Throughout the week, the World Leaders Forum will bring heads of state from around the world to address Columbia.
But as far as controversy goes, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi tops the list.
Zenawi—who has allegedly intimidated voters at polls, detained political opponents, and been labeled by the New York Times as an example of “autocratic repression”—is set to appear at Low Library on Wednesday to give a talk on “The Current Global Environment and its Impact in Africa.”
Many people, on and off campus, have spoken out against his invitation.
“He’s supposed to be a spokesman on African leadership, and I think that’s absurd because he’s not,” said Haben Fecadu, a student in the law school and vice-chair of the African Law Students Association.
Fecadu, who is from the neighboring country of Eritrea, said it is not Zenawi’s human rights violations that bothers her the most, but the recognition he receives from organizations like Columbia. “It’s kind of offensive.”
She added that even though Zenawi is known for rigging elections and murdering dissidents, “it tends to get overlooked by the U.S., the U.N., by the African Union. … All of these international organizations don’t really say anything when he violates these human rights standards.”
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Despite the protest, Mamadou Diouf, director of the Institute for African Studies and a professor of African studies, said he still supports the Institute’s and the Committee on Global Thought’s decision to invite the controversial leader to campus.
“We are not inviting him on the basis of his leadership in Africa,” Diouf said. “He has been playing an important role in the global scene on behalf of Africa,” particularly in regards to climate change, he said.
“I think this is also an opportunity for Meles to talk about African issues and to showcase what he has been doing in Ethiopia,” he said.
Read the full story at the Columbia Spectator.
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