A Sample of International Scholarly Opinion

"You know, the university's role as a conscience,

as a social conscience, is something that can never be destroyed.

Makonen Bishaw (1993)

Collected by Ivo Strecker and Donald Crummey

Here we present to you a number of statements made by senior scholars who express their worries about the present crisis of the Ethiopian universities. Never in the history of Ethiopian studies have so many international scholars jointly voiced their concern, and never in the history of Ethiopian society was the opportunity for creating a truly free Ethiopian university so near and yet seem so agonisingly far away. Many of the scholars, whose views you find below, have known Ethiopia for decades and personally witnessed the troubles and tribulations which characterized life under the regimes of Emperor Haile Selassie and Colonel Mengistu. Therefore, they put great hope in all those, who in 1991 liberated the country from the Derg and promised to build a new and truly democratic and federal Ethiopia. As Ulrich Braukaemper says: “The overwhelming majority of the scientific community engaged in scholarly work on Ethiopia was highly enthusiastic about the changes occurring in the political, social, cultural and academic life of the country since the early 1990s.”

Others deplore the lost opportunities for fruitful cooperation, as when Georg Elwert, addressing His Excellency Meles Zenawi personally, writes: “I had intended to use some of my Institute’s money to invest in research facilities in your country. If intellectual freedom does not appear to be guaranteed, then our authorities would not support such a cooperation” (see also Wolfgang Bender, Karl-Heinz Kohl, Donald Levine, Jean Lydall and Michael Shackleton and Guenther Schlee for similar arguments). Donald Levine who has always been both a candid critic and a devoted supporter of Ethiopia and its university has done a good service when he sums up the need for a FREE ETHIOPIAN UNIVERSITY as follows: “Given the complex problems its faces, Ethiopia has a crucial need for scholarly analyses that are detached from immediate pressures. Given the poverty of resources for deliberating on those problems in an enlightened manner, practically the only place where such understandings can develop is a university that is protected by the principle of academic freedom.” It is because of this crucial role, which the scholars attribute to the university that they focus on the university rather than on Ethiopia at large. This does not, however, mean that they are not aware of other far reaching problems in Ethiopia, or that they do not agree with Kjetil Tronvoll who provides a most concise analysis of the Ethiopian situation and demands: “The dire situation of opposition parties and representatives, of whom many dozens are imprisoned as this is written, should be of primary concern for the international society and donor countries.” On the contrary, the national and international scholars of Ethiopian studies are only too aware of the wider context of the present problematic, and they know that the problems of the universities are “only the peak of an ice-berg” (Thomas Zitelmann). Yet, they feel that at least for the moment it is not for them to address issues other than the Ethiopian universities. Here they feel confident and think that their support can have very positive results, even already in the near future. Their first step is therefore to express their opinions and make them available to whomever it may concern.

You, the Foreign Embassies in Addis Ababa, are the first to whom the scholars present their opinions. Their hope is, as Donald Crummey says, “the diplomatic community will be able to take an active personal interest in the cases of Mesfin and Berhanu ensuring them the full protection of Ethiopian law” and that “the diplomatic community may crystallize a movement to recover the autonomy of Addis Ababa University.” Not all scholars share this trust, but the majority believe that the Embassies are willing, - even eager -, to act because the foreign diplomats have now witnessed too often how the present Ethiopian government says one thing and does another, how it says it is for freedom of speech and then imprisons all those who speak up for civil rights, how it says it endorses democracy and then suppresses all opposition. Today the students and staff of Ethiopian universities are trapped: if they voice opposition and demand full democratic rights they run the risk of losing their place to study or their teaching positions, and if they remain silent they run the risk of losing their self-esteem. It is because of this that the international scholars urgently ask the foreign Embassies to put pressure on the Government, asking it to improve the situation. Arrat Kilo Campus and Sidist Kilo Campus lie practically at the doorstep of the Embassies. It is here where the foreign Embassies can legitimately begin and demand that Addis Ababa University should not be a parody but a paragon- a supremely excellent model - of democracy!

after the fall of the Derg regime in 1991, all institutions of higher learning in Ethiopia should have become places where the spirit of a new, free and fearless political culture would be encouraged to flourish. But as you know, the first students who tried to express political dissent were massacred in January 1993, and three months later 42 lecturers who stood up for the freedom of academic and political ideas were dismissed from the university. Ever since then, all of us who are engaged in Ethiopian and African studies have been hoping that the Ethiopian Government would gradually change its policy of repression. But this is not what happened, and as the recent bloodshed and imprisonment of students and staff has shown, the University is now under more duress than ever. In the light of these developments it is now impossible for the international community of scholars to keep silent. We cannot remain inactive anymore and must look for ways in which to help improve the desolate situation. One immediate possibility is to join forces with some of the Foreign Embassies in Addis Ababa, whom we know to be prepared to act, and back them up in their difficult task of persuading the Ethiopian Government to change its treatment of the universities. Therefore, we ask all scholars and academic institutions engaged in Ethiopian and African studies, to write to us at <free_aau@ietpd1.sowi.uni-mainz.de>. We will then forward your responses to all Foreign Embassies at Addis Ababa. Please tell how you assess the situation at Ethiopia's Universities and what you think is indispensable for any university, such as free election of presidents, deans and student representatives, no suppression of political debate, no interference with student publications, no policing of the campus, and so on. Also, please pledge your professional and material support for the future when, through the concerted effort of the Embassies, the Ethiopian Universities will be put on the right footing and will need substantial support in all matters concerning teaching, research and administration. We are convinced that this will motivate the Embassies to act vigorously in the interest of the international academic community as well as the interest of the now muted students and staff of the Ethiopian University. 

