By Tamiru Ayele
The managing editor of Awramba Times and former CPJ “press freedom
hero” has accused the Committee to Protect Journalists of being one of
the tools of imposing “Western hegemonic ambition” and a single ideology
on targeted countries like Ethiopia and China.
Dawit Kebede, who was one of the four recipients of CPJ’s
International Press Freedom Award in 2010, launched the scathing attack
against CPJ and leading international human rights groups in a recent
interview with ETV, the state-run propaganda outlet. He claimed that
organizations such as CPJ, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International, Oakland Institute and the International Crisis Group are
tools of advancing Western hegemony. “These organizations are part of an
overall allegiance to control the world under one single ideology,” he
said.
“I do not endorse or reject these organizations 100 percent. But
whether we like it or not, they have their own agenda,” he said. He
alleged that these advocacy groups exaggerate small incidents and try to
put enormous pressure on countries where there are ideological
deviations and political economic differences with the United States.
The ruling TPLF regime routinely uses the same line of argument in a
bid to discredit international human rights groups that expose
atrocities and gross human rights violations in Ethiopia. Contrary to
the preposterous claim, TPLF abandoned its Albanian communist ideology
over two decades ago. The regime has no tangible ideological differences
with Western governments that pump billions of dollars to Ethiopia in
the form of foreign aid.
According to the former “press freedom hero”, CPJ and other human
rights organizations and their reports are tainted with ideological
prejudice. “These institutions have their own agenda and it is
intimately related with their survival. As I said earlier, it is related
with the desire to impose Western hegemonic ambition on the rest of the
world by attacking those countries that do not follow their ideological
lines,” he said.
He also asserted that the annual U.S. State Department report on
human rights is nothing but a summary of reports published by these
Western think tanks and human rights groups that have vested ideological
interests. He mentioned Survival International, which defends the
rights of endangered indigenous ethnic groups, as an example of
overreaching Western interference and alleged that the group tries to
impede development and investment in areas like the Southern Omo as if
it was more concerned for these indigenous groups than the government.
But Dawit further stated that the reports published by these
international advocacy groups have little impact except being used for
the benefit of those who tend to use them for propaganda outputs. When
Dawit Kebede was jailed in the aftermath of the 2005 election turmoil,
CPJ, Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, among others, took the lead in
campaigning for his release at a global level.
The online publication Awramba Times is widely criticised among
Ethiopian activists for changing into a copycat of the worst state-run
propaganda outlets. A Washington DC-based activist says that Dawit is
just contradicting himself and the reality on the ground in his effort
to please the TPLF regime he had once condemned as oppressive.
“It is a well known fact that the situation in Ethiopia is worsening.
Despite the fact that he is now opportunistically attacking those who
have honored and defended him, he is still receiving funds from the same
Western organizations in the name of promoting press freedom,” he
noted.
“We all know that Dawit Kebede has made up with his former
tormentors. That is why this is a typical case of an opportunist biting
the fingers that fed him,” he said. According to the activist, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, Dawit has received a substantial amount of
money from CPJ, Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy
(NED) just within the last few years.
“It is public knowledge that he is still receiving over 40,000 US
dollars annually from NED in the name of promoting press freedom. If
these organizations have demonic and destructive ideological interests,
as he alleges, why is he taking their money under false pretenses?” he
asked.
In his acceptance speech at the CPJ press freedom awarding ceremony
held in New York in 2010, Dawit had vowed that he would give his whole
life for press freedom and would never be intimidated by dictators or
their agents.
“My country receives millions of American taxpayer dollars to fight
terrorism in the Horn of Africa, but under our anti-terrorism law, I
risk 25 years in prison if I interview certain opposition politicians,”
Dawit had told the CPJ gathering in New York.
CPJ, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, among others,
factually insist that Ethiopia under the TPLF is one of the worst
repressive countries in the world where journalists, dissidents and
activists face trumped up terrorism offenses, torture and vicious
attacks. Dawit’s former colleague, Woubishet Taye, who was the deputy
editor of the defunct Awramba Times newspaper, is languishing in jail
sentenced to 14 years behind bars for being a “terrorist”.
Dawit, who had fled Ethiopia in November 2011 after closing down his
newspaper, completed a full circle when he returned home within two
years, expressed his happiness for being able to work more freely as a
journalist in Ethiopia. He said he had felt a thousand times more
oppressed among the Ethiopian Diaspora that largely oppose TPLF’s
ethnic-based brutal dictatorship ruling Ethiopia.
According to CPJ, 2014 is one of the worst years for Ethiopian
journalists. “A state crackdown on independent publications and bloggers
in Ethiopia this year more than doubled the number of journalists
imprisoned to 17 from seven the previous year, and prompted several
journalists to flee into exile,” CPJ says in its latest report. In the
last few months alone, a dozen of journalists have been jailed and
nearly 30 Ethiopian journalists were forced into exile after the regime
filed terrorism charges against them and the publications they worked
for.
Meanwhile, in his latest online posting, Dawit posted celebratory
reports from Dedebit, a place where the ruling TPLF junta launched its
violent insurretion forty years ago to secede Tigray from the rest of
Ethiopia. After it toppled Mengistu’s military junta, TPLF is widely
condemned for imposing a brutally oppressive and exploitative
ethnic-based Apartheid on the majority of Ethiopians.
