The truth is stranger than fiction
In my September 7 commentary,ย DIFRET: The Abduction of a Film in Ethiopia,ย I expressed my outrage over the aborted Ethiopian premiere of the film DIFRET. That film, based on a โtrue storyโ of Aberash Bekele, tells the dramatic story of a teenage victim of the inhuman and barbaric practice of ย โtelefaโ or โmarriage by abduction/abduction of child bridesโ in certain parts of Ethiopia. The screening of that film in Addis Ababa on September 3 was halted seconds before it was scheduled to start.ย The director ofย DIFRET, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, took the stage and announced with consternation and dismay:
Distinguished guests, ambassadors, we were just told by the police that we have to stop this film because there is a court order on it. We have not been informed prior to this. The Ministry of Culture knows about this and the government knows about this. This is the first time we are hearing it.ย This is obviously an attack on usย and I am really sorry for this to happen and I hope weโll see you againโฆ
The โattackโ on DIFRET was only the latest assault on free expression in Ethiopia by the ruling regime in that country. A month earlier in August, six popular independent publications includingย Afro Times, Addis Guday, Enku, Fact, Jano, and Lomi were shutteredย and dozens of journalists were jailed or exiled. In July, theย regime jailed the โZone Nine bloggersโย (named after a cell block holding political prisoners at the infamous ย Meles Zenawi Kality Prison just outside of the capital Addis Ababa), after illegally detaining them for someย 80 days. ย In the same month, the regime arranged the abduction of Andaragatchew Tsgie, General Secretary of the Ethiopian opposition group known as Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy, in Yemen.
The pernicious institution of โmarriage by abductionโ (marriage by rape) in Ethiopia
โMarriage by abductionโ is undoubtedly among the most barbaric acts of cruelty in the annals of human history. It is practiced in different forms in many parts of sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia. In its common occurrence in Ethiopia, the young abductor-suitor, usually accompanied by his friends, would stalk the girl of his choice and literally hunt her down like prey. The young men often on horseback would suddenly descend upon the girl as she returns from market, school or walking about doing chores. She may be alone or with friends. Her abductor-suitor with the aid of his friends would drag and load his human prize on his horse and gallop away to a secret location. There she is repeatedly raped by her abductor for days or weeks until she becomes pregnant. When she becomes pregnant, the abductor would claim her as his wife by virtue of the fact that she is carrying his child. The abductor may send elders to the girlโs parents to mediate and legitimize the marriage with offers of compensation in the forms of cash or a few heads of cattle. Though there are other means of โmarriage by abductionโ such as collusive elopement, they are far and few between. This barbaric practice act has been criminalized in Ethiopia but it still persists and thrives to this day because of official indifference.
Although there are no systematic epidemiological studies of the consequences of โmarriage by abductionโ, there is ample anecdotal evidence to show that the underage girls who are victimized by the practice suffer major psychological and physical trauma and undergo life-threatening obstetric health problems including fistula. They also face high risks of acquiring deadly sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS from the rape.
The making of โSchoolgirl Killerโ: The real tragic story ofย Aberash Bekele
The tragic story of Aberash Bekele, a teenage victim of โmarriage by abductionโ in Ethiopia, was told to a global audience in a 1999 documentary โSchoolgirl Killerโ [click here to see the full 50-minute documentary]).ย ย Charlotte Metcalfe, the director of the documentary said the decision to make โSchoolgirl Killerโ came about fortuitously. In 1996, Metcalfe made a film about โchild brides in Bahir Dar [Ethiopia] working closely with Original Georgis at the Ethiopian Womenโs Lawyerโs Association in Addis Ababa [EWLA].โ As she describes it, she โattended a four-year-oldโs wedding (during which I filmed a distressing scene of the small child bride crying uncontrollably) and followed the nuptials of 11-year-old Nibret.โ That documentary was โYoung Wivesโ Talesโ, commissioned by the United Nations Fund for Population and won a UNICEF award.
Metcalfe became aware of Aberashโs case when she saw Aberashโs photograph in the office of ย EWLA in Addis Ababa. Metcalfe subsequently met Aberash, and after long discussions Aberash agreed to take part in a documentary. โI then went back to the UK to raise the money to make it.ย On board were Brian Woods, the multi-award-winning film-maker at True Vision [a British television, film and documentary production companythat has won numerous international awards for its human rights-related films] as producer and David Pearson, Commissioning Editor at the BBCโs renowned Under The Sun,โ said Metcalfe.