For further information consult our home page http://ntama.uni-mainz.de/~aau where you will also find links to other sites providing information, and, very importantly, appeals for the release of Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam, Dr. Berhanu Nega and Dr. Taye Semayat which we urge you to join.

At this moment many friends of Ethiopia are looking to you in hopes that you might be able to stop, or better yet, reverse the destructive course of action on which the Ethiopian government has embarked. I first became connected with AAU in 1967 as a beginning academic. Six years at AAU laid the foundation for my subsequent career. I have followed events there closely and have many friends and colleagues in different departments and units. Even during the dark years of the Derg, AAU maintained its academic integrity and a commitment to scholarship. I am dismayed on behalf of my Ethiopian colleagues at the most recent government intervention in university affairs. The deaths of so many students is unprecedented, and snatching away the promise of a real charter of self-government at the last minute was cruel. Now the detentions of Mesfin and Berhanu dismay me. For a start, I hope that the diplomatic community will be able to take an active personal interest in the cases of Mesfin and Berhanu ensuring them the full protection of Ethiopian law. Beyond that I hope that the diplomatic community may crystallize a movement to recover the autonomy of Addis Ababa University. Much depends on the actions which you take.

This is a call for your assistance and good services to raise and discuss the situation of Addis Ababa and its students with the Ethiopian government. As you know there have been very unfortunate incidents in and around the AAU campus in April and May, in which many people were killed and wounded. The dreadful and unnecessary escalation of violence is unacceptable and should at all costs be prevented in the future. A proper statute for Addis Ababa University and other institutions of higher learning in the country would be necessary for this. At this point, there is no credible evidence that students did anything illegal or criminal in their modest actions to get their demands or grievances heard. We are deeply saddened about this disturbance of academic life and educational and scholarly pursuits. Addis Ababa University was always one of the best and most interesting places of higher learning in Africa, and still has great promise. As far as we know the demands of student for some more democratic representation, the right to publicize their views in a student paper, a responsive and independent university administration, and the right to be free from harrassment by police on campus (!) are nothing radical or unacceptable. We would like to urge you to put it to the Ethiopian authorities that students are future assets of the country and that a critical spirit will help the national endeavour of development and improvement of the social order. There is no question of politics involved here, only that of according students and the academic community their legitimate rights and working conditions, to be treated with respect and to be allowed to pursue their own work. We would like to ask you to urgently request the Ethiopian government to respect internationally agreed upon norms and practices to deal with academic freedom, research and education. We are concerned about the effect of such disturbances and violence upon Ethiopia`s educational standards and future human capacity-building in the country. We would also like to see the Ethiopian government make a thorough and complete inquiry into the student grievances and into the dramatic escalation of events on April and May this year, to clear up how things got out of hand, and to see if there were any legitimate or credible grounds for the subsequent arrest of human rights activists and others allegedly involved in the events.

The African Music Archive does support the demands voiced by the AAU support committee:  we express our concern about the arrest of Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr Berhanu Nega, who appear to be prisoners of conscience held solely for their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities;  we urge that they are not tortured or ill-treated in custody;  we call on the authorities to ensure that they are either charged with an obvious criminal offence, or immediately and unconditionally released;  we call on the authorities to allow them immediate access to lawyers, their families and necessary medical care;  we condemn the actions of the police in shutting down the office of EHRCO on 9 May, and their attempts to intimidate EHRCO staff members;

In order to achieve any fruitful academic success there has to exist a particular climate of a free and open mind. The demands voiced by the students and supported by the majority of people connected with the academia in Ethiopia aim at achieving this goal. Therefore the release of Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam, Dr. Berhanu Nega and Dr. Taye Semayat are part of the necessary preconditions to create a fruitful academic atmosphere at the Addis Ababa University. In support of the demands for a ãFree Addis Ababa UniversityÒ I would like to present here an account of what could be our future important collaboration with the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. The Institute of Ethiopian Studies possesses a small collection of early recorded sound documents of Ethiopian musicians and wants to build up a music archive to make sure that Ethiopian music history is adequately documented and preserved. Here we pledge to cooperate in the future and help systematically collect and document the rich musical heritage of the country.

