Dr Berhanu Nega in His Own Words; So Who is the Pathological Liar?

A response to a report by Dr. Berhanu Nega, Ato Muluneh Eyoel and Ato Anteneh Mulugetta, on the release of the Kality prisoners.


January 24, 2009

Washera_2

I thought hard and long what language to use to respond to a nine page report forwarded by the above "gentlemen", explaining the circumstances of their release from Kality prison. I felt it necessary to respond in English, to provide the reader an opportunity to scrutinize the deceptions and fabrications that some opposition groups in the Diaspora, like the above authors, are engaged in.





It did not take me long to discern the real author of this report. If you have read Dr. Berhanu Nega's recent book, then the long, disparaging, name calling and authoritative first few sentences are a clue.





The premise of this report is that they were lied to before they signed the request for a Presidential Pardon. The report did not include a copy of the paper they signed, but I have taken the liberty to translate it and include it below to better understand Dr. Berhanu's argument. This is the only official document we have seen and none of the prisoners have denied signing it.



Sene 15, 1999 (October 2007)

His Excellency Ato Meles Zenawi

Prime Minister

Ethiopian Federal Democratic Republic

Addis Ababa

We the undersigned Kinijit leaders and party members, aware of the misunderstandings created following the 2005 (1997EC) elections, take the responsibility for our wrongful attempts to change the constitutionally created government bodies, by illegal means. We take both individual and group responsibility for the mistakes that resulted. We affirm that, from here to for, we shall refrain from participating in such illegal activities and that we will, as part of our citizenship responsibilities, abide by and uphold the constitution of the country, and also accept and respect the role of the different branches of the government. Recognizing our contrition and our apology to the Ethiopian government and the Ethiopian people, we ask your Excellency to pardon us for our transgressions.



Dr. Berhanu Nega used the entire first page to lecture us on his psychological analysis of pathological liars, basically a direct translation of the googled reference that he provided at the end of the report.



As he begins his explanation of what really happened to result in their release from Kality prison, Dr. Berhanu gives us a birds eye view of his opinions about the elders that mediated their release. By his own account, it took the elders (Prof. Ephrem, Pastor Daniel, athlete Haile, Ambassador Bekele, lawyer Tamiru...among 30 or more others), over 18 months to arrive at a resolution of this political crisis. However, far from being gracious and thankful to their efforts, Dr. Berhanu did not spare a dime to hurl a barrage of insults and chip shots in their direction.



Professor Ephrem Isaac, the Chairman of the Elders, is referred to as a simple messenger from the Prime Minister sent to beg and plead with them, sometimes falling on their feet and crying repeatedly, to give the government a leeway ('ye wond ber') to gracefully get out of this mess. Later, when the good professor arrives to inform them about the news of their impending release, Dr. Berhanu confronts him by saying, "...aren't you ashamed of yourself? You have been an instrument for the government all these months. If you have any respect for yourself, you will condemn these vagabond and reckless people and extricate yourself from their kind." With that, Dr. Berhanu walks out of the meeting within five minutes. The rest of the prisoners refuse to meet with Professor Ephrem from that point on. I am a little ahead of myself, so bear with me.



Pastor Daniel G. Selassie, the Assistant Chairman, is described as some one who has participated from the beginning, prays frequently during meetings with the prisoners. In a meeting toward the end of this ordeal, Dr. Berhanu boastfully documents how he chastised Pastor Daniel, "...Shame on you! How dare you say you are a religious leader and call yourself a Pastor?", and more scornful words that can put a child to shame, let alone a religious elder. According to Dr. Berhanu, Pastor Daniel responded sheepishly as follows: "...Dr. Berhanu, I will not blame you no matter what you say. It is truly a shameful act. I had refused to come, but they forced me to come, saying I am a member of the Pardon Board. I am preparing myself to get out of the country as soon as possible. This is a very humiliating situation...etc." At another instant in the same meeting, Dr. Berhanu lambasts the government officials as thieves and liars and asks Pastor Daniel why he was not telling the truth to the officials about the demands of the prisoners. Pastor Daniel arcs his head down in shame and says nothing.



