of world history, His Majesty’s unceasing struggle against imperialism will be one of his most lasting monuments. In 1923, he sought the security of his people through membership in the League of Nations. In 1935, he fought for his people on the front lines, as the world waited for the League to speak out against Italian aggression. When that League failed him, he stood before it without fear, and called for the judgment of God and history upon the system of European colonialism.

It is all too easily forgotten that upon regaining his throne with Allied assistance, the Emperor Haile Selassie never once became vindictive, and never sought recrimination against the harsh rule of the Fascists. True to great statesmanship, His Majesty gave full amnesty, and many Italians were able to remain in Ethiopia and continue to live without fear.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, he worked to complete the return of the Ogaden from British occupying forces. Through the act of federation in 1950 and the final union of Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1962, he achieved the final repudiation of the hollow accomplishments of Italian military conquest. In so doing, he bestowed upon us a powerful symbol of Ethiopian unity the lessons of which remain unfulfilled even today.

Even when earlier organizations of international solidarity failed him, His Majesty never turned his back on the world community. He played an active role in the United Nations, and an active role in support of his allies in the Korean War. In the climax of his leadership in the anti-colonial struggle, he guided the creation of the Organisation of African Unity, and steered that body away from the path of dangerous radical revolution.

Looking back on Ethiopia in the twentieth century, one man alone stands out. As we consider the future, we are mindful of his own words, when he spoke on his birthday, July 23, 1958: "As We have stated time and again, it is easy to begin, but hard to finish, and We express on this occasion both Our happiness at what We see here today, as well as Our strong hope to see this work which is now begun bearing fruit in the near future."

On April 6, 1988, His Majesty Amha Selassie I declared Haile Selassie I to be "Haile Selassie the Great". This simple proclamation was but one step in a journey that will shape our nation’s progress throughout the coming generations. In proclaiming him "Haile Selassie the Great", we acknowledge our obligation to his memory, and our obligation to our own people to finish the work he started.

Remembering His Majesty on the 107^th anniversary of his birth, we realize that his challenge to the Class of 1967 is a challenge to us all: we must learn our own history, we must study the works of great thinkers, but we must also seek practical knowledge, an education that heals the sick and feeds the hungry. This is a life’s journey that acknowledges His Majesty’s legacy and the magnitude of his accomplishments, a journey that is easy to begin, but hard indeed to finish. All of us must look forward to rising to that challenge.

His Majesty King Hassan II of Morocco died of a heart attack on July 23, 1999. The following week, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, President of the Ethiopian Crown Council, visited the Moroccan Embassy in the Washington DC area to pay his respects to the memory of the late monarch, and to send the Ethiopian monarchy's best wishes to his successor, King Mohammed VI.

In early August, the Enderasse of the Ethiopian Crown Council, Prince Bekere Fikre-Selassie, and Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie released this statement on the passing of King Hassan:

A Legacy of Disaster? A Statement on Famine by the President of the Crown Council

The Editorial by HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, for the July 31, 1999, edition of Negarit, the Crown newspaper. The statement was issued on June 29, 1999.

Famine, drought and ongoing poverty remain undiscussed, and apparently secondary issues when states are at war over such national and emotional issues of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ethiopia, which has the highest rates of malnutrition in Africa, is yet again facing another famine with little publicity. Food insecurity, even at the best of times, is one of the most visible manifestations of poverty in Ethiopia. In a nation, which relies on subsistence farming and varying climatic factors, the problem is further compounded by inadequate focus on land protection, afforestation, water conservation, the development of human resources, a coherent policy on land reform and management and an exceptionally high birth rate.

The current war in Ethiopia seems on the surface to have had little impact on the economy, but over the short-term the conflict could have disasterous implications for the country as development aid becomes curtailed and the nation’s meagre resources become diverted to defense expenditures.

It was the lack of attention given to the famine which, in 1974, brought down the Imperial Government. Ethiopia became synonymous in the early 1980s with famine, as many more Ethiopians died from both manmade and natural disaster. What does our fate hold today and into the next century?