โSchoolgirl Killerโ is at once gripping, engaging, mesmerizing, captivating, dispassionate and compassionate. Metcalfe is a consummate documentarian who is able to tell the tragic story of โmarriage by abductionโ with sensitivity, subtlety, sympathy and compassion. Metcalfe demonstrates her consummate craftsmanship as a documentarian by simply setting the stage for the various protagonists —ย Aberash, her parents and siblings, the parents of Aberashโs abductor, community elders, the lawyers, judges — ย to tell their story directly to the viewer. Metcalfe rolls the camera as the tragic story of the institution of โmarriage by abductionโ is told from a variety of perspectives. Indeed, it seems that the various protagonists in the story are directing the film as Metcalfe held the camera. She does not editorialize or advocate and is not even judgmental, which is extraordinarily difficult not to be under the circumstances. That style of film-making is what makes documentary powerfully persuasive, provocative and even shocking to the conscience.
After watching the film, the viewer is challenged to react; but how does one react to a tragedy whose origins are lost in the fog of history and tradition but must be stopped before it replants its virus and destroy the coming generations of young Ethiopian girls and women? My reaction to โSchoolgirl Killerโย was outrage against that institution as a monumental ย violation of human rights followed by a commitment to campaign for its eradication from the face of the earth. I do not overestimate myself. As Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund said, โYou just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation.โ
Metcalfe is โdelighted that Aberashโs story has gained worldwide attentionโ and turned into a โa major movie [winning] great acclaim and prizes at the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals.โ But she is โsaddened that there seems to be squabbling over who โownsโ the story.โย Metcalfeย โdeeply believes that the story told in Difret is primarily Aberashโs storyโ and that any promises of financial compensation made to her should be honored. โAfter all, it was her courage and astonishing resilience at such a young age that makes the story so compelling.โ
Metcalfe also noted that it is โwrong not to credit Schoolgirl Killer with bringing [Aberashโs] story to the publicโs attention 15 years agoโฆย The production team and I worked very hard to turn this story into a film that we remain very proud of and we would appreciate being credited for forming the foundation for the story that Difret is based on.โ
It is regrettable โSchoolgirl Killerโ has not received the credit and acclaim it deserved in Ethiopia and throughout Africa. In my view, the documentary stands as an enduring and vital contribution to the cause ofย womenโs human rightsย in Africa and elsewhere in the world.
ย The โschoolgirl killerโ: Aberashโs Story
Aberashโs story takes place in the town of Asela, the regional capital of Arsi, some 165 km away from the capital Addis Ababa. (But it could have taken place just as easily and as flagrantly in any other part of Ethiopia, including a few kilometers outside the capital.) Aberash is walking home from school with her friends one day when she isย corralled by a seven-man group of horsemen led by Gemechu Kebede, a 29-year old man hunting for a wife. Gemechu and his friends snatch Aberash and spirit her away to Gemechuโsย family hut on the outskirts of the village where she is held captive. As Aberash describes it, it was as though she had come face to face with the โSeven Horsemen of the Apocalypseโ. Her account of her ordeal is so nightmarish one could only imagine it happening in the days of the proverbial Caveman who would hunt down the female of his choice, slug her over the head with a club, drag her by the hair to the cave, rape her and emerge triumphantly beating his chest and announcing to the applause of fellow Cavemen that he has finally bagged his own Ms. Cavewoman.
In โThe Schoolgirl Killerโ, Aberash described her abduction with frightening detail:
Seven horsemen rode up and abducted me. They beat me up using whips. I and my friends were screaming and crying. They forced me over the back of a horse. I fell off three times. They dragged me here and there and eventually we reached the abductorโs family homeโฆ
Gemechu returned in the night and brutalized Aberash:
He hit me about the face, [and I] nearly lost my consciousness. He was such a huge man, I could not push him away. He forced my legs apart. He beat me senseless and took my virginity. After a while all of the men returned. They say I was bleeding and so gave me a clean place to sit. Then I realized the man who raped me was to be my so-called husband.
