THE TRUTH ABOUT THE EPRPPart
One ESPIC P.O.
BOX 73337 WAHINGTON
DC 20056 Email: espic@aol.com NOTE THIS
PAMPHLET IS WRITTEN FOR YOUNG ETHIOPIANS, ESPECIALLY THOSE BORN ABROAD WHO
DO NOT KNOW OR SPEAK LITTLE OF AMHARIC OR OTHER ETHIOPIAN LANGUAGES. THE
AIM IS TO BRIEFLY PRESENT SOME ASPECTS OF THE HISTORY OF THE ETHIOPIAN
PEOPLE'S REVOLUTIONARY PARTY (EPRP) AND TO DEBUNK THE LIES SPREAD AGAINST
IT, THE AS
WE SAY IN ETHIOPIA, MAN YAWRA YENEBERE, MAN YARDA YEKEBERE. LET HE WHO WAS
THERE AT THE EVENT SPEAK, LET HE WHO WAS AT THE FUNERAL TELL THE RELATIVES
OF THE DEATH. OR, AS WAS SAID IN THE SEVENTIES, "NO INVESTIGATION, NO
RIGHT TO SPEAK". WE INTEND TO GIVE YOU THE FACTS TO ENABLE YOU TO
MAKE YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS. AND THIS IS ONLY TO BE EXPECTED AS THE EPRP
CONSISTENTLY AND COURAGEOUSLY STOOD FOR THE TRUTH, FOR JUSTICE, FOR
DEMOCRACY. PREFACE The
EPRP. The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party. Ehapa in its Amharic
acronym—Ye Ethiopia Hizbawi Abyotawi Party. It was formed on April
9/1972 as the first ever modern political party organized consciously to
bring radical system change in Ethiopia. Now in 2006, the EPRP is still
engaged in the long struggle for a democratic system in Ethiopia. Banned
by three consecutive regimes, repressed brutally by all, the EPRP has
become a major constituent part of the history of Ethiopia. Like it or
hate it, this is one fact
that cannot be avoided-- the history of Ethiopia since the seventies has
to acknowledge party.
Many true, and many more false. This pamphlet intends to start presenting
the truth and to expose the lies that, by repetition, have come to sound
as true to the uninformed. The EPRP was a vigorous and determined party
that mobilized the people, and in particular the youth, and wrote valiant
chapters in the history of Ethiopia. It symbolized courage, commitment,
sane patriotism, democracy, initiative and creativity, sacrifice and
steadfastness. Many loved and died for it because its cause was noble,
worthy and What/who
indeed was the EPRP? Who formed it? Did enemies of Ethiopia establish it
as some so falsely allege? Did it fan and support secession or did it
struggle for the democratic unity of Ethiopia? Was it an Amhara chauvinist
organization or a "Greater Ethiopia"/Aba Derg
cadres alleged? Why is it clandestine, mysterious even? Do we have any
reason to fear WHY
AND HOW WAS THE EPRP FORMED? Other
times, other realities. What was then, at the time of Emperor Haile
Sellassie, is lost on most of the youths of today. The Emperor has joined
his ideological opposite, Che Guevara, in being an inoffensive icon, a
photo on a tee shirt, popularized by the Rastas and their worship of him.
The reality of his rule was very vicious even though, as we say in
Ethiopia, the fresh corpse has made us forget the old one/tikus resa
yeqoyewn yasresa/. The Derg and TPLF regimes are so bad that, in
hindsight, some who had passed through the imperial regime have been
forced to consider it benign. It was anything but benign. Called a
"modern The
Ethiopian Student Movement got radicalized and, in 1965, the historic
demonstration for "Land to the Tiller" was held. In feudal
Ethiopia that had reduced the majority of Ethiopians unto serfdom this was
the most revolutionary slogan that could be imagined. The regime responded
by unleashing the police on the students and by expelling from the
university 9 student leaders. After that, every year saw students on the
streets indene
Ho Chi Minh,inde Che Guevara Fanno
chaka giba tiglun litmera. Like
Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara Oh
ye rebels got to the jungle to lead the struggle. The
world- wide student struggle in 1968 was also observed in Ethiopia by
demonstrations and protests. It is within this framework and contest that
the radicalization of the Movement and subsequently of the EPRP should be
viewed. The advocates of reform who rile against the Ethiopian
Left were not a viable force at the time or were allied/identified with
feudal regime in one way or another and thus unable to be alternatives.
The youth of the time, meaning the university students and intellectuals,
were motivated by a burning desire to see Ethiopia changed in a democratic
sense. Many university students came also from rural areas, from
provincial towns and they knew the suffering of the vast majority of the
peasants (85% of the population). In the cities, especially in Addis
Ababa, the class difference was apparent for all to see: the opulence and
decadent luxury of the Emperor and his ruling class contrasting with the
dirt poor majority of the people. An Ethiopian nationalist could not "We
were born of Royal blood. Authority is ours by right. A King must never
regret the use of force...We have never been afraid to be harsh. It is the
King who knows what is best for the people; the people themselves don't
know it. We are not worried (by rebellion) or no more than necessary. Such
episodes occur constantly in a country's history. There is always
something moving, brewing. There are ambitious people everywhere, wicked
people. The only thing to do is to deal with them with courage and
decision. One must beware of uncertainty, weakness or conflicting
emotions--they lead to defeat. We have never allowed Ourselves to fall
prey to them. Force must be used." The Emperor should have been
worried in time as the discontent of the people was brewing and about to
explode. This mistake cost him his throne and his life but the Ethiopian
students and intellectuals were no dupes of anyone. They were incensed by
the sad and cruel reality of Ethiopia, by the suffering of the people, by
the gross inequality. If there are people today with acute nostalgia for
the Haile Sellasie period they must be people who did not know that time
or who were part of the ruling class at the time. The vast majority of
Ethiopians who suffered immensely under that regime have no real fond
memories of it even if the subsequent regimes have been The
confrontation between the regime and those seeking change entered a new
phase. Thus,
there is absolutely no truth in the assertion that the EPRP was formed by
foreign or non- Ethiopian elements. The EPRP was a genuine "Made by
Ethiopians" group. It was formed to fill the gap or the need for a
leading political party and to organize the armed struggle for the
liberation of the vast majority of the peasants and working people. As
presented elsewhere, it was formed as a Leftist party with a clearly set
ideological choice, an anti imperialist and anti feudal force. The EPRP
did not hide its ideology or priorities. It was forced into clandestinity
because the imperial regime persecuted political Other
groups were to be formed subsequently and that is why we say the EPRP,
formed in 1972, was the "first modern political party in
Ethiopia". A homegrown progressive party formed by Ethiopians
with deeply held convictions and an optimistic certainty that the regime
in power TWO THE
EPRP AND THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION When
the 1974 February Revolution/Yekatit 66 Abyot/ erupted, the EPRP was
clandestinely THREE THE
EPRP AND THE RED TERROR Repression
by the Derg was striking at the EPRP and the people by 1976 though the Red
Terror was officially declared later on. There is now a shrill attempt by
some quarters to allege that the Red Terror came as a response to the
violence unleashed by the EPRP in the urban centers. But this is totally
false. The EPRP had an armed wing in Tigrai /to be known later as the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Army--EPRA/ but it was not even publicly
declared or given permission to start operations. The introduction to the
first political program of the organization made it clear that "if
