Resolution by Ethiopian-Tigrians in Ottawa, Canada
June 30, 2001

We have been following, very closely, for the last 4 months, since the split of TPLF in Ethiopia. We were saddened, angered and shamed by the developments of the split of TPLF, and now it has reached its most dangerous stage, for it has spilled over to the other sister organizations and to the President of the country Dr. Negaso Gidada.
The General meeting of all Tigrians in Ottawa, therefore, was called upon on June 30, 2001 to asses the situation, to either give our support or criticize the situation and the danger to the whole Ethiopian people, where accountability is due. Our meeting strongly believed that the palace Meles group has never responded to any plea & demands asked by Tigrian-Ethiopians throughout the world, for a peaceful resolution of the political crisis caused by them, to our beloved country.
Thinking that we are going to get the same deaf ear to our demands, we condemned the regime at the helm of power for not responding positively to the demands of Tigrians throughout the world, who have given everything to TPLF. We condemned the regime in Addis Ababa, who stood above the law to destroy any one, who stand on the way, who thinks he is Bonaparte Meles of Ethiopia, who has no philosophy of his own, but to copy Bonapartizm from a book and at that who can’t even copy the book correctly. We, thus, are consolidating our support with all Tigrians in the world: Tigrians in Toronto, British Colombia, New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, Denver, Minnesota, Boston, Houston, Greater Atlanta, Francisco (Bay Area), Dallas, California, Chicago, Las Vegas, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, West and Sydney Australia, Tigray Net Netters etc. Most of all, we give our at most support to Tigrian International Solidarity for Justice & Democracy (TISJD), which stood at its feet at this crisis and encourage this organization to be the true voice of Tigrians in Diaspora.
Having said that, the Tigrian Community in Ottawa-Carleton are obliged and determined to do everything what it takes, in our authority and in our part, to cooperate with all democratic forces of Ethiopia, to bring about peace, democracy and most of all justice - to be ruled by the rule of law in our country, which has been trashed by Meles at this time in point, and to make the neo-dictators be accountable for their injustices committed and continue to commit a crime being above the law. At this time, we believe Meles is the law, nothing more nothing less. Because of the above assessment, we have concluded the following resolutions at our General meeting held in Ottawa.
I. On the split of TPLF:
1) We believe the TPLF we knew for a long time was based on collective agreement and decisions were made collectively till the beginning of the split. It is the responsibility of all of them of what ever decisions were made till then. However, it was suspected for a long time, that some functions exist in TPLF as dominant figure. At this time things became clearer by the day. The equilibrium in power, we thought existed within TPLF, was broken by a clandestine operation, by the clique of Meles-Sebhat regime, which have been shadowing a dark shadow on TPLF for a long time.
2) It has been understood, the clique in power has rejected the decision made by the Audit Commission of TPLF on the illegality of the removal of 12 Senior members of TPLF. The Audit Commission concluded, the clique in power does not have the mandate to expel even one TPLF member from the Central Committee. We applauded the decision of the Audit Commission & for their heroic approach to the matter at hand with no fear, confronting Meles and the Cadres hanti eznu mis kebdu wegeinu (one sided ear cadre aderbaioch) for their illegality of the meeting in Mekelle. The Audit Commission fulfilled, what was expected from them, as TPLF members to the Martyrs. We condemn the rejection of their findings and the subsequent removal of the Audit Commission from their positions in retaliation to their lawful and democratic decisions made to the norm of the law of TPLF. We, therefore, demand the full reinstatement of the Audit Commission to their respective positions.
3) We believe, there was no walk-out of the dissident group from any legal meetings. According to the Audit Commission the Mekelle Cadre meeting is illegal. The incrimination of Meles-Sebhat clique against the dissident group of the so called walk-out is a total fabrication of pre-planned coup to remove the dissident group from their power. The removal is, therefore, revengeful for the Ethio-Eritrean war, illegal and unconstitutional. We demand the immediate release of Ato Seye Abraha, and the release of our hero Ato Betaw Belay, for they have done nothing, but defend our country. We also demand the full reinstatement of the 12 dissident to their previous positions.
4) The people of Tigray have been subjected for the second time, using food as a weapon, to collect wicked petitions for the dismissal of dissident group, be it in Tigray or from the parliament in Addis Ababa. As we condemned the use of food as a weapon in DERG era, we condemned the use of food to solicit signatures, which is totally inhumane sham to our people. Shame on those Cadres who are doing this to our people, for the DERG used food as a weapon and we all fought against such practices.