The morning after the rape, Gemechu gave Aberash a cup of coffee, mocked her as a โcountry girlโ and left as his friends kept guard over her.ย Aberash saw a gun unattended in the corner as her guards chatted away. She stealthily grabbed the gun and ran off into a maize field. Gemechu suddenly appeared and followed Aberash in hot pursuit.ย He approached her menacingly. She warned him โnot to come any closer.โ He ignored her warning and kept on moving forward. โIโm not going to tell you againโ, she warned him loudly. He did not believe she could pull the trigger. Aberash fired two rounds into the air from the AK-47. Gemechu was undeterred. He kept coming closer. She lowered the gun and fired. Gemechu dropped dead bleating out his last words, โSheโs hit me.โ Local militiamen heard the shots and rushed to the scene as Gemechuโs friends tried to avenge the death of their friend by slitting Aberashโs throat on the spot. She was arrested and taken to the police station and later charged with murder.
Aberash defiantly asserted self-defense against the charge of murder:
I donโt think myself as having killed anyone when I think of my suffering. The way I see it, all I did was kill my enemy. I did not feel sorry for him as I would for anyone else. I could have been killed myself.
The story ofย Gemechuโs parents
Gemechuโs crestfallen parents saw nothing wrong in Aberashโs abduction and rape. They were themselves unwitting victims of an evil cultural practice. To them, what their son had done to Aberash was perfectly normal and a well-accepted social practice going back for generations. They could not understand why Aberash does not graciously accept her abduction and rape and simply live with it as have thousands of girls before her. Gemechuโs father wanted vengeance exacted on Aberash for killing his son:
She is the killer of the son who was so good to me. She stole our means of survival. He abducted her for marriageโฆ not to be killed by herโฆ Sheโs done us no good. She has given us grief foreverโฆ She is the murderer of my son. She could have been my daughter-in-law or the mother of my grandchildren. That is what she was meant to beโฆ but now she is just my sonโs murderer. It is unheard of for a wife to murder her husband.
Gemechuโs mother also saw nothing improper in what her son had done by following tradition, although she was saddened by the course of events:
My son did nothing unusual. Many people marry through abductionโฆ There are a lot of women who have good lives and who go on to have many children after getting married by abductionโฆ I arranged for marriage for him for the price of an ox but he said he wanted a three oxen wedding with important friends from Addis. He would have had a beautiful life but his friends here misled him. I donโt know if the girl wanted him or not. I didnโt want any of this to happen. It ruined all our lives.
The story of the Aberashโs parentsย ย ย ย ย ย ย
Aberashโs parents were undergoing the tragedy of โmarriage by abductionโ for the second time. Their eldest daughter Mestawot was a victim of marriage by abduction a few years earlier. A despondent and tormented man, Aberashโs father bemoaned his daughter’s fate:
In our [part] of the country when a woman kills a man, she has to go across the river and live far away. Let her live the elders decreed. It saddens us but we are glad she is aliveโฆ
Aberashโs mother explained the hardship her family faced as a result ofย her daughterโs abduction:
We had to settle our cattle to pay for the offense. We had to borrow money from our relativesโฆWhen Mestawot was abducted, her father took a knife and went to try to save her. I followed him because I was scared theyโd kill him. Had he arrived on the scene, he could have been killed or killed them. Instead of people dying, we left Mestawot to her abductor because we did not want any deaths.
The eldersโ story
For the community elders who mediated the case between the families, the issue was a done deal. They had issued their final ruling and the matter was closed. One of the elders explained:
After the death of the abductor we intervened. We told the families, โHe is dead, so you must reconcile. We told the victimโs family they had to compromise. We want the court to set her free. It should not have gone to court. We closed the case. It is finishedโฆ finished.
The story of Mestawot (Aberashโs older sister)
Mestawot was โtippedโ to run in the Olympics for Ethiopia. She was the childhood friend of Derartu Tulu, the first black African woman to win a gold medal in the 10,000m event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Mestawot was a local track star and had won numerous medals. After she was ย abducted, she bore 4 children to her abductor; and with her dreams shattered, she eked out a living selling local brew in a ramshackle shanty. Her abductor-husband is the son of one of the elders who mediated in Aberashโs case. Mestawot reminisced:
I dreamt of being a champion. I used to come in first and win medals. I trained hard to improve my long distance running. I loved sport but when I was abducted, I had to give it upโฆ
โฆ When I look at the men around here, most of them donโt care about improving their lives. All that interests them is abducting someoneโs daughter to become their so-called wife. What these men do makes me so angry.