democratic rights are assured/respected" the EPRP will struggle
peacefully for democracy. Let us recapitulate and check what happened at
that time. Did the EPRP launch urban assassin squads as its enemies
allege? Did it resort to violence to gain the political upper hand? The
truth is that it did not. It was in actual fact the victim of the savage
repression unleashed by the military regime, only resorting to self-
defense belatedly, with the odds against it but refusing to fold its arms
and perish. Let us refer from history to set the record straight: “The
Red Terror was officially launched by the Derg in 1976 when it declared
open war against the EPRP. But what happened in between from September
1974 to September 1976? Was it all peaceful? Did the opponents of the Derg
resort to violent actions pushing it, as some allege, to retaliate? Who
fired the first shot in what was to become known as the urban underground
war?” Between September 1974 and September 1976 there was no peace. A
new war had started. The people did not raise arms during this time. The
EPRP did not fire a single shot in the cities. The main means of protest
was very peaceful: demonstrations, strikes, petitions, congress
resolutions, etc. The people were merely trying to exercise the rights
they had wrested from the feudal regime. They were also calling on the
military regime to respect its words and to return to the barracks. The
people protested peacefully, the Derg reacted very violently and as the
EPRP was spearheading the popular protest the violence of the regime
targeted it as “the number one enemy”. The
Derg took over power on September 12,974.
On the same day it issued a proclamation that carried, among other
things, the following articles: art. 8: it is hereby prohibited, for the
duration of this proclamation to oppose the aims of “Ethiopia Tikdem”/Ethiopia
First/, to engage in any strike, hold unauthorized demonstrations or
public meetings, or to engage in any act that may disturb public peace and
security. art.9: A special
military tribunal shall be established to try those who contravene the
orders enunciated in article 8 of this proclamation. Judgments handed down
by the special military tribunal are not subject to appeal.
In other words, the Deg was not going back to he barracks but
telling the people to go back to their previous condition of servitude,
muzzled and uncomplaining. As is to be expected, those who had launched
the February Revolution opposed this fervently. The Confederation of
Ethiopian Labour Unions (CELU) held its congress from September 15-17
(1974) and passed resolutions calling for the respect of democratic rights
and the formation of a provisional popular government made up of all the
political groups and vibrant forces of the society. The same demands were
echoed by teachers, students, by some officers and soldiers of the Body
Guard, by members of the Air Force, the Army Aviation and Engineering
Corps and by employees in the civil administration. Leaflets, resolutions,
protest demonstrations—those were historic times during which the people
threw away the shackles of apathy and submission and rose up with courage
to demand their rights. They wee unarmed but powerful in their resolve and
unity, in that they had an organization in the EPRP guiding the struggle. The
Derg, made up of 120 officers, had no intention of handing over power to
the people. Some
intellectuals (including one who later became the ideologue of the
Eritrean PLF) advised the Derg at that time and firmly told them not to
hand over power to “civilians”. Labor
and student union leaders were arrested or hunted down. The Deg used units
of the Fourth Division to attack the barracks of the Engineering Corps:
five soldiers were killed and more than seven wounded. Scores were rounded
up from the Body Guard and the Army Aviation. More than 30 intellectuals
and civil servants were also jailed. On October 23, unemployed youth
gathered at the CELU HQ to register for jobs but the police intervened and
shot dead one and wounded many others. Arrests and shootings...
On the night of November 23,1974, the Derg raised the decibel of
violence by arbitrarily executing 59 people. The majority of these were
high officials of the imperial regime, none were tried, the death
sentences approved by a show of hands of the Derg members. The Derg
labeled the unlawful action a “political decision”—many such illegal
“political decisions” were to be made in the future not only by the
Derg but also by the Meles Zenawi group. Some of the others executed along
with the high officials of the Emperor were actually dissidents who had
demanded the Derg’s return to the barrack. These victims were colonel
Yigezu Yimenu and Captin Belaye Tsegaye from the Body Guards and NCO
Bekele Wolde Giorgis from the Army Aviation. In addition, the Derg along
with his two aides also killed the first chairman of the junta itself, Lt.
General Aman Andom. Immediately
after these killings, the Derg dispatched more troops to Eritrea, thus
opting for the use of force to deal with the problem there. Israeli trained special commandos were let loose in Asmara
strangling youngsters at random with piano wire. Terror spread in the city
and beyond and thousands of Eritrean youngsters fled to exile or to swell
the ranks of the guerrillas. The violence of the Derg spread everywhere.
It should be mentioned that the regime had conveniently issued yet another
proclamation on November 16 to amend the Penal Code. Aside from
stipulating for the setting up of special court martial the article made
many ill-defined offenses punishable by death. Thus article 5 imposed the
death penalty on “anyone who impairs the defensive power of the
State”, an article targeting democratic officers and soldiers primarily.
Treason, punishable by death, was also left undefined. Actually,
even the military tribunals proved a sham; the executions were decided and
approved by the Derg members, no due process of law whatsoever. For
example, a special military court sentenced Br. General Tadesse Biru,
other officers and student leader Meles Tekle to life imprisonment for
opposing the Derg rule. The Derg revoked the sentence and imposed the
death sentenced on all and they were executed in March 1975. There
is more to highlight: ·
in
Yebu and Limma/Kaffa region/ more than 30 peasants were killed in April
1975; ·
Dereje
Legesse/an intellectual/ and eight other people were also executed in Limo
around this same period; ·
In
Bitchena, Gojam, Derg member Major Endale Tesema, led troops against
peasants and more than a thousand including children and old were
massacred; ·
In
mid-February 1975, the Derg declared a state of emergency in Eritrea; ·
During
the May Day demonstration in Addis Ababa more than 21 workers and students
were shot dead by soldiers; ·
From
May to June 1975, student unrest spread and their demonstrations were
violently put down in every instance; ·
On
May 31,CELU opened a four-day congress but the Derg, which opposed the
resolutions for the respect of democratic rights, closed down CELU. Scores
of worker leaders were arrested and others killed in several places. ·
On
June15-16, security forces killed many protesting against the violence of
the Derg; ·
Between
June 22 and July 8 alone, the State controlled media reported that the
security forces have killed no less than 65 “reactionaries’ in various
places; ·
In
Bonga 150 peasants, in Felege Newaye area 80,etc were killed; And
so on all over the country. On
August 3/1975, the EPRP publicly declared its existence by clandestinely
distributing its program (in three major Ethiopian languages and English)
all over the country. Democracia was formally identified as the organ of
the EPRP and the regime got even jittery.