I wish to add my voice to those of other Ethiopianist scholars who are gravely concerned about events at Addis Ababa University in the last few weeks as well as in the past few years. It is my conviction that faculty and students must be able to pursue their studies and to govern themselves freely and without restriction by outside authorities if the university is to fulfil its educational function. I respectfully request that the present Ethiopian government respect the academic freedom and independence of the faculty and students at the university and refrain henceforth from the repressive measures it has pursued during the past few weeks and during the past few years. I also wish to express my grave concern about the arrest of three well-known and widely respected scholars--Mesfin Wolde Mariam, Berhanu Nega, and Taye Semayat. Please accord them proper care and respect during the time of their detention, and please ensure that they are released as quickly as possible.

I would be most obliged to you if you could urgently raise and discuss the situation of Addis Ababa and its students with the Ethiopian government, in view of the very unfortunate incidents in and around the AAU campus in April and May. We have learned that many people were killed and wounded. This dreadful and unnecessary escalation of violence is unacceptable and should at all costs be prevented in the future. We are deeply saddened about this disturbance of academic life and educational and scholarly pursuits which risks to put into serious peril the numerous cooperation projects which we have with Addis Ababa University. In my view, the demands of students for some more democratic representation, the right to publicize their views in a student paper, a responsive and independent university administration, and the right to be free from harassment by police, on or off campus, are nothing radical or unacceptable. We would like to ask you to urgently request the Ethiopian government to respect internationally agreed upon norms and practices to deal with academic freedom, research and education. We are concerned about the effect of such disturbances and violence upon Ethiopia's educational standards and future human capacity-building in the country.

The overwhelming majority of the scientific community engaged in scholarly work on Ethiopia was highly enthusiastic about the changes occurring in the political, social, cultural and academic life of the country since the early 1990s. We all appreciated the liberal expectancy, the openmindedness of the political authorities and the establishment of federal structures. I also do not exaggerate when I express my conviction that Addis Ababa University since its foundation 51 years ago has always been one of the most outstanding academic institutions in Africa. It is therefore with deep concern that we notice the serious problems that have recently started confronting the staff members and the students of AAU. Our institute at Goettingen University has established steadily growing and productive ties in Ph.D. programs and research activities with colleagues and students of the AAU. This is indeed what we consider as indispensable in a cosmopolitan, multicultural and tolerant world community of scholars. We are therefore prepared to enlarge our moral and logistic support for our colleagues and friends at AAU within the range of our modest possibilities. Excellencies, we appeal to you to try to convince the Ethiopian authorities to restore an atmosphere of academic liberality and tolerance in the country.

The situation is grave indeed, and the interference of the international academic community and public opinion is not much needed to explain that in every country academics play a role of a ãthermometer for societyÒ. If irritated patient tries to punish it, it is foolish, and if he tries to "correct" it, it is dangerous for his future. However, one should be rather careful with methods of such intervention. To my mind, it is better to act through mass-media, than through foreign embassies not to make an impression of foreign intervention into Ethiopian domestic affairs, and not to present Ethiopian students and professors as agents of foreign influence, because Ethiopians are very sensitive in these matters. In any case I am ready to support academic freedom in Ethiopia, and shall do what I can here in Russia.

Thank you for inviting me to the National Day reception on 30 May. I very much regret that I shall be unable to attend. I would however like to express my deep concern at the recent arrest and detention of my old friends Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr. Berhanu Nega, following the recent troubles in Addis Ababa. I have known both of these distinguished academics for a very long time ñ in Professor Mesfinís case, for over thirty-five years ñ and find it quite impossible to believe that they can have been guilty of the criminal activities of which, according to public reports, they have been accused. Failing detailed and convincing evidence, I must assume that they have been detained merely as a result of their pursuit of their legitimate rights, guaranteed to them by the Ethiopian Constitution. I find it deeply saddening that individuals who have publicly committed themselves to human rights under both the Emperor Haile-Selassieís and the Dergís regimes should now find themselves imprisoned under the FDRE. I hope that you will bring the attention of your Government to the very considerable damage that has been done to Ethiopiaís international reputation by this ill-considered action, and that you will urge your Government to rectify the situation as soon as possible, most obviously by immediately releasing the individuals concerned. I am sorry once again to be unable to attend the reception on 30 May, when I would have wished to urge this course of action on you in person.

It has come to my notice that two renowned scientists and committed intellectuals of your country, Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr. Berhanu Nega are being held in prison for their human rights activities. This gives me concern for several reasons: 1. In other contexts, here in Europe, I have argued for cooperation with Ethiopia, claiming about your country to be relatively stable. Your country¥s reaction to this and other protests, unfortunately, rather gives an impression of instability. 2. I had intended to use some of my Institute¥s money to invest in research facilities in your country. If intellectual freedom does not appear to be guaranteed, then our authorities would not support such a cooperation. 3. Last but not least, it is my conviction as a scholar as well as a politically interested person that the repression of persons using the freedom of speech, press or demonstration is counterproductive in the long run and condemnable for moral reasons. Concerning these specific cases, I urge you to make sure that they are not tortured or ill-treated in custody; I further ask you to ensure that they are charged with a criminal offence recognizable as such, or immediately released; I hope very much that the authorities allow them immediate access to lawyers, their families and necessary medical care. I would like to express my deep respect as well as my concern for your country¥s development.