II. On the Military:
We do believe, Ethiopia at this particular time has the strongest army in Africa. It is the contribution, mainly of all Ethiopians & the leadership of EPRDF, to create such an army. Our admiration also goes deep to the people, who made it possible in such a short time, such as Ato Seye Abraha, General Tsadkan Gebretensay, General Abebe Teklehaimanot and others who were directly involved with Ethio-Eritrean war Committee, where Meles was excluded from, thereby resulted in the humiliation of Shaebia. However, we also remember, how Meles weakened the Ethiopian army, before the Ethio-Eritrean war, and how he is weakening the army at this moment, while Eritrea is ready to strike in case Meles is in danger. Who can disarm his own people who brought him to power, while the enemy Shaebia is armed to the teeth? It is only done by the Sheabian servant, Bonaparte Meles, who else. At this time, the people who were bombed by cluster bomb of Sheabia, the people of Indierta and its environs are being disarmed by Meles. Tomorrow, do not be surprised, if the whole Tigray is going to be disarmed !! It is a warning !! What a shame, to those who are serving Meles, that includes the Cadres, who are touring the world in seeking our support. We believe, the decision made by Meles to expel General Tsadikan, General Abebe, General Taddesse Berhe and to arrest Mr. Seye Abraha & others, is based on revenge, in the case of Eritrean humiliation on the war, not on corruption. If, in any case war disrupts once again between Ethiopia & Eritrea, be it tactical to divert attention or otherwise, we held the tyrant in power fully responsible for the danger of the vacuum positions created now and before, in key and decisive command posts being replaced by incapable and slavish personnel. We, therefore, ask the palace group, to reinstate the dignitaries to their respective duties without endangering our people and our country, Ethiopia.
III. On students:
Students are the bright light of the futurity of Ethiopia. The killings of 41 students and the wounding of more than 250 is not directed on hooligans, but on the futurity of Ethiopia. At the result of the killings, torture & mass arrest forwarded to the AAU and Mekelle students, about 200 students have now fled to Kenya in fear of reprisal. This reminded us to the DERG era, where all walks of life have been fleeing, the same as we did in the past, to neighboring countries to escape torture and killings. We, thus, demand the full recognition of the chaos and anarchy created by Meles, for he ordered Special Force of Paratroopers to shoot to kill, thereby, led to the discontinuation of education. The AAU students are now making headlines, being on hunger strike in foreign land in Kenya, to exert pressure on the UNHCR to grant them an asylum. What a tragedy, our heart & support goes to them. Not only do we need an official apology by Meles to the Ethiopian people and compensation to the one who lost their beloved children, but also the accountability of Meles to the killings of our brothers and sisters. We totally condemned the killings of our futurity.
IV. On sister organizations of EPRDF:
Meles said the drama is over 3 months ago, the dissident group said the drama is over only in fool minds. However, we all know the drama continues from TPLF to students, to Opposition groups, then to the Military, and now it spilled over to EPRDF and beyond. If there is going to be any stop to it, only the Almighty GOD knows, when. This is madness, Mr. Bonaparte Meles. That is why we don’t believe corruption was the main issue, causing TPLF to split in the first place. If corruption was the issue, how comes only 2 people out of 12 dissidents were accused of corruption. We know for sure, it is a question of Sovereignty, it is a question of Military Superiority, it is a question of revenge, not a question of corruption, for we know it all along who is at the helm of corruption and treason in clandestine clique dominance operation suffocating the whole Ethiopia. We, therefore, don’t hear the background misleading noise of Meles’s echo of corruption allegation labeled to all dissident group, to the Military, to Mr. Abate Kusho, to Seyoum, to President Negasso Gidada as such. We, therefore, pass our resolution on the following issues spilled over to the rest of EPRDF sister members:
1) We believe, it is about Sovereignty issue, which caused the TPLF to split into two, which in turn is splitting EPRDF. For some time now, the President of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, Dr. Negaso Gidada, was under pressure from Meles. For us, who are following the events closely, the resignation of Dr. Negaso from EPRDF was not a surprise, it is a continuation of the coup created by Meles-Sebhat clique. Dr. Negaso felt Meles is like the ruthless dictator Mengistu Hailemariam. But, we know for certain, Meles is a dictator, who thinks he is Bonaparte. Dr. Negaso attempted to resign from his post, as a President, but was begged to stay. Reliable sources indicate that he has been intimidated, harassed, defamed and character assassinated by Meles security forces & by mass media. We know Dr. Negaso is in danger. We ask Dr. Negaso Gidada to do the honorable thing of what ever it is, not to Meles, but to the Ethiopian people. Having said that, we condemned Meles’s pressure on the President of our country.
