Your Excellency,


This is in reference to your statement of last week. am deeply concerned about your role in the democratic process in Ethiopia, it is surprising to many that you have taken sides with the ruling party. As you may know Ethiopians are dying every day of hunger, preventable diseases and HIV/AIDS; this is mostly because of the failed policies the incumbent government carries out. After fourteen years of ruling the country the record clearly shows that the poverty level in the country has dramatically increased and tens of thoudands more have died, and the only thing the incumbant has been successful is in promoting ethnic based system to divide the country.

As you have observed Ethiopians came out on May 15 in unprecedented numbers to caste their ballots and they voted overwhelmingly to unseat the EPRDF government based on their evaluation of the performance of the incumbat of the last fourteen years. It wasn't surprising to see what EPRDF has done to over turn the results of the election, because the ruling party and the people of Ethiopia live in different world. Meles and his party may believe that they have brought fortune to Ethiopia, well they may have brought fortune for themselves, but the truth is they have brought hell to the people. As head of state of the country, Ato Meles has never been seen in public giving speech to the people or talking with the people about his policies. I believe he spends more of his time on devising plans to convice or dupe the west so he can extend his rule over the impoverished people of Ethiopia. The record clearly shows, Ato Meles has done a great deal against the interest of the country which is the greatest paradox of head of statesmanship, as most stand firmly or fight for the interest of their country. Becasue leadership is a responsiblity to carry out the interest of the people not a personal campaign against the interest your own people.

I am writing this email to appeal to you, as an Ethiopian-American who born and raised in Ethiopia during the time of the military regime of Derge. My father, who was the victim of the Derge regime has lost all he had worked for: his property, savings, everything he had overnight and they didn't stop there, they threw him in jail and tortured for no reason. They broke his spirit, his manhood and they made him question why one be threated in such atrocity in their own country? who knows how many Ethiopians are going thru the same as we speak, how many parents are unable to feed their childern and just watch them malnourish and eventually die, how many mothers infected with HIV and die in agony knowing there is no future for their children. You, as well as others like me understand the system under which the people live is the main cause of the problem, the system contributes a great deal to the success or failure of the people. I can give you my testimony how tenacious and hard working Ethiopians are given the chance. Here in the US majority of them are successful, many work in different capacity in corporatations, service industry and quite a few are running successful businesses.

Mr. Clarke, you stand in a very important time in the history of Ethiopians, they are paying sacrifices for their freedom in order to instil a government that helps them to get out of their misery. Therefore, I am appealing for your fair and neutral role in assisting to facilitate realization of and respect of the peoples voice to choose their leaders in a democratic process. I'd like to humbly urge your excellency not to pressure the opposition to accept anything otherwise which would lead the country in more disastrous situation.

Sincerely,

Your Excellency Mr. Timothy Clarke
EU Ambasodor to Ethiopia


Dear Sir,

I am one of the millions of Ethiopians who are concerned about the current stalemate of the political conditions of the country. I do not wish to take much of your time by detailing the eventualities. I am sure you know them as much as we do, if not more. However, allow me if you will, to mention some of the important events that will help me strengthen my arguement.

May 15 embarks a historic day in Ethiopia. It is a day unprecedented in the 3000 or so years of Ethiopia's history. Not only because 25 million Ethiopians were out on the constituencies, waited for hours and voted. But also because they demonstrated their beleif and trust in democracy. They showed to all that were following, what a civilised nation the people are and how far ahead they have gone from the ruling tyrant government and even from the oppostition parties themselves.

On that day, many international observers including the Carter Center and EU hailed the process to be peaceful and democratic except for some minor anomalities.

In some few hours after the election Addis Ababa went for the opposition and the incumbent waisted no time in conceding it. The indications were that many parts of the country went for the opposition and that the ruling party, for all practical reasons, has lost. In 95% of the constituencies where inetrnational observers were present the ruling party officialy lost, the statistical analysis of the EU ( based on 500,000 samples - which is a normal procedure even here in the US and Europe) reflected that CUD ( the major opposition) alone won 49% and the incumbent got nothing more than 34%.

At this juncture, Mr. Ambasodor, the government realised that it was cought off guard and something that they did not expect even in their wildest dream was happening. Then is when they started acting like a wildbeast who has just been wounded but not been finished off. The Prime Minister put the whole army under his control and declared a 'state of emergency' in the captial. The country side, where media access is so shallow, was simply a battle field.The people right there were deprived of the very thing they voted for.

