I human being has more human rights than any other human being. Human Rights are best protected under democracy where a state takes full responsibility of protection of its citizens. States do not have human rights and their duty is to protect the human rights of their citizens and legally residing foreign citizens in their territory. The State is the sole protector and also the main violator of human rights (although non-state agents for example guerrilla fighters, rebels may as well play these roles in the area they control). As you see from the above obbo Andargachew,

a) there is no hierarchy in human rights;
b) human rights belong only to human beings and states do not have any human right to give to citizens;
c) human rights issues are democracy issues and their enjoyment should not depend on the will of the state;
d) a national question as a human rights question usually arises when the state fails (either unwilling or unable) to protect human rights of its citizens on an equal footing i.e. according more rights to certain group and depriving others from exercising their rights. In our case for example, the state granted full rights of ethnic Amharas to use their language at court and at schools whereas it declared illegal for the Oromos to use afaan oromo at these facilities. This is an area where we the Oromos accuse the state of Ethiopia of a deliberate failure to protect our fundamental human rights. In short, it is the discrimination and un-equal treatment of citizens and the failure by the state to ensure the respect of human rights of its citizens on an equal footing that triggers the national question; and,
e) subsequently, if the human rights of all citizens are respected and all root causes of discrimination also eliminated, then there is no need to invoke regionalization or secession.

Even though you tried to portray the supremacy of individual rights over the so called group rights, and therefore we have to fight only for individual rights and disregard the rights of nations to self-determination (because you categorised them as group rights) you can not convince anyone my dear. The government of Ethiopia is duty bound to ensure that the Convention as a whole and Article 1 in particular (concerning the demand of the Oromos) is fully respected. Don’t forget that Ethiopia as a state party to the above Covenants is obliged to report to the Human Rights Committee as and when required regarding its effort to implement these human rights norms in Ethiopia. If it fails to implement, as was the case in the past, rest assure that we Oromos - victims of the violation of our fundamental rights by the Amhara ruling system you are defending, we will ring the bells and beat the drums parading in front of the Palais des Nations and the UN Head Quarters in Manhattan to remind the international community that the government of Ethiopia is violating our fundamental human rights as stipulated in Article 1 of the International Covenants. This is as far as peaceful means of struggle is concerned.

Let us pretend to be civilised, think global and reflect back on Ethiopia’s responsibility towards the international community since it ratified the above two international human rights instruments. I am sure you will observe a discrepancy between the commitment the Ethiopian government undertook when it voluntarily acceded to these Covenants in 19…. and the practise of for example the de-legalization of the use of afaan Oromo at schools and courts. How can you explain the legality of this act of the State of Ethiopia to the international community and to the Oromo elites and people who were openly discriminated against and barred from joining the university, for example because the Amhara ruling system imposed the mandatory pass in Amharic at ESLC. How can you convince us that there were no abuses of our fundamental human rights? I am sure you have met dozens of Oromo elites – victims of this mandatory pass in Amharic. Does it ever cross your mind by the way why there were very few Oromo students at the university? I hope you agree with me that it has more to do with the system than with the individual intellect. I am a living witness not only for what has happened to me but also I observed the thousands of times the pain my friends had to go through to pass the Amharic exam and secure a place at the national university. I still remember when our friend Gonfa, who had straight “A”s in all subjects except for a “C” in Amharic faced an interrogation interview by an official from the Ministry of Education, before travelling abroad for further studies. The official could not accept the fact that Gonfa scored only “C” in Amharic but straight “A”s in all “foreign” subjects including English. He took it for granted that Gonfa, being an Oromo, deliberately did not want to study Amharic and in his mind that was why he scored “C”. The truth is that today some thirty years later and after obtaining his graduate degrees at one of the most prestigious universities in Europe, Gonfa can hardly articulate himself in Amharic. And the more people continue making fun of his pronunciation, the worse his accent became.

Obbo Andargachew, every time I tried to explain this to my Amhara elite friends, either they pretend to understand me and pay a lips service or they totally deny that it ever took place. It is like a man listening to the complaint of his wife that she is oppressed as a woman. We, the male species of course, have difficulty fully understanding the magnitude of the gender based oppression no matter how women try to explain it to us. We rather invoke our good gestures as a proof that we treat them as equal and that they are not oppressed. A friend once told me that during one of his discussions with his Swedish girlfriend on this issue, he tried to convince her that he, being a communist and subsequently the supporter of the liberation of women, fully understood the problem and that he was doing all what he could do to alleviate her suffering. You know what she replied? She told him, “Dear friend, thanks for the understanding but one has to be born a woman and deliver a baby to understand the pain a woman experiences during delivery. You may try to share the pain” she told him, “but being a man you simply cannot understand the magnitude of that pain”. I am sure you got the point. No matter how much you will try (assuming you are a genuine person and make an effort) to understand the magnitude of the problems we the Oromos had to face, you will never fully feel the pain. But it is not fair for you though to expect the Oromos to disregard the pain and dance to the same tune with you as if nothing had happened and no pain was inflicted upon them.

Email: Belew@yahoo.com

City: Africa

Balcha,

Are you OK? What in God's name were you trying to tell us when you said "States do not have human rights." Wow! You have an excellent grasp of the obvious. I read the entire text and you have made one excellent observation when you rightly articulated the following: "If the human rights of all citizens are respected and all root causes of discrimination also eliminated, then there is no need to invoke regionalization or secession." You should have stoped there.

I kind of laughed when you told us about your teacher pointing at himself to teach you "ene". What did you want him to pint at? The sky? My friend let me tell you one thing. I can not for the life of me understand the point you were making there. If he were teaching you "ante" he would have pointed at you.

My brother, most human beings have to learn a language other than their mother language. In Ethiopia it just happened so that it is Amharic. This is a historical coincidence. It could easily have been Tigragna, Oromigna or Kembategna.

I have a rather radical proposal and that is to make English the national language and make sure that every school teaches English and not local language. If you wish to teach your child Oromigna, send him to private school. The same for Amharic. I hope it would not be an issue if your child's teacher points at himself when he teaches "me". At least it would not be a political issue.

VJ what do you think. In a world when Ibrahim gives up tribal politics, balch is coming with a vengence with 30 pages to tell us "States do not have human rights." VJ, Is this chap a stand up comsdian?

Mamo Qilo aka
Yejib Tila

Yejib,

The article Balcha posted exactly told you that for it is real difficult for you perhaps impssible to empathize the Oromos or all that had to go through the ordeal of not only being forced to learn a language but had also been laughed at and rediculed by the same peple who made the forced leanring.

YOur recommendation of using English as a unifying language is rather feasible and is logical.

Email: jirruu@yahoo.com

City: Finfinnee