Ethiopians who live abroad as well as at home have a huge responsibility as citizens to ponder this shadow of death which afflicts millons of our countrymen too frequently. A problem of this magnitude cannot be tackled in a vacuum. The absence of peace and normalcy is a fundamental prerequisite. The fragility of our region is also an added insecurity, as we will be forced to live in the shadows of more wars to follow. How long are we going to be dependent on foreign donations to sustain our existence? We must measure what our sovereignty entails. If we are at others’ mercies for our survival then how are we truly free?

The Ethiopian administration must be held accountable for its decisions and must be pressured to address this life and death issue expeditiously. We Ethiopians have once more failed in the promise of feeding our people. We have the potential to be net exporters of food, yet millions of our people are vulnerable to the scrouge of famine. We continue to lose so many of our educated citizenary in whom the poor masses invested, and our young men and women are dying daily in the battlefields and through the silent war of poverty and disease.

We as citizens need to do our part by pressuring decisionmakers in Ethiopia to seek meaningful solutions to problems which have long-term consequences. We must also do our part today by turning to our communities, our churches and civic institutions to do our part in helping feed our people. We must educate our friends, our communities, policymakers and the international community that Ethiopia holds a greater promise than the continuous indignity of constantly being on the verge of death. We must pull together as human beings and each contribute according to our individual capacities. Let us become part of the solution by better understanding and confronting this problem which is haunting us periodically. Governments come and go but let us not make famine a permanent feature to our evolution. Let us seek ways to implement sustainable development through peaceful accomodation and co-existence.

Perhaps by uniting to confront the present famine, we will strenghten our unity to fight together for more durable solutions. Let us make a commitment now rather than be overcome by inaction and guilt once the problem becomes overwhelming. We all sympathized with the human suffering in Kosovo, and now the international community must be made aware that hunger is once again looming in our country and that we are prepared to do our part!

The Passing of Dr Asrat Woldeyes “Tantamount to State Liquidation” Says Ethiopian Crown Council

Washington DC, May 18, 1999: — The death in Philadelphia, in the United States, on May 14 of Ethiopia’s most prominent prisoner of conscience, Dr Asrat Woldeyes, was called “tantamount to state liquidation” today by the Ethiopian Crown Council, in an official statement. Dr Asrat died from heart ailments exacerbated by his illegal imprisonment and ill-treatment at the hands of the Meles administration in Addis Ababa.

The statement was authorized by the President of the Crown Council, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, on his return to Washington DC from Philadelphia, where he spent much of Dr Asrat’s final days.

Ethiopia’s most famous victim of the current Addis Ababa administration and onetime leader of the All-Amhara People’s Organization (AAPO), Professor Asrat Woldeyes, passed away on May 14, 1999, at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. USA.

The Crown Council immediately said that Dr Asrat’s untimely death was, in fact, “tantamount to state liquidation”, and was directly attributable to the Meles administration. “Dr Asrat’s death also highlights the plight of many others languishing illegally in Ethiopian prisons, their lives being shortened and darkened by an administration which seems to feel that it cannot accept criticism nor benefit from open debate.”

Prof. Asrat, a medical doctor and one of Ethiopia’s leading scientists and humanitarians, had been suffering from a variety of ailments, mostly centering around a heart disorder, when Meles administration officials — faced with daily protests around the world and mounting hostility from major governments — released him to seek medical treatment abroad just before Western Christmas 1998. He has been hospitalized ever since.

He had been personal physician to the late Emperor Haile Selassie I for a quarter century. He had been dismissed from his post at the Black Lion Hospital, in Addis Ababa, when the TPLF administration of Meles Zenawi seized power in 1991.

Prof. Asrat’s family, including his two sons, had gathered to be with him at the hospital at the end. As well, the President of the Crown Council, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie and Princess Gelila Fesseha, a niece of the Professor, were with him. Le’ult Gelila helped spearhead the campaign to have Dr Asrat released from his illegal imprisonment.

The Professor, who was in his seventies when he died, was preparing his legacy manifesto before his conditioned worsened in early May.