Anna Gomez, the head of EU delegation, were brave enough to issue a statement reflecting her concern about the election board loosing the count on the ground and that the Carter Center was not working with the EU as expected.

AAU students got frustrtated by the on going rigging of the votes of their parents and held hunger strikes. Sadly enough they were intimidiated by the killing squad of Meles's Agazi force and that led to the chaos of june 8 to 10. Agazi, ordered directly by Meles, gunned down innocent civilians right in the head and chest.

This barbaric action of Meles and his squad was condemned all over the world. US and EU released statments after statements requesting the government to retract from using excessive force. Senators of US wrote Meles a much stronger letter and Briton went as far as holding back AID.

Mr. Ambasodor,

Just when the people of Ethiopia thought that the international community is whith them on their struggle for , nothing else but, democracy; of all the people you Mr. Clarke who came from a country which claims to be the archtect of democracy and who knows the people of Ethiopia well enough to understand them; Mr. Ambasodor you failed us and out of the blue sided with the government. For reasons that still buggles my mind ( not with helding the fact that the West always stands for their own interset and no one elses, and democracy is just a rhetoric for them as long as their side is safe; not to mention that for the West their is a different bar of standard for democracy when it comes to Africa) you chose to side with Meles and even went as far as using his words of "take it or otherwise..." .

Sir,

I would just like to know what you tell your children when you go back home and they ask you how your day was. Do you tell them the truth and show them how unfair your work is, or do you simply lie to them?

With Respect,

Your excellence Ambassador Tim Clarke


I have closely followed your “ruling” regarding the fraudulent vote investigation process in Ethiopia.

You claimed that the investigation was handled professionally by NEB. If professional means professionally harassing, evicting and killing potential witnesses to the investigation then you are right. If not you had it up side down. What a sad judgment!

I am not in any way questioning your intellect and experience but your moral integrity is in question beyond doubt.

Dear Ambassador, the US and EU are paying in blood and treasure to disseminate the light of democracy and freedom through out the world. However, in Ethiopia the conspiracy is to impose tyranny and dictatorship against the will of the people.

As far as it serves the strategic interest of your countries it is fine with you for 70 million people to suffer under dictatorship. I will tell you this, it is not luxury for poor people to demand and exercise their God given freedom.

Dear Ambassador, you stood against the rights of millions of people. If you really know what sorrow means, I am afraid you know it in the context of our culture, we are deeply saddened by your stance.

I request you to work for your consciousness or leave this country altogether. You have failed us.

Respectfully Submitted

Yohannes S.

Email: shenkute@yahoo.com

City: Nashville, TN

why don't we e-mail him and ask him why he said what he said? get the story from the horses mouth, not from the government or the opposition. i.e if you want the truth but if you want to keep your believe that NEB is useless then ..........

Folks,

Really, what’s all this exercise in futility, aren't by now aware of the fact that Tim Clarke is simply and errand boy whose only purpose is to deliver a message between EU & USA and between the ruling party to the opposition.

Get over it, Tim Clark makes no decisions nor has influence over anyone party. Remember, Tim Clarke dismissed Ana Gomez at the insistence of Meles Zenawi, because of her assertive demands for a independent and transparent conduct by NEB and castigating Meles for attempting to incite ethnic violence by twicw making a speak in which he invoked interhamwe like massacre.

For all exhaustive purposes, neither Tim Clarke nor the US congressman are in a position to alter the position that both USA and EU have decided in maintain which is, stability under tyranny over democracy. Ironically Condi Rise and her master Bush gave impressive lip services about standing up with nations aspiring democracy...bal...bla bla...bla. As far as US & EU are concerned and they have made that abundantly clear to the opposition party and their incoherent allies. I suggest you go back and re-read Tim Clarke's message of last week to the opposition party.

As I said all along in my frustrations and disappointments as any frustrated and disappointed genuine Ethiopian, the fate of our Ethiopia and the realization of our democratic aspiration lies in the hands of the Ethiopian people and not in the benevolence of the EU, UK, or USA.

The opposition party would be more effective if it acted under the auspices and the power of its own constituents (people) by declaring the election results fraud and defective, demanding for the abolition of the existing NEB, creation of a neutral board comprising of the ruling party, the opposition parties, and a fresh army of international observers not including the carter center. Following that, the opposition must put the world on notice, organize and coordinate a massive peaceful public demonstration in every major urban and rural areas of the country with the involvement of all public and civic organizations.

Anything short of this viable option will only strengthen and legitimize TPLF/Meles' rule of oppressions and insure retribution.

Beheg-Amlack