In the end, Mestawot left her four children and so-called husband and disappeared!
The story of Mulatua (Aberashโs youngest sister)
Mulatua was terrified that the fate of her sisters would inevitably fall upon her. She was resigned to it.
I think what happened to Aberash will happen to me soon. I have always been terrified since Aberash was abducted. I canโt even go to the country side on my own. I am always scared when I go to school or to market…
… I have no hope at all. All I can do is hide at home… and I won’t be able to finish school… I have nowhere else to go… so all I can do is wait to be abducted…
The story of Mestawotโs abductor-husband
Mestawotโs abductor-husband did not think โmarriage by abductionโ was such a big deal. It is something all macho young men in his community do, indeed are expected to do. Abduction is also a way of showing the woman who is in charge. He explained:
Men abduct women when they fall in love. For example, I abducted Mestawot. For one thing, I love her, not because her parents agreed fully. My family told me to get married elsewhere and arranged for it, but I was young and pushed. I decided to show her who was boss. I was scared someone else would grab her. I didnโt want to miss out. I kidnapped her and took her virginity. The next day the money was sent to her family and mediators began arranging our wedding. In the meantime she got pregnant. Now we have four children and we are doing fine.
The lawyersโ story
Aberashโs defense lawyer, Meaza Ashenafi, had set up the ELWA a few years earlier to protect women from exploitation and abuse. She explained,
We knew about Aberash because it was publicizedโฆ and we decided to represent [Aberash] in the case because it was very symbolic in that it was about a revolution against the culture because abduction is considered as one of the ways of executing a marriage. So Aberash was the first to challenge this violenceโฆ
โฆ It is not easy to get witnesses because the communityย will not cooperate to testify against this type of crime. But since we have the law, weโll keep on tryingโฆ One thing I told the police was that if you canโt discharge your obligationโฆ and make sure the laws are implemented, then you should be resigning. They canโt give an excuse not to do their job.
Daniel Bekele is a young lawyer who volunteered to work with EWLA in the investigation and prosecution of โmarriage by abductionโ cases. Daniel worked closely with the families in the village and pursued the investigation of the abduction of a young woman named Sewnet about the time Aberashโs case was unfolding. Daniel is the current Executive Director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, where he oversees a global staff and supervises research and advocacy. (It was my great pleasure to champion the cause of Daniel and Netsanet Demessie in 2007 when they were themselves โabductedโ by the regime in Ethiopia on bogus charges of โoffenses against the stateโ (See my commentary โMonkey Trial in Kangaroo Kourt…โ. It is a great loss for Ethiopia not to have a brilliant and dedicated young lawyer like Daniel working in the cause of human rights today in that country. I comfort myself with the thought that Ethiopiaโs loss is Africaโs gain.)
Daniel explained,
In Sewnetโs case, the police did a very limited thing. And once such an abduction has taken place, because there is this traditional way of dealing with this problem and reconciliation being made to the woman being forced to continue with the marriage, there is a reluctance of law enforcement officers to involve themselves in these cases. Like Aberashโs case, there were more than five accomplices who were part of the abduction process [of Sewnet] who have not been prosecuted so far.
The judgesโ story
Two years after the incident, a three judge panel rendered its verdict. Aberash was acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.ย As one of the judges read from the bench:
In October 1996, the defendant was on her way home when Gemechu Kebede with some others abducted her. He took her virginity by force the same nightโฆ In order to save her life, she shot and killed himโฆ
โฆ We find that the evidence of the defense and the prosecution corresponds. The deceased used force to harm the defendant. His actions violated the law. The action [the defendant] took was the only course you had to defend yourself. You will not be convicted for what you did. The court sets you free.
The untold story of โmarriage by abductionโ
Why does the odious institution of ย “marriage by abduction” persist and thrive today in Ethiopia? ย That is the million dollar question.