“Professor Asrat has already created his greatest legacy,” Crown Council President Prince Ermias said. “His legacy is that he has reaffirmed Ethiopia can only survive as a united, democratic country, and that this prize is worth sacrifice to achieve. Professor Asrat has always been a man of peace, dignity and intelligent reason. His imprisonment on trumped-up charges only serves to highlight the nobility of his non-violent protest and the bankruptcy of policies which are imposed by those who fear the will of the people. We cannot allow his sacrifice to be in vain. We cannot forget that his life has been shortened by what amounts to State murder, because he should have been able to complete his medical and teaching career in peace, and he should have been able to look forward to a long and happy retirement. All of this was denied to him, as such freedom is being denied to so many Ethiopians under illegal detainment by the Meles administration.”

The Meles administration released Dr Asrat when it became clear that his condition was deteriorating rapidly in prison. He had already become one of the focal points of protest against the administration, and officials feared that he would become a martyr if he died in prison.

“There is no doubt that Dr Asrat, who never saw himself as a martyr but rather as someone who needed to uphold principles of integrity and Ethiopianness, is now an even greater symbol of Ethiopia’s need for unity and for an end to the kind of repression which has characterized the totalitarianism of the Meles administration,” Dr Asrat’s nephew, Ato Youm Fesseha, said in Philadelphia. Ato Youm worked on the campaign to win his release.

Washington DC, May 8, 1999: — The President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie returned tonight to Washington DC after a busy, four-day schedule of visits to three Caribbean nations where he discussed African and Ethiopian issues with several national leaders.

Prince Ermias held extremely cordial meetings in Antigua with the Governor-General, His Excellency Sir James Carlisle, before going to Barbados where he met with the Minister for Education, Culture and Youth Affairs, Mia Mottley. Prince Ermias discussed Ethiopian and Pan-African issues with Ms Mottley in what were described as “extremely productive” talks.

While in Barbados, Prince Ermias also held cordial talks with His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who has paid several visits to Ethiopia in the past, and who was invested by the late Emperor Haile Selassie with the Order of the Queen of Sheba. As well, in Barbados, Prince Ermias held lengthy and friendly talks with former Nigerian head-of-state General Yakubu Gowon.

The Caribbean visit was part of an ongoing worldwide diplomatic initiative by the Crown Council to familiarize world leaders with events in Ethiopia — particularly the significance globally of the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea — and with the Crown’s initiatives to restore stability to the Horn of Africa.

While in Barbados, the Crown Council delegation visited the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and educational center and met with Abba Liqa Maemiran Zacharias, who briefed Prince Ermias about the programs being undertaken in the Caribbean by the Church. Of particular interest was the initiative, Let’s Save the Children, spearheaded by Abba Liqa Maemiran Zacharias and begun at the World Council of Churches in Harare, Zimbabwe, in December 1998.

Former Nigerian Head-of-State General Yakubu Gowan talks with Prince Ermias in Barbados.

Antiguan Governor-General His Excellency Sir James Carlisle talks in Antigua with Prince Ermias.

Crown Supports Worldwide Demonstrations for Improved Human Rights in Ethiopia

Washington DC, May 8, 1999: — The Ethiopian Crown Council, the body which represents the Ethiopian Crown, today strongly supported the worldwide demonstrations by Ethiopian communities protesting the lack of human rights in Ethiopia.

Ethiopians around the world are today demonstrating for the release of Ethiopian political prisoners, and are demanding that fundamental human rights be respected by the administration now in power in Addis Ababa. They are also calling 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 today from three Caribbean nations, 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 today to commemorate those 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 fact, in chains.”

Prince Ermias went on to say: “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 Ababa 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 forum of the League of Nations in 1935, remains ready to debate the issue again today, and with urgency.”

Crown Concerned That Debt Relief For Ethiopia May Be Denied Over Human Rights Violations

Washington DC, April 28, 1999: — The Ethiopian Crown Council today voiced concern that the United States Congress was being forced to consider denying debt relief to Ethiopia because of the Ethiopian administration’s poor human rights record. The comment stemmed from hearings of the US House of Representatives Africa Subcommittee of the International Relations Committee, on April 13, on the proposed “Debt Relief for Poverty Reduction Act of 1999”.