It has come to my attention that my colleagues from Addis Ababa University, Professors MESFIN WOLDE MARIAM and Dr. BERHANU NEGA have been detained by the police and as of 20 May 2001 were in prison. While no one seems to know why they have been arrested, it appears that they are prisoners of conscience ãheld solely for their peaceful and legitimate human rights activitiesÒ. Under the circumstances, I can only urge you, as the wise leader that you have shown yourself to be, to intercede in this matter and to see that our colleagues are quickly and respectfully released without the slightest harm being visited upon them. Surely, as EthiopiaÕs foremost defender of truth and democracy, you will want your people to air their views openly and without fear of reprisal. If they are not encouraged to do so, but instead discriminated against and threatened, the government of Ethiopia will be seen by the world now, as in the past, as being intolerant and repressive. If for any reason you do not have the authority to see to the immediate release of my colleagues, I would urge you nevertheless to see that they are at least neither tortured nor ill-treated in custody. They should also be granted access to lawyers of their choice, to members of their families, and to necessary medical care. If they have not been charged with a recognizably criminal offence, and I understand that they have as yet not been so charged, then they should be immediately and unconditionally released. You will understand that I am writing to you out of concern for the better interests of Ethiopia, a country for which I have the greatest respect and whose history and culture I teach to my students at the University of Toronto.

This is an urgent appeal to the Ambassadors in Addis Ababa. We are the Department of Culture and Society of the IWF, the main institution in Germany to serve academia worldwide in the production and distribution of media for research and teaching. My colleagues, support me strongly in my request for freedom of teaching and research at Addis Ababa University. We have learned with great dismay that the current situation in Addis Ababa has deteriorated to an incredible degree and that we feel that staff and students are now seriously hindered in their free work there. We find this intolerable and regret it from the bottom of our hearts as a danger to the health and even lives of the Ethiopian colleagues. We are particularly concerned as individual anthropologists and a whole institution with a long-standing background of academic collaboration with Ethiopian and European colleagues working at Addis Ababa University, like Prof. Dr. Ivo Strecker of Mainz University. In the course of more than three decades a number of research projects focussing on the academic use of ethnographic film have been carried out successfully, and we are right now engaged in talks with our partners at Mainz University and in Addis Ababa to continue that lasting cooperation in the form of several new collaboration projects which will not only aim at bilateral contacts between German and Ethiopian institutions, but also be of greatest importance for the international community of anthropologists who have already in many cases used Ethiopian material for their study and teaching. We can see future cooperation with Addis Ababa University on the basis of academic freedom and therefore offer our support for any means trying to achieve this goal. Whoever may see a chance to stop the curtailing of the freedom of our Ethiopian colleagues, please try to help abolish the recent turn of events and help in re-creating a free and fruitful atmosphere for academic life at Addis Ababa University. I sign with the support of my colleagues at IWF,

I am asking for your kind assistance in discussing the situation at Addis Ababa University with the Ethiopian government. The recent violence directed at university students and staff members has not only affected the lives of these individuals and their families but also theatens the very fabric of academic life and peace nationwide. We like to ask you to urgently discuss with he Prime Minister of Ethiopia the need to issue orders to the Judicial Branch and Police Forces to comply with all articles of the Ethiopian Constitution dealing with free speech and political representation and to use his good name and office to promote a environment of peace and effective higher learning. The students were merely expressing their grievances over a lack of their constitutional rights in the university setting. Similarly, Professors Mesfin Wolde Mariam, Berhanu Nega and Taye Semayat, all currently in prison and the former two on hunger strike, are nationally and internationally respected advocates of these human rights, which are enshrined in the Ethiopian Constitution. Having taught at Addis Ababa University for eight years, I am confident that necessary actions to be taken by the government in the form of speedy trials of all imprisoned persons following due process of law and the release of the above academicians and students, as well as the prevention of the recurrence of these tragic events in conjunction with the promotion of an environment conducive to academic freedom and excellence will benefit all of society. It will go a long way toward assuring peace nationwide, continuation of the democratic process now underway, and strengthening of the educational institutions. Thank you for your help toward making Ethiopia a better place to live, work and learn by advocating for the constitutional rights of its citizenry.