The regime is fully aware of the problem of marriage by abduction, child brides and the rest of it. The regime knows that practice is degrading, traumatizing and dehumanizing not only to women in general but to the most vulnerable members of Ethiopian society, rural underage girls. The regime knows the practice is condemned by international human rights law. Ironically, the regime also proclaims loudly that women are its political โbackboneโ.ย In 2010, the late Meles Zenawi, in a โvictoryโ speech celebrating his 99.6 percent win in the May 2010 โelectionโ,ย expressed โboundlessโ admiration and gratitude to women for ensuring the total victory of his party. He said, โโฆ We also offer our thanks to the real backbone of our organization, the women of Ethiopia who are committed to our struggle due to their realization of our track record on gender equality and who want to forge ahead on this path of peace, development and democratization. Our admiration to the women of Ethiopia is indeed boundless!โย How can any regime ย let such a barbaric crime continue to be committed ย to its political โbackboneโ as we speak?ย
The practice of marriage by abduction and child marriages occur daily in various parts of Ethiopia. There is cumulative anecdotal evidence of the occurrence of such practices just in the past few months. There are few empirical or systematic studies documenting the scope and magnitude of the problem. But there is sufficient evidence to support swift policy actions and decisive law enforcement intervention to halt the practice or at least significantly reduce it. A 2004,ย Population Council analysis indicated, โEthiopia is the site of some of the most abusive marital practices, such as marriage by abduction and forced unions between cousins (abusuma).โ A 2005 study of โHarmful Traditional Practices in Ethiopiaโ, similarly reported, โmarriage by abduction is prevalent in Ethiopia. According to the base line survey for more than 50% of young girls in the community marriage occurs by abduction. Its prevalence is also high in regions like Oromia and SNNPR.โย According to a United Nationโs 2009 study, in Ethiopia โthe prevalence of marriage by abduction is as high as 92 per cent in Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), with a national average of 69 percent.โ It should be stressed that the problems of โmarriage by abductionโ and โchild bridesโ are not limited to one area or region in Ethiopia; they occur throughout many rural communities.
What is most difficult to understand is the fact that the regime has all of the necessary resources to protect the rights of victims of โmarriage by abductionโ.ย It has clear and unambiguous laws on rape and abduction on the books. It has swarms of policemen, militiamen, judges and prosecutors throughout the countryside who could enforce the law and arrest abductors and rapists of underage girls. In fact, the very same policemen, militiamen, prosecutors and judges can swing into action in a New York minute to jack up anyone suspected of opposition to the regime. But they are entirely powerless to go after child rapists and abductors!?
What is also puzzling is the fact that the policemen who saved Aberash from lynching by arresting and charging her with ย murder did nothing to charge Gemechuโs accomplices. When attorney Daniel Bekele was investigating the abduction of Sewnet during the pendency of Aberashโs case, he was able to prod the local policemen to launch and pursue an investigation. ย The police were manifestly reluctant to do it, and probably would not have but for Metcalfeโs unblinking camera. The fact of the matter is that the regime can string up a bunch of independent journalists and bloggers in a jiffy, ย but it cannot arrest and prosecute organized local thugs who commit acts of barbarity and brutality on underage girls for years? The regime can spend millions of dollars to choke the internet, jam radio and satellite communications from broadcasting into the country but cannot spend a few dollars for education and awareness campaigns to break the vicious cycle of marriage by abduction? The regime receives millions of dollars for the eradication of โharmful social practicesโ from Western donors. What happened to that money? Clearly, for the regime, it is not a matter of lacking the means and resources to aggressively combat the institution of marriage by abduction.
So, what is the problem? Why is the regime in Ethiopia standing blindfolded and with folded arms in the face of such barbaric and illegal practice? ย Is the regime simply ignoring the problem out of depraved indifference? Is it sheer incompetence? Is it part of the regimeโs broader and calculated long-term program of debilitating local communities to facilitate greater control over them? Is it lack of political will? Political expediency not to offend local leaders where such practices are common? Is the regime simply overwhelmed by the entrenched nature of the tradition and institutions that sustain such brutality against young girls? Is it patriarchal contempt for women? Women are not valued? Could it be that underage girls are viewed as third class citizens?ย Is it because young girls are not a voting constituency? Is it lack of resources?ย Is it fear of local backlash? Is it all or none of the above? WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
Meles Zenawiโs widow Azeb,ย according to Wikileaks, informed U.S. Under Secretary of State Maria Otero in February 2010 that โafter four years of intensive engagement with community and religious leaders in the Afar region, her efforts on behalf of the Ethiopian Government (GoE) have prompted a significant reduction in Female Genital Mutilationโฆ. Azeb noted that over the past four years, she has actively engaged to raise community awareness about, and stem the tide of, such practices.ย As a result of her active interventions, community discussions and debates, and advocacy, Azeb reported that Afari regional leaders have now declared FGM to be a โHaram,โ or a forbidden practice.โ I wish she could have done the same for โmarriage by abductionโ.