Congressman Royce, the Chairman of the Subcommittee, argued that Ethiopia’s violations of human rights under the present administration meant that Ethiopia may not be eligible for debt relief, along with those African countries where corruption was rampant.

Ethiopian Crown Council President Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie said that Ethiopians would be paying the price for generations to come if the national debt could not be reduced. He said that it was unfortunate that all Ethiopian citizens should be forced to pay the penalty for the Meles administration’s refusal to meet international demands for improved human rights in Ethiopia.

“We are now seeing, yet again, a further price which Ethiopians are being forced to pay because of the failure of the administration to act according to the transparent democratic principles which would in any event be in the very best interests of Ethiopia,” he said.

“This Congressional warning should serve as a wake-up call to the Meles administration that it must begin championing human rights, instead of ignoring them. Clearly, the administration cannot be rewarded with debt relief when it so clearly violates the basic rights of its citizens, but the ongoing burden of debt which the people have to carry will ultimately have consequences for the administration.”

Crown Records the Sad Passing of Crown Council Member Dejazmatch Belai Bezuneh

Washington DC, April 23, 1999: — His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Ethiopian Crown Council of Ethiopia, today announced the sad passing yesterday of His Excellency Dejazmatch Belai Bezuneh, a member of the Crown Council of Ethiopia.

Dejazmatch Belai, who died in Alexandria, Virginia, in the United States, 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 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.”

At this stage, Prince Ermias said, no decision had been made as to who would fill the vacancy in the Crown Council ranks left by the sudden and tragic death of Dejazmatch Belai.

Washington DC: — Responding to media questions, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, confirmed that he had met with the President-elect of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo, during the Nigerian leader’s April Washington visit.

“We had very positive discussions about African problems in general and specifically about the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea,” Prince Ermias said. “President-elect Obasanjo is very well-informed about the problem and is taking a strong interest in helping to resolve it.”

“The meeting was a private one and so I cannot go into details as to what was discussed, other than to say that President-elect Obasanjo was keen to hear our views.”

Prince Ermias confirmed that he had taken a letter of congratulations from the Crown Council to the Nigerian President-elect, on his recent election victory, and had presented the leader with a copy of the new book, Ethiopia Reaches Her Hand Unto God.

The Nigerian leader held a series of meetings in Washington DC with US Administration officials, including President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and key State Department Africa desk officials. President-elect Obasanjo confirmed that he had been taking an interest in the Ethiopia-Eritrea dispute, and had also received briefings on the dispute from, among others, the Italian President.

The President-elect expressed a strong desire to Prince Ermias that the new Nigerian Government should actively involve itself in seeking a resolution to the conflict in the Horn of Africa. Prince Ermias congratulated General Obasanjo on his electoral victory which, he said, gave hope of free and fair elections for Ethiopians in the future.


Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie (left) talks with HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (right), during a meeting in Barbados, during the Crown Council’s three-nation tour. The President of the International Strategic Studies Association, Gregory Copley, is shown center.	Former Nigerian Head-of-State General Yokubu Gowon, who now runs a major political institute in Nigeria, met in Barbados with Prince Ermias. The two had met previously, and General Gowon also was well-known to the late Emperor Haile Selassie I. “I looked upon the Emperor as a father to me,” General Gowon said.	The Governor-General of Antigua & Barbuda, His Excellency Sir James Carlisle (left) relaxes over a working lunch with Prince Ermias at Nelson’s Dockyard, in Antigua.

In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Prince Ermias met with the Prime Minister, Sir James Mitchell, and also held detailed discussions with the Minister for Trade and Industry, John Horne.

While in Barbados, the Crown Council delegation visited the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and educational center and met with Abba Liqa Maemiran Zacharias, who briefed Prince Ermias about the programs being undertaken in the Caribbean by the Church. Of particular interest was the initiative, Let’s Save the Children, spearheaded by Abba Liqa Maemiran Zacharias at the World Council of Churches in Zimbabwe last December. More details on this in the next edition.

The Ethiopian Crown Council has reported a landslide of applications and expressions of interests in the special scholarships which have been placed at the disposal of the Crown for Ethiopian students. Ambassador International University, which a month ago granted the Crown 15 four-year scholarships worth $1.2-million, said that the University, as well as the Council, had been receiving a constant flow of enquiries about the scholarships.

