Waagacusub.com- Pan-Africanism is an African outlook and is deeply rooted on the identity of Africans as black people because of the dehumanisation by colonisation. This is indeed the bottom line as nobody can be a pan-Africanist disregarding black identity. The record of the ex-emperor of Ethiopia in this regard is shocking to say the least. First, slavery was practiced in Ethiopia and Eritrea widely. and People of the border regions who are physically Nilotic or Bantu were taken in custody by the monarchy, nobility and feudal lords under his regime and kept forcibly as slaves. In fact, in order to prevent escape, tissues from the hamstrings of most of the male 'slaves' were cut out. Ethiopia had difficulties in joining the League of Nations precisely because of the practice of slavery. After the war, chattel slavery continued to the final days of the emperor in 1974. The ex-emperor of Ethiopia had not lifted a finger to end slavery in his own country. On the contrary, he was one of the big owners of chattel claves.

Secondly, the nobility at the time of his rule never considered themselves as black and African. For political reasons, being African was ‘accepted’ particularly when the OAU was about to be established. But, being black has never been accepted. No wonder when the ex-emperor visited Jamaica in 1967, he said in an interview with a journalist that, ‘We Ethiopians are not black’. The ruling ideas of a given society at a given point in time are also the ideas of the ruling class. That includes negative ideas filled with all sorts of bigotry. But if such ideas are not deconstructed thoroughly, they persist for too long. This notion of ‘not being black’ is still widespread in Ethiopia. It is even noticeable today among members of the Diaspora, who refer to Nilotic or Bantu Africans as ‘black’. These are undeniable facts that can be proved so easily.

Thirdly, one can also look at the ex-emperor’s policy on Ethiopian ethnic groups other than the Amhara. Discrimination and political as well as economic marginalisation was the daily companion of millions and millions of non-Amhara Ethiopians and Eritreans. Their lands were taken over by the feudal lords and were treated as second-class citizens. Many were forced to change their names to Amharic ones to be accepted. Those who resorted to rebellions were met with fierce punishment including outright massacres as in the case of Tigray (1943), Eritrea (1961-1974), Ogaden (1960-1974), Bale (1967), Sidamo and many other places. The ex-emperor’s ‘Imperial Body Guard’ shot in the crowd of university students on December 29, who assembled to pay the last respects to their leaders assassinated the previous day by the ex-emperor’s secret police. The repressive rule also clamped down against trade union activists and student leaders. Trade unionists such as Abera Gemu and student leaders such as Tilahun Gizaw were assassinated in broad daylight. (Incidentally, Tilahin Gizaw was a champion of Pan-Africanism who received a gun shot by police during a demonstration against Ian Smiths’ Unilateral Declaration of Independence and he was also instrumental in organising a rally in solidarity in 1969 with the struggling people of South Africa and Zimbabwe.)

The ex-emperor was also known for his cruelty and viciousness. Apart from the massacres committed in the Ogaden, Eritrea and so on, his regime had also practiced the most heinous crimes. Lands were confiscated from the rural population (poor farmers and nomads) without compensation; political opponents or conscientious objectors were met with police brutality including torture. Political suspects were banished to remote areas. The ex-emperor is even accused of practicing witchcraft orgies in which he sacrificed children for a spirit called Korit at Lake Bishoftu. In 1961, he personally ordered the corpse of Girmame Neway, the slain coup leader, to be hanged and displayed in public. When all these crimes were committed, the ex-emperor appeared extremely calm and ‘dignified’. Needless to say, sir, we simply cannot list all the crimes of the ex-emperor.

We hold that the current regime in Ethiopia is as autocratic as ex-emperor Haile Selassie’s and Colonel Mengistu’s. We applaud the struggle of the people of Ethiopia for justice and freedom. We understand that the Ethiopian Diaspora is also active in this struggle. But fighting against injustice with injustice done to Ethiopia’s history is something that won’t work.

The statue of the killer autocrat emperor hailesilase should be demolished as soon as possible, this will much affect the relations of many countries.

The current PM of Ethiopia should act quickly, the statue is  just a bond of hate, the  symbol of hate  should be demolished now!

This is our real demand , The Ethiopian pm should hear us , if not the relation between Eritrea and Ethiopia will  be in danger again..