Open Letter to The Royal Institute of International Affairs
Chatham House
10 St James's Square
London SW1Y 4LE
Telephone : (0)20 7957 5700
Fax: (0)20 7957 5710
24 February 2003
Dear Sir/Madam
It is with great sadness that we witness the invitation offered by your
institute to Ethiopia’s brutal ruler Meles Zenawi. We have to inform you that
the government headed by the said person slaughtered over a hundred innocent
Sidama people on 24 May 2004 who protested against government policies that were
detrimental to their well being and their basic human rights.
Those people who faced their death at the hands of brutal armed thugs included
school children who took to streets intent on telling what the government was
imposing affects them negatively and harms their future. Among them were people
of all walks of life who were against alien rule which uses force at will
without any concern for human life or opinion. To this day, the culprits are at
large, most of them are the members and supporters of the regime.
It is only nine months since the bloody slaughter of these innocent people. The
news that such a despotic tyrant is invited to talk on anything but development
and Africa is a tragic tale of this age. The Royal Institute of International
Affairs’ invitation to Meles Zenawi on 24 February 2003 to talk on “Reviving
Africa: will the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) succeed?” is
tantamount to call on a genocidaire to speak for victims. If the Institute
believed it is conscientious to invite a despotic ruler to speak on a topic of
"Reviving Africa," it reflects badly for the good reputation of the institute.
We express our disappointment in the strongest terms possible.
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