To : Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ),
Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa,
Global Human Rights and International Operations,


Dear Sir, I have a lot of respect for you and the people of the United States for your love of justice and fairness. I am glad to hear that you will be visiting Ethiopia, to learn first hand, about the crisis facing that country. Your planned visit gives us hope that, it might add impetus to a successful conclusion of the May 15th 2005 election.

The Ethiopian election that started so well on May 15th 2005, has become the most controversial, from the first day after the election when the government, in a blatant subversion of its own election rules unashamedly, announced that it had won the majority votes and declared a state of emergency in Addis Abeba. It was the day when the government, effectively, told the Ethiopian people that their votes do not mean any thing, that whatever happens, the government will remain in power; and dashed any hopes of a peaceful transition to a democratic system.

The massacre of 40 defenceless protesters and the arrest of thousands of civilians, Opposition party supporters and their leaders that followed the election, have added more fuel to the already volatile situation.

Dear Sir, You may recall that soon after vote counting began, incoming results were showing the Opposition parties winning all the seats being counted, and from projections of the vote counts calculated by the international and EU election observers, the lead of Opposition was in no doubt. The vote counting was then stopped dead in its track by the government, as it became clear that they were in serious trouble of losing. For days, there were no results being announced; then suddenly the government started to release some figures in trickles, showing their own votes increasingly going up.

One has to ask why, after a delay of several days, all the results were coming out in favour of the government. Whilst the Election Board was announcing these figures, the government were removing, torturing, threatening and even killing local election observers on the ground; ballot boxes were being stolen and burned down.
What else can this sort of abuse and well calculated attack be, if can not be described as vote rigging, fraud, deceit and robbery of the peoples’ vote. It is also understandable that the Opposition parties including the people of Ethiopia regard the Election Board as biased and a partisan group serving the interests of the government to which it is accountable. How can the opposition be expected to believe that an Election Board set up by Mr Zenawi himself is independent and impartial.
How can one explain the massacre of people for voicing their anger and demanding vote rigging and fraud to be stopped and the detention of thousands of civilians, women and children, if these atrocities are not seen as attacks on democracy and human rights. The people who went on these demonstrations, did so legally, within the frame work of the current constitution.

These series of events can only tell us one thing. The regime are not genuine to bring about a democratic change in Ethiopia and they have no wish to give up power; if so, they would have respected the peoples' verdict and allowed the democratic process to run its full course with out any interference and with out delay.

The voters should know, see and believe that their votes have gone to the candidate of their choice. The government has obstructed the independent investigation of allegations of fraud and vote rigging in the disputed regions. This will only make the people loose faith in themselves and in their ability to bring about change peacefully. To them, it will mean nothing, if their votes are being stolen or destroyed; it does not matter whether they voted or not.The votes of the people must be made to count. This is a fundamental and decisive issue that determines the course of Ethiopian political life.

It is a unique moment in history to take part in the birth of a true democracy in Ethiopia. You have an opportunity and a role to play and I hope, Dear Sir, you will play your part in it for future generations to remember.