I find it difficult to comprehend why a regime that flaunts its economic, political and diplomatic prowess has been paralyzed from taking legal action mandated by its own constitution and proclamations to stop this barbaric social practice. Shouldnโt a regime that is building the largest dam in Africa on the Nile be able to unbuild a destructive social institution like โmarriage by abductionโ?
In the limited circumstances where the regime has sought to take action to stop harmful marriage practices, it has been half-hearted, inept and done as window dressing to please the donors and loaners than trying to root out the problem.ย Mekonnen and Harald in their study of official efforts taken to combat early marriages and related practices in Ethiopia argue:ย โThe strategies and steps taken by the government may be one of the causes for people not supporting the new law. First and foremost, the campaign against early marriage lacks clarityโฆ It appears to lack a proper planning and execution strategy. One can even assume once the government included the issue of early marriage in the family law as a result of pressures from various political and civic groupsโฆโ
The imperative to prosecute abductors and rapists
Article 35 of the Ethiopian Constitution guarantees, โWomen have equal rights with men in marriage as prescribed by this Constitution.โ Article 34 mandates, โโฆ. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.โย Article 6 of theย Revised Family Code of 2000ย declares,ย โA valid marriage shall take place only when the spouses have given their free and full consent.โ Article 7 furtherย ย provides, โNeither a man nor a woman who has not attained the full age of eighteen years shall conclude marriage.โ There is no constitutional or statutory basis that allows child rape in Ethiopia. But the institution of โmarriage by abductionโ and child bridesโ (which is plain old child rape) continues to thrive as regime leaders turn a blind eye.
The laws punishing rape and abduction are clear and straightforward. The word โrapeโ appears no less than 19 times and โabductionโ 15 times in the Ethiopian Criminal Code [Proclamation No. 414/2004]ย not only as separate crimes but also as an aggravating circumstances. Article 587 (Abduction of a Woman) provides, โ(1)ย Whoever with intent to marry a woman abducts her by violence, or commits such an act after having obtained her consent by intimidation, threat, trickery or deceit, is punishable with rigorousย imprisonment from three years to ten years. (2) Where the actย of abduction is accompanied by rape, the perpetrator shall be liable to the punishment prescribed for rapeย in this Code. (3) Theย conclusion of a marriageย between the abductor and the abducted subsequent to the abductionย shall not preclude criminal liabilityโฆ.
Article 620 (Rape) provides, โ(1) Whoever compels a woman to submit to sexual intercourse outside wedlock, whether by the use of violence or grave intimidation,โฆ is punishable with rigorousย imprisonment from five years to fifteen years. (2) Where the crime isย committed: a) on a young woman between thirteen and eighteen years of age;โฆ or โฆ d) by a number of men acting in concert, or by subjecting the victim to act of cruelty or sadism, the punishment shall be rigorousย imprisonment from five years to twenty years. (3) Where theย rape has caused grave physical or mental injury or death,ย the punishment shall beย life imprisonment. (4) Where the rape is related to illegal restraint or abduction of the victim, or where communicable disease has been transmitted to her, the relevant provisions of this Code shall apply concurrently.โ
What canโt the regime enforce its own laws and constitutional mandates? Does the regime know it has binding international legal obligations to protect the human rights of its citizens? Or do they still operate using the law of the jungle (bush) which creates the ideal conditions for Cavemen to flourish?
I know I have been talking to a brick wall about the rule of law for the past eight years. Perhaps my discussions on the subject may be beyond the grasp of those responsible for enforcing the law against rape and abduction.ย What they should grasp is the simple truth that a government that ignores, breaks and shows contempt for its own laws breeds reflexive contempt for the law per se among its citizens. A government teaches by its own examples, acts and omissions. Of course, all of that presupposes the existence of a government. Touchรฉ!?