On September 12/1975, during the “revolution Day” celebrations,
demonstrators openly carried placards calling for the respect of
democratic rights and an end to the repression. Again in September 1975,
the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association (ETA) held its general congress in
Jimma/Kaffa/ and passed resolutions reiterating their earlier June 1975:
an end to the repression; the respect of democratic rights; the formation
of provisional popular government, etc. The Derg labeled the teachers as
“reactionaries” and unleashed its repression against the ETA.
It announced on September 23: "A few teachers were caught red handed while trying to distribute cheap subversive propaganda. The teachers were trying to sabotage the ongoing revolution by trying to disrupt national unity and to divide the people on tribal and religious basis in pursuit of their own selfish interests”.(What
was called cheap and subversive propaganda was actually the congress
resolution. It is interesting to note that the Derg of that time and the
Meles regime now accusing the Opposition sound almost the same!) On
September 26, 1975 Ethiopian Air lines labor union members who were
distributing union resolutions to workers were attacked by security forces
and 8 workers were killed and many others wounded. Arrests and killing
continued. Labor union leaders like Marcos Hags were tortured and beaten
in prison. On September
30/1975, the Derg declared a state of emergency in and around Addis Ababa.
Article 3 of the Emergency Declaration listed the following as
“Prohibited and Unlawful Actions: ·
Persons
who assemble and demonstrate without permission and people who are found
assembling except on public and religious holidays; ·
People
who stop work or deliberately stage a go- slow action; ·
People
who resort to any kind of strike; ·
People
who utter unlawful words in public or any other places; ·
People
who prepare, write, keep and distribute or make other people know of
unlawful pamphlets, placards or pictures; ·
People
who encourage, urge, threaten, issue orders, share their opinions or force
other peoples to stop work; ·
People
who violate the curfew order; ·
People
who disturb or violate the orders o the security forces and who do not
cooperate with them in their duties; ·
People
who are absent from work without a satisfactory reason; ·
Generally
any person who disturbs the public peace. In
clearer terms anyone who opposed or thought of opposing the Derg was thus
deemed a criminal. The Emergency officially continued till December 1995
but is stayed along with the Derg rule for 17 years. The Emergency law
empowered security forces to “take appropriate and final measures”
which meant nothing but murder, execution, shoot on sight. The death toll
was very high. Actually, the draconian laws were made even more harsh
months later by yet another Penal Code amendment (July 1976). The new
articles increased the punishment for anyone who distributes “subversive
literature” and the death penalty was imposed on anyone “who
establishes contact, sympathizes with or assists anti people and anti
revolution organizations within or outside the country”. Anyone who
tries to leave the country illegally was also punishable by life
imprisonment. The
declaration of the Emergency heightened the repression. CELU was dissolved
and its leaders attacked—the chairman Marcos Hagos was later to be
murdered by the Derg. All those who called for the formation of a
provisional popular government were to be labeled counter revolutionaries
and repressed. Torture was becoming routine. Arrested people began to
“disappear”. By labeling the EPRP, the trade unionists, teachers,
students, etc, in short, all those who said NO to military rule as counter
revolutionary and enemy, the Derg carried the conflicts further into the
realm of violence. The repression was intensified. Thousands were
arrested, hundreds killed. A
new factor that emerged at the time was the strengthening of the
Derg-Meisone alliance. Meisone
was the All Ethiopian Socialist Movement which was formed by Ethiopian
exiles in Europe mainly and which returned to Addis to give what it called
“critical support” to the military regime. It was opposed to the EPRP
position of calling for the formation of a provisional popular government
and opted to work with military to effectuate “change” from the top.
Derg and Meisone set up the POMOA— the Provisional Office for Mass
Organization Affairs. Under this cover, Mesione emerged as the advisor and
right hand group of the Derg and it was followed by other miniscule
intellectual groups like Wez League led by the late Senaye Likke, Malered,
Ichaat led by the late Baro Tumsa and Assefa Chabo. The POMOA served the
Derg as a political-police body, deeply involved in the repression and
terror until the Derg turned against the intellectual groups in turn and
decimated them. EPRP and the people called this group “banda”, the
name given to traitors and Quislings who served Mussolini’s invading
army. Let it be said here
that the EPRP has, given the present situation in the country, left the
past alone and collaborated with Meisone and others like it to get rid of
the Derg and the Melees regime. The
EPRP was called “anarchist” and the intellectual allies of the Derg
called for its decimation. On March 3, 1976, the EPRP issued a public
communiqué exposing the Derg’s plan to unleash terror and to massacre
EPRP militants and sympathizers. The Derg heightened the repression by
sending its most psychopathic and feared Majors, Ali Mussa and Getachew
Shibeshi (both perished in 1991), on a killing spree to east, south and
the west. From Asbe Teferi to Jimma, the majors went on a rampage killing
all and sundry arbitrarily so much so that many of their victims have
become immortalized in revolutionary songs and poems. Dozens of EPRP
members and sympathizers, innocent people, traders whose wealth was
coveted by the Majors were killed brutally. The EPRP did not fire a single
shot during all this time. On
April 22/1976, workers, actors and singers of the National Theatre and
municipal workers linked to the theatre and cinema staged a demonstration
and practically tested the Derg-Meisone April 20th National
Democratic Program which had promised democratic rights to the people. The
workers were demanding the right to form unions and to have their working
conditions improved. Armed troops and baton wielding police attacked the
peaceful demonstrators killing six and arresting more than seventy. The
Derg-Meisone promise of democratic rights and proven to be hollow, false,
a fake, a deception. May
Day 1976: one of the bloodiest and saddest days. Demonstrating workers,
students carried placards calling for an end to the repression and for the
respect of democratic rights. Very many were killed. Many were arrested
and later executed. June,
July, August—the number of executed was increasing. On June 17, the Derg
itself announced the execution of 17 people including Derg member Major
Sisaye Habte. On July 5 a law was passed making hoarding a crime and weeks
later some people were executed for “hoarding” a few kilos of
‘berbere’/red pepper/. In most cases, the charges were false or made
up. In July 1976, the EPRP again issued a communiqué denouncing the
repression and revealing the fact that Derg has brought into Addis Ababa
the Israeli- trained Nebelbal army unit to unleash violence against the
EPRP and the people. On July 16 alone, close to 1000 students were
arrested. By August 1976, the mask was off and the war against the EPRP,
the unions and all dissenters on. BY September 1976, the degree of the
repression reached a new height. The Red Terror was preceded by violent
repression, murder and mayhem of the Derg.