The University has referred all the enquiries to the Crown Council. The Council has begun the process of establishing a committee in Addis Ababa which will review all applications before final selection for the Haile Selassie Fund Scholarships.

The Crown Council of Ethiopia’s program of scholarships, being offered to Ethiopian students to study at Ambassador International University in Texas, in the United States, has captured the imagination of the Ethiopian community, and the Council has been overwhelmed by the high volume and high quality of responses from the community.

The 15 scholarships, 10 for Ethiopians from the homeland and five for Ethiopians from the diaspora, are valued at US$1.2-million. Applications are now being considered in the following disciplines:

The scholarships will be awarded in the name of the charity, the Haile Selassie Fund for Ethiopia’s Children. The University has referred all Ethiopian applications for scholarships to the Crown Council and the Charity.

Applicants will need to apply directly to the Crown Council, which is managing the process for Ethiopia’s Children. It is possible that the Committee being established to evaluate the candidates in Addis Ababa will also interview applicants before final decisions will be made.

Any interested parties should write directly to: The Scholarship Committee, Ethiopian Crown Council, PO Box 20863, Alexandria, VA 22320, USA.

Applicants should state their desired area of study, within the disciplines available; their educational background; and provide a brief written essay, in English, and another in Amharic, as to why they wish to study in the US and what they would do with their training once they return to Ethiopia. Full contact details should be provided.

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.”

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The President of the Ethiopian Crown Council, His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, was in Boston on May 13 to deliver a speech to the Ethiopian National Congress. The following is the text of his remarks:

What a pleasure it is to be with you in Boston today to be able to celebrate with Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians alike the importance of the preservation of Ethiopia’s unique and rich culture and heritage. I would like to thank the Ethiopian Community in Boston and the Ethiopian National Congress for inviting me to make a few remarks today on our beloved country. Unfortunately, I must leave you today after this gathering to return to Philadelphia where one of the champions of Ethiopian freedom, Dr Asrat Woldeyes, lies gravely ill, the result of many years of illegal and cruel imprisonment. His life has been shortened by intolerance, but his legacy lengthened by his resistance to this fact.

Boston recently witnessed the stamina and grace of Fatuma Roba in the Boston Marathon. By winning the race, and raising our Ethiopian flag high, she championed what is best in all of us. Fatuma reminded us of the power of perseverance, the will to win against all odds. Fatuma brought to the world, in a flash, the focus of international admiration. She inspired and motivated us with her pride in her Ethiopianness.

Today, because of incessant civil wars, there are attempts to polarize Ethiopian society into its various national elements, undoing the painstaking historical process of unification. Pride in Ethiopianness is discouraged today by those who control our country. Amharas are no longer expected to look out for the interests of Oromos; the Oromos are not expected to care about the fate of Tigreans, and so on.

Is this really “progress”? Is this really “self-determination”? Xenophobia is the opposite of the kind of expansive and embracing national pride which Fatuma Roba showed us.

In a world increasingly dominated by global languages, global economic trends, and seamlessly-integrated communications, can we expect that the life of an Oromo-speaking child will be better because someone said: “Your own language is the source of all pride and all attempts at working with your kinsmen across a nearby border are worthless.”?

Yes! it is important to know your local language, culture and customs. Yes! it is important to bring decisionmaking processes closer to the people. But ethnic chauvinism is the ugly face of ethnic politics.

Politicians wish to retain power regardless of the fact that they cannot inspire the many and richly-varied people of the Great Ethiopian Empire to support a common dream. The kind of ethnic federalism we see in Ethiopia today is a method to divide and rule the people, so that those in power, who are a minority, may not be challenged. What the world is weeping about in the former Yugoslavia is the problem which Ethiopians have been bearing for the past six years. In Ethiopia, “ethnic cleansing”, chauvinism and hatred have been conducted without television cameras, while an unwitting world applauded what it called “a new generation of leaders” in Africa. It seems like the same old generation of suspicion, hatred and greed to many of us.