“I am now exceedingly happy with what I do more than I can express it
in words,” Dawit told ETV, now renamed Ethiopian Broadcasting
Corporation (EBC). Dawit says regardless of what his critics say, he is
only practising journalism in an “impartial and professional” manner.
—–
Watch Dawit Kebede’s interview with ETV
——
Excerpts: Dawit Kebede Interview with ETV / EBC in Amharic
(Translation by K. Bekele, Seattle)
ETV: CPJ has awarded you a press freedom award. What does that mean?
Dawit: The category of award given to me was not
done through soliciting votes or online campaigns. The awarding body has
its own criteria and based on those criteria you are told to go and
collect the award. On the basis of that I went to New York to receive
the award.
With regard to these institutions, I have one clear position. I do
not endorse or reject these organizations 100 percent. But whether we
like it or not, they have their own agenda. These organizations that you
mentioned, be it CPJ, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International,
[International] Crisis Group, Oakland Institute or Freedom House,
whether we like it or not, these organizations are part of an overall
allegiance to control the world under one single ideology
Whether we like it, they have their own agenda. They defend press
freedom. The evidence they present are partially things in existence.
When they report a journalist is jailed, the government may have its own
reasons and may present its own evidence, but there could be
journalists in jail. At the same time, they may also report as if a
journalist that did not flee his country went into exile.
In countries where they believe are countries that do not take their
ideological lines, it is observed that they exaggerate small events. In
these cases, they exaggerate the situation and put significant pressure
on these countries. For instance, you mentioned a report that cites
China and Ethiopia who have an ideological and political differences. If
you look at the majority of these countries, they are the ones that
have ideological and political economic differences with the United
States. Sometimes there is an issue that is raised frequently. For
example, the Ethiopian government works with the US on anti-terrorism,
and peace and security matters. Many people get a bit confused when
these organizations issue such reports even if Ethiopia is a U.S. ally.
The Americans work with others in areas where they agree, they use
these institution where there are differences in ideological and
political economic strategies that may not suit them. In spite of the
fact in areas where they don’t agree with the ideology and political and
economic path Ethiopia is following, America works with Ethiopia on
terrorism issues but they use these institutions to put pressure in
annual reports. Whether we like it or not, these institutions have their
own agenda and it is intimately related with their survival. As I said
earlier, it is related with the desire to impose Western hegemonic
ambition on the rest of the world by attacking those countries that do
not follow their ideological lines. At the same time, there are
journalists they defend.
ETV: Let us discuss organizations such as Survival
International and Oakland Institute with regard to what you just said.
As you know, the government is saying that Ethiopia is making great
strides in agriculture. The government in Ethiopia is working hard to
duplicate the success in agriculture in the industrial areas also since
these two sectors feed each other. There are many arable agricultural
land in Ethiopia as well as the availability of cheap labor in
abundance. These two are important factors to attract foreign direct
(FDI). When Ethiopia is trying to sell this fertile investment
opportunities on a global scale, organizations like Survival
International, Oakland Institute, Human Rights Watch and various
international organizations speak against Ethiopia claiming human rights
abuses due to the uprooting of the indigenous people exaggerating the
actual situation on the ground on purpose. As you said they exploit a
minor problems in order to paint a more gloomy picture of the situation.
When IMF claims a rapid economic progress in Ethiopia, Survival
International and Oakland Institute issue reports that tarnish and
degrade the country. Do you think this is consistent with what you
mentioned earlier which is an example of how these organizations are
being used as a tool to impose Western Hegemony in Ethiopia?
Dawit: Yes, it is. By the way, there are so many of
the numerous organizations. A stream of reports always come out by these
different organizations. All the organizations you mentioned such
Survival International and International Rivers, Oakland Institute,
think tanks, rights advocacy groups and press freedom defenders are set
up as civic organizations. At the end of the day, their allegiance is
the same. They always issue reports. We have seen the CPJ report. After
two or three months, the [U.S.] State Department report will be
released. Actually, the US State Department report is nothing but a
summary of reports copied from CPJ, Human Rights Watch and reports by
the others. Then it becomes a report reflecting the the (the State
Department’s] positions. Such reports continue to be issued. But the
organizations you mentioned like Survival International, for example, in
China, India, and in our own country like Southern Omo, there are
indigenous ethnic groups that have unique life style. It defends for the
rights of these indigenous groups.They believe that these groups should
keep their culture and identity and any development and investment
`activists jeopardize their survival. There is a government in any
country which is accountable to its own people as it survives on the
will of the people. It is ironic that when the government is about to
implement policies and strategies that benefit the people, these
organizations say that it is going to harm these indigenous groups. As I
told you earlier, these organizations are also tools to enforce the
kind of policies I mentioned earlier.
By the way, these institutions have a long arm. They have the
capacity to stop funding the Ethiopian government may get. For example,
they have succeeded in stopping the funding ,around 200 million Euros,
from the European Bank which was allocated for the Gibe Dam III. Their
claim of trying to protect the culture of the indigenous people is not
convincing. It is just a smokescreen. I want to say more on the reports
these organizations are pumping out. What is the impact of these
reports? These kinds of reports may serve as propaganda input to some
extent for those that want to use them to that end. But it has no
significant impact beyond that.
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