Long before the EPRP resorted to self-defense or fired a single
shot. This is the reality. The EPRP did not provoke the Derg, did not
resort to urban armed struggle, and did not choose the armed struggle path
while the political situation in Ethiopia was peaceful. The EPRP undertook
self defense action only after years of repression and after the Derg
publicly declared war against it and the repression became unbearable. As
we are seeing now with the Meles regime, the repression was the reply of a
politically defeated Derg to a victorious people’s struggle as bankrupt
regimes can stay in power only by repressing the opposition and murdering
the people at large. The
people are duty bound to struggle for their rights. If provocation there
were, it is primarily provocation by the ruling regime that denies the
people their rights. Freedom never comes cheap and people have to pay the
necessary sacrifice to regain their basic and inalienable rights.
Tolerating a repressive regime is not wise and advisable—fighting
against it is just and called for. Ethiopians the EPRP fought against a
blood-thirsty military regime and paid heavy sacrifices.
We do not ask why, the reason is clear for all to see. A really
democratic regime does not turn violent because people stage protests and
thus talk of provocation is misplaced. The Meles regime stole the voice of
the people and resorted to repression to stamp out all opposition. The
struggle waged by the people is just as in the past when the EPRP and the
people said no to military dictatorship. Those who blame the people and
the Opposition for resisting a repressive regime are mistaken in their
assumptions, premises and conclusions. The EPRP has no regrets in that it
organized and led the struggle against the Derg military regime. As we say
in Ethiopia “ahyawn ferto dawlawn”—afraid of the donkey one beats
the load. Te culprit is the Derg as is the Meles regime nowadays. Blame
the criminal and not the victim. The repression and the Terror are the
products of the Derg and not of the victims. FOUR AND
WHAT ABOUT THE SACRIFICE? Replying to an accusation by Amnesty
International
the Derg said on November 12/1977: “if
they say we don’t have to kill people, aren’t they saying that we have
to quit the Revolution? The
cry to stop the killing is a bourgeois cry”.
And Meisone had said more or less the same thing when it wrote in
February 1977(Voice of the Masses):”we are ready to unleash the red
terror on the EPRP. Their blood shall serve as the water with which we
will put out the fire of the counter- revolution”. And kill they did
with fury and never before seen savagery that continues to scar the whole
country up to now. The Derg
declared open war on the EPRP on September 11/1976. The secret execution
of EPRP members and supporters was followed up by officially announced
killings. On November 2,1976, twenty-three EPRP members, most of them
intellectuals arrested in September 1976, were executed. All had been
brutally tortured; many were previously active members of the student
movement in Ethiopia and abroad. On November 18,1976, twenty seven others
were officially executed and though accused of raising arms against the
regime almost all were detained long before the EPRP launched any armed
action in the city. None of the above fifty were tried in any court of
law. Of the 27, most were below 21 years of age and one, Babile H.Sellasie,
was only 14. The Red Terror as such was launched on February 4/ 1977 but
the period from September 1976 to that date was filled with the relentless
killing of EPRP members and supporters by the Derg regime. The
EPRP launched what it called self- defense action after so much blood had
been shed by the military regime. On September 23, 1976 the EPRP made an
attempt on the life of Mengistu Haile Mariam (he was wounded) and on
October 2, 1976, Fikre Merid, Meisone leader, was killed in Addis Ababa.
Evidently, the EPRP did not first resort to violence to achieve its aims.
The accusation that the EPRP lunched the “white terror” and thus
“provoked the red terror” is a falsehood spread conveniently by the
murderous Derg which had, from September 1974 till September 1976 had
engaged in killing and terror all over Ethiopia and had declared open war
against the EPRP on September 11/1976. This falsehood put aside, the next
widely propagated and still echoed accusation refers to the allegation
that “the EPRP sacrificed the youth”. This accusation is based on the
twisted premise that the victims are responsible for their own deaths and
that the killer is not to blame. Is
the opposition responsible for the June 8/2005 massacre in Addis Ababa?
The same with the EPRP. A war was declared against it. Its members and
supporters were being killed all over the country. It had of course the
“choice” of accepting the repression and bowing to the regime. This
capitulation and spinelessness was not in the nature of the EPRP and thus
it was not a choice at all. By September 1976, it was clear for all to see
that Menigstu’s regime was politically defeated by the EPRP just as it
became clear by June 2006 that the TPLF regime had lost the election to
the opposition. The resort to savage violence was just a final attempt by
the regimes to keep their power in place. The EPRP had no choice but to
try to defend itself and the people. It was not a battle of equals but, as
has been said often, there are wars that have to be fought no matter the
odds. And the EPRP heroically rose to the occasion and, despite the loss
and suffering, wrote pages of courage into the history of our people. If
the EPRP had, from the outset, taken up arms while the path of peaceful
struggle was open it would have deserved admonition and the label of
provocateur. But this was not the case. It followed the path of peaceful
protests and got violent repression in reply. Just as in May 2005. The
Derg was unpopular and knew it too much like the Meles regime. If the
contrary were the case, if the military regime was liked and backed by the
people no amount of goading by the EPRP would have made the people rise
against the regime. Actually,
even slim prospects and hope of change make people wait. It is naivety to
imagine that just a few demagogues will whip up the people into a
rebellion against a regime they consider theirs or democratic. The people
are never provocateurs—they are provoked by dictatorial regimes.
Censorship was total—under ground papers like Democracia flourished.
Parties were banned, parties went underground. Peaceful protests were
forbidden, strikes spread. Arrests and executions became wide spread,
resort to self defense became a necessity. Better death than slavery. The
struggle against the repressive regime was not to be quaint or costless.
As the Harambee song puts it: Freedom is not free, you have to sacrifice,
pay a price for your liberty. The struggle against Italian occupation
forces in 1935 cost one million Ethiopian lives. It was a worthy and
patriotic struggle. The military regime killed more than 200,000 people to
stamp out the struggle against it. The cost was high but it was a cost
that had to be paid. But, freedom never comes cheap. It is fair to say
that the EPRP should have adopted tactics that exposed it less to the
violent frenzy of the regime but it committed no error by opting to fight
in self -defense. The Resistance against the Nazi regime in Europe cost
very many lives. For every German officer killed the Nazis rounded up
hundreds of hostages and shot them to death—we have not heard up to now
any condemnation of the Resistance as provocateurs. The EPRP did not
carelessly and callously throw its members into the jaws of repression.