For more than eighty years, the Frankfurt Frobenius-Institute has had very good relations with Ethiopian political and academic institutions. During the last decades, many Ethiopian students came to study at Frankfurt Goethe-University and the Frobenius-Institute, among them the President of Ethiopia, His Excellency Dr. Negasu Gidada who received his Ph.D. under the supervision of my predecessor, Professor Eike Haberland. We would like very much to renew these traditional good relations by supporting the completion and future activities of the South Omo Research Center in Southern Ethiopia and other plans for close cooperation in the domain of cultural and academic life. Since we heard about the recent incidents in Addis Abeba University, we are very concerned about the unfortunate developments which have occurred after such a hopeful beginning. Therefore, we would be very pleased and grateful if you could help ameliorating the situation by mediating between the Ethiopian Government and our colleagues of the Ethiopian universities.

As an Africanist and humanist I can only share my colleague's concern over the arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of Professor Wolde Mariam and Dr. Berhanu Naga, both distinguished scholars. I am not aware that they have committed the kinds of offences that would justify their incarceration. To see in their commitment to human rights proof of culpability runs contrary to the most elementary principles of justice. I hope that while in detention they are not subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, and that they eventually will have a fair trial. To this end these prisoners of conscience must be allowed to have access to defence lawyers. They must be allowed to see their families. And if need be they must be given proper medical attention. Should any doubt persist about their culpability these can best be dispelled through a dialogue involving the relevant Ethiopian authorities, those members of the diplomatic corps who are well informed of the particulars of the case and willing to be heard and representatives from the university and human rights groups. This matter is one of considerable concern to those of us who have worked in Ethiopia and who expect the post-Dergue authorities to hold aloft the banner of human rights and democratic freedoms.

Given the complex problems its faces, Ethiopia has a crucial need for scholarly analyses that are detached from immediate pressures. Given the poverty of resources for deliberating on those problems in an enlightened manner, practically the only place where such understandings can develop is a university that is protected by the principle of academic freedom. This was understood at the founding of the institution that became Addis Ababa University. When in May 1961 I published an article that was highly critical of some of the actions of the late Emperor Haile Selassie I, the emperor was persuaded by Acting University President Harold Bentley to invite me to return to Addis Ababa to help build the university as a symbol of the institution's commitment to academic freedom. Even under the brutal and repressive regime of the Derg, Addis Ababa University survived as an island where free inquiry could be carried out to a considerable extent. Thus, although repression existed under the two previous regimes, it is my sense that, despite improvements in some other areas of public life, academic conditions under the current regime have become worse than ever before. It was because of this deterioration that I published an article in the Ethiopian Review of August 1993, "Is Ethiopia Cutting Off Its Head Again?", which analyzed the unprecedented curtailment of academic freedom represented by the abrupt and unwarranted dismissal of 42 members of the University faculty by the regime of Meles Zenawi. The recent imprisonment of Professors Mesfin and Berhanu has brought things to an all time low. Professor Mesfin functioned as a scholar of great integrity under both of those previous regimes, and was critical of their policies, yet was never prevented form speaking his mind. The action of the present regime in imprisoning them under charges that defy credibility has horrified the international acacdemic community. I for one will withhold any further support for academic activities related to Addis Ababa University until such time as normal conditions of academic freedom are in place and shall urge my colleagues to do likewise. At such a time as conditions of academic freedom there are guaranteed, I shall actively promote efforts of institutions in the United States and abroad to lend support there.

My acquaintance with the great university in Addis Ababa goes back to 1958, when it was still a small college, and through the years I have seen it grow to a vital institution, of central importance to the intellectual and political, economic, social, and moral life of Ethiopia. It is an institution that deserves its place among the universities of the world. But these latest developments have my colleagues and I deeply disturbed and concerned. We fear that serious injustice is being done to individuals and that incalculable damage may be caused to the university and to Ethiopia itself as a result. Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr Berhanu Nega appear to be prisoners of conscience held solely because of their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities. I urge you to insure that they are not tortured or ill treated while they are in custody. The authorities should either charge them with any offenses they may have committed against the laws of Ethiopia, or else release them immediately and unconditionally. In addition, they should be permitted immediate access to lawyers, their families and necessary medical care. Human rights as well as academic freedom are of primary concern to members of the international academic community, as they are of increasing concern to the world community in general. For the first time in human history the court of world opinion is mirrored in actual international courts concerned with human rights and offences against them. The members of the Ethiopian Human Rights Committee (EHRCO) are serving a vital function in the modern world as defenders of these rights, and I urge you to permit them to carry out their peaceful and legitimate - and vital - work without harassment, intimidation, and fear of arrest or physical harm. The actions of the police, who shut down the EHRCO office on 9 May and attempted to intimidate their members, should be condemned in no uncertain terms.

