Birtukan mideksa photo

Former judge and opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa returned home to Ethiopia on November 8th, after seven years of exile in the U.S. ( Photo: Fana Broadcasting)

Tadias Magazine
By Liben Eabisa

Published: November 9th,

New York (TADIAS) &#; The first time that Tadias featured an interview with Birtukan Mideksa six years ago we were celebrating the former judge, political leader, human rights activist and a mother of a young daughter, as one of our heroes for women&#;s history month; it had been less than a year after she had moved to the U.S.

from Ethiopia as a fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C.

This week Birtukan returned to her beloved homeland after seven years in exile.

Birtukan mideksa biography of barack gas She was the founder and leader of the opposition party, the Unity for Democracy and Justice UDJ party from to Birtukan Mideksa was born in Addis Ababa , the capital city of Ethiopia. She attended Miazia 23 missionary elementary school and later the Yekatit 12 secondary school also known as Etege Menen School. In , Birtukan received Master of Art M. She is the mother of a daughter named Haale Mideksa who was born in

Prior to being forced to emigrate to the U.S. she had been twice imprisoned in Ethiopia as leader of an opposition party that won more than one-third of the seats during the tumultuous elections. In a public speech that year at the memorial tribute for Vaclav Havel &#; the former President of the Czech Republic who was also a playwright and poet &#; Birtukan described her second imprisonment for 19 months in solitary confinement as being &#;alone in every sense of the term.&#; She candidly shared that &#;after all the pain that was inflicted on me and my dear ones, I had to ask myself if the struggle was worth it.&#;

Indeed, in more ways than one, Birtukan has paid her dues to encourage democracy in Ethiopia and that&#;s why it was deeply moving for me personally to watch her from afar, from here in the U.S., as she received a well-deserved, warm reception back in Ethiopia&#;s capital, Addis Ababa.

I first met Birtukan in early May of when she came to New York to attend an award ceremony recognizing journalist Eskinder Nega, who was then still behind bars. Eskinder, her friend and former prisoner of conscience, was being honored with PEN America&#;s prestigious &#;Freedom to Write&#; award at the literary organization&#;s annual dinner held at the American Museum of Natural History.

Later, I also had an opportunity to visit Birtukan at Harvard when she was a student there; we also attended civic leadership events together during the US-Africa Leaders Summit hosted by the U.S government in D.C. four years ago.

Birtukan mideksa biography of barack A freshly brewed cup of coffee being brought out of the kitchen would have been an unremarkable scene in an Ethiopian household except that it was happening at am on a Friday morning. The host and his guests, including myself, were hanging out on a beautiful balcony of his home overlooking Addis Ababa. A woman lounging by a swimming pool below had mentioned in passing that she was craving coffee. Some time later the host had arrived with an Ethiopian style coffee, complete with cinis and jebena. As he gently poured the coffee into the traditional cups and passed it around to the group immersed in conversation and drunken laughter, I wondered who was awake, purposefully out of sight, in some corner of the mini-mansion watching over a jebena at am in the morning?

Birtukan is one of the most brilliant, inspiring and kindest individuals I had the privilege of meeting in my many years of work as Publisher of Tadias. In addition to her gracious, non-assuming personality and quiet humor the most memorable and contagious part of being around Birtukan was her heartfelt commitment to freedom of expression, human rights and advancing democratic principles in Ethiopia.

&#;What helps me most to survive the hurdles I faced is the depth and intensity of the ideal and vision I have with regard to the worth and dignity of the individual citizen and the way our society should be organized based on this universal ideal of human rights and the rule of law,&#; Birtukan told Tadias during our women&#;s history month interview.

&#;My belief and conviction that we can and should change the status quo, though it appears to be daunting, has kept me going.&#; She added: &#;And my trust in the power of the individual to bring about change enables me to consider the price I paid as a sacrifice made for a worthy causes and purpose.&#;

Birtukan was born and raised in Addis Ababa and attended public school both for her elementary and high school education before she graduated from Addis Ababa University with a degree in law.

&#;I believe my passion for politics has a strong correlation with the fact that I was brought up in a community whose members are strongly committed to maintaining healthy social relations and to looking after the well-being of individual members,&#; said Birtukan who grew up in the Ferensay Legacion neighborhood of Ethiopia&#;s capital.

&#;My training as a lawyer later on gave me some coherent narrative and vision for this aspiration of mine.&#;

If it was up to Birtukan Mideksa Ethiopia by now would have had a fully functioning democracy consisting of equally powerful opposition parties that are credible, peaceful and loyal to the constitution.

Birtukan mideksa biography of barack obama A former political prisoner who went into exile in the US, Birtukan Mideksa is now centre-stage in Ethiopia as she oversees the country's first parliamentary election since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in on a pledge to end decades of authoritarian rule. Recommending Ms Birtukan, 47, to the all-important post of chairperson of the electoral board, the new premier described her as someone who would "never surrender, even to the government". Many agreed with that sentiment as she had built a reputation for being brave and independent-minded as a lawyer, judge and politician. Ms Birtukan contested the parliamentary election as an independent, but lost to the candidate of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front EPRDF , conceding that her defeat was due to her "limited popularity" rather than rigging. She then became a judge, catching the attention of the public a year later when she resisted political interference in the judiciary by ordering the release of former Defence Minister Siye Abraha.

While living in exile, where she also managed to earn a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University&#;s Kennedy School of Government, Birtukan never ceased to speak up in defense of human rights and democracy in Ethiopia whenever the opportunity presented itself, albeit with her trademark respectful tone.

In an Op-Ed article titled &#;Embracing Development and Security Means Embracing Free Expression,&#; published by in &#; shortly after the US-Africa Leaders Summit and while the former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegen was still in charge &#; Birtukan urged the U.S.

government and other Western countries to rethink their approach to Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular. &#;The Ethiopian government has long relied on the same arguments to defend its actions — falsely claiming that the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation copies equivalent European standards,&#; Birtukan wrote. &#;The international community can no longer tolerate these kinds of wholly inadequate explanations, especially when respect for human rights impacts the prospects for growth and security on the continent so greatly.

Birtukan mideksa biography of barack trump

Birtukan Mideksa was born in Addis Ababa. She attended Miazia 23 missionary elementary school and later the Yekatit 12 secondary school also known as Etege Menen School. In , Birtukan received Master of Arts M. Birtukan started her career as an associate judge. Later she was appointed to be a judge at the 3rd district court of the federal first instant court.

If we are serious about development and peace in Africa, we need to hold the government accountable and reinforce the proposition that there can be no robust, sustainable growth without respect for the fundamental rights for all Africans.&#;

Before she departed for Ethiopia on Wednesday Birtukan told Voice of America&#;s Alula Kebede that she hopes to contribute in helping to build democratic institutions.

And in my opinion there is no one more qualified than Birtukan Mideksa to help assist Ethiopia&#;s ongoing transformation into a more democratic and peaceful society. She has the passion, legal education and real-life experience to do the job and the scars to prove it.

It goes without saying that at whatever role and capacity that Birtukan wants to participate, there could be no doubt that she has earned the right to have a say in leading the future of Ethiopia.

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Liben Eabisa is Co-Founder &#; Publisher of Tadias Magazine.

Related: Birtukan Mideksa in Pictures:

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