Dr. Berhanu did not run out of choice words for the rest of the Elders. So let me just delve into the body of his thesis. Suffice it to say that there were many other private individuals involved in talking to government officials to resolve the crisis peacefully. The rest of the country and the Diaspora were hotly debating the merits of the case, ad noseum, and waiting for and end to the crisis.



Dr. Berhanu asserts that this was a negotiation taking place between the government and the prisoners, mediated by the Elders, not just to secure their release, but to agree on a program that would lead to a peaceful transition to a new democratic process. After weeks and months of negotiations, he alleges that they arrived at an eight point program. He and his co-authors of this report don't remember all eight points, but include the following among them.



1. As soon as the prisoners are released, an urgent conference of all concerned political parties will be held, mediated by a third party.

2. The government would apologize for the atrocities committed during the crisis and compensate the families of the dead.

3. The Kinijit leaders will pay their condolences to the bereaved and will apologize to the Ethiopian people for not being able to stop the crisis.

4. If they so desire, the Kinijit members can take their duly won seats in parliament and take control of Addis Ababa, while the party conference goes on.

5. All political prisoners shall be released all legal proceedings against them shall be terminated.

6. All concerned parties shall abide by the constitution and resolve their differences through the rule of law...etc.

I would like to remind readers that these were more or less the same preconditions the Kinijit members put forward to enter parliament.



Dr. Berhanu elaborates further and says that when the Prime Minister received the eight point program, not only did he approve of it, but that he improved on it in their favor. The only sticky point was the issue of the public apology. The government needed a wiggle room regarding the apology. After an intense two day negotiations, they arrived at final draft that included the eight point program, which was signed by two of the Kinijit representatives, one of them Dr. Berhanu. Dr. Berhanu does not say what that draft document said.



The following day, the Elders allegedly arrive with a different document placing the blame for the crisis on the prisoners and asking the rest of the prisoners, minus the two representatives from the night before, to sign the document. The first group of prisoners that arrived to sign the document was so disgusted by the lies and cheap tricks of the high government officials involved in changing the document that they refused to sign the paper and returned to their respective prisons. Dr. Berhanu's report gets better. The leader of the Elders allegedly said he did not know the content of the document they brought to be signed and he was as surprised as the prisoners. He then run out of the meeting to inquire about the "changed" document and never showed up for several months.



In the mean time the legal proceedings continue and the prisoners were getting close to being sentenced. The prisoners were asked to defend themselves and given permission to review the 70 or so documents alleging their crimes. By some mysterious turn of events, Dr. Berhanu alleges that the judges left for a ten minute recess and came back after two hours, to sentence them instead. He says they must have received directives from higher up to do so.



At about this time, the Elders reappear again and the drama thickens! This was the time Professor Ephrem would be falling on their feet and cry pleading and begging them to sign the document. If they sign the document, he tells them, their sentencing would be revoked and they would be set free. He further reassures them that the document would be kept by the Elders and that the PM has said that he does not care to see it as long as it is signed. Before they signed this document, they requested a meeting of all the prisoners and arrive at a consensus after two days of deliberations.



This is what allegedly transpired in the final two weeks of their incarceration and what they agreed on.



1. The final document to be signed shall be part of the overall document that includes the eight point program mentioned earlier. The request for the pardon shall be addressed to the Elders and not to the Prime Minister. The Elders shall use this to write their own pardon document to the government.

2. The prisoners shall be freed within two days of signing the document.

3. Neither the prisoners nor the government shall give any briefing regarding their release. The Elders shall inform the media about the negotiated settlement of the situation and that these negotiations shall go on to resolve the political crisis of the country.