I wish to confirm my support for "Ethiopian University Support". The situation at the University of Addis Ababa is untenable. A university should be a place not only of learning but of critical debate and research. It should be run on democratic lines where the president, deans, student and other representatives are freely elected. There should be freedom of speech and publication for both staff and students. The presence of Federal Police on the Addis Ababa University campus reflects the absence of these freedoms. I urge the Ethiopian Government to grant the University in Ethiopia the unalienable right of self-determination and freedom of speech.

after talking with friends and relatives about the current crisis in the Universities of Ethiopia, I would now like to suggest the following constructive action: Having discussed matters with the Ethiopian Government, the Ambassadors to Ethiopia should invite his Excellency Meles Zenawi to meet representatives from the Ethiopian Universities and Colleges of higher education, as well as representatives of the Embassies to Ethiopia and a delegation of the international Ethiopian University Support Group, in order to personally pledge his commitment to the goals of self-determination and freedom of speech for the Universities and Colleges of higher education in Ethiopia. I myself, pledge my professional and material support for the future Free Universities of Ethiopia. As a social anthropologist I have devoted my professional career to the study and documentation of the language, culture and history of the Hamar of Southern Ethiopia. Besides written works, I have produced three prize winning documentary films (produced for BBC), and am presently working on a fourth film (produced for WDR (West Deutsche Rundfunk) and IWF (Institut fuer Wissenschaftlichen Film)). I pledge copies of all these works to the Free Universities of Ethiopia, the films to be made available both as VHS and DVD copies.

I remain astounded by the absurdities engineered by this government, especially as it is headed by somebody who lived through the madness of the dirg years and last few years of Haile Sellassie. Why does nobody in Ethiopia learn that you cannot block ideas and politics through suppression or force? It is crazy to believe that Mesfin Wolde Mariam, whom I have known since 1954, would have fomented student violence. He is a man of reason and discussion. As for Berhanu Nega, I know him less well but do not consider him a dangeroud apparatchnik. His writings are insightful, not inciteful. The Meles government has done more damage to higher education and thought than did all the years of Mengistu. I Im sorry to have to say this, but the truth must be told.

Your initative to support Ethiopian academic life, with all that entails, is to be warmly congratulated upon. It was swift and you seem to have been able to rally many of the more known researchers in Europe and the USA. I myself will be happy to write to the Swedish Embassy, but like writing an essay or book, I prefer to have some reliable ethnography on which to base it. I am sure that you and many others do have such knowledge and hope you will be willing to share it. What I have heard up to now, all of which I am pretty uncertain about is that 1) students put up certain demands (I do not know which) to which the Ethiopian government responded in favorable terms 2) some demand/s (?) could not be solved immediately (was it the question of having police or military gard the campus?) and the student body resoved to make a demonstration. 3) During the demonstration unusual looting took place. According to witnesses (?) the lootings were not carried out by the students, but by, according to some: local hoodlums according to others: supporters/members of the party 4)Somewhere in all this, the professors made a speech, where they, according to police and the public prosecutor, instigated the students to do the looting (?) 5) Now the Parliament has sided with the students (whatever that means) and the Ministry of Education is angry because it means that Parliament meddles in its internal affairs. Can you fill me in on my questionmarks and perhaps beyond that, or tell me where I can get accurate information? Are students and staff imprisoned? And if so on what grounds? Furthermore, to write a letter to foreign embassies and my own what do we want them to do? how to act? This is not to make myself difficult, but I do not quite know what to write since I know so little, and being in England and away from my usual sources makes it more difficult. Best regards

The following ‘letter’ is addressed to diplomats, journalists, academics & anybody else who might be appropriate. I am not sure if it is actually ‘useful’, but I do think that our response to the present crisis must be to make people more aware of what is valuable and wonderful about Ethiopia & Ethiopians, and thus increase the level of interest in Ethiopia. Not only will there thus be more real support for Ethiopia, but it will also become much more difficult for any government to ‘get away with murder’ or false imprisonment. “Does the present government of Ethiopia care what future Ethiopian children will think about their actions? Recent events suggest not. Soon we will be fulfilling our academic responsibilities and writing off the regime as another disappointment - a gang, rather than a government - and comparing it with the other self-serving cliques that have ruled Ethiopia - perhaps favourably with Mengistu (who killed and tortured many thousands) but unfavourably with the time of Haile Selassie (who killed and tortured very little, and built the foundations of higher education and a modern nation). .Sending troops into the campus of a prestigious university, to shoot and arrest students iI do think that our response to the present crisis must be to make people more aware of what is valuable and wonderful about Ethiopia & Ethiopians, and thus increase the level of interest in Ethiopia. Not only will there thus be more real support for Ethiopia, but it will also become much more difficult for any government to ‘get away with murder’ or false imprisonmentndiscriminately, does not seem to be the action of a responsible or stable government. Arresting senior academics, beloved by scholars all over the world not only for their commitment to academic excellence but also to human rights, suggests that the government sees as enemies the very people it should be promoting to develop a healthy, prosperous, self-reliant and intelligent society. The courage on the battlefield that delivered Ethiopia from the cruelties of the Derg, has been replaced by fears that serve only to provide continued employment for the Derg’s web of secret police and informants. Is this really the kind of world that the government plans for its children and grandchildren? Will Ethiopia always be seen as a cake to be enjoyed by a few, rather than a cake that is allowed to grow to offer enough for everybody? As academics, it is now our responsibility more than ever to evangelize about the fascinations of Ethiopian culture and history, the wonderful kindness of our Ethiopian friends, the splendours of the Ethiopian landscape, etc., so that the shortcomings of any Ethiopian government will be met by more than international condemnation. There will be an international well of concern and interest that can promise all manner of support, so long as the Ethiopian government can be trusted to share the same desire to put the wellbeing of the Ethiopian people first. In my own case, I will be able to send large numbers of computers to Addis Ababa University, and schools, as soon as confidence in the present government returns.“ I hope that foreign diplomats and journalists can share this concern, so that they may comment and criticize not only in the name of human rights, but also with a knowledge that what is wonderful and inspiring about Ethiopia, is being betrayed.

