The Truth and Reconciliation Committee of Ethiopia!

I am back for my third posting. This time, I am going to put forth my own unrefined idea of bringing about political change in Ethiopia.

Of late, there has been numerous debates as to whether armed struggle or peaceful struggle is the best way forward to bring about political change in Ethiopia. Since this post is not about those debates I will not comment on it except saying that I am against using any kind of violence to bring about change in Ethiopia.(let's leave the details of why for now, shall we?)

However, neither side seems to have been able to show any visible progress in terms of bringing about the desired political change on the ground.

Shouldn't there then be a middle ground, a compromise between the two approaches? I remember, right around the time the Ginbot 7 movement was born, they didn't clearly define (or it was not clear for me)what exactly it would include when they said their method of struggle will include all means to bring about regime change. Therefore, I speculated that may be they mean that we shouldn't be bound by unfair laws and regulations enacted by the regime and that we should carry out the struggle based on internationally recognized norms of peaceful struggle whether the government in power allows it or not (" E-higaw gin selamawi tigil).

So, I am still wondering what happened to this idea. Was it ever raised? If yes, why was it disposed then?

In any case, I would like to propose the following scenario based on the above formula(ye tigil silt).
Steps:
1- All opposition groups (including those who do not believe in the sovereignty of a country called "Ethiopia") form a coalition or a kind of transition committee or shadow government or call it whatever you want.

2- They agree on whether to hold referendum or not and when to decide the issue of complete autonomy for various groups (people).

3- Outline what institutions are necessary to establish for a peaceful and meaningful transition to happen until a government elected by the people takes power. Decide who will head these institutions (I am talking about naming individuals), the funds they need and other inputs they will require. These institutions should be ready for activation hours after the collapse of the current government in power.

4- Establish a Truth and Reconciliation Committee composed of prominent elders and religious leaders. (Finally, I have come to the central message of this post wheew!) The roles such an institution played in bringing about change in South Africa can be seen here. But, I am suggesting a modified version of that commission in that it will start work NOW. According to this plan (some of you may like to call it dream), the TRC of Ethiopia will work under the same simple principle that the TRC of South Africa worked: amnesty from prosecution in exchange for disclosing the truth about the crimes committed thus far and in exchange for information that can be used to bring about regime change. This committee needs to have substantial funds and diplomatic capital at hand to guarantee the repatriation to a third country of government (military) officials and their families to guarantee their security. The amnesty should be given to any one who is willing to take it including individuals at the helm of power (no need to call names I guess). In addition to allowing to bring down the regime from power in no time, this would allow to break the cycle of violence that would result by following a reconciliatory approach (as opposed to a Nuremberg style of serving justice). The amnesty should be offered not only through media channels but also through personal contacts (reaching out to the other side- has any opposition leader done that yet? pick the phone, do a little chat and try to reach out to the EPRDF people at a personal level? Requires substantial courage I guess.) and directly by the TRC members.

6 - Devise an emergency economic plan of action that would be implemented on day two of the transitional government.



Since I am just one ordinary citizen (netizen), I presume my ideas could be a bit idealistic (or even naive)for someone who is a tenured politician or a lawyer. But these ideas arose out of the fear of the unknown on day two after the political change that all of us so much desire becomes a reality (I am assuming you will not have read thus far if you doubted the inevitability of change- sooner or later, to the benefit of the people or to their detriment).

We shouldn't seek change for the sake of change- instead for the betterment of our people's lives. In that case, we should have a carefully thought out PLAN OF ACTION. That is why I am asking you, the reader, to improve these recommendations or even throw them out and come up with your own. I will then be happy to let you post it on this blog (I want to recruit co-authors for this blog) so that others may also read it. Who knows, this may result in motivating our politicians to take a new direction in their quest to bring about political change in Ethiopia?

May God bless Ethiopia. Amen.