Many of its central committee and senior members (Tesfaye Debesaye, Kiflu
Kebede, Yohannes Berhane, Melaku Markos, Mulugeta Sultan, Mulugeta Zena,
Engineer Osman, etc) paid the ultimate sacrifice. Faced with a ruthless
dictatorship there is no choice but to wage the bitter and costly
struggle. Therefore, the EPRP
heroically fought against the dictatorship and paid a huge sacrifice. It
is not responsible for the killings and the Terror. It was the victim.
Those who accuse it are mostly the Derg murderers and the TPLF satellites
out to revise history. And these want to whitewash their crimes against
the people. Other who looked from the sidelines while the life and death
struggle was going on also look for justification and hide behind facile
accusations against the EPRP. However, the EPRP pleads guilty for the
“crime” of struggling against a brutal dictatorship. It is what it is
doing at the present time too fighting against the anti-Ethiopian regime
of Meles Zenawi that has killed countless EPRP members including central
committee member Gaim sacrificed in Addis Ababa.
EPRP members showed fantastic courage in the struggle against the
brutal Derg. They manifested ingenuity and inventiveness never before
recorded in the country. Young and old citizens turned into “mot ayfere”/death
daring/ fighters by their faith in the cause of the people blazed the path
for a generation to come. The martyrs continued the history and heritage
of Ethiopia— that of saying no to servitude by any local or foreign
force, that of striving to live a worthy life negating horrible existence
as a quiet, zombie like and subdued being. Those who accuse the EPRP for
having struggled against the military regime are kin of those who laughed
at Ethiopian patriots who brandished their spears at the tanks of the
Mussolini Italian invaders. In the end, history gives victory to the
people—the Derg was defeated. The same with the Meles regime—the
martyrs will, with their blood, have dug its grave. FIVE
THE EPRP AND ETHIOPIAN UNITY
Yabyen
Lemiye as we say in Ethiopia. The culprits often attribute blame on
others. One of the issues on which those who have not even shed a tear let
alone their own blood (for Ethiopia) accuse the EPRP of is the allegation
that the party championed secession, damaged Ethiopia’s unity, worked
for the country’s break up, served the Eritrean fronts and foreigners,
etc. If a lie is sometimes a bit of truth that has gone wild this
accusation has absolutely no shred of truth in it whatsoever. Let
us begin by situating the problem in its proper political perspective. In
Ethiopia, there are at least 70 to 80 ethnic groups, some in their
millions, some in their thousands. The feudal regime of the late Emperor
did not treat all ethnic groups or nationalities equally. There was
oppression and discrimination; some were more equal, more “Ethiopian”
than others. This is the undeniable fact that those who formed the EPRP
had to confront. In the South, this oppression was also linked to the land
question in that the local peasants were reduced to serfdom obliged by law
to hand over two third of their produce to the landlords. Curtailment on
the use of language, culture and discrimination on religious ground were
rife. These were the ugly features of the feudal regime, ones that anyone
wishing for change could ignore. That is why the progressive students and
intellectuals started to address the issue and to seek a solution for the
problem. The
facts show that by 1960 the Eritrean Liberation Front had been formed and
had Hence,
to accuse the EPRP of inciting Eritreans or others unto secession is
groundless. The Ethiopian Student Movement was multi ethnic and the
revolution that these progressives envisaged had to involve all Ethiopian
whatever their ethnic background. It thus meant that the problem of
nationalities or ethnic grievances had to be addressed one way or another
to lay the ground for a people’s Ethiopia united on the basis of
democracy. When the assertion was made that Ethiopia should not be a
prison of peoples and nationalities, the underlying preoccupation was that
Ethiopian can be united only on the basis of democracy and of equality and
fraternity between its various ethnic groups. The
solution given by the students and progressives was dictated by their
ideological bent. Recognizing the oppression and condemning it as unjust
was primary and it was done. The right of nationalities was also
recognized and this, according to the ideology, also included the right
even to secession but this was immediately qualified with the call and
insistence on unity on the basis of democracy.
The recognition of the right did not mean an automatic support to
secession and this was made clear from the outset in the party program and
literature. The EPRP along with all progressives could be criticized for
not seeing in time the dangers of narrow nationalism but its position was
castigated by the Eritrean fronts. The ELF and later the EPLF attacked the
EPRP as an Ethiopian chauvinist organization because it refused to accept
that Eritrea was “a colony of Ethiopia” and deserving of immediate and
unconditional independence. In fact, the EPLF of Isayas Afewerki allied
itself with the TPLF because the latter recognized Eritrea as a colony and
wrote pages of documents in support of the Eritrean position. In any case,
the recognition of the rights of nationalities was expected to lay the
ground for trust and confidence amongst all the people and, as events
showed, it proved right in that Ethiopians of all ethnic groups were
mobilized and organized within and around the EPRP to wage the struggle
for democracy. Up to now, the EPRP is multi ethnic. The
EPRP supported the democratic essence of the struggle of the Eritrean
people without endorsing the program, agenda and political positions of
the fronts and its call for a federal and peaceful solution for Eritrea
was rejected both by the Eritrean fronts and the Derg. When the TPLF
issued its manifesto in 1976 asserting that the contradiction between
ethnic groups/nationalities in Ethiopia was primary and that the Ethiopian
people cannot live together as a consequence and that Tigrai and others
have to be independent, the EPRP did NOT applaud or support this
ridiculous and dangerous position. On
the contrary, the EPRP publicly attacked this narrow nationalist stand and
called for the unity of the oppressed people of all ethnic groups as
Ethiopians. This led to the continuing contradiction between the TPLF and
the EPRP. The EPRP did NOT
support the call by the TPLF for secession—it opposed it and, as a
consequence, had to bear the war that the TPLF and its allies waged
against it to drive its guerrilla army out of Tigrai. The
EPRP is accused of supporting secession?