Heroines, villains and justice
Aberash does not consider herself a โheroineโ for defending against her rapist. She felt she had killed her enemy. She was just trying to save her life like any other person facing the same dangers. But Gemechu was not an โenemyโ. He was also a tragic victim of a barbaric cultural institution. He did not know any better. He did what others his age do every day. But I believe Aberash is heroine not for picking up a gun and shooting the man who violated her, but for standing up for her human right not to be violated, to be respected. She is my heroine because she stood up not only for herself but for the dignity of all Ethiopian girls and women. She did what few others have done. Is it not true a nation is raped as millions stand watching ย on the sidelines every day?
Aberash did not feel full justice was done. In fact, she said the same injustice could easily be inflicted on her younger sister Mulatua and any other girl in the country. Her older sister Mestawot was a victim. Aberash cautioned, โNo action was taken against the criminals. So they commit the same crimes again. They could abduct girls like me on the way to school or market. Nothing has been done to stop them. So they are encouraged to carry on abducting.โ The ultimate (in)justice for Aberash was being an outcast and to be banished forever from her village of birth and family. She is victimized time and again while the law and the enforcers of the law stand on the sidelines turning a blind eye. Justice is blindfolded everywhere but in Ethiopia her eyes have been poked out and she is just blind.
My fellow lawyers, Maeza Ashenafi and Daniel Bekele, are also heroes. I only know of Maeza and her (what used to be) Association.ย In 2011, the regime revoked the licenses of EWLA and Ethiopian Human Rights Councilย for allegedly earning more than 90 percent of their budget from foreign sources. ย EWLA has faced harassment for years. What Maeza and her fellow lawyers have done for the human rights of women in Ethiopia is unprecedented and I hope a new generation of young women and men lawyers will follow in her footsteps.
All I can say about Daniel is, โEthiopiaโs loss is Africaโs gainโ.
Gemechu, Aberashโs abductor and rapist, is really not a villain. Neither are his parents nor the friends who accompanied him to commit the dastardly act. They are all victims of ignorance and outdated cultural practices. If they had the education and awareness of the harmful nature of their practices, they would most likely refrain and reform their ways. The elders believe, in my view wrongly, that their intervention in โmarriage by abductionโ cases serves to bring social harmony and understanding. I do not doubt they are well-intentioned.
When Metcalfe made the documentary, some tried to criticize her as a โWesternerโ (read โwhiteโ) trying to tell Africans how to live. It was the usual attack-the-messenger strategy. I believe Metcalfe is a silent heroine in Aberashโs story. By bringing the story to the court of world public opinion, Metcalfe shed much need light on an institution that should have been eradicated centuries ago like human sacrifices and ritual burning of widows on the pyres of their husbands (known as โsuteeโ in India).
I am very proud Ethiopian film maker, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, for making an award-winning film that shed fresh ย light on this horrible cultural practice. He is also a hero for using his artistic talents to bring the barbaric practice to the attention to a new generation of Ethiopians. His film challenges them to get involved and do something to protect the human rights of their less fortunate sisters.
A plea to de-institutionalize the institution of elder mediation in โmarriage by abductionโ ย
There are three villains in the story of โmarriage by abductionโ in Ethiopia: the institution itself, those with the power to de-institutionalize the evil institution but for whatever reason choose not to and the so-called elders who mediate such crimes. There is little I wish to add at this time about the dereliction of duty of a villainous regime that flagrantly disregards the constitutional and legal rights of millions of citizens by tolerating the barbaric practice.
I believe the silent and well-disguised villain in the crime of โmarriage by abductionโ is the institution of elder mediation itself. The elders are touted to be creators and balancers of community harmony and reconciliation in โmarriages by abductionโ. Nothing could be further from the truth. In my view, they are actually unwitting co-conspirators, protectors and silent accomplices of the men who engage in โmarriage by abductionโ with impunity. The declared aim of the elders is to reconcile the families of the abductor and underage girl so that things will not get out of hand. In fact, the elders end up legitimizing and institutionalizing โmarriage by abductionโ and shielding the abductor from criminal prosecution. There are a few things that need to be underscored about elder mediation in cases of โmarriage by abductionโ: They are ย all men, often older men in the community who may have engaged in the practice themselves in their younger years. They are completely desensitized to the practice because they seeย the practice happening every day. ย As a matter of cultural expectation and personal belief, the elders see nothing fundamentally wrong with โmarriage by abductionโ.