We have seen our society become less tolerant, more isolated, and embroiled in yet another spate of internal and regional conflicts. This, in a region where instability reigns, is a very worrisome feature.

Where we should be tackling the problems of poverty, lack of education, AIDS and the lack of adequate healthcare generally, as well as the lack of infrastructure, we are being lured by the macabre sideshow of another war: the very fundamental negation of human rights.

Ethiopians have created a courageous and inherently democratic society of peoples. So where people demand the right to ask questions, the government must not take this to be a subversive act. It is a fundamental right! We must all learn to practice the art of negotiation and avoid resort to war. We have tried war, and it has aged us beyond the unbroken 3,000 years of our unified culture.

And if Ethiopians are fundamentally courageous and democratic, they are also proud and fiercely independent. We have jealously guarded our independence to a degree never seen in any other country in the world. We have never allowed our country to be submerged into a colonial entity. Our forefathers have sacrificed heavily for this. And so many more Ethiopians in recent months and years have sacrificed themselves for the preservation of Ethiopia.

We must not become a lost generation, succumbing to greed, selfishness and anarchy. We must begin to build an increasingly harmonious and prosperous society.

We will not achieve this, however, if we jeopardize our national ability to unite in order to respond to threats to our security and sovereignty.

Unless we — as individuals and as Ethiopian nations — absolutely and consciously commit to building a society which is founded on tolerance and respect for alternative views, one which is rooted in reconciliation, then we are further weakening our country. Ultimately, by inaction, or by mirroring the ethnic separatism of the ruling Addis politicians, we jeopardize our existence as a multi-communal, multi-religious state.

The administration in Ethiopia — if it is to build a civil society which retains Ethiopia’s present or historic borders — must make tangible changes in its policies.

Subjugation can only work for a while, and while subjugation is in place, prosperity is absent.

Through all of this, the Ethiopian Crown remains there for the people of Ethiopia, as their impartial symbol of unity. It is there to offer inspiration and hope. It is there to protect the Constitution of the People’s choice.

The Crown must remain above politics, and offer the long-term leadership which establishes the framework of society, the freedom of peoples to accord each other respect, the freedom of people to work together to progress the wellbeing and happiness of all.

The Crown is there to remind Ethiopians of every communal, linguistic and religious group of their proud history.

We pray to see our flag — raised here in Boston by Fatuma Roba — fly high and proudly once more in Ethiopia. For what made Ethiopia a uniquely proud culture was the fact that the Ethiopian Lion Flag flew over a number of uniquely proud cultures which came together and by consensus created a sum even greater than the total of its parts.

An astronaut in the United States once said that the technology which took him to the heavens was the sum of many parts, each made by the lowest bidder. Ethiopia is the sum of many parts each made by the highest bidders: the peoples who have given their lives to the fulfillment of their cultures. Ethiopia as a whole has a quality based on the historic and unique brilliance of its individual parts. And only by consensus does this society move safely, confidently and intact into the future.

Civilizations survive and prosper, and are shaped, by the geography which defines their rainfall, their proximity (or isolation) relative to other communities, and their access to traditional trade routes such as seaways or riverways. Peoples adapt to their surroundings and are influenced by their contact with other cultures. History has brought together the various historic European Civilizations into a single unit which we now call “the West” in such a way that the influences of geography which were paramount only a century ago are today of secondary importance to the cultural phenomenon of the civilizsation.

But the peoples of what is today Ethiopia, although now influenced by the global community of which it is an increasing part, developed unique civilizational characteristics over many millennia due to the geographic and topographic phenomena which protected it from many of the influences of other civilisations. As a result, distinctly Ethiopian patterns emerged of society, military structure, social and noble ranks, religious interpretation, and so on. The isolation of much of the society from the rest of the world, brought about by the natural boundaries of the Amhara plateau, allowed the Ethiopian communities to find their own level, and develop their cultures, away from a constant exposure to external influences.

This isolation also made Ethiopia a haven for wildlife. More than 800 species of birds are found in the country, 26 of them exclusive to the area. And 103 species of mammals exist in Ethiopia, seven of them unique to the country.