Where and when? The accusers would not point out for sure other
than recycling the Derg propaganda. The TPLF and EPLF accused the EPRP as
an Ethiopian chauvinist force. The TPLF name for the EPRP is “abay
Ethiopia”—Greater Ethiopia—and Meles Zenawi has written several
brochures to explain why the TPLF considers the EPRP chauvinist, bourgeois
and reactionary. In other words, the EPRP was NEVER an advocate of
secession—it only argued for equality and democracy as a basis and
guarantee for durable Ethiopian unity. The
EPRP was attacked from both extremes. The chauvinists who refused to admit
that there was ethnic oppression and discrimination in Ethiopia rushed to
label it as a force against Ethiopian unity because it acknowledged the
oppression and allied for change. The narrow nationalists like the TPLF
and OLF, who were all out for secession at all costs, attacked it as a
chauvinist party striving to maintain Ethiopian unity under all
circumstances because it refused to blindly support their demand for
secession. Amhara for one, anti Amhara for others—the EPRP did not sit
well with both extremists but its democratic and uncompromising Ethiopian
position served it to rally all genuine democratic and progressive
Ethiopians of all ethnic origin and religious background. This multi-
ethnic composition was and is manifested by its leadership and membership
and by the fact that its supporters come from almost all over Ethiopia,
including Eritrea. We
can say with confidence that there is no one, no force or group that has
the moral authority to put in doubt the “Ethiopianity”/Ethiopawinet/
of the EPRP. Name per se is not important but the EPRP defined itself as
Ethiopian and not as Amhara, Tigrean, Oromo, etc on an ethnic basis. Hence,
it never compromised the interest of Ethiopia for sectarian gains as a
party. It could have accepted the conditions and demands of all from near
and afar and thereby compromised the interest and future of Ethiopia just
to get to the top but this was not its choice or conviction. To illustrate
this, let us take the case of Somalia. The EPRP did have relations with
the Somali government but it refused to sign a communiqué with the so-
called Western Somali Liberation Front as this front was claiming at least
one third of Ethiopia—up to Nazreth or Adama- as Somali territory. The
TPLF signed a communiqué vilifying “Abyssinian colonialists” and
ceding Ethiopian territory to Somalia and thus got all military, political
and diplomatic help (not to mention diplomatic passports) from Mogadishu.
Actually, the Derg, and Derg remnants as well as the shameless TPLF
accuse the EPRP of backing the Somali invasion of the Ogaden in1977.
Mengistu used this war to rally nationalist fervor around his
regime (as Meles did during the war against Eritrea in 1998) and in the
process moved to liquidate the opposition whom it conveniently and falsely
accused as “pro Somali” (as Meles accuses its opponents of being in
the pay of Eritrea). The
EPRP, true to its clearly expressed principles, did not ever back the
reactionary military regime of Somalia. When the Somali incursion into the
Ogaden started in 1977 it condemned this and clearly stated that the
interest of the Somalis in the Ogaden cannot be assured by an invasion.
Some quarters were/are still unable to understand its condemnation
of both regimes (that of Mengistu and Siyad Barre) that were both trying
to solve their internal problems by resorting to nationalism and war. True
enough, the Mengistu regime used the war to consolidate its power and
attack the EPRP with fervor. If truth be told, the Siyad Barre regime of
Somalia killed many EPRP members and refugees linked to the EPRP were
subjected to torture and ill treatment in Somali refugee camps. Yet, there
are still diehards who still accuse the EPRP of supporting the Somali
invasion but they do so without any concrete proof to back them up. Just
rumors and lies. Had the EPRP put first its own organizational interest
and not that of Ethiopia, it would have acted like the TPLF: accepting the
diktat of the Sudan and blowing up bridges and handing over Southern
Sudanese refugees, telling Libya’s Kadafi that Ethiopia is Arab,
accepting whatever America ordered, etc. Intransigent the EPRP may have
been called, but this is due to its refusal to compromise the interest of
Ethiopia. Let us recapitulate: ·
The
Eritrean fronts demanded that it accept their claim hat Eritrea is a
colony of Ethiopia. IT REFUSED and suffered the consequences as the fronts
backed the TPLF that accepted their theses with enthusiasm. ·
The
TPLF declared that ethnic contradiction was primary and that all
nationalities should, secede but the EPRP opposed this divisive, anti
Ethiopian and narrow nationalist stand. The TPLF and its allies waged
successive wars against it. ·
The
Sudan and its allies wanted the EPRP to undertake anti Ethiopian actions
in exchange for military and political assistance. The EPRP refused and
paid the price for its refusal. Some
say the EPRP was not tactical tough the EPRP was well aware of what
tactics meant but had just refused to forego Ethiopia’s interest under
the cover of tactical considerations. The aim of the EPRP was not to
assure power for itself whatever the cost. Its mission was to assure the
sovereignty and rights of the people. It had no intention of coming to
power by becoming the TPLF minus the name. Hence it refused to be
“tactical” if this meant selling out Ethiopia.
Patriotism can sometimes be the hiding place of scoundrels. The
EPRP was a patriot in the most genuine sense of the term. Its members
could have all successfully led their private life but they refused to
succumb to this choice by putting their country and people first. The
regional and international situation favored forces that acted against the
interest of Ethiopia—the EPRP refused to betray Ethiopia, come what may.
The Mengistu regime sold the country’s sovereignty to the Soviet super
power just as the previous regime had done so to America. They were not
nationalist, not really Ethiopian. The Meles regime is worse—it does not
even consider itself Ethiopian. The EPRP differed and differs. It is
committed to Ethiopia and her people. No compromise on this. If it
recognized the right of nationalities it did so NOT to encourage
separation but to advocate for unity on a new democratic basis.
Ethiopia’s problems of nationalities were there long before the EPRP
appeared on the scene. It should be credited for acknowledging and
confronting the problem and of trying to give it a democratic solution
while affirming and fighting for the unity of Ethiopia on a democratic
basis. Can
others make such claims in all honesty?
Should those who supported the chauvinist regime and politics of
the feudal regime even utter a word against the EPRP? Should the partisans
of the repressive and savage Derg who sold the country to Soviet
imperialism be allowed to comment on the consistent and genuine Ethiopia
and her people First stand of the EPRP?
Who is the one to give the time of day to the proclaimed anti
Ethiopian TPLF to question the Ethiopian credentials of the EPRP?
The answer is clear: thousands of EPRP members died for Ethiopia
defining nationalism in a democratic content. Can others say the same? At
present the EPRP is firmly against the traitorous regime and its foreign
backers. It has not bowed down to foreign or ferenji pressures, has not
sacrificed Ethiopia’s interest for organizational benefits. True enough
some call it intransigent but it pleads guilty to the charge as its
“fault” is refusing to deal on Ethiopia’s future with her enemies.