As the director of a research institute which at the moment has five ongoing research projects in Ethiopia, and as a scholar who in his individual career as a researcher has repeatedly experienced the kindness, courage, openness, and helpfulness of Ethiopian colleagues, I want to express my concern about recent news from Ethiopia and to stress the following points: For the kind of academic cooperation we envisage we need partners who feel free, who discuss their ideas openly and who are free to go where they like to collect data or to present the results of their work. Freedom of the participating institutions and the absence of pressure from outside the academic sphere against academics are preconditions for successfulinternational cooperation. We appreciate the noble spirit and the generosity of the Ethiopian people in allowing us to live in their midst and to do research among them. Research in Social Anthropology, our discipline, is of potential value in conflict resolution. If there is any opportunity to for us, as an institute or individually, to assist in overcoming the present crisis, we would perceive that as a chance to pay back parts of our debt to the Ethiopian people.

Of course, I join YOUR ACTION done in the name of the international scholarly community urging the Government of Ethiopia to release our colleagues Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr. Berhanu Nega. Having done ethnographic research in Ethiopia since 1970, I am deeply concerned with the recent repression at the University of Addis Abeba. Freedom of conscience is the base and the condition not only of modern democracy but of human civilisation at large. I join all the voices calling for the liberation of our colleagues, the restauration of freedom of movement for all, students, professors, administrative agents, for freedom of thinking, writing, discussing economic, political, religious and philosophical issues, not only on the campuses of the University of Addis Abeba, but in all other schools, communal and/or political parties and their assemblies, and all other forms of legal associations on the entire Ethiopian territory. Please convey my message to the Ethiopian authorities through the channels you judge most efficient. Thanking you sincerely for your very courageous and highly URGENT INITIATIVE,

Kjetil Tronvoll

I am writing this letter in my capacity as the Horn of Africa Programme Director at the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights, University of Oslo. I have personally been conducting research on political development and human rights in Ethiopia the last ten years. The Norwegian Institute of Human Rights (NIHR) has since the fall of the Derg in 1991 continuously been researching and observing the political process in Ethiopia. We have been present in the country with a research/observer group at every important milestone since the coming to power of the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991. Inter alia, our staff has published reports on the elections of 1992 (local and regional), 1993 (Eritrean referendum), 1994 (Constituent assembly), 1995 (regional and parliamentary), 2000 (regional and parliamentary), and 2001 (local); we have as the only international institute followed the conduct of the Derg trials with observers and is presently undertaking a major interdisciplinary study of the trials’ human rights performances; our staff has published internationally on the situation of minorities in Ethiopia through Minority Rights Group International; and during 1998-2000 we carried out a major study of the conduct and understandings of the Eritrean-Ethiopian war, which data is presently being processed and published internationally. During the last three years we have also been partner in a long-term international, institutional research cooperation with AAU focusing on political development, democratisation and human rights. Therefore, it is with a certain amount of confidence based on empirical research in Ethiopia, that I can express my deep worries and concerns about the current human rights situation in the country. In particular, I will emphasise the very worrying state of the democratisation process and the local elections to be conducted throughout 2001. The NIHR was the only international institution following the first round of local elections in February/March, and we consider their conduct as a great step backwards, in a very slow and winding process of democratisation. The dire situation of opposition parties and representatives, of whom many dozens are imprisoned as this is written, should be of primary concern for the international society and donor countries. Moreover, the curtailed expression of freedom in general in the country and the restrictions of academic rights at AAU and other regional colleges/universities are issues which should be raised by donor representatives in every encounter with Ethiopian authorities. Ethiopia has one of Africa’s best constitutions in terms of human rights protection. Ethiopia has also ratified all major international human rights instruments. It is the obligation of the Ethiopian government to respect and defend its constitution, and to implement the international instruments of which they are signatory. The international community and the donor countries ­ who at least in principle defend the international system of human rights ­ should therefore seriously consider all means possible to pressure the Ethiopian government to obey by its own constitution and parliamentary decisions. All information gathered and reports published by the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights is available to the international community and donor countries, if so wished.