It is here, too, that humankind — homo sapiens — first began its evolutionary origins as Australopithecus afarensis, the ancestors who walked erect through the Rift Valley of Ethiopia some 2½-million years ago.

It is significant that Ethiopian civilization — the eventual blending into an “Ethiopian” identity of the various peoples of the region — developed substantially in isolation from the evolution of other Civilizations in Europe, South Asia and East Asia. The name “Ethiopian” is itself, however, a Greek appellation meaning “burnt face”, and by the time this name had been given, civilization in the area had already been developing for millennia. “What is clear ... is that 4,000 years ago, perhaps as a function of the divided nature of the Ethiopian topography, increasing linguistic and cultural specialization and separation had become the order of the day,” Hancock, Pankhurst and Willetts noted in their excellent book, Under Ethiopian Skies.

It is not that Ethiopia developed in ignorance of the outside world; rather, its contact was selective and limited. Trade with the major Civilizations of antiquity, such as Constantinople and Rome or with Persia or Asia, and earlier with Egypt, was for the most part filtered through the coastal plains of Eritrea. Ethiopia provided myrrh to Egypt some 5,000 years ago, and some 4,500 years ago Egypt sought gums and resins — some of them important in the embalming process for Egyptian funerary customs — from Ethiopia. And although Eritrea, the “filter state”, eventually became part of the broader Ethiopian Empire, it had experienced a different world.

And it is not that Ethiopian Civilizations lacked curiosity about the outside world. The Sabæan Kingdom, from whence Queen Makeda (the Queen of Sheba) came, almost certainly held territories which spanned the Red Sea from what is now Yemen into what is now the Tigré region of Ethiopia, well up the escarpment from Eritrea. And well before the Christian era, the Axumite Kingdom, based in what is now northern Ethiopia’s Tigré province, had controlled the coastal plain and the port of Adulis. The Axumite Kingdom was a powerful trading state, strategically located on the seaway between Egypt and Persia, and well-placed for trade with the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia.

It was during the Axumite period that the Semitic language Ge’ez became commonly used. It was related to the Sabæan language of the Arabian Peninsula, not surprisingly. And from Ge’ez — or Ethiopic, still the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church — stemmed the Amarigna (Amharic), Tigrigna, Guragé and Harari (Adare) languages of modern Ethiopia.

Ge’ez script, based on a syllabary, is the only African language to have a unique form of writing, another factor which created a vacuum in which the Ethiopian peoples would develop their own views of the world. Amharic, with 33 consonants, each with seven different vowel variations, has 321 characters and 20 diphthong characters, and seven variations of the letter “b”.

Language was to prove divisive as well as inclusive in the growing Ethiopia as Oromotic languages came into the Empire with the Oromotic peoples, and others. Language today remains one of the overriding points of division in the Ethiopian society. While the Empire was strong, the ruling group was able to impose a national lingua franca — Amharic — on the country. All successful multinational or multicultural societies have imposed a lingua franca. It has always been resented, but it has always been a key to the success of a complex political entity. India today could not function, firstly without English, secondly without Hindi. In the case of English (in India), it was the most acceptable option, because it did not favor one particular group or area, as Hindi obviously did. In Ethiopia, now without a unifying central government, linguistic differences highlight the cultural differences of the various nations within the state.

Within even the linguistic groups were further divisions. In the past two centuries, the rise of the Shoa Amhara saw a gradual absorption of the traditions of Shoa into the Empire as a whole, and vice versa. Today, the face of the Empire is no longer Shoan, as it was briefly under and after Menelik. It is truly “Ethiopian”, blending the customs of all of the peoples. This evolution and blending came at a time when the country was becoming increasingly exposed to external (mainly Western) influences. So, as Ethiopia became codified as a nation-state in the modern sense, so were the tools of statecraft used to strengthen some of the Ethiopian methods and structures and the armed forces.