The EPRP has not compromised to the anti Ethiopia TPLF regime. It has not
accepted promises of bureaucratic positions in exchange for betraying the
people. It has not acquiesced with secessionists at any time. In other
words, the EPRP has defined and given more content to Ethiopian
nationalism—not jingoism or chauvinism but democratic and based on the
rights of all her people. No chauvinism, no narrow nationalism—Ethiopia
is our country, and our “difference” is our strength and bond. Such
was and is the stand of the EPRP, the foremost Ethiopian modern political
party. When it comes to wars
fomented by reactionary regimes the EPRP has condemned and exposed the
regimes’ inner motives while calling on the peoples involved to uphold
fraternity and to resist bloodshed. The war between the Siad Barre regime
and Mengistu was primary a war between the two dictators with their own
political agendas. Siyad Barre invoked the plight of the people in the
Ogaden to justify his invasion and to rally the Somali people around him.
Mengistu invoked defense of Ethiopia to use the national feeling of
Ethiopians for his own purpose of consolidating his failing grip on power.
In 1998, the TPLF regime, the very force that threw Ethiopia unity to the
wolves, dressed itself in national-Ethiopian garbs and called on the
people to march against Eritrea. Some were duped into imagining the Meles
regime as the defender of Ethiopian sovereignty. The EPRP had, as in the
past, exposed the costly game being played by the TPLF and events that
followed which brought human and territorial loss to Ethiopia have proven
it to be correct. And those who supported Meles have been shamed by the
result. With good intentions
and hoping to enhance the voluntary unity of the people the EPRP did
recognize the full right of self determination. It was bale to mobilize
the living and vibrant section of the Ethiopian society and to wage a
committed struggle against the dictatorship. The EPRP never went the
ethnic way. Others called this and that but it was and remains ETHIOPIAN
by conviction and composition. Those who followed Meles Zenawi into the
pit of ethnic organization cannot say the same and can have no moral
ground to criticize the EPRP on this basis. After
a few years of struggle and learning from its own experience the EPRP
redefined what self determination meant to it and openly declared its
opposition to any secession. For the Eritrean problem, it forwarded the
federal solution as the The
EPRP did not subject Ethiopian unity and the interest of the people to
tactical considerations. In this it never bowed to foreigners who promised
it the sky if only…if it only took certain actions and positions, which
were not in Ethiopia’s interests. The
reply by the EPRP was in the negative—it still is. That is why it
declares that who blindly follow the diktat of foreign powers or countries
to the detriment of the interests of our people cannot preach
“nationalism” to the EPRP. The EPRP believes that the future of a
united Ethiopia is based on the establishment of a democratic system. A
system that upholds the rule of law, equality amongst the people, assures
self administration and the people’s direct participation in politics.
The EPRP is opposed to those who reject this path and doggedly opt for
separation or secession as such a choice will not benefit the people
though it may be appear fruitful to the elite seeking exclusive power and
fiefdom. The record is very clear and a barrage of rumors and false
accusations cannot change it. Who struggled against the chauvinists and
the narrow nationalists from the outset? Who collaborated with them? Every
Ethiopian knows the answer and can presently see who stands for Ethiopia
and who has succumbed to the Weyane virus of ethnic division. The EPRP was
and is and will continue to be unaffected and free from the virus that is
threatening the very existence of Ethiopia as a united country. SIX EPRP
AND THE UNITED STRUGGLE OF THE PEOPLE Some
people have failed to realize that the difference between the Derg and the
EPRP were fundamental just as the differences that the EPRP has with the
TPLF are for the most part irreconcilable. The tendency to label the Derg
Left “just as the EPRP” and to declare “they were all the same and
fought only for power” is basically wrong. Evidently, political
struggles revolve around the question of State power but the struggle
waged was not primarily for the interest of an organization but for the
rights of the people. If the EPRP had been after its own power, that is to
say to have its members named to executive positions the offer was there
during the Derg period and was on the table also in the early 1990s so
long as the “EPRP accepted to be a teletafi or satellite” of the TPLF.
There is Left and Left just as all rightists are not basically the
same. The EPRP wanted the military Derg to relinquish power and leave its
place to a provisional popular government. The EPRP slogan of the time was
“democraciawi mebt lechikunotch algedeb”—full and unrestricted
democratic rights for the people. The Derg refused to heed this call and
resorted to violence to eliminate the EPRP thereby provoking a bloodshed
that almost wiped out a generation. The
chasm between the TPLF and the EPRP was dug by the TPLF itself when it got
formed on a narrow nationalist basis and issued a Manifesto which
proclaimed that the main contradiction in Ethiopia is that that exists
between nationalities/ethnic groups and thus the only solution is for each
to separate and form its own independent State. The EPRP was fiercely
opposed to this destructive position and held talks (nine times) with the
TPLF leadership to no avail. The TPLF leaders attacked the EPRP as
chauvinist, Amhara, Greater Ethiopia advocate, and called upon it to leave
Tigrai altogether which they tried to assure by violent means.
Thus, the divide was wider than the alleged adherence to leftist
political positions. All
this is to illustrate that the question of the united front or struggling
in unison against the common enemy is not an easy issue. The usual critics
of the EPRP allege that ·
The
EPRP is opposed to a united struggle unless it dominates it; ·
The
EPRP dissolves or breaks up united fronts; ·
The
EPRP is vengeful and excludes those it hates from united fronts. ·
Etc. We
shall show that once again that this false but has been repeated so many
times like the other lies that some people assume it must be true.
Since its formation the EPRP has tried to struggle in unison with
other democratic organizations. The
merger of the founders achieved the process of the formation of the EPRP
with other groups of which the Abyot group was one. When the Derg made a
call to “all progressives” the EPRP did not reject the call outright
but laid down fundamental conditions for the success of such an
undertaking: that it includes all political groups including the groups
like the TPLF. The Derg rejected the demand as it had no intention of
sharing power with anyone. In the nine talks with the TPLF the EPRP
proposed to them to “merge if we have the identical programs and
objectives; to form a united front against the Derg on the basis of a
minimum political program if possible; and if all this is not conceivable
to cooperate on the ground against the common enemy and to avoid any
clashes. Again, it was the TPLF that rejected this offer and demanded that
the EPRP leave Tigrai altogether. Almost
all organizations pass through an adolescent period during which they bask
in the support of the people and imagine that they and only they can bring
about the salvation of millions. The EPRP had such a brief moment but soon
overcame it and realizing that the struggle needed to involve all the
people approached the question of the united front on two levels. 1.
To unite the vast majority of the people along a common political
program and objective, that is to say the struggle for democracy and
equality, land to the tiller, etc… 2.
