IS TEDDY AFRO'S "YASTERSERIYAL" A TEST FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN ETHIOPIA?

Washera_2000
June 21, 2008

Call me naive or clueless about Ethiopian politics, but my recent confrontation with the administrators of a paltalk room called "Ethiopian Forum for Political Civility" made me pause and take stock of what we have achieved or lost since the 2005 elections.

I have been a regular at many paltalk rooms over the last two to three years, mainly to use this medium to argue for the release of political prisoners in Ethiopia and introduce a new form of dialogue among all Ethiopians in the Diaspora. I felt that both the government and the prisoners had a lot to loose if this issue was not resolved peacefully. From the beginning, my position was for these elected leaders to accept the constitution unconditionally, join parliament and work side by side with their Ethiopian brothers and sisters, including those in power, to bring more democracy and good governance to our country. I strongly believed that they, the prisoners, owed the Ethiopian people and the government an apology for their mistakes and that such an apology will clear the way for the government to pardon them.

We spent hundreds of hours arguing this issue and some of us were fortunate enough to meet with some top officials in the Ethiopian government to register our concerns. To witness the release of these prisoners was the highlight of my trip to Ethiopia. However, my excitement for a bright day for Ethiopia would quickly turn sour when these prisoners showed up in the United States and started blasting the same government officials who secured their release. Worse of all, these were the same prisoners who had admitted their mistakes and asked for a pardon through the now famous "shimagiles", led by professor Ephrem Issac. If this was not enough, the so called "kinijit" ended up splitting into a multitude of mostly irrelevant entities. I never anticipated such a shameful end to what looked like a true democratic movement. One of those confused leaders who contributed to this deplorable act was one by the name of Berhanu Nega, who admitted that he was at a loss as to what direction to take in his struggle for "his" freedom and needed to climb up a Pennsylvania mountain for an epiphany, at the expense of my tax money. He is now back, actually he never left the paltalk rooms, and is seen criss-crossing the world, with "lame bora" money, preaching both peaceful and armed struggle to overthrow the Ethiopian government.

My paltalk days were numbered after the release of these prisoners and I started working closely with some government officials to add my two pennies worth to the democratic movement in Ethiopia.

That brings me to my present topic. My favorite paltalk room is Ethiopians Forum for Political Civility. I came across it during the numerous debates we had about the 2005 elections and have met most of the administrators and participants of that room. I appreciate their dedication and the service they bring to the Diaspora community and even to some people in Ethiopia, through the hundreds of interviews they have had with top government officials and other prominent individuals. We have struggled together to fight HR 2003 and many other anti-Ethiopian statements. Through it all, I have witnessed a fair and civil discussion in this room more than any other. The concept of EPRDF that empowers all ethnic groups in Ethiopia is one that appeals to me and is endorsed unanimously by the room's administrators.

Following a brief absence, I started showing up in this room occasionally and drop a word or two on issues of the day. Then one night, I put on the famous/notorious Teddy Afro song, "Yasterseriyal', hoping to comment on this song and his imprisonment. Within seconds, I was stopped and shut off from making any comments. My return a few days later to do the explaining did not last long and I was summarily banned from the room. I was told that such an insult to the woyane fighters was not to be heard or any commentary about the song was not to be tolerated.

The talk around town was that Teddy Afro was placed in prison for his temerity to speak against the leaders of the government in those famous/notorious words: " be 17 merfe bexeqomew qumixa; le lewix yagoferew zufan lay siwexa; indaminaw bale qen yaminawun keqexa; addis nigus inji lewux meche mexa." Translated loosely it means, "...When those fighters with afro hair-do, wearing tattered pants stitched together in 17 places climbed to the throne and started dolling out punishments to the leaders of the previous regime, it felt like the coming of a new monarch and not the expected change". He goes on to plead to the Almighty to forgive us all and teach us to live together in harmony. A few years ago, he allegedly refused to appear at a New Year concert at the Sheraton Addis, unless he was allowed to sing "Yasiteseriyal", forgoing $130,000 in appearance fee.

Teddy is an extremely talented Ethiopian artist, a well known composer, lyric writer and vocalist. He has since written and sang many famous songs and has toured the world attracting huge audiences, in the process becoming a millionaire many times over.

However, Teddy Afro is playing with fire. To expect absolute freedom, to go around the world and sprinkle his hatred for the EPRDF regime without some kind of repercussion back home, is being naive at best. Teddy Afro is no ordinary artist. He is famous and has sided with the opposition groups in Ethiopia and has upset many in the government. He should try to take a neutral position and work to bring opposition groups and the government together to resolve their differences. I have heard that he has apologized for "yasiteseriyal", and if true, I believe it is a good step in the right direction.

Having said that, I believe in his freedom of speech and most of all, I believe in the freedom of others to criticize or support his allegations in any forum they choose to. The cyber saber rattlers are in no position to curb such basic human rights and will only embarrass themselves. The fighters he refers to in his song, "yasiteseriyal", have nothing to be ashamed of because of the words he used to describe their clothing or the struggle they waged to come to power. To claim that he is in prison because these people were angered by his song is to demean the law of the land and to ignore the enormity of the crime that he has been accused of allegedly committing.

It is easy to see how his supporters, especially those demagogues in the Diaspora will run for such an excuse. But it behooves them to await the end of the trials before passing judgment on freedom of speech in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government should follow very closely the trial of this individual and see to it that justice is done to the perpetrator for the crime committed, but not as a vengeance for the words in his song "Yasteseriyal."

The other words in his song should be a lesson to all of us, including to Teddy himself. "Isti tewadedu be liyunetachihu; alebelezama bemin yastawiqal ignan mewudedachihu", which translates to mean, " Let our differences be a good reason for us all to love each other." Amen.