To whom it may concern:

As a member of the International Organizing Committee of the International Conference of Ethiopian Studies and the convenor of the next 15th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies in 2003 I would like to address to you today in the name of German-speaking scholars of Ethiopian studies and express my concerns about some of the latest development in Ethiopia, which have also a strong impact on the country’s and international scholarly world. It was a real astonishment for me and many my colleagues when we learnt about the arrest of such prominent researchers as Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr. Berhanu Nega. I understand that there might be internal reasons to the actions of the Ethiopian authorities, which have not been unfortunately made clear to the public. Without doubting the politics you have been performing I would like to let you know that in the eyes of wide public the arrested scholars were only involved in legitimate activities aiming at peace and human rights establishment in the region of the Horn of Africa and in the world. You might be interested to know that the arrested scholars enjoy high recognition in the international scholarly community. Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam belongs to the most respected researchers of the old generation who is known world wide thanks to his numerous articles and monographs. His researches and publications were of great service to his country. As you can see, according to the information we can dispose of, their arrest can be seen as a violation of freedom of speech, unacceptable in a democratic country. Therefore I would like to appeal to the responsible persons to make sure that the scholars are charged with a recognizable and well proved criminal offence. It is also highly important that the arrested scholars should be treated with due respect and have full and immediate access to medical care as well as lawyers and their families, and, most importantly, to the media in order to make the situation clear and transparent for the international community of scholars and friends of Ethiopia. I hope that the current tense situaton will be solved soon with your kind help, and that you will be able to show me and my colleagues that Ethiopian human rights defenders will also be allowed to carry on their activities ­ without the fear to be arrested for their legitimate actions ­ and that the democratic developments in Ethiopia continue towards more fairness and more freedom as they have during the past years. Hoping for your understanding of our concern and thanking you very much.

The Government of Ethiopia's persecution of Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, the founder and first chairman of Ethiopia's Human Rights Council (EHRCO) and Dr. Berhanu Nega, an academic and human rights activist, is the latest manifestation of the FDRE's campaign to silence its critics. The TPLF-dominated government continues to thwart efforts to nurture democracy by preventing public discussion. By confusing opposition with rebellion, the FDRE prevents key players, such as Mesfin and Berhanu, from participating in deliberations--an essential instrument of popular government. Thus, the popular sovereignty claimed by the TPLF is a sham and the constitution's rhetorical commitments to protection of rights of expression, assembly, and association vital to political opposition are pointless in practice. The legally protected right of opposition provides an essential precondition for the formation of a democratic public opinion--something that is not allowed to develop in Ethiopia. Lessons from history tell of the ultimate futility of such attempts to compel adherence as are being used against Prof. Mesfin and Dr. Berhanu. From the Roman drive to stamp out Christianity as a challenge to its pagan unity down to the terror of the Derg as a means to Ethiopian unity, dictatorial rulers have failed in their efforts to prescribe what will be orthodox in politics, nationalism, or other matters of opinion. The TPLF should heed the warning of the American jurist Robert Jackson: "Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard." Through its base and unconstitutional treatment of human rights organizations, academic associations, students, and faculty, the FDRE has brought disgrace upon itself and tarnished the record of Addis Ababa University, once the nation's pride and now but a shell of an academic institution. I join the international academic community in condemning the FDRE's treatment of Prof. Mesfin and Dr. Berhanu, and I request that we not forget the shameful fate of Prof. Taye Wolde Semayat who has been imprisoned on trumpt-up charges since March 1996.

I am seriously concerned about the present status of academic freedoms at Addis Ababa University. Moreover I am very seriously concerned about the continuously widening gap between constitutional freedoms and administrative practice in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The violent handling of the students protests in April 2001 appears to be only one element in a chain of related assaults on the liberty and freedoms of citizens of the FDRE. I strongly support the pledge for self-determination and freedom of speech for Addis Ababa University, and the other institutions of learning in the FDRE. The general denials of the rights of Ethiopian citizens to gather and organize freely, to speak freely and above all to have a say in determining their fate, are constantly contributing to the strangulation of open and creative discussions about the state of Ethiopian society. Above all it prevents the development of a balanced perspective how the whole and the parts of Ethiopia can be integrated under a rule of law that gives justice both to individual and collective needs. Looting and burning are no political arguments. If people have committed criminal offences or have instigated others to do so, such charges have to be substantified. Torture, ill-treatment, denial of lawyers, denial of medical treatment or denial of visits by family members are in no way acceptable. The harassment of human rights defenders in the FDRE is a continuously deplorable issue. The present arrest of Prof. Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr. Berhanu Nega highlight that many others are also imprisoned for no or arbitrary reasons. If charges can be substantified, people should get a fair trial. Otherwise they should be immediately released. I also pledge to human rights activists in Ethiopia to develop a non-partisan approach to the defense of human rights. Due to the great scholarly reputation that Addis Ababa University has, atrocities concerning AAU and its members, may find an international human rights lobby that other cases do not so easily find. Therefore it should be well understood that the issue of academic freedoms for Addis Ababa is only the peak of an ice-berg.