To form a united front with democratic organizations whenever
possible. Both approaches
were undertaken in earnest and the EPRP was able to mobilize millions. It
also approached the then existing Ethiopian National Liberation Front/IBNEAG
in its Amharic acronym/ in order to form a front. Internal problems of
this front made any agreement difficult. The EPRP had also working
relations with an Afar democratic movement, which later opted to join the
Derg. The EPRP formed a front with the EDU/ideologically its opposite/ and
struggled for a time effectively. Putting aside all previous enmities and
grievances, the EPRP joined Meisone and others to form the Coalition of
Ethiopian Democratic Forces (COEDF). The TPLF and OLF were invited but
refused to attend the meeting that formed the COEDF. This front worked
effectively till it outlived itself and left its place to the UEDF. In
all front arrangements the EPRP did not insist on having a voting power in
proportion to its size but had/has only one voting voice equal to all
other groups however tiny. Such is also the way it works and worked within
the UEDF. It was just one amongst 15 and the fact that the AEUP and EDP
left the UEDF after its formation is more linked to their own ambition and
agenda rather to any misdoings within the UEDF. The EPRP, along with the
UEDF, refused to join the Alliance for Freedom and Democracy because it
believed that the AFD will not advance the struggle of the Ethiopian
people and is more tuned to being an instrument of those forces that
preach secession as their primary political objective. The
united front is formed by organizations that come around a minimum
political program (in the present context to save Ethiopia from the TPLF
onslaught and to assure democracy) and accept the fact that one single
organization cannot tackle and solve the myriad and complicated problems
of Ethiopia. As almost all organizations pass through a sort of adolescent
period during which they imagine everyone in the country backs them and
awaits from them salvation for eternity, it is understandable that some
organizations assume that they are the one and only medicine for
Ethiopia’s ills. However, such delusion should end without much delay.
The EPRP understood that unity of democratic forces is and will be
necessary for victory and has always been in the forefront of the search
for a viable united front. It had left aside it justified grievances and
rancor, ignored its wounds and tried to work with its previous enemies.
Sadly enough, some of these, some who worked with the Derg and took part
in the repression, had turned against it and attacked it. The United Front
is a voluntary undertaking by groups and organizations that decide to come
together. It is not a forced marriage or “telefa” of one group by
another. When a united front loses its usefulness and its mission ends it
will disband or dissolve. The
EPRP cannot be blamed for that. As an organization with only one vote in a
front—for example the UEDF—the travails and problems of the front
cannot be laid at the door of the EPRP alone. Such is the reality. In
short, the EPRP was and is one of the strong bulwarks of all united front
efforts so long as such efforts serve the Ethiopian people’s struggle.
If not, the EPRP will not be part of such an undertaking. In any
front that the EPRP decides to be part of it has and is worked/working on
the basis of equality/one vote/ and so the question of domination or
“only mine must pass” type pf stand have no place. It is just
baseless. An illusion. False. SEVEN
WHY
THE FEAR? WHY THE PREJUDICE? It is evident that a whole lot of
prejudices and false accusations
concerning the EPRP have been spread by its enemies—recalcitrant Derg
members and cadres, criminals of the Red Terror, the TPLF and its
hirelings, those who had betrayed the organization and foreign enemies of
Ethiopia. They are not few these detractors of the EPRP, no.
Yet, we can safely say that there is a lot of fear involved in the
whole process. Fear by the criminals that the EPRP means vengeance for the
savagery they brought down upon the people.
Fear by the betrayers who have changes camp to serve the enemy of
the people. Fear by those who have heard only the revised and false
history of the EPRP. Those who were children during the seventies and have
been exposed only to “history” as written by the Derg and the TPLF are
to be excused if they have negative attitudes towards the EPRP. The lies
are many and they are being prepared by many with their own axe to grind.
The EPRP was and still is a clandestine organization. As it was
denied legality and the enemy was ferocious it had to be secretive, to go
deep underground. Its militants had to carry cyanide pills and were forced
often to commit suicide because they were sure to be brutally tortured and
did not want to pass secrets that would cause more death. The EPRP never
had the chance to function legally inside Ethiopia, to work openly amidst
the people. Fear of the “mysterious and the unknown” affected some
people and led them to unrealistic imaginings and conclusions vis a vis
the party. The EPRP has yet to write its own authentic history though some
attempted to register their version of this history. This absence has also
helped pseudo historians to write falsehood about the EPRP, to attack it
as anti democratic and anti Ethiopia even. But the truth, as we tried to
comment upon, is elsewhere.
A
valiant and heroic generation is what the EPRP is all about. Youngsters
and relatively older Ethiopians, educated and erudite, many assured
bureaucratic posts and comfortable lives threw all this away to serve the
people who had paid for their education. This was a generation that
believed it can assault the sky, grasp and tame the clouds, defeat a well
armed enemy supported by a superpower, a generation that welcomed
sacrifice with revolutionary songs convinced that victory will in the end
smile at the people and all pests and monsters will be defeated. Their
commitment and courage shocked and surprised many—the Derg alleged they
must have been drugged! Why should they die for the masses, scoffed those
who opted to pursue their own individual comfort inside the country or
abroad, quietly awaiting the passing away of the storm, to say “alena”
to the new power holders, here we are new master, use us. For those shamed
by their own past, the EPRP is a nagging bad conscience, a reminder of the
courage and dedication that they lacked. For those who had served the Derg
in one way or another, as advisors, Red Terror activists, etc and are now
hiding within so called opposition groups the EPRP is better off non
existent, so that the past can be buried, their role ignored. And all this
while the EPRP had publicly stated that the past must handle itself and
reconciliation is the best option to learn and move ahead. In other words
there is nothing to fear from the EPRP unless one has become the enemy of
Ethiopia. For
its members, the EPRP has meant the means of continuing the Ethiopian
combat against oppression in all its forms. The new generation has not
shamed the past that gave it an independent country despite the upper hand
held by vermin that have made it to the palace. The important point is
that the struggle continues and the EPRP symbolizes that, a determined and
arduous struggle for more than 34 years. Those who fail to grasp the
stride of history conclude that the EPRP has not wrested power and
therefore it is defeated. They lose sight of the fact that the EPRP has
achieved significant victories that have imposed their indelible stamp on
the country. The very idea and concept of organization, the lessons of the
mass struggle against the Derg, the urban and rural armed struggle, the
mobilization and politicization of millions, the organization of women and
the popularization of their cause, the experience of clandestine struggle,
the lessons of collective leadership and much more are the fruits of the
EPRP. A rich experience, a history of courage. The EPRP is an inextricable part of the people and their
history. That is why the ongoing struggle against the enemies of Ethiopia
benefits immensely from the presence of the EPRP on the side of the
people. And that is why, in reverse, the enemies of Ethiopia like the TPLF
consider the EPRP as enemy number one and have launched against it a
relentless campaign of denigration, false accusation and liquidation. to
be continued....... |