And yet of overriding cultural and structural significance to the State was the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, despite the fact that the Empire has always been home to substantial Muslim and animist populations, as well as to other Christian sects. It was the Ethiopian Church which became unique to the culture, although its origins were in the earliest Christian church, at Alexandria, Egypt, a link which survives to this day. The Muslims of Ethiopia could identify with the Muslims of Arabia, whereas Ethiopian Christians were limited in the outside forces with whom they could identify. Part of this was because, along with the development of unique languages for the area (and in this case, Ge’ez, the language of the church), the antiquity of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity ensured that a strong local set of traditions evolved.

Religion and language set Ethiopia apart from the rest of Africa, too. Had it not been for the buffer zone of Sudan, Ethiopia may have developed more closely than it has done with Egypt, which until a few decades ago always provided the Abuna (Patriarch) for the Ethiopian Church.

The Church was one of the most significant pillars of Ethiopian society. It developed the only significant fixed constructions — monasteries and churches — of any importance for many years. So, in a sense, the fixed icons of Ethiopian society were those provided either by the church, or by the ancient stelæ (obelisks) of the Axumite ruins. The sense of oral history was extremely strong, and learning was centered around monasteries, just as, before Christianity, the stelæ of Axum were the history books of the age. In much of Ethiopian history, the monarchy was a mobile caravan which traced its way across the largely agricultural and feudal countryside. When it is realized that the legal condition of serfdom was only abolished on the statute books of Great Britain in the early 20th Century (but in reality with the earlier coming of the Industrial Revolution), and in reality in Russia after 1917, it is hardly surprising that Ethiopia continued as a largely agricultural-feudal society well into the late 19th Century.

It was only the military victories of the Shoa which, culminating in the accession of Emperor Menelik II in 1889, brought Ethiopia into the modern world. It took Menelik seven years to unite the disparate peoples into a force which could defeat a modern European army (the Italians) on the battlefield at Adwa in 1896. From that point, he began, with some success and with — for the first time — any continuity of diplomatic relations with the major powers (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt), the process of “internationalizing” Ethiopia. He re-introduced a modern currency system to the country, for the first time with any real success since the Axumite Kingdom some 1,500 years before. And he modernized the Army.

Still, Ethiopia was a predominantly poor, agricultural country, with little infrastructure. The construction of Addis Ababa by Menelik was of paramount importance in creating a modern nation-state, but even so, in the absence of the massive investment required in infrastructure and education, the society and Army required a structure which would ensure unity, and productivity in food and other goods. For this reason, the society retained, longer than European states, its reliance on noble ranks and regional fiefdoms.

Emperor Haile Selassie, when he came to the Throne in 1930 after many years as Regent and two years as Negus, was already filled with the zeal to reform and modernize. He, unique among Ethiopian rulers for almost two millennia, had been exposed to the outside world, and had received as strong an education in Western culture and society as he had in Ethiopian traditions. And it was he who attempted to blend historically-respected traditions of society and military management into a 20th Century, international context. For this reason, ancient military titles, such as meridazmatch, gerazmatch and dejazmatch, are retained, not to interfere with modern practices, but as a reminder of Ethiopia’s uniqueness. Indeed, unlike the aristocratic titles of military and governmental leadership in Europe — such as count, baron, etc. — the Ethiopian titles of ras, meridazmatch and gerazmatch retained their direct functional relevance well into the 20th Century. We have seen rases and dejazmatches fighting in traditional military capacities well into this Century; indeed into World War II and beyond.

When Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, using modern equipment and extensive quantities of chemical weapons (mainly mustard gas, a blistering agent which had caused widespread death and injury on the Western Front during World War I), the Imperial Army arrayed to meet what was an overwhelming threat. Emperor Haile Selassie, in his autobiography, My Life and Ethiopia’s Progress, noted the traditional disposition of forces for the Battle of Maytchäw on March 29 to April 1, 1936 [Mägabit 20-23, 1928]:

“... We divided the strategic order [of battle], by which we were going into battle, into four groups, adding the troops collected from various offices. We arranged that one group be directly commanded and led by Ourselves and that the remaining three groups be led by three commanders, ie: by HH Ras Kassa, by HH Ras Seyum, and by Ras Getatchäw. The part commanded and led by Ourselves direct was divided as follows;

“At the front, the corps of the guard of honor under Qägnazmatch Mäkuriya Bant Yergu and his deputy Gerazm