4. Neither the government nor the prisoners shall use this situation for propaganda purposes.

5. All those in prison on charges related to the 2005 elections shall be freed.



The Kinijit leadership signs the above documents which were allegedly addressed to the Elders. The other prisoners were to sign the document the following day. At this point, we see Dr. Berhanu digressing to throw one insult after another at the government leadership, about some cheap propaganda campaign being broadcast on Ethiopian television that night.



When the other prisoners show up the following day, they found out that the document was addressed to the prime Minister and they sign it.



After two days, the Prime Minister appears in parliament and mockingly comments about a rumor circulating around town about the release of the prisoners. He assures that august body that such a pardon can only be considered only after the legal proceedings have been concluded.



The barrage of condemnations and insults would be thrown to the elders when they came to inform them about their impending release. Both the good Professor and Pastor Daniel were the recipients of ridicule mentioned in the introduction of this response. All the prisoners would walk out in disgust and go to their cells after this last encounter with the Elders. They would see them one last time on the night of their release.



The legal proceedings come to an end with terms ranging from years to life time. The government media go on full blast propaganda campaign about the signed document.



After a few days, Ato Assefa Kasito, the Justice Minister, a Professor Mesfin and Pastor Daniel, who were supposedly the Pardon Board members, show up in prison and talk to each prisoner in turn, to validate the legitimacy of their signature. When Dr. Berhanu was asked such a question, he insisted that what he had signed was addressed to the elders and walked out in disgust.



The last two pages of the report by Dr. Berhanu are not worth the paper they are written on. The first page is his own translation of the second page, which was printed from an internet site entitled "Identifying a Pathological Liar."



I will leave the psychological analysis and the aspersions and defamations of the Elders aside and instead conclude by posing several questions which will implicate major inconsistencies in Dr. Berhanu's report. I hope he will take the time to read it and respond to it in a timely fashion.



1. It did not take you long to write a 600 page book for sale, why did it take you two years to produce a nine page report?

2. Why didn't you refuse to talk to the Elders before you signed the pardon document? After all, you have repeatedly shown your disgust for their job.

3. You claim you only signed a document addressed to the Elders. Are we to understand that your signature that appears on the Pardon Document addressed to the Prime Minister was forged?

4. How dare you sign such a condemning document in the first place, no matter who it is addressed to, if you kept your innocence to the end?

5. How could both you and your collaborators of this report fail to remember all eight negotiating points or are you confusing it with the eight preconditions you put forward to enter parliament?

6. What is wrong in taking responsibilities for the causalities of the crisis, for the loss of leadership by your supporters when you went to prison, for giving the government enough reason to announce a state of emergency, and genuinely apologize to all parties concerned and go back to parliament to serve those that elected you?



Or did you have a different agenda? To get out of prison by all means possible and land in your Neighborhood University, where you have long been preparing to take advantage of the good gestures of people in that university. While you plan to renew your contract through lectures and writings lambasting the Ethiopian government, your family is running a successful business in Ethiopia. Talk about double-dipping!



If you are such a great politician willing to lead the Ethiopian people, how come you failed to convince Ato Lidetu to be on your side when you conspired with Professor Mesfin to deprive Ato Lidetu many of the seats that his party successfully won? How come this same Professor opined about your book, "the Berhanu book about Berhanu", and never saw eye to eye with you? How about the big break with Ato Hailu? Were you promised Ato Hailu's position after your service as Mayor of Addis? You could not even make friends with Wt. Bertukan, because she refused to go along with your motto of "overthrow EPRDF by all means possible".



What is wrong with you Dr. Berhanu? Why are you not able to love and care for all Ethiopians? Why are you filled with hate for everyone from the Elders, to high government officials to members of your own party?



Please re-read your own googled reference "Identifying a Pathological Liar" and see how much of that applies to you. There is still time to repent and do the right thing, instead of touring the world at the expense of innocent Diaspora supporters to spread your hate politics.