2) By now, corruption allegation does not hold water to dissident group. Why should it be any different with Mr. Abate Kusho? Mr. PM Meles, if you have any grain of truth to your allegation, try to sue yourself, your crippled brother Nikodimos Zenawi, your wife Azeb & Sebhat Nega of corruption, who are millionaires over night. We demand the reinstatement of Mr. Abate Kuhso and four of his followers to their respective positions.
V. On political prisoners:
Hundreds of Opposition political party members, civilians and government officials are arrested and their whereabouts unknown. Only two Human Rights activists, Professor Mesfin Weldemariam and Dr. Berhanu Nega, were released thanks to the effort of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, other agencies and all Ethiopians. What we couldn’t stop asking is, who will speak up for the rest of the thousands of helpless citizens we couldn’t call by name, still languishing in prisons? We believe the UN High Commission for Human Rights still has a roll to play to free the following political prisoners: Mr Siye Abreha, General Tadese Berhe, Colonel Eleni Meles, Colonel Ataklti Berhe, General Tsadkan Gebretnsae, General Abebe Teklehaimanot, Colonel Kuma, Colonel Aregawi Goliad, Colonel Kuhlen, Secretary General of EDP Lidetu Ayalew and other political prisoners.
VI. On religious Leaders:
Please prey for our country, for our people, for the people who died in Ethio-Eritrean war. We urge you, with your prayers to bury the unburied mortal remains of our martyrs - our heroes & heroines. But, we don’t expect you to mess up with politics. Government and religion have been separated since King Haileselassie. Stay out of politics. Please stop betraying our country & our people, at the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. You are, betraying the Savior and the martyrs, by sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. We ask, particularly Abune Paulos, not to stick-in-the-mud to give the Orthodox Christianity, which kept Ethiopia intact till now, a bad name.
VII. On Mamma Ethiopia:
The credence of Revolutionary Democracy to prepare fertile ground for a full-fledged Capitalism in Ethiopia, is only a propaganda to stay in power. The ABC of Capitalism development does not come like magic, but with prolonged undisrupted society with good vision and prolonged investment. You can’t turn from Feudo-Capitalist (King Haileselassie) to Military dictatorship (Mengistu), to Albanian Marxist-Leninst League of Tigray (Meles), then jump to Capitalist Ethiopia (Meles) overnight, all in one generation. It is a bluff of empty words, not so simple as such Mr. Meles & it is a laughable madness. We warn, the developed nations, not to get caught in the trap of a false pretense of misleading & conniving Meles being Capitalist Bonaparte. Records clearly show that he is the head of Marxist-Leninst League of Tigray. The wind of change by Meles, is not a wind of change, it is a revengeful, turbulent hurricane in our country, which is causing a lot of pain to our beloved country. We believe, the campaign to terrorize the Ethiopian people, indicating that Ethiopia without Revolutionary Democracy by EPRDF ruling party will disintegrate, meaning with no Meles at the helm of power is tantamount to disintegration is a bluff of a mad man, Bonaparte Meles, who doesn’t know what he is talking about. It is anti-Ethiopia, anti-people, anti-democracy to terrorize people, contrary to what we fought for. This is Meles’s exercise in futility. Why should we separate, while Eritrea is suffering at the consequence of separation? Let the truth be spoken as is in Diaspora: Humiliation of Cadres by all Ethiopians in unison against you, Mr. Legese or Meles, what ever you choose your name is in effect. We condemn the use of terror to our people to stay in power. How low, Mr. Meles, would you go to stay in power? Word of advice to you Mr. PM Meles, it is time, you resign from power and be accountable for treason. This nonsense of Bonaparte Meles politics underscores the warning to UN, USA, Canada, EU and other humanitarian organizations, if they are really concerned about our country, that Ethiopia is now found in a time bomb. We warn, there is too much at stake, not to be concerned. No compromise on Mamma Ethiopia’s SOVEREIGNTY and its well being. From here on, the Tigrians in Ottawa lost the trust & confidence to Meles-Sebhat leadership, therefore, any compromise done concerning the Ethio-Eritrean border dispute by the dictatorial Meles regime is totally unacceptable & VOID. We shall fight to undo any agreement done on Ethiopian territory by Meles.

This resolution is to be distributed to:

1) House of Peoples Representative of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2) Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
3) Regional State of Tigray, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
4) Ethiopian Embassy in Canda, Ottawa
5) Ethiopian Mass media Internet Services
6) Canadian Embassy in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
7) Canadian Foreign Ministe
8) Us Department of State E-mail: Secretary of [email protected]
9) European Prliament E-mail: [email protected]
10) Human Rights Watch E-mail: [email protected]
11) Amnesty International E-mail: [email protected]