It is also important to understand that the elders are not particularly concerned about the welfare, well-being or human rights of the victimized girl. They do not intervene to give the girl relief or justice, but to buy her silence by paying for her parentsโ silence. They do not approach the victimized girl and seek her input or ask her if she prefers monetary compensation or prosecution of her assailant. The elders offer the girl nothing, not even hope. She is consigned to her fate of becoming a sexual slave, housekeeper and baby factory for her abductor. The compensation the elders profferย is to her parents, not to the girl. They donโt even ask her how much she feels she is worth. Would she trade her life and humanity for two oxen, or five sheep and two goats? What is her pleasure? But she is ultimately her parents’ property.
The elders do not perceive the victimized girl as a human with rights; for them she is quintessentially the property of her parents over which they can negotiate. The elders in effect commoditize the victimized girl in their mediation efforts. Their real job is not โmediationโ but putting a price on the girlโs head andย determine her โfair market valueโ. For the elders, the girlโs value is always the equivalent value of a certain number of cattle or cash amount. That is all a girl is worth in marriage by abduction. The society does not view her as a human being but as a humanized heifer.
In my view, the whole elder mediation institution is intended to perpetuate and legitimize the vicious cycle of โmarriage by abductionโย and victimization of the girl by depriving her of options available to her under the law. The institution of elders not only legitimizes the abduction and rape of the girl, it also victimizes her again by forcing her to accept the crimes committed against her without complaint and preferably with grace. The institution of elders also victimizes the law and justice itself. When the police are aware that elders are involved in mediating the โmarriage by abductionโ they turn a blind eye. (There have also been instances where policemen themselves have engaged in โmarriage by abductionโ). It is also not uncommon for the abductorโs family or the elders to pay bribes to the police to look the other way. The institution of elders in cases of โmariages by abductionโ should be outlawed.
What could happen in the absence of ย mediation/intervention by elders? What could happen if the institution of elders in โmarriage by abductionโ were to be eliminated? The parents of the underage girl would have no choice but to report the crime to the police and insist on criminal prosecution. That is exactly what they would do if someone robbed of their property, but not their daughter? Prosecution could result in conviction and a long prison term under the law. Proving such cases should not be difficult. The victim will testify and identify her abductor and rapist. The elders by intervening shortly after the commission of the crime in effect obstruct and thwart the course of justice.
In short, I believe the institution of elders in โforced marriagesโ is a core part of the problem and not the solution as it is ย perceived to be. I stand by the essential truth declared by Mestawot, Aberashโs older sister: โI think men will only change if the law on abduction is strictly enforced. If the law continues to be lax, men will be out of control forever.โ Regardless of what the elders do, I believe the criminals who commit โmarriage by abductionโ should be relentlessly pursued and prosecuted as per Art. 587 (3), โThe conclusion of a marriage between the abductor and the abducted subsequent to the abduction shall not preclude criminal liabilityโฆ.โ
Marriage by abduction is not a problem unique to Ethiopia. It occurs in many parts of ย sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It must be fought wherever it rears its ugly head. It is a vile crime against womanity (humanity) that the entire human race should stand together and collectively condemn. The world in the 21stย Century does not accept human sacrifices as part of religious rituals nor does it approve of the burning of a widow on the pyre of her dead husband. Killing baby girls born to poor rural families is vigorously condemned. There are worldwide campaigns against sexual slavery.ย Why should the world accept โmarriage by abductionโ of ten, twelve, fourteen and sixteen year old girls today in Ethiopia? Injustice tolerated is justice abducted and raped.
Metcalfe filmed โSchoolgirl Killerโ in 1999 in Ethiopia, but the institution of โmarriage by abductionโ thrives with impunity today. The real solution to the problem of โmarriage by abductionโ and child bridesโ cannot come from government but civil society institutions engaged in community education and action. That will be the next topic in my crusade against โmarriage by abduction.โ
โI think men will only change if the law on abduction is strictly enforced. If the law continues to be lax, men will be out of control forever.โย Mestawot Bekele (older sister of Aberash Bekele)
Help stop crimes against womanity in Ethiopia!
Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.
Previous commentaries by the author are available at:
http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/
www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/
Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:
http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic
http://ethioforum.org/amharic/category/%E1%8A%A0%E1%88%8D-%E1%88%9B%E1%88%AD%E1%8B%AB